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Woodhouse School began with the consolidation of the Long Lake, Tucker and Magnolia schools into Consolidated Common School District No. 7. These were all small schools, each with two teachers: one for grades one through four and another for grades five through eight. In December 1937, William Phillip Bishop Woodhouse (1864-1951) deeded a portion of his landholdings to the school district for the construction of Woodhouse School. Most of the teachers from Long Lake, Tucker and Magnolia returned to teach at Woodhouse for its opening session in the fall of 1938. Originally serving grades one through eight, the school added a grade each year until 1942, when the first senior class graduated and the first yearbook was published. First superintendent of the school district was J.P. Brookshire, who remained in that position until 1939. The Work Projects Administration (WPA) built additional facilities for Woodhouse School in 1941, including an agriculture building, a cafeteria and a home economics cottage. Athletic programs centered around basketball, and Woodhouse fielded competitive boys' and girls' basketball teams throughout much of its history. Consolidation with the Four Pines School to create Westwood School signaled the closing of Woodhouse. The class of 1960 was the last to graduate from Woodhouse, although its facilities continued in use until 1979. Woodhouse remains an important part of the history of rural education in Anderson County. |
