Rock Dale School houses literacy program

By WAYNE QUESENBERRY/Staff

Classes are back in session at the old Rock Dale School after a long absence. One-on-One Literacy Program of Wythe and Grayson Counties Inc. is now housed in the historic building at 280 S. 5th St. in Wytheville.
“Oh, I think it’s great,” noted Joan Bolduc, program director. “It’s a wonderful facility. It’s a little old schoolhouse and in a nice location. My main concern is that it will be utilized.”
The One-on-One Literacy Program has been helping adults in Wythe and Grayson counties learn to read and write or to improve their reading and writing skills since 1987. Math and computer skills are taught, too.
Any adult resident of these two counties who needs assistance with reading, writing, math or computer skills is eligible to participate. All materials, books and tutoring are free.
As director of the program, Bolduc recruits tutors and students for twice-a-week private sessions. All tutors are certified through Pro-Literacy America after completing special training.
“There are over 8,000 people in Wythe and Grayson counties, ages 25 and above, with less than a ninth-grade education,” Bolduc said. “Many are in need of tutoring. Fourteen point two percent of the population of Wythe County and 18 percent of the population of Grayson County are functionally illiterate.”
There are between 15 and 20 Wythe County students in the program at any given time, according to Bolduc.
The focus, she said, is on low-level readers and non-readers to the fourth-grade level. With a primary emphasis on reading, the program prepares the students for the Adult Education Program, which requires its participants to be able to read on a fifth-grade level.
One-on-One Literacy Program of Wythe and Grayson Counties Inc. is funded by the United Way of Wythe County, Twin Communities United Way, the Virginia Literacy Foundation and by donations from businesses and organizations. It also received a donation from the Wythe-Bland Community Foundation Inc. this year.
According to the history of the Rock Dale School, the structure began as a log cabin north of Wytheville in the 1880s. It provided a place for the public education of children in the Rock Dale community.
The original building was replaced by the present structure, which is approximately 100 years old. Public education ended there in 1939-40 and students were bused to Wytheville schools.
The structure was moved from Rock Dale Road in 1944 to its current location near the old Wytheville Training School building and used as an annex to the training school. Fourth-grade African-American children were educated there until 1954 when all schools in Wythe County were integrated.
Before housing the literacy program, the building was home of the Rock Dale Café. It also was the site of a beauty salon.
“We’re pleased to still be located near the training center,” Bolduc added. “We will still have access to the school’s computers.”
For more information about the One-on-One Literacy Program of Wythe and Grayson Counties Inc., call Bolduc at 228-5225.
Wayne Quesenberry can be reached at 228-6611 or .