Students

The Common School was devised to provide a free and universal education for all, but it typically served only Christian children who descended from individuals originally from European countries. Initially, it was provided in small, one room schoolhouses like the one shown below. Students ranged from a small group, such as those shown in the picture below, or up to 91 or more in one community school. Alexander McGuffey described such a school in a letter to his famous brother, William, author of the popular //McGuffey Readers// (see link below).. Students of all ages and abilities were taught in the same classroom by one teacher.



Original letter from Alexander McGuffey; contains information about the number of students in a school