Revisiting Amish Schools

By The National Map Corps

To no one’s surprise, it can be extremely difficult to verify and locate Amish schools! Sometimes all you have to work with is the name of a road and some non-descript buildings in the imagery. And while we don’t have a foolproof method for identifying Amish schools, we can give you some pointers.

To identify an Amish school structure, follow these general guidelines:

Locate

First, enter any street or address information you can find related to the school into the TNMCorps map editor using the places search. If you’re lucky, you may even be able to track down an exact address like we did for the Green Acres Amish School in Indiana! This will at least get you to the general location in the imagery. If you know the name of the school, you can also do a structures search to see if it’s already labeled in the TNMCorps map editor. As always, make sure to check for existing points before adding new ones to the map.

Image of address for the Green Acres Amish School in the TNMCorps map editor search bar and aerial imagery of structure. — We found the address of the Green Acres Amish School in Indiana by doing a general private school search for “Amish” on the National Center for Education Statistics website. We then searched for that address in the TNMCorps map editor to locate the structure in the imagery. The next step is to examine the imagery for clues that can help us determine if the structure is an Amish school.

Aerial imagery of the Green Acres Amish School showing school building, possible outhouses, and playground features. — Examine the imagery for clues that can help us determine if the structure is an Amish school such as a larger building surrounded by smaller buildings which might represent outhouses, playground equipment, or sports fields. All of these elements are present in the aerial imagery of the Green Acres Amish School.

Confirm

Next, we need to look closely at the imagery to try and identify some distinguishing features of a school yard in the surrounding landscape. Amish schools are often surrounded by make-shift baseball or softball fields, basketball courts, or playgrounds (teeter-totters, swing sets, or 4-square lines). You may also be able to identify smaller structures representing outhouses near the main school building.

If available, roadside imagery can also be used as a supplementary resource to assist in identifying Amish schools. Just like with aerial imagery, examine the roadside imagery for clues such as playground equipment, sports fields, outhouses, and any signage that can help us determine if the structure is a school. When using roadside imagery, check the date of the imagery capture; the more recent the capture date, the more reliable it is.

Keep in mind that while we don’t recommend taking information directly from Google Maps™, Street View ™, or any other commercial mapping services, it can be very useful when cross-referenced with other authoritative sources of information and various imagery sources to help identify structures.

Street View™ imagery of the Green Acres Amish School with school building, probable outhouses, and playground features. — If available, roadside imagery can be used to assist in identifying an Amish school. Using Google Street View™ we can see smaller buildings (one of which is likely an outhouse), swing sets, and basketball courts. The words “Green Acres School” can also be made out above the main entrance of the larger structure.

Label

Lastly, once you’ve confidently identified an Amish school structure, you can label it with a General School symbol since Amish schools only provide formal education for children up to the 8th grade.

If you’re having a really difficult time locating or confirming an Amish school even after doing thorough research, we advise against adding a point to the map. If you come across any questionable locations, they can be deleted. But if you’d like to take on the challenge of finding and editing Amish schoolhouses, you can find a list of private schools with ‘Amish’ in the name on the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) website. A state’s Department of Education website is also a great resource since they often have databases of licensed schools, including Amish ones. If you choose to accept this challenge, we wish you the best of luck! And as always, if you get stuck, feel free to reach out to us for help.