Kegonsa School History

Classes opened Tuesday, September 7, 1962 in the new Kegonsa Elementary School with 514 students enrolled. Total enrollment in the Stoughton Schools on opening day was 2,612.

Taxpayers, parents and other residents of the Stoughton School District were invited to inspect the new Kegonsa Elementary School on Sunday, November 4, 1962 at a dedication program and open house.

Bertrand Quale, school board president, was the master of ceremonies for the program which began with the singing of the “Star Spangled Banner,” Henry A. Olson, 515 Sherman St., assistant superintendent of schools was the speaker.

An American flag for the building was presented to Richard Carleton, principal by Mrs. Arvid Frank, president of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Badger Auxiliary No. 328; and keys to the building were turned over to Quale by Charles Woehrl, Madison architect, and Ralph Schlintz, Janesville, general contractor.

The program included the presentation of certificates to Ann Rogers, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Norvel Rogers, and to Mitchel Barry, son of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Barry, who submitted the name for the school; invocation and benediction by Rev. A. W. Stolen, pastor of the First Lutheran Church; songs by the sixth grade pupils directed by Mrs. Ingolf Roe, and the laying of the cornerstone near the front entrance.

Mr. Quale told how most of the city’s school buildings were built prior to 1900, the high school in 1908, and the old gym and former Central grade school in the 1920s. In 1941 the Community Building was completed, and in 1954 an addition to the high school was built.

The new Kegonsa and Yahara Elementary Schools helped meet kindergarten and grade school needs, but a new high school appears necessary in the near future he said.

Rural school districts became a part of the Stoughton District which included Bass Lake, Buckey Burritt, Cooksville, Door Creek, Fairview, Flint, Goff, Hanerville, Hildreth, Hillcrest, Kegonsa, Lakeside, Magelson, Maple Grove, Nora, Oak Lawn, Odland, Pleasant Grove, Pleasant Hill, Pleasant Springs, Rinden, Riverview, Starr, Stone, Sunnyside, Utica, West Koshkonong, and Wheeler Prairie.

The rural schools that were represented in the new Kegonsa Elementary School were: Hillcrest,

Kegonsa, Lakeside, Magelson, Maple Grove, Nora, Oak Lawn, Odland, Pleasant Grove, Pleasant Hill, Pleasant Springs, Rinden, Riverview, Starr, Stone, Sunnyside, Utica, West Koshkonong and Wheeler Prairie.