Amboy School

This tiny school managed to have an U. S. astronaut, Lacy Veach, speak at their graduation ceremony in 1991. Veach had just spent 10 days in space aboard the Challenger shuttle. The ceremony honored one kindergarten graduate and three eighth grade graduates. The visit was arranged by the teacher who had attended school with Veach as a child in Hawaii.

Like small town schools everywhere, this one grew and dwindled with the school age population. In 1991 there was a total of 22 students attending the one room school. They spanned from kindergarten through grade eight. The description of the school makes me think this might have the sole classroom for that year. One teacher and one aide made up the teaching staff This was one of only 32 one room schools in California and about 700 in the whole country in 1991.

As a side note, Mary McGee, one of the last two teachers at the Amboy School had purchased the Whiting Brothers Station in Newberry Springs in 1982 with hopes of restoring it. The restoration didn't happen, but the station still stands.

The larger building closer to the road appears to have been a gymnasium / cafeteria / auditorium. In early 2015 there was some talk about turning the property into an artists colony. That would require the local school district that owns the building to approve the use and transition either through a lease or sale of the property. I'm not sure what happened to that proposal.