Schools & Libraries

10. Country Schoolhouse
Fort Hays State University
600 Park
Hays, KS 67601
785-628-4690
Free tours by appointment
http://www.fhsu.edu/smei/Plymouth-Schoolhouse/
http://bigcat.fhsu.edu/admissions/vr/class_3f.shtml

When the Germans settled on the Kansas high plains over a century ago, after homesteading a farm and establishing a church, the next priority was to build a schoolhouse.

Located on the campus of Fort Hays State University is the original Plymouth Country Schoolhouse. This school was moved to the campus in the fall of 1977 from Russell County.

Originally constructed in 1874, the schoolhouse was built from 3,000 quarried limestone blocks in the Russell County area. Subjects taught to the students ranging in age from 5 to 21 years were reading, penmanship, arithmetic, descriptive geography, physical geography, and physiology. Other subjects taught were U.S. history, declamation, drawing, algebra, and bookkeeping. Music was held by singing familiar songs parents taught their children. During recess children played games such as leap frog, baseball, follow-the-leader, marbles, drop-the-handkerchief, spin-the-bottle and tag.

Each year enrollment increased with the highest number of enrollees being 59 and with all the subjects in 8 grades it became difficult to teach in a one-room school. By 1904 attendance dropped sharply and the school closed until 1912 when it was opened for one year. It was again closed until 1915 when it reopened and stayed active until 1936. The school was then closed permanently at the end of the school year for several reasons, mainly lack of students, but also due to the depression, dust storms and drought.

The school educated approximately 150 children for eight years of their lives with at least 32 of them continuing on to become teachers.

Through the Phi Delta Kappa Education Honorary Organization and many volunteers, the Plymouth Country Schoolhouse was brought to the Fort Hays State University campus. This one room schoolhouse sits on the campus as a reminder to all of us where our education roots began and to show us how important education was to the pioneers of our area.

74. Fort Hays State University
600 Park
Hays, KS 67601
785-628-4000
Hours: 8:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Monday – Friday
Admission: Free tours available
www.fhsu.edu

Founded in 1902 on the grounds of an abandoned frontier military post, Fort Hays State University celebrated five years of Centennial activities that culminated in 2002, its 100th year.

From a humble but exciting beginning, when just two faculty members and a 19-course curriculum greeted 34 students, our university has grown to a faculty of nearly 300, a support staff of 250 and a student body of over 5,600. The University now offers hundreds of courses in each of its four main colleges: Education, Arts and Sciences, Business and Leadership, and Health and Life Sciences and Graduate School. The FHSU Virtual College provides many of the courses through various media to sites across Kansas and beyond. FHSU is governed by a Board of Regents appointed by the Governor of the state of Kansas.

FHSU is located in Hays, the largest city in northwest Kansas. Hays began as a wild frontier town and has grown into a progressive community of about 20,000 people. The old and new blend beautifully to form a city that is small enough to be comfortable yet large enough to provide abundant cultural, commercial and entertainment opportunities and in 1996 was the recipient of the All-America City award.

The University sits on a campus of 4,160 acres of land that once was part of the Historic Fort Hays frontier military post and recently expanded to include the relocated Sternberg Museum of Natural History on a site adjacent to Interstate 70 in northeast Hays. Big Creek, with its shady, grassy banks, meanders through the main campus, providing a tranquil learning atmosphere and serving as a natural laboratory for students in the biological sciences. With its stately limestone buildings and profuse flowers, trees and shrubs, our campus has often been called the prettiest in Kansas. 

FHSU is academically superior to many comparable universities, it offers students an electronic learning and living environment, and is richly endowed by heritage and tradition. Students come to the university for a multitude of reasons, but surveys show that their overwhelming reason is "the university's reputation for academic excellence and its caring faculty." The University supports one of the most extensive and successful intercollegiate sports programs of any comparably sized college or university in America, boasting numerous All-America athletes and national championships. More than 350 athletes compete annually in 8 men's and 7 women's sports.

The University also serves as the cultural center of western Kansas, featuring fine arts exhibitions, performing arts presentations by faculty, students and traveling professional troupes and a noted Presidential Lecture Series.

For more information about Fort Hays State University, call (785) 628-5666, or write: Director of Admissions, 600 Park St., Hays, KS. 67601. Check out our web site at www.fhsu.edu.

74. Forsyth Library
Fort Hays State University
600 Park Street
Hays, KS 67601
785-628-4431
Hours: Monday - Thursday 7:30 a.m. - Midnight
Friday 7:30 a.m. - 7 p.m.
Saturday 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Sunday 1 p.m. - Midnight
Summer Hours: Monday – Thursday 7:00 am–5:30 pm
Closed Fri, Sat & Sun.
Admission: Free

http://bigcat.fhsu.edu/future_students/virtual_campus/sites/forsyth.shtml  

The library on the campus of Fort Hays State University features three floors of books, magazines, periodicals, research materials, audio books, government forms, newspapers, microforms, newspapers, historical documents and reference materials. Visitors can see the replica model display of the Walker Air Base. 

75. Hays Academy of Hair Design
1214 E. 27th
Hays, KS 67601
785-628-6624
Fax: 785-623-4870
www.haysaca.com
Free tours by appointment

Hays Academy of Hair Design is a private beauty school that offers course work and training for students to become licensed cosmetologists. The school opened its doors on April 1st, 1981 in downtown Hays. In January of 2003, Summer Melvin and Danielle Markley (sisters) purchased the school with the vision of offering the community professional salon services while providing the students with an up to date education that will enable them to thrive in the beauty industry. The school was relocated to the current facility on East 27th Street.

Hays Academy of Hair Design prides itself with their state of the art facility. With the success of the student in mind, the facility was built to have a top notch salon as well as providing the students with five up to date classrooms. Also available to the students is a large break room where each student is provided their own locker for personal and school items.
Group bus tours are welcome to visit! Special demonstrations on makeup, hair styles and manicuring can be arranged with advance notice.
 

77. High Plains Christian School
2700 Canterbury
Hays, KS 67601
785-628-2558 or 785-628-1991

29. Hays Public Library
1205 Main
Hays, KS 67601
785-625-9014
www.hayspublib.org
Hours: 9 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday-Thursday
9 a.m. – 6 p.m. Friday
9 a.m. – 5 p.m. Saturday
1-5 pm Sunday (Closed on Sundays in the summer)

A nationally recognized leader for outstanding per capita usage, renovated and expanded in 2003 to match the original 1911 Carnegie library. The 39,000 square foot facility has an extensive book collection. It is also home to a dynamic young adult section, a beautiful gallery, a bookstore and an extensive Kansas collection with information about Hays, Ellis County, the Western U.S., genealogy, Volga Germans, and Hays historical walking tours. Just to the north of the library building is a marker with a bronze plaque that pays tribute and honors those men and women that served at the World War II Army Air Base located east of Hays near the community of Walker.

Lower level - Kansas Collection; Adult Fiction, Nonfiction, and Genre Books
 
Main Floor - Adult Department: New Books, Large Print Books, Audio Books,
         Periodicals, Reference, Non-English Materials, Video, Art,
         Internet & Reference Computers

Second Floor - Children's Department; Young Adult Department
 

87. Hays Public Schools
323 W. 12th Street
Hays, KS 67601
785-623-2400
Fax: 785-623-2409
www.usd489.com

The Hays Public School system includes six elementary schools, two middle schools and one high school. Other educational centers include the Hays Head Start, Parents as Teachers, Westside School, RURAL Grant programs and The Learning Center. The USD 489 district includes a 380-square mile area of Ellis County and serves approximately 3400 students.

The Hays community is a community that strives to have every child come to school ready to learn. They want them to be greeted at the door the first year and all the following years by a well-trained, highly competent teacher.

The school district provides safe and modern facilities conducive to a good learning atmosphere. In the Hays Public Schools we believe that we know what great education is. Great education is great teachers working with small classes in a positive environment with an abundance of time.

89. Hays Seventh-Day Adventist School
207 E. 4th
Hays, KS 67601
785-625-3975 or 785-623-4228.

State approved, teacher certified school for kindergarten through eighth-grade, focusing on a Christian education. Affiliated with the Seventh-Day Adventist Church

78. Holy Family Elementary
1800 Milner
Hays, KS 67601
785-625-3131
www.hfehays.org

Holy Family Elementary School is a Catholic school which provides religious education for children from the Immaculate Heart of Mary parish, St. Joseph parish, St. Nicholas of Myra parish and parishes in the surrounding area. The school has a preschool through sixth grade program. At Holy Family children receive an outstanding academic foundation from teachers and staff who share their Christian spirituality and values.

81. North Central Kansas Technical College 
2205 Wheatland Ave.
Hays, KS 67601
785-625-2437
Fax: 785-623-6152
Free tours available
http://www.ncktc.edu/hays_campus.htm

NCK Technical College - Hays Campus was established in 1975 in conjunction with NCK Technical College - Beloit, and traditionally provided technical education to students in Ellis and surrounding counties. However, with the addition of new programs and new campus facilities, the campus is growing to serve potential students from all over Kansas and parts of the southwest and south central Nebraska.

Technical education is provided in Automotive Mechanics, Business and Computer Technology, Business Management, Nursing (both LPN and RN levels) Pharmacy Technician and Residential Electricity. High school students from participating USD's may also attend programs in Automotive Mechanics.

All programs are nine months with the option of an Associate Degree in Business, Nursing and Pharmacy. An articulation agreement with Fort Hays State University now allows course work to transfer to FHSU for a Bachelor of Technology Leadership, Bachelor of General Studies in Information Networking and Telecommunications, or a Bachelor of Science or Arts in Information Networking and Telecommunications.

Big Creek Technical Center  
101 S. Main
785-301-2118

Big Creek Technical Center is a new campus facility for NCK Tech that was added in the fall of 2010 and is located on South Main Street in downtown Hays.

Interested individuals are encouraged to visit the campus. Tours may be scheduled, however walk-ins are always welcome!
The North Central Technical College Hays campus provides hands-on training in seven program areas.
- Associate Degree in Nursing
- Automotive Technology
- Business & Computer Technology
- Business Management
- Carpentry
- CDL, CNA and CMA Courses
- Construction Technology
- Electrical Technology
- General Business
- General Education Courses
- Nursing (LPN and RN)
- Pharmacy Technician
- Plumbing-Heating and Air Conditioning
- Residential Electrical
- Welding. 

84. Thomas More Prep-Marian High School
1701 Hall Street
Hays KS 67601
785-625-6577
Fax: 785-625-3912
Free tours available
www.tmp-m.org

At Thomas More Prep-Marian when we say, "Give us four years and we'll give you a lifetime," it is far more than just a clever slogan. It is a commitment, a commitment to excellence in academic education, athletic training, personal well being, social experiences, and spiritual growth. We are more than just a school. We are a family of committed adults and students who benefit from dedication and hard work. We believe that no child should be left behind, and we work to bring each young adult to be the best he/she can be.

What can you experience at TMP-Marian that you can't find at most high schools?

 - Family atmosphere with small class sizes
 - Spiritual formation
 - Diversity - as a day and boarding school, students come
          from all over the world!
 - Leadership opportunities