As the spiritual needs of the settlers were provided by the churches, educational needs remained to be met. According to the 1993 book, If Walls Could Talk: Heritage Homes of Farmington by Ruth Roth Moehlman, the first school in Farmington was established in 1826. Teacher Nathan Power taught in a small log building near the creek. Miss Parley Ann Mead was the first lady teacher. A male teacher in those days received a higher salary than a lady teacher. Power operated a farm as his main livelihood, with teaching as a side occupation during the slack season of farming. There were no desks. Children sat on split log benches. While teaching, Power also helped in the actual construction of the school buildings.
On May 3, 1830 the Township Board established five school districts and three fractional districts with ever changing boundaries. The numbering of these districts generally follows the layout of the sections of the township. A school was built for each section providing education to the eighth grade level.
The District One school was located at a midpoint between Eleven and Twelve Mile roads on Middlebelt. It was referred to as the Stone School, because it was made of stone, and also as the Coleman school. Stone School fell to the demolition ball in the mid-sixties, with the construction of I-696.
The school built for Fractional District One, known as the German School, was sited on Middlebelt Road, one-half mile north of Thirteen Mile. It was named for a settler named German. This school is one of the few still standing.
In District Two, the Nichols School was a main center of activity for the people in the North Farmington area. Located near Thirteen Mile and Farmington Roads, it operated as a day school and offered evening classes in spelling, singing and writing, as well as dramatic exhibitions performed by the students.
The Fractional District Two School, also known as Green School, was located in the northwest corner of the township south of Fourteen Mile, on property owned by A. E. Green. The land was apparently bartered away to the Walled Lake School District. For years School Superintendent G. V. Harrison tried unsuccessfully to get it back.
At the corner of Nine Mile Road and Halsted, the Thayer School of Fractional District Three stood until 1929, when its students were transported to Farmington High by bus, a first in Farmington school history.
The West Farmington School, located at Twelve Mile and Halsted, across the street from the cemetery, was known as "The Little Normal" for all of its graduates who became teachers. This Fractional District Four school was used as a store for awhile; the building burned in October, 1964. The District Four School once stood on Grand River Avenue, overlooking Independence Green and Chatham Hills apartments.
The current Special Education headquarters at Middlebelt between Nine and Ten Mile was constructed as the Noble School (for Adelbert Noble who owned the land) for District Number Six.
The most is known about the schools which served District Number Five. Built by Arthur Power, the first school was a tiny log hut on Shiawassee Street, East of where the Baptist Church now stands. Beginning in 1826, the school teacher during the winter months was Nathan Power, Arthur's son. To supplement his teaching salary, Nathan Power spent his after-school hours hunting wolves for the bounty money. During the summers, Parley Mead took over the teaching duties.
The tiny cabin was soon outgrown, and in 1835 Power was authorized to spend $375 on a new facility. Nathan Power met his budget, spending $372.50 on the construction of the "Little Red Schoolhouse" which probably stood near Ten Mile and Farmington Roads.
Power was entrusted with building the next school in 1852, a two-story frame building next to where Farmington Training/Conference Center stands today. The $729 building was moved in 1888 to what is now the parking lot of the Burger King at Warner and Grand River where it became the Apple Evaporator business until it burned.
To replace the frame building, the Farmington Union School was built on the present site of Farmington Junior High School. It, too, fell victim of fire in 1918, only to be replaced that same year by a building then known as Farmington High School. Additions were made as the school population expanded, until the present Farmington High School on Shiawassee was built in 1953. The old school was then used as a junior high until its closing in 1976.
Prior to the building of the high school, education past the eighth grade was optional. If a student wished to go to high school, he/she could attend as a tuition student. Sometimes the school district would pay the entire tuition. In other cases, the cost was split between the parents and the Board. Transportation was not provided; students could choose any school that was near or had room for them. As a result, rural Farmington students attended not only Farmington High School (after it was built), but also Northville, Redford, Walled Lake, Pontiac and Detroit schools.
Educational attainment continued to grow in the Farmington area. Per the 1990 U.S. census, 42% of Farmington Hills adult residents over age 25 completed college, while 34% in Farmington received their degree. In both cities, twice as many people had graduate or professional degrees as had associate degrees even though the community is home to a junior college. For the state as a whole, only 17% completed college. The figure was 30% for Oakland County. The quest for excellence in education permeated the entire age spectrum.
According to figures from the 1995-96 Farmington Public Schools Annual Report, the graduation rate is 96.94%. Females represent 38.2% of dropouts; males, 61.8%. The district's 1994-95 retention rate was 96.94%. Graduation rate means the percentage of ninth grade students who graduate from high school within four years, adjusting for students who move in or out of the school district and to alternative programs. Of the graduating class, 85% enroll in college.
In 1996, the Farmington Public School District had approximately 12,000 students enrolled in 15 elementary, 4 middle, and 3 high schools, in addition to the 6 special service schools for adult or alternative education. The Farmington Public Schools was one of the area's largest employers in 1994 with over 1,400 employees!
Parochial education at all ages is also available within the community. Home schooling is increasing.
Alternatives for higher education include: the Orchard Ridge campus of Oakland Community College; William Tyndale College; and the Wayne State University College of Lifelong Learning, which opened a campus in a converted office building on Twelve Mile Road in 1995 and projects an ultimate enrollment of 10,000 within a few years.
|