Newtown School & Community Association

Return to a time and place when segregation forced African American children to attend separate schools.  Many schools were erected in predominately African American neighborhoods in rural areas to educate children.  In 1921, a new Rosenwald school was erected in Rockingham County, VA with 2 acres of land donated by local businessman Robert O. Nizer.  The school opened during the 1921-1922 school year with 67 students from the surrounding communities in Elkton, VA and a budget of $4,500 with $2,628 from Rockingham County, $1,000 from the Rosenwald Fund, and $832 from the local African American community.   The school, designed as a “three-teacher school,” had two classrooms for students in grades one through seven. An outdoor bathroom was added later, and the building was eventually expanded to include a kitchen area.  The school served the African American children of Elkton community until 1965 as the Newtown (East Elkton) School.  After its closure, the building served as a store for some time before being sold for $500 and converted into an auction house.

Today, the former Newtown School is the only remaining Rosenwald School in Rockingham County. In 2002, the National Trust for Historic Preservation listed Rosenwald Schools among the 11 Most Endangered Historic Places.   

To honor the legacy of the Rosenwald School, a historical marker was erected in 2017.