The (Mostly) Finished School

Construction Amish School Building

Two weeks ago we had a look at an Amish school being built in Adams County, Indiana. Today’s photos show it looking a lot more finished. These are courtesy of our original photographer, who took this batch of shots a few days ago.

Again, here’s the building in progress (photo below taken in mid-May).

Construction Site Amish Indiana

As noted on the original post, there were actually a couple of buildings going up in the first set of photos–the school as well as a barn for the school.

School Grounds Full View

The barn.

Amish School Barn Adams County

And the school building.

Newly Built Amish Schoolhouse

Water source.

Schoolhouse Windows

This photo is from another school in the same community.

Water Source Amish Schools

Lots of windows to let the sun in. Looks like the place is airing out.

Adams County New Amish Schoolhouse

And one last, necessary structure.

Indiana Amish School Outhouse

There’s some work left to do before this school is ready for scholars. But there’s still a good chunk of summer for that.

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    18 Comments

    1. Thanks for the Update...

      Thanks for the update, Erik (and photographer). I would only add that from what I’ve seen, the last picture is actually only one of *two* last necessary items — this being the Hoosier state, wouldn’t the basketball goals also fall into the “necessary” category? 😉

      On a related tangent: While going through IN last month I noticed basketball to be very common at Amish schools, etc., but haven’t noticed it so much in the other states I’ve been to. (1) Is basketball popular elsewhere; and (2) from a more general perspective, do the specific sports interests vary from one state/region to another?

      1. Amish sports in different states

        Good point Don! I would say I’ve seen more basketball in Amish Indiana than elsewhere. This is the only state where I’ve been in an Amish gym. Of course there is this legendary tournament in Ohio… 🙂 https://amishamerica.com/holmes-county-amish-mud-b-ball-tourney/

        There are regional preferences, Lancaster for instance seems to play a lot of hockey and lawn croquet, whereas you don’t see those as much in some of the other big settlements.

        1. Tom Geist

          I was surprised when I was up in Shipshewana last fall and found all sorts of kids playing volleyball…several courts going at the same time. I found out from a store nearby that there was a tournament going on. I didn’t ask how that worked, but it was my understanding that the Amish do not get competitive to the point of having such a thing as a tournament. Maybe it was just the youngies setting this up, not endorsed by parents. (?)

          Tom in Lincoln

          1. Mark - Holmes Co.

            In our community you’ll see big volleyball “tournaments” throughout the summer and having several nets and maybe a hundred youth and parents will usually be there to supervise, serve supper, help get ready and clean up. Though it’s called a “tournament,” the teams rotate from net to net and after so many matches, the players are mixed up so a person might play on several “teams” during the tournament and there really isn’t a winner.
            I guess we sometimes use words is a way that might not be the actual meaning. To me tournament meant big gathering with lots of little games going on, but a coworker tells me a tournament is a “play off” with one team or person winning it all.
            It’s like the word “frolic” that we use to mean a work event, like “They’ll have a frolic to finish the new schoolhouse roof.” Coworker says frolic means to have fun. Well, a work bee can be fun! 🙂

          2. Jerry Lamie

            Amish Sports in South Central Pa

            I see volleyball everywhere and often co-ed. Baseball and softball are big as well. Sometimes on Saturday evening you can see an entire team made up of Amish teens playing a pick-up game with non-uniformed English teams. On two occasions I saw football and once soccer. I have seen hockey goals set up on frozen ponds but not the actual game. I’ve never seen basketball here.

    2. SCHOOS

      Eric I think that it looks like a basement in these schools
      am I right or wrong? I thought that maybe that is where they have the furnance to heat these big schools or how do they heat them?
      and how many class rooms in them?

      tHANK YOU.

      1. Amish school layout

        Yes that is a basement, that’s where a heating furnace may be found though in plainer communities they may have different arrangements with a stove even being in the classroom area. Wood and coal are used for fuels.

        Schools are typically one-room but can be two in some cases. I am not sure what is customary in Adams County. This looks like it could fit two and other photos I have of schools here have a similar longish design. Lancaster County schools on the other hand often have a more square design.

    3. When Don and I stopped by there on our visit week before last, the front door was open, so I peeked inside and took a couple of pictures. It was a split level design. The top floor looked like it was divided into at least two rooms, and the bottom/basement looked like one big open room.

    4. Alice Mary

      Anticipation!

      What a pretty, practical, neat-looking schoolhouse,(and barn—outhouse, too!), with beautiful blue roofs. Brand-spanking new, and it seems as though the building itself is anticipating the arrival of this year’s scholars—next month, I’d guess. It makes me feel the old “back-to-school” anticipation I felt as a kid, as I awaited the first day and all it included—putting on my new school shoes, carrying my new lunch box, opening that brand new box of crayons for the first time, seeing old friends & classmates…wondering how I’d like my new teacher (in my case, usually a nun). I never attended a brand new school, though!

      Is this an “additional” school in the community, or is it replacing an older, “outgrown” building?

      I wish the teacher(s) and scholars a successful school year in their lovely new digs!

      Thanks so much for the photo updates!

      Alice Mary

      1. New or replacement school?

        I don’t know the answer for sure, but most likely it’s a completely new school. Amish tend to use their school buildings for a long time and large communities are nearly always growing.

    5. Katrina

      The basement can also be used as shelter for students in case of a tornado warning. Most structures in Indiana have basements for that reason.

    6. Carol

      If that’s an outhouse, why is it so close to the main building?

      1. Shorter walk when it’s -10 degrees? 🙂

        1. Yep...

          My thoughts exactly! 😉

    7. SharonR

      mostly finished school

      Thanks for the update, info and pictures!! WOW …ONE thing one can say, is they work really fast!! Very nice looking building(s) and know it will be put to good use, once school is in session!!
      SharonR

    8. Linda

      A school basement can also be used for recess during rainy, cold, or stormy weather. Would it be used for any community meetings?

      Erik, this post has not shown up yet on the left side in “Recent Articles.”

      1. Recent post updated

        Thanks for bringing that to my attention Linda. We recently upgraded the site, and still tweaking a few features to help make it run faster, one of which caused that issue.

        By the way for people visiting AA on a mobile phone, as of last week this site is now mobile responsive so you should see a mobile-friendly version appear on smaller screen sizes (currently below 480px wide). That means the text will be larger on your screen and there is also a drop-down mobile menu. Hopefully that will make browsing this site a little easier if you are on one of those devices.

    9. Michael

      Looks very similar to one of the Amish schools near Quincy Michigan.