Daily lessons centered on reading, writing, and arithmetic, using The Child's World Reader, a basic math book, and a speller. Class met from 8 AM through 3 PM except in September and October, when children spent their mornings picking cotton in fields owned by the Northern Ohio Cooperage and Lumber Company before going to school. School life also included play and responsibility, with older students watching younger ones at recess and keeping them a safe distance from the river, while children were allowed to play in the old Native American village moat just south of the school. Beyond the school day, the school served the Sawdust Hill community as a place for meetings, musical programs, and recitations.