LB 3Z1A T4A43 Commonlucaltb of Prnnsplbnnia STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION PRELIMINARY BULLETIN OF 0ne {loom ^cfjool ^utRmrgg 0/ Sa ■% **6. 1913 >y % 'i *a fc ^ LIBRARY UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Class Booh I o \ % Commontoealtl) of TfrixmiTiwrih. > ,'y PRELIMINARY BULLETIN f. k OF ONE ROOM SCHOOL BUILDINGS ISSUED BY THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION MEMBERS OF BOARD MARTIN G. BRUMBAUGH, Phil DAVID B. OLIVER, Pittsburg GEORGE M. PHILIPS. Wast Chester JOHN S. RILLING. Erie WILLIAM LAUDER. Riddlesburgh JAMES M. COUGHUN. Wilke.-B.ne NATHAN C. SCHAEFFER, Harrisburg OFFICERS NATHAN C SCHAEFFER, President, Ex-officio H. C. RICHARDS. Architect DAVID B. OLIVER. Vice President J. E. B. CUNNINGHAM. Solicitor EXECUTIVE SECRETARY J. GEORGE BECHT. Hamsburg CLERKS AND STENOGRAPHERS MISS EDNA M KUGLER MISS FRIEDA MYLECRAINE ■ ■ \4 "Who would not rather do one living deed than to have his ashes forever enshrined in ever-burnished gold? Sir, I trust that when we come to act on this question, we shall take lofty ground — look beyond the narrow space which now circum- scribes our vision — beyond the passing, fleeting point of time on which we stand — and so cast our votes that the blessing of education shall be conferred on every son of Pennsylvania — shall be carried home to the poorest child of the poorest in- habitant of the meanest hut of your mountains, so that even he may be prepared to act well his part in this land of free- dom, and lay on earth a broad and a solid foundation for that enduring knowledge which goes on increasing through in- creasing eternity." — From speech of Thaddeus Stevens. Thrc* Four FOREWORD. The purpose of this bulletin is to present to boards of direc- tors suggestive standard plans and limited specifications for the construction of one room school buildings. People living in rural and suburban districts are demanding that the school houses shall be made more comfortable and shall be better adapted for good school work. There is a waste of time and of energy when school children are crowded in buildings con- structed without regard to sanitary and hygienic require- ments. The School Code specifically requires that school houses built hereafter must conform to the modern principles of lighting, heating, ventilating and physical activity. An attractive school house surrounded by large and well- kept school grounds is the best public asset in any community. The day of the barn-like structure is passing rapidly. A sub- stantially built school house designed to meet the needs and purposes of the children, with due regard for modest artistic effects of grace and beauty, will profoundly influence the whole community life. Such a building costs but little, if any, more than the severely plain, uninteresting and uninviting school house of t-he "olden time." To aid directors in considering the elementary questions involved in school house construction this bulletin is issued under the direction and by authority of the State -Board of Education. LOCATION AND GROUNDS. The location and amount of any real estate required by any school district for school purposes is determined by the board of school directors of the district ; but the Code makes special provision that hereafter no new school building shall be Five erected without a proper playground being' provided therefor. In this connection, four things ought to be taken into account and carefully considered when a new school house is to be built: (1) size of ground. (2) accessibility of the site, (3) nature of the soil, (4) remoteness from railroads, busy thoroughfares and noisy factories. An acre of ground and more, if possible, ought to be set apart for school purposes. The larger plot will give ample room for recreation and also furnish opportunity for laying out flower beds and school gardens. Generally, the site ought to be near the center of school population and easily accessible for the greatest number of children; yet this one fact should not out-weigh all other con- sideration. A large area of good, healthful soil away from dis- tracting influences will add materially to the health, comfort and welfare of the pupils and these advantages will more than compensate for the possible inconvenience that some pupils may experience in walking an additional distance. The soil on which the building is to stand ought to be as free from moisture as possible. A marshy school ground is a serious menace to the health of the children. From the view point of good sanitation, a dry, gravelly, sandy soil fur- nishes the best location. It is worse than a blunder to expose children to the blighting influences of an infected soil. Usually in rural districts and in the villages, the annoyances from thoroughfare and factory are regarded as inconsiderable. Yet even here the rattle of vehicles passing on the highway, the shriek of the train and the whir and rumble of machinery in the nearby mill or factory are very distracting and visibly affect the nervous system of the child. The beauty and attractiveness of the school ground will be greatly enhanced if trees surround it; and if in addition a neatly trimmed and well-kept hedge encircles it. there will be an effective example to arouse and stimulate the civic and personal pride and the aesthetic sense of the whole com- munity. In almost every part of Pennsylvania the native pine. spruce or hemlock will lend itself to this adornment. The ef- Slx forts of the pupils may be enlisted in beautifying the school surroundings by giving them an opportunity to assist in planting the trees and hedges and in caring for them. In this way Arbor Days may be given special significance. The best school work can be accomplished where the best physical conditions prevail. LOCATION ON PLOT. The selection of the school site is important but not less so is the location and adjustment of the building to the shape and size of the plot. Assuming the area to be one acre, it should measure according to standard form 10 rods by 16 rods with the short side front. Relatively proportionate meas- urements will obtain when the plot is larger or smaller. It is impossible to lay down hard and fast rules in regard to such matters, since the surroundings vary so widely and these must always be taken into account. To secure the best light, the windows of the school room ought to face toward the east or west. They may also face toward the south, if by means of proper curtains the direct rays of the sun are softened so that the eyes of the pupils are not dazzled and irritated. Every school room ought to have direct sunlight during some period of the day to keep it health- ful and wholesome. Sunlight is the great germ destroyer. An eastern or western exposure gives this for a part of the day but the southern exposure, while giving the full day of sun- shine, is sure to affect the eyes of the children, if not properlv controlled, because of the bright rays that dazzle and disturb their sight. Even with proper shades or blinds, great care must be exercised in regulating the light coming from a south- ern exposure. Sevtn FLOOR AND AIR SPACE. The Code requirement is thai "every school room shall have nut less than fifteen square feet of floor space and not le^s than two hundred cubic feet of air space per pupil." The size of the room ought to be such as to accommodate approxi- mately 40 pupils in single seats and leave sufficient space for aisles, teacher's desk, reading- tables or any other regularly used furniture. A room to fulfill these requirements will measure 24x32x13. A slight variation of these dimensions may be necessary to suit local conditions. These measure- ments conform to the "normal requirements for vision, hear- ing and depth to which light will carry." Pupils of normal hearing sitting in the rear part of the room will be able to hear distinctly the teacher who speaks in moderately forceful nat- ural tones. This is of great advantage to teacher and pupil. It relieves both of strain and fatigue. In considering the Moor space of a building-, the matter of cloak rooms, vestibules, library and fuel room ought to receive careful attention. These are essential elements in the plan- ning of any school building of whatever size or material. Separate cloak rooms for boys and girls should be arranged. They should be provided with hooks for the hats, cloaks and coats, and shelves for the dinner baskets. The doors of the cloak rooms should open into the main room. To have them open only into the vestibule adds considerably to the prob- lem of discipline. It is especially important to keep the cloak rooms in a sanitary condition. To that end ample light and ventilation should be provided. A small room for library and storage purposes has come to be one of the most useful agencies of the rural school. With very little additional expense such a room may be provided with books, book cases, reference works, a table and a few chairs. This will give a place for the older pupils to study when they have special work to prepare. The library room is an indispensible part of the modern country school house. A fuel room or fuel basement should also be included in the Eight plans. It will cost less than a separate coal house and will add greatly to the convenience of the school plant. LIGHT. Special attention is called to the requirements of the Code governing the question of light area and floor space. "In every school room the total light area must equal at least twenty per centum of the floor space, and the light shall not be admitted from the front of the seated pupils." The best light is obtained when the windows are placed on the left side of the room only and toward the rear. By this arrangement cross lights are prevented and the eyes of the pupils are re- lieved from the necessity of continual readjustment to the un- equal sources of light. Windows should be placed as near together as possible and thus avoid the shadows thrown by in- tervening wall space. Unfortunately, the value of uni-lateral or one-side lighting is not yet well understood and appre- ciated. But scientific, practical demonstration proves beyond a doubt that uni-lateral lighting gives the best results in rooms when the pupil seated farthest from the window is not distant more than twice the height of the top of the window from the floor. The window sill should be from 3| to 4 feet above the floor and the top of the window should reach as near to the ceiling as possible. The light of the room is largely modified by the amount of blackboard space and the color of the walls. Blackboards ab- sorb much of the light and on dark days affect, very ma- terially, lighting conditions. The glaring white walls found in so many school rooms are equally bad in their effect upon the pupils' eyes. The most satisfactory suggestions relating to the tinting of the walls come from a report made to the school board of New York City by a committee of the best known oculists of the city. According to this report, the lower portions of the room should be a light brown. Th^ Nine walls should be a light buff tint or a light gray and the ceiling should be of ivory white. The effect of this combination of tints is very restful and cheerful. Green, which was formerly supposed i" be a good school room color for shades and tint- ing, is shown by experiment and demonstration to be a very troublesome one. Light-colored wood should be selected for the furniture and furnishings and the wood work should not be highly polished. Natural finish with a dull surface is best. A PROPER PLAYGROUND. A proper playground should be well drained; be easily ac- cessible to pupils; fairly level; properly surfaced. A natural sanded surface seems to meet ordinary requirements. A sandy toam properly underdrained or a sand covered clay will be found to give good service as play surfaces. Cinders, gravel and broken stone offer many objections tor surfacing pur- poses. Manufactured surfaces, such as brick, cement and asphalt, are too unyielding to be considered good for play purposes. Torpedo gravel and dust macadam make fairly satisfactory surfacing. Grass plots are highly desirable For play but they can only be maintained in the country where large spaces for school grounds are available. There are hun- dreds of school playgrounds in Pennsylvania that could be made more attractive and useful by the expenditure of a very little thought, time and money. While the equipment is important, the space for free play is of greater importance. If ready made apparatus encumbers the -round, the opportunities for mass plays and spontaneous games are limited. I 'lay-, are of greater consequence than apparatus. The amount of play space per pupil ought never to be less than 30 square feet. It will be- observed that this provides small -pare for actual play, though it gives room for freedom of movement. A school ground that affords 100 square feet Ten per pupil oilers opportunities for free play and this should be the minimum. In rural communities there should never be less than one acre. It will be all the better if a larger area can be secured. Two acres, or even four acres, can be profit- ably utilized for base ball, tennis and croquet, and a portion of the area may be set apart for school gardens. A proper playground needs to be properly supervised. If a special supervisor is not provided for the play periods, then provision must be made to have the teacher attend to these activities. Public sentiment has been aroused in behalf of the move- ment in a very marked degree. In some of the cities inde- pendent organizations are furnishing the means for equipping and carrying on playgrounds activities. Parents and teachers realize that clean, well kept, beautiful surroundings pro- foundly influence moral and intellectual growth. CODE REQUIREMENTS. The Code requires that school buildings hereafter con- structed or reconstructed shall comply with the following con- ditions : — 1. The total light area must equal at least 20% of the floor space and light shall not be admitted from the front of seated pupils. 2. Every school room shall have not less than 15 square feet of floor space and not less than 200 cubic feet of air space for each pupil. 3. School directors are prohibited from using a common heating stove for the purpose of heating any school room un- less such stove is in part enclosed with a shield or jacket made of galvanized iron or other suitable material, of sufficient height and so placed as to protect all pupils while seated at their desks from the direct rays of heat. 4. No school room or recitation room shall be used which is not provided with ample means of ventilation and whose Eleutn Windows, when they arc the Only means of ventilation, shall not admit oi ready adjustment both at the top and bottom, and which does DOl have some device to protect pupils from cur- rents o! cold air. 5. Ever) school room hereafter erected or constructed, whose cost shall exceed $4,000. or which is more than one story high, shall he s«> heated and ventilated that each school room and recitation room shall be supplied with fresh air at the rate oi not less than 30 cubic feet per minute for each pupil, which air may he heated to an average temperature of 70 deg ihrenheit during zero weather. 6. In districts of the second, third and fourth class, every building more than two stories high hereafter built or leased for school purposes shall he of fire proof construction. All doors of entrance into any building more than one story high used for school purposes in this Commonwealth shall be made to open outward ; and the board of school direc- tors of every district in this Commonwealth shall, before the opening of the school term following- the approval of this act, change the entrance doors of every school building so that they shall all open outward. 8. Every school building shall be provided with the neces- sary fire-escape and safety appliances as required by law. 9. The State Board of Education cannot undertake to prescribe the definite and specific systems of heating and ven- tilating that may be employed for the various kinds of build- ings in the Commonwealth. It suggests that boards of direc- tors in making contracts should be careful to have the speci- fications cover the Code requirements. Whatever may be the system of heating installed, the specifications, before they can be approved by the State Board of Education, must contain a statement requiring the contractor to guarantee that the system of heating and ventilating described will heat the room to a temperature of 70 degrees in zero weather and pro- vide at least 30 cubic feet of air per minute for each pupil to be accommodated. v ■,«- The following suggestive one-room plans are for the use of boards of school directors. If requisition is made upon the State Board of Education fur any one of these plans, blue prints covering the detailed drawings for building will be forwarded. If the proposed building is erected in accordance with the plans furnished, boards may proceed without further approval. In case the plans are used as a basis upon which other plans are formulated, then such changed plans together with the changed specifications shall be submitted in duplicate to the State Board of Education before contract is awarded. Floor plans and elevations may be varied to suit local needs. It is believed that the following designs combine the maxi- mum of comfort, convenience, economy and attractiveness. Thirteen □ □ □ □ nnnnpp □ dc □ a □ □ a □ n □ nana 2 6-0" •o