Ebenezer Elementary is located at 1198 Ebenezer Road, Rincon, Ga. It is a rural school currently serving over 900 Pre K-5th grade students. Ebenezer Elementary’s principal, Angelyn Wendelken, opened its doors in 1995 with approximately 500 students. The school served Pre-K-5th grade. Students were redistricted from Rincon Elementary and Springfield Elementary to the new Ebenezer School. Students and staff voted for their mascot and chose the Eagle as the school’s symbol. PTSO parents partnered with Fort Howard to raise funds and build the school’s playgrounds, which were constructed in three phases.
By 2005, the school population grew to warrant adding a new wing to the existing building, which became the 4th/5th grade hall and land was cleared for the construction of Ebenezer Middle School adjacent to Ebenezer Elementary. The Ebenezer community has continued to grow with the development of several nearby subdivisions.
The school is located within the Ebenezer community that was settled in 1754 by Salzburgers. The Salzburgers, a religious group, fled Austria to England to escape religious persecution and, once in England, were granted passage and land by the English King to sail to America and settle near the colony of Savannah, during the time General George Oglethorpe was laying the squares of Savannah. The Salzburgers named their settlement Ebenezer, meaning “Stone of Help”.
The first schools in the community were parochial. Ebenezer’s Jerusalem Lutheran Church houses early ledgers that detail funds given by individuals to support the schools. As one wooden school house deteriorated over the years, another would be built on a different site donated by a farmer/land owner. In 1999, Ebenezer Elementary’s first principal, Angelyn Wendelken, became aware that an earlier Ebenezer school was located in a field a few miles away. She felt that it was important for students to understand the importance of history within their community. Mrs. Wendelken initiated a Georgia Learn and Serve Grant and partnered with the Fort Howard Corporation, along with landowner, Mr. Gilbert Exley, to move the structure and relocate it on the back campus of Ebenezer Elementary. The Clyo Homemakers’ Club and individuals interested in refurbishing the Old School donated time, effort, and old school items to the project.
In March of 2000, the school and community celebrated the opening of the Old Ebenezer One-Room School that had last served students in 1940, with Mrs. Lorene Rountree as the teacher. Mrs. Rountree was present to ring the bell at the opening ceremony. Today, the Old Ebenezer One-Room School is open for classroom Living History lessons and for community use. The Ebenezer Alive program frequently tours students to remind them that there was a time when students brought their lunch to school in pails, and stayed warm by wood burning stoves.
Today, the Ebenezer Elementary PTSO and School Council are integral to the school. The faculty and staff strive to be a “Stone of Help” to the children we serve and to the community.