"i*''*'.,: .;5^;jJii&l£ 



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Does //)e L/n/7 

 D/s/r/c/ Worit? 



li.iintinurd Irurn piifie 17^ 



$.i95.56. The IJIake school district is 

 now part of the new Paxton unit dis- 

 trict. 



liut with the union of grade and 

 high school under one admistration. 

 more hijih scliool [)r(»<'rams can he ex- 

 tended downward with very litth' juris- 

 dictional trouble. 'The transition, there- 

 fore, from grade to hifih school will he 

 much smoother for the pupil than ii 

 has been in the past. The nurse ex- 

 amines both grade school and high 

 school pupils alike. She visits the out- 

 lying rural grade schools regularly. The 

 physical education instructor does like- 

 wise and helps organize sports pro- 

 grams in the lower grades that were 

 not possible before. Grade school pupils 

 take part in the ban<l work that was 

 formerly limited to liiah school students. 



To show how the lot\er grade satellite 

 schools in the countrv benelit. each has 

 had a remodeling and redecorating joli. 

 All have indoor lavatories and tele- 

 phones. If a child takes sick, a call to 

 the school office in I'axton will bring 

 the school nurse with little l(>s> of time. 

 \X illi a school car she can drive the 

 -ick child home in a few minutes. 



I5y consolidating the xliool s\^tenl. 

 these one-room satellite >chool> also 

 iienefit from the fact that a jariilor-bus 

 driver can be shared. The I'axton unit 

 i.s fortunate in having a dependable 

 dri\er- janitor. I'lovd .'^hiink. who work-; 

 full time. Out in the countrs he makes 

 visits to the s<hool>. makes minor re- 

 |)air> lo sclioolhoiise and jilayground 

 equi|iment. paints. mo\es furniture, and 

 clean.- and |iolislie> lloors. In cobl 

 weather he banks .-chool fire- on Sun- 

 day nights so the schoolroom w'ill Ik- 

 warm for teacher and children on Mon- 

 dav morning. Sliunk also does light 

 maintenance on school buse>. 



Von don't have to be an expert on 



Left: One of the abandoned one-room schools in the Paxlon unit district. Right: The 

 Hall school, one of the one-room schools in the district being used by the first four grade*. 



H has been modernized. 



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 OiSTHiCT BUT UNDSR PR0Tt5T 



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 COUNT V LINtS 



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schools to see the improvements. .Man\ 

 in the village of (Clarence were oj)[)osed 

 to the idea at first of consolidating witii 

 the neighboring -chool districts. Tliev 

 were skeptical about the [iroposed ad- 

 vantages. Vi hen the advantages l)e- 

 camc obvious to the parents of (Clarence 

 schoolchildren, they insisted that their 

 children be iiicludeil too. 



I nder the unit district system at Pax- 

 Ion farmer- ha\e much to say about 

 school policv. live of the seven school 

 board member- are farmers and two 

 other- who live in Paxlon are owners oi 

 farms. 



What can we conclude from the Pux- 

 ton experiment thus far? In the fir-t 

 place it has the warm endorsement of 

 both students and teachers. Second, it 

 i> -uperior to the former system liccau>e 

 it offers, to rural children in [larticular. 

 a wide range of modern -.chool subjects 



and outside activitie>. It gives them a 

 better chance to develop character. 

 s|)ortsmanship. and sociability through 

 wider contacts with children of their 

 own age. And it gives the handicapi)ed 

 child a better opportunity to adjust 

 his handicaps and attitudes to everyday 

 life with his classmates. 



Finally, through efficient use of time, 

 teachers, materials, and the school |)lant. 

 the 12-grade unit at Paxton is able to 

 offer nnicli n)ore at about the same cost. 

 To a tax-conscious juiblic this last point 

 i- by no means the least. 



These thri-e jioints are certain to carry 

 a great deal of weight in the develop- 

 ment of the 12-grade unit district 

 throughout Illinois. Knough. we might 

 say. to predict the eventual elimination 

 of the dual svstem (grade and high 

 -chools sejiaratel of school administra- 

 tion throughout most of the state. 



34 



I. A. A. RECORD 



