SCHOOL 



59-11 



SCHOOL 



Besides the public schools, many private in- 

 stitutions maintain evening classes. Some of 

 the most noted of these are the Cooper Union, 

 New York ; the Drexel Institute, Philadelphia ; 

 the Art Institute, Chicago, and the Young 

 Men's Christian Association classes in all large 

 cities. 



Consolidated Schools, The one-room rural 

 school is at a great disadvantage when com- 

 pared with the graded schools of cities or vil- 

 lages. This disadvantage is so apparent to 

 many families in rural communities that not 

 a few send their children to the nearest graded 

 school. Moreover, one of the chief causes for 

 the movement of the inhabitants of rural 

 communities to the city is a desire to secure 

 better educational advantages for their children. 

 The consolidated school has been established 

 to overcome these disadvantages and to meet 

 the demand of rural communities for better 

 educational facilities. The first consolidated 

 school was established in Concord, Mass., in 

 1869. At first it included the schools of only 

 two of the old districts, but within ten years 

 every district in the town had been abolished 

 by vote, and the school represented the en- 

 tire town. Since 1900 the movement for con- 

 solidation has grown rapidly, and the con- 

 solidated school is now found in nearly every 

 state of the Union. 



Consolidation is brought about when ad- 

 joining districts vote to unite into one district 

 in accordance with the law providing for such 

 union. The law providing for consolidation 

 also provides for carrying pupils to and from 

 school, and for paying for the transportation 

 out of the school fund. In most states the law 

 is permissory, that is, it allows consolidation; 

 in a few it is in a measure compulsory by re- 

 quiring the closing of all schools whose nv r- 

 age attendance falls below a certain number. 

 In IruJian.i tins number is twi ; 



The chief advantages of the consolidate! 

 school arc: Better teachers and more extended 

 courses of study; better school equipment; 

 opportunity for grading the pupils; larger 

 classes; the enthusiasm that comes from num- 

 bers; better supervision; more regular attend- 

 ance; opportunity to teach effectively such 

 subjects as agriculture, domestic science and 

 manual training and so interesting the pupils 

 that they will remain in school a longer time; 

 and, in some instances, an equalisation of taxes 

 for school purposes. 



Consult Kern's Among Country School*, 1906 ; 

 Belts and Hall's Better Rural School*, 1914. 



Vacation Schools. Vacation schools have 

 been opened in many cities for the purpose of 

 preventing the undesirable effects of the long 

 summer vacation, especially in congested quar- 

 ters where children have no playgrounds. Some 

 of these schools aim to keep the children off 

 the street and to give them some pleasant and 

 profitable occupation during a part of the day. 

 The girls may be taught sewing or cooking and 

 the boys woodwork or some other occupation. 

 Studies in English may occupy a part of the 

 time. In these schools the playground is an 

 important factor. The other type of school 

 offers regular school work for pupils who have 

 failed of promotion. Both lines of work may 

 be undertaken in the same school. In locali- 

 ties where most of the pupils come from homes 

 of foreigners much attention is given to teach- 

 ing the children to speak and write English. 

 The length of the term of the vacation school 

 varies from four to eight weeks. One great 

 advantage of these schools lies in the flexi- 

 bility of the course of study, which enables 

 each school to carry on those lines of work 

 which are best suited to the community that it 

 serves. 



Continuation Schools. The increasing demand 

 in the United States for better education on 

 the part of those who are employed during the 

 day has led to the provision of various means 

 through which this demand may in a measure 

 be satisfied. To schools designed for this pur- 

 pose the name continuation has been applied. 

 Continuation schools have existed for cen- 

 turies in Europe and have reached their highest 

 development in Germany, where attendance 

 upon them is compulsory. Their introduction 

 into the United States is of recent date. Stu- 

 dents in continuation schools may pursue lines 

 of work designed to perfect them in some indus- 

 trial pursuit, or they may pursue studies along 

 the line of general education. While evening 

 schools may be considered as a branch of con- 

 tinuation schools, the most successful work is 

 done where arrangements are made with the 

 employer by which the student is allowed to 

 spend a portion of the day at work and the 

 remainder in school. In some cases the school 

 allows the student credits for this outside work. 

 See subhead School Credit* for Home Work. 



Vocational Schools. Statistics show that 

 eighty-five per cent of the pupils trained in the 

 public schools must earn their living through 

 industrial processes. Vocational schools are 

 schools whose chief purpose is to fit young 

 people for useful occupations. In the broadest 



