LA IS THE PHYSICAL AND HEALTH CONDITIONS OF THE MONTGOMERY COUNTY RURAL SCHOOLS FOR WHITE CHILDREN A REPORT TO THE COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION MONTGOMERY COUNTY, ALABAMA THE PHYSICAL AND HEALTH CONDITIONS OF THE MONTGOMERY COUNTY RURAL SCHOOLS FOR WHITE CHILDREN A REPORT TO THE COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION By WM. F. FEAGIN, County Superintendent of Education-Elect. YOUNG PATRIOTS. Every child is conscripted to fight life's battle. The school is the mobilization camp for training. ISSUED BY THE COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY. ALABAMA. JUNE, 1917. NTINQ CO. MONTGOMCnr. h- H o Q O < OS D H .J D S O <; z M W Q O S .0. Of D. AUG 22 19U OFFICE OF Inarli of lEhurattun. fUnnt^nntrry Qloitulii Members of Board : F. C. STEVENSON, Cliaimian. P. M. McINTYRE, LEE CALLAWAY, SIMON GASSENHEIMER. CLAYTON T. TULLIS. Montgomery, Ala., May 22, 1917. TO THE CITIZENS OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY: The accompanying report, prepared by Wm. F. Feagin, Superintendent of Edu- cation-elect of this county, was recently submitted to the County Board of Educa- tion. It so graphically pictures the physical and health conditions of our county rural school system that we have ordered it printed for your information. The facts contained therein are revelations to the Board and will be to you if you will take the time to read the report, which is both interesting and convincing — interesting because it deals with conditions that affect the lives of our children, and convincing because it proves conclusively that existing conditions should be reme- died. As guardians of the educational welfare of Montgomery County, we appeal to you to carefully weigh these facts and rally to the support of your County Board of Education in every effort to remedy conditions. Respectfully submitted. Chairman. County Board of Education. PHYmCAL AND HEALTH COAWITIONS (D ^uror-al School Irtteirior oj MsiinR?om \ ' 'r ' . - ^?W.9 27oiie-t TJ7f> I'upiis T^oomfotr the l,inis ChiUs-en ■«f»^h^^i ,-5^ ■ ■ ; ,.® livable. ONE OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY'S OFFERINGS TO DESIRABLE WHITE SETTLERS. There are others like it in the County. If you had children to educate, and were in search of a location, would you accept the offer ? A better building with modem equipment would make the territory served by this school more inviting, more likable, and more The children of this section deserve more consideration at the hands of the County. OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY SCHOOLS A REPORT Montgomery, Ala., May 14, 1917. TO THE COUNTY BOARD OP EDUCATION OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA. Sirs : In view of the fact that I am to enter upon the duties of Superintendent of Education of Montgomery County on October 1, 1917, and in further view of the fact that Supt. G. W. Cov- ington has delegated to me the power to nomi- nate the teachers who are to serve with me dur- ing the session of 1917-18, I have taken it upon myself to make an investigation of the county schools, in order that I may become acquaint- ed with the situation and be in position to ad- vise you intelligently. I am fully aware that, in order to get a fair estimate of individual teaching ability, one should come in contact with the teacher, both in and out of the schoolroom, for a longer time and more often than the occasions of my limit- ed visits to the schools have afforded me. I shall, therefore, advise with Assistant Superin- tendent T. W- Smith, who has first-hand knowl- edge of the entire field, and be governed in my nominations of teachers to a great extent by his recommendations- The Purpose of This Report. "^The specific purpose of this report is to ac- quaint you with the physical conditions of the Montgomery County school system for white children, with special reference to the buildings and their equipment. The observations of the physical equipment made while on my visits to the schools for whites were a revelation to me. The buildings, with few exceptions, are uninviting, poorly equipped, badly lighted, improperly ventilated, and fully ninety per cent of them are hurtful to the health of the children who are compelled to attend them. The lack of sanitary conditions in and about the vast majority of these buildings is such as to bring a blush of shame to every child-loving citizen of the county. To one who knows Montgomery County citi- zenship, its culture, its refinement and the pro- gressive spirit which it so proudly and justly boasts, the wonder is that conditions have not been remedied before this time, regardless of constitutional inhibitions and unprogressive statutory laws. After a residence period of sixteen years in the City of Montgomery, my knowledge of the people of Montgomery County leads me to believe that the conditions existing in the county at large ai'e not known to them. The one purpose of this report, above all oth- ers, is to acquaint you, and, through you, every man, woman, and child in the county with the situation as it really is. Its Contents. Realizing that words alone can give you only a faint conception of the conditions, I am sup- plementing this report with a map of the coun- ty showing the location of the schools and the condition of roads leading to each, also with statistical statements of the condition of each school, a general summary taken from the com- piled statistics, and a number of pictures taken in and about each school. These should give you a ready grasp of the situation so far as the locations of the schools and their needs are con- cerned. I especially invite your attention to the forty-seven folders containing views of the schools. These will give you a better idea of the situation and carry home the grave respon- sibility resting upon your shoulders as guardi- ans of rural education and child life in Mont- gomery County. (Map and views from folders, pages 27-38.) Comparative Observation. During the years that I have been engaged in educational work in the State, my field of labor has afforded me the opportunity of seeing some- thing of many of the schools — buildings, teachers, and boys and girls — of every county in Alabama, and I feel safe in making three positive statements about these three factors in our county school system : PHYSICAL AND HEALTH CONDITIONS A MODERN RURAL SCHOOL. MOBILE COUNTY. Six miles from Mobile. AN ANTIQUATED RURAL SCHOOL. MONTGOMERY CO. Six miles from Montgomery. Is there a just reason for the difference? These children were born equal. Are they being given equal opportunities by the counties in which they live? Mobile County has levied a three mill tax for the maintenance of her schools, and has also voted a $160,000 bond issue for the erection of i-ural schoolhouses. THE CHILDREN OF A COUNTY ARE ITS MOST VALUABLE ASSETS. IT IS POSSIBLE FOR THEM TO BECOME LIABILITIES. 1. The children of Montgomery County are as intelHgent and as deserving as those of any other county in the State. 2. The teachers of the county are above the average for Alabama counties and are securing as good results as teachers of other counties, considering the conditions under which they work. 3. The buildings and equipment of the Mont- gomery County schools reflect upon the intelli- gence and patriotism of its citizenship and are the greatest impediment to the material devel- opment of the county. Fundamental Need. Buildings and equipment being fundamental in any school system, it shall be my first pur- pose to direct your attention to the needs of the system along this line, leaving the matter of improving the teaching force and of better ad- ministering the schools to be worked out at a later date when I shall have become actively engaged in supervision and therefore have had better opportunity to understand them. Your chief concern at this time should be, and doubtless is, to correct the internal defects of each individual school, in order that better work may be done and the entire system toned up. The two remedies I am impelled to offer for your consideration are (1) a larger type of school and (2) better buildings properly equipped. In these two remedies lies the solu- tion, not only of your school problem, but of the social and economic problems of the county as well. In order that you may better plan to remedy the defects of the system, I have diagnosed the case as best I could and am submitting a series of tables, each dealing with a separate problem. Following each table is a compilation of the facts obtained with comments thereon. TABLE I A SUMMARY WITH COMMENTS Classification of Schools. To arrive at a definite classification of the individual schools in the system, the method of standardization recently used by the State De- partment of Education was employed, in so far as that method relates to buildings, grounds, and material equipment. The classification is based on a total sum- mary of 75 points, which represents an ap- proved school of modern architectural design, well equipped and with adequate grounds. The classification is as follows : -A Class, or Superior School. -B Class, or Standard School. -C Class. -D Class. 35 to 45 P— E Class. Below 35 P— F Class, or Scrub School. 75 P- 65 to 75 P 55 to 65 P 45 to 55 P Note — P represents points. OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY SCHOOLS STATEMENT OF ESSENTIAL FACTS AND PROPERTY VALUES— MONTGOMERY COUNTY SCHOOLS TABLE I— White Schools SCHOOL. Ada Aurora Bellinger Bethleiiem Brooksville Capitol Heights Cecil Center Point Chesser Chisholm Cloverdale Dublin Fleta - Friendship Grady Grange Hall Hails Hill's Chapel Hope Hull Irmadale LaPine LeGrand Macedonia _ Mamie Mathews _ McGehee's Meadville _._ Midway Mitylene Money Mt. Carmel _ Mt. Meigs Mt. Zion Pine Level Phoenix Pike Road Pinedale Pisgah _ Earner Rehoboth _ Sankey Sellers _. Snowdoun Stone's Tank Tabernacle Teasley's Mill Upland BUILDING. OWNERSHIP. Modified State.. Ordinary Ordinary Ordinary •. Cabin Residence* Modified State., State Trustees.. Area and Nature of Grounds. Private .1 A- State Private.. Private.. State 1 A- 1 A- — Broken —Broken —Broken. —Broken -Level VALUES. 350 150 250 600 75 50': 25] 25 1 25| 251 40! 125 50 Modified State State... Trustees.. State Ordinary Ordinary Residence Modified State. Church type Modified State State. Ordinary State. 2 A 2 A— % A- 1 A—: Private Vs A State Trustees.. Ordinary Tenant house... Ordinary Fraternal.. Private Trustees Modified State State.. Ordinary Ordinary Remodeled Ordinary Cabin Ordinary Ordinary Ordinary Church Addition... Ordinary Ordinary Modified State Ordinary Cabin Ordinary Ordinary Residence* Church Private Fraternal. Trustees State Private Private Private Trustees Church Private Trustees State Trustees Private Trustees Private Private Church I Modified State State.. [Ordinary [Modified State... 'Modified State [Approved plan Old store type . [Ordinary [Ordinary _.. [Old store type... Tenant house Trustees.. State State State Private State Private Private Private 2 A— 1 A— 2 A- 1 A- 3 A- V2 A 1 A- 2 A— 1/5 A 1 A—: 1 A- 2 A- V2 A- 2 A—: 1 A- 1 A- 3 A— 1 A 1 A— 2 A 1 A— Vz A i A— 11/2 A Level Level Rolling. Level Level Level Level -Rolling -Broken -Broken —Rolling. -Rolling Level Level Level Level ■Rolling -Level Level Level -Broken Level Level Level Hilly Broken Level Sloping Level 1 A- 2.A- 2 A- 2 A— 1 A 2 A— 2 A- 1 A- A A- 3 1 1/5 A Level -Rolling. -Broken... Rolling.. Level Level Level Level -Rolling.. Level — Level. 800 500 250 1400 ; 1400[ 1000[ 500 1 300| 600 [ 400| 100[ 300[ 1200' 8001 1700 600 800 50 400 175 75 200 300 200 1200 700 75 700 200' 100 50 15 100 200 50 50 25 250 150 25 25 2001 75[ 200j 50 50 25 [ 100 50 [ 25 [ 60 [ 50 [ 50 [ 100[ 100 [ 15[ 200[ 501 50 100 75 300 75 100 10 125 30 10 75 100 10 250 75 100 35 50 5 100 50 75 40 30 100 25 30 30 C3 O >i O a, t. I- 3CL. 30 30 50 175 30 30 30 100 25 20 30 60 30 10 50 30 30 30 30 50 90 30 25 30 900' 700 1700 500 600 1000 200 500 75 150 400 50| 50 [ 300[ 25 25 100 100 50 75 30 75 150 300 50 75 75 70 75 01 5 25 Total i$25075|$3470 $3035 $1585!$1255[$34420 40 50 100 20 60 30 30 100 50 5'$ 475 5 5 30 10 40 435 15 5 5 15 25 15 45 20 80 10 40 15 3 1 13 16 15 20 2 5 5 40 220 50 5 10 11 15 1 3 'I" 'Buildine burned PHYSICAL AND HEALTH CONDITIONS SOME DESKS ( ?) IN MONTGOMERY COUNTY SCHOOLS. If any citizen of the County were compelled to work under such conditions for a day. he could sympathize with these children. Sit in your office chair, at your desk, and look at these pictures for five minutes, then commit your thoughts to writing for future reference. "AS THE TWIG IS BENT, THE TREE IS INCLINED." OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY SCHOOLS There are no superior rural schools in the •county. Neither does any school score a suffi- cient number of points to justify classifying it as standard. There is one Class C school, 5 Class D, 10 Class E, and 29 Class F, or Scrub Schools. The schools at Pike Road and Capitol Heights having been recently destroyed by fire, are not taken into account in any of the scores given. Buildings. Any kind of building seems to meet the re- quirements for school purposes in Montgomery County. Old negro cabins, tenant houses, an- tiquated residences, abandoned store houses, churches, and church additions are found as one visits the different schools. There is but one building in the county constructed accord- ing to an approved plan. Ten are built by State plans considerably modified; 23 are classified "ordinary" meaning that they were built for school purposes, though they fail to measure up to the standard in any respect; 3 are resi- dences ; 3 are cabins ; 2 are small tenant houses ; 2 are old buildings of the store type; 2 are churches; and 1 is a room built as an addition to a church. Ownership. Only 16 of the buildings are owned by the State and County ; 10 have their titles vested in school trustees ; 17 are of private ownership ; 2 are the property of churches ; and 2 others are owned by fraternal organizations. Valuations. The total value of all school property in the county outside of the city is $34,420, tvhich is $3,080 less than half the value of the Mont- gomery County jail and site, and $3,080 less than one-fourth of the value of the county court-house, site, f^irniture and fixtures. The total value of the buildings alone is $25,- 075, or one-third of the value of the jail and site and one-sixth of the value of the court- house, furniture, fixtures, and site. Of the $34,420 invested in school property in the county, only $15,665, or less than half, be- longs to the State and county. In other loords, the value of all the school property of those schools with titles vested in the State is $5,335 less than the cost of three of her best motor trucks used in constructing good roads. The total value of all supplies and equipment, including musical instruments and libraries, is $5,875, which is $1,125 less than the cost of one motor truck tised in building the roads of the county. All school equipment in the county outside of the city of Montgomery is equal in value to less than one-seventh of the value of the machinery oivned by the county and used in the making of good roads. "Seven to one" is the ratio of the county's investment in equipment for MAKING ROADS, as compared to her in vestment in equip- ment for MAKING MEN AND WOMEN. The furni- ture and fixtures in the county court-house are valued at $28,819.75, ivhile the value of the furniture and fixtures, supplies and equipment County court-house investment, $150,000. County jail investment, $76,000. These public buildings are a credit to the County, and money invested in them has been well spent. For the training of its boys and girls in the rural districts, the County has invested $15,665. While the court business of the county is important and ought to be properly housed and equipped, surely the school business, which affects every individual in the County and all the property in the Coanty because its products are law-abiding, productive citizens, is more than one-fourteenth as important as the court business. The jail is a "reformatory" institution, the school is a "formatory" institution. "AN OUNCE OF PREVENTION IS WORTH A POUND OF CURE." 10 PHYSICAL AND HEALTH CONDITIONS Uttiub iiCHOOi. (jAKptH CTNTEK T'ol^/T £>tHuol. GAKPEN F: MipWAY icnouk (jrAX"PeA( FOUR OF THE MOST COMMENDABLE EFFORTS TO TEACH AGRICULTURE IN A PRACTICAL WAY. Only six schools in the County made any effort at all to do su2h work. Lack of equipment, grounds unsuited to' cultivation, and depredations by hogs and chickens are the reasons given. View ( 1 i shows a box-garden on a porch enclosed by a wire to protect the young plants against hogs and chickens. While attempting to develop the agricultural interests of the County, it would be well for the leaders in the movements to remember that modern agricultural methods come through education. A larger type of school, adequate grounds properly fenced, and the necessai-y equipment for farm and garden work is a remedy worth considering. IT TAKES MORE THAN AGITATION TO MAKE AGRICULTURE A SUCCESS. in all of the countij schools is $5,875, or one- fourth of the amount invested in court-house equipment. The gravel pits and steam shovels oivned bii the county are ivorth $14,605.28 while the school sites, furniture, equipment and libraries are worth $5,875. One is for the improvement of the roads of our county, the other is for the de- velopment of the minds of our children. The county is right in its good roads policy. Can as much be said for its school policy? The good roads policy of Montgomery Coun- ty made possible under the laivs of Alabama has met with mviversal approval of both city and county. There is every reason to believe the policy of building and maintaining a good school system now authorized by law would be equally popular ivith the general public. EQUIPMENT FOR INDUSTRIAL WORK The equipment for the teaching of industrial work in all the schools of the county consists of three oil stoves and two old work benches, with not more than enough tools for one work- man. Gardening is successfully done at one school and is being attempted in a way at two others. A school farm of one and a quarter acres is being cultivated by the pupils of one of the schools. The lack of equipment and enclosed areas for agricultural purposes has discouraged garden work. Theoretical and practical agriculture should be taught in all schools in a farming section, and grounds and equipment should be provided for the purpose. OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY SCHOOLS 11 PLAYGROUND EQUIPMENT Organized play supervised by the teacher is an essential factor in child life during the school period. Especially is this true of the rural schools, where the children live separated in many instances by long distances and seldom get together in a social way. The play periods at school should be made interesting to them. They are entitled to such consideration. Playgrounds and some simple pieces of ap- paratus could and should be provided on the school grounds. There are no such arrange- ments in Montgomery County except in the case of four schools, which are provided with tennis courts, nets and rackets. One of these four schools is also provided with a basket-ball court and a baseball diamond, which, together with the building, occupy one acre of ground. The space set aside for baseball on the grounds of this school is so small that the second baseman, center fielder and a corner of the building must occupy the same territory while the game is in progress. There is only one school in the county with any playground apparatus, and it consists of only a swing and a giant stride. RECREATIONAL AND EDUCATIONAL CENTERS. These three buildiiiKS are situated south-east of the City of Montgomery, and are so close together that they could be enclosed in a circle of one-half mile radius. The area of the playgrounds of these two clubs is 180 acres. The combined area of all the school grounds in the county, including the city, is 73 acres. The two clubs have placed a proper estimate on recreation. Has Montgomery County estimated correctly regarding education ? EDUCATION AND RECREATION ARE THE BIRTHRIGHTS OF CHILDREN. 12 PHYSICAL AND HEALTH CONDITIONS INVENTORY OF SCHOOL EQUIPMENT— MONTGOMERY COUNTY SCHOOLS TABLE II— White Schools SCHOOL. DESKS. Number Sittings and Kind. MAPS. S 5 $ Bio BLACKBOARD. 16 patent Home made . Home made. 72 patent 21 patent 17 patent 40 patent _ Home made . 22 patent 98 patent 25 patent 33 patent Home made. 45 patent - 16 patent Home made . 24 patent 31 patent Home made . Ada _ Aurora Bellinger Bethlehem Brooksville Capitol Heights Cecil Center Point Chesser Chisholm Cloverdale _._ _ Dublin _ Fleta Friendship _... Grady _ Grange Hall „ Hails Hills Chapel Hope Hull Irmadale LaPine _ '130 patent .. . LeGrand _ ._|22 patent Macedonia 150 patent Mamie _ .IHome made . Mathews |15 patent McGehees |12 patent Meadville 'Home made . Midway 1 23 patent Mitylene [ 19 patent - Money - _ Home made . Mt. Carmel 40 patent Mt. Meigs 22 patent Mt. Zion - — 12 patent Pine Level .|26 patent Phoenix -._ |Home made . Pike Road | - Pinedale JHome made . Pisgah — 1 60 patent Ramer -| 100 patent . ,. Rehoboth- |17 patent Sankey .._] 14 patent Sellers... .|60 patent. Snowdoun 120 patent Stone's Tank [26 patent Tabernacle — |Home made Teasley's Mill IHome made . Upland. 120 patent. Plate 40 sq. ft Home made 80 sq. ft Plate 10 sq. ft Home made 30 sq. ft Plate 63 sq. ft Plate Plate Home Home Plate Plate Plate Plate Plate Home Plate Cloth Cloth Home Plate Plate Cloth Home Home Plate Home Home Home Home Home Plate Home Plate Cloth 175 sq. ft 55 sq. ft made 70 sq. ft made 196 sq. ft.. 259 sq. ft 105 sq. ft 90 sq. ft 36 sq. ft 150 sq. ft made 40 sq. ft.. 16 sq. ft 100 sq. ft - 210 sq. ft made 56 sq. ft 200 sq. ft 100 sq. ft 100 sq. ft - made 40 sq. ft made 180 sq. ft 36 sq. ft made 60 sq. ft made 160 sq. ft. made 100 sq. ft made 70 sq. ft _ made and Plate 125 sq. ft. 75 sq. ft _ made 35 sq. ft 75 sq. ft. 60 sq. ft. Cloth 40 sq. ft Home made 200 sq. ft Plate and Cloth 400 sq. ft IHome made 120 sq. ft I Plate 120 sq. ft I Cloth 108 sq. ft IHome made 60 sq. ft [Plaster 90 sq. ft I Home made 100 sq. ft I Plate 30 sq. ft I Plate 25 sq. ft *Home made. tRags. OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY SCHOOLS 13 TABLE II A SUMMARY WITH COMMENTS Desks. Of the 47 schools in the county, 20 are sup- plied with enough comfortable desks of some patent type to seat the pupils enrolled; 15 are partially equipped with such desks ; 9 have only the crudest kind of the home-made type; and there ane 3 schools without the semblance of a desk of any kind. The number of children of school age in the country districts, according to the last school census, is 2,592. The enrollment for the last session was 1,928, which number, under the compulsory attendance law, will probably be in- . creased to 2,200. The total number of comfort- able sittings in the county at present is 1,145, which, if properly distributed over the county, would be only a few more than half the number needed to seat the pupils under conditions of maximum school attendance. One must see the actual conditions under which the children of some of the schools are forced to work before he can understand how deplorable they are. In many schools, not one- half of the entire number of desks are suited to the children seated at them ; in some, not one would be so considered. It is a deplorable sight to see little children seated at desks which are from 3 to 6 inches too high, their feet dangling above the floor and backs unsupported, striv- ing stoically to follow the instructions of the teacher in their efforts to learn to write. It is equally pathetic to see them at desks that are too small. (See cut, page 8.) Before the work can be started, there must be an extension of the spinal column and rais- ing of the shoulder to reach the height, other- wise not attainable, or a bow of the back to an uncomfortable and cramped position before the arm can be brought to a writing position. When the work under such conditions has been continued for fifteen minutes, the victim suf- fers for a time from nervous exhaustion. If continued very long during the period of youth, it will result in nervous debility, curvature of the spine, malformation of the shoulders, and, in the case of many children of delicate physical mechanism, a combination of the three troubles in aggravated form. There is one school in the county almost within the limits of the city of Montgomery in which there are 13 kinds of desks. In the num- ber are an old washstand, a bureau and a sew- ing machine dismantled for the children's use, boxes, tables, and improvised desks of other kinds. Only 19 of the 47 schools in the county are supplied with teachers' desks and comfortable chairs. The remaining 28 schools have tables, school desks of the homemade and patent type, and other substitutes. Chairs of various kinds and, in many instances, homemade benches sup- ply seats for the teachers during the time they are engaged in teaching — a work which, under the most favorable circumstances, is ex- ceedingly fatiguing. Teaching Equipment. Maps, charts, and globes are an essential part of school equipment and no teacher can do her A dipping vat for tho improvement of cattle. A rural school for the improvement of chiUlrL-n. It has been shown in sections which have the finest cattle that fine live-stock succeed best in the hands of trained men. The building of the dipping vat has been the salvation of the live-stock industry of Alabama. The building of good schools will be the salvation of our boys and girls. JUDGING FROM THE PICTURES, WHICH WOULD YOU THINK UPPERMOST IN THE MINDS OF THE PEOPLE— THE CALF OR THE BOY? 14 PHYSICAL AND HEALTH CONDITIONS best work without them. This is true, not so much because they lighten the teacher's work, but primarily because they furnish much-need- ed aid for the child in learning. There are 7 schools provided with globes of some type. There are only 5 reading charts, either commercial or homemade, in the 47 schools of the county, and although music should be a part of every school's course, not one school in the county is supplied with any kind of music chart with which to teach the fundamental principles of this art. Blackboards, Erasers, and Chalk. Twenty-one of the schools are provided with a good grade of plate blackboard. The number of square feet in some of the buildings falls far short of the needs of the schools. The average number of lineal feet per school equipped with such board is 19.5. Six of the schools are supplied with slated cloth, a poor substitute, and the remaining 20 schools have substitutes in the form of painted plaster and painted walls, while others are sup- plied with homemade boards of a movable type. Noiseless felt erasers are found in 38 of the schools, while 6 are supplied with rags and cloth-made substitutes. The total number of erasers in the county is 303, or about 4 to the teacher. The supply of chalk in many of the schools is indeed limited, and this will continue so long as the teachers are compelled to provide it at their own expense. This is a small but unjust tax which they should not be expected to meet. In this connection I ivill say also that the rent of three school buildings in the county is being paid by the teachers out of their monthly salaries. Mt. Z.IOH i>ci-^oo-L. STO rJE'5 TAN K TAB'H.'KNfiCLX. ■SClHooL (S'KptVY FOUR OF THE MANY SCHOOLROOMS IMPROPERLY LIGHTED. FaoinK such a glare from six to eight hours each day results in daily headaches and permanently defective vision. It is a crime against childhood to consign children to seats in rooms improperly lighted. . CHILDREN HAVE RIGHTS— MEN SHOULD REGARD THEM. OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY SCHOOLS 15 REPORT ON HEALTH AND SANITARY CONDITIONS— MONTGOMERY COUNTY SCHOOLS. TABLE III— White Schools. SCHOOL. •Direction of Light. Means of Ventilation. Source of Water — Distance. TOILETS— KIND. Girls. Boys. Jacketed Stoves. Ada Aurora _ Bellinger - Bethlehem B r ok s ville Capitol Heights.. Cecil — Center Point Chesser _ Chisholm Cloverdale Dublin Fleta , 12% 8% 10% 12% 14% Friendship. Grady Grange HalL HaUs Hill's Chapel.. Hope Hull _. Irmadale LaPine LeGrand Macedonia Mamie Mathews McGehee's Meadville Midway Mitylene Money.. Mt. Carmel Mt. Meigs Mt. Zion Pine Level Phoenix Pike Road _ Pinedale Pisgah Ramer Rehoboth...-. Sankey Sellers Snowdoun Stone's Tank..-., Tabernacle Teasley's Mill... Upland 19% 10%, 13% 15% jl3% 14% 10% 8% ,!ii% 14% 7% 14% 14% 19% 8% 12% 13% 11% 18% 9% 12% 14% 20% 14% 10% 15% 6% 18% 10% 10% 14% I 10% I 10% I 15% I 17% I 10% I 20% I 10% I 12% I 14% I Rt-Lt Rt-Lt-Ft Rt-Lt-Ft-Rr.. Rt-Lt-Rr Rt-Lt Doors and Windows. Doors and Windows.. Doors and Windows. Doors and Windows.. Doors and Windows. (Well, 250 yds (Surface Spring, 440 yds. 'Surface Cistern, on gr'ds 'Surface 'Well, 50 yds ^Surface Lt-Rr Rt-Lt Rt-Lt-Ft-Rr. Rt-Lt-Rr Rt-Lt-Rr Rt-Lt-Rr Rt-Lt-Ft Rt-Lt-Ft-Rr. Rt-Lt-Ft-Rr.. Rt-Lt-Rr. Lt-Rr Rt-Lt-Ft-Rr.. Lt-Rr Rt-Lt-Rr Lt-Rr Lt-Rr Rt-Lt-Rr _.. Rt-Lt Rt-Lt Lt-Rr Rt-Lt-Rr Rt-Ft-Rr Rt-Ft-Lt Rt-Lt-Ft Lt-Rr .._... Rt-Lt-Ft FtRr Lt-Ft-Rr Rt-Lt-Ft Rt-Lt-Rr Rt-Lt-Rr Rt-Lt-Ft-Rr.. Rt-Lt Rt-Lt Left Rt-Lt-Ft Rt-Lt-Ft-Rr... Rt-Lt Rt-Lt-Ft Rt-Lt-Ft Doors and Windows. Doors and Windows. Doors and Windows. Doors and Windows.. Doors and Windows Doors and Windows.. Doors and Windows Doors and Windows Doors and Windows. Doors and Windows. Doors and Windows.. Doors and Windows.. Doors and Windows . Doors and Windows.. Doors and Windows.. Ventilating Flue Doors and Windows.. Doors and Windows. Doors and Windows Doors and Windows.. Doors and Windows . Doors and Windows. Doors and Windows. Doors and Windows Doors and Windows Doors and Windows.. Doors and Windows.. Doors and Windows Doors and Windows.. Doors and Windows. Doors and Windows Doors and Windows Doors and Windows.. Doors and Windows Ventilating Flue Doors and Windows.. Doors and Windows Do6rs and Windows.. Doors and Windows Doors and Windows Well, 100 yds.. Surface.. Well, 250 yds Sanitary Well, on grounds Surface WeU, 100 yds Well, 150 yds Surface City water _ Sanitary Spring, 150 yds Surface Cistern, on gr'ds Surface Well, 250 yds ! Surf ace _. Well, on gr'ds i Surface Well, 250 yds. i Surf ace Well, 100 yds. 'Surface Spring, 440 yds Surface Well, on gr'ds I Surf ace City water Well, on gr'ds... Bottles Surface., Sanitary., Surface Sanitary.. Surface Well, 200 yds Well, 100 yds Well, 440 yds Well, 100 yds Well, 100 yds Well, 100 yds Bottles Well, 100 yds Well, 150 yds Well, 100 yds Well, 100 yds Well, 100 yds Well, 200 yds Hydrant, on gr'ds.. Well, 100 yds Well, on gr'ds Well, 300 yds Bottles _ Well, 150 yds Well, 440 yds Well, on gr'ds Well, 200 yds Well, 250 yds IWell, 100 yds Surface Surface Surface Surface Surface Surface Surface Surface Surface Surface Surface Surface Surface Surface Surface Surface Surface Surface Surface Sanitary Surface Surface _. Snrface Sanitary I Sanitary... Surface Surface Surface Surface. Surface.. Surface Surface Surface Surface Surface Sanitary. Surface OX Jacketed. Fireplace. 3 Jacketed. 1 Jacketed. Fireplace. ♦Rt^Right; Ll^Left; Ft— Front; Rr— Rear. Z means stove without jacket. 16 PHYSICAL AND HEALTH CONDITIONS TABLE III A SUMMARY WITH COMMENTS It is agreed by specialists on school hygiene : (1) that the light entering a schoolroom should be from the left side of the pupils as they are seated, and never from the right, (2) that the light surface measured in area of window space should be at least one-fifth of the area of floor space, (3) that light should enter the room as near the ceiling as possible, and (4) that the width of the room should not be greater than twice the height of the window space. Applying the above standards, only 2 of the schools have the required twenty per cent of light and 15 have ten per cent or less. In 25 of the schools, light enters the front of the room as the pupils are seated for study ; and in 29, windows are on both the right and left; while there are 7 schools with light entering from right, left, front and rear. (See cut, p. 14.) Such conditions subject the most delicate sense organ of the child to a strain because of insufficient light, to a glare because of direct reflection of light from the front, and require constant readjustment of the delicate muscles because of shadows formed by light entering the room from several directions. When it is considered that much of the insuf- ficient light available enters from windows to the rear of the pupils, it is readily seen that some of it is cut off by the pupil's body, thereby further reducing the already small amount available, as is shown in the above table. Un- I/s/rrKioX \/Ie:W5^ LX6n/\NV ^cHooi, lMTI=-KiOP. /;EW>5_ M£/\pV)i,i.-£ 5cHo o A, LIGHT, HEAT AND VENTILATION. (I) Properly seated and properly lighted. (2) Stove properly placed, but without jacket. See vent for removing foul air. (3) Im- properly seated and badly lighted. See glare in children's eyes. (4) Too much ventilation. One who has had to sit for an hour on church benches of the type shown in view No. 3, and face a window back of the pulpit, is in position to sympathize with the children in many Montgomery County schools. OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY SCHOOLS 17 A MONTGOMERY COUNTY SCENE. Hauling chert to make good roadfl. A JEFFERSON COUNTY SCENE. Transporting children to a good central school. GOOD FARM LANDS, GOOD ROADS, GOOD SCHOOLS— BUT THE GREATEST OF THESE IS GOOD SCHOOLS. The farm lands and roads of Montgomery County are unexcelled in the South. WHAT ABOUT THE SCHOOLS? der such circumstances, it is not to be marvelled at that many children suffer of headaches, al- ways followed by a general nervous condition, unfitting the child for study and resulting in defective vision, which if relieved at all, must be done at the hands of an oculist. Ventilation and Heating. There are only two buildings in which an at- tempt at proper ventilation, one of the essen- tials in school architecture, has been made in construction. The others are ventilated by opening doors, and raising and lowering win- dows. Many of them are already ventilated to an excess through cracks in the floors and walls of loosely constructed and dilapidated build- ings, or as a result of broken or missing win- dow panes. Such substitutes for proper venti- lation jeopardize the health of the children. There are only two buildings in the county supplied with jacketed stoves, and the jackets on these are of the homemade type, and are of value only as a partial protection to the chil- dren sitting near them against the heat, which is often made intense in order to remove the chill from the remotest corner of the large room. Such conditions subject some of the children to intense heat, while others must, of necessity, remain chilled during the entire period spent at their desks in the schoolroom. To ventilate such rooms by the door and win- dow method is to expose the children to draughts, resulting in cold often chronic in na- ture, thereby reducing their vitality and render- ing them susceptible to a more serious illness. The crowded condition of some schoolrooms, without proper inlets and outlets of air, sub- jects children to the breathing of vitiated air, depriving them of the requisite amount of pure oxygen essential to the purification of the blood. The above conditions render the children much more susceptible to epidemics which are so of- ten disseminated in the schoolroom. Drinking Water. The water supply for the schools is principal- ly the open well of a nearby farm, a spring somewhere in the vicinity of the school, or cis- tern water caught from the top of the school building and stored in open cisterns often with- out being filtered. There are 11 schools with water supplies on the grounds ; 10 are supplied with water brought in buckets from a distance of more than one-eighth of a mile, and the dis- tance in the case of 4 of these 10 instances is 440 yards or one-quarter of a mile. Numbers of the home wells from which wa- ter is secured are located near horse lots, con- venient for the watering of stock, but insani- tary in the extreme. The water surface of the wells observed range in depth from 6 inches in one instance to 700 feet in another. There is every reason to believe that in some cases, the children are drinking surface water. (See cut, page 18.) Three of the schools near Montgomery use water from the city supply ; in four schools, it is secured from wells cemented over and sup- plied with pumps, and in three others, the chil- dren bring water to school in bottles from their homes. 18 PHYSICAL AND HEALTH CONDITIONS s c » "1^ Oi" 4) w » « ^ - O ^ oj ^Ooi c 4-> O en 3 «^ ^^ W com C ^ r* £ -J- « a g eg* a' !a M o "-a «Sn js"* c ° = i S a; c .£ c 3 o i: 3^ > C P ri S-§2 2 p pic's ^ M ^ — ^ O J3 s. J= -M p. J0.E7 O 4^ -fS OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY SCHOOLS 19 3"*> ft, m « C g C 2; „. o V 4) P,x to O *J 3 t- O O ft ^&i u en 1^1 m 2; H w o H o o 1- C3 C ,2 S « C t3 4) g|5 ,£§! E = S 0^+3 Eg?; 0, CJ t- Q B n o Q o o H H ►J O O » o 03 K o & CO H <: K H Q 2 Q X O z M O Q o s s o "tJ .« TS ^ »■ 2 eg < ii W 5 w 2 t^ 20 PHYSICAL AND HEALTH CONDITIONS , . THE NEW Cultivation of the Soil. Improved method of tillage. Four horses to a modem plow means better preparation, larger yields, and a richer people. VS. » THE OLD. Cultivation of the Mind. The same old method of teaching. One teacher to a school, poorly houseo and unequipped with nothing modern about it, means poor prepai-ation of the child for his life work, a less earning capacity, and a poorer people. A RICHER PEOPLE— VS.— A POORER PEOPLE. It is agreed that the ordinary open well on the school grounds is not the safest source from which to get the school's drinking water ; at the same time, it is true that springs, and wells near horse lots, are never a safe source. The objection in having to depend upon the distant well is that a supply is secured with difficulty and with an attendant loss of time on the part of the pupils. As a result, a supply is not always kept at the building and the chil- dren are too often deprived of the amount that they should have. There is a similar objection to the "bottle from home" plan as a source, for the supply is not always adequate. It is often carelessly handled, and since pupils drink from the bottles and often exchange drinks, the plan is insanitary in the extreme. A water supply for each school should be pro- vided and carefully guarded. Surely this ques- tion is one deserving your attention. School Toilets. There are 3 schools in the county without toilets for either boys or girls. In these schools, the children are compelled to use the woods, a situation often very embarrassing, especially AN UNUSUAL SCENE FOR THE BLACK BELT SECTIONS OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY. These white boys are wealth producers. They must have good educational advantages at home. The economic life of the county is at stake. WHAT OF THE MEN OF TOMORROW? OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY SCHOOLS 21 CHESSER SCHOOL, An outdoor stage used for community gatherings. DUBLIN SCHOOL. An improvised stage for public entertainments occupying practi- cally the entire floor space of one of the two rooms. The social and intellectual needs of every rural community demand an adequate meeting place. The school with auditorium and sta^e will supply the need. Make every community a more interesting place in which to live, and a larger number of people will want to live there, ARE OUR BOYS AND GIRLS TO BE THE LEADERS? \ during the winter months after the trees and bushes have dropped their leaves. Twenty- eight of the 47 schools have no kind of toilets or outhouses for the boys and, as in the case of the .three instances mentioned above, the boys are forced to find cover in the woods to answer the calls of nature. Two of the schools have run- ning water, making sanitary toilets possible for both sexes, while the toilets of two others might be classified semi-sanitary. All of the remainder are of the soil-polluting type. (See cut, p. 19.) There are two schools in which the toilets used by the boys and girls are under the same roof, the two compartments being separated by a plank wall. Conversations can be heard from one side to the other. It is not right that these children should be subjected to such ar- rangements. It is certainly not best for their moral training. In connection with the above remarks on health conditions, I quote from an article writ- ten by Dr. Allport and published in Interstate THE ONE-PUPIL CLASS How long will these pupils remain in school ? There are such classes in more than half the schools of the County. Where are the larger boys and girls who should be in the rural schools 7 Inferior high school advantages, or none at all, have forced them to the city ; or, becoming disgusted with the poor schools of the country, they have given up the idea of getting an education and many have left the farms, where they would have become pro- ducers, for the city, where they have become consumers. THERE SHOULD BE NO MONOPOLY ON HIGH SCHOOL EDUCATION. EVERY CHILD IN THE COUNTY IS ENTITLED TO IT. 22 PHYSICAL AND HEALTH CONDITIONS Mr. T. A. Monk. Mt. Meigrs Road. Mr. Reed Garrett, Mobile Road. MONTGOMERY COUNTY HOMES. 2. Mr. Moses M. McLemore, Mt. Meiga Road. 5. Mrs. J. M. Barnes, Norman Bridge Road. 3. Pergola at the McLemore home. Medical Journal, Vol. XX, Nos. 7 and 8, 1913 : "Of the 20 million or more children in the Uni- ted States today, fully 75 per cent of them are suffering from partially or completely remedial physical defects, which are interfering with their physical, mental and normal advancement. Fully five hundred thousand of these children have some form of organic heart trouble; one million have tuberculosis; one million have curvature of the spine ; one million have defec- tive hearing; five million have defective vision; five million have mal-nutrition ; six million have adenoids and enlarged tonsils; and ten million have defective teeth." Economy of health means economy of life. The economy of life, as it pertains to the child, and therefore to the man, is decidedly within the province of the school. THE DEVELOPMENT OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY That the development of the rural sections of the South is determined by the attitude of the people living therein towards the improvement of the public highways, the practice of modern agricultural methods, and the betterment of the common school system, is a truth that is ap- plicable to Montgomery County. If the country is to be more inviting, a maximum of attention must be given these three factors so great in possibilities and so susceptible of development. Road Building. Road building has become a business in Montgomery County. The work, supervised and planned by the County Engineer under the direction of the County Board of Revenue, is being done at an expenditure of more than. OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY SCHOOLS 23 $150,000 annually. There is $40,000 worth of improved road machinery in use. This, togeth- er with other equipment, is valued at $80,000, the operation of which gives employment to a large number of road builders. The county has already constructed hundreds of miles of good highways and the great movement, looked upon with suspicion and opposed by some when it was inaugurated, is now the county's most valuable asset. Agricultural Advancement. The advancement made along agricultural lines is equally marked. Conditions have brought about a' new era in farming. To meet these conditions, Montgomery .County is now practicing a different system of cropping, using improved methods of cultivation and growing more livestock, the farmers having adopted more economic practices. Within the brief period of five years, one-crop Montgomery County, because of favorable laws and continu- ous agitation of modern agricultural methods, is rapidly developing into a crop diversification county. This development has been made pos- sible through the cooperation of a county board of revenue and the various civic organizations in the City of Montgomery, which have given ?:-> M^ (D JS'v A MONTGOMERY C JUNTY PROBLEM. (1) The home of a tenant family. Business depression in the f^ity of Montgomery was the cause of the head of the family losing his position. He has moved his family to the country. His children formerly attended Bellinger Hill City School. Parents and children are not satisfied with the one-teacher school of the country. (2) Another tenant family. "Why can't we have a longer sc'^ool term?" (3, 5) These boys have a seven months term in a poor school. Why should they not have a nine months term in a good school. (4) These little ones smiled when told that they might soon ha ^ a new school with patent desks. Are these children to receive a square deal ? If bo, they must have better schools. THE BUSINESS OF MONTGOMERY WILL, IN A SHORT W IILE, BE GREATLY AFFECTED BY THE DEGREE OF INTELLIGENCE OF SUCH CHILDREN. 24 PHYSICAL AND HEALTH CONDITIONS S^ SEVENTH GRADE GRADUATES READY FOR HIGH SCHOOL EDUCATION. Must they go to the city for it? The inscription printed on the wall of the room should become the educational policy of every Mont- gomery County citizen. Let Alabama mean more than "Here We Rest." material assistance in every activity under- taken. Montgomery's attitude tovs^ards good roads and the better farming movements is un- questionably safe and sane. The rural sections of the county, v^^hich demand a three-fold stimu- lus, now lack only the modernizing of her coun- try school system to mark the beginning of a newr era of development in rural life. The Rural School Problem. The rural school is the link in our educational system which presents the problem most diffi- cult of solution. This problem will never be solved until it is solved right, and it will never be solved right until the efficiency of the rural schools materially approach the standard set by the schools of our incorporated towns. The children of Montgomery County are en- titled to good schools. Laws looking to school reform have been enacted, and the public is de- manding something better. As the Board of Education of the county, in whom full author- ity is vested, it is your duty to prescribe wisely. I have confidence in your ability and believe that you will do so. The Remedy for Conditions. The conditions in Montgomery County make it necessary for 117 children to leave their homes and travel to the city each morning for high school privileges, which, in most instances, is expensive to the parents, not best for the children themselves, and detrimental to the rural development of the county. However, this practice will be continued until a larger type of school is provided for these children. Every thoughtful citizen who has offered a remedy looking to the improvement of economic OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY SCHOOLS 25 The Product THE PRIDE OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY. The Equipment. kind, One such truck is worth $1,125 more than all the equipment in all the rural sehoolhouses in Montgomery County. The County has $80,000 invested in equipment of all kinds for making good roads, and only $5,875 invested in equipment of every exclusive of buildings, for making good schools. The one for the making of roads — the other for the making of men and women. TOO MUCH IS NOT BEING DONE FOR OUR ROADS. COUNTY CANNOT AFFORD TO DO LESS. THE TOO LITTLE IS BEING DONE FOR OUR SCHOOLS. COUNTY CANNOT AFFORD NOT TO DO MORE. THE conditions in the county has said, among other things, that there is need of a larger white population on the agricultural lands. In furth- ering the cause that would remedy this condi- tion, many movements have been launched, the purpose of each being to bring desirable immi- grants to the county. Regardless of these, im- migrants have not come and there are three chief reasons for it: (1) The presence of a large negro population; (2) the large areas of land in individual holdings which cannot be bought; (3) the inferior school advantages of- fered by the country schools. The general economic conditions of the coun- try at large is rapidly removing the first of the above handicaps. The great exodus of negroes from Montgomery County during the last twelve months is proof positive of it. The go- ■». NAFTEL TO LAPINE. From a one-teacher school to a four-teacher school. Consolidation and transportation have solved the problem. 26 PHYSICAL AND HEALTH CONDITIONS ing of the negro and the improved methods of farming make it inevitable that the large hold- ings be divided, thereby removing the second obstacle. The paramount objection to rural life in Montgomery County, which is usually raised by every prospective settler of intelligence vv^ith children to educate, is that of poor school facilities. A good citizen, whether residing in the city or country, believes in education and will make any sacrifice to secure good school advantages for his children. If choice must be made between such advantages on the one hand, and improved roads and good farm lands on the other, he will invariably choose the former. The above thought brings me to the consid- eration of the establishment of good central graded schools offering high school advantages at a number of points in the county. Such cannot be done, however, without additional funds with which to construct modern build- ings, employ a larger corps of teachers and pay for the transportation of some of the children. The means of securing such funds needed in the city, as well as in the rural districts, is to take advantage of the constitutional provision allowing local taxation by counties. Such is the only logical, fair, just, equitable, and busi- ness-like way of meeting the condition. The plan of taxation is resorted to by the county in the building of its splendid system of roads and in the construction and maintenance of its almshouse and penal institutions. IN CONCLUSION Gentlemen, I have set forth at length the con- ditions that exist in the white schools of the county. When I assume the duties of County Superintendent, I shall make recommendations looking to their improvement. Respectfully submitted. County Superintendent of Education-Elect. A SCHOOL MAP OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY -AND- VIEWS OF THE RURAL SCHOOL BUILDINGS FOR WHITE CHILDREN 28 PHYSICAL AND HEALTH CONDITIONS ELMOXE COUNTV ) Lo\a^Nde:5 County //^Taai'ep A^a^ MONTGOMCRY COUNTY ftj, A'BAM A Ct^"&N5 haw Cout\i T Y - I FiKE- LouNrr ^,-, "V. T^itulejie. nath^\^]s H9t(Pif nt^ Zion. - ^mn«'~n »A*vMi y» » t mmn m r\mM \ vmntr\—xar — n'i'i'i ■^-\'-rt\Tfr'yiTf"''' ■"'^"^TSSg^ n ^}.ff^ ^SLtrrie V,.;^.'- S-|,.-.^f.<-.- VilkMJLA.t^.,t...W.-. ^^, OUR CHILDREN'S HOMES FOR SEVEN HOURS A DAY. FIVE DAYS IN THE WEEK, SEVEN MONTHS IN THE YEAR. 30 PEYtilCAL AND HEALTH CONDITIOyS Tine. i,EVE.u STONED TAisJk ^ 4EKisai^ C+^ESS>KR THESE COUNTY SCHOOL BUILDINGS ARE NOT IN KEEPING WITH THE CULTURE AND REFINEMENT OF OUR COUNTY SCHOOL CHILDREN. OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY SCHOOLS .?! ^EkLlN6ZK MrADViLLX TEAt.l,tYi) rill,L, H\LL'^ Cf-\ATE.U WHITE CHILDREN IN MONTGOMERY COUNTY ATTEND SCHOOL IN THESE BUILDINGS. 32 PHYSICAL AND HEALTH CONDITIONS 'P++o-E-N|i>^ J^I£>VVAY M^tt'E'-ffEE'^ "A MAN'S CONSCIENCE TELLS HIM WHAT IS JUSTICE." OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY SCHOOLS 33 A FEW MORE OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY SCHOOLS FOR WHITE CHILDREN. :iU PHYSICAL AND HEALTH CONDITIONS iWFS^WSfcWK- m- -iiiii S^HNKi-T ■fJCPE. HULU APA o-KApr f^lsl-^-f It - li*- *^J LAPl^VE. SOME OF THE BETTER BUILDINGS BUT INADEQUATE FOR MODERN SCHOOL NEEDS. OF MOXTGOMERY COUNTY f^CHOOL^ T>t^.Et>AI~rE. s:Ekxl.T?S Mt cat; MEL CECIL GOOD. BAD AND INDIFFERENT. 36 PHYSICAL AND HEALTH CONDITIONS .'f.i-*- .^fc^-tt^.^fi L/Fi-ANP CX.O y'E.Kp^Lt. ^?\^;)iifm'm''»i ^^ JXMAPALE. t *- 4. i -'i C/^riTOl ■H'r5.(lxn'F0-Xi^RY; ctiibiioun SUBURBAN SCHOOLS. Progressive Capitol Heights is just completing a splendid modern building which will be well equipped (See page 38). OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY SCHOOLS 37 38 PHYSICAL AND HEALTH CONDITIONS THE NEW BUILDING AT CAPITOL HEIGHTS. (Ready for occupancy next year.) (1) Front view. (2) Classroom with folding doors may be used as auditorium. (3) Classroom^ — properly lighted, heated and venti- lated. (4) One of the two lavatories. (5) Sanitary drinking founts.