Set in the 1980's, The Little Schoolhouse by the River is the true story of a young elementary school teacher setting forth on his first assignment following college. He is assigned to a small one-teacher schoolroom beside the Colorado River in Western Colorado. His expectations for the year change, however, as the enrollment rapidly increases. Despite the myriad challenges: being a brand-new teacher; having all eight grades and eventually twenty-one students; being single with limited culinary or home-making skills, and being poor; despite all that, the beauty of the landscape, the bonds with his children, their laughter, the support of the parents, take him on a soul-searching, self-discovery that connections between him and the children, his ability to connect he discovers number of students in the classroom rapidly increase.