GARY SCHOOL SYSTEM 



2399 



GARY SCHOOL SYSTEM 



was the first large city to make provision for 

 the accommodation of duplicate schools in 

 some buildings, operated under some such pro- 

 gram as the above. 



Ideally the "complete unit school plant," of 

 which there should be a sufficient number to 

 meet the needs of an entire city, should be 

 located adjacent to or near a park, on spacious 

 grounds to be used for playground and school- 

 garden purposes. The building itself must be 

 large and should contain classrooms for many 

 classes in regular studies and an equal num- 

 ber, at least, of spaces properly equipped for 

 the special activities involved in the work- 

 study-and-play program. Pupils assigned to 

 such a building, no matter how large the 

 number be nor what grades may be repre- 

 sented, are organized into two schools which 

 alternate in the use of the facilities provided, 

 thus securing the maximum use of the "plant." 



Thus situated and arranged, the "unit school 

 plant" is a complete recreational as well as an 

 educational center for a section of the city, 

 for adults as well as children. In the daytime 

 it may be a "complete" school, having all of 

 the grades kindergarten, elementary and high 

 school. In the evening it is a "complete" cen- 

 ter for social, recreational and continuation 

 school purposes. On Saturdays it is a "com- 

 plete" opportunity for voluntary work-study- 

 and-play, and for pupils who need special help. 

 In summer time it is a "complete" center for 

 vacation school purposes. 



A school program conducted in this manner 

 furnishes many interesting possibilities. For 

 example, one school or any number of indi- 

 vidual members of it may come to the build- 

 ing an hour later in the morning than the 

 other and remain an hour later in the after- 

 noon. In .this way each school or any number 

 of its members may combine various out-of- 

 school activities with the program pursued by 

 them at the school building, such activities 

 constituting a part of the eight hours of work- 

 study-and-play. These out-of-school activities 

 may be work at home, study under private 

 teachers in some special subject, work in set- 

 tlements, religious instruction in the churches, 

 or work at any of the numerous "projects" 

 having educational value for which the home 

 or community furnishes a better opportunity 

 than that to be found at the "school plant." 

 Those members of a school who do not have 

 such opportunities out of school are grouped 

 into classes for any of the features of the 

 work-study-and-play program which may be 



pursued by them most profitably, thus spend- 

 ing one hour more at the "school plant" than 

 the others. 



A "Complete Unit" School Plant. Voca- 

 tional and pre-vocational training are provided 

 for in the "complete unit school plant" by hav- 

 ing a number of skilled workmen in charge 

 of school shops which are engaged the year 

 round in the equipment and repair of the 

 school plants of the city, pupils working with 

 them just as under an apprenticeship system. 

 Instead of employing a large number of work- 

 men from a dozen or fifteen different industries 

 to put the school facilities in proper condition 

 during the summer vacation, as is the case in 

 other cities, the Gary school board employs a 

 sufficient number of such workmen and keeps 

 them continuously employed. In this way 

 school shops, in which pupils may gain voca- 

 tional insight and training, are provided at less 

 expense than is usually entailed elsewhere for 

 repairs. Indeed, balancing the output of these 

 shops against the salaries of workmen and the 

 cost of materials used, these shops are self- 

 supporting. In some cases they are a financial 

 asset instead of a liability, to say nothing of 

 the educational opportunity provided. The 

 printing shop provides work suitable for both 

 sexes in printing, making note books, repairing 

 and rebinding books, and the need of cuts for 

 illustrating school publications, involving pho- 

 tography and photo-engraving, calls for other 

 related lines of work. Moreover, the purchase, 

 care and distribution of a great variety of 

 school supplies and shop materials give expe- 

 rience in commercial and business methods. 



As one observes the "plant" in operation he 

 discovers that pupils are to be found in every 

 part of it almost all of the day. Approaching 

 the building he discovers them in the gardens 

 or on playgrounds generously supplied with 

 all kinds of apparatus and facilities made by 

 pupils under the direction of workmen in 

 charge of school shops. Many pupils are pass- 

 ing to and fro in the corridors, as is always 

 the case at the brief intervals between the 

 periods into which the day is divided. There 

 are no cloakrooms, and since desks are used 

 by different pupils in the evenings and on 

 Saturdays, as well as during the regular school 

 day, each pupil must keep up a line of com- 

 munication with his locker, where he keeps the 

 equipment needed during the varied activities 

 throughout the day. 



Much of this passing of pupils is accounted 

 for in this way. In some rooms you find pu- 



