The above image is one of eight images on the Town of Sodus Mural located at 31 State St., Sodus NY 14551. It is on the south side of State Street on the  wall of Laundry Junction. This image depicts the late 1800s.

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.

This is what the schoolhouse looks like today (2017). Photo courtesy Edith Farrington