Ella Stratton is photographed with her 1904 first grade class near Excelsior Public School, which still stands at 261 School Ave., Excelsior. (From the Lake Minnetonka Historical Society archives.) Photo: Lake Minnetonka Historical Society
Do you remember your favorite teacher?
While it’s been many years since Miss Ella M. Stratton led her classroom, the memory of her remains by way of Stratton Field behind today’s Excelsior Elementary School. The field was named in her honor in 1940.
Born in St. Anthony in 1855, Stratton earned a teaching certificate when she was 16, taught in rural schools near Lake Minnetonka and began teaching for Excelsior in 1883. By 1904, she earned $57.50 a month.
Stratton was a favorite teacher of multiple generations and remembered for penning poems as gift for students, tying each poem with a ribbon. She had students recite poems at Washington Day programs and offered her own as gifts for guests, at reunions and at the Congregational Church of Excelsior where she was superintendent of the Sunday school and clerk for over 60 years.
After teaching in Excelsior in 34 years, Stratton reluctantly retired in 1917. She later wrote, “It is gratifying to know that my former pupils have pleasant memories concerning their long-ago school days. I have by no means forgotten them …”
Kirsten Pardoe is a Lake Minnetonka Historical Society volunteer. Discover more (even information about a favorite teacher or school) at lakeminnetonkahistory.org.
