When the one-room country schools were closed, a bus was needed to bring the farm kids to the nearest town.   Hamilton County students would learn and then graduate from the school in the nearby town: Jewell High School,  Stanhope High School,  Ellsworth High School,  Randall High School,  Kamrar High School,  Stratford High School,  Webster City High School,  Blairsburg High School,  or Williams High School.

     St. Paul Lutheran Church in Boone County (south of Stanhope and just West of Highway 17) had their own school for students through their 8th grade year.  Many of these students then went on to have their high school graduating from nearby Hamilton County schools, such as Stanhope High School (or after 1962 from South Hamilton High School).

     On September 29 1958, the South Hamilton Community School District was approved by voters at a special election.   After the reorganization was upheld in the courts and legalized by the state legislature, it began its operation on July 1, 1959.   The new district was the largest Hamilton County school in land area amount, and with an enrollment of 1,254 students, ranked as the seventy-sixth largest school in Iowa.   John T. Gannon of Stanhope was elected district superintendent with M. B. Curdy and A. I. Kingery serving as assistant superintendents.   Each of the four towns of Jewell, Ellsworth, Stanhope, and Randall had always operated their own K-12 program.

     It was the philosophy of the board that to provide proper breadth of programs at efficient expenditure levels, classes of at least 100 students per grade were desirable.   This meant a central facility, and because of transportation and auxiliary expenditures, it seemed feasible to plan for a combination junior-senior high school to accommodate all students at these levels in one building.   In 1960, a proposed new high school building plan was received from architects Frangkiser & Hutchens of Kansas City, but in February and June of 1961, bond issues for $1,130,000 for the construction of a new high school were defeated by voters.   In 1961, the school board approved the proposal to name athletic teams Hawks and Hawkettes.

      In December of 1961 until September of 1962 a central high school was established at the Jewell center (the former Jewell Lutheran College and Jewell Public High School building).    In the 1962-1963 school year, all South Hamilton senior high student (grades 10-12) attended high school in Jewell and students grade 7-9 attended one of the twin junior highs in Ellsworth and Stanhope.    Kindergarten through six grade students attended school in the four town centers, Jewell, Ellsworth, Stanhope, and Randall.
 

     Yet at issue was where to build a new junior-senior high school building for grades seven to twelve.   Seven bond issues were put before the voters.   If the location was cited in Jewell, the outlying areas tended to vote no.   If the location was cited in the country, Jewell voted no.   On June 7 and December 9 of 1963, the bond issues for $1,200,000 was defeated.

     Over a period of almost four years, plans to cut back in order to save costs (such as inflation) affected the project.   Now also eliminated was the proposed indoor pool, a three hole golf course, an indoor track and air conditioning.    After six unsuccessful attempts to gain a 60% majority favoring the issuances of bonds to construct a new junior-senior high school, the $1,425,000 issue voted on April 19, 1966 carried by a 65% margin.

    The successful vote was a result of a vigorous campaign on the part of the board and interested patrons to inform the voters in the district of the inportance of the bond issue.   Finally in a special election on April 19, 1966, the seventh try for a school bond issue had been passed for construction of the new high school in Jewell.
 

The ground breaking ceremony for the new South Hamilton junior-senior high building was held Sunday, March 12, 1967.   A brief ceremony was held at 3 PM, during which board president Curtis Thoreson turned the first spade full, followed by board members Richard Arends, Clarence Hove, Robert Young, and Francis LeMaster. Curtis Thoreson, board president	The spade was then handed to a representative of the general contractor, Roth Associates of Storm Lake.   Others on the program were the Rev. R. D. Ehlers of Ellsworth and Rev. Karl Miller of Stanhope and Superintendent Leonard Roberts. That ground-breaking spade is now on display mounted on the wall inside the front door of the school. (Click image to see the writing on the plaque.)
A price had been paid, however, and disagreements over the location caused delays.   Because of increased costs, the new school was not really the same one envisioned by the architect and planning committee.   Gone were the terrazzo floors, glazed block walls, indoor pool, and barrel-vaulted auditorium roof.   The smaller band room, lack of storage space, and the poor quality windows and doors which later had to be addressed symbolized the cheapening of the planned school structure.   On December 29 of 1968 the dedication of the new junior-senior high school building was held.   A booklet was given out at this event explaining many details.   A quote from that dedication booklet is seen below this next image.

After completion of the new junior-senior high school building, South Hamilton students were bused to the new school from a 205 square mile area which included the towns of Ellsworth, Stanhope, and Randall, in addition to Jewell.   The twin junior highs, which had operated since 1962, were then no longer needed. The district school maintained an elementary with grades K-6 in each of the four towns.   In the fall of 1971, The Randall school was changed to accommodate most students in grades 5-6, while the other three elementary centers taught grades K-4 with Stanhope still having their own grades 5 and 6. By the fall of 1972, all grades of 5 and 6 were in the Randall Center.   Ninth graders joined the ranks of high school during the 1974-75 school year.       In the Spring of 1976, another decision was made by the school board to close the two elementary centers in Ellsworth and Stanhope.   Several new classrooms were added to the elementary in Jewell to accommodate this move, and grade four was added to the fifth and sixth grades at the Randall site.

Superintendent Roberts is shown making remarks at the groundbreaking ceremony.

Although the entire district's 5th and 6th graders were all shuttled to Randall in 1972, declining enrollment in the 1975-1976 school year brought the 4th graders were taken by bus to the Randall Center and the district's K-3 students all were bused to Jewell.   Finally in 1980, the Randall Elementary Center was closed, the schools in Stahope and Ellsworth also were no longer used, so all South Hamilton students attended school in Jewell.  South High Sports teams         See lists of South Hamilton Graduates.      1990s Message from the South Hamilton Superintendent:      Thanks to a vision (well ahead of its time) by some education-minded patrons, South Hamilton became a reality back in 1958.   The reorganized school began its new existence in 1959 and united the towns and the outlying areas of Ellsworth, Jewell, Randall, and Stanhope into what was to become a great school district. The 50s      The struggle to reorganize was not easy then, and it is not easy now, but the vision of the promoters back in the 50s brought together four small schools into one that has been able to provide quality education to hundreds of students. The 60s      Once all of the high schools were brought together, there was an immediate need for a new building.   Again a vision appeared in the eyes of some progressive board and community members.   In 1961, efforts were begun to get a bond issue passed for a new high school.      After six unsuccessful votes and six years of hard work and determination, a 65.4 percent "yes" vote finally enabled the district to begin construction of the present middle school/high school building.   The building, completed in 1968, is one of the finest buildings of its kind and is still highly envied by those who come to visit. The 70s      The 70s brought the district's first sign of declining enrollments.   At the time of reorganization, the district's enrollment was approximately 1,300 students in grades K-12.   During the 70s, enrollment began to decline at a rate of about four percent each year until it reached a low of 707 students in 1984.   During this time, the state of Iowa controlled school budget limits based on the declining enrollment dilemma.      In 1976 the district directors, acting with economic discretion, voted to close the Stanhope and Ellsworth elementary centers.   All K-4 students were moved to the Jewell elementary center, and the Randall center housed the fifth and sixth graders.      This move was not taken lightly by some of the patrons, and the district became involved in litigation that lasted some eighteen months.   The district directors maintained the position that the district could not afford to keep all of the buildings open with such small numbers (Classes that were once about one hundred in size were now dropping into the fifties and forties.), and eventually the court action was dropped. The 80s      In 1980, the district directors voted to close the Randall building and move the fifth and sixth grades into the buildings in Jewell.   This move was done with very little opposition, and the move saved the district many dollars so that good programs could remain in the school.   With the 80s came the farm crisis, but the district, which always has had the educational interests of its students in mind, continued to improve the school curriculum and facilities.   Much remodeling was done with energy conservation in mind, and the costs of utilities were reduced so that tax dollars could be spent on education for young people.   Once again the district was a leader in the energy conservation movement. The 90s      The 90s began with a tornado tearing off a portion of the high school roof.   The community rallied around the rebuilding effort, and school began on time in the fall.   Many improvements were made due to the tornado -- especially on the athletic fields.   The 90s saw the district really get involved in technology as the district implemented an instructional support levy to provide students with the latest in technology.   The school's curriculum was totally upgraded, and a curriculum/technology director was hired.      National and State Goals are being forged to make education even better than it has been.   This drive to make the schools world class will make the 90s the decade of challenge to our school. The South Hamilton community has always taken great pride in their school. They want and deserve the best, and their support is appreciated. Superintendent Richard Textor View the printed copy of Superintendent Texor's remarks.