My name is Judy and I went to school in a Canadian village. My father and his family moved to a farm just outside Hyde Park, Ontario, in 1921 and like his children, attended S.S. 17 London Township. For him, school was a small brick building at the village corner. For my sister, Nancy and me, that was the "old" school. We went to the "new " school down the road. Although ours was the last in a series of Hyde Park Public Schools that began soon after settlement early in the nineteenth century, it was for me a testament to the optimism and promise of the 1950s. For those who were also children then, I hope my recollections bring back memories. For others, especially teachers, I hope they are of interest and help recreate the past for the children of today. For all, I hope they prompt thoughts on the nature of education and the relationship between school and community and why one is important to the other.