Old Rock School

07/15/2024

The Old Rock School Renovation Project is right on track! There is so much going on in the final push. Flooring! Ceilings! Fixtures! Painting! Check out the progress below. There is still time to get your name on a seat by making a contribution to the project. Currently, we are at $100,702 of our $150,000 goal. The deadline for donations is September 15, 2024. Please consider donating to this project. Donations are available online here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/rock-school-renovations
or via check to Historic Valdese Foundation - PO BOX 655 Valdese, NC 28690

06/24/2024

Old Rock School renovation update! As of 6/24/24, we are right on track for completing the project on time. That means the END OF JULY! Become part of the project by sponsoring a seat. Honor your loved one by making a contribution online: https://gofund.me/4a85ae4f - We are nearing $100k raised of our $150k goal. Help us continue the legacy!

06/20/2024

Exciting things are happening at the Old Rock School with the current renovations...but this also means technical difficulties at times! The Old Rock School staff will only be reachable via email until Monday, June 24th!

Morrissa Angi: [email protected]
Annie South: [email protected]

Thank you for your patience!

06/19/2024

The beauty of being 100 years old...

06/12/2024

05/13/2024

The Old Rock School renovation project is moving right along. Phase 2 was approved this week by Town Council and our donations continue to climb. Thank you to all our wonderful donors for bringing our auditorium seating total to $90,441 as of 5/10/24. Donations are still being accepted! Seat sponsorships are accepted here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/rock-school-renovations

04/29/2024

https://fb.watch/rLEIY9ke0C/

04/23/2024

Hey Valdese- we need your help! Do you have photos of the Old Rock School from 1970-now? We are especially looking for photos of celebrations & photos on the iconic staircase with the school as the backdrop! We've gone through facebook groups such as "If you grew up in Valdese", etc. and now we're calling on YOU!

If you have an awesome photo to share, please email it [email protected] or bring it by the school and we'll make a copy! Thank you!

04/22/2024

The North Carolina Rural Infrastructure Authority (RIA) has approved 31 grant requests to local governments totaling $10,982,835, Governor Roy Cooper announced today. The requests include commitments to create a total of 565 jobs, 135 of which were previously announced. The public investment in thes...

04/15/2024

Renovation update as 4/15/24! Exciting changes are happening every day!

Thank you to all our wonderful donors who have invested in this historic building! Every dollar helps us reach our goal of $150,000! Donate via the project GoFundMe - https://www.gofundme.com/f/rock-school-renovations - or directly to Historic Valdese Foundation at PO Box 655 Valdese, NC 28690

04/05/2024

03/27/2024

Please join us in thanking our Old Rock School Renovation Project sponsors. We truly appreciate their generous contributions to the renovation!
If you would like to donate to the project, contributions may be made in the following ways:
Online - https://www.gofundme.com/f/rock-school-renovations
By Mail:
Historic Valdese Foundation
PO Box 655 Valdese, NC 28690
To the Town of Valdese directly - via PO Box 339 Valdese, NC 28690

Please join us in thanking our Old Rock School Renovation Project sponsors. We truly appreciate their generous contributions to the renovation!

If you would like to donate to the project, contributions may be made in the following ways:
Online - https://www.gofundme.com/f/rock-school-renovations
By Mail:
Historic Valdese Foundation
PO Box 655 Valdese, NC 28690

To the Town of Valdese directly - via PO Box 339 Valdese, NC 28690

03/08/2024

The Old Rock School Renovation Project started off fast! Check out the progress in the video below. Thank you to our donors for helping us reach $20,425 in just one week!

Please consider joining us as we celebrate the Old Rock School and its value to the Valdese community.

Donate online here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/rock-school-renovations

Donations of $10,000 or more will receive a commemorative plaque on two rows of premium seats and be prominently recognized.

Donations of $5,000 or more will receive a commemorative plaque on a row of seats and be prominently recognized.

Donations of $1,000 or more will receive a commemorative plaque on four auditorium seats and be prominently recognized.

Donations of $500 or more will receive a commemorative plaque on two auditorium seats.

Donations of $300 or more will receive a commemorative plaque on an auditorium seat and will receive recognition on the ORS webpage for the duration of the project.

Donations of $100 or more will receive recognition on the Old Rock School webpage for the duration of the project.

03/05/2024

03/04/2024

Please consider donating to this Old Rock School Renovation Project - All donations are tax deductible. Help continue bringing arts and culture to Valdese and beyond for another 100 years!

Donate online here: https://gofund.me/5fc5ab28
Or donate via check to:
Historic Valdese Foundation - PO BOX 655 Valdese, NC 28690

The Old Rock School was built in 1922 in downtown Valdese, NC and is a unique meeting facility.

03/04/2024

Demolition is in full swing! Let the excitement begin!

03/04/2024

Please consider donating to this Old Rock School Renovation Project - All donations are tax deductible. Help continue bringing arts and culture to Valdese and beyond for another 100 years!

Donate online here: https://gofund.me/5fc5ab28
Or donate via check to:
Historic Valdese Foundation - PO BOX 655 Valdese, NC 28690

02/28/2024

Have you heard? The Old Rock School is getting a makeover this Spring. Follow our project page to see the progress. - Old Rock School Renovation Project

02/22/2024

Contribute to the Old Rock School Renovation Project Here: https://gofund.me/150c063e

The Historic Valdese Foundation is proud to announce a partnership with the Town of Valdese Community Affairs Department in the “Old Rock School Renovation Project,” planned for the Spring of 2024. In 2022, the Old Rock School was a recipient of a Rural Transformation Fund Grant from the North Carolina Main Street & Rural Planning Center. The project will focus on renovations that will greatly improve accessibility and revamp the event venue, with efforts strongly focused on the auditorium.

The facility was also awarded a grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission for equipment upgrades, with a generous match from a local foundation. Funding secured, the Community Affairs Department has completed the planning phase and renovation plans with SGA|NW Architecture of Charlotte, NC. Grant funds total $970,000 for construction and equipment and the Town of Valdese has committed an additional $216,000 for auditorium improvements. The foundation is asking for the community’s help to replace the auditorium seating. The current seating was installed as part of the 1986 renovation project and unfortunately, grant funds cannot be used for the seating. After close to forty years of use, the seating is showing considerable wear. The Historic Valdese Foundation would like to ask that you partner with us and consider donating to help complete the auditorium makeover with the addition of new, ADA-approved seating.

For more than a century the historic Old Rock School has overlooked Main Street Valdese as a symbol of community and culture. For more than fifty years, students attended classes, made new friends, and created childhood memories to share. The Old Rock School is more than a building, the Old Rock School is an icon for what is most important in Valdese, the sense of community.

In 1922, built stone by stone, the structure continues to welcome visitors daily and adorns the Waldensian style masonry that is unique to the town’s founders. The halls are still filled with the sounds of children’s voices from school programs, recitals, and awards ceremonies. The steps are worn from the numerous travels from one floor to the next as students rush to class and the wood floors still offer a small creak or three when visitors arrive. This building has touched Members of the community for generations. From visits to the principal’s office to bluegrass concerts, the Old Rock School continues to be a place remembered for good times and perhaps even a paddling or two.

Today, the Old Rock School serves as a structure dedicated to celebrating history and heritage as well as the future. Each year, the building hosts numerous events averaging more than one per day and continues to share a unique culture that is so important to Valdese. Through the programming offered, people from all over the region are welcomed for artist’s workshops, recitals, dance performances, spelling bees, concerts, theatre productions and so much more. These events fill the building with energy that becomes the true heartbeat of Valdese.

As a town of 4,600, having an asset such as the Old Rock School is the envy of many other towns. Locals are proud to see their children on stage to receive the Terrific Kid Award from the local elementary school, and grandparents reminisce about when they too stood on the stage for awards day. Help us carry on the traditions that make Valdese so special by sponsoring the project and the auditorium seating. Your contribution will revive the facility and help the Old Rock School continue to share these special traditions with generations to come.

Thank you for your consideration of this special request.
Morrissa Walker Angi - Director of Community Affairs & Historic Valdese Foundation, Chair

02/20/2024

It's a great day to save a life! Today at the Old Rock School- One Blood Bus will be here from 2-4:00 PM! Walk-ins are welcome and all donors receive a long sleeve tee, $20 gift card and wellness check up!

02/12/2024