By DONALD R. SERFASS

dserfass@tnonline.comSomething special is happening at a former school in Kidder Township and it deserves an A+.Volunteers have teamed with the township to repurpose Albrightsville School.Nancy Shields, Carl Fricke, Raelene Eckley and others launched Schoolhouse Central Inc., a charitable organization focused on creating a community cultural, education and arts center at the old one-room schoolhouse.The township already spent $10,000 for necessary renovations at the old building and will charge the nonprofit rent of $1 per year.For that investment, many good things will happen in the community, such as monthly luncheons and seminars.Even more, the Pennsylvania State Police has expressed interest in conducting awareness programs at the site.The school's original furnishings will be stored for now, opening up the school's space for reuse.In summary, Schoolhouse Central promises to return a valuable piece of Americana to a prominent role in the community.This isn't the first time local residents have stepped forward to save our one-room schoolhouses.Years ago, similar devotion by Roy Christman and others helped to save the 1898 Kibler School which stood at the corner of Pohopoco Drive and Penn Forest Road in Towamensing Township.Christman was sentimental about the place because he'd spent his first six school years there, eventually graduating from Palmerton High School.When the township built a new elementary school in 1955, the Kibler School was closed and its role changed. For a time it served as a shed for farm produce. Then, in 1996, the school's owner donated it to what was then the Lehigh Gap Historical Society. It was moved to 6495 Pohopoco Drive that same year.The Kibler School was lovingly restored by a group called Kibler School Committee and the Palmerton Area Historical Society.Today it can be seen standing proud on land provided by Christman just a few miles from the school's original location.Visitors can go inside and experience the frugal, bare-bones educational setting of people who made our country great.Everything about a one-room school was plain and unadorned, reflecting simplicity in a land of pioneers.Often those schools had no electricity. Plus, no running water. Typically two primitive outhouses, one for boys and one for girls.In the most basic of shelters, a single teacher taught academics to pupils in elementary grades one to eight.The schools were a common sight.Their distinctively large windows and bell tower beckoned to students from all around the countryside. The schools dotted the landscape like apple trees.Inside, four humble walls cradled a world of knowledge while a potbelly stove warmed body, mind and soul.They might've been innocuous, but one-room schoolhouses fostered excellence, in part through small class size and the opportunity for individualized attention.The rural, one-room schoolhouse was a foundation of excellence, as strong a symbol of Americana as mom's apple pie.Yes, they were plain, almost barren. But they served a vital purpose and did it extremely well.Godspeed to those who work at preserving our one-room schoolhouses, where simple surroundings molded the great minds that built our nation.Somehow, the three R's never looked better.