Meanwhile, Bradshaw taught multiplication and simple arithmetic to the first and third graders in a room that is also the library. Yajaira Lazos, the other aide, worked on counting with the youngest children in another classroom that also serves as the cafeteria. Huston said the school’s environment encourages students of all ages to work independently, without constant monitoring from adults.

“Our kids just learn to get things done and that their behavior is key to getting those things done,” she said.

The classrooms have an open floor plan, and the children can sit where they choose. The furniture is a mix of district-provided equipment and Huston’s garage sale finds and donations, which makes the space feel more like a living room than a classroom.

The older children understand that they’re models for the younger ones and often help them with their assignments, or with heating up their lunches in the cafeteria microwaves. They even encourage the younger kids to pay attention when they get rowdy.

“A lot of times they don’t understand and we’ve done it before, and it would be rude to not help them,” sixth grader Bailey Bradshaw said. “They are my friends and it’s such a small school, so you just help your friends.”

Growing teachers

Huston comes from a long line of teachers — her mother and grandmother both taught in one-room schoolhouses.

Growing up in rural Wisconsin, though, Huston wanted to be a nurse. But when she struggled with anatomy classes in college, her professors and parents finally convinced her to go into teaching.

“And now I can’t see myself doing anything else,” she said.

Huston moved to Nevada in 1991 to work at a one-room K-8 tribal school on the Duckwater Shoshone Reservation, not far from the Duckwater School. She spent eight years there before moving to Las Vegas for a job teaching fourth grade at a much larger school.

That was a tough year for Huston. She had 40 students and never felt like she had the time to connect with them. Huston missed working with children one-on-one.

As it happened, the teacher at the Duckwater public school was retiring the next year. Huston applied and got the job. She moved back to the area with her three children — all of whom attended the school — and started in the fall of 1999.

For many years, she had no teaching aides, making it difficult to juggle the varying grade levels in years when she had larger class sizes. She had to make sure the kindergartners were learning to read without letting the older children fall behind. And even if she didn’t feel well, she still came to school, not wanting to cancel classes.