From the late 1930s through the late
1950s Transylvania County began consolidating schools.  The smaller rural schools that had been
scattered throughout the county were gradually closed and children were bused
to larger modern schools.

Brevard Middle Elementary School

In Brevard all grades attended classes
in one building located on the corner of Morgan and Broad beginning in
1908.  From 1919-1924 that building was
just for the elementary grades. 

Then in 1925 former high school on Morgan
Street became the Elementary School.  The
old white school house was known as the Grammar School and served the lower
grades.  After the 1935-36 school year it
was declared unfit and demolished.  All
elementary grades attended the school on Morgan Street for 2 ½ years.

Brevard Primary School

In August 1937 it was announced that a
new school would be built using WPA labor on the corner of Broad &
Morgan.  The WPA also provided a large
part of the materials and 70% of the cost. 
Known as the Primary School, it was used for lower grades for nearly 40
years.

When the last of Brevard’s three
elementary level schools opened on Gaston Street in August 1948 it served
grades 6-8.  Grades 3-5 were in the Middle
Elementary School and grades 1 & 2 in the Primary School.  Later the distribution of grades changed to 3^rd
and 4^th in the middle building and 5^th and 6^th
in the Upper Elementary School.

On the north and east side of the
county the elementary students transitioned into the Pisgah Forest, Straus,
Penrose and Brevard schools.

The rock school house at Pisgah Forest was
built using a combination of WPA and county funds.  It opened in November 1942 and operated
through the 1979-1980 school year.  Blue
Ridge Community College was located there from the early 1980s through the mid-1990s.  Since 1997 the Davidson River School has been
located in the building.

Penrose and Straus Elementary were both
scheduled to open at the start of the 1951-52 school year but construction
delays postponed the opening of Penrose until later in the fall.  The old Enon and Little River schools continued
to be used until it was ready.

Straus Elementary opened in September
1951 serving the growing population on the north side of Brevard, along with students
bused in from the Cedar Mountain and Connestee school districts and later
students from Pisgah Forest. 

With the construction and opening of
the current Pisgah Forest Elementary in January 1992 both Penrose and Straus
were closed.  Today the former Penrose
School is part of Anchor Baptist Church & Ministry and Blue Ridge Community
College is located in the former Straus School.

If you have old photographs of
Penrose, Pisgah Forest or Straus Elementary Schools that you would be willing
to share as part of the photograph collection in the Local History Room at the
Library please contact Marcy.  If you
prefer to hold on to your photographs, bring them by and we can scan them or
donate a copy.

In 1960 the first Brevard Jr. High opened
in the old high school with grades 7-9 from Brevard, Straus and Penrose
Elementary Schools.  Although Penrose 7^th
graders didn’t go there until 1966 when all 9^th graders started as Freshmen
at BHS.  From 1966-1974 Brevard Jr. High
included only grades 7-8.

During the first semester of the 1974-75
school year 6^th graders from Brevard, Straus, and Pisgah Forest
Elementary Schools attended their current school.   To relieve overcrowding at Penrose
Elementary 6^th graders from that school were moved to town.

In January 1975 Brevard Middle School opened
for all 6-8 graders in the Brevard district. 
Brevard Elementary School also opened in January 1975.

Brevard Upper Elementary School

With all grades now in new buildings
the two oldest of the downtown school buildings were torn down during the next
few years.  The former Primary School now
houses the Tax Administration and Register of Deeds offices and the Upper
Elementary School is the Community Services building today.

Transylvania County Schools began kindergarten classes in
1973 with two classes in Brevard and one at Pisgah Forest Elementary.   The following year there was one class with
26 students at each elementary school, except Brevard which had two
classes.  This did not serve all
kindergarten age children in the county so the lottery system was used to
determine who attended.

Photographs
and information for this column are provided by the Rowell Bosse North Carolina
Room, Transylvania County Library.  Visit
the NC Room during regular library hours (Monday-Friday) to learn more about
our history and see additional photographs. 
For more information, comments or suggestions contact Marcy at [email protected] or 828-884-3151 X242.