making it to a satisfactory degree; that taking everything into account, 

 they are doing all that can reasonably be expected of them. 



Taking the county over it is undoubtedly true that the patrons are 

 not sufficiently impressed with their responsibility toward the school. 

 We have already remarked that the school provides a community, in 

 its present state of organization, with its one great opportunity to act 

 as a unit. In its religious life it is split up into denominations and 

 factions; in its struggle for economic advancement, its members are 

 working as individuals and not as a group. But the school is the pro- 

 perty of the whole community and practically its only opportunity for 

 concerted action. They have, however, almost uniformly failed to 

 grasp the full significance of this opportunity and have frequently 

 hampered the school administration sometimes by a total indifference, 

 sometimes by active criticism and opposition to progressive policies, 

 and always by not giving them sufficient funds to carry out their plans. 

 Several happy exceptions are to be recorded. The Sandy Spring 

 school was recently remodeled and the Woodside school was built with 

 a large degree of local help. These two schools are receiving the in- 

 telligent and able cooperation of their communities. 



The situation as regards the attitude of the colored patrons is simpler. 

 Little needs to be said but that little may be said with emphasis. The 

 same opinions were uniformly expressed by intelligent and ignorant 

 alike, by preacher and layman, by teacher and patron. These all said 

 in substance "give us a longer school term; give us better school build- 

 ings and equipment; pay our teachers more nearly adequate salaries; 

 add to the curriculum courses in manual training and domestic science 

 and extend the course of study through the eighth grade." These 

 points, it will be seen, touch the real weaknesses of the colored 

 schools. 



Three ways were suggested by which the schools might enter upon a 

 larger service for the colored population. These were: to conduct a 

 night school for those who had been compelled to leave school early; to 

 have classes in domestic science and industrial training out of school 

 hours for any of the patrons who felt the need of instruction along those 

 lines; and lastly to make of each school a social and civic center. As to 

 the progressiveness of the schools the opinion was about evenly 

 divided. 



In general it must be said that the patrons of these schools display a 

 most commendable interest in their welfare and progress. As we have 

 said before in several instances they are helping to keep the schools 

 open two months beyond proscribed term. In other respects they are 

 for the most part ready to assist the teachers and respond gratefully to 

 their influence. 



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