LP 257 .W33 1855 Copy 1 11 EEPORT OF THE TRUSTEES OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS, ON THE Condition of the ScJiool Houses^ and the Apariment-y rented for the use of those School?^ in the City of Washington. 1/ V ■b i Office of Trustees of Pubuc Schools, Washingtox, March 19, 1855. To Silas H. Hill, Esq., President of the Board of Aldermen, and Dr. Alexander McD. Davis, President of the Board of Common Council : Gentlemen ; I am directed by the Trustees of the Public Schools to submit to the Board of Aldermen, and the Board of Common Council, the accompanying report on the condition of the buildings owned or rented by the Corporation, and occupied as school-houses, and respectfully to ask for the statements and recommendations therein made the early and favorable consideration of the City Councils. I have the honor to be, gentlemen, very respectfully. Your obedient servant, GEORGE J. ABBOT, Secretary. \ 4 i In Board of Aldermen, March 26, 1855. Read, and referred to the committee on Public Schools, and ordered to be printed. E. J. MIDDLETOX, Secretary. 'apV 5*; 190-4 \ V EEPOKT ^ OF TEE TIIUSTEES OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS. To the Board of Aldermen and Board of Common Council: Gentlemen : Immediately after the organization of the present Board in November List, the Trustees of the Public Schools entered upon the discharge of their official duties. During the past four months, the Trustees and Officers of the Board, in addition to the usual regular and special meetings, have made, in the aggregate, five hundred and twenty-nine visits to the several schools. They have endeavored, by personal inspection and supervision, by ex- amination of the pupils, by conversation with the Teachers, to become thoroughly acquainted with the practical operation of the Public School system, with its wants and deficiencies, its ability to furnish a large portion of the youth of both sexes, in this city, with the elements of a good and substantial education ; they have seen with satisfaction the improvements and progress already made, and heretofore brought to the attention of the two Boards, and observed the difficulties that are now encountered, and the obstacles that prevent or retard the accomplish- ment of those beneficent results which, elsewhere, have crowned with success the labors of the friends of popular education. Reserving till a later peiiod, and to their usual annual communica- tion, the presentation of various topics, connected with the interests of the Public Schools, which have been suggested by their observation and reflection, the Trustees deem it an imperative duty to submit, at this time, to the consideration of the Councils, a brief statement of the condition of the apartments and buildings in which the Public Schools are kept, and some of the evils necessarily attendant upon the present state of things. In regard to these apartments and buildings, it may be said, in gene- ral, and subject to the exceptions herein made, that they are ill adapted to the purposes for which they are used ; they are deficient in space for the accommodation of the pupils and Teachers; in facilities for ventila- tion ; in suitable means for the admission of air and light ; and they are vso contracted, as necessarily to compel Teachers and pupils to breathe a viti- ated atmosphere, thereby inducing weariness, languor, headache, nervous irritability, and promoting the development of pulmonary and other diseases. In many instances, which have been brought to the notice of the Trustees, pupils Lave suffered from serious illness, the cause of ■vvhich might be traced to the Public School-rooms. Some of the school- rooms are imperfectly warmed, badly located, difficult of approach, have little or no ground, except the public street, for the recreation of the pupils, or for the necessary out-buildings, and are unattractive, if not repulsive in their external appearance; and furnished with but little apparatus and with but few of the instiumeuts and means of instruction, which almost everywhere are considered indispensable in well regulated and well provided school-rooms. It is not without astonishment that the Trustees have seen, after the lapse of so long a period since the establishment of the first Public School in this city, that so little progrees has been made here iu school ar- chitecture. In comparison with what has been done for PublicSchools in places much less favorably situated, Washington piesents an un- favorable contrast. Many of the gentlemen of the Councils in their private or official visits to other cities have been invited to enter the Public School-houses, tliey have admired their simple architectural beauty, convenience, and adaptation to the purposes for which they were designed, and have been struck with the order and harmony that reigned within, and seen with satisfaction the progress of the pujtiis, and wit- nessed the proofs of their intellectual discipline. But this Board have yet to learn that, in a single instance, when these official visits have been returned, the delegations have been invited into our Public Schools. It is certainly with mortification that the Trustees are sometimes called upon to exhibit our school-houses to those friends of public education who often visit the Metropolis. Fifty years ago the following preamble to the bill for the establish- ment of the first Public School was adopted by the City Councils of Washington. "Impressed with a se^se of the inseparable connexion between the education of youth and the prevalence of pure morals, with the duty of all communities to place within the reach of the poor, as well as the rich, the inestimable blessings of knowledge, and with the high neces- sity of establishing at the Seat of the General Government^>?-o;jfr semi- naries of learning,'"the city Council do pass an act to establish aud endow a permament institution for the education of youth in the City of Wash- ington." Such was the tone of public sentiment manifested at that early period* when the city was poor and its necessities pressing. What has been done in half a century towards erecting school-houses and providing for the intellectual wants of a large and rapidly increas- ing youthful population? The Corporation now supports twenty-four 6 Schools and employs tliirlyseveu Teachers, who have charge of about twenty-two liundved i)iipils. It owns but five school-houses, while it rents seventeen. In the First District all the school apartments are rented with the ex- ception of one old building, which was formerly Jefterson's stable, but now is used, by permission of the Government, as a school-room. Its condition has been brought so oUen to the notice of the Council:?, and its unsuitableness is so apjiarent that any further remarks upon it are considered unnecessary. The Trustees earnestly renew the recommen- dation, which has so often been made, that immediate steps be taken to provide for the wants of this Distiict, either by the purchase or by the erection of a suitable school building. In the Second District tlie school-house in Judiciary Square is the prop- erty of the city. It was originally designed to accommodate two Teachers and one hundred and twenty pupils, it is actually occupied by four Teachers and two hundred and twenty-nine pupils. Of course the space for the operations of the Teachers and pupils is very contracted, and much inconvenience is experienced from the noise occasioned by the recitations and exercises of the pujiils in adjoining apartments, which are only separated by a thin board partition. The pupils of the Female Department are obliged, in entering and leaving their room, to pass through tliat of the Primary School, kept in the same building, and the jnipils of the Senior Division of the Male De- partment, in the same manner, pass through the room occui)ied by the Junior Division, thus causing much interruption to the exercises of schools; all these inconveniences, and many others which might be enume- rated, may be corrected by extending the school-house towards the east^ which could be done at comparatively little expense. As the extension of this building might mar the symmetry of its appearance, it may perhaps be thought more advisable to erect another building on the same square, which is large enough for the purpose, fitted to accommodate all the primary schools of the District, and permit the present building to be occupied only by two Teachers and the District School pupils, as it was originally intended. In the Third District the building occupied by the Male Department of the District School is the property of the city. It was originally designed for one Teacher and about sixty pupils, it is actually occujiied by two Teachers, and the number of pupils is limited to one liundred and forty, the accommodations are so poor that only one hundred and eigh- teen are members of the school at the present time. The Councils will, doubtless, perceive the propriety of rebuilding this school-house, in which event it may be deemed expedient to secure another lot of larger size, and one that would furnisli more ample accommodations. Heretlie pupils are so crowded together, that three or four occupy the space intended for two, many of them sit upon seats without backs, and are thus sub- jected to the danger of physical injury and permanent deformity. Primary School No. 1, of this District, occupies the building formerly known as the Eastern Market House, the location of which is well known ; a recent purchase has been made of Odd-Fellows Hall, which affords comparatively comfortable, though somewhat contracted accom- modations for two schools. It is unfortunately without sufficient ground for the recivation of the pupils. In the FourthDistrict, owing to the wisdom and foresight of Mr. Seaton, the former Mayor of this city, a spacious lot was purchased about ten years ago when land was cheap, a good building was erected, which, since its enlai'gement, a short time ago, makes, in most i-espects, an ex- cellent and comfortable school-house ; a small appropriation to furnish it with a few books of reference for the Teachers and pupils, a little philosophical apparatus for the illustration (;f the studies taught in the school, and the improvement of its ample play grounds by the planting of a few shade trees, are all that are now wanting to render this building and its grounds entirely respectable. All the other apartments now occupied by scliools ai-e rented. Ten Teachers, and about seven hundred pupils, which is the limited number, are ])laced in five basements of Churches, which, with one or two exceptions, arc, in part, below the surface of the ground, and may not iniproperly be called ccllai s ; they are more or less damp, generally with low ceilings, diinly lighted, and badly ventilated and with no separate play grounds for the two sexes ; much inconvenience is experienced from hear- ing the school exercises and recitations by two Teachers, at the same time, in one small apartment. Nine of the remaining schools are kept in separate rooms, which generally have the characterisiics of those that have been already mentioned. Through the liberality of the Councils in granting appropriations suffi- cient to pay a high rent, the Trustees have been able to procure for the schools taught by Miss Middletou, Miss Lowe, Mrs. Coale, and Miss Hen- shaw, excellent accommodations. The following extracts are taken from communications addressed to the Secretary by some of the Teachers, in compliance with his request. One Teacher writes, that "the school is sul)ject to many inconveniences, that are unvoidable under present arrangements. For instance, the only way of access to it is through the room of the Primary School. Between the two rooms there is a thin plank partition without a door. This is necesarily a restraint upon the Teachers in each room, as the voices of the pupils in readino; and recitation are oblitjed lobe subdued to enable the Teachers, as far as possible, to avoid annoying each other. Moreover, the seats are too much crowded for cither hoaltl), comfort, or good order, and the young ladies, instead of having it in their power to acquire an easy and graceful carriage, are unable to move across the room without jolting each other." Another says, ^^ My school room is not large enough for forty pupils at most, consequently, we are often crowded entirely too much for proper attention to study, especially as my usual number of pupils is seventy." "The only access to the District School is through my room, an in- convenience which is better imagined than described, as there are not ten minutes in the day that some one is not passing." Two others write: "Many objections exist to the use ot a church for school purposes, some of which are meetings in the adjacent room, large furnaces and gas-fixtures, and meetings in the school-room, caus- ing it to be open so much that the Teacher cannot be responsible for anything in it. The reputed dampness also producing sickness, and interfering with the attendance of the pupils. The absence of suffi- cient light should not be overlooked, for in cloudy weather it is diffi- cult to go on with the regular routine of school duty. Another gi-eat evil is the occupancy of a room by more than' one Teacher, the calling of different rolls, two or raoi'e classes reciting at once, and the Teachers giving directions to their respective pupils at the same time. This, with lowness of the ceiling, makes it no easy task to preserve order." Two others report : That "our school is in a basement-room, being, we think, some three feet under ground, it is quite damp; our own health, as well as that of others, has, I am fully convinced, suffered in conse- quence. The adjacent play ground is wet and marshy, and not unfre- quently the children are compelled to spend their liour of recreation in the room instead of taking exercise in the open air." Another says : " My school-room, at some seasons of the year, answers very well, but in winter it is always damp. The yard cannot pos- sibly be made pleasant, and it is so situated, in the rear of the surround- ing dwelling houses, that it is too often made the receptacle of unsightly and disagreeable objects ; but for its objectionable points to be fully realized they must be seen." Another writes: " No amount of wood which I can burn will render 118 comfortable, for the building is placed immediately upon the ground, in a spot always damp, and so imperfectly constructed that the air con- stantly searches the wide cracks, making warm feet an impossibility from the beginning to the close of the school. 8 " Study induces heat of the brain, the lieated stove joined to exposure of the feet fearfully increases this. Tiie only relief from dizziness is to open a door or window, ueither of which aie so situated as to guard against great exposure fioni draughts. It is no uncommon circum- stance for a child to fall ill in school, many sufier from slow bleeding at the nose, probably induced by the above cause." The expense of the system of renting school rooms is a large item, and one which is annually growing larger, while at the same time the difficulty of obtaining rooms, even of the inditierent character which has been described, is constantly increasing. The amount appropriated the present year for rent of rooms is |1, 675, which is the interest of more than $27,000. To this must be added the expenses incurred by frequent removals from one place to another, also the losses arising from not having, in many cases, proper out-houses for the security of wood and coal, and the expenses incurred by the care of many small school-houses, instead of a few large ones; much time is also lost by Teachers and pupils in consequence of sickness occasioned by breathing, for a long i)eriod, impure air, or by colds and other diseases mduced by exposure to the wet and mud through which they are sometimes obliged to pass, in order to reach their res- pective schools. In the opinion of the Trustees, the present mode of renting school- rooms has nothing to recommend it on the score of economy, health, or public convenience. The Trustees believe it to be due to those faithful Teachers whose ach- ing heads and tortured nerves, are rendered exquisitely sensitive by the by the wearing labors of a most trying and responsible profession — whose physical systems are sinking under the oppressive weight of toil- some labors — made a thousand fold more difficult by the circumstances "under which they are working — due to the thousands of pupils of both sexes who throng these schools, and who with greater or less prepara- tion will soon be pressing foward with eager haste to enter upon the active duties of life — due to the fathers and mothers of these children who have placed their most cherished treasures in the public care ; and especially due to the credit, respectability, and character of the city that bears the name of Washington, that immediate and energetic measures be taken to erect and furnish suc'i a number of school build- ings at the expense of the Corporation as will be sufficient to accommo- date, in all respects, the pupils of our Public Schools. The Trustees accordingly renew the recommendation made by a Com- miltee of the Common Council in 1842, which the experience of twelve years has proved to have been eminently wise and judicious, and which was referred to, with coramendatiou, in the last annual report of the Board, iu respect to the expediency of coininencino; immediately the erection of substantial school-houses, in those parts of the city in which the most pressing- necessity for tlioni exists, Tlie Ti'ustees, in conclusion, beg leave to refer to former reports of the Board on this subject, and more especially, to the annual message of the Mayor, presented to the Councils in the mouth of October lost. The Board concurs entirely on the subject of school-houses, and of their influence both on pupils and teachers, in tlie views presented by Mr. Barnard, (who has done more than any other person to improve school architecture, and to whom the whole country is indebte for his services in the Public School cause,) and with which they conclude their report. There is a close connection between a good school-house and a good school ; to make an edifice good for school purposes, it should be built for children at school, and their teachers; for children diflfering in age, size, sex, and studios, and therefore requiring different accommodations ; for children engaged sometimes in study, and some- times in recitation ; for children whose health and success in study require that they shall be frequently, and every day, iu the open air for exercise and recreation, and at all times supplied with pure air to breathe ; for children who are to occupy it iu the hot days of summer, and the cold days of winter, and to occupy it for periods of time in different parts of the day, in positions which become wearisome, if the seats are not, in all respects, comfortable, and Avhich may affect symmetry of form and length of life, if the construction and relative heights of the seats and desks which they occupy are not properly attended to ; for children whose manners and morals — whose habits of order, cleanliness and punctuality — whose temper, love of study, and of the school, are in no inconsiderable degree aftected by the attractive or repulsive location and appearance, by the inexpressive out-door ar- rangements, and the internal construction of the place where they spend or should spend a large part of the most impressible period of their lives. This place, too, it should be borne in mind, is to be occupied by a teacher, whose own health and daily happiness are aflfacted by most of the various circumstances above alluded to, and whose best plans of order, classification, discipline and recitation, may be utterly baffled, or greatly promoted, by the manner in which the school-house may be located, lighted, warmed, ventilated, and seated. All which is respectfully submitted by direction of the Trustees of Public Schools. GEORGE J. ABBOT, Secretary. 10 NOTE. Since the presentation of the foregoing Report, the Secretary has re- ceived from the Principal of RugLy Academy, the following letter, in respect to the sale of that building to the city, which he begs leave to submit to the Councils. In addition to what Mr. Morison has said, it may be stated that by the removal of a few partitions, the building will aiford ample space for four schools, each consisting, at least, of sixty pupils, and three primary schools, of oue hundred and fifty pupils each. There would remain, besides, a hall for lectures and exhibitions, capable of seating five hundred persons, a parlor for visitors, and ten other rooms, well adapted for recitation rooms, for the reception of philosophical apparatus, minerals, for hats and clothes, &c. &c., some of which could hereafter, if necessary, be easily fitted for school-rooms, besides leaving good accommodation for the Janitor and his family, who should have the care of the building. Should the Corporation conclude to purchase the property, it is be- lieved the terms could be made satisfactory, both as regards the price, and the terms of payment. Washington, April, 1855. Dear Sir : I beg leave to present the following particulars respect- ing the building known as Rughy Academy. When I drew the plans for the house, I designed establishing a High School of the first order. The house was intended to receive three hundred pupils, with accom- modations for seventy-five boarders. The building extends forty-four by ninety-four feet, and is four stories in height. The first floor consists of five rooms, one of which will accommodate sixty, and another, one hundred and fifty scholars. These rooms would be adapt- ed to the grammar school. The second floor has a like number of rooms, and includes parlors, library, recitation room, and lecture room. These apartments are all large and lofty, being fourteen feet in the clear. The lecture room will form one of the finest school-rooms in the country, it will seat one hundred and fifty pupils. The reci- tation room is twenty feet square. This floor would accommodate the Department of the High School. The third floor consists of eleven rooms, these were designed as chambers in the front building, and reci- tation rooms in the back ; if desired, these rooms can be thrown into one, which will seat one hundred and fifty of the primary pupils. The fourth story contains seven rooms, one of which will accommodate one hundred and fifty scholars ; the recitation room adjoining is twenty feet square. Each school-room can have a small room for caps, cloaks,