108 The Transformation of the Rural School 



structure, served a mighty purpose in the transforma- 

 tion of the plains and the wilderness. But times are 

 now radically changed. The wealth of the country 

 is abundant. Improvements of nearly every other 

 sort have gone on as the times advanced. But too 

 often the little, old cheap schoolhouse on the bleak 

 country slope became a fixed habit. In setting 

 forth plans for a newer and better country school 

 building, the author cannot improve upon those 

 prepared by E. T. Fairchild, State Superintendent 

 of Public Instruction in Kansas, and published in his 

 Seventeenth Biennial Report. We therefore quote 

 as follows : 



1. Location. "In selecting a site for a school 

 building, the questions of drainage, convenience, 

 beauty of surroundings, and accessibility should 

 have prime consideration. Select, if possible, some 

 plat of ground slightly elevated, and of which the 

 surface may be properly drained and kept free from 

 mud. It should be especially seen to that water 

 may not stand under the building. If the elevation 

 is not sufficient, this trouble should be overcome by 

 proper filling in beneath the building. The location 

 should be as nearly as possible central with refer- 

 ence to the pupils of the district. But other things 

 should also be considered. It is better that some 

 pupils should be put to a slight disadvantage than 

 that attractiveness of surroundings, remoteness 

 from environment likely to interfere with the 



