60th Congress ( qfv \tv /Document 1st Session i m.inaii. j No. 338 REPORT OF THE Schoolhouse Commission UPON A GENERAL PLAN FOR THE CON- SOLIDATION OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA FEBRUARY 27, 1908 Ordered to be printed with illustrations WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1908 p- 60th Congress "I ctt v a tv ^ Document isi Session T SEiNATE ^ ^^_ ^.^^ REPORT OF THE C70 Schoolhouse Commission UPON A GENERAL PLAN FOR THE CON- SOLIDATION OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA / \ FEBRUARY 27, 1908 Ordered to be printed with illustrations WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1908 LI. |\^ JUL 8 ia08 D. ot Oi . 0) • U) H ». • to OS -C u 0) m 1— i Q «J k. •^ c o u 1 1 (/) o ^ D) c u *o Q • >s CO H ^ C\J ro c^ a 1^ d Z ~Jc U Q _o CL E CO O OS H o H CO H 03 U CONTENTS. Page. I. Organization and Personnel 3 II. Recommendations: 1. Summarized - 4 2. High school education 6 3. Normal schools 7 4. Changes in white high schools 7 5. Changes in colored high schools 9 6. Elementary schools 10 a. 8-room building 10 &. 16-rooni building 10 e. 16-room extensible type 11 d. 24-room building 12 7. Manual training centers 12 8. Parental and ungraded schools 13 9. Night schools - - 13 10. Permanent architect 14 11. Permanent schoolhouse commission 15 12. Appropriations — a. Methods - 15 6. Report of a former commission 18 c. Draft of proposed law 20 d. Size of appropriations 22 13. Typical class rooms — a. Size and plan 23 h. Light 24 c. Heat and ventilation 25 d. Blackboards 26 e. Plumbing 26 /. Air moistening 27 14. Play rooms 29 15. Playgrounds - 29 16. Gymnasiums and athletic fields 30 17. Assembly halls 30 18. Schools to be abandoned — Potomac, McCormick 31 Thomson, Threlkeld, Webster, Abbott 32 Berret, J. F. Cook, High Street 33 Hillsdale, Lincoln, Bunker Hill, Force 34 Adams, Eastern High, Central High, Bradley. 35 Garfield, Jefferson, Johnson Annex 36 19. Portable schoolhouses 36 20. Fireproofing 37 21. Estimates 37 III. Washington Schools: 1. B. B. French Manual Training ...„.,. 38 2. Blow and Cardoza ...o.... = „... 38 III IV CONTENTS. III. Washington Schools — Continued. Page. 3. Langston ......,.„..-.,. 39 4. Ketcham 39 5. New school No. 153 40 6. New school No. 154 40 7. Figures of costs 41 IV. New York Schools: 1. General features 42 2. School No. 146, Brooklyn - 43 3. De Witt Clinton High School 43 4. Stuyvesant High School 44 5. School No. 84, Long Island City 45 6. School No. 40, Bronx 45 7. School No. 30, Richmond 46 8. Parental Home School, Flushing 46 9. New type school, New York 46 V. Chicago Schools: 1. Stephen K. Hayt School 47 2. Graeme-Stewart School 47 3. Bernard-Moos School 48 4. New Tilton School = 48 VI. Boston Schools: 1. General features , = 50 2. Mather school 53 3. Thomas Gardner School 53 4. Dearborn School 54 5. Oliver Wendell Holmes School 54 6. John G. Whittier School. 55 7. Oliver Hazard Perry School 55 8. James Otis School 56 9. Samuel W. Mason School 56 10. Charlestown High School 56 11. Normal and Girls' Latin group 58 12. Figures of cost 60 13. Remarks 61 VII. St. Louis Schools: 1. General features 62 2. Patrick Henry type 66 3. Lafayette type 66 4. William Clark type 67 5. New type (Oak Hill) 67 6. McKinley High School 67 7. Tables of cost 68 YIII. Cleveland Schools: 1. Watterson School 68 2. Halle School 69 3. Doan School . . 69 4. Rosedale School 69 IX. Myea Jones School, Detroit 70 X. School No. 13, Rochester, N. Y 70 XL Springfield (Mass. ) Schools 71 XII. Brookline (Mass. ) Schools 72 XIII. Providence ( R. I. ) Schools 73 XIV. Baltimore Schools 73 XV. Minutes of Commission. „ 75 REPORT OF THE SCHOOLHOUSE COMMISSION Washington, February 25, 1908. Sir: The Commission created by act of Congress, approved June 20, 1906, consisting of the superintendent of schools of the District of Columbia, the Supervising Architect of the United States Treas- ury, and the Engineer Commissioner of the District of Columbia, to report to Congress a general plan for the consolidation of public schools in the District of Columbia, and for other purposes, has the honor to submit herewith its report. Very respectfully, A. T. Stuart, Superintendent of Schools. James Knox Taylor, Supervising Architect, TJ . S. Treasury. Jay J. Morrow, Major, Corps of Engineers, U. S. Army, Engineer Oommissioner, District of Columbia. Hon. Charles W. P'airbanks, President of the Senate, United States Senate. The Schoolhouse Commission was created by public act No. 254, Fiftj^-ninth Congress, first session, entitled "An Act to fix and regu- late the salaries of teachers, school officers, and other employees of the board of education of the District of Columbia/' approved June 20, 1906, by the following section : Sec. 11. That a Commission, consisting of the superintendent of schools, the Engineer Commissioner, and the Supervising Architect of the Treasury Depart- ment is hereby created, for the purpose of submitting to Congress at its session beginning December, nineteen hundred and six^ First. A general plan for the consolidation of the public schools in the Dis- trict of Columbia and the abandonment and sale of such school buildings and sites as may by them be deemed necessary and desirable for the best good of the public school service. Second. A general plan for the character, size, and location of school build- ings in accordance with v^^hich the educational and business interests of the public school system may be subserved. ^ 3 4 CONSOLIDATION OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN DISTEICT OF COLUMBIA. In the District appropriation act for the expenses of the fiscal year ending- June 30, 1908, tlie creation of this Commission was made effective by an appropriation of $1,500 among the appropriations for the support of the public schools of the District, as follows : For the expenses of the Commission created by section eleven of the act of Congress approved June twentieth, nineteen hundred and six, to regulate the salaries of school teachers, officers, and employees of the District of Columbia, including traveling expenses, personal services, printing, and other incidental items, one thousand five hundred dollars, or so much thereof as may be neces- sary, to be immediately available. At the time of the passage of these acts the office of Engineer Com- missioner of the District of Columbia was filled by Maj. John Biddle, Corps of Engineers, and a number of the inspections were made by him prior to his relief on May 1, 1907. Since that date the office of Engineer Commissioner has been filled by Capt. (now Major) Jay J. Morrow, Corps of Engineers, U. S. Army, Avho has made some of the insj^ections. The office of superintendent of schools was filled by Dr. Wm. E. Chancellor until January 4, 1908, and all inspections were made by him. Since that date the office has been filled by Prof. A. T. Stuart. The office of Supervising Architect of the Treasury has been continuously filled by Mr. James Knox Taylor, who made all in- spections except as noted later in this report. ■The Commission has inspected every school building in the Dis- trict of Columbia, and has made trips of inspection to the following cities, in each of which from 1 to 12 modern school buildings were inspected : Baltimore, Md. ; New York City and Brooklyn, N. Y. ; East Or- ange and Bloomfield, N. J. ; Rochester and Syracuse, N. Y. ; Spring- field, Brookline, Newton, and Boston, Mass.; Providence, E. I.; St. Louis, Mo.; Chicago, 111.; Muskegon, Mich.; Detroit, Mich.; and Cleveland, Ohio. The Commission has had exceptional opportunities of obtaining the views of members of boards of education and superintendents and assistant superintendents of schools in various sections of the country and has especially availed itself of the fund of experience acquired in the study of various problems in school architecture by the architects in charge of the work of constructing the school build- ings in these various cities. The Commission desires, first, to briefly summarize its findings and to refer to a more careful perusal of the body of the report for the more detailed argument in each case. The Commission recommends: I. The abandonment of the 8-room school building as a type, ex- cept as the first half of an ultimate 16-room building. II. The adoption of the 16-room building and of the 24-room building as types for consolidated primary and grammar schools. CONSOLIDATION OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 5 ■III. The partial adoption of the system of separate primary and grammar schools to better utilize the present 8-room school buildings. IV. The construction of special high schools rather than of poly- technic high schools. V. The immediate abandonment of the following school buildings : Potomac, McCormick, Thomson, John F. Cook, Threlkeld, High Street, Hillsdale, Bunker Hill, Garfield, and Johnson Annex. VI. The early abandonment of the folloAYing schools: Webster, Abbot, Berret, Lincoln, Force, Adams, Bradley, and Jefferson. VII. The abandonment of Central and Eastern high schools as high schools, and their conversion into grammar schools, and the construction of new Eastern and Central high schools. VIII. The enlargement of McKinley, Business, and Western high schools, and the use of Business High School for all but the first year of commercial work, which first year's instruction should be given at each of the academic high schools. IX. The conversion of present Colored High School (M street) into an elementary school and construction of a new colored high school with provisions therein for commercial instruction. X. The construction of white and colored normal schools or colleges. XL The construction of a number of manual training centers, similar to the B. B. French School. XII. More liberal provision in new buildings for assembly rooms and gymnasium rooms. XIII. More liberal provision for pla3''gT0und space and the estab- lishment of athletic fields. XIV. Greater use of fireproof construction in buildings, with a higher unit of cost than now allowed by appropriations. XV. The use of portable buildings to relieve unforeseen conges- tion of school population. XVI. The abandonment of the present method of appropriating funds for new school buildings and sites and the adoption instead of the annual appropriation of two Jump funds, one for sites and one for buildings. XVII. The permanent continuance of the Schoolhouse Commis- sion, by law, with the following functions : (a) Appointment of a school architect, who shall take over and carry out, under the Commission, all of the present duties of the in- spector of buildings as to design, construction, and maintenance of school buildings. (5) Appointment and control over janitors, enginemen, and fire- men in school buildings, and control over installing and maintaining furniture and equipment of school buildings. (c) Purchase or condemnation of schoolhouse sites, after certifi- cate from board of education as to necessitv for ne^x school sites and 6 CONSOLIDATION OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. allotment from the lump fund appropriated by Congress of the neces- sary funds to purchase said sites; this Avith a view to obtaining the site some time in advance of the building of the schoolhouse. (d) Appointment of architects to design buildings, and of nec- essary employees in the office of the school architect to supervise and inspect this work. (e) Allotment from the lump fund appropriated by Congress for construction of new buildings after certificate from the board of education as to necessity for new school building ; and making of con- tract for erection of said building. (/) Submission of annual estimates, through Commissioners of the District of Columbia, and of an annual report into which shall be gathered notable instances of new buildings in other municipalities. XVIII. And finally, the Commission recommends a substantial increase in the size of the appropriations for sites and buildings for the next three to five years to make up for the present backward condition of our schools due to insufficient appropriations for new buildings of recent years. PIIGH SCHOOL EDUCATION. The general scheme for education in the District of Columbia requires two entirely separate systems of school buildings. The first of these systems is for the white pupils of the District and the sec- ond for the colored j)upils. The attendance in the white schools is a little over twice that in the colored and the attendance in the white high schools is about four times that of the colored high schools. This apportionment of the pupils necessitates slight variations in the plans for high schools. The Commission finds that the practice in the cities of the country in respect to high schools differs materially. Some cities have genuinely polytechnic high schools in which nine or ten different courses are offered while other cities have special high schools, each offering but one or two courses. The area of the District of Colum- bia — some 64 square miles — which is not as great as the areas of most of the larger cities of the country, would seem to indicate the advisability of establishing special high schools here rather than polytechnic high schools. This also tends somewhat to the reduction of expense for equipment. The Commission therefore recommends that the school systems for the white and colored pupils be arranged according to the following plan : FOR THE WHITE SCHOOLS. 1. A normal school or normal college with a large model practice department. 2. At least three general academic high schools, immediately. CONSOLIDATION OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 7 3. A system of elementary schools of which some should be com- plete grammar schools and some primary and intermediate schools. 4. A system of schools to be known as manual training centers, for manual training for boys and domestic science and art for girls. FOR THE COLORED SCHOOLS. A similar system, except that they seem to require at present sev- eral less high schools. WHITE AND COLORED NORMAL SCHOOLS. The District of Columbia already owns an excellent site for a white normal school adjacent to an 8-room elementary school. The Commission recommends that an appropriation be granted for a normal school or normal college to accommodate an attendance of 300 pupils and the erection of the building on this site. This appro- priation should include provision not only for the academic and professional work of the normal school proper, but also for the con- struction of a pergolo, or connecting corridor, between the Eoss School adjacent and the new school, so that the two schools may be operated as one. For the colored normal school or college the Commission recom- mends the purchase of a suitable site and the construction thereon of a normal school building to accommodate an attendance of 240 pupils and a practice school building adjacent to it to accommodate at least 16 elementary classes, including a kindergarten. WHITE HIGH SCHOOLS. The District of Columbia has now 3 academic high schools: The Central High School, which accommodates about 1,000 pupils; the Western High School, wdiich accommodates about 600 pupils, and the Eastern High School, which accommodates about 450 pupils. The Central High School is housed in a structure poorly adapted to this purpose. It could, however, be converted, without great ex- pense, into a suitable intermediate grammar school. The Commis- sion regards the present location of the Central High School as not especially advantageous and recommends, therefore, that this high school be transferred to the northern part of the city. It would appear advisable to purchase in the north or northwest a site suitable for a building to accommodate 1,200 pupils in academic and scientific subjects. Similarly, the Commission finds that the Eastern High School building is not well adapted to the purposes of high school instruc- tion, but that it could be used, with but very slight expense for clianges, as a building for intermediate grammar school work. The Commission therefore recommends that a site be purchased some- 8 CONSOLIDATION OP PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. Avhat to the east of the present Eastern High School and that a build- ing be erected iijoon it to accommodate 800 pupils in academic and scientific subjects. One of the finest school properties in this country is the present Western High School with its site of several acres. This building is, however, not large enough and the Commission recommends an ap- propriation for the enlargement and improvement of the building so that it will accommodate 800 pupils in academic and scientific subjects. The Commission would call the attention of Congress to the fact tliat there is now no academic high school to accommodate the high school attendance in the southwest section of the city. We believe that within a period of a few years provision should be made for a small high school in that district, but that the erection of such a high school should be delayed until after the completion of these others as indicated. THE m'kINLEY manual TRAINING HIGH SCHOOL. The white mechanic's arts high school of the District of Columbia has at present an attendance of three times as many pupils as it can accommodate within the building erected for that purpose. In other words, there are 3 children for every seat in the high school. The seating capacity of the building is about 250 and the building is now being enlarged to a size sufficient to accommodate about 500 pupils. There is need of such a high school in the District to accommodate not less than 1,200 pupils. Not only is the building crowded now beyond its capacity, and not only are the pupils housed in rented buildings and at other nearby schools, but the school authorities are refusing admission to many pupils who would be glad to attend it. The Com- mission considers its recommendation of the extension of this build- ing to accommodate 1,200 pupils as extremely conservative. In order to provide for a mechanic's arts high school of this size at the present location, it would be necessary to acquire j^ossession, either by purchase or by condemnation, of the block of houses on Rhode Island avenue to the east of the present building. When the building is extended under present operations, it will not be more than one-half as large as is really necessary. The Commission there- fore recommends that a suitable appropriation be granted at an early date for the purpose indicated. There are no accommodations for any yard for the school. The Commission suggests that there be granted an appropriation for the acquirement, by purchase or condemnation, of the real estate lying southeast of the building on Marion street. CONSOLIDATION OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 9 BUSINESS HIGH SCHOOL. The Business High School was completed in 1906. It has accom- modations for 700 pupils. It now houses 870 and indications are that the growth of the high school will be at the rate of at least 150 a year for some time to come. The present first-year class in the Business High School is the largest that has ever entered any high school in the history of the District. The site for the Business High School is sufficient for about 10 or 12 more class rooms at the north end of the building, and when the building was constructed, provision was made for an extension of that size. The Commission, however, is of the opinion that the demand for commercial instruction in the District is such as to make it impracti- cable to erect upon this site a high school large enough to take care of all applicants. The addition suggested — 10 rooms — would pro- vide for about 350 more pupils, making a total provision of attend- ance less than 1,100 pupils. The Commission, however, is of the opinion that there should be offered in each of the academic high schools — that is, the new Central High School, Western High School, and Eastern High School — a course of first-year work in commercial subjects, so that pupils who have completed the first- year work in these division high schools may enter the second year of the Central Business High School. It is believed that this plan is feasible and more desirable than to enlarge the Business High School to any further extent than recommended. In recommending an appropriation for the extension of this building the Commission ^ould call attention to the desirability of a small appropriation for the pui"pose of changing the windows in a few class rooms wherein light is deficient. THE COLORED ACADEMIC HIGH SCHOOL. The present M Street High School for the colored pupils in aca- demic and scientific subjects is too small for the purpose and is not well adapted for high school instruction. The Commission recom- mends that this building be converted into an elementary school, which can be clone at small expense, that a large site be purchased in the vicinity, and that a high school be erected to accommodate 1,200 pupils. In this high school provision should also be made for commercial courses of at least three years' duration. ARMSTRONG MANUAL TRAINING HIGH SCHOOL. The present high school for the instruction of colored youth in industrial subjects and in domestic science and art is one of the most attractive school buildings in this country. At present it is just 10 CONSOLIDATION OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. lai-o-e enouffh to accommodate its attendance. The site is ratlier too small. It should be increased by the purchase of land at the east and west. By taking out the commercial pupils, as suggested, the present building would perhaps be large enough for four or five years to come. ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS. About 100 of the elementary schools of the District of Columbia are 8-room buildings. The 8-room building has many advantages, as it can be well arranged, involves a minimum of corridor space and a maximum of schoolroom area, lends itself readily to the best possi- ble lighting arrangement, and need not be higher than two floors. The smaller number of pupils gives better control and more indi- vidual oversight. The distance the pupils have to travel averages much less than where the schools are larger. In some municipalities, notably in Boston, primary schools and grammar schools are sepa- rately constructed, although one master or principal controls both schools. Here primary and grammar schools are kept together and only high school students separated. The 8-room building, how- ever, has grave disadvantages, being less economical of administra- tion both as to up-keep and as to teaching. Possibly its most serious disadvantage develops as a result of the organization of the educa- tional system into eight grades of school work, besides the kinder- garten, below the high schools. The 8-room building, therefore, al- lows but one room for each grade, without any room for kindergarten, and if a school has a class of 50 pupils in the first primary grade it will seldom have over 60 per cent as many pupils in the eighth grade, the result being that either some rooms are only half filled or others are so crowded that it becomes necessary that the first two grades, and maybe, also, the third, must be put on half time, largely increas- ing the work of the teachers in primary work, although, as a rule, these teachers receive less pay than the teachers in the higher or grammar grades. The Commission does not recommend the separa- tion of the primary and the grammar schools, similar to the Boston system, in the construction of new buildings, but believes that many of the 8-room buildings might be utilized to advantage by using, say, one or two of some group of three for primary work and the third only for grammar work. The Commission, however, does believe that no more 8-room school buildings should be constructed, except buildings of the extensible type — that is, an 8-room building should be built that would be capable of being extended with the growth of the section, at least to 12 rooms, and possibly, where the section is building up rapidly, later to 16. It would appear that the 16-room building is a good type for a fin- ished school building. Taking the usual school statistics, this would result in an organization about as follows: CONSOLIDATIOISr OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 11 One eighth-grade class, 1 seventh- grade class, 1 sixth-grade class, 2 fifth-grade classes, 2 fourth-grade classes, 2 third-grade classes, 3 second-grade classes, 3 first-grade classes, 2 kindergarten classes in one large room. This 16-room school building should also con- tain a manual training center with provisions for one room for woodworking and carpentering for bo3^s, and of one or two rooms for girls for instruction in cooking, sewing, and similar work. There thus results a type, which the Commission advocates, of an 8-room extensible type having for its idtimate goal a building of 16 schoolrooms, the finished 16-room building to be constructed in the locality where the population may be regarded as fixed, the 8-room extensible type to be installed where 8 rooms are required in a section possibly only half built up. Examples of the 8-room building are shown in this report among tlie newer Washington schools. Admirable examples of the 8-room extensible type of building are herewith submitted and are described later with plans. Reference is made to the Halle School, in Cleveland, Ohio, to the John H. Ketcham School here in Washington, and to the plans of the Stephen K. Hayt and Bernard Moos schools in Chicago, which are exactly of this type if constructed in two floors rather than in three as built in Chicago. The Langston School in AVashington is a good example of an 8- room school extensible to 12 rooms. Admirable additional examples of the completed 16-room type may be found later in this report in the new type of school proposed for New York, if built of two floors only, and approximations to this size school are shown in the Doan School at Cleveland (17 rooms and assembly), in the Oliver Hazard Perrj^ at Boston (14 rooms and assembly), and in the new schools under construction in Washington, D. C, to relieve the Mott School, and in Mount Pleasant. Sixteen-room extensible type. — The 16-room building is a good type for construction where an old building is to be replaced and the population is fairh^ settled; and where a 16-room building is re- quired in this locality, possibly the 8-room type carried to its maxi- mum extension of 16 rooms is the proper type. The Commission, however, believes that a 16-room extensible type should also be adopted for construction where a 16-room building is necessary in a growing section. This should be a 2-story building, with provision for the construction of 4 rooms at each end to provide for the ex- tension of the building as necessity demands, first, into a 20-room building and later into a 24-room building. Types for this construction will be found later in this report. In 3-story buildings the Hayt and Moos schools in Chicago are ad- mirable for extension from either 12 or 18 rooms to 24 rooms and as an example of a 14-room school of 3 stories, extensible into a 26- room building, the Thomas Gardner School in Boston is excellent. 12 CONSOLIDATION OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN DISTEICT OF COLUMBIA. Twenty-four room huilding. — This it is believed should be re- garded as the model grammar school building where there is suf- ficient demand for a building so large, and as the type to which all 16-room buildings, where tlie population is growing, should attain. It should preferably be a 2-story building, with 24 class rooms, an assembly room, and a gymnasium, with tAvo basement rooms suitable for manual training and domestic science, respectively. Types of building suitable for this will be found later in the St. Louis schools which have 22 to 26 rooms, including the kindergarten rooms, but which have no large assembly room. The Commission desires to express itself as believing that the people of Washington could have no better fortune in school matters than that Congress should authorize the construction each year of from two to five build- ings of this class and cost, the buildings being eminenth'' suitable for Washing-ton conditions. Other good buildings of this size are referred to in this report as follows: The Oliver Wendell Holmes School in Boston (3 floors) ; the Rosedale School in Cleveland (19 rooms only on 3 floors) ; School No. 30 in New York (24 rooms but no assembly room, if built of but 2 floors in height) ; the Dearborn School in Boston (21 rooms only, on 3 floors) ; the Graeme Stewart, Hayt, and Moos schools in Chicago (all of 3 floors) ; and School No. 13 in Eochester (19 rooms only on 2 floors). MANUAL TKAINING CENTERS. In addition to the manual training schools which the Commission recommends in new school buildings the Commission also recom- mends that, as rapidly as possible, rented manual training centers be dispensed with and that buildings shoidd be constructed at vari- ous points in the city adapted solely for manual training work. Congress has alread}^ erected in the District of Columbia one manual training center of the type that is proposed by this Com- mission. The French School is located in a building with 3 rooms upon the first floor and 3 upon the second. A description of this school with plans will be found elsewhere in this report. The manual training centers proposed by this Commission should have each about 6 rooms— 3 for work of boys and 3 for work of girls. As far as possible they should be located near a grammar school. They would be attended by pupils from 5 or 6 schools in that neigh- borhood, who would go to them for periods of two hours at a time at stated intervals. It is recommended that there be ultimatelj^ about 12 such centers — 7 or 8 for white pupils and 4 or 5 for colored pupils. They should be constructed at the rate of 2 or 3 per year until the above recommended number is reached, after which they may be added to as needed. CONSOLIDATION OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 13 PARENTAL AND UNGRADED SCHOOLS. In most of the cities of the North and West provision is being made for the special education of the children, who, for one reason or another, are not able to benefit by attendance in the regular schools. Already Congress has made provision for the instruction of pupils in such schools, but has not made provisions for buildings. The Com- mission recommends that 4 of these buildings be erected for the pur- pose of educating children with physical defects or habitual absentees from school. Of these schools 2 should be white and 2 colored. They should be so located as to give fairly convenient access from the different parts of the city. The expense involved need not be large, since these schools would not require over 3 rooms each, one of which should be a combined manual training room. The purpose of these ungraded schools is to care for children who are in day attendance only. There is required also, however, both a white and a colored parental school which should care for children, to be properly committed to it, both day and night until their education is complete. Such pa- rental schools should be located upon plots of ground large enough for both play and sports and for gardening. Each of these parental schools should accommodate about 30 pupils. Plans are submitted later in this report of a complete and expansible installation of this kind for New York City. NIGHT SCHOOLS. It appears that often there is demand in a neighborhood for a night school of a different character from the day school housed in the same building. It would appear desirable that in the construction of at least one-third of the elementary and high schools in the future special room should be provided for the installation of instruction in trades. Some sections of the city would desire instruction in certain trades and other sections would desire instruction in other trades. It would appear probable that instruction should be provided for in possibly 25 different trades for men, women, and youth, both white and colored. RECOMMENDATION FOR THE EMPLOYMENT OF A PERMANENT SCHOOL ARCHITECT. It is noticeable that on the inspections of the Commission, the best school buildings were found where a permanent municipal or school architect is employed. In Boston there is a permanent schoolhouse commission of which one member is the architect, and this commis- sion has charge of the selection of sites and the erection of buildings thereon, subject only to the direction of the board of education as 14 CONSOLIDATION OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. to what particular locality demands the building. The architect does not, however, necessarilj^ prepare the plans for the building, but usually employs an architect for this purpose and supervises the ■preparation of plans and thr^ erection of the building. This commis- sion also has charge of maintenance and repair of buildings and supervision and control of janitor serviced ' The new schoolhouses turned out mider this system are exceptional!}?: fine, the interior be- ing notably plain, but good materials and good workmanship in all minor details from basement to roof give the impression of excep- tionally good quality which is not observed so universally elsewhere, except in the newer buildings in St. Louis. In New York one man is employed under the board of education as architect and superintendent of school buildings and the solution of the problem here has been dependent entirely upon him. Practi- cally all plans are prepared in his office. The situation is probably different from that of any other American city (except, possibly, the congested sections in the city of Chicago) and not at all applicable to Washington conditions. The schools are enormous, playground space almost impossible to obtain except inside the building or on the roofs, and buildings must necessarily be of many stories, contain many rooms, and must be fireproof. Some of their suburban schools, however, approximate more nearly to Washington conditions. In Chicago an architect is employed under the direction of the board of education and here notably good results are obtained in the construction of schools of extensible type, and in the congested sec- tion of large schools similar to New York schools. All plans are prepared in this office. In St. Louis, where the school buildings are possibly architecturally in advance of any school buildings in the countrj?- (excepting in the one point of assembly rooms in grammar schools) an architect is employed under the school commission and all plans are directly prepared in his office. This system of having all plans prepared by a school architect has its disadvantages in requiring the organization of either too large a force to be constantl}?^ employed or requiring the buildings to be taken up in succession, which Avill cause a delay in some cases where the building may be urgently needed, unless, as in most of these cases, the definite amount of the appropriation for new buildings is at least approximately known well in advance. It is believed to be better adapted to the Washington situation to have an organization similar to that in Boston, as appropriations for new buildings in Washington become available annually and in varying amounts. The architect should be given supervisory authority over local archi- tects who may utilize their force in the preparation of plans subject to his supervision, similar to the way the work is now done in the office of the inspector of buildings, when the appropriation is suffi- CONSOLIDATIOlSr OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 15 cient to allow for the compensation of an architect. The Commis- sion recommends that the organization of the architect's office be only large enough to provide for the keeping of plans and records and for this supervisory work, but that the ar^^hiteet himself be a man of considerable experience in the design of school buildings as well as of general architectural training. PERMANENCY OF THE SCHOOLHOUSE COMMISSION. The Commission recommends that the schoolhouse commission, created as herein outlined, be made a permanent organization and be given control of the erection, repair, and maintenance of all school buildings in the District of Columbia and empowered to devise a system somewhat on the lines of the system in Boston for the con- duct of that work. As organized tlie Commission is a commission ex officio, involves the Government in no expense, and yet provides, it is believed, all that is necessary for a successful business organiza- tion for the work outlined. The United States, the District of Co- lumbia, and the board of education are represented on the Com- mission by the Supervising Architect of the Treasury, the Engineer Commissioner of the District of Columbia, and the superintendent of schools, respectively. Under the Commission the organization should be provided with an architect, who would be the executive officer, having charge of supervision over the preparation of plans and the erection of buildings and of all repairs; also of the janitor service. The Commission should be authorized to locate the school buildings, subject to direction from the board of education as to the area in which buildings shall be built, and should inaugurate proceedings for the condemnation of the necessary sites, in the failure to pur- chase them at a reasonable sum. APPROPRIATIONS. The Commission also believes that the method of making appro- priations for new school buildings, as at present followed, is about the worst that could possibly be devised. It is, roughly, as follows: The board of education recommends, through the Commissioners, to Congress, appropriations for certain new buildings. Thes^ rec- ommendations are made up in the summer or early fall months, are forwarded to the Commissioners about October 1, are embodied in the Commissioners' estimates to Congress, which are made prior to October 15, and come to consideration before the Appropriations Committee of the House of Representatives sometimes, but rarely, before the Christmas recess, and are never passed until about March 4, during the short sessions, and until June or July in alternating 5^ears. The money is not available for use until the 1st of July and the sites and buildings are appropriated for in a single lump sum. 16 CONSOLIDATION OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN DISTEICT OF COLUMBIA. The site must first be purchased, or possibly condemned, before the plans for the building can be made. If the site can be purchased quickly the preparation of plans takes two or three months, and the construction of the building takes several months, so that at the best, even when the board of education's requests are granted by Congress at the first opportunity, twenty-four months must elapse from the date of the recommendation of the board of education until the build- ing can be turned over to them for use. This places it out of the power of the board of education to provide for any unusual demand unless that demand can be foreseen by at least two years. Added to this, it should be noted that the board of education and the Commis- sioners of the District frequently ask for a new building two, three, and four times before the appropriation is made. Another criticism of the method of making appropriations for school buildings as now followed is the method of making the ap- propriation for the site and the building under the same appropria- tion. There have been occasions when appropriations were made for a site and later an appropriation was made for the erection of the building on the site, but this is the exception rather than the rule. The ordinary procedure is to appropriate a lump sum for site and building and the appropriation has been usually a definite stated sum for a building of so many rooms, no matter where the building is located. The result is obvious, that where land is cheap, the sur- roundings more or less squalid, a larger site can be obtained and more money left for the construction of the building than in a section where the value of the land is high and where, possibly, not a large enough tract exists entirely devoid of improvements, so that some improvements must be paid for in securing the site. There thus arises in the remote or possibly squalid section a fine building with ample playground space, while the improved section must be con- tent with a cheaper building and on a site with comparatively no playground space whatever, while it might well be that vacant areas in the vicinity of the building for children to play on as trespassers are less numerous than in the other case. The Commission could, if necessary, point out examples of this exact result in nearly every appropriation bill within the past ten years. Another disadvantage in the mode of appropriating a fixed and. inflexible amount for each " building and site " in combined appro- priation for each individual building is illustrated in the Gage and Hyde schools in this city. In these schools, after the ground was purchased and a balance left just sufficient to construct the building, the contractor in the former case encountered a submerged stream about 8 feet below the surface of the site which necessitated about 8 feet deeper foundation walls than contemplated and added about $3,000 to the cost of the building. In the second case the contractor COISrSOLIDATIOISr OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 17 uncovered some Aery old vaults and cisterns which Avere used in con- nection with a brewery or wine house more than seventy-five years previous to the construction of the school. This required a reenf orced concrete foundation which added $2,000 to the cost of the building and placed it too Ioav in the ground, no funds being available to in- crease the depth of foundation walls or raise the basement story. To offset these unusual expenses important accessories had to be omitted from the buildings. It also should be possible for the District to acquire the site some time in advance of the construction of the building, as the building is very frequently delayed by the inability to acquire a proper site without condemnation proceedings. The alternative proposed by the Commission is that Congress should appropriate each year a certain definite lump sum for the pur- chase of sites and a certain definite lump sum for the construction of new building's, the board of education then to certify to the school- house commission the general locality where a school building is de- sired and approximately the number of seatings required in the new building. The Commission taking these requests up in the order in which they are made by the board of education, will purchase or con- demn a sufficient site, payable from one fund, and at once provide for the making of plans for a building from the other fund. In this way should an unusual call be made upon the board of education, the building could be provided for it within a year's time. The Com- mission believes that until some such system as this is adopted by Congress, no satisfactory solution of the new school building problem can ever be reached. Possibly the appropriations could be assured in advance, as is now done in many municipalities by pledging a definite j)ercentage of tax collections to the fund for sites and another per- centage for buildings. It is not believed advisable to create the office of a school architect to be placed under the board of education. The Commission believes that functions of the board of education should be confined to edu- cational matters pure and simple, and that, failing the legislation making a permanent schoolhouse commission, a school or municipal architect should be appointed to operate under the Commissioners of the District of Columbia, similar to the plan now being followed where the inspector of buildings acts in this capacity. The perma- nent establishment of the schoolhouse commission does aAvay with the main objection of the board of education to the .present system, namely, that the board of'education has no control over the erection and repair of its buildings, as the board would be represented on this Commission by the superintendent of schools. Another change is believed to be urgently necessary and is recom- mended by the Commission. At present the janitors of the schools 18 CONSOLIDATIOlSr OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS IIST DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. are under the control of the board of education, while the repair of the buildings is under the superintendent of repairs, who, himself, is under the inspector of buildings. The Commission believes that the supervision of janitors should be transferred to the office which has control of the maintenance and repair of buildings and believes it to be, therefore, preferable to transfer the janitors to the inspector of buildings rather than to put the school architect under the board of education. The best solution of all is believed to be that recom- mended, namely, the creation of a separate commission and the trans- fer from the office of the inspector of buildings to this commission the responsibility for the construction, maintenance, and repair of the buildings and from the board of education of its control over the janitors. REPORT or A FORMER SCHOOLHOUSE COMMISSIOlSr. At this point the commission deems it proper to invite attention to the fact that a quarter of a century ago, a commission was appointed by resolution of the House of Representatives, consisting of Col. John S. Billings, surgeon, U. S. Army; Hon. John Eaton, United States Director of Education, and Mr. Edward Clark, Architect of the United States Capitol. This Commission, in a report largely taken up Avith the discussion of rented rooms and buildings, of which a large portion of the school accommodations consisted, at the same time reported upon the construction of school buildings. Quotations from that report follows : The large school buildings that have been erected in the District during the last three years have received careful examination. The general plan of all these buildings is considered fairly satisfactory, and they are superior to some and equal to the average of school buildings in other large cities of this country. Thej' have been as cheaply built as is consistent with the purpose for which they were designed, no money having been used for architectural effect or orna- ment of any kind. It is advised that no new building should be erected or any important altera- tions in existing buildings made until the plans and site selected for such new i)uildings or the proposed alterations shall have been approved by a board of experts representing the best and most recent knowledge in sanitary science, in pedagogy, and in architecture. Such an important matter as the arrangement of a large school building should not be left to the discretion of a body of men who have no special familiarity with the approved principles of school manage- ment, sanitary science, or architecture. It is the opinion of the Commission that the amounts heretofore allowed for repairs in the school buildings have been economically used, but that they have been insufficient to meet the current wants. The Commission has carefully considered the existing wants of the District for additional school accommodation. Looking at this side of the question only, it would appear that there is at the present time great demand for additional school buildings. On the other hand the Commission recognize the fact that there are great and urgent demands upon the revenues of the District for other purposes, and more especially for drainage, sewerage, and CONSOLIDATIOlsr OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN DISTEICT OF COLUMBIA. 19 for putting the streets into a proper conditiou, and also that the rate of taxation upon the property owners in the District should be materially if at all increased. It is because this last point has been kept in view that the Commission has refrained from commenting in detail upon the defects which are found in the existing school buildings, even in the best, or from urging the erection of such buildings as would be considered in the light of the combined requirements of modern sanitary and pedagogical science as model schools, since to secure the amount of light and fresh air which should be furnished in such a building necessitates not only a certain increase in cost of construction over that which has been heretofore expended upon school buildings in the District, but also additional cost for their maintenance, more especially as regards heating, since in cold weather the fresh air to be supplied must be warmed, and if the proper amount is supplied the cost for fuel must be increased to correspond. Taking all these things into consideration it is the opinion of the Commission that for the next three or four years at least the sum of $100,000 per annum should be expended in the construction of new buildings upon plans to be approved by a board of experts, as above suggested, and that setting all other considerations aside, it will be much more economical to make this expenditure than to pay the rents of the structures which these new buildings would replace. In the plans of buildings to be hereafter erected, the Commission consider that the following points should be insisted on, concurring with regard to them with the report on a special committee of award upon plans for public schools, as reported in the Sanitary Engineer for March 1, ISSO, with certain modifications relating more especially to the conditions in the District. 1. All sides of the building shall be fully exposed to light and air, for which purpose they shall be not less than 60 feet distant from any opposite building, 2. Not more than three of the floors, better only two, shall be occupied for class rooms. 3. In each class room not less than 15 square feet of floor area shall be allotted to each pupil. 4. In each class room the window space should not be less than one-fourth of the floor space, and the distance of the desk most remote from the window should not be more than one and a half times the height of the top of the window from the floor. 5. The height of the class room should never exceed 14 feet. 6. The provisions for ventilation should be such as to provide for each per- son in a class room not less than 30 cubic feet of fresh air per minute, which amount must be introduced and thoroughly distributed without creating unpleas- ant draughts or causing any two parts of the room to difi:er in temperature more than 2° F. The velocity of the incoming air should not exceed 2 feet per second at any point where it is liable to strike on the person. 7. The heating of the fresh air should be eflrected by indirect radiation. 8. All closets for containing clothing and wraps should be thoroughly ven- tilated. 9. Water-closet accommodations for the pupils should be provided on each floor. 10. The building should not occupy more than half the lot. All of which is respectfully submitted. (Signed) . ■ John S. Billings, Surgeon, United States Army. John Eaton, United States Commissioner of Education. Edward Clark, Architect, United States Capitol. 20 CONSOLIDATION OP PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. It should be here stated that the report of this Commission was of great vahie in the succeeding years in the construction of school buildings in the District of Columbia. The report was in advance of schoolhouse construction of that time and many of the improve- ments of the few succeeding years in schoolhouse construction all over the United States can doubtless be traced directly to this report. This suggests a secondary advantage in the continued permanence of the present Schoolhouse Commission to the people of the United States at large. Trips of inspection by this Commission, which have covered a great many of the leading cities of the country, have shown that some municipalities are far in advance of others, in questions of the proper construction of school buildings. The Schoolhouse Commis- sion, it is believed, has secured a great deal of valuable data, which is submitted with this report, and it is believed that such data as this should be constantly gathered together and published, and that if this is done, as it doubtless would be by a permanent Schoolhouse Commission, it would be rendered available for distribution and would doubtless be found in a short time to influence the construction of new school buildings throughout the United States. A draft of the proposed legislation necessary to carry these recom- mendations into effect is herewith submitted, with the recommenda- tion that it be- either enacted as a separate law, or placed at some proper place in the current District appropriation bill. A BILL To provide for a Schoolhouse Commission for the District of Columbia, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of Amerioa in Congress asseniNed, That the Commission consisting of the superintendent of schools, the Engineer Commissioner of the District of Cohimbia, and the Supervising Architect of the U. S. Treasury, created by section 11 of the act of Congress approved June 20, 1906, entitled, " An act to fix and regulate the salaries of teachers, school officers and other employees of the board of education of the District of Columbia," for the purpose of submitting to Congress plans for the consolidation of public school buildings, and other pur- poses, be, and the same is hereby, made a permanent Commission, with the powers and duties hereinafter provided for: Provided, That no member of said Commission shall- receive any additional compensation for performing said duties other than that which he is now receiving by law. Sec. 2. Said Commission shall have charge of the construction, repair, main- tenance, and furnishing of all public school buildings now or hereafter erected in the District of Columbia, including the appointment of janitors, enginemen, and firemen, and shall have authority to purchase or initiate proceedings to condemn ground as sites for school buildings when appropriations therefor are made by law, and of the preparation of plans for and the construction of school buildings on such sites, under appropriations made for that purpose. Sec. 3. Said Commission is hereby authorized and directed to appoint a school architect at a compensation of $3,600 per annum, whose duty it shall be, under the direction of the Commission, to prepare plans and specifications for CONSOLIDATION OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN" DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 21 school buildiugs and to perform such other duties as raay be assigned to him by said Commission, and said Commission is further authorized to appoint architects, draftsmen, and such other employees as may be necessary, in its judgment, to carry out the purposes of this act and to dismiss such employees at its discretion, and all of the duties now placed by law upon the inspector of buildings of the District of Columbia, the superintendent of the Capitol build- lug and grounds, and the Commissioners of the District of Columbia, with reference to the preparation and approval of plans and specifications for school buildings, and the construction of same are hereby transferred to and A'ested in said Commission. Sec. 4. The board of education of the District of Columbia is hereby directed to report to said Commission, from time to time, the necessity for the purchase of sites for new school buildings, which report shall describe generally the territory within which such site should be selected and the character and size of school intended for such site, and it shall be the duty of said Commission, either by purchase or condemnation, to acquire such site or sites from any appro- priation or appropriations which may be available for the purpose as nearly as may be practicable in the order certified to said Commission by the board of education. Sec. 5. That it shall further be the duty of the board of education to prepare, from time to time, in writing, for the direction of the said Commission, a list of school buildings to be erected upon sites already secured or in process of being secured by condemnation proceedings, and it shall be the duty of said Commis- sion to prepare plans and specifications for a building or buildings to be erected on said sites as nearly as may be practicable in the order certified thereto by the board of education, and to advertise for bids for the erection of such building or buildings as required by existing law, and to enter into con- tract therefor : Provided, That an appropriation or appropriations are available for said purpose. Sec. 6. That hereafter ^appropriations for the purchase of sites for and the construction of public school buildings shall be made in separate lump sums to be disbursed under the direction of said Commission, in accordance with the provisions of this act, and it shall be the duty of said Commission to make allotments from said appropriations for the purchase of sites and the construc- tion of school buildings thereon. Sec 7. It shall be the duty of said Commission to disburse all sums appro- priated for the repair and maintenance of public school buildings, and for furni- ture therein, upon requisitions made by the board of education of the District of Columbia : Provided, That said Commission shall have full power to approve or disapprove any requisitions which may be submitted to It by said board of education. Sec. S. It shall be the duty of said Commission to report to Congress annually, through the Commissioners of the District of Columbia, the number of sites purchased and the cost thereof, the number of school buildings erected and the cost thereof, and the amount expended in the repairs, maintenance, and fur- nishing of school buildiugs, and said report shall be made in detail, and it shall also be the duty of said Commission to submit to Congress, annualty, through said Commissioners of the District of Columbia, estimates for the purchase of sites, the erection of school buildings, and the equipment of same, and for the maintenance and repair of school buildings. Sec. 9. That all disbursements of said Commission shall be upon vouchers audited by the auditor of the District of Columbia and paid by the disbursing officer of said District, and upon requisitions to be approved by the Commis- 22 CONSOLIDATION OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN DISTKICT OF COLUMBIA. sioners of the District of Columbia, as now required by law for appropriations made for tbe expenses of the government of the District of Columbia. Sec. 10. That all duties placed by this act upon said Schoolhouse Commission which are now performed by any other officer or employee of the District of Coumbia shall be performed by said Commission, and such officer or employee is hereby relieved from all such duty or duties. Sec. 11. That all laws or parts of laws inconsistent with the provisions hereof are hereby repealed. SIZE OF APPROPKIATTONS. At this point it seems desirable to the Commission to make some recommendations in regard to the size of the appropriations. It is recognized that the expenses of conducting the public school system in Washington are probably higher than possibly in any other commu- nity, whether measured either by the amount expended per child en- rolled, or by the amount expended per 1,000 of residents of the Dis- trict. The Commission believes that changes in the organization might be made to work economies in this respect, but that so long as separate systems of education of the two races are maintained and an equality maintained in all respects between the two systems ( and it is believed no other treatment is possible here), the expenses must be greater than in other places. It is, however, certain, that Washington has not been spending as much money in the construc- tion of new buildings as have most other progressive cities of the country. The type of construction should be better than that used, and this can be said without criticism of the buildings erected in Washington recently, which, as a rule, are excellent solutions of the problem where appropriations are not sufficiently large to permit of fireproof construction. Within the past ten years the total of appro- priations for new buildings, including the purchase of sites, has been about $2,850,000. In the fiscal years 1901, 1902, 1907, 1908 only did the appropriations for new school buildings and sites exceed $300,000. It should also here be noted that this period of ten years has seen the erection in the District of two of its high schools, besides the Armstrong Manual Training School. It is believed by the Com- mision that in these ten years the District has fallen behind in the construction of new buildings to the extent of at least $2,000,000 and that there exists now an immediate need for new construction to meet this defect, a need which should be remedied by as liberal appropria- tions as possible for the succeeding two or three years. It is also believed that the growth of the District demands a yearly appro- priation for new buildings and sites of about the size of the appro- priation made for the fiscal year 1908, or lacking the appropriation of a single definite amount to make up the deficit acquired by the partial neglect in the past, that the appropriations for the next few years should be considerably in excess of $500,000 until the school CONSOLIDATIOlSr OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN DISTKICT OF COLUMBIA, 23 needs are supplied. The Commission believes that an authorization in new school buildings and grounds for the fiscal year 1909 of about $1,000,000 should be made, and that about the same sum should be appropriated for each of the three or four succeeding years, after which time a normal basis will be reached of about $600,000 per year for new buildings and from $100,000 to $150,000 a year for repairs to buildings, to plumbing, and to heating and ventilating ap- paratus. These figures are based on an authorization or requirement of a better class of construction in the building. Most of the latest buildings in the District are not fireproof and are built at a cost of about 11^ cents per cubic foot. It is believed that the type of con- struction should be raised to a cost of about 17 cents per cubic foot, the cost decreasing for the larger buildings. This contemplates fire- proof construction, up to the ceiling of the top floor. TYPICAL CLASS ROOM. In the District of Columbia the class room in the buildings erected im recent years are 24 to 25 feet by 32 or 33 feet. Ceilings are 13 feet high. This room contains about 250 cubic feet per pupil on the average attendance of 42 pupils per room and a lesser quantity for 50 pupils per room. The rooms should be provided with ventilation, so that at least 30 cubic feet of fresh air per minute Avould be provided for each pupil, and this amount should be introduced and distributed without unpleasant draughts, thereby giving a complete change of air in the room in seven or eight minutes, a condition which it was entirely impossible to obtain under the old methods of ventilating. A room of this size allows for the proper spacing of 48 desks with sufficient aisles to the teacher's desk. The plan of the desk layout of the rooms in Boston appended with this report has been deemed worthy of re- production and careful note. Adjacent to each room in modern school buildings there should be a cloak and hat room about 6 by 20 feet, affording sufficient space for the wraps and umbrellas for about 50 pupils, and also teacher's bookcase. There is divided practice as to whether this cloakroom should have a single entrance from the schoolroom or an entrance from the schoolroom and an entrance from the corridor. In the Washington schools the rooms serve as passage ways between the schoolroom and the corridor, so that when classes are dismissed pupils obtain their wraps as they march from the rooms and thence into the halls or corridors without returning to the class room. In the St. Louis schools and in the Boston schools, rooms are provided with but 1 door, but these buildings are fireproof build- ings. It is believed that unless the buildings are fireproof, which they are not in Washington, the extra exits to the room should be provided, as is done here. These cloakrooms are genally ventilated 24 CONSOLIDATION OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN DISTEICT OF COLUMBIA. and always should be to assist in the drying out of the wraps on rainy days. In St. Louis the exhausts of the ventilating system are provided in these rooms. This has the slight sanitary objection that the drying air is always more or less impure, but seems to be more practical than to attempt to install a separate ventilating system for the smaller room. LIGHTING. The windows of the schoolroom should be of such size to give an area of at least one-fifth, preferably one-fourth, of the floor area of the room. Unilateral light, as far as light itself is concerned, is naturally the best system that can be devised. The light should come from the left and rear. The sills of the windows should pref- erablj^ be above the heads of the sitting pupils, the top of the win- dow close to the ceiling, not more than 8 inches therefrom. The ceiling should be either white or of a light enough color to reflect downward the refracted rays which are secured by closing the upper half of the window sash with ribbed glass, the ribs running horizon- tally. This treatment is found better than frosting the glass, which obstructs or moderates rather than refracts the light. In Washington the unilateral light principle is not ready for rigid adoption for climatic reasons. Many days in the year are so hot as to make it necessary to have the windows open and the conditions are much better with openings for this ventilation on two sides of the room than could possibly be obtained with windows on one side only. Where the light is bilateral it should be so arranged that the greater amount of light comes from the left and the smaller amount from the rear. In such a case the area put into windows should be greater than that required for the unilateral light, so that the sunny side may be shaded without reducing the amount of light below the standard. Such shading should be attained by a translu- cent or very slightly opaque shade. The great objection to unilateral light, which is adopted in many cities, even when bilateral light might be obtained, is that in order to obtain the necessary amount of sash space practically the whole side of the room must be given up for windows. On the windows facing east, west, or south at some time of the day, the direct rays of the sun will fall on the desks of the pupils and the entire window must be shaded, thereby reducing the amount of light below the standard. The Commission believes that the system here of designing for unilateral light where bilateral light is not attainable and of taking advantage of the bilateral light where it can be obtained to augment or supplement side light when it is necessary to shade the side win- dows is justifiable and that to adopt a rigid adherence to the unilat- eral system here would be a mistake and recognized as such during CONSOLIDATION OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 25 the hot days which occur every year in May, June, and September, during school session. Relative to the size of the panes, the Commission favors small panes for economy in repairs. Shades are recommended to be of about the transparency of tracing linen, so that the direct sunlight can be shaded without a great reduction in the light. The shades for the rear windows, howeA'er, should be more nearly opaque and should be hung at the top of the window. HEATING AND VENTILATION. The system now universally most favorably regarded for both heating and ventilating is to heat the air which is supplied to the rooms for ventilation purposes, the air being introduced to the in- terior wall of the room at a distance well above the floor through an opening large enough to supply the necessary quantity without excessive currents. The outside air enters the fan room through screens, is forced by the fan over coils or furnaces to the warm air chamber, thence through ducts to the rooms. The air in passing the heating surfaces is raised to a temperature of between 150° and 175°, but loses about 50° between the boiler room and the class room, which it enters at about 100°. The air is delivered in a slightly upward and outward direction, so that it spreads over the ceiling and comes in contact Avith the large window surfaces, where it is perceptibly cooled and drops near the windows, so that by the time it reaches the lungs of the pupils it is cooled to about 70°. The vent register should be placed near the floor and on the same side of the room as the inlet register. The air is exhausted at a temperature averaging 60°. Part of the outgoing air is forced through the cloakroom adjoining the class rooms. About 1,600 cubic feet per minute of air should be supplied to each class room, this being an allowance of about 30 cubic feet per minute to the pujDil. The amount can be in- creased or diminished by regulating the speed of the fan and the temperature can be controlled by opening or closing the damper in the by-pass or cold air duct connected with each hot air duct in the basement. Thermostatic or automatic control can be installed, or the dampers can be arranged for hand control by the engineer or janitor. The latter system affords opportunity for sudden changes after physical exercises of the pupils without making it necessary to open the windows. In the northern cities it is necessary to have steam radiators in the rooms in addition to the heat ducts, in order to keep the rooms from cooling off over night. This is not believed to be necessary in this climate, where the rooms can be quickly heated by using a return duct, so that the cold-air supply may be shut off and the tempered air of the building circulated before the opening of the school in the 26 CONSOLIDATION OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. morning, the return duct being cut out on the entrance of the pupils and the fresh air introduced. Of course, in this system it is necessary that the ventilation of the toilet rooms shall be independent of the house system and that all ducts with vents from the toilet rooms dis- charge above the roof. BLACKBOARDS. The Commission finds various types of blackboards in use through- out the United States, from a blackboard of hard plaster treated with a coat called silicate to boards made of black glass, all of which have advantages and defects. The blackboards of hard plaster coated with so-called silicate require to be recoated every two years. During this time they remain permanently black, while the commercial slate, which verges on dolomite or limestone, turns to a gray color and can not be kept black, their cost being such that the artificial board, with its recoating, will not reach the first cost of the slate board, until possibly twenty years. The black-glass board is the ideal board, remaining permanently black, never needing repair and being practi- cally indestructible. It is, however, extremely expensive. The Com- mission believes that the blackboards of plaster coated with silicate are eminently satisfactory and probably the most economical boards that can be devised. The chalk rail is placed about 2 feet 5 inches above the floor and the top of the board should not exceed 6 feet 6 inches. A good finish- ing detail is to have a picture or dish shelf at the top of the board, with a panel for the insertion of drawings or unframed pictures; and, as is found in the St. Louis schools, with a soft-wood strip built into the Avail about 1 foot above the shelf, for the easy fastening of these drawings or prints. PLUMBING. In a building of 2 floors and a basement toilet rooms for the pupils need be provided only in the basement. In high schools or in build- ings where there are 3 floors above the basement, a toilet room should, preferably, be provided on each floor, and 1 should, without doubt, be provided for the top floor in addition to the toilets in the basement. Teachers' rooms, with toilet facilities, should, however, be provided on every floor and a separate small toilet room should be provided for every class room intended for kindergarten pur- poses. The Commission believes that the latest school buildings in the District of Columbia have very satisfactory toilet arrange- ments in their basements. As to the number of toilets to be pro- vided, about V^ closets per room in the girl's toilet room and about 1 closet per room in the boy's toilet room, with about 30 inches of urinal space per room in the latter room, or 1^ urinal fixtures per class room, should be provided. CONSOLIDATION OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 27 Fixtures used in the Washington schools are of the most advanced and sanitary type. Closet fixtures are seat action, with copper- lined tanks. Seats are reenforcecl with brass strips and flush pipes are of nickel-plated brass. Closets are vented in range and each has a register vent in the wall in the rear of the closet opening into the vent chamber to take off the local odors. Bowls are of extra heavy vitreous earthenware with siphon jet washout. Floors of the toilet room are of cement, with a brass floor drain for flushing or washing. Urinals are set out in the middle of the room, with slate stalls, double back, with an interior vent space connected to vertical vent duct with Bunsen burners to accelerate the draught. The floor slab and trough are also slate. The top of the urinal is pro- vided with a water trough with serrated edges over which the water flows in a sheet down the face of the uiinal back. In its many inspections the Commission saw no other urinal fixture that could compare with this one for efficiency. Drinking fountains in Washington are of the fountain type, either with constantly flowing water with a nozzle or mouthpiece over which the pupil puts his mouth, or with an attachment or handle to turn or press down to start the flow. Both have objec- tions, the former wasting Avater and the latter failing to keep itself constantly cleansed. It is questionable whether this fountain should not be replaced by a sink, either of deep enamel or vitreous ware, with porcelain drinking cup hung on a stout chain in such a manner as to drain when released. In St. Louis a special note was made of the drinking fountains in the walls of the building, on the outside, available for the children during the play period. Iron sinks should be provided for the janitor and in the lavatories for the pupils and teachers. The Commission calls attention to the fact that the problem of keeping in repair the plumbing fixtures in school buildings is a very serious one. No effort should be spared to reduce the mechanism of the plumbing fixtures, so as to omit all parts liable to be damaged, and they believe that an earnest effort to this end is being made in practically all cities visited, as well as here in Washington, and that great progress is being made along these lines and can be expected in the future. AIR MOISTENING. With reference to the moistening of air in the schools, the Commis- sion believes that this moistening is desirable, but is not prepared to state that the problem has as yet reached the best solution in any municipality. It is believed that it would be entirely proper for experiments to be tried to see if results could not be obtained that would justify the general use of moistening apparatus, both on ac- 28 CONSOLIDATION OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. count of its effect on the health of the children and because in some solutions of the problem in the process of moistening the air, the air is also washed and enters the room purer and cleaner than without the washing. A very good illustration of this was seen by the Com- mission in its inspection of the Patrick Henry School at St. Louis, where all of the air entering the building through the ventilating system is drawn in through a spray bath, which cools the air in sum- mer and provides moisture, although the spray is installed to cleanse the air. In this connection the Commission deems well worthy of quotation a portion of the report of the schoolhouse commissioners of Boston for the year 1906, showing the results and conclusions arrived at by the Boston authorities in their efforts to treat this question. We respectfully submit a report on air moistening in the schools as per your request. The tests which have been made are confined to 2 schools, the Farragut School, Huntington avenue, and the Andrews School, Genesee street. These tests were partly made last year and continued this, with a view to determining the following questions : 1. How high a percentage of moisture is desirable? 2. Can a given percentage be maintained? 3. How much attention is necessary to maintain the desired percentage of moisture? Without going into details more than is necessary we will try to answer these questions. The answer to the first one would be that from 40 to 50 per cent is desirable in cold weather. It was found that, while on mild, bright days, even a higher per cent than 50 was pei'missible, on cold days it was objectionable in some rooms. The moisture in the Andrews School was presumably equally distributed to the various rooms. On the sunny side with 50 per cent moisture there was very little condensation on the windows. On the shady side it was objectionable, and the teachers complained of a dampness in the air. This was probably due to the extra cooling of the air next windows and walls on the shady side, which tended to raise the percentage of humidity in part of the room to perhaps 70 per cent or more. Considering buildings, then, as a whole, about 40 per cent humidity in very cold weather and 50 per cent in ordinary winter weather seems about right. To d^ermine the answer to the second question we have tried to control the percentage by means of humidostats. The apparatus used is briefly described as follows : A fan and radiators controlled automatically to deliver air to the rooms at a uniform temperature of 67° F. (This particular school has steam coils in the room to make up the necessary heat over what enters with the air to rooms.) Steam pipes perforated to blow steam directly into the air entering ; a valve on supply to pipes to control flow of steam; a humidostat in the schoolroom to control automatically the valve on steam supply pipe; a recording hygrodeik to record the per cent of moisture in the rooms. The records show that the humidostat did open and close the valve, so that there was a per cent ranging about 5 points each way above and below the set point when the apparatus was properly run. Greater variations are recorded, CONSOLIDATION OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 29 but a cause tau be giveu in nearly every case. The experiment is limited to 1 bumiclostat, and bow permanently reliable bumidostats would prove is not de- termined. The tbird question is an important one and can only be answered in a general way. With tbe present state of tbe development of tbis apparatus for tbis work a great deal of attention is necessary. The simplest method and least expensive to install for tbe average building is tbe one at tbe Andrews School. It is tbe nearest to a scientific system, as it attempts to control the percentage of humid- ity in a simple way. Two phases have been developed which tend to show that special care is needed, and they are as follows" First. So much steam taken from tbe boiler requires constant care to s?e that the water line does not get down to tbe danger point. Second. There has been complaint of a bad odor in the rooms, and tbis was due to the sediment and dirty water in the boilers. There is a question of whether the water can be kept sufficiently clean in the boilers to obviate this. The alternative of having a pan of water, with submerged steam pipes and air passing over tbe surface on its way to the rooms, has advantages, but this water pan would have to be kept clean, and there are many places where it is not practical, on account of the space required. The situation, we think, is fairly stated by saying that the humidifying of schoolrooms is practical and can be regulated, but tbe results with tbe average janitor, due to the attention necessary, are not commensurate with the expense and maintenance of the installation. PLAY ROOMS IN BASEMENT. All school buildings slioiild be provided with 2 large play rooms in the basement floor, which preferably should be on a level with the play yards, 1 room to be available for each sex during such weather as requires children to spend their play period indoors. Such rooms, to be most attractive, should be faced with vitrified or glazed brick, or a dark colored paving brick to a height of at least 6 feet, the surface to be such that defacement by Avriting or drawing with pencil or chalk is impossible. Floors, in most cases, should be of cement. Rooms should be furnished by a low^ bench or settee taking a very small portion of the space next to the wall; and each play room should have every convenient access to the toilet room for that sex for which the room is intended. PLAYGROUNDS. The Commission can not lay too much stress on the desirability of the acquisition of large enough lots to provide ample playground space for children during recess. This should be easier to attain in Washington than in the larger cities, although even in Chicago and St. Louis this idea is carried out, in St. Louis even in the well-built up sections of the city. The school laws of most cities provide that there shall be 20 feet of floor space for each school child in all build- 30 CONSOLTDATIOlSr OP PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN DISTRICT OP COLUMBIA. ings. It would appear that more than this space should be provided for play space and the Commission believes that 30 square feet per pupil should be provided in addition to the area of 2 large play rooms. Where possible this allowance should be increased to 40 square feet l^er pupil, and should never be allowed to fall below 25 square feet. Attention is invited to the playground arrangement of the Bern- hard Moos School, in Chicago, elsewhere described in this report, and to the playgrounds which are provided generally in the St. Louis schools. In Washington, it is believed that the building should be set as close as possible to the building line, as this will leave, ordinarily a small parking space in front for sucJi architectural treatment as may be desired, and will result in effecting the preservation of every pos- sible inch of the rear space for playground purposes. In the St. Louis schools it was noticed by the Commission that where the normal playground sjoace was small the terrace in front of the building was reduced in size to comparatively little more than the width of the main entrance, but where the lot was of normal size, or larger, this terrace was extended to almost the entire length of the building. In Washington, especially in the older schools, playground space is notably deficient. Instead of an 8-room school having 12,000 square feet of play space, not a few such have scarcely 1,000 square feet. It does not appear advisable for the Commission to specify in connection with what particular buildings there should be pro- vision for additional playgrounds. About half of the buildings should have additional playground accommodations. The Commis- sion recommends an appropriation of $200,000 in order to acquire for certain selected schools, as far as this amount may go, additional playgrounds, and that in future appropriation bills provision be made for the playground extensions to other schools, until every elementary school in the District of Columbia shall have a proper playground. GYMNASIUMS AND ATHLETIC FIELDS. Of the white and colored high schools of the District of Columbia only 2 — the Business High School and the Western High School — have gymnasiums worthy of the name. The Eastern and Central high schools have drill halls used for such purposes. The Commis- sion would recommend that all new high schools be equipped with gymnasiums that may accommodate classes of at least 80 pupils at a time. Where possible there should be 2 gymnasiums, 1 for pupils of each sex. Only one high school in the District — the Western — has sufficient accommodations for athletic outdoor sports. The Commission does - Amv t; \ CONSOLIDATIOISr OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN" DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 31 not regard it as feasible to purchase grounds near each high school, but would recommend that 2 large athletic fields be secured at some convenient point within the District — 1 for white j^outh and the other for colored j^outh. The Commission would suggest a field of about 8 acres. It is possible that some such accommodation as this might be obtained by utilizing a portion of the newly reclaimed Potomac Park near the end of the new highwaj^ bridge across the Potomac. ASSEMBLY HALL. The Commission notes that there are assembly halls in the schools of most of the progressive cities of the country. Assembly halls should accommodate from 600 to 1,000 persons. In order to make the hall available for night lectures as well as .for use in instruction of the pupils, the best location of such halls is either on the ground floor or in the basement of the buildings. Attention is called to a school described later in this report — a school in Rochester, ^N". Y., which is provided with an assembly hall, which is so inexpensive and yet so convenient that it commends itself for use here. This kind of assembly room can be incorporated in plans for schools on either the " IT " or " E " type. Another good type, which, however, calls for the sacrifice of class-room space in the main building, is the one shown in the new plans for school in New York City, submitted later in this report. SCHOOLS TO BE ABANDONED. The Commission recommends in the following specific cases im- mediate abandonment of some properties and ultimate abandonment of other properties ; in some cases the sale or disposal of the lot and in some cases the use of the lot, together with property to be acquired as a site for a new building, or the use of the lot without increase in size, for the establishment of a smaller building, such as a manual training center. POTOMAC SCHOOL. This building was built in 1870 at Twelfth street and Maryland avenue SW. It is badly located on account of its close proximity to the railroad tracks and it occupies a very small lot, with a small narrow yard at either side, as shown on the plate. It is only in fair repair and is almost entirely unsuitable for school purposes. The Commission recommends that it be replaced as soon as possible by a modern school building in this general locality, but at a different point. m'cORMICK SCHOOL. This building was built in 1870, on Third street SE., between M and N streets. It occupies a fair-sized lot, but is not at all suitable 32 CONSOLIDATION OP PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. for school purposes, having narrow halls, no teacher's rooms, is de- ficient in ventilation and has no modern plumbing. A modern school building is being located at another point in this section. This build- ing: should be abandoned as a o-rammar school and used for a short time for manual-training purposes, to which it is better adapted. At a later date a manual-training center in a new building should be here located. THOMSON SCHOOL. This building was built in 1877, on Twelfth street, between K and L streets. It is a small and narrow 4-stor3^ building, badly heated, has no adequate ventilation, is badly located on the lot, which it al- most entirely occupies, leaving no yard space. It should be entirely abandoned at once. The Commission regrets that in its various in- spections no time was available to search through poorly arranged and old school buildings, as it would have been interesting to have determined whether as unsuitable a building as this could be found, in use for schools purposes, in any up-to-date municipality. This site might well be utilized for the location of a manual-training cen- ter, if difficulty is found in acquiring sufficient adjacent property for a larger school. THRELKELD SCHOOL. This is an old building erected in 1868 at Thirty-sixth and Pros- pect streets NW. It is well located at the corner but is on an ex- tremely small lot. The building is an old brick structure, badly ar- ranged as a school building, the lighting being exceptionally bad, being from opposite sides of the room in some cases and in others on three sides. The building should be abandoned and the lot sold, or additional adjacent property acquired for the erection of a modern school. WEBSTER SCHOOL. The Webster School is an old building erected in 1884 at the corner of Tenth and TI streets NW. It is well located as to school neighbor- hood, but is on a bad lot, the east wall abutting another building and a very small yard remaining for recreation purposes. The light in several of the schoolrooms is of the worst possible type, coming from both the right and left sides of the students. Although the building is in substantial condition, it should be abandoned for school purposes and the site disposed of. ABBOTT SCHOOL. This is an old building, built in 1876 on a triangular lot entirely surrounded by streets at Sixth and New York avenue NW. The school is well located, but is entirely lacking in playground space. The building is in good repair, having recently been thoroughly over- hauled. It is, however, of an old type, not well lighted. It is rec- n N iri:7[ #- THRELKELD SCHOOL, WASHINGTON, D. C. WEBSTER SCHOOL, WASHINGTON, D. G. 'c2 o u UJ a- •-> Q - ynvn3air - ~ i/3A\- if-Hl9Q y o - XIV/Aldl/- Hl"yON 1/ H e "^ Hi-yON 1/ ID '>nv/A'3a I r A3nv CONSOLIDATION OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 33 ommenclecl that this building be ultimately abandoned and the lot, being of considerable value, either disposed of or utilized, possibly, as a site for a manual-training-school center. It is recommended, however, that this step be one of the last taken among those recom- mended bj^ the Commission, as the building is in such condition as to give effective service for a term of possibly five years. NEW SCHOOLS TO REPLACE THOMSON, WEBSTER, ABBOTT, AND FRANKLIN. In considering this group of 3 schools — the Thomson, Webster and Abbott — the Commission recommends that the Franklin School build- ing be gradually abandoned as a school and turned over to the board of education, or department of schools, as an administrative building, and that provision be made for supplying the school population now accommodated in these 4 schools in 2 locations which should be se- lected and where 2 large grammar schools should be built sufficient to accommodate the pupils of all 4 schools. One of these sliould be built at once in the shape of a 16-room building and the other about a year later. Normal work should be taken care of in a new normal school building elsewhere recommended in this report. BERRET SCHOOL. The Berret School is an old-style inadequate building erected in 1888 at Fourteenth and Q streets NW. This building is poorly lo- cated -on a valuable property on a business street and has 2 extremely small spaces for playground purposes. The halls are poorly lighted. The lighting of all the rooms is poor and of some of the rooms ex- tremely bad. The building should be abandoned as a school build- ing and the property sold. J. F. COOK SCHOOL. This is an old building erected in 1868 on O street between Fourth and Fifth streets NW., and has no play rooms, hardly any play yard and has a very unsatisfactory arrangement of the basement. The lot is not large enough on the sides and would be in the rear only if additional property be acquired and old buildings abutting removed. This building should be destroyed and a modern building- erected either on the same site enlarged, or at a different adjacent location on a considerably larger lot. HIGH STREET SCHOOL. This building is a miserable, old, dilapidated frame building erected at Thirty-second and S streets in 1853. It is now usee! for manual training purposes. Its location is fair, except that the lot is small — entirely suitable, however, as a location for a manual train- 34 CONSOLIDATION OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. ing school center. It is on a triangular corner. The building should be destroyed and the location used for the erection of a small manual training school center and playground. HILLSDALE SCHOOL. This is an old frame building erected in 1871 on Nichols avenue, Anacostia. It is poorly located on the lot which it occupies, being lower than the road which it faces. It is ill-fitted for school pur- poses, leaks badly, and is not in good repair, and is not provided with modern plumbing. Very little of the maintenance fund has been exj^ended on it since the erection of the Birney School, about 3 squares away, some years ago. It should be abandoned and the prop- erty disposed of. LINCOLN SCHOOL. The Lincoln School, erected in 1871 at Second and C streets SE., is an old building — a colored school — some distance from the pupils at- tending. The lot is too small, especially on the sides, restricting light. The light is poor, particularly in the mansard. The boys' play room has been given up for instruction purposes. This building should be abandoned and a colored school established to replace it nearer the center of the colored population. BUNKER HILL SCHOOL. This building is located too fai' from colored settlements and should be farther south. It should be rebuilt at a different location and the propert}^ disposed of. Several years ago an appropriation was made for building a 4-room school on the present lot, which is too small for that purpose. There is not sufficient appropriation to build a 4-room school and purchase additional ground. It is be- lieved that a 2-rooni school will be sufficient in this locality, and the present appropriation, with proper legal authority given by Congress, could purchase an additional lot and build a 2-room school at a point half or 1 mile farther south. This is recommended. FORCE AND ADAMS SCHOOLS. The Force School, on Massachusetts avenue between Seventeenth and Eighteenth streets NW., was erected in 1880, and the Adams School on R street, between Seventeenth and Eighteenth streets, was erected in 1888. These 2 buildings are both old, but are excellent buildings and in good repair. They are, however, both badly located, as to light, on narrow lots, the Force School having recently had a high modern building built close to its western wall and is liable to have the same in the near future on its eastern wall. HIGH STREET SCHOOL, WASHINGTON, D. C. HILLSDALE SCHOOL, WASHINGTON, D. 0. ~^ Hino/' ir D ■P'J'TE.EET AOEJH ~ "O" J'TR^EET ^OEJH GROUP OF SCHOOLS WITH CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL, WASHINGTON, D. C. (Lot plan.) l3/e SJ /OUTHVEJT '- yiDElWA BRADLEY SCHOOL, WASHINGTON, D. C. (Lotplaus.) CONSOLIDATION OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 35 The Adams is very poorly lighted for the same reason, espe- cially in the lower story. Both buildings, particularly the Force, are located in a section where property is very valuable and, it is believed, should be elsewhere consolidated into one larger modern building and a portion of the cost defrayed by the sale of the 2 properties. It is believed to be inadvisable to attempt to acquire property to improve the lot and playground space of these schools. EASTERN HIGH SCHOOL. This is one of a group of 3 school buildings on practically the same lot (as shown in plate), bnt is better adapted for grammar school instruction than for high school purposes. It is recommended that the 3 buildings be combined and used as a large grammar school, and that a new Eastern High School be constructed on a site a little nearer the eastern edge of the city. CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL. This building, located on O street between Sixth and Seventh streets NW., was built in 1883. It has a fine location on a good lot, being 1 of a group of 3 schools, practically all on a single lot, the other 2 being the Polk and Henry. The building is a fine old and substantial building, but the plumbing and heating plants are anti- quated and can not be replaced without .a large special appropriation for such a purpose. The building is very ill-adapted to high school purposes, and is far from satisfactory as to light. It is believed by the Commission that a modern high school should be constructed to take the place of this school a little nearer the edge of the city, pref- erably at some location in or near Columbia Heights, convenient to both sj^stems of car lines. This school building could then be overhauled, and when combined with the Polk and Plenry schools, converted into a group of graded schools, or should it be deemed advisable at that date, a portion of this property might be sold, as it possesses considerable value for business purposes. BRADLEY SCHOOL. The Bradley School building, which is located on Thirteen-and- a-half street between C and D streets SW., is poorly located on account of its nearness to the railroad and on account of its very small lot. The building is, however, in good repair and might be advantageously sold for conversion into apartments or similar prop- erty. If continued in service as a school additional property should be acquired, both to the north and to the south. The Commission recommends its ultimate abandonment as a school property and the construction of a modern buildino- to serve this section. 36 CONSOLIDATION OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. GARFIELD SCHOOL. This school is fairly located on a large lot of irregular shape. The building is old, with small windows, some rooms with objec- tionable light. It has no plumbing and is heated by stoves. A new and modern building should be constructed on this site. JEFFERSON SCHOOL. This is a good building on a fine lot at Sixth and D streets SW., but badly located, being too near the railroad tracks. A new build- ing is recommended on the rear of the present lot at some time in the near future. After the construction of this building the old building should be abandoned and destroyed. JOHNSON SCHOOL, SCHOOL STREET, MOUNT PLEASANT. The frame building used for manual training, adjacent to the main school building, should be abandoned. FRAME COUNTRY SCHOOLS. In addition, there are a number of frame buildings, mainly country schools, which should gradually be abandoned and replaced by more modern and better buildings. Among these may be mentioned the school on Bates road, Burrville. Chain Bridge School, school on Grant road near Broad Branch, Ivy City School, school on Rock Creek Ford road, and the Tenley Annex School. The Commission has prepared j)lats of most of these buildings, showing the size of the lot and the outline of the building thereon in all cases, many of which will show at a glance that the lot is entirely insufficient for the purpose. Photographic views show the charac- ter of many of the buildings, as well as can be shown in such a view. PORTABLE SCHOOLHOUSES. The portable schoolhouse is believed to be a necessity in a good school system, especially where there is rapid growth at the edge of the urban section. A type is submitted which has been used in vari- ous cities. It is a frame house with its own heating and ventilating system; is collapsible; costs about $1,800 to build and can be taken down and reassembled for about $200. These buildings are set up, one by one, in the school j^ards, where the attendance overflows the capacity of the building, until relief can be obtained by the perma- nent extension of the building or the erection of a new building, when the portable houses will be available for similar use in another section. This system is especially recommended for Washington, where, under the system of appropriation for new school buildings, LrU-UiJOif ■ illTii/'-.O,. CONSOLIDATION OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN DISTKICT OF COLUMBIA. 37 the use of the schoolhouses must be foreseen by the authorities for at least twenty-four montlis. The Commission recommends an autlior- ization of at least a dozen such buildings, fhe number to be increased and be kept up by about 12 in each succeeding year, for two or three years. riREPKOOFIKG. The fireproofing of school buildings is not believed to be so neces- sary in Washington as in other cities, as the fire risk is not here so great. If the building has, however, more than 2 floors the risk of fire should not be taken, but the building should be fireproof. In a 2-story building panic from fire is more to be feared than the actual fire risk, and it is believed that the proper arrangement of stair- ways will eliminate this risk. There are, however, other advantages in the fireproof construction which would recommend it in all cases. Wliile more expensive at first cost, the expense of upkeep is greatly reduced. The new buildings in St. Louis are exceptionally fine in this respect, and it has been the experience there that not only is the cost of maintenance from ordinary wear and tear less, but the air of permanence, through the pride of the children in the handsome building, causes much less of the malicious defacement than is the case in the cheaper style of construction. This municipality, there- fore, goes to the extreme of fireproofing up to the level of the eaves, even for the 2-story building, and, as the illustrations produced else- where in this report will show, has achieved notable results. ESTIMATES. The Commission submits the following rongh estimate of the cost of the constructions recommended in its report: For site, and erection of a 60-room high school $525,000 For site, and erection of a new Eastern High School, 40 rooms 320, 000 For addition to tlie Western High School 150, 000 For white normal school 250, 000 For site, and construction of colored normal school 240, 000 For new school buildings — sites and erection 800,000 For 12 manual training centers, purchase of sites for such as can not be accommodated on old sites 45, 000 Erection of 12 manual training centers 480, 000 For addition to Business High School 80, 000 For addition to McKinley High School 100, 000 For purchase of additional land at various places (of which $200,000 should be appropriated annually for three years) 600, 000 For 36 portable school houses at $1,800 each 65, 000 Total 3, 635, 000 It is not contemplated that all of this work should be done at once, but, as stated previously, it should all be done within not more than five years. 38 CONSOLIDATIOISr OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN DISTRICT OP COLUMBIA. WASHINGTON SCHOOLS. A brief description of a few of the Washington schools is here given. B. B. FRENCH SCHOOL. The B. B. French Manual Training School, constructed in 1898, shows about the installation that is required for a manual training- center such as recommended by the Commission. It also illustrates the skillful adaptation to this end of a very restricted site. The lot is L shaped, on a corner, and practically the entire space is occupied by the building. In the basement a large storeroom is provided, and opposite the hall, the fuel, storage, engine, fan, fresh air and heater apparatus are installed. First floor. On one side of the corridor a carpenter shop is pro- vided and on the opposite side a demonstrating room, with a lumber room, behind which derives most of its light secondarily through a glass partition, but partly through a small light shaft at the interior angle of the L. Behind the lumber room is a paint room, opening into a small yard. This floor is provided with a small toilet room and a cloakroom. Second floor. This floor is given up to domestic science and has 2 large rooms, the corner room being devoted to instruction in sewing, and is provided with a separate cloakroom. On the opposite side of the corridor is a long cooking room, lighted from both ends, and also from the middle of one side through a small light shaft. This room has its separate cloakroom. One toilet room is provided between the 2 rooms. This building was comparatively inexpensive, the total cost being about $19,000 at the rate of 15.4 cents per cubic foot, the first floor being fireproof. BLOW AND CARDOZA SCHOOLS. Plans are shown of the H. T. Blow School and the F. L. Cardoza School, each of which shows Avhat is known as the 8-room cartwheel plan. In the basement are provided boys' toilet and play room, girls* toilet and play room, with all of the necessary heating and ventilating apparatus and storage for wood and fuel. On the first and second floor each in both schools are 4 class rooms, each with bilateral light, and each with a cloakroom opening into the class room, and also into the corridor, the rooms being symmetrically arranged about the center in such a way that the cloakroom of one class room is always under the view of the teacher at her desk in the opposite class room. On the first floor a space opposite the entrance is utilized to provide an of- fice for the principal, and on the second floor this same space is util- ized to provide a teachers' room, and the space over the entrance to provide a small library room, the 2 similar spaces at the sides of the buildings being given up to stairs. This cartwheel type is believed to H. T. BLOW SCHOOL. WASHINGTON, D. 0. (Basement plan.) S. ASHFORD, ARCHITECT. H. T. BLOW SCHOOL. WASHINGTON, D. C. (First floor plan.) S. ASHFORD, ARCHITECT. H. T. BLOW SCHOOL. WASHINGTON, D. C. (Second floor plan.) S. ASHFORD, ARCHITECT. F. L. CARDOZA SCHOOL. WASHINGTON, D. C. MARSH & PETER, ARCHITECTS. (Basement plan.) F. L. CARDOZA SCHOOL. WASHINGTON, D. C. MARSH & PETER, ARCHITECTS. (First floor plan; second floor similar.) ^ ~i«?-x i:r plan.) S. ASHFORD, ARCHITECT. CONSOLIDATION OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 41 The second floor has entirely a similar arrangement of class rooms, the corridor for the flanking rooms in this case being directly lighted from the interior space over the roof of the assembl}^ hall. This floor also contains the principal's room in the space over the en- trance hall and vestibule of the floor below. The building is provided with playground space of about 34,500 square feet, in addition to the area occupied by the building, and is estimated to cost, exclusive of site, $103,000. A short table is hereto appended, giving the description and cost of some of the recently constructed school buildings in Washington. Attention is invited to the low cost per cubic foot, which, of course, has been limited b}'' the appropriations available. The buildings are nonfireproof, as a rule, and for that reason not nearly so good as the St. Louis buildings, for instance, which are fireproof to the level of the second-floor ceiling, or the Boston schools, entirely fireproof. The Commission desires to register itself as of the opinion that the extra expenditure required for the fireproofing, as at St. Louis, of the building up to the roof, is an economical measure worthy of adoption in Washington schools. Descriptions and cost of school buildings. Name. Cost. Cubic contents. Cost per cubic foot. Description. Architect. Armstrong Manual Training-. McKinley Manual Training,. Petworth - — . $131,120 130,014 23,143 36,855 49,269 6,588 23,765 20,134 36,. 525 33,375 34,006 20,731 20,162 17,927 36,620 19,022 41,060 44,903 165,-544 41,950 42,693 43,470 42,600 73,500 630,100 556,700 205,250 383,200 411,360- 43,680 172,890 136,650 320,688 353,430 330,672 159,672 217,600 224,000 310,464 122,950 368,000 364,152 1,992,272 366,860 349,596 347,683 357,623 428,937 Cents. 20.7 23.3 11.3 9.6 12.0 12.7 13.7 14.7 11.4 9.7 10.2 12.9 9.2 8.0 11.7 15.4 11.1 12.3 8.3 11.4 12.2 12.5 11.9 17.1 28-room, c r e a m mottled brick, fireproof. 26-room, buff mot- tled brick, fire- proof. 4-room, red brick. __ 8-room, red brick... 12-room, white mottled brick. 6-room, red brick 4-room, red brick. ._ 4-room. frame, peb- ble dash. 8-room, red brick do do 4^room, red brick... 4-room, rough brick, pebble dash. 4-room, frame, peb- ble dash. 8-room, red brick.. _ 6-room, first floor fireproof, red brick. 8-room, red brick... do ..... 60-room, red brick.. S-room, red brick do ly-lldolV.'V-'-V-V-lV. Brick W. B. Wood. H. I. Oobb. A. P. Clark, jr. Do Langston Matthew G. Emery Addition to Girl's Cottage, Industrial Home School. Addition toBrookland.No. 103. Addition to Takoma, No. lis. Abby S. Simmons, No. 134.. James B. Edmonds, No. 135- Samiiel E. Wheatley, No. 1.36. Addition to Craneh, No. 137_ Edward M. Stanton, No. 138. Reno, No. 139 . Inspector of buildings. Do. B. S. Simmons. W. J. Palmer. A. B. Mullett & Co. Marsh & Peter. A. P. Clark, jr. Inspector of buildings. Do. Do. Henry P. Montgomery, No. liO. B. B. French Manual Train- ing, No. 141. William Ludlow, No. 142.... N. P. Gage, No. 143 Business High John W. Ross . . _ . . Wood «& Deming. Inspector of buildings. John L. Smithmeyer. L. Norris. B. S. Simmons. C. A. Bidden. Henry T. Blow Anthony Hyde . . Inspector of buildings andG. 0. Totten. A. B. Heaton. P. L. Cardoza Industrial Home School, Blue Plains. Marsh & Peter. J. L. Smithmeyer. 42 CONSOLIDATION OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. SCHOOI. BUILDINGS OF NEW YORK. The development of the modern school building in New York City and boroughs is largely traceable to the exceptional work of Mr. C. B. J. Snyder, the superintendent of school buildings of the board of education of that city, and the type used by him is an extremely skillful adaptation of the necessities of a city block to the requirements of a school. The problem that has confronted him has been an ever-changing one. Large sections of the city, apparently entirely built up with 1-family houses, are constantly seized upon by real estate operators and the old houses are rapidly demolished and the erection of apartment houses is begun, after which there seems to be hardly a cessation of work until the whole area has been gone over and the section rapidly rebuilt. It is therefore necessary if schools are to be supplied to meet the requirements that they must be built promptly and of large size, and the work must be started as soon as possible after the commencing of the work of re- building the section by real estate operators. This has caused the development of a fireproof building of the H type, sometimes with party walls on both sides of the building, at other times with the building occupying portions of 3 sides of the block. Class rooms get their light from the central area. This light can not be obstructed by other buildings, the distance between the arms of the H, 80 feet or more, insuring illumination. On the lower floors the glass area is larger than on the upper floors and in internal corner rooms prism glass is used to increase the light. Plaj^ rooms and gymnasiums occupy the basement floor, or the street floor, or^both, if there are 2 basement floors, and are planned to have good light. Assembly halls generally have the gallery on the first floor level, and the main floor a short flight of steps below the sidewalk, and are within the arms of the H. In some buildings from 2 or 3 to 6 of the class rooms on the top floor are thrown into an assembly room. The corridors oc- cupy the space against the party wall, where the building is bounded by party walls, and depend for light on secondary light through the interior walls of the class room. In some cases they are carried through to the front or rear and are well lighted. The stairs are well located and of the double inclosed type, thus necessitating at least 14 foot height of stories. Most of the buildings have single tiers of rooms in the arms of the H, although some of the larger have double tiers, with an interior corridor. The crossbar of the H is generally nearer one street than the other, leaving open areas of unequal size, the larger of which, in the basement and first floor, is used to form an assembly hall, and the smaller, in the basement and first floor, to form the gymnasium. In some cases, as in the De Witt Clinton High School, class rooms in the first fl.oor are thrown into 7W^^1 '^■^^j^ PUBLIC SCHOOL NO. 146. BROOKLYN. (Second, or typical, floor plan.) C. B. J. SNYDER, ARCHITECT. DE WITT CLINTON HIGH SCHOOL. NEW YORK. C. B. J. SNYDER, ARCHITECT. (Second floor plan.) DE WITT CLINTON HIGH SCHOOL. NEW YORK. C. B. J. SNYDER, ARCHITECT. (Third floor plan.) CONSOLIDATIOlSr OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 43 the assembly hall. In some buildings playground space is provided by fitting up the roof for this purpose, as well as play rooms on the ground floor. PUBLIC SCHOOL NO. 146, BROOKLYN. Plans are reproduced of public school No. 146, Brooklyn, the typical H -shape form, with a single tier of class rooms in the arms of the H, with assembly room beneath the open-air playground in the larger court extending under one of the wings only, the assembly room being 83 by 109 feet. The building is 4 stories in height, with a cellar for the heating and ventilating apparatus and cold storage. The first story contains principaFs office, library room, workshop, 2 kindergarten rooms, pupil's toilet and indoor play rooms. The other 3 floors contain 16 class rooms each, a total of 48 rooms, one of which, on the top floor, is used for a cooking room, being 28 feet square. All floors contain necessary toilets, medical inspector's rooms, teachers' retiring rooms, etc. The building has 8 stairways and cost $417,000, exclusive of site. DE WITT CLINTON HIGH SCHOOL. The plans and view of the De Witt Clinton High School are also published, this being one of the largest schools in the world, accom- modating 3,750 students, containing a subbasement, basement, 5 floors, and an attic. In the subbasement heating, ventilating, and coal-storage space is provided, and the greater part of the basement is occupied by gymnasium, shower baths, locker rooms, and the main floor of the auditorium. The first floor contains the gallery and uj)per part of the auditorium, a number of office rooms, and from the second floor upward the building assumes the H shape, with 2 of the arms elongated ; and none of the walls being part}^ walls, 2 tiers of class rooms and laboratories are provided with corridor between. The second floor is given over to biological laboratories, library, drawing and class rooms, and small gymnasium, with a few store- rooms and toilet rooms. The third floor is similarly arranged. The fourth floor is given over largely to class rooms, study hall, and library. The fifth floor, laboratories for chemistry, stud}?^ hall, lecture rooms, and class rooms, and in the attic a large, Avell arranged lunch room is provided. The building is very handsomely furnished. It is noted that the auditorium possesses a $7,000 pipe organ, and among its decorations are 2 large paintings, with ex-Governor Clin- ton as the feature. This room has a capacity for about 2,000 pupils, is well arranged, and provides for access from outside without the necessity of passing through any portion of the building. The building cost about $650,000, exclusive of site. 44 CONSOLIDATION OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. STUYVESANT HIGH SCHOOL. The Stuyvesant High School, Borough of Manhattan, another magnificent and recent building, intended for high school and manual training purposes, is also of the H type, with party walls, the H, how- ever, being turned the other way from the usual plan — that is, with the crossbar normal to the 2 main fronts — thus giving 2 courts with party walls extending only part Avay from the face to the back of the building, the 2 courts being equal in size and being occupied in the main and first floors by having the court space occupied on the one side by the assembly room and on the other side by the gymnasium. The auditorium is 100 by 77 feet and the gymnasium 93 by 100 feet, the latter having lockers and bathrooms adjoining. The first floor, in ad- dition to the gallery of the auditorium and gymnasium, contains 2 chemical laboratories, 2 class rooms, 2 drawing rooms, and 2 shops, besides a study hall. The second floor has 8 class rooms, 2 drawing rooms, 4 shops, 2 physical laboratories, and 1 lecture room. The third floor contains 1 chemical laboratory, 8 class rooms, 1 draw- ing room, 5 shops, 1 physical laboratory, 1 lecture room, and 1 library room. The fourth floor has 15 class rooms, 2 drawing rooms, 4 shops, and 1 lecture room. The fifth floor, 16 class rooms, 2 drawing rooms, and 4 shops. The class rooms are of standard size, while the drawing- rooms and shops are each 26 by 50 feet. Many of the rooms occupied as manual training shops overlook the courts above the roofs of the assembly room and gymnasium and have these sides, composed almost entirely of glass, set in iron framework in panels about 2 feet wide, extending from floor to ceiling, and hinged at the top- to be swung outward at the bottom. A feature of the gymnasium worthy of note consists in taking ad- vantage of the fact that the running track is on about the same level as the first-story floor, to provide direct access to this track from the main corridor, the running track itself being developed into a gallery, the inner portion being arranged for seating spectators who may de- sire to witness exercises or games on the main floor below, while the running track encircles the outer edge, and is separated from the inner portion by a wire screen. This is believed to be an admirable feature, especially in a high school gymnasium, where j^arents and visitors constantly desire to witness the work and are in this way ac- commodated without in any manner disturbing or impeding any of the gymnasium work. There are 4 stairways, all of the double type, inclosed with wire glass. All corridors are floored with asphaltic concrete. The cost of this building is a little under $700,000 for gen- eral construction only, exclusive of site. The site cost over $360,000 and the supplemental contracts for furnishing the building are, in round numbers, as follow^s: Sanitary fittings, $56,000; gas fittings, i', (First floor plan.) (Second floor plan.) STUYVESANT HIGH SCHOOL. NEW YORK. C. B. J. SNYDER, ARCHITECT. PUBLIC SCHOOL NO. 84. LONG ISLAND CITY. (Second floor plan.) 0. B. J. SNYDER, ARCHITECT. PUBLIC SCHOOL NO. 40. NEW YORK. (First floor plan.) C. B. J. SNYDER, ARCHITECT. CONSOLIDATION OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, 45 $2,G00; heat, light, and power equipment, $87,000; electrical fittings, $41,000; mechanical fittings, $71,000; furniture and lockers, $123,000. PUBLIC SCHOOL NO. 84, LONG ISLAND CITY. The plan is shown of public school No. 84, Long Island City, which is given as differing from the normal New York type, not being of excessive size (36 class rooms) and as being suburban in character. The building is of 3 floors and basement, the basement containing play rooms, toilets, and heating and ventilating apparatus. The first story provides principal's office, medical inspector's room, 2 kin- dergartens, and 9 class rooms. The second story has 11 class rooms, with a large teachers' room, provided with toilets, and the third floor has 8 class rooms, cooking room, workshop, lunchroom, storeroom, etc. An open assembly room is formed on the third floor by omitting the partitions of the 6 central class rooms and providing temporary partitions in the shape of sliding doors. The corridors are a little wider than is usual in the New York schools, this being caused by the arrangement of the stairs, which are at the ends of the 2 side corridors, and the inside of the side tiers of the class rooms. The rooms in this building have outside light, the corner rooms having bilateral light. The cost of this building is slightly less than $250,000 for the building alone, exclusive of site and all fittings. PUBLIC SCHOOL NO. 40, THE BRONX. Another type of large school suitable for semiurban conditions in a rapidly growing city is public school No. 40, Borough of the Bronx. This building has been erected in the midst of a section where a trans- formation from 1-family buildings to apartment houses was rapidly taking place at the time the contract was let. As one instance of the problem in New Yorl^, it may be stated that within a radius of 500 yards of this building site, at the time the contract was let for its construction, 69 apartment houses were under construction, with total accommodations for over 800 families, or possibly over 4,000 people. The building has a basement and 4 stories, with a cellar under the basement for boilers and storage for coal. The building is of the corridor type, having 6 class rooms on the front by 2 rooms deep, the end rooms in the rear being thrown back to provide space for stair- ways and administration rooms. The basement provides a large in- door playground, kindergarten rooms, and w^orkshop, and on each of the 4 floors, 12 class rooms are provided, some rooms on the second and fourth floors being provided with sliding-door partitions, which can be thrown back, forming assembly halls. There are 4 flights of stairs besides the central entrance stairway on the first floor. The space occupied by this stair on the first floor forms a small extra 46 CONSOLIDATION OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. loom on each floor above. The total cost of this building is slightly less than $350,000, exclusive of the site and all fittings. PUBLIC SCHOOL NO. 30, RICHMOND. A good type of building for suburban conditions has been erected in the Borough of Richmond, viz, public school No. 30, on the Boule- vard, between Fisk and Wardwell avenues, illustrating a clean and compact arrangement of rooms and stairways. This building has a basement and 2 floors, the basement containing 2 playrooms, toilet rooms, heating and ventilating apparatus and coal-storage space. The first floor contains 6 large and 2 small rooms, the 4 central class rooms being arranged to be thrown into an assembly room. The second floor provides the same number of rooms, with partitions permanently fixed. The building is of slow-burning construction, but not fire- proof, as most of the newer New York schools are, and cost, exclusive of site and fittings, about $86,000. PARENTAL HOME SCHOOL, FLUSHING. Plans are also given for the Parental Home School, in Flushing, Avhich provides for a group of buildings for proper enforcement of the compulsory education laws against truants. The scheme pro- vides for many more buildings than are now erected. The combined administration and school buildings, 3 dormitory buildings, power house, and farm buildings have now been built, as shown in solid black on the plans submitted herewith, through the courtesy of Mr. Snyder. These plans are sufficiently complete to be self-explanatory. The dormitories accommodate 60 boys, 30 in each half of the build- ing, a half-building being considered as a unit. A dormitory build- ing is designed so that the boj^s on entering their cottage from the schoolroom, work or play, pass directly through a hallway and into the basement, where their outdoor clothing is removed in a large, light dressing room, provided with lockers and seats, and also with drying apparatus, lavatories, shower baths, and toilets. Outdoor shoes are here removed and house slippers or moccasins donned, after which the boys are allowed access to the upstairs rooms. A more complete description of this installation will be found in the report of the superintendent of school buildings of New York City for the year 1906. NEW TYPE NEW YORK. Plans are also shown for the latest type of school building de- veloped in New York City during the past two years, for a semiurban locality where exposure is had on all sides. This is very similar to the public school No. 40, Borough of the Bronx, previously described, but differs by the introduction of an assembly hall accessible to the PUBLIC SCHOOL NO. 30. RICHMOND BOROUGH. C. B. J. SNYDER, ARCHITECT. PUBLIC SCHOOL NO. 30. RICHMOND BOROUGH. (Second floor plan.) C. B. J. SNYDER, ARCHITECT. PARENTAL HOME SCHOOL. FLUSHING. (Basement plan, Administration Building.) C. B. J. SNYDER, ARCHITECT. PARENTAL HOME SCHOOL. (First floor plan, Administration Building.) C. B. J. SNYDER, ARCHITECT. d a ■ m-y\ r w B'i ^ 1 ■ ^^^^ 1 i_i ^ -^ ■— ^i.,i ^ m 1 jj fl-« X 1 Q ^ i 1 ■■1 m r 1 L "^^ -1 U-l I D r^ *■ -. -1 O c c i I LU f- V, z ^ ^ 1 :r ^ *= 1, P- c > O, ^ i =3 — LU -J 1 — ■ a. < ^ [o] rpl 1 / \ -^(•T. ^""'TK" CONSOLIDATION OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN DISTEICT OF COLUMBIA. 47 general public, without the necessity of going through the corridors of the building. A floor plan is designed with 10 class rooms for each floor, excepting that the center front room on the first floor is thrown into an entrance hall, principal's office and reception room, and the 3 rear class rooms on this floor are clone away with. The wall is moved back so that an inclosed space is provided, about 50 by 90 feet, obstructed by only 2 columns near the center, which are used to sujoport the rear wall of the building above this floor, an assembly hall being thus formed seating about 650, lighted by large skylights in the roof and 4 windows at the rear, the platform being placed next to the corridor, so that the children do not face the light. Entrance is had through the main entrance hall and the corridor, with special exits by 2 doorways at the rear of the hall and by a short flight of steps leading directly outdoors. The building thus gives, in addi- tion to the assembly hall, 6 class rooms on the first floor and 10 on each succeeding floor, all of the rooms having ample outside light and the corridor being end-lighted. The typical New York double stairs are used. Plans of this type are given. The Commission acknowledges its indebtedness for these complete plans to Mr. C. B. J. Snyder, superintendent of school buildings, of New York. SCHOOL BUILDINGS OF CHICAGO. The Chicago schools have been developed in part along the New York block plan. The grammar schools in Chicago of recent design may be regarded in many ways as model buildings. Three of them are shown herewith. STEPHEN K. HAYT SCHOOL. The Stephen K. Hayt School, with basement and 3 floors, has in the basement toilet rooms, boiler and engine rooms, 2 large girls' play rooms and 3 smaller boys' play rooms, a manual training room, and a domestic science room. Three front entrances are provided, the stairs leading from them up and down. The first floor provides prin- cipal's offices, assembly room, and 8 schoolrooms, each of which is provided with a separate wardrobe. The upper floors contain the same number of class rooms, the second floor having assembly room gallery and the third floor gymnasium in the space occupied by the assembly hall. GRAEME STEWAKT SCHOOL. The Graeme Stewart School type is similar to the Stephen K. Hayt School type excepting that the 2 side stairways are removed to the end of the corridor. The Hayt type lends itself better to the ex- tensible idea, as 6 rooms can be added at each end of a 12-room build- ing, allowing it to be conveniently extended, with the growth of the 48 CONSOLIDATIOlSr OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN DISTEICT OP COLUMBIA. section, to 24 rooms. The Graeme Stewart type is more economical of space in its ultimate solution, providing more office, library, and teachers' rooms in the same space. The corridors in the Hayt School, type are much better lighted than Avould appear from the plans, in- direct light being had through the class rooms by interior windows. The other type is better lighted by direct light from the stair space. BERNHAKD MOOS SCHOOL. The Bernhard Moos type is shown, together with a ground plan showing an admirable arrangement of playground space. This build- ing, while to-day built in Chicago entirely as a finished building, is a fine example of the extensible type. The building may be completed with 4 rooms for each floor of 3 floors, and with assembly hall in the first and second floors, and gymnasium in the third, with boiler and coal rooms almost detached from the building under and in rear of the assembly hall. The toilet space and play room space are pro- vided for in a 12-room building, and each floor has both boys' and girls' toilet, the same being separated from the main corridor by passageways opening into an inclosed open-air court. The building can then be enlarged by the addition at either end, of 2 class rooms to each floor, the basement floors giving large rooms for manual training at one end and domestic science at the other, allowing for an ultimate expansion into an admirable 24-room building, the corri- dors in the completed building being remarkably well lighted for cor- ridors which do not run entirely through the building. The sec- ondary light through the wardrobes provided for end class rooms is exceptionably good. Mr. Perkins has also worked out a new type for a large public school building which is a development of the New York block plan, occupies a complete lot of about 300 feet square, contemplates having a low basement given up to heating apparatus, the first floor on the street level, with the assembly hall in the center, wholly lighted through the ceiling, and the rooms surrounding it being class rooms, play rooms, toilets, etc., many of which would ordinarily be in the basement. Some play rooms are equipped as gymnasiums. Above the second floor this building is lighted from the court on Avhich the corridors face, the class rooms being lighted from the outside. There are 16 rooms to a floor and toilets are provided on all floors. This plan is, however, suitable for a school of such size as would seldom be contemplated in Washington. The three previous examples, however, are regarded as admirable types for a 24-room school of 3 stories and basement, or for a sixteen-room school if built of 2 stories. NEW TYPE TILTON SCHOOL. Perspective and plans are also shown of the latest type of schools in Chicago — a plan with man}' admirable features. <.^Ife^^E^K=C ■u- r-^/er/£z.£> Avn/su^. ^LLh ■ ■ — n Plan or PLAYSPOvyNDS at tme DCPNt-IAQD A\005 OCnOOL CALiroprsiA AvcNv/e \^ iLjf v^ ye <::>?/-//=73«^!!«ia av£la/(J£ BERNHARD MOOS SCHOOL. CHICAGO. (Plan of playgrounds.) D. H. PERKINS, ARCHITECT. "FiesT ruooc PLArs TILTON SCHOOL. D. H. PERKINS, ARCHITECT. TILTON SCHOOL. CHICAGO. D. H. PERKINS, ARCHITECT. TILTON SCHOOL. THIRD FLOOR PLAN. CHICAGO. D. H. PERKINS, ARCHITECT. CONSOLIDATION OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN DISTKICT OF COLUMBIA. 49 The plans for this construction have been approved by the board of education for the erection of the Tilton School at West End avenue and Forty-second street. The building is of 4 floors and a cellar, the cellar being under the assembly hall. The first floor con- tains a principal's office and teachers' room flanking the main entrance, an assembly hall with a capacity of 850 seats occupying the middle of the building, entered through a large foyer, the 2 front corners of the building being occupied on one side by a large class room and on the other side by a kindergarten, the assembly room being flanked by 6-foot corridors, there being 1 large play room, 26 by 49 feet, for each sex, the boiler room and heating and ventilating plant occupying the end central portion of the building behind the assembly room. Girls' and boj^s' toilets flanking this installation occupy the present corners of the building, each being separated from the corridors by an open-air court similar to the toilet rooms in the Bernhard Moos School. The building has, in addition to the main entrance, side entrances leading into the side corridors opposite 2 side doors of the assembly hall; there are also 2 other entrances at the present ends of these corridors. The second floor has 3 class rooms on each side of the building and has balconies provided for the assembly hall. It has also domestic science and manual training rooms over the space occupied below by the engines and fans; it has arrangements for toilet rooms as on the floor below and has 2 teachers' toilet rooms above the principal's and teachers' rooms on the floor below. The third floor has 6 class rooms and a large gymnasium 30 feet by 68 feet, the same toilet arrangements as below and an open court over the roof of the assembly, a large library room being provided at the front of the building and 2 teachers' toilet rooms as on the floor below. The fourth floor has 6 class rooms and instruction room over library room, and has teachers' toilet room and pupils' toilet rooms as on the floor below, there being no room on this floor over the gymnasium. The building is provided with 4 flights of stairs at the inner angles of the U-shaped corridor, as shown on the plans. Each room is provided with a wardrobe, which is separated from the room by a sliding vertical shutter. The rooms are provided with unilateral light, and the corridors, except on the third and fourth floors, with secondary light through the class rooms on one side and the assem- bly hall on the other. The plans provide for extension by the addi- tion to the building through the extension of the 2 wings, provid- ing 6 additional rooms on each floor, the boiler room being designed to take an additional boiler for the service of the addition to the building over and above the two required for the service of the por- tion of the plant to be erected in the first instance. 50 CONSOLTDATTOISr OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN DISTRICT OP COLUMBIA. The Commission acknowledges its indebtedness to Mr. D. H. Per- kins, architect for the board of education of Chicago, for the details of these buildings. BOSTON SCHOOL BUILDINGS. The construction and repair of school buildings in Boston is vested in a board of schoolhouse commissioners, which board has charge of all school buildings and grounds, keeping the same in order and re- pair, the responsibility of selecting land for new school buildings, the district where one is needed being first designated by the school committee, and the duty of requesting the board of street commis- sioners to take the land selected, of appointing architects for new buildings, and of erecting and furnishing buildings ready for use. This commission is composed of 3 members, 1 of whom is by profes- sion an architect, 1 by profession a contractor and builder, and 1 by profession a lawyer. Largely through the courtesy of Mr. R. Clip- ston Sturgis, the architect, and chairman of this board, the Commis- sion has secured many valuable suggestions and much information on school buildings. In Boston school buildings are divided into 3 classes — primary schools, grammar schools, and high schools — and the board is gradu- ally formulating a policy for the treatment of these different classes of buildings. The primary schools are designed small and are nu- merous, so that any given district will be served without necessity of long walks for the smaller children, although large primary schools have been erected with a view to relieving crowded conditions existing over a large area, and always in such cases difficulty has been found to relieve the small, crowded schools, as the children are forced to walk a longer distance to their new school. For j)rimary schools the normal sized room type is 24 by 30 feet, with a height of not less than 13 feet. The size of this room for grammar schools is increased to 26 by 32 feet. Unilateral light is aimed at, the glass of the window to be not less than one-fifth the area of the floor. Each room is provided with a wardrobe. Corridors are provided not less than 8 feet in width where the floor contains 4 rooms, or 10 feet in width for more than 4 rooms, the width governed by the length of the corridor and access to the stairs. Heating of the rooms is direct, as is also the ventilation, with ample duct capacity. The heating of the corridors is direct, but no ventilation is provided. Staircases are regulated by the building laws, but are made of fireproof con- struction in all cases. General toilet rooms are provided in the base- ment, in size approximating space for 3 water-closets for each school- room — 2 for girls, 1 for boys, 36 inches urinal space for each schoolroom for the boys. Heating of these rooms is direct. The rooms are well ventilated artificially. Play rooms are provided in CONSOLIDATION OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 51 the basement and play space in surrounding yards. Assembly halls are provided for all grammar schools, to accommodate the whole number of pupils in the smaller ones, and 800 or 900 in the larger ones. In some cases these rooms are 2 floors high and a gallery is used. The manual training room is provided generally in the grammar school, located in the basement, preferably the corner room, so that ample light may be obtained from at least two sides. A domes- tic science room is also provided, similar to the manual training room, with bilateral light. Kindergarten rooms are made slightly larger than class rooms, comprising a large room and a small room, supply closet, wardrobe, teachers' closet and water-closet with a bowl or sink. These rooms frequently have bilateral light. High school class rooms are laid out for classes of 36 or 42, with larger rooms to accomodate 60 to 80 pupils, the former rooms generally being the standard grammar class room size, 26 by 32 feet, and the latter 33f by 43 feet. Lecture rooms are provided and generally inserted between the laboratories for physics and chemistry. Chem- ical laboratories are usually about 30 by 40 feet and are preferably corner rooms with bilateral light. The physical laboratory is sim- ilar in size. The biological laboratory is similar in size, and should be, preferably, a corner room with southeast exposure. Gymnasium and drill hall are generally located in the basement, directly under the assembly hall, with clear span of ceiling and combined height of basement and first floor. Visitors' gallery is generally provided, at the same grade and entering from the first floor, at least at one end. Handicraft rooms are used in the high schools, corresponding with the manual training work in grammar schools, and in addition thereto. A room about 30 by 40 feet is provided for domestic science, this space possibly being cut up into a kitchen and 2 smaller rooms for showing care of dining room and bedroom. A drawing room, tl^a size of a large class room, preferably divided into 2 drawing rooms with workroom between, light preferably should be north. High schools located at a distance from the homes of the pupils are invariably provided with a lunch counter, equipped so that sim- ple food can be served hot. Arrangement is generally made with outside caterers to provide the food. Generally wardrobes in the high schools are provided by a common room, with lockers, on the lower floor. All new buildings are required to be fireproof, are fig- ured for an allowance of from 30,000 to 35,000 cubic feet per class room, for the lower elemientary schools, at 22 cents per cubic foot cost, and allowing a sliding schedule of cubic feet per class room for the higher elementarj^ schools at 22 cents per cubic foot. Buildings are ordinarily finished in common red brick and stone for the exteriors, with less ornamentation for the smaller buildings. The grounds outside of the buildings are arranged to give 25 to 40 52 CONSOLIDATION OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. square feet of play space per pupil, including such planted spaces and gardens as are desired. For high schools the allowance per cubic foot is raised to 24 cents and the number of cubic feet per class room is higher than in the elementary schools. These figures of cost are quite closely adhered to, but may be exceeded where foundations are soft, requiring piling or waterproofing, or any unusual expense for grading. The buildings are usually 2 stories and basement or 3 stories and basement. In some cases irregularly shaped lots are very satisfactorily treated — as- for example, the Oliver Wendell Holmes, and the Dearborn public grammar schools. The usual case finds the treating of a site which has but one really desirable exposure, or a site which has 2 equally desirable exposures, or a site having 3 or 4 sides equally available for exposure. East and west are statedly most desirable — north poorest of all, excepting for corner rooms, which can be lighted from the other direction. Various arrangements of rooms grouped on either side of a central corridor have been found satisfactory. The Jefferson School pos- sibly is the simplest, with rooms on either side of the corridor, all facing one way, exits being at the end of the corridor. The Oliver Hazard Perry Grammar School and the James Otis Primary School are similar to this, with the end rooms turned about. This grammar school has a second-story assembly hall, but the rooms at the end are turned about in order to get the best exposure. The Ellis Mendell and the John Greenleaf Whittier are examples of the corridor type, where one side is distinctly preferable for light, and is a good type for use where the ends of the building are not free. The type illustrated by the Sarah J. Baker gives an 8-room floor plan where two 4-room plans are put together with a connecting corridor. This involves four stairways and gives an economical structure, but is very defective from the view-point of administration. The Mather plan shows a corridor plan, with the addition of wings, somewhat similar to the New York H plan. In this plan the center of the building is sacrificed on the second and third floors to an assembly hall, while in the New York type the assembly hall is placed nearer to the ground, where it is of more use to the public and outside of the main space of the building. The Thomas Gardner plan is a plan devised for future extension, to be placed in the center of a large lot, lighted from all sides, the plan showing only a portion of the building constructed, Avith its assembly hall occupying the space which will ultimately be the mid- dle of the building, and being top-lit only. Plans are shown of the following schools, which are briefly described : ( Fir^t floor.) (Basement.) THOMAS GARDNER GRAMMAR SCHOOL. STICKNEY & AUSTIN, ARCHITECTS. (Third floor.) (Second floor.) THOMAS GARDNER GRAMMAR SCHOOL. STIGKNEY & AUSTIN, ARCHITECTS. CONSOLIDATION OP PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 53 MATHER SCHOOL. Completed in 1905 ; cost, exclusive of site, about $290,000. This is a grammar school with basement and 'i floors. First floor contains 4 class rooms facing on the central corridor and 4 class rooms in each wing facing on a corridor lighted from the court. The building has 2 entrances from the front and 2 from the rear, the entrances being on opposite sides of the main corridor and separating the groupings of rooms into 3 groups of 4 rooms each. Master's and teachers' rooms are provided in the space occupying the public entrance stairways, there being only 2 flights of stairs leading from the first floor up- ward. The second and third floors each contain 8 class rooms and a large assembly room, the assembly room lying astride the corridor and being used as a corridor when necessary. Two small anterooms are provided adjoining the stage, and the room is entirely lighted from the court at the backs of the children. A view of the assembly hall in the Mather School, showing the corridor passing through the center of the building, is given. The Oliver Wendell Holmes and the Dearborn Grammar schools, both irregularly shaped buildings, also give examples of the corridor being obstructed by an assembly hall, which is utilized as a corridor when necessary. THOMAS GARDNER GRAMMAR SCHOOL. The Thomas Gardner Grammar School is also shown, in perspective and plan. This building was also completed in 1905, so far as it is at present planned, at a cost of about $140,000. The building has a basement and 3 floors, the basement containing the boiler and coal- storage room, boys' and girls' toilets, manual training room in one corner, cooking room in another, girls' and boys' play rooms adjoin- ing their toilets. The first floor has an interior corridor thrown into an assembly hall, surrounded by some half dozen columns which partially obstruct the space. There are 4 class rooms on this floor, besides the teachers' room lying between the entrance and the stair- case, the entrance and the staircase being connected by a corridor separated by a partition from the platform to the assembly room. The main entrance to the building at present occupies one corner, but when the building is ultimately completed to its full size, will occupy the center of this front. The second floor has an interior corridor lighted from the inner court, the walls being carried by the columns which are apparent in the assembly room on the floor below. It has 5 class rooms and a principal's room. The third floor has 5 class rooms and a store room. Four class rooms on each of the first, second, and third floors, will be added when the building is completed, expanding the size of the building readily from its present capacity 54 COlSrSOLIDATION OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN DISTEICT OF COLUMBIA. of a 14-room schoolhouse to one of 26 rooms, exclusive of assembly hall and the manual training and domestic science room. A view of the assembly hall of this school and the obstruction that the columns form is given. DEARBORN GRAMMAR SCHOOL. The Dearborn Grammar School is a building located on an irreg- ularly shaped lot, and was completed in December, 1905, at a cost of a little more than $210,000, exclusive of the land. This building is a 3-story and basement structure, containing, in the basement, boiler and fan room, boys' and girls' toilets, boys' and girls' play rooms, and, in the corners, domestic science and manual training rooms. The building is of the through-corridor type, the corridor having 2 angles of about 140 degrees each. The corridors terminate in bay windows, with stairs at both ends. The building has 2 basement entrances, near the angle, at the back, one for boys and the other for girls. Its principal entrance, however, is a large, stately one at the apex in the front. The first floor contains 8 class rooms and some small teachers' and office rooms; the second floor 9 class rooms; and the third floor 4 class rooms and a large assembly hall, taking the place of the central corridor, and the T) class rooms on the floor below, giving another examxDle of an assembly hall having corridor running in front of the stage. Two small anterooms flank the center and rear of the stage. A view is shown of this assembly hall with the stage and the entrance to one corridor. This building is of the type where end light is less desirable and the end walls are void of win- dows, except in the basement and in the bay windows in the ends of the corridor, which are thus end lighted. OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES GRAMMAR SCHOOL. The Oliver Wendell Holmes Grammar School, of which the front and end views are shown and plans * of all floors, is another building on an irregularly shaped lot, and consists of a central portion with 2 wider wings. The floor plan illustrates the corridor type where the end light is desirable. In the central part of the building the base- ment is given up to heating and ventilating apparatus and coal stor- age. The 2 southern corners at each end are devoted to manual training and domestic science, boys' toilet adjacent to the former and girls' to the latter, with large play rooms between these respective installations and the stem of the building. The corridor on the first floor is in the front of the building, and, in the 2 wings, extends only through to the last class room, and is exceptionallj^ well lighted hj reason of the great length of its outside exposure in the stem of the * Not printed. (First floor.) DEARBORN GRAMMAR SCHOOL. (Basement.) BOSTON. EDWIN J. LEWIS, Jr. ARCHITECT. (Third floor. ) DEARBORN GRAMMAR SCHOOL. (Second floor.) BOSTON. EDWIN J. LEWIS, Jr. ARCHITECT. 5, . ^ ^ i»3 fO 1 CONSOLIDATION OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN DISTEICT OP COLUMBIA. 55 building. A small room, suitable for master's or teachers' room, is located on this floor between the corridor and the central class room, the latter being pushed about 10 feet to the rear to give this space, the same extra space being utilized in the second and third floors for the stage of the assembly hall. The teachers' room takes the place of one class room in the western wing, there being thus 4 class rooms in the eastern wing, 3 class rooms and teachers' room in the western wing, and 3 class rooms in the stem on the first floor. On the second floor are the master's room and 3 class rooms in the western wing, 4 class rooms in the eastern wing, and 2 anterooms and assem- bly hall in the stem, the assembly hall coming entirely to the front wall of the building, the part over the first floor corridor being used as a passageway when not in use for assembly purposes. Two large anterooms flank this hall on both sides. The assembly hall continues through the third floor, with a 5-foot gallery to serve as a balcony and corridor combined, there being also side balconies provided with several rows of benches. There are, as in the floor below, 7 class rooms and teachers' rooms on this floor. The building has 2 base- ment entrances, leading directly into the play rooms, and 2 main en- trances to the first floor near the bends in the corridor, the stairs occu- pying the reentrant space directly opposite this entrance in wells extending entirely to the third floor. A view of the assembly hall in this school is given, showing the corridor passing through the rear of the assembly hall and the balcony corridor on the floor above. This building was completed in September, 1905, at a cost of about $195,000. THE JOHN G. WHITTIER SCHOOL. This school was completed in September, 1905, at a cost of about $75,000. It is a fine two-story and basement primary school of the cor- ridor type, where one-side light is distinctly preferable and where it is not necessary or feasible to use the end of the building for light, the ends in this building being blank walls, excepting for one room used for kindergarten instruction. The building has 5 class rooms on the first floor and 5 and a small room on the second floor, besides having a small room attached to the kindergarten and 2 small rooms flanking the main entrance stairs on the first floor. The basement of this room contains boys' and girls' toilets and boys' and girls' play rooms, to- gether with the necessary space for the heating and ventilating plant. The gravity system of heating and ventilation is used and a plan is given showing this installation. THE OLIVER HAZARD TERRY SCHOOL. This is a 14-room grammar school, typical of the smallest building for grammar courses built by the Boston Commission, and may well 56 CONSOLIDATION OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN DISTEICT OP COLUMBIA. be regarded as a model grammar school building. The basement has a high ceiling about 14 feet, which is connected to th'e general venti- lating system of the building and contains manual training room and room for domestic science, in addition to the usual toilet rooms. Toilet rooms have separate exits and entrances and the building has 2 base- ment entrances, 1 at each end of the central corridor, and 1 at the same point in the main entrance of the building, on each side. Class rooms are of standard size and the lighting unilateral and beyond criticism, with large, wide windows extending to the ceiling. Cloak rooms are the usual small rooms, with entrance inside the main class room door. Each class room is provided with a built-in cabinet, con- sisting of cupboard above and drawers below. The building has 3 floors and in addition to the class rooms has an assembly hall seating 750 pupils, arranged with oak settees. The heating and ventilating is by the plenum system, and a plat is submitted giving the details and showing the lay-out in the basement. This building is undoubtedly in all respects one of the best school buildings in the United States. It is well worthy of careful study on the part of any architect engaged in work of this class. The work was completed at about a cost of $146,000, in 1905. (Plans not printed.) THE JAMES OTIS PRIMARY SCHOOL. A view * and plan of the James Otis Primary Schoolhouse is also shown. The building was completed in 1905, at a cost of about $108,- 000, being cited by the schoolhouse commissioners as an excellent ex- ample of the advisability of a single contract for the entire work to facilitate the completion of the building. SAMUEL W. MASON PRIMARY SCHOOL. The Samuel W. Mason Primary Schoolhouse is also shown, in view and plan.* This school was completed in August, 1905, at a complete cost of about $118,000, exclusive of site, the cost being slightly excess- ive by reason of the necessity of piling the foundation and doing a great deal of grading of the lot. CHARLESTOWN HIGH SCHOOL. This building, of which 2 views and several floor plans * are given, is one of the finest high schools- in the country. On account of its close proximity to the Bunker Hill Monument and attendant build- ings, it was decided to finish it in granite and with exceptionally fine architectural treatment. The result has been a beautiful small high school, with a capacity of about 540 pupils, at a total cost of slightly under $300,000. The building has 3 main floors besides a ground floor and a basement floor, the basement floor being occupied by the heating, power, and ventilation installation. The ground floor, * Not printed. CHARLESTOWN HIGH SCHOOL. BOSTON. STICKNEY & AUSTIN, ARCHITECTS. CONSOLIDATION OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 57 which is j^artially below tlie ground on one face of tlie building and well above the ground an the opposite face, the building being built on a fairly steep hillside site, contains a large gymnasium, extending also through the first floor, the bo3''s' toilet room and wardrobe in one corner, the girls' wardrobe and toilet room in the opposite corner, the latter being flanked by a group of rooms for domestic science, comprising main cooking room, typical bedroom, typical dining room, and typical pantry, the other corner being occupied by the rooms for use in connection with the gymnasium — locker and dressing rooms and a number of showers. A large lunch room is provided on this floor between the girls' baths, wardrobe, and entrance lobby. Exit and entrance, with steps up and down, are at the ends of the corridor, running through the building slightly off the center line. The first floor has in front of the central corridor 3 large class rooms w^th unilateral light and small recitation rooms, principal's office, and a room for women teachers. Behind the corridor, on one face of the building, is a small recitation room and a large handicraft room and on the other face a recitation room and a large class room, the 2 corner rooms being given bilateral light. As remarked before, the gymnasium extends through this floor. Notable features are the toilet rooms provided in the mezzanine floors with access from the landing of the stairs half way between 2 floors. The third floor front is occupied by chemical and physiological laboratories, each having a small workroom attached and a lecture room between. These are all large rooms — the 2 corner ones having bilateral light. The corri- dor of this floor is much wider than on the floor below, excepting for a recess containing the stage of the assembly hall. One corner is occupied by the botanical and zoological laboratories, with bilateral light, with a girls' toilet between it and tlie hall and corridor. The other corner is a large drawing room with bilateral light and a reci- tation room with unilateral light and small corridor leading thereto. The assembly hall occupies the space on this and the third floor. The second floor contains along the front of the building 2 class rooms with unilateral light in each corner, library, class room, recita- tion room, with unilateral light betAveen and 2 exceptionally large class rooms in the other two corners, a girls' toilet lying between one and the corridor and a room for men teachers between the other and the corridor. The corridor on this floor is wider than on the floor be- low, except for the projection into the corridor of inclosed space for the stage of the assembl}^ hall. Temporary platform is also provided, so that on occasion the stage space may be enlarged so as to cover the entire width of the corridor. The heating system is a combination j^ressure with pump and re- ceiver, or may be run gravity return. When the school is in session the water of condensation returns to the boiler by means of the 58 CONSOLIDATION OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. pump, but at night when the fires are banked and the steam sys- tem has dropped, the water will return directly to the boilers by open- ing the by-pass valves. There are 2 horizontal return tubular boilers of 90 horsepower each. There are indirect radiators placed in the primary heating chamber and at the base of the fresh-air ducts, be- sides direct radiators located in the small rooms and corridors. Air is furnished by a 10-foot cone fan, driven by a 12-inch by 8-inch belted engine with 25 pounds of steam, delivering, when the building is in use, 50,000 cubic feet of air per minute, the ventilation being stimulated by means of aspirating coils heated by exhaust steam from the engine and pump. The main ducts are of masonry construction in the basement. Automatic temperature control is installed in all class rooms, assembly hall, and gymnasium. The equipment, fur- niture, and finish of the building are worthy of exceptional note and entirely in keeping with its beautiful exterior. NORMAL AND GIRLS' LATIN GROUP. The city is also engaged in the construction of a group of build- ings knoAvn as the Normal and Girls' Latin Group, to be situated on a lot at the Tremont entrance to the Fenway, the plot being almost surrounded by Worthington street. Board of Survey street, No. 219, and Huntington avenue. This group, when completed, will comprise the Normal School, which contains all class rooms, recitation rooms, and laboratories for normal work for 350 pupils — men and women; the Model School, in which are IT class rooms for all grades from kindergarten up to and including the ninth, 2 rooms for each grade except the eighth and ninth ; the Latin School which contains all the class rooms, recitation rooms, and laboratories for 600 pupils, and the Common building, which contains the gymnasium for the Normal and that for the Girls' Latin, dressing rooms, baths and lockers con- nected therew^ith, and the wardrobes and lunch rooms. The buildings are grouped around a central courtyard and face, a little to the south of east, on a planted lot of land belonging to the park department of the city of Boston, across which thoroughfare has been given for footways to the schools. The Latin and Normal schools occupy, respectively, the north and south ends of the lot. The Common building comes between on the east, and this will be kept low so as not to shadow the court, and the Model School occupies the space be- tween the buildings on the west. This leaves, flanking the Model School, 2 playgrounds on Worthington street, for the girls and boys in the Model School ; and the central courtyard is arranged partly for ornamental and partly for experimental gardening. The buildings are designed as an harmonious group, executed in brick and limestone, with the cornices of terra cotta. Plans for the Latin School and the Normal School of this group and a plan of the entire group are reproduced. The total cost is estimated as between $720,000 and 5 lTI- IjlllllMU 14 H-^^^ > i^;i^ f I ul.-.!„,-J;6-n. j^ c=» 1 » -1 «J Tcp.^r ;n^^^ I • • • 1^ j! ll.lll.' r ■"» I - ! ^ I rr; n r^^ 1 h "t^ ' ^ ■-prirrrarifc ^ ^i=^ =3 • I I r? g \ .JSr' -^r : Bi^jrirn:? I f ifu i-l^ r— M-n] E rri:f U — -J, rtr^ tr-l I d ^^'S>Ii)ilc^Y•^| u □ □ □ DINLNG ROOM' jxi a: oo: D D D lY-^-C O R R. I D O O- " -<' y ^ o □ o C] □ □ □ □ □ LT 1X1 1 y^j-uru iJ^^cuK^ ji i ■ — r^ w^ SS§RK- THIRD -FLOOR." PLAN- S M I? 30 I f 3« 5EC0/VD°FLO0fL°PL.AN= NORMAL SCHOOL, BOSTON. TH1I1D°FL00R°PLAN' S" 'O t^ xo as So SECOMDFLOOfcPlAN LATIN SCHOOL, BOSTON. COIsrSOLIDATIOlSr OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN DISTKICT OF COLUMBIA. 59 $740,000, exclusive of the site, but including all the trades and the buildings completely equipped with all fittings excepting the fur- niture. The Girls' Latin School will contain, in its basement, the boilers for the whole group and the engines and fan for this building. It will have on the first floor 5 small class rooms, 1 large class room, 2 recitation rooms, assembly hall, and rooms for principal and women teachers. On the second floor, 5 small class rooms, 1 large class room, library, 2 recitation rooms, 2 rooms for women teachers, and the upper part of assembly hall. On the third floor, 1 large class room, 2 small rooms, 2 recitation rooms, lecture room, and physics and botany laboratories. The Normal School contains, in the basement, the engine, fan, primary coils, and engineer's room; on the first floor, handicraft rooms, rooms for manual training, both woodwork and cardboard, and a teacher's workroom, a lecture room, 2 drawings rooms, with workroom between, music room, large and small room for psychology, with workroom between, and a suite of rooms for the teachers, in- cluding the principal's room, a reception room, rooms for the men and women teachers, and a teacher's lunch room. On the second floor, the library, a room for history, 2 rooms for English with a work- room between, a large and small room for geography, with a work- room between, 2 rooms "for mathematics, with a workroom between^ and 2 rooms for instruction in kindergarten work, and also a large study hall capable of seating 350 pupils, a hospital room, and toilets ;, on the third floor, 2 laboratories for physiology, with a workroom be- tween, rooms for household science, containing kitchen and pantry, and a dining room and bedroom, chemical laboratory and work- room, and laboratories for physics, zoology, and biology, with work- rooms between the two last. The Common building contains in the basement the heating ducts ; on the first floor, which is on a level with the first floor of the adjoin- ing Normal and Girls' Latin schools, the main vestibules at either end, the wardrobes, toilets, and lunch rooms, on the Normal side for men and women, on the Girls' Latin side for girls only, and in the central sections, slightly below this floor and on the mezzanine immediately above it, dressing rooms, bathrooms, and lockers; for the pupils in the two schools, two independent plants. In the case of the Normal School, the classes consist of 30 pupils, and as their gymnastic train- ing is of a serious nature, for which they will regularly dress, pro- vision is made so that the whole class can bathe after their work ; the 30 showers are arranged in three ranks, with separate control for each rank and separate mixers; 3 temperatures can therefore be provided, but the class as a whole will be bathed at the same time, taking prob- ably not more than two or three minutes. On the Girls' Latin side the classes are 50 in number, and it is not expected that the classes as a 60 CONSOLIDATIOlSr OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN DISTKICT OF COLUMBIA. whole will bathe after their ordinary calisthenics; 12 showers are provided for use of those who are taking additional exercise, or who are working in connection with athletic teams, and these are supplied and controlled separately. On the second floor are the gymnasiums for the 2 buildings, each gymnasium being approxi- mately 55 by 70 feet. Rooms for the directors of physical training are provided on the floor and small galleries for spectators at the end of each gymnasium. The Commission believes, aiso, that the layout of desks for the Boston schoolhouses is worthy of note, and have reproduced it here by courtesy of Mr. Sturgis. The layout for grades 1 and 2 in the primary room differs from the layout for the third grade, although the same number of pupils may be accommodated, namely 56. The layout in this size room for the fourth grade accommodates 50 desks, or more often 48. The layout in the grammar room for the fourth, fifth, and sixth grades accommodates 56 desks, although in each grade the desks are dif- ferently placed. The layout for the seventh grade also accommo- dates 56 desks still differently spaced, and the eighth and ninth grades in this sized room give a much greater space for the teacher's desk. The high school layout in the grammar school room allows for but 42 desks, but in the larger room allows for 80. The Commission also rej^roduces, from data furnished by Mr. Stur- gis, figures of cost of the buildings described in this report : Figures of cost of Boston schools described herein. Name ol building. Total cost. Cost of building- only. Cubic eon- tents. Cost per cubic foot. Building only. Mather $289,333 Thomas Gardner 140,268 Dearborn 216,995 O. W. Holmes ! 195,648 J. G. Whittier ' 74,736 O. H. Perry ' 146,146 Jaires Otis ' 107,818 S. W. Mason 1 ' 118,325 Charlestown High 293,647 Normal Building '• 320,147 Girls' Latin ' 296,722 $241,098 113.769 182,104 159,564 61,053 118,497 90,867 99,528 251.256 272,125 252,213 1,353,831 735„573 980,100 991,609 325,051 612,351 411,645 438,223 1,170,000 1,416,947 1,300,803 Cents. 21 19 22 20 23 24 26 27 25 23 23 Cents. 17 15 18 16 19 19 22 23 21 19 19 Name of building. Number class rooms. Sittings. Cost per room. Cost per pupil. Cost of lot. Mather.. _ _ .32 14 21 24 10 14 12 14 1,600 700 1,050 1,200 .500 700 600 700 540 350 60O $9,042 10,019 10,333 8,1.57 7,974 10,4.39 8,985 8,452 $180.83 200.38 200.66 163.04 149.47 208.78 179.70 169.03 545.60 914.70 494.54 0. W. Holmes J. G. Whittier $9,0^.50 0. H. Perry James Otis S. W. Mason __ . _. . . - . 31,172.75 17,636.31 57,734.98 Normal Building 169,771.50 Girls' Latin - _ • CIT^'OF-BOSTOX • 6CHOO). HOUSE JJEI^IE^IEMT" 6TAMDARD L A\ OIT^OF PUPILS^DESKS 2 .*--o- ^ 1 • o~ LJ I ] n 1 1 u i_j rj tj CI a 1 U xi LJ [11 u trj VI 43 n (J a □ a a □ (> a n a a u n u^; "9 1..J 13 u I'j tj C3 a u L3 r::i C'J O CT 1 ca acj a ¥|- v.. , J 1 ■CiR,-\nE---]-.\NI)JI- •36-DE.Slife-12"X16" ^ a6-o" >t 1 ; tj t '1 r J i-i 1 1 c J rj : ; 1 1 LJ 1 T n 1 J ri 451 : : 1 ■> ! 1 1 ! 'a*: d X5 ', 1,1 ( .' rv,< i 76' ■ ^ n ■« V •aU\Dr:-l\^56-DF.,SlvS- . atA!)rvVT.3-^'eftCK'K>-&«3i- ' 2-6-0- >i f " , I'li: ., - -. 1 n LI LJ [J "\ a t I ( 1 r J 1 J .:j rj '^\ J n n [ ! t J n n ! ' J ; J l:j [j c 1 I ] ■ V.IJ 1^ gn '16' -HIGH- ^^CHOOl.S" •1 JD- S'- iVfe'VCK-IO-fSACK" ^ X "5^ ■' _ ■_, -, □ a anna o o a □ a □ 56"a □ □ a □ Oji a a a D □ cj " □ □ a o □ □ a a o n □ a a n n a □ o a g a qyci n n u , ,''''■ u ■SO-DEAKS-lS/il" • i-ABACK-TIl.BACK- i. 2.6-0" □ CI t.3 □ [3 CJ r □ LJ l;j tJ lj □ c n ci r.i LT a a l. ' □ [;j r;j cj n a l: ■a □ □ Lzi a u t: □ □ n rj 13 n t; tzi □ :j u c.i r: t: ri p : : : . 1 >t.; r M L_ 'o 4a . 56-DESKS.l6"X254JD' ■GR<«>F;-Vni..'VND-LK' 55'-ft" t:i [ T t ] r 1 1 i I 1 r .1 Li f] L I 1 1 r J I 1 I 1 1 u J ( J I I 1 n 1 M I M 1 1 I [ 1 ( 1 I n M ,1 M ( 1 1 * ,1 ( 1 I,.l I J 1 T I M 111. IJ n ( 1 ['"I I ": I I I 10^ □ i.:i (.:i M [ i f I r i 111 n I ] 111 J rj 1 n hJ an 1.1 u r 1 r ir:io cu ] p a n l:M- 1 r:j ^ [J •HlGHvSCHOOL.S- •50-DESli5-2«/-2jyLir> CONSOLIDATION OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, 61 Total cost figures given cover cost of building, heating, plumbing, and electrical contracts, but do not include cost of site. The cost of building ordinarily is between 79 and 85 per cent of the total cost exclusive of site, and is given in second column. The heating con- tract is generally 8 or 9 per cent, but varies between 7 and 12; the plumbing contract is generally about 4 or 5 per cent, but may be as low as 3 or as high as 8 per cent ; the electrical contract is generally about 3 or 4 per cent. REMARKS. The satisfactory condition of the newer Boston schools is largely due to the careful attention to detail shown in the office of Mr. R. Clipston Sturgis, chairman of the board of schoolhouse commis- sioners. As a rule the interiors of the buildings are notably plain and char- acterized by exceptionally good materials and excellent workman- ship. All minor details from basement to roof show this care, the buildings giving an impression of excellent quality. The ncAver buildings are finished in corridors and rooms with painted burlap. The floors of the rooms are of good hard wood and the corridors granitoid, asphalt, or similar construction. The question of artifi- cial lighting of class rooms has been well studied. Electricity is used, each fixture giving 48 candlepower, there being generally 4 to a class room, suspended in the ordinary manner, with the 4 bulbs inclosed in what might be described as a hemisphere of white translucent glass, convex surface down, the light being diffused and the white ceiling reflecting their maximum. The fittings of the coat room are also worthy of note. Supported by brass brackets, screwed to wooden strips along the walls, are 2 round wooden rails, about 2^ inches in diameter. The upper rail is about 10 inches from the wall and the lower not more than half as far and about 6 inches below the other. On top of the rails is a brass, round-topped hat hook ; standing vertically and directly underneath it is a double coat hook. Fork-shaped clips are in line with this, screwed to the wooden strip, devised for holding umbrellas. Three steam pipes covered with wire mesh pass along the wall near the floor, heat from which dries the clothing when it is hung up wet. A continuous zinc-linecl drip pan in which the umbrellas stand is held in position by the clips mentioned. Stairways are ordinarily of iron, with the tread from 10 to 12 inches ; riser 6J to 7 inches. Some stairs are of reenforced concrete. A view is shown of a bookcase in the interior of one of the Boston class rooms. The Commission is indebted to Mr. Sturgis for many details given of these schools. 62 CONSOLIDATION OF PUBLIC SCLIOOLS IN DISTKICT OF COLUMBIA. ST. LOUIS SCHOOLS. The newer public school buildings of St. Louis are probably the best in the United States. They are almost all of fireproof construc- tion and but 2 stories in height, exclusive of the basement floor, which generally is built entirely above ground on 3 sides of the building, the basement floor being partially or entirely buried by a terrace on the entire front in uiost of the buildings, this terrace being used for handsome gardening effects to give the buildings beautiful archi- tectural setting. The buildings are built to accommodate all grades from the kindergarten to the eighth grade, inclusive, from which they pass to the high school. They are, as a rule, of what might be called the 20-class room type, exclusive of a large kindergarten room and 2 rooms for manual training and domestic science, respec- tively. The buildings show departures from the conventional cor- ridor type, the corridors having outside light through generally about half of their length. The wardrobes also have outside light, but are entered only from the class rooms. There is usually an E- shaped corridor, the entrance hall taking the place of the central stem of the E, the large kindergarten room being the only room on the opposite side of the corridor and being in size equal to 2 class rooms. There are usually 2 class rooms in front of the corridor on each side of the entrance and between the other corridors and 3 rooms on each end on each floor. The principal's office is above the entrance corridor and 2 class rooms are above the kindergarten room. This is the normal type, although, in some cases, the kindergarten is thrown in front of the main corridor and no rooms at all appear behind it. This is the case at the Patrick Henry School. The schools almost invariablj^ occupy ample sites, giving much outdoor playground space for use of the children and allowing the height of the building to be limited to 2 stories . and a basement, and, as a rule, permitting of a treatment of the front in terraces and gardens which gives the building a splendid architectural set- ting, showing the building in front as a 2-story building set Avell up on a terrace, while from the sides and rear the building appears as 3 stories, basement entrances being in most buildings directly on a level with the ground. Constructions are fireproof excepting the pitched roofs, which are of mill constructions covered with sheath- ing and tile. The outer and interior main walls are of hard brick laid in Portland cement mortar, the minor partitions being of hol- low tile and the buildings plastered with cement i^laster. Floors are of reenforced concrete and finished with narrow maple flooring in the class rooms. In the corridors a similar flooring is sometimes used, or sometimes asphalt. Basement floors are of granitoid or cement. Steps have risers and skirtings of marble, with the treads WYMAN SCHOOL AND TEACHERS' B. ITTNER, ARCHH FARRAGUT SCHOOL. ST. LOUIS. (Entrance.) WM. B. ITTNER, ARCHITECT. HEMPSTEAD SCHOOL. ST. LOUIS. (Entrance.) WM. B. ITTNER, ARCHITECT. SHEPARD SCHOOL. ST. LOUIS. (Entrance .) WM. B. ITTNER, ARCHITECT. CLAY SCHOOL. ST. LOUIS. (Entrance.) WM. B. ITTNER, ARCHITECT. CONSOLIDATION OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 63 built in with 1 inch of asphalt. Class rooms are 24 feet b}^ 32 feet 6 inches, with a clear story height of 12 feet 6 inches. They are arranged for left-hand lighting only, a glass surface of 20 per cent of the floor area being provided. Class rooms accommodate from 48 to 54 pupils, depending on the grades, and are equipped with single seats. Blackboards are of natural slate placed on the 3 inner sides of the room, are 3| feet high, and are set from 2 feet in the lower grades to 2 feet 5 inches in the upper grades, above the floor. Each class room is provided with a wardrobe 16 feet by 5 feet 3 inches. Each wardrobe is provided with shelves and 60 hooks, port- able umbrella rack, and, as a rule, is entered by 1 door only, but has a window opening to the air. The exits for the air are placed in these rooms, which insures their ventilation and assists in drying out wet clothing. Each room is provided with a bookcase containing 65 running feet of shelving, a bracketed shelf over the blackboard at the front of the room, and picture molding. The class rooms are painted in plain colors, with a simple stencil frieze, the friezes in the kinder- garten room being especially designed to typify childhood life. The corridors have a width of 14 feet, are amply lighted from the out- side, and give direct access to all class rooms and the stairways. Stairways are usually placed at the ends of the main corridor and central to the group of rooms on either side of the axis of the build- ing. They are never more nor less than 5 feet wide, with ample landings and have solid concrete balustrades. The exterior appearance of the buildings could hardly be improved. Extravagant material and ornamentation is avoided. The buildings announce themselves as handsome, modern school buildings. Very little stone is used in trimming. No attempt is made to accent the architectural treatment, except in the main entrance, which is gen- erally dignified by a fitting treatment. The buildings provide in the basement boys' toilet and girls' toilet in the corners, girls' play room and boys' play room being large corner rooms occupying the other corners and in some cases one or possibly both of these rooms fitted up at one end with a small stage for use as an assembly halL This, however, is not usual. In addition to these play rooms nearly every building shows 2 other play rooms which, in the recent buildings, are fitted up as boys' and girls' gymnasiums. These rooms are in the main part of the building and have front and rear light by direct light from an area which lies between the face of the building and the terrace, which is usually found in front of this entire space. Fresh-air inlet is betw^een these 2 rooms, the fan and engine room gen- erally occupying the exact center of the building, boiler rooms being the center of the rear face. The buildings are entered on the base- ment floor generally from 2 doors from the rear playgrounds, 1 on 64 CONSOLIDATION OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. each flank, just inside the toilet rooms. There are also front en- trances by either a single main entrance directly in the center of the building, or in 2 subsidiary main entrances flanking the kindergar- ten, which may be thrown to the front of the building, as in the Pat- rick Henry School. Usually 2 entrances are provided on the main floor at the ends of the corridor just inside the side door of class rooms. Two rooms adjoin the boys' and girls' gymnasium, flanking the fan and engine room, which in some cases are used as storerooms and in the congested and poorer sections of the city are fitted up with shower baths, and pupils are required to use them. Sometimes a manual training room is provided in the basement between the boys' toilet and the boiler room, the corresponding space on the opposite side being used as subsidiary rooms to the boiler service. The main floor of the building has a wide entrance hall, which is flanked by 2 class rooms on the main corridor front of the building, the kindergarten room with its adjacent rooms being directly across the corridor from the main entrance. Windows are provided between the kindergarten room and the main corridor, generally of decorative or stained glass. These windows assist in the lighting of this, the only part of the corridor which is not brilliantly illuminated. Usually 3 class rooms are provided at each end of the building, leaving space for 2 small rooms between the corridor and inside the corner class room. One of these is always used for teachers' toilet and the others can be used for recitation rooms or any similar pur- pose. The second floor has practically the same plan, the space over the entrance hall being utilized for principal's office in 2 rooms, a lobby and a large front room. The space over the kindergarten is occupied sometimes by 2 class rooms and sometimes by a large room used for domestic science or for a school library. Aside from this the floor plan is the same as that of the floor below. Plumbing is usually of the most approved sanitary type, individual seat action closets provided in the general toilets and in the emergency toilets on each floor. Urinals are of glass and automatically flushed. Special provision has been made for ventilating these toilet rooms, those on the main floor having provision made for their ventilation by con- taining the exits for the system of forced ventilation of the corridors. Drinking fixtures over deep sinks, with porcelain cups, are installed in the corridors, in the basement, play rooms, and at least 1 on the wall of the building, outside, in each playground. The buildings are designed for low-pressure system of plenum steam heating and ventilation. Plans of the general basement layout of the heating and ventilating apparatus in one of the schools are shown herewith. Illustrations herein give the general basement layout of the heating and ventilating apparatus for the New Baden School, now in course BADEN SCHOOL. ST. LOUIS. WM. B. ITTNER, ARCHl I ECT. (Ventilating machinery.) 3 tao o 3 z- CONSOLIDATION OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN DISTKICT OF COLUMBIA. 65 of erection. The main portion of this building is to be 2 stories in height above the basement, ^Yith an ample lecture room located on the third floor. There are 18 class rooms, a kindergarten, and a domestic science room, making an equivalence to 21 class rooms. The mechanical equipment is designed to furnish the air for ven- tilation at a sufficient temperature to make up for all losses. Thus there will be no unsightly piping or radiators to contend with in any portion of the building. Each duct, with its sizes marked, runs to risers H-1 or H-2, according to whether it leads to a first or second floor room. For a detail of the apparatus, reference is made to cuts herein. The plant is designed to operate under a steam pressure of 15 pounds, with a back pressure of 2 pounds in the coils. The installation con- sists of two 8-foot by 4i-foot fans, direct driven by 15-inch by 10- inch and 18-inch by 12-inch engines. The larger engine drives the centrifugal pump for the air washer, in addition to pulling its fan. This washer is located between the 2 sets of tempering coils in a " spray chamber.'' This washer removes practically all foreign mat- ter from the air by passing the same through finely divided sprays of water. An eliminator removes all excess free water from the air before it comes in contact with the next tempering coil. The air enters through intake windows, indicated at top of plan, and immediately passes through the first tempering coils. The steam supply to these coils is controlled by a thermostat located in the in- take and automatically turns steam into the coils at some point before the outside temperature reaches the freezing point, thus protecting the washer from freezing. By-pass doors are located at the side of coils and these are gradually opened or closed by a thermostat located immediately past the eliminator. Thus a constant temperature may be maintained for the air as it strikes the washer. This is a matter of considerable importance, as it has a bearing on the ultimate rela- tive humidity of the air. After passing the eliminator the air meets the second set of tem- pering coils, which brings the air up to a temperature of 70°. The air then divides and passes into the 2 fans. Each fan drives the air through the heating coils into the " hot room,'' and under the same coils into the " tempered air room." Thus the tempering air is not heated after leaving the fan. A ther- mostat is located in this latter compartment, for controlling the by- pass doors under the second set of tempering coils, thus maintaining a constant temperature of 70°. Tempered aii, hot air, or a mixture of the two, is forced by the fan into the air ducts. A thermostat located in each class room controls the proportionate quantities by means of mixing dampers, and thus a temperature is maintained varying not in excess of 1° either side of a given point. 66 CONSOLIDATION OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN DISTRICT CF COLUMBIA. . A fresh-air supply of 30 cubic feet per minute is allowed for each pupil. This necessitates about 8 complete changes of air per hour in every class room. Since the corridors and basement are occupied intermittently, 4 changes per hour are planned for these localities. All plants are designed to secure these results with a safe margin of reserve in case it should be required for any reason. The usual boiler installation consists of two 60-inch by 16-foot re- turn tubular units with clowndraft furnaces. Except in extreme v;eather one boiler is all that is needed and for this reason but 1 large boiler is seldom installed, it being preferred to use 2 smaller ones to economize the fuel as well as to save head room. Air movements in the rooms have been tested and it is found that the fresh air enters at a velocity of about 300 feet per minute near the ceiling, evenly distrib- uted over the rear two-thirds of the room, gradually driven downward by the fresher air behind, then works downward and forward to the wardrobe openings. A brief tabulation of the cost of some of the recent buildings in this city is given later in this report and the Commission considers itself fortunate to be able to shoAV so many views of these handsome buildings. Three types are submitted in plan also, first, of the Patrick Henry School, which has no rooms behind the corridor, has 2 main entrance steps, with the kindergarten room extending in front of the main face of the building between the 2 entrances. Stairs in this type are in the front of the building at the end of the corridor and also in the corri- dor just opposite the entrance. Basement entrance leads into 2 play rooms at the middle of each end of the buildings, the play rooms ex- tending the full depth of the building, the toilet rooms being inside against the rear face, girls' and boys' gymnasium occupjdng the space between the play rooms and the center of the building. This type has 21 class rooms and a kindergarten, the kindergarten extending only through the first floor and having twice the size of an ordinary room. The space occupied by 1 class room is given up to principal's office and teachers' toilet on the second floor. The Patrick Plenry School, which is the one selected as the type, is located in a very congested section of the city where the children are of foreign birth, and is provided with boys' and girls' shower baths, and Avith an installation for washing air in the inlet chamber. The second type is the Lafaj^ette type, Avhere there is a single main entrance, 2 class rooms on each side in the face directly flanking it and a large kindergarten directl}^ opposite. Stairs in this type are in the back of the building, opposite the ends of the corridor. The third type, and possibly the best, is similar to the first type as to the location of the stair, but similar to the second type as to the location of rooms. It is slightly longer than the second type and LAFAYETTE SCHOOL. ST. LOUIS. WM. B. ITTNER, ARCHITECT. (Entrance.) i \ \ I \ ,8 \V I 1 lil m. pipiS' mnii'i^ lUIS. ion.) WM. B, ITTNER, ARCHITECT. WM. B. ITTNER, ARCHITECT. [gi Mckinley high school. mr ST. LOUIS. (Basement plan.) , B. ITTNER, ARCHITECT. p^ 1?0' )f- T^C OP WM. B. ITTNER, ARCHITECT. ICLAv/J' R.OOMI ■-CLAdJ- -ROOM Mckinley high school, ITTNER, ARCHITECT. Mckinley high school. WM. B. ITTNER, ARCHITECT. IcKlNLEY HIGH SCHOOL. ST. LOUIS. (Top floor and tower plan.) WM. B. ITTNER, ARCHITECT. HENRY T. BLOW SCHOOL. ST. LOUIS. (Entrance.) WM. B. ITTNER, ARCHITECT. CONSOLIDATION OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 67 considerably wider than the first. It is noted tliat at tlie William Clark School the stairs differ from the usual type in being single flight, with a landing at the halfway point. This restricts the width of the corridor leading to the flank rooms, but gives a magnificent stair, having increased light, in this portion of the corridor. The Commission went thoroughly through the William Clark School, Avhich was just completed and thrown into service during the past summer, and, with the exception of the fact that the school lacks an assembly room, it is without doubt as fine a grammar school building as can be found in this country. Complete plans are also submitted of a new type, which is practi- cally the same as the Lafayette type, except for the fact that a small assembly hall is provided on the third floor. Plans are shown of the William McKinley High School, a build- ing about five years old, containing a basement and 3 floors. In the basement, besides the heating and ventilating apparatus, are shops for manual training instruction, blacksmithing, machine shop, car- pentering and joining work, and electrical work. There is a gymna- sium 41 by 85 feet, and boys' and girls' shower baths adjoining, with locker rooms for boys and girls containing 400 lockers each. Toilet rooms and retiring rooms are also jDrovided. A lunch room the same size as the gymnasium is also provided, with kitchen and storeroom adjoining. Two of the other 3 floors are shown in plan, the first floor containing class rooms and the chemical, physical, and biolog- ical laboratories, also the main floor of the large auditorium. The second and third floors contain a number of class rooms of various sizes, most of them being lighted by unilateral light, the third floor having th© space for 4 class rooms thrown into 2 large rooms, 1 for free-hand drawing and 1 for business training. The second floor cen- ter front room is given up to use as a laboratory and on the third floor the same room is used for shorthand and typewriting instruction. The corridor provides entrance on the second floor level to the gal- lery of the auditorium, which provides seats for 200. The main floor provides seats for between 700 and 800. There is also, in a tower on the fourth floor, an additional large room, 32 by 72 feet, used as a mechanical drawing room. Separate boys' and girls' toilets are pro- vided on each floor. Small rooms are provided on each floor for lockers. The building as a whole is one of the best arranged and most useful high schools of this capacity in the United States. Views are also show^n of some schools of which plans are not shown, and the following table gives some data as to the cost of these buildings. The figures show that the costs are fairly uniform, and most variations are accounted for by reason of differences in conditions of sites, as to grading, foundations, etc., excepting the gradual increase for which steady advance in ]3rices of labor and 68 CONSOLIDATION OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN DISTRICT OP COLUMBIA. materials is responsible. The costs given include the preparation and improvement of the sites and the buildings complete, exclusive only of the cost of the land and the furniture of the school. Name of school. Blow Oote Brilliante Clay Shepard Patrick Henry Lafayette Franz Sigel Hempstead Wyman Wm. Clark Tarragut Teachers' College: McKinley High__. Yeatman High Oak Hill 1901 1904 1904 1905 1905 1905 1905 1903 1901 1903 1903 1904 1901 1904 1907 Sittings. 1,200 1,200 1,200 1,200 1,145 1,200 1,200 1,200 1,000 1,200 1,200 270 1,103 1,103 1,200 Cost of- Site. Building. $4,950 8,340 10,000 12,.50O 60,500 37,500 11,401 13,150 16,000 42,000 18,693 20,800 28,400 41,100 16,475 $150,9.81 162,829 159,407 162,229 203,313 172,361 158,598 180,561 128,888 188,902 174,165 149,577 387,247 399,410 175,004 Cost per- ^^^i*^ Pupil. Room. Cents. 15.7 17 19.4 16.5 18 19.8 17 17.1 14 19.1 17.1 21.7 17.5 17.7 22.2 $125.81 135.69 132.84 135.19 177.56 143.63 132.16 150.47 128.88 157.41 145.13 553.98 351.08 362.11 175.00 $6,290 6,785 6,642 6,760 8,471 7,182 6,608 7,525 6,444 7,871 7,257 9,348 The Commission is indebted to Mr. William B. Ittner for the many details and handsome photographs of these schools. CLEVELAND SCHOOLS. In Cleveland Mr. F. S. Barnum, architect of the board of educa- tion, has, in the past few years, prepared plans for a number of fine school buildings and carried some to execution. One good example is the Marion School, this being an annex to the old Normal School, built with connecting corridors to the old building, the architect's problem being thereby simplified by the fact that no administration rooms had to be supplied. The building contains 12 class rooms on 2 floors, with central corridor, and it is notable possibly by reason of the fact that all of the rooms in the building are identical. All have unilateral light, open cloak rooms, with heating device for securing ventilation of wraps, and the entire structure showing fine attention to detail. The basement contains good play rooms and the double building a yard besides. WATTERSON SCHOOL. The Watterson School, of which a view and plan are shown * is a fine 2-floor building, which shows careful study to adapt to a rather irregular site, securing maximum playground space, best light for the class rooms, and a good assembly room. The lot in this case was rather small and a lO-room school building Avas required. In order to have playground space of any size it was necessary to place the building in the corner of the lot, utilizing one side of the lot through most of its length as a party wall and another side in the same way, excepting for an alley driveway for fuel supply, the building being * Not printed. < J J tx o o O