Custer County School Districts
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ANSELMO-MERNA PUBLIC SCHOOLS
The Anselmo-Merna High School was organized in 1963 with the joining of the Anselmo and Merna High Schools. A new Anselmo-Merna High School was built in 1968. The first school at Anselmo was started in 1887. A frame structure was built in the late 1880?s to house the first school. This building served as the school and church. In 1915 a new brick schoolhouse was built. By 1927 the school had grown to the point of needing a new high school. In January, 1928, a new brick high school was opened. A gym was added to the school in the 1940?s. This served the community until the high school consolidated with Merna in 1963. The closing of the Anselmo School happened in December, 1980. The students that attended that fall began attending school in Merna in January, 1981. The first schoolhouse in Merna was built in 1888. The school was rebuilt across from the Catholic Church in 1908. Part of the new school was finished in 1925. In 1930 a tornado came through and destroyed half of the building. The school was repaired and added onto that year and served as the K-12 Merna Public School until the late 1960?s when they consolidated with Anselmo. The building then became the Merna Elementary School until 1981 when the Anselmo Elementary School closed and the elementary became the Anselmo-Merna Elementary School. In 1990 a bond issue was passed to add on to the north end of the high school. This was to increase the availability of technology and allow more room for classes. This addition of new classrooms, art room, science classroom and lab, computer lab, industrial technology classroom and lab, commons area, music room, weight room, wrestling room, boys and girls locker rooms, distance learning classroom, and media center more than doubled the size of the Anselmo-Merna High School. In the fall of 1996 an activities building was built between the high school and elementary school. A brand new elementary school opened in 2002 with 9 classrooms, media center, technology lab, and music room. It joined the high school building with the activities building to form one large connected campus that has become one of the finest school districts in the state. In the fall of 2006 the Anselmo-Merna Public Schools began their 1-to-1 Computer Initiative. At that time, teachers were issued a MacIntosh MacBook Laptop Computer for classroom instruction. Students in grades 9 – 12 were issued their own MacBook laptop computer in January of 2007. These computers were for their use for the remainder of the school year. In 2008, 7th and 8th grade students were issued laptop computers for in school use only. Anselmo-Merna Public Schools in only one of a select few school districts in the State of Nebraska to be involved in the 1-to-1 Computer Initiative
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BROKEN BOW PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Broken Bow is a community of about 3,500 nestled in the Nebraska Sandhills, a ranching and farming region in the north central part of the state. The Broken Bow Public Schools are a K-12 educational system with about 820 students and about 70 certificated faculty members.
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CALLAWAY PUBLIC SCHOOLS
The first school meeting held in Callaway was a hotly contested affair, held August 1, 1887 in the Deems Opera House; C. W. Root, moderator Dr, A. L. Mathews, director, and F. A. Clark, treasurer. The tract offered by Smith and Needham was considered the best location and their proposition was accepted, the tract located south across the creek from the original townsite. A unanimous vote was cast for a nine month school starting in September 1887, bonds voted not to exceed $1,500 for the building. The contract for building a two-story brick schoolhouse was awarded to John Wirges and S. R. Idell. The brick was from the helm of Mr. Wirges, of Callaway. This was the first two-story building erected in Custer County and the people of the community carried the project through by subscribing liberally in money and material to have the second story erected, there being barely enough funds in the treasury to complete one story. School senses, 1888–54. The new brick school was ready for use in the fall of 1889; the first class graduated from the tenth grade in 1893. The bell on the school house, which was donated by the Ladies Union, was put up. The bell weighs about 200 pounds and is a beauty. It has a very sweet tone and can be heard for a long distance. This bell is now located at the west side of the Callaway School. This building was blown down and completely wrecked June 4, 1894 in a terrible storm. After the destruction of the brick building, a frame building about the same size was built. This was completed during the summer of 1894 and was ready for occupancy by the time school started in the fall. This building served the community for fourteen years. During this time Callaway had its greatest growth and the building became inadequate in size in a few years and a one-room building was built to take care of the increase in enrollment, but this was not sufficient. John Smith bought the building, dismantled it and built the big barn on his farm (now owned by Fred Smith.) In 1907 bonds were voted for the erection of a new building. The amount of the bonds issue was $22,000, the total cost of the building and grounds was $25,000. The building was completed in January, 19009. In the fall of 19009, the 11th grade was added and in the fall 1919, the 12th grade was added. It contained two stories and a basement and was 50×70 feet in size. This building was town down in the summer of 1959. In 1922 bonds to amount of $45,000 were voted for the purpose of erecting a high school building. The building was completed the following January. The high school was transferred to the new building. It was 60×80 with two stories and a basement. This building was razed in 1974 when the new Junior-Senior High building was ready for occupancy. In January, 1921-23, the agriculture building was added at a cost of $5700. The one-story building is 50×60 and is now used for storage. In 1958 bonds in the amount of $293,000 were voted for the purpose of building a new grade school and auditorium. The grade school has classrooms for grades Kindergarten through Sixth, auditorium, athletic dressing rooms and a new heating plant. School opened in the new building September, 1959. The planning for the present building began in 1971 by the School Board. The first public meeting was held in March 1972, with the bond issue election being held May 2, 1972. Eighty seven percent of the voters voted YES on the $697,000 bonds. The plans called for 42,000 square feet of new constructio0n. Hinde Laurinat and Nelson of North Platte were the architects and Roedar Brothers Construction Company of Kearney were the General Contractors. Total cost of the new structure is $830,948. This includes all construction costs, architects fees, new furniture and equipment, demolition of the old building and extra cement and siding of yard. Interest on money invested yielded $48, 500 and a grant of $8833 from Title III funds for equipment, totaled $57,333 of total cost. New cost to the local School District was $773,615 of $19.78 per square foot. The first classes were held September, 1974.