J P Knapp's Academy

Sicily Island

This is taken from DeBow's Review 1882
The whole number of public schools is thirty. Teachers, twenty-five; students, five hundred and forty-eight; funds raised for public schools by tax, 8830; public funds, $3,644.

The academy of Mr. J. B. Knapp on Sicily Island is deserving of particular mention. Mr. K. is a native of Ohio, and came to Louisiana some years ago, and was assistant in Mr. Digg's academy in Rapides parish. In 1849 he established his academy here, and had about fifty pupils. The house stands in a re tired and most romantic spot, ten miles from Harrisonburg, in the lofty hills of the island, where there is plenty of spring water. The house was built by contribution and the joint labor of the citizens, and is commodious, protected by a veranda on the south side, having a shrubbery in the yard.

The course of study embraces all the primary English branches, and at the same time the mathematics and languages usually taught preparatory to a college education.
The cost of board and tuition for the year is from $120 to $130. The annual income is about $1,500.

Mr. Knapp is principal; Mr. William Reh is teacher of instrumental music and French; and Mrs. Knapp is matron. During the present year there were twenty students in the male, and twenty in the female department. There is no school near here where better facilities are presented for obtaining a good, substantial education.