Husband, wife looking for input on one-room school house in Eldred Twp.

The Frantz School House is seen Monday, June 22, 2015. The building is being repaired by Tony and Renee Giordano who hope to offer it as a public space to the community. (Amy Herzog/Pocono Record)

By Lynn Ondrusek
Pocono Record Writer

After repairing an old one room school house in Eldred Township the owners are hoping it could be used for much more.

Tony Giordano, along with his wife, saw the Frantz School House on Church Road while they lived down the road from it and saw “for sale” signs all over the property last fall. Fearing a developer would buy the land, they bought it and put the property in the Pennsylvania Clean and Green program, promising not to develop the land, Giorando said.

After fixing the roof, siding, securing the building from the inside and adding a decorative steel door to the front, Giorando said it’s time to figure out how the building can benefit the community.

“It would be great to see people having a meeting or some kind of civic event there,” he said.

They are inviting the community to come out and see the inside of the school house at 10 a.m. July 11 and then to sit and come up with ideas for the building, Giorando said. He hopes to find out more information on the building as well.

Inside of the one-room school house are slate chalk boards, old desks and a large cast iron stove in the middle of the building, which Giorando said he would like to get working again. There are also outhouses behind the school house, he said. There is one for boys and one for girls.

This week he is trying to get the electric turned on at the property.

“Basically, we’re putting heads together and having people give ideas and talk about it,” he said. “We’re wide open to everyone’s ideas on the interior. ”

Giorando said he would like to add some signage to the front of the building, a fence and a few gardens as well. He wants to keep it a fun project.

One idea he has for an exhibit in the school house is a jar filled with old square nails he has been finding. The old-fashioned nails were sifted from older buildings that were burned down and were reused.

“It’s really just a fun project,” he said, adding some things will just need volunteers, like mowing the grass. “We would be willing to find someone to mow (the grass) sometime.”

There is very little information available about the school, Giordano said, and if anyone has information on the school he is welcome to hear it.

The school house was one of seven that served Eldred Township and was in use until 1945 when it was closed and all the students were moved to the Gower School, also a one-room school house.

In 1953 all the school houses were closed and the children attended the four-class a consolidated school, Giordano said. The township is part of the modern day Pleasant Valley School District.

The Gower School has collapsed since, but the Correll School on Silver Springs Boluvard is still standing, but beyond repair, he said. The Klinetop School was converted into a home several year ago, he added.