Monroe County School Is Oldest In Michigan
- 1944 -
By Betty Stoll

The distinction of being the oldest school in Michigan belongs to the Bridge School, a small brick country school located ten miles west of Monroe in Raisinville Township. Founded in 1828, the school building has been rebuilt three times on the original site chosen by early settlers.

At present, 33 students are attending grades one to six. School master, Walter Grams (left), a graduate of Ypsilanti State Normal College, has been in charge of the school for seven years. His six year old daughter, Merlee, is in the second grade of her father’s school.

Pupils eager to beautify their grounds, have formed a United Worker’s Club and chose Gene Butcher as president. These club members, aided by science students, have earned money through scrap metal and paper drives to purchase 16 shade trees for the school grounds. The trees have been planted by the students and their teacher. Other officers of the United Worker’s Club are: Vice-president, Verdell Heiden and Secretary-treasurer, Harold Heiden.

Students of the Bridge School, many of whom live within five miles of the school, are summoned to classes by the ringing of a large iron school bell hanging from the school tower. This year, for the first time, school buses are carrying pupils to and from school.

Inside the school, walls are decorated with portraits of George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Woodrow Wilson and other famous American heroes. Among pupils attending the Bridge School are four cousins and one set of twins. The cousins, all members of the Heiden family, are Roger 5, David 9, Joyce 7 and Carol 6. The twins, Kathleen and Donald Scott, are 6 years old and in the second grade.

A stone monument, commemorating the school’s 100th anniversary, celebrated in 1928, stands in front of the school. The monument was erected by the school’s pupils, according to the bronze plaque inset in the stone. Behind the school stands a merry-go-round, a favorite meeting place where pupils eat their home packed lunches.