Since Bill McClaren started the 1895 Classroom program almost a dozen years ago, over 8,000 students have been able to come to the Museum for a morning or an afternoon, learn more about the Flathead Valley, and experience a day in the life of a student over a century ago.

This summer, the Museum at Central School is happy to share the McClaren 1895 Classroom experience with each and every member of our community, regardless of age! On Wednesday, July 31st, we will be having an open house to celebrate everything the program has achieved and introduce the 1895 Classroom to the community as a whole. This is an opportunity to not only show the Classroom in all its educational glory, but to thank everyone who has made the McClaren 1895 Classroom what it is today. Museum Director Jacob Thomas will speak on the history of this great program, lead teacher Carolyn Wondrow will walk everyone through a typical day in an 1895 schoolhouse, and a good yet rule-abiding time will be had by all.

The open house will also serve as the official opening of two new exhibits at the Museum at Central School. The Tools that Built the Valley illustrates the many hardships faced by Northwest Montana's earliest settlers and displays the tools used to overcome those struggles, the first step in making the Flathead Valley what it is today. The Central School Memories exhibition will feature photos, artifacts, and stories from every facet of the Central School building’s 125-year-old existence, from its early years as the educational hub in Kalispell, to the many efforts to save the building and establish a museum in the 1990s, to everything the Historical Society is currently doing to promote preservation and education in Northwest Montana.

The McClaren 1895 Classroom reception and ceremony will be free and open to the public, refreshments will be served, and all of the galleries will be open. Despite being the middle of summer, it will certainly be a day you’ll want to attend school, so don’t be absent or tardy!