TOP ROW - Grand Prairie School Bell

Grand Prairie School Bell, 1863-1955

Donor: Kalamazoo Board of Education, 1961

For nearly 100 years, the ringing of this bell called children to Grand Prairie School. Built at the corner of Drake and Grand Prairie Roads in Kalamazoo Township, it was the last one-room schoolhouse in Kalamazoo County. It symbolizes a commitment to education that dates from the beginning of Kalamazoo history.

A Legacy of Education

The first public schools in Kalamazoo County were opened in 1833, just four years after the first settlers arrived. That same year the Michigan and Huron Institute (now Kalamazoo College) was founded. Western Normal School (now Western Michigan University) opened its doors in 1903, and in 1966 Kalamazoo Valley Community College was established.

The Kalamazoo School Case and the Kalamazoo Promise

In 1874, some citizens challenged the legality of tax support for high schools. In the Kalamazoo School Case, the Michigan Supreme Court established the constitutionality of tax funding for high school. 

In 2006, private citizens established the Kalamazoo Promise, a fund to pay college tuition for graduates of Kalamazoo’s public high schools, continuing the community’s historical commitment to education.