EDUCATION REPORT, 1887-88. At Meridian, Miss.: "Owing to the limited space allowed students for physical exercise it has been decided to provide a gymnasium on the grounds. This will give students ample opportunity for the proper development of their physical powers, without which healthy mental growth is impossible." The building committee of the Madison, Wis., board of education "in their plans for the new third ward and high school buildings have made provisions for suitable and convenient places for gymnastic exercise." In high schools. The number of high schools possessing appropriate gymnastic appli- "Within the year there have been added to the gymnasium, with money voted by the "Besides the general use of the apparatus during the year, class instruction has been given to both boys and girls in club-swinging and dumb-bell exercise. During the present term the girls have made good progress in the use of the rings, and the boys have just begun exercising with wands." Mr. Zephaniah Hopper, acting president of the Central High School of Philadelphia, incorporates the following in his report for 1887: "It has always been the aim of the faculty to encourage the students in their athletic exercises. Owing to the absence of a gymnasium, or even a play-ground large enough to accommodate the school, there has been but little opportunity for training and developing the body. However, the students have, in a measure, made up for the deficiency by an athletic association, by which some effort at systematic training is made. During the year, through the courtesy of the authorities of the University of Pennsylvania, two public exhibitions were given on the grounds of the University. "I have no hesitation in saying that the work of this association has had a decided effect upon the physical development of the students, and, indirectly, has aided the discipline of the school. If the unassisted efforts of the students produce such happy results may it not be wise to give them systematic training under instruction ?" In a considerable number of high schools military drill is a prominent feature, and its effects upon the physical appearance of the students have been marked and beneficial. It is conceded to be a means of physical training of great value. Recommendations.-Among the recommendations in relation to the subject under consideration are these: "In these days of intellectual high pressure the importance, I may say necessity, for good health and physical endurance can hardly be questioned. As the body is the instrument as well as the dwelling place of the mind, it should be developed and trained to do the best service possible. "While we have done something, our efforts have been in a large measure defeated on account of limited facilities in the matter of suitable rooms, apparatus, and instruction. The necessity for intelligent and systematic instruction in this subject is admitted by all. How shall it be done? is the question awaiting an answer. "The first step undoubtedly is to provide a competent instructor to teach and train the pupils of the normal school and the teachers in the schools. "The next step is to make the best provision as to room that the school buildings and premises will permit. And here I might say that many of the school buildings have ample courts, in many cases warmed, that can very easily be utilized for this purpose, if thought best. "In the next place, provide such simple gymnastic apparatus as can be well and readily used. All this can be done at small cost and without in any large measure interrupting the present order of exercises. The advantages that this instruction and physical training will bring to pupils and teachers in the development of the body and better health will more than compensate for the required labor and expense. "This work, of course, should be made a part of the course of study and receive the same supervision and care given to the other subjects. "I trust the course of study committee will take early steps in perfecting the plan and methods for introducing this course of work into all the schools." [Mr. William N. Barringer, city superintendent, Newark, N. J.] "We must abandon the class system and all the other unnatural and exacting conditions of study which now apply to boys and girls alike, and introduce a course of physical exercise of equal rank with the mental." [From the Report of the School Committee, Manchester, N. H.] "Three times a day such calisthenic exercises as are possible in the rooms are practiced. No more is done. Many children grow up without health and physical vigor, who might by proper development be made healthy men and women. Gymnastic apparatus might be introduced in any school with little expense, and its use, properly directed, would be worth more to many boys and girls than any other education you can give them. All this is especially true of girls in the higher grammar classes and the high school. They no longer engage in the vigorous sports of childhood and no physical exercise has been substituted for the active games of childhood. They are at a critical period of life, emerging into womanhood. Whoever looks attentively at a class of girls of this age, sees forms that are growing bent and feeble, and which are losing daily in muscular vitality. What could you give them more valuable than daily training which would straighten the figure, deepen the chest, stimulate the muscles, in short, fill the body with life which would not only give them present health, but would also carry them into later years healthy women. [Mr. Charles E. Gorton, city superintendent, Yonkers, N. Y. The president of the board of education of the same city also favors physical culture in the schools, and supplements the superintendent's suggestions with the following: "Another great want in the public schools is a thorough system of physical development which shall keep pace with the system of intellectual culture. "Trained minds will avail little in the battle of life without the health and energy which come with a full physical development. * * * Physical exercise should, therefore, alternate with intellectual work during the school hours, and such exercise now forms a part of our course of study. We believe, however, that more attention should be paid to the subject and a better system adopted, a system which will give uniform development as well as the necessary exercise. "Modern science and ingenuity have developed apparatus and methods which, while they are not costly either in themselves or in the room they occupy, have been demonstrated to be exceedingly efficient. * **We have included in the estimates for the ensuing year a small sum for the purchase of the apparatus to which reference has been made." SUMMER SCHOOLS. There seems to be no good reason why this comparatively new feature should not find its way into general favor. The work that summer schools accomplish is special in its character, but it is none the less important. There are hundreds of children in every city whose previous lack of school advantages or slower mental faculties cause them to fall behind their classes and remain longer than the allotted time in the several grades. These pupils are required to pass over the same ground for the second time, feeling no interest in the work that is already familar to them, and suffering the humiliating consciousness of inferiority to their former classmates. As the schools are now organized they lose in this way five or ten months, the time depending upon the frequency with which promotions are made, while in all bat extraordinary cases two or even one month's extra instruction would properly fit them for the higher grade. For children of this class the organization of summer schools would prove of the greatest value, and would in many cases lengthen for several years the school life of children who would otherwise be discouraged by failure to obtain promotion and leave school entirely. Should they continue in school, under the present system they must be provided with an extra term of schooling, and on the score of economy alone the summer school is advantageous, for two months' tuition is certainly cheaper than five or ten. A pupil's age should have much to do with his classification. A great fault that may be found with the classification of the average city school is the presence in every grade of a number of pupils whose ages are far in excess of the proper age of children of that grade. It is generally agreed that such belated pupils should be advanced toward the grade for which at their age they should be prepared, with as much rapidity as their progress will permit. In the majority of cities the practice of skipping a grade entirely is permitted under such circumstances. This is generally objectionable, because the papil should be familiar with many of the subjects taught in the grade skipped in order to satisfactorily pursue the studies of the higher grades. But the objections may be triated by instructing the pupil for a few weeks in the most essential points of the work accomplished by the class which he is to join; and the summer school is the best and most available means of doing so. Business of nearly every kind is always dull in summer, and numbers of youths who are obliged to work all winter to sustain themselves are then out of employment. Many of these would eagerly seize any opportunity offered them to improve their minds during their enforced idleness, but cannot attend the regular graded schools, because they are not prepared to take up the work at the exact point reached by any particular grade, and because those schools are just on the eve of closing the year's work when they are ready to begin. This class is quite large in many cities, and those composing it are entitled to the benefits of free schools and really need them more than those children whose parents are able to send them to school at the usual time. Why should not they be accommodated in ungraded summer schools, and helped in the acquisition of such knowledge as may be gained in the limited time at their command? At Newark, N. J., vacation schools have been maintained for two seasons for a reason different from any of those mentioned above. That reason is stated by Superintendent W. N. Barringer in his report for 1885, as follows: * * "In some parts of the city, comparatively but few of the children connected with the public schools are able to leave the city during this vacation. The parents not being able to furnish private instruction for them, they are consequently turned into the street for nine or ten consecutive weeks. I need not tell you that in a large measure the benefits of the school terms are neutralized by the street habits and influences. "It seems to be settled that it is not best to curtail the summer vacation. Under these circumstances what shall be done with the class of children referred to? Without further discussion, I would recommend the establishment of at least four vacation or summer schools. * * * *** "The main object of these schools is to remove the children from street influences and to preserve their school habits, that they may return in proper condition to their regular school work at the opening of the term." There seems to be no reason founded upon experience for the fear that the continua tion of school duties throughout the summer would prove injurious to the health of the pupils or teacher. As to the latter, they themselves are the most competent judges of their physical condition, and no teacher will forego her usual vacation and undertake extra work in the summer when her condition demands rest and quiet. The special character of summer schools is such that it is not likely that any school children would be kept in the city by their parents solely to attend a summer school; and those children who do not leave the city would certainly be as healthy in school as at home. Indeed, many of them would be far better off in school, as may be readily believed after a comparison of the unwholesome homes of very many of the pupils, and the school building as it is usually constructed with good sanitary arrangements, large rooms, ample windows, and abundant space surrounding all for the circulation of the air. Since it appears, therefore, that four distinct classes of children would be benefited by the maintenance of vacation schools, and that the classification of the regular schools would be improved by the same means, may it not be hoped that the subject will in future receive more general attention? SCHOOL BUILDINGS. It is not possible in the limits of this Report to treat the subject of school architecture with any degree of fulness or with any attention to detail. The following suggestions of a general character seem to possess unusual merit and are worthy of careful consid eration: 'Your attention is again called to the necessity for adopting a plan for a model school building-one best adapted to the needs of our system. Many of our buildings have features in the plan of their construction which it would be well to engraft on all plans for new buildings, while they also have objectionable features; and were we to adopt a model building incorporating in its plan all the improvements in our buildings, while excluding their defects, we would yearly make advance in the matter of our school architecture." "[Report of Mr. Henry A. Wise, city superintendent, Baltimore, Md.] "The city must, within a short time, face the necessity of building schools to supplant the many unfit rented buildings which are a discredit to our school system, and to accommodate the large number of children of school age now deprived of educational privileges. When these are built and ready to go into use, our system should be classified into grammar' and 'primary schools.' * * * "Primaries should be located in quiet and healthful places, on large, roomy lots, so as to be convenient of access to small children, and with the plan in view of making some school a central or grammar school, into which the higher grades can be concentrated. By having small buildings, and consequently more schools, they would be nearer the homes of small children, and could be reached by them in bad weather. The records show that many small children are kept from attending schools, in wide-spread districts, on account of the long distances to be travelled to reach them. No primary building should be more than two stories, and only large enough to accommodate about six hundred children. "In small two-story buildings there is less danger from panic caused by fire or otherwise. There is less danger from contagion, and more comfort and safety to little children, when in smaller groups and separated from the larger ones. Small buildings can be much better and cheaper lighted, sewered, heated, and ventilated than large ones." [Mr. James F. Crooker, superintendent of education, Buffalo, N. Y.] "I am convinced that the board of education should condense the schools of the city into a few large buildings. There cannot be a strict discipline of pupils, nor any exactTess of grade, when the schools are isolated and scattered over the city in groups of two or three. The teachers in these isolated schools may be ever so faithful and efficient, but they work at a very great disadvantage. The pupils are harder to control, being responsible to no principal, and the teachers are forced to have several grades in one room, thereby losing time and force. The proper policy of our city and of every city is to congregate its schools in large buildings of ten or twelve rooms each. Here an eficient principal can enforce a rigid discipline of behavior, and the assistants feel responsible for nothing but the proper teaching. The children can be reduced to grade, thereby putting all of one class of studies under the care of one teacher. Better work, and more evident and satisfactory results in every respect are thereby obtained." [Superintendent Lawton B. Evans, Augusta, Ga.] "In any case, the character of the school should be determined before the plans for the building are made. In other words, the building should be adapted to the organization of the school, not the organization to the building." [Report of the Superintendent of Public Instruction of Brooklyn, N. Y. ] It "As a matter of financial policy, it would certainly be better for the city to borrow, if necessary, the required sum of money, and erect three or four new school-houses, which would be healthy and comfortable, rather than annually expend a considerable amount for the rent of old buildings which are often unhealthy and unsuited for school use. can scarcely be necessary to repeat what has so often been said in this relation, that rented houses are seldom fit for occupation by public schools, because they are generally deficient in light, ventilation, and space, which are three essential elements for a healthy and successful school. It is therefore clearly our duty, on sanitary as well as financial grounds, to erect new houses for the schools, until the reasonable demand is supplied, ather than to rent old houses for their use." [Report of the School Commissioners of Baltimore, Md.] PERNICIOUS METHODS OF HEATING SCHOOL-HOUSES. Though no system of heating yet devised is entitled to unqualified praise, a few methods Faill employed in many localities deserve emphatic condemnation. The method described as follows by the acting school visitor of one of the Norwalk, Conn., districts is among these: And yet these stoves are Your visitor would most earnestly call attention to the methods of heating some of in the school-rooms below, and by means of registers in the floor, the air to which is Le rooms, and especially the two rooms of the higher grades. This is done by furnaces it again, not cooled and cleansed, but warmed into a new power for mischief. Your is carbonized poison, heated to be more effective in its work on the scholars who breathe Visitor was not surprised at the great sick-roll of those rooms. had been endured for so long might still be borne! It is not at all clear to your visitor that thought that the evil that our bracing east winds do not get credit for the weak lungs of so many of our young people, and for the large proportion of short graves in the adjacent venerable burialground that might better be given to these stoves which have been doing their deadly work, it may be, for some generations." the older buildings of the larger cities as well, the reproduction of the following accounts Inasmuch as the use of stoves is quite general, not only in the smaller cities, but in of tests of their operation is not inopportune: rooms heated by furnaces and steam the variation in temperature is only a few degrees. "Several observations have been taken of the temperature at different desks. In the brisk fire has to be kept, the variation is as high as twenty-five degrees. In one room But in those heated by wood-stoves it is very great. In severe weather, when a very would hardly be called "large"except in comparison with those of only two or three rooms, such The word "large" is evidently used here in a relative sense. Buildings of ten or twelve rooms A are common in the smaller cities. [ED.] the pupil nearest the stove was enjoying (?) a temperature of 92°, while one in the opposite corner was comfortable at 67°. Reducing the temperature to 80° the unfortunate at the back part of the room had to sit shivering at 55°. It has been found impossible so to distribute the heat from these stoves that there should not be a variation of at least ten degrees. If pupils in the back part of the rooms are to be kept comfortably warm at a temperature of 68°, those nearest the stove must endure 78° at least, and for an hour or two in the morning much more. If the rooms were larger the pupils would not be brought so near the stove, but in several rooms not more than three feet intervene between desks and stove. 66 Again, the temperature of the air at different heights varies greatly. With the thermometer five feet from the floor registering 720, one placed two feet lower indicated only 64°, a difference of eight degrees in the two feet, while in many of the rooms the floors are about 50°, varying as the air without varies, and seldom rising above 56°. With cold feet and hot heads, the pupils must suffer in their physical health, to say nothing of the impossibility of doing good mental work. Is it any wonder that our attendance is very irregular from illness?" [Mr. C. H. Morss, city superintendent, Portsmouth, N. H.] 66 As stated by the best authorities, a school room should be heated in winter at a temperature not above 70° nor below 64° at the height of the head of a person sitting, and the temperature should not vary more than 4° between that point and two inches from the floor, or between any two points within five feet of the floor. To see how our schoolrooms are heated we began in December, 1887, a series of tests of the temperature in the new building in the Upper Village. "The tests were taken in the following manner: A post was set up in front of the second desk back from the stove, another post was set up in front of the desk in the corner opposite the stove, and another in the middle of the room. On each post there were hung three thermometers, one at five feet, one at three feet, and one at five inches from the floor. By this arrangement there was a pupil who sat nearer and one who sat farther from the stove than any thermometer was hung. The readings of each thermometer were recorded six times a day during school hours, viz: at nine, ten, twelve, one, three, and four o'clock, for six days. "Similar tests were afterwards made in all the rooms occupied by graded schools, with two exceptions. In the other rooms, however, the lower thermometers were hung two inches instead of five inches from the floor. In the rooms heated by furnace the posts were set, one near the door, one in the middle of the room, and one at the corner opposite the door; in some rooms the middle post was omitted. * "The thermometers were selected to read alike when placed side by side. The tests were being made in different rooms from December 21, 1887, to February 9, 1888. * * "The result of these tests has surprised teachers who have taught in the same room for several years, and it will doubtless surprise some of the patrons of the school. The tests show that in the space occupied by the pupil, that is, in the lower five feet of room space, and within the area occupied by the seats, there are marked variations of temperature, not only at different heights from the floor, but at different parts of the room at the same height, and also at the same points at different hours of the day. They show that fires should be started in the school-room stoves at least an hour earlier than at present, in order that the rooms may be approximately comfortable at nine o'clock. They show that one thermometer is no test of the temperature of a room, and that two or more are not when hung at the same height from the floor. In the advanced grammar room, for instance, they show that while there was an average difference of less than four degrees between the temperature five feet from the floor at the front and at the same height at the rear of the room, yet there was at each point an average difference of over sixteen degrees between that point and one directly under it two inches from the floor, and a difference of twenty-six degrees between a point five feet from the floor at the front row of seats and one two inches from the floor at the rear row of seats. They show that in this room there was an average difference of ten degrees between the temperature at the height of the head and that at the feet of the pupils when sitting at their desks, and of over sixteen degrees when standing to recite or to work at the blackboard. They show that at the height of three feet from the floor there was an average variation from one observation to another, during the hours school was in session, of over seven degrees. A similar fluctuation in temperature will be noticed in all rooms where the heat is regulated or the room ventilated by opening windows or doors. The tests show that the temperature at the feet was much too cold, being an average of fiftyseven degrees in the front of the room, and a little less than fifty-four at the rear. The conditions in the other school-rooms that are heated by stoves are substantially the "In each of seven rooms post 2 was placed in the north-east corner, and the record shows that in each there is a considerable space that is not warmed sufficiently, particularly in |