Education. 89 



transferred to the Plain and the school formerly on the Plain was 

 transferred to " the center of the North Parish," and wood 

 was provided for by a general tax. Up to this time each scholar 

 had been required to furnish his share of firewood. 



With the election of a School Committee in 1794 new life was 

 instilled into the school system. 



The whole history of our public schools may easily be divided 

 into periods. 



The first period, which has now been covered, extends from the 

 beginning to 1794. 



The second period begins in 1794 with an elaborate report of 

 a committee appointed to consult about the regulation of the 

 schools, which was accepted in May, 1794, the principal items of 

 which follow : — 



" 1. The Grammar School shall be kept on the Plain. 



" 2. The several masters to be employed in the town schools shall be 

 capable of instructing the English Grammar, — one school to be kept in 

 the center of the North Parish, — one at the west end of the North 

 p ar i s h — a nd one and one half in the South Parish. 



" There shall be five female schools for six months, viz. : — one at the 

 west end of the North Parish ; one in the center of said Parish ; one on 

 the Plain ; half an one at Rocky Nook ; and one and one half in the 

 South Parish." 



Reading, Spelling, "Writing, and Needle-work were the branches 

 to be taught in the female schools. 



The masters were to keep three hours in the forenoon and three 

 in the afternoon each day in the week except Saturdays in the 

 afternoon ; and were allowed one day at annual March meeting, 

 one half-day at the Derby Lecture, one half-day at annual April 

 meeting, election day, two days for trainings, and four days more 

 at their election. 



The second period extends to 1828, when the number of schools 

 had increased to five male and eight female. It is not necessary 

 to follow all the details through these thirty-four years, but it 

 is interesting to notice that the principal feature was the con- 

 stantly increasing attention paid to the education of girls. With 

 the beginning of this period we have the names of " male " and 

 " female " schools. This designation continued in use until 1849. 

 These names were first adopted to indicate the sex of the scholars, 

 and not of the teachers. As early as 1800, however, girls of 

 twelve years of age and upwards were permitted to attend certain 

 of the "male" schools in the winter months, and boys under 

 nine were permitted to attend certain " female " schools in the 

 summer months. These ages were changed somewhat in subse- 

 quent years, the age for the winter privileges for girls being 

 reduced to ten years. It was during this period also that mis- 

 tresses as well as masters were first employed. In many respects 

 these were years of growth, — but the system was faulty and 



