Sholes School is a typical one-room country school used today as a living museum for students and their teachers.  A full curriculum, circa 1900, is available for classes who wish to reenact a day at Pioneer Sholes School.

Sholes School is currently located at the LeRoy Oakes Forest Preserve on Dean Street in St. Charles Township, Illinois.

The school building originally stood on the David Sholes farm in Burlington Township on Burlington Road near Plato Road.  According to an old map of Kane County, the first school at that site was built before 1860.  The current Sholes School building dates back to at least 1872, as a picture from the Elgin Historical Society shows, but it may be older.

Later on, the Sholes land was sold to Louis Schairer.  Schairer was very active in school affairs in the early 1900’s.  With the school being near to the Schairer residence, teachers sometimes boarded there and occasionally students and teachers warmed themselves in the house on cold days when the heating system in the school failed.  At the time, the school was sometimes called the Schairer school.

Sholes School was closed in 1946-47 when Kane County started a school consolidation program.  In all, the County closed approximately 135 small schools and sent the students to the larger town schools.  Many of the old school buildings were converted to other uses--from chicken coops to personal residences.

The Sholes School building was never converted.  It sat idle on Campbell’s land from 1947 until 1979 when Campbell donated it to the Kane County Forest Preserve in memory of his mother who had taught at the school in 1913-1915.

At that time, the Pioneer Sholes School Restoration Society formed to move and restore the building.  Because the building itself was in significant disrepair by late 1970’s, much work was required to return the building to its current state.  The following sources provided significant furnishings in the school:

• The antique floor boards come from a barn near DeKalb.
• The tin ceiling is from the old Leath Furniture Building in Aurora.
• The blackboards are from the original Louise White School in Batavia.
• The school bell in the cupola was donated in memory of Martha Campbell.
• The sconces in the vestibule were given by descendants of David Sholes.

Always Amber, a story of Fayann Stone's experiences in a one-room school during the late 1930s and early 1940s (Also available as an MS Word document).

Interview with Ruth Anderson, Teacher at Sholes School, 1940-1947

Visit our picture gallery.

Pictures of a class from a local school visiting Pioneer Sholes School.

Information for Teachers:

The most important source for teachers who wish to bring a class to Pioneer Sholes School is the Teacher's Manual.  Be sure to read the Manual if you are interested in visiting Pioneer Sholes School.

Teacher's Manual
Daily Schedules
Brief History & Information in Q&A Format
Narrative of a Day in the Life of a Rural School
Sholes School Curriculum Information & Sources
"Discipline of the School"

Information for Visitors:

• Sundays in mid-June to mid-October:  1-4pm
• Christmas Open House:  First Sunday in December, afternoon
• Other hours available by appointment.

If you wish to contact someone from the Pioneer Sholes School Society to make a reservation or to obtain further information, please write to the following address:

    Pioneer Sholes School Society
    PO Box 1275
    St. Charles, IL 60174

You may also contact us by sending an e-mail to sholes@pioneersholesschool.org