Mountaintop School History

More than one hundred years of history and twenty-five schoolhouses have contributed to the "stories" and establishment of the Mountaintop Elementary School.

The first schoolhouse in Snow Shoe, "The Askey School House," was built in the late 1820's or early 1830's. It was located on Karthaus Road, near Askey's, which is now where Askey Cemetery is located. The schoolhouse was built of logs and a clapboard roof.

Due to the growing population in Snow Shoe, the one room schoolhouse could not accommodate the increased number of scholars. The school board then purchased the lot across the street and built a larger school. In 1870 a new double room school was erected and used until 1880.

In 1880 a three-room school building was built and used until 1907. Snow Shoe High School was also built in 1907. The first class to graduate from Snow Shoe High School, five girls, was in 1910. In 1912 inside plumbing was installed in both buildings.

In the spring of 1924 an athletic program was introduced with a track team and football team which played for the first time at Snow Shoe High School the following fall. Boys and Girls basketball and baseball were added a few years later. The all-brick gymnasium was built in late 1932. In 1946 a band was formed.

In 1952 Snow Shoe joined with other school districts in the Bald Eagle Valley to form the Bald Eagle Joint School District. The last high school class to graduate as "Snow Shoe" was in 1956.

Our current building, constructed in 1961 as Snow Shoe Elementary, was renamed the Mountaintop Area Elementary School in 1994 when it was renovated and consolidated with Clarence Elementary.

A list of Schools of the "Mountaintop Area":
1. Askey's
2. Depot
3. Gray's
4. Kato
5. Moshannon
6. Stewart's Siding
7. Sugar Camp
8. Holt's
9. Gorton or Gordon or Gordon Heights
10. Star
11. Fountain
12. Camp Grove
13. Clarence or Hilltop
14. Clarence
15. Scotchtown
16. Poorman Side
17. Cherry Run
18. Twenty-Six

Burnside Township Schools:
1. Laurel Run
2. Germania or German Settlement
3. Summit
4. Summit
5. Union School
6. Pine Glen
7. Star

Courtesy of The Bald Eagle Area School District

http://www.beasd.org/beaweb/index.html