Karen DeVincenzo, Boulder County. Tucked away along the winding roads of James Canyon, a little one-room schoolhouse sits proudly above the town of Jamestown. Thirteen miles northwest of Boulder, the town grew out of the mining boom in the 1800s. From the Peak to Peak Highway, it is a scenic drive down a winding dirt road for a mile and a half before turning to pavement and snaking down steep switchbacks for another four miles.

Jamestown was a gold mining camp originally called Elysian Park, and then Jimtown, named after one of the prospectors, Jim Smith. But when residents applied for a post office, federal officials changed it to the more formal version.

Jamestown Elementary School (JES) was first built just west of town in 1882, when a third mining boom had brought in so many people, a school was inevitable. It became School District Number 11, the oldest mountain school district in Boulder County. Currently a residence, it still has the recognizable character of the original log structure.

Some of the classes in the school had to be held in the evenings since many of the older boys were working in the mines during the day. School was in session for six months out of the year and at one time, there were 50 or 60 students under one teacher. One of these students was Douglas Fairbanks, the famous actor. At that time, the town also had three general stores, a blacksmith shop, a hotel, two saloons, a saw mill, an assay office, several gold-processing mills, the church, cabins and tents.

In 1900, a second school building was built in its current location above town to the south, on the corner of Mesa and Second, but was eventually razed and replaced in 1952 by a new frame structure that still stands there today. It is one of the only one-room schools remaining in the United States.

Today, JES’s dedicated staff consists of two full time teachers as well as extensive support staff and volunteers, serving 19 students in grades K-5. Students work in small, multi-age groups and a developmental level approach is emphasized, rather than a grade level one. One of its greatest strengths is nurturing lifelong lessons of respect, kindness and responsibility.

Throughout the years, the school has seen its challenges, but Jamestown is a resilient town and stands strong against adversity. In the early 2000s, Boulder Valley School District determined that some of the smaller schools were too much of a strain on the budget and attempted to shut them down. Parents, students, teachers and residents fought hard and relentlessly to keep the gem and heart of the town open. While some of the other schools in the valley were sadly not as successful, Jamestown Elementary pulled through.

In 2013, during the flood, Jamestown Elementary School, because of its location high above the town, became the safe haven for residents fleeing the threatening waters - in their pajamas, in the middle of the night. While violent water raged below, pulling homes, vehicles, and boulders with it, people sheltered in the school gym day and night with nothing but the clothes on their backs and school furnishings. Neighbors who were also stranded in their homes up there pooled their resources and provided food, water, blankets and pillows, and together as a community, they held one another up until helicopters were finally able to lift them out and carry them all down to safety.

From its roots in the mining camps, the little school house on the hill has held its ground for more than a century, proving to be more than just a building. Jamestown Elementary School is the heart of the town that keeps on beating.

(Originally published in the April 4, 2019, print edition of The Mountain-Ear.)