Jesse Carl Stepp

Memories of Mountain Home School Jesse Carl Stepp

This book MEMORIES OF MOUNTAIN HOME SCHOOL is a personal journey by a former student, a labor of love. Part 1 traces the evolution of the school from a one-room, one-teacher school teaching grades one through eight to become a rural consolidated school teaching a fully accredited high school curriculum, to its sad decline and closure brought about by dramatic socio-economic changes that took place following WWII. The author draws from original sources to capture the role of the school in the lives of early settlers prior to Oklahoma statehood and during the years of rapid settlement and political turmoil following Oklahoma statehood through WWI. It describes dedicated work to continue upgrading the school during the economically static years of the 1920s and the years of brutal economic decline during the Great Depression, to form a fully accredited rural high school. After becoming fully accredited in 1941 Mountain Home School enjoyed its years of greatest achievements during the 1940s. Then decline brought about by rapidly declining population set in in the early 1950s leading to closure of the school in 1958. Part 2 is the personal memories contributed by 56 former Mountain Home School students. Their span the period from the early 1930s to the closure of the school in 1958. These wonderful personal memories convey the spirit and achievements of the school and the spirit and shared values of those who learned there.