Rocky School

ROCKY SCHOOL

WITH THE INCREASING NUMBER OF GERMAN AND CZECH IMMIGRANTS SETTLING IN LAVACA COUNTY NEAR THE TURN OF THE 20TH CENTURY, LAVACA COUNTY RESPONDED WITH THE ESTABLISHMENT OF RURAL SCHOOLS. THE AREA WHICH IS NOW THE MORAVIA COMMUNITY IN NORTHWEST LAVACA COUNTY WAS SETTLED BY CZECH IMMIGRANTS IN THE 1870s. BY THE LATE 1880s, ANOTHER SCHOOL WAS NEEDED IN THIS AREA BECAUSE MANY STUDENTS HAD TO WALK OVER FOUR MILES TO SCHOOL. ACCORDING TO A FORMER TEACHER, AN OLD ROCK HOUSE WAS USED AS A SCHOOL UNTIL AROUND 1913. THAT YEAR, CZECH IMMIGRANT JOSEPH PARGAC ESTABLISHED A GIN ON ROCKY CREEK AND DONATED A PORTION OF THE LAND FOR SCHOOL PURPOSES. A SCHOOL WAS ERECTED IN 1914. A WELL WAS DUG BY 1927 TO ACCOMMODATE THE STUDENTS AND FACULTY. THE ONE-ROOM SCHOOL ALSO HAD A SMALL STAGE FOR THE TEACHER’S DESK THAT WAS USED FOR PLAYS AND HOLIDAY PROGRAMS. A FORMER STUDENT RECALLED EATING SACK LUNCHES OUTSIDE ON THE WOOD PILE.

IN THE THIRTY-FIVE YEAR HISTORY OF THE ROCKY SCHOOL, THE SCHOOL HAD AN AVERAGE OF 38 STUDENTS. STUDENTS ATTENDED FIRST THROUGH SEVENTH GRADES AND WERE MOSTLY FIRST-GENERATION CZECH IMMIGRANTS. MANY OF THE TEACHERS WERE ALSO OF CZECH DESCENT AND SOME RECEIVED THEIR TEACHER’S CERTIFICATION IN LAVACA COUNTY. IN THE BEGINNING, CLASSES WERE TAUGHT IN THE CZECH LANGUAGE. HOWEVER, OVER THE YEARS AND AS THE STUDENTS BECAME AMERICAN CITIZENS, THE SCHOOL CONDUCTED CLASSES IN ENGLISH. THE ROCKY SCHOOL OPERATED UNTIL 1949 WHEN IT WAS CONSOLIDATED WITH THE HALLETTSVILLE INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT, CITING LOW ATTENDANCE AS THE PRIMARY REASON.

(2012).