!>£ 
 
 A '\ 
 
 I 
 
 HfUAL KEPORT 
 
 DIRECTORS 
 
 ■ 
 
 JUrmal Sc|ocl leprtmeni, 
 
 I-. 1 1 Nil 
 
 FIHS'I 
 
 N K Y\ i ) M 1 KANS. 
 
 \|'t£e hi 
 
 * 
 
 I 
 
 ■ 
 
ANNUAL REPORT 
 
 OF THE 
 
 DIRECTORS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Uflrmal Skjwl jieprtnutti, 
 
 CONNECTED WITH THE 
 
 GIRLS' HIGH SCHOOL OF THE FIRST DISTRICT, 
 
 NEW ORLEANS. 
 
 BATON KOUGE: 
 
 J M TAYLOR, STATE PRINTER, 
 1859. 
 

 10 lv 
 
 d. of & 
 
RJ 
 
 RE P R T. 
 
 Office of Superintendent of Public Schools, 
 First District, New Orleans 
 
 L 
 
 Hon. W. I. Hamilton, State Superintendent of Public Education : 
 
 Sir — In accordance with provisions of Section 3d of Act No. 84, entitled 
 "An Act to establish a Normal School Department in the Public High Schools 
 of the City of New Orleans," approved March 15, 1858, the Directors of 
 the Normal School Department, established in connection with the Girls' 
 High School of the First District, herewith present their annual report, 
 " showing in detail the condition of the department under their charge, the 
 number of pupils admitted and left, the time of continuance therein, the 
 actual expense, and the money received for the support of the same." 
 
 The Directors of the First District Schools cheerfully accepted the impor- 
 tant trusts confided to them in the Act aforesaid, and took immediate steps 
 to promote the liberal and enlightened design of the State Legislature. 
 
 An " Executive Committee " was formed, consisting of the President of 
 the Board, the Chairman of the standing committees on the two High 
 Schools, on Teachers, and on Finance, and constituted with fall power and 
 authority to establish a Normal School Department in one or both of the 
 High Schools of the District, and to organize, direct and control the same, 
 in conformity to the provisions of the Act aforesaid. 
 
 This Executive Committee, charged with the organization and general ad- 
 ministration of the Normal School of this District, presented a report to 
 the School Board, June 10, 1858, from which the following extracts are 
 taken : 
 
 "In furtherance of the resolutions and the preliminary report adopted by 
 the Board at its meeting of April 1, 1858, the Committee engaged the ser- 
 vices of Mrs. A. L. Pagaud as Principal of the School, at a compensation 
 of $500 per annum, payable quarterly, out of the funds to be effected to the 
 
 J 
 
 
( 
 
 support of the school, in conformity to the 2d section of the Act of March 
 15, 1858, authorizing its establishment. Earnestly seconding* the views of 
 the Committee, this capable and experienced teacher assumed the post 
 assigned her on Saturday, the 3d April, 9 J A. M., when, after an address 
 by the Superintendent explanatory of the design, objects and prospects of 
 the Institution, the School was organized, by the inscription of thirteen pupils 
 on its register, who previously subscribed the " pledge " presented by the 
 Committee, a copy whereof is hereto annexed. 
 
 " The mental qualifications required of applicants for admission were, 
 satisfactory acquaintance with the branches taught in the highest depart- 
 ment of our District Schools, and, in the case of such candidates as came 
 from any of the High Schools of the city, certificates of graduation, of cre- 
 ditable position in such Schools. Sixteen was the minimum age allowed, 
 and references as to character, deportment, etc., were also required. 
 
 " The register or roll of the school now shows a list of thirty pupils, and 
 it is highly gratifying to observe that several members of the class are from 
 other Districts than the First. 
 
 " For the first month, the sessions were held but twice a week, Wednes- 
 days from 4 j to 6 J P. M., and Saturdays from 9 A. M. to 1 P. M. Recently 
 the gratifying interest in their exercises manifested by a majority of the 
 pupils has induced the Principal, with the sanction of the Committee and 
 Superintendent, to hold three sessions per week : on Tuesdays and Thurs- 
 days from 4| to 6| P. M., and Saturdays from 9 A. M. to 1 P. M. 
 
 •'The branches in which the pupils are exercised and methodically trained 
 are reading, grammatical and logical analysis, the principles of punctuation 
 and original composition, geography and arithmetic. The reading exercise, 
 however, involves not only a careful choice of subjects and a clear, distinct 
 and intelligent enunciation by the reader, but also a critical appreciation 
 of the author's style, and an explanation of his theme and elucidation of his 
 references to persons, places and events; and the reader's own comments 
 being then subject to the criticism and review of the whole school. It is 
 obvious that the investigation thus excited, and the spirit of emulation thus 
 awakened, must be attended with the happiest results. So with the gram- 
 matical and logical analysis of 'Milton's Paradise Lost,' and with the exer- 
 cises of the pupils in practical punctuation, similar criticism is equally 
 instructive: and the methodical discussion of arithmetic and exemplification of 
 the divers modes of solving problems in this art, intuitively train the mind 
 to such elaborations of thought and facility of expression as should always 
 characterize a professional teacher of youth. 
 
 "The Committee have been pleased to observe, that the attendance of 
 pupils has been regular and uniform — the roll showing a steady average of 
 twenty-six scholars ; that their deportment has been cheerful and irreproach- 
 able ; and that wdiile there are striking differences in their capacities, the 
 
 
5 
 
 spirit of emulation among them reveals only a generous and mutually bene- 
 ficial rivalry. 
 
 " The Board will have observed that the branches of study pursued in the 
 school are principally those taught in the highest department of our District 
 Schools. The object of this, is not only to train a capable corps of teachers 
 for these schools, but to perfect the pupil's comprehension of those branches 
 which really underlie every system of education. As soon as practicable, 
 the Committee propose to organize a Model Department, or School of Prac- 
 tice, to test and develope the teaching faculties of pupils; and when the State 
 Legislature, or City Council, shall have recognized the institution as a sine 
 qua non in the system of Southern education, and provided ample means for 
 its 'support and encouragement,' it may be made a worthy compeer of the 
 Normal Schools of Philadelphia, New York and other cities enjoying the 
 blessings of public education." 
 
 Signed by R. M. LUSHER, 
 
 For Executive Committee. 
 
 The following is a copy of the " pledge " signed by pupils of the Normal 
 School, pursuant to Section 1st : 
 
 "We, the undersigned, being desirous of receiving instruction in the art 
 and science of Teaching, do severally declare that it is our bona fide inten- 
 tion to engage in the occupation of teaching within the State of Louisiana 
 for at least two years after we shall severally have received diplomas as 
 graduates of the Normal School Department of the Girls' Hio-h School of 
 the First District of the City of New Orleans. 
 
 " We, also, severally declare that it is our intention to remain in the Nor- 
 mal School for at least four months from the date of our admission to said 
 school . 
 
 " In faith whereof we hereto subscribe our names at New Orleans, at the 
 respective places affixed to our signatures, and in presence of the witnesses 
 whose names are opposite to ours, subscribed to this pledge." 
 
 At a regular meeting of our School Board, held July 1st, 185S, the Execu- 
 tive Committee on the Normal School further reported upon its "success- 
 ful operation": 
 
 " The average attendance during the months of May and June has been 
 twenty-seven pupils, and of the thirty-one originally enrolled on the Register, 
 but one has withdrawn. 
 
 "On the mental condition and discipline of the school, the Committee 
 
r 
 
 / * 
 
 have but little to add to their June report, the deportment of the pupils 
 continuing* irreproachable and a corresponding advancement being percepti- 
 ble in their appreciation of the benefits incident to their connection with 
 such an institution. 
 
 " The Directors, who were present at the closing exercises of the school ou 
 yesterday, are doubtless satisfied that the characteristics of its infancy be- 
 token a brilliant and vigorous maturity. Certain it is that the mental ante- 
 cedents of a large proportion of .the pupils, and the vigorously inductive 
 method pursued by their teacher, will, after ten months' development, rear a 
 corps of correct reasoners, if not of practical teachers; and if the funds in- 
 tended for the "support and encouragement " of the school can be so appor- 
 tioned as to justify the organization, in October next, of a school of practice, 
 or Teacher's Model Department, the Directors of this District will certainly 
 be able a year hence to graduate a class of teachers competent to instruct 
 the youth of Louisiana in all the essential branches of an English education.' , 
 
 The summer vacation, protracted by an epidemic of unusual severity, 
 delayed the reopening of the school, but has not affected its general pros- 
 perity. When the exercises were resumed in October, twenty-four pupils 
 were in attendance and three more were admitted. At subsequent sessions 
 of the school five other qualified aspirants were admitted, making the roll 
 for that month thirty-two pupils, almost all of whom have regularly attended 
 the various exercises. 
 
 The peculiar provisions of the law and the best interests of the school it- 
 self seemed to require' a remodeling of the classification heretofore observed. 
 Accordingly, two classes or courses were organized, designated respectively 
 as the senior course and the junior course; the former organized for "gradu- 
 ation," according to the apparent spirit of the law, at the close of January 
 or February, 1859, and the latter for a similar privilege, at the close of 
 May or June, 1859. All the worthy members of the school will then have 
 been trained as theoretical teachers within twelve months from the date of 
 their admission, and as many of them as possible have been exercised from 
 time to time in such "schools of practice" as the primary departments in 
 our district schools afford. 
 
 In view of the successful progress of the school, manifested by the in- 
 creasing number of applicants for admission, and the general interest taken 
 in the exercises by the pupils attending, it was deemed proper and expedient 
 to amplify the curriculum of studies by the introduction, in the senior course, 
 of moral and intellectual philosophy, and in both courses, of elocution and 
 penmanship, as special branches. The services of an experienced and able 
 teacher were secured for these important studies, at the moderate salary of 
 $100 per quarter. 
 
 The foregoing details you will doubtless deem valuable, inasmuch as they 
 are the progressive steps of the first attempt made to establish a Normal 
 School in our own State, if not in any of the other Southern States. You 
 
"will perceive from them that the School Board of the First District has cheer-' 
 fully sought to carry out the design of the State Legislature, in educating a 
 corps 'of zealous and intelligent teachers, who shall individually seek to give 
 a higher standard and a more marked degree of success to an honorable and 
 useful profession. 
 
 The Act by which the school is established is restrictive in its character, 
 and fails to meet all that is required of a Normal School. The number of 
 pupils upon which the appropriation is based, is limited to twenty ; conse- 
 quently we have been unable to claim more than at the rate of one thousand 
 dollars per annum, whereas, by clause in Section 4th, the limit of the sum 
 appropriated is placed at three thousand dollars. The number of applicants 
 has always, from the first organization of the school, exceeded the number 
 of pupils allowed to each department. There are upon file forty-seven ap- 
 plications for admission to the school. Of this number, forty-one have been 
 enrolled in regular attendance, and but four have left. At the close of the 
 session for quarter ending December 31st, 1858, there are thirty-seven pupils 
 upon roll, of whom twenty are in the senior class and seventeen in the junior. 
 As elsewhere shown, the sessions were at first semi-weekly ; they are now 
 held on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Under 
 a more liberal appropriation, the number of scholars and the influence of 
 the institution would be greatly augmented. 
 
 Enough has been done to prove that the establishment of an independent 
 Normal School in this city would be eminently successful. The demand 
 has long been felt here, as elsewhere in the South, for experienced, efficient 
 and cultivated teachers, adapted to the climate, familiar with our institu- 
 tions and attached to their respective places of employment, both by inte- 
 rest and by pleasing associations. This want our Normal School proposes 
 to supply, in a fair proportion to the means invested for its support and the 
 general interest manifested in its success. Something has already been 
 accomplished. The school, even in its infancy, respectable for numbers and 
 for scholarship, is mainly composed of graduates of our own High Schools. 
 Many of them are earnest and intelligent, and bring to their calling a 
 rigorous discipline of the intellectual faculties, with a fair degree of literary 
 accomplishments. The course of instruction to which they. are subjected in 
 the Normal School has been carefully considered with reference to accurate 
 scholarship in the fundamental branches of an English education, and to an 
 aptitude to teach alike thoughtful, skilful and progressive. The School 
 Board of the First District, earnestly co-operating with the State Legisla- 
 ture in its enlightened design, has constituted the primary departments of the 
 schools under' its charge as a "school of practice," and required the mem- 
 bers of the senior course, who are called "normal aids," to visit these 
 departments at stated periods, that, by observation and example, they may 
 the better unite the "art" with the "science" of teaching. It has, more- 
 over, authorized the employment of these " normal aids," during the tempo- 
 
 •% 
 
 > 
 
8 
 
 ' rary absence of its regular, and expressed its intention of giving them a 
 preference in any vacancy which may occur within their control. In this 
 manner, and by such instrumentalities, we expect to meet the demand for 
 good teachers here and elsewhere. 
 
 With respect to the " actual expense and the money received for the 
 support ; ' of the Normal School Department, it may be briefly stated as 
 follows : 
 
 Received on account of State Appropriation to September 30, 1858... $500 
 
 By salary of Principal to June 30, 1858 $125 00 
 
 to September 30, 1858 125 00 
 
 " " to December 31, 1858 i 125 00 
 
 li Assistant Teacher, two months 66 10 
 
 Incidentals, (Porter, Stationery, Printing, etc.) 58 30 
 
 $500 
 
 As before remarked, under more favorable circumstances, the influence of 
 the school would be materially increased. A teacher of vocal music is 
 much. needed. It is also desirable to give the pupils the advantages of a 
 course of lectures, by accomplished scholars, upon scientific and literary 
 subjects. The funds at our disposal do not warrant these important 
 improvements. May we hope for your co-operation in efforts to secure from 
 . the State Legislature a more liberal appropriation for the ensuing year, that 
 
 rthe first Normal School ever established in this State may be placed upon a 
 firmer basis and beyond the possibility of failure ? You will thus contribute 
 to promote a worthy enterprise, and advance the noble cause of public 
 education. 
 
 Respectfully submitted. 
 
 WILLIAM O. ROGERS, 
 Superintendent Public Schools, 1st District. 
 W. B. LINDSAY, 
 President of Public School Board, and Chairman of Normal School. 
 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 019 739 192 3