The Secret School

Hiding her fear, Ida walks over to Herbert. She asks why he comes to school. He says he comes because he wants to. She reminds him that, as members of a school they voted to keep open, the students can vote him out. He’ll become known as “a skulking, low-down, lazy dud” (53). She asks the other students if they want to kick Herbert out. All hands rise. Herbert caves in and opens his history book.

The morning passes quickly. Ida finally remembers to call for a recess, and the kids pile outside to play. Tom lingers: He asks if he, too, must call her “Miss Bidson.” She looks away and says yes, then adds that she doesn’t know if she’s strong enough to succeed as the teacher. Tom assures her that she’s “doing fine.” He warns her, though, not to forget who she really is.

Following the recess, Mary and Felix continue to read aloud from their primers; they also get help from Tom on arithmetic. Ida works with Charley, who’s practicing parsing sentences, while Natasha assists Herbert, who’s behind on math. Suzie works on penmanship.

The day goes well, but Ida feels exhausted. Tom approaches the desk and quietly informs her that it’s past closing time; Ida quickly excuses the students. At home, she fills in her father on the day. He brings her a wind-up clock to help her manage the school schedule. It’s noisy, but he wraps it in fleece, and she can put it in a desk drawer.

Friday goes smoothly, but Ida finds the hard weekend farm work soothes her. On Monday, class resumes but without Herbert. On Tuesday, he’s back, acting as if he never left. Following Miss Fletcher’s approach, students read aloud and recite; together, they also practice geography, history, penmanship, grammar, math, and singing. Friday includes contests: As usual, Natasha wins spelling, and Tom wins math.

Ida learns to let the students ask questions and have discussions, which gives her time to relax a bit.

One afternoon, Tom shows his hand-made crystal radio. Made from a cardboard tube, copper wiring, a “shiny stone,” and other parts, it’s new to most of the kids, and they gather around it. Tom pushes a long wire through the window as an antenna. Herbert goes outside and, climbing up the roof, attaches it to the bell tower. He rings the bell and yells, “School’s out!” Everyone laughs.

Inside, Tom moves the pointer across the crystal stone until he picks up a station in Utah that plays jazz. He loses its signal, then dials around with the pointer until he finds station KDL in Denver. It’s announcing the day’s livestock prices. Each student takes a turn listening. Felix cries, “They’re talking about sheep!” (63) Tom explains how the radio works; Ida admires his enthusiasm. Kids take turns listening while he moves the pointer, and they yell out the names of cities where the radio stations are. One is from Chicago; the station is covering a baseball game.

During afternoon recess, a lady from the County Education Office arrives and wants to speak with the teacher. 

Ida recognizes the tall lady who steps into the schoolhouse. It’s Miss Sedgewick, who lives 20 miles south in Steamboat Springs, where Ida wants to attend high school. Miss Sedgewick inspects schools and gives the exit exams. She introduces herself to Ida, who says she’s the teacher. Miss Sedgewick is surprised at how young Ida looks but compliments her on the orderliness of the classroom.

Miss Sedgewick mentions that the eighth-grade exit exam is coming up in a few weeks. Tom raises his hand as a candidate, and she notes his name. As she leaves, Tom tells Ida that if the lady doesn’t know that Ida wants to take the exam, Ida might not receive a test. Ida runs outside and explains to Miss Sedgewick that she’s in eighth grade, that the students voted to keep the school open, and that she and Tom need to finish the year so they can take the exam. Ida adds that she wants to become a teacher.

Miss Sedgewick asks if they’ve informed the school board. Ida says no, but her folks know about it. Miss Sedgewick admits that this is the most unusual situation she’s seen in 15 years with the county. She declares, “I’ll have to look into this” (72), and drives off.

Ida asks if anyone told their parents about her new role as teacher, but no one admits to it. She asks that they continue to keep the knowledge to themselves. After school, Tom says she’s a good teacher, but Ida thinks that won’t sway the officials. On the way home, Ida remembers the faraway cities they heard from on Tom’s radio: “Elk Valley had never seemed so isolated” (73).

After several days with no return visit from Miss Sedgewick, the other children begin to relax, but Ida continues to worry. She wants all the students to perform well at the end of the session, so she evaluates each of them. Some are ahead, but some are struggling. She realizes that she, too, has fallen behind: Between teaching, grading papers, and farm chores, there’s almost no time left for her studies.

Tom asks her to help him with a book passage. He shows her the scene in Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar when Mark Antony, at Caesar’s funeral, says to the crowd, “Lend me your ears” (76). All eighth graders memorize the passage. Tom says he doesn’t understand it. Ida realizes he’s trying to tell her something. She says it means the speaker wants the crowd to listen. Tom asks if that’s all it means. She tosses the question back at him; he says she’s the teacher, and her answer will settle it. Embarrassed, she goes back to her desk.

The next morning, she must be awakened by her mother to do her chores. She dozes while milking the cow, then realizes she’s late and, in her hurry, stumbles and spills the milk. She goes to her father and bemoans her failure. He hugs her and says she’s old enough to be responsible for her own mistakes, and there’s no shame in admitting that her quest might be too hard. He asks whether she wants to be treated as a child or a grown-up. She says she doesn’t know. He says, “Honey, that makes two of us” (80).

At school, she finds an apple on her desk. Perhaps the class appreciates her efforts after all. She asks who gave her the fruit. Tom awkwardly raises his hand. She doesn’t want him to think of her simply as a teacher, but she manages a thank-you.

Herbert has been absent for three days. After school, Ida and Felix drive to the Bixler house to check on him. It’s a shabby place. Mr. Bixler, a man with a big mustache, greets her from a distance. She says she wants to check on Herbert. Mr. Bixler says he’s told Miss Fletcher not to come around asking about his son. Ida blurts out that it’s she who’s teaching now because Miss Fletcher had to leave. Mr. Bixler asks if the school board knows about this. She hesitates; he tells her to stop visiting, or he’ll inform the board.

Ida and Felix drive to Tom’s house. His family farm is as tidy as Mr. Bixler’s is decrepit. Tom and his sister are on the front porch; Tom is fussing with a small printing press from the junk shop in town. She tells him what happened at the Bixler farm and worries about what will happen if Mr. Bixler informs the school board. Tom says he doesn’t know but admits that he’s mentioned her teaching efforts to his folks: “Said they always figured you as smart” (89).

Ida fears she’s ruined everything by telling Mr. Bixler. Tom says he can’t imagine her ruining anything (89-90). Feeling shy, Ida walks back to the car. She calls out to Tom, saying his and her family farms are so different from Mr. Bixler’s, and she wonders why. Tom thinks maybe they’ll learn about that sort of thing in high school.

Despite her heavy schedule, Ida loves teaching. As spring warms up, though, she feels the urge to get outside, stretch, and play. One beautiful morning, she announces to the students that, from this day forward, she, too, will take a recess break and, during that time, she will just be Ida. The kids love the idea.

Outside, she runs fast and long, then flops down in the grass and looks up at the blue sky and snowy mountains. She returns to the yard, where Tom leads a game of Crack the Whip with Ida at the end. They run faster and faster and finally let go of her: She flies through the air and splashes down in the pond. Stunned but exhilarated, Ida bursts into laughter, and the others join in.  

At that moment, school inspector Sedgewick arrives. Ida, dripping and muddy, walks to the schoolroom with Miss Sedgewick and the others. The lady announces that it’s okay if Ida teaches, but every student must take an exam to get credit for the term. The kids vote on it, and, despite some resistance from Herbert—who fears he’ll fail the test—all finally agree.

At home, still wearing her muddy dress, Ida talks to her mom about the day. She’s afraid she ruined everything by letting herself relax during recess. Her mom says she must always set an example for her students, but Ida rebels at the idea that she must be perfect: “That’s not fair! […]. I’m a person, too” (103).

Mrs. Bidson says she spoke with Mr. Bixler, who says he’s thinking about informing the school board about Ida’s recent teaching activities. Ida complains that Mr. Bixler doesn’t seem to want his son in school. Her mom replies that Mr. Bixler lost his wife when Herbert was little, that a disease decimated his sheep, and that his money problems have worsened; perhaps he’s just venting his frustrations.

Ida frowns. Her mom asks what else bothers her. She replies that, with her heavy schedule, she’s neglecting her studies. She might be the only student who fails the exit test. Her mom suggests she begin by changing into clean clothes.