The Dayton School was one of the early graded schools in Rockingham County. The original school was a two-room frame building located near The Dunkard Church at the south end of town. This school is located in the Dayton map in Lake's 1885 Atlas of Rockingham County. The first records of the school start in 1877, when John S. McLeod was principal and the school was listed as a two-teacher school with 85 students. In 1886, the school had grown to a point where new facilities were needed and a four-room frame building was constructed in the northwest corner of Dayton. This four-room school served the community until January 1, 1914, when a new eight-room brick building was completed near the site of the 1886 building. Additional land for the new building was deeded to the Ashby District school trustees by Noah Bowman and wife on June 3, 1912. In 1920, the brick building was gutted by fire and, until, the building could be rebuilt, students were housed in various rented quarters throughout the town of Dayton. At the time of the fire, Dayton was one of the accredited four-year high schools in Rockingham County. The school continued as a high school until 1956 when the new Turner Ashby High School was built and the Dayton school became an elementary school. In 1989, the Dayton School was closed and combined with Bridgewater to form the new John Wayland Elementary School. The school is now used for adult education and is named the Dayton Learning Center. Principals at Dayton School were:

1877-79 (two sessions) John S. McLeod

1879-80 J. E. Wise

1880-82 (two sessions) John S. McLeod

1882-83 George Earman

1883-85 (two sessions) W. A. O'Baugh

1885-86 P. S. Good

1886-92 (six sessions) B. F. Kirkpatrick

1892-93 J. I. Hall

1893-97 (four sessions) B. F. Kirkpatrick

1897-98 John Brunk

1898-1900 (two sessions) Robert G. Early

1900-01 E. W. McMullen

1901-03 (two sessions) M. A. Ashby

1903-04 W. G. Ritenour

1904-05 John H. Floyd

1905-06 J. M. Shuler

1906-07 John H. Floyd

1907-09 (unknown)

1909-10 E. W. McMullen

1910-11 P. I. Leadbetter

1911-12 F. L. Harris

1912-13 E. M. Hyde

1913-15 (two sessions) William Lineweaver

1915-16 D. I. Suter

1916-18 (two sessions) R. H. Timberlake

1918-19 J. M. Shuler

1919-20 W. S. Flory

1920-32 (twelve sessions) J. S. H. Good

1932-46 (fourteen sessions) Hubert C. Shull

1946-71 (twenty-five sessions) John H. Will

1971-78 (seven sessions) E. Cameron Miller

1978-89 (eleven sessions) Ed Byrd

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