The following information is from Pauline Dodge and Ellie Redder

Located at Joy Road and Main Street in Joy

The Joy Schoolhouse opened in 1833 and taught generations of children until it closed in 1950. Below are the recollections of two women who fondly remember attending the schoolhouse:

Joy School House – Pauline Dodge

My brothers and my sister and I attended the Joy school.  My teacher (and probably the others) was Miss LeRoy.

As we lived on the corner of Joy and Hill Roads, it was quite a walk for a little girl.  (I can remember my Dad walking me to school on his shoulders thru the snow.)  My oldest brother was in 8^th grade there when I started-he and my other brother, Henry, and my sister, Betty, were ahead of me.  I have been told the teacher said, “Oh no! Not another DeVey!”  My family moved to Sodus when I was in the fourth grade.

I don’t ever remember closing school because of weather!  Maybe because the teacher boarded at the home across the road!

Joy School House – Ellie Redder

What a difference it was in 1942 when I transferred in second grade from the main school in the Village of Sodus to the Joy School…one teacher and six grades.  Mrs. Hill was our first teacher, and then Miss Grimm for my remaining years there.

I remember the importance placed on our spelling tests and Math…those were the two subjects I recall…there was no Science or Social Studies.  In the later years, the Town District sent a gym and music teacher twice a month, if we were lucky.  Our heat in the winter was a furnace in the basement, with one large register in the center of the building.

We usually walked to school, approximately one mile, in most weather conditions.  We were fortunate to have a pond just down the road from school, which froze over in the winter and was a great place for us to skate.  We would bring our skates to school, going early before school started.  I remember being late one morning…that was the end of that!  We did skate after school.  In the spring, we played baseball and kickball.  There were three large trees, perfectly placed to serve as our bases.

At Christmas and the end of the school year, we produced programs, plays, read poems, and sang songs.  We even had a stage in the school for this, and our parents were invited.

After sixth grade, students were transferred to the high school.  That was a big change!  This is most of what I remember of the Joy School.

Closure

As was the case with many of the small neighborhood schools in the Town of Sodus, this school was closed in 1950 when education in the Town of Sodus was centralized to the new school on Mill Street in the Village of Sodus.

Nowadays the Joy Schoolhouse is used as a community center.

District #18 Joy/Salmon Creek
Joy Road and Main Street
Joy, NY

Teachers

1833-date school opened
1869-1870 Amasa Cady
1875-1876 Melvin W. Lane
1876-1877 Melvin W. Lane
1883-1884 Leslie m. Snyder and Lizzie A. Tinklepaugh
1884-1885 Emma Cramer and Lizzie A. Tinkelpaugh
1886-1887 Leslie M. Snyder
1891-1892 Myron Proseus
1898-1899 Libbie Cramer
1899-1900 Ray Hill
1900-1901 Chauncey Fuller
1901-1902 John Hosford
1909-1910 Sarah K. Howard and Carrie Burcroff
1910-1911 Christine Vanpell
1911-1912 Mary Hinman
1912-1913 Grace Pearl
1913-1914 Benjamin Kusse
1914-1915 Ruth Butts
1918-1919 Helen E. Abbe
1919-1920 Helen E. Abbe and Ada L. Stkone
1920-1921 Hazel H. Podger
1921-1922 Mrs. E. Oakleaf
1922-1923 Mrs. Elmer Oakleaf
1923-1924 Mrs. Elmer Oakleaf
1924-1925 Mrs. Elmer Oakleaf
1925-1926 Mrs. Elmer Oakleaf
1926-1927 Mrs. Esther DeMay
1928-1929 Esther M. DeMay
1929-1930 Esther M. DeMay
1930-1931 Agnes C. Rogers
1931-1932 Agnes C. Rogers
1932-1933 Eleanor Smith
1933-1934 Frances Waltman
1934-1935 Frances Waltman
1935-1936 Fern Brundige
1936-1937 Fern Brundige
1937-1938 Fern Brundige
1938-1939 Cecile Jacques
1939-1940 Cecile Jacques
1940-1941 Cecile Jacques
1941-1942 Cecile Jacques
1942-1943 Cecile Jacques and Mrs. Wilfred Hill
1943-1944 Mrs. Elizabeth Hill
1944-1945 Clara Grimm
1945-1946 Clara Grimm
1946-1947 Clara Grimm
1947-1948 Clara Grimm
1948-1949 Clara Grimm
1949-1950 Clara Grimm