In August 1922, School District 9 called for bids for a new hollow tile school for the Italian Settlement. Peter J. Young, a well-known Priest River contractor, started work on the building by early September. Crews made good progress, and Young completed the $8,000 school by early January 1923.
The Settlement School is a good example of the work of local Sandpoint architect Henry L. Mountjoy. He began his practice hi 1909 when he and his partner, S. W. Foster, designed the Humbird (later named Lincoln) School in Sandpoint, Idaho and the Kootenai School in Kootenai, Idaho. By the early 1920s, Mountjoy was working alone. He continued to design local schools and was responsible for the following rural Idaho school buildings: Cabinet (1921), Morton (1922), Settlement (1922-1923), Blanchard (1922-1923), Sagle (1927), and Laclede (1937). Of the above eight buildings, only Lincoln continues in use as a school. The Laclede School has been renovated for use as corporate offices for a local lumber company and the Settlement School is undergoing restoration for use as a community center. The roof collapsed on the vacant Cabinet School two years ago and its future is uncertain. The other four schools have been torn down.
In addition, the Settlement School is a good example of rapidly disappearing rural schools hi northern Idaho. Its design is typical of brick or tile schools built during the 1920s to replace earlier frame or log buildings. The school retains a high degree of integrity. The only change on the exterior has been the addition of corrugated-metal roofing over the original wood shingles. The metal was installed in the 1940s; volunteers replaced it with identical corrugated metal in the spring of 1998. While not original, the metal roofing has helped preserve the vacant structure in an area of high snowfall. Aside from the roofing, the only other change on the exterior is the loss of glass from vandalism. The original door and window frames remain, although all are currently boarded over from the outside. The interior of the Settlement School retains its room configuration, floors, and woodwork. Some of the lath and plaster has been damaged from water leaks and will need to be replaced as restoration continues.
The school also is architecturally significant ... as a good example of a substantial rural school dating from the early statehood period of Idaho school buildings, 1890-1930. This modest building retains excellent integrity on the exterior with the original roof configuration, scale, massing, wall cladding, and trim and fenestration.
From the Idaho Historical Society