School Days in Early San Ramon

The kids are back in school, so it's a fitting time to share the history of the first school house in San Ramon.

Education was valued among the pioneer families of the San Ramon Valley. Though, in the early days, a basic grammar school education was often considered enough. Many children learned to read from Bibles, dictionaries and other books typically owned by the family. Back then, a school house was viewed as the beginning of an established community that had potential to thrive. 

By the 1860's, there were six grammar school districts in the Valley –Alamo, Danville, Green Valley, Sycamore, San Ramon and Tassajara. Each district passed bond measures to fund maintenance and furnishings for its schools. Teachers were paid with a combination of state, county and local funds.

In 1867, San Ramon Grammar School began welcoming students through its doors.  The school house, located near the intersection of what is now Fostoria and San Ramon Valley Boulevard, was funded by a local tax of $2,000, to buy land, materials and labor for construction of the building. Built by carpenter, Ebenizer Dole, the all-wood structure measured approximately 1,200 square feet, had a 13-foot high ceiling and a bell tower. The interior consisted of two rooms, the smaller used for first through fourth grades, the larger for fifth to eighth.

Because the school was the only large public building in the area at the time, it was used for a variety of community gatherings. The May Day celebration took place there, as well as local meetings, spelling bees, and the annual Christmas pageant.  To accommodate these several uses, the partition dividing the two classrooms was removable. An article in an 1874 issue of The Contra Costa Gazette, described the building as "one among the neatest and best arranged school houses in the county."

The first teacher at the school was Albert J. Young, who taught there from 1867 to 1869, and 1873 to 1877. Another former teacher, Miss Everett, who used to read a chapter from the Bible and pray, reportedly had difficulty handling problems she experienced with the older boys. She was said to have "shed tears because of their conduct." It seems that kids' behavior hasn't changed much in the last century.

As the community grew in size, so did the school. It was expanded in 1876. By the 1890's, attendance at the school averaged 110 students. Toward the end of that decade, the San Ramon Public Hall Association took on the task of upgrading the school grounds. Improvements included, a new fence, seating around the grounds, an awning for the girls' yard, and ring and bars for the boys.

In the 1920's, meetings were held with the Danville Union School District to discuss a possible merger. But San Ramon School District remained separate until 1965 when all the Valley districts were combined to form the San Ramon Valley Unified School District.

In 1949, a second school, with three rooms, was built. It opened in 1950. The original school house, torn down in 1960, holds the distinction of having the longest active period of any grammar school–from 1867 to 1950.

Next time you find yourself at the intersection of Fostoria and San Ramon Valley Boulevard, take a moment to look for the plaque placed by the San Ramon Valley Historical Society that marks the spot where the proud San Ramon Grammar School once stood.

The building may be gone, but the memories of school days past live on in the hearts of its former students, of memorizing times tables, cleaning chalk board erasers, and dancing around the May Pole.

Acknowledgement: Museum of San Ramon Valley, Danville.