Sussex-Lisbon Area

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 Lannon School Index

Lannon State Graded (Elementary) School Teachers 

and School History

Compiled by Mike Reilly 06/04/04

At the old stone school house

    There is evidence that from when public schooling was created in Wisconsin under the State first constitution, that grades only ranged from 1st thru 5th, and some sort of "high school" or upper level classes were offered to students. When a child started school was not determined by age so much, but what the teacher felt he or she knew in comparison to other students. For instance, a 4 year old might be judged to know as much as a 2nd grader and initially placed in that class level. Ruth Schmidt, the late Merton historian, wrote that when she went to school in the early 1900's, she learned more by osmosis, listening to the upper grades in her class doing their recitations, math problems, and so on, than she did from the curriculum she was taught. She was also in a school that had all eight grades in a single room. She started in the 2nd Grade and actually skipped two other elementary school grades along the way to "graduation". At this time, it's not known if Lannon started out with a single room school house or when the first school house was actually built on the site of the stone, and later, wooden building.

At the new/old wood two-story

    By accounts this building started with four rooms (two down, two up ?)

    Lannon became a "first class graded school" sometime before 1910. Up until this time the school probably only had grades 1-5.

(Question - Did teachers have not only a classroom with 1 or 2 grades to teach, but also specialize in teaching math, science literature, etc., to the entire school? There are many references to the Algebra Class or the Science Class, and the Literary Society. Also note that the Principal usually taught class as well.) The entries below for teachers up to 1987, except for the position of Principal may/don't actually reflect the class(es) they actually taught

    Also, did the position of Principal exist prior to 1915 (see Education History)? By newspaper accounts, one William Ryan was the Lannon principal in 1909; were there "supervisory teachers" before and/or after this?

    The class distribution below reflects what many, but not necessarily what Lannon had: Grades 1-3 were considered "Primary", 4-5, "Intermediate", and 6-8 were "Grammar" school grades.

    By 1924, Lannon State Graded School was offering 9th and 10th Grades

The school (in 1925-35?) had three rooms downstairs and two up.

    In a interview with Keith Gissal, 10/18/2000, he explained that 8th was in the same room as the 9th &10th grades; 8th on one side of the room, the "high schoolers" on the other. Depending on when you entered 8th, the "high schoolers" were being taught either freshman or sophomore curriculum, the next year they were taught the other. So as a 8th grader, you could have listened to sophomore class level courses being taught, then as a freshman (when you moved across the room the next year) you could have sat through the same sophomore curriculum or be taught the freshman version.

Teachers at the new school

1939 - new Lannon Elementary School is built and dedicated on September 1st,  and classes began on Monday September 11th. Grade 1 had 8 enrolled; grade 2 - 10; grade 3 - 14; grade 4 - 19; grade5 - 14; grade 6 - 23; grade 7 - 17; grade 8 - 14; grade 9 - 16; and grade 10 - 9. The teachers were Mr. Philip Pejza, principal; Mr. Gumm; Misses Lees, Knoebel, and Roche assistants. Mr. Hayes, music, and Mr. Phillips, band. The girls of the upper grades have formed an athletic association with Miss Lees as advisor. Mrs. William (Margaret) Miller, librarian, announced that the library will soon open, and a new shipment of books is on the way. 

Note: This 8th Grade graduating class was the first to have to go (be bussed) to other area high schools (mainly Menomonee Falls). The 9th and 10th grades were discontinued at most area elementary schools. The children then became "tuition students"; the municipality in which they lived had to pay the school district where they now went to 4-year high school a yearly fee.

Note: After the Hamilton School District was formed and the new high school built in 1962, Lannon reverted to grades 1-5, though there may have been a kindergarten class as well.