392 



HISTORY OF CO 11 ASSET. 



The dame schools gradually gave way to public pri- 

 mary schools as early as 1840. The public high school 

 was introduced in 1826 and had a few warm advocates. 

 In that year the town "voted to establish such a school in 

 the center of the town for the sole use of such boys and 

 girls as have arrived at the age of fourteen years." Seven 

 hundred dollars for schools were appropriated that year, 

 two hundred and twenty-five dollars being set aside for 

 the high school. This school was to be held in the 

 academy building, but nothing further has been found in 

 the records to prove the establishing of it at that date. 



Twelve years later, in 1838, a committee appointed to 

 consider the project of a permanent high school reported 

 in its favor, as the note at the bottom of this page will 

 show.* 



The method of introducing this higher department of 

 public instruction was by making it an appendage to the 

 academy. The teacher of a private school in that build- 

 ing during the spring and summer months was thus en- 

 abled to eke out his salary by taking the high school into 

 his care during the winter months. Some who live now 



*i838. The Committee, chosen at a meeting of members of the Three Middle 

 Districts in this Town to take into consideration the project of establishing a High 

 School, ask leave to report, that, after mature deliberation, they have come to the 

 conclusion that some change in the school arrangements of the three Centre Dis- 

 tricts is imperatively called for by the interests of Education in those districts^ 

 What that change is, has been a question they have found it difficult satisfactorily 

 to determine. However, after getting what light on the subject they could, they 

 have agreed to recommend the following plan. i. Let there be established at 

 some central point a Public High School to be kept by a competent male Teacher 

 six months in the year, and let this school embrace all those scholars in the three 

 districts who are over the age of 13. 2. Let there be a public male school kept for 

 3 months in the year in each of the Districts. 3. Let there be a public school kept 

 by a female instructor in each of the districts for 7 months in' the year — these last 

 schools to include all the pupils between the ages of 4 and 13. Should this 

 arrangement be adopted there would be liable to be in e^ch of the schools a num- 

 ber of scholars as follows. In the High School 100. In the North 60. In the 

 Centre 90. In the South 75. (This estimate is based upon returns made by each 

 of the Teachers in the Districts of all the scholars who have attended the schools 

 this winter. Owing to peculiar circumstances, a few more would need to be added 

 to the estimate of the North school to make it correct.) The expense of this 



