IMPKOVEMENT OF SCHOOL GROUNDS. 



383 



in our villages and cities ; for bareness and unkempt environments 

 may curse a costly building of brick and stone as well as some frail 

 structure of frame and clapboards. 



How can these things be remedied ? First, let us urge more care 

 in the location of the building. While it is necessary to accommo- 

 date the people of the district, still a slight variation from the abso- 

 lute center of the district may give a much better site so far as the 

 health and happiness of the scholars may be concerned. Of course, 

 the selection of a schoolhouse lot is frequently a difficult matter to 

 adjust satisfactorily to all concerned, and too often a tract of land 

 is selected for this purpose because it can be put to no other use. 



Again, the schoolhouse lot should be of liberal size, especially 

 on the prairie, so that a grove or shelter belt may be provided, and 

 even in the villages more liberal things may often be accomplished. 



Fig. 2. Improved school grounds. 



Among the hoped-for advantages to be derived from the con- 

 solidating and centralizing of districts that is now being adopted 

 in some sections of our state may also be that of larger grounds, 

 affording room for school gardens and experimental beds, as well 

 as more extended work in the ornamental line. 



When it comes to the planning of the schoolyard the question of 

 room for playgrounds comes at once to the front. Personally I 

 doubt the expediency of providing for much more than a little exer- 

 cise in the open air during recess time, in the immediate vicinity of 

 the schoolhouse. I believe, however, in the inalienable right of the 

 children to play, and to provide for that would in the village and 

 town urge the authorities to secure suitable playgrounds elsewhere, 

 which under proper supervision should be open for use throughout 

 the year, affording recreation in vacations and on holidays, when 

 the schoolhouse and its yard would be forbidden ground. 



