The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1858-10-16
DEFECTS IN OUR SCHOOL SYSTEM -
GRADED SCHOOLS.

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The first defect that IN observed IN the did
erent grades Of schools connected with our
educational syhlem Is the ram NJ harmony,
! Our ancestors very wisely provided Tor the
| three grades Of schools, Wis the District
School, the Grammar School or Academy,
aud the College. The District school was
designed 20 penetrate the Temntest corners,
aud extend ia blessings 10 The very hearth
stone Of every family IN the state, The
Academy was n higher grade and less gener-
ally extended,-desgned 10 stand intermedi-
ate between the Common school and College.
1hese two, with the College, seemed TO cover
the whole ground. The first was provided
for q small section Of each town, the second
for each county, and the College or Uniyersi-
" Tor the whole state.
Here the idea of gradati0n was fully dGvrl
oped and IL the design Of The authors Of
this system had been strictly adhered 20, lit
dc change would nov be necessary 20 adapt
il 10 our present wants. The introduction
Of town school, forming an intermediate
gindc between the district and oaunty schools
would have supplied a defect that always eN-
sted IN this syhtcm, and rcndcfcd IL quite
sufficient for our times. II attempting 10
supply the place of this intermediate town
standard which Il was designed 90 maintain
while, na population advanced aud local inter
csts became more distinctly marked, different
villages IN each county began 10 supply
themselves with academies,
Thus the county school has lost is dis
tinctiyc character. Its funds are divided un-
I'll they amount TO little or nothingi its pat
ronagc il limited by the cXistancc Of rival
schools and It's sphere is degraded in the at
tempt 10 supply the place Of the wanting
town school. The county school, proper, no
lorger exists. Hence the entire distance
trUfn the district sel,'.sl 10 the eallege "a LEFT
10 be- occupied by these multiplied village
academies. And as no one Of these will CON
sent 10 be out-done by the othera, they all
propose to cover the whole ground, each in
is respective region, from the district school
TO the college. All attempts TO prepare
teachers Tor district schools, tn III boys Tor
college and to graduate ladies into the world
in short, each unc of these schools Processes
10 comprise within itself Teachers Normal
school, a Latin school, and Female Semin-
nry, IL requires no argument TO show that
this is too much ground FOR one grade of
schools TO occupy but in the present con
ditOn Of things the academies must occupy
thtv gruuuJt or IL will remain unoccupirtl
Nor is this all The fact that Academies
are wholly or almost wholly, dependent on
their patronage IaF guppgrL and-ihal- too
nom limited field, seems 90 compel them,
in sclEprcscryntion to draw II from as many
different classes of the youth as possible.
Hence, they encourage parents to srud IN
their small children, whose proper place Of
instruction is the public School Il may be
they are well instructed in the academy
they are il properly classified and provided
with appropriate ard thorough instructors. ,
"a. Il. al
advancing scholars tu ar apparent rank
which they do not really occupy-in with
drawing the interest uf the most influential
portion ~ community from the pubiir Schu5i
and throwing 1t IN favor Of the academy. In
decd 1t is the policy OF some who are deeply
interested ia the welfare Of the academy, 10
labor openly aud actively to make the public
school ~ poor that people will be compelled
to send their children TO the academy. 1t is
matter OF observation that the poorest public
schools are those in the vicinity Of an acad-
cmy, or perhaps the district nearest the ncad-
emy turns the entire patronage of ~ school
into the academy
ObNiuusly,it il should not bc so. The friends
Of the academy should not suffer their inter
est in tho public schools to be lcssened in the
least degree. They should observe that the
academy it dependent on the public school
for It's supply of scholars, while the public
school is dependent on the academy for its
teachers Hence they are mutually depend
cnt, and can no more consistently war with
each other than the members Of one body. |
All friends of education must see, il they /
view this matter rightly, that the interest OF 1
one grade is involved in that of the other I
and that they cannot really advance or re-
tard the interest Of one without similarly in /
volVing that Of the other.
Again, the same engerncss for patronage .
induces the academy to attempt 10 teach .
many brapchcs that properly belong to the .
college course. IL is not enough that il =
should descend below itself aud absorb all .
the grades inferior to IT, It must, also, force ,
within its sphere the studies OF the college
Thus the academy extends its course from
the abccdarfuu to the graduate ofthe college
Evils grow out of our present system Of
schools owing 10 the riyalries and jealousirs
that arise between academies that are so con-
tiguous as to look to the same region for pat
ronagc In such cases much of the energy
that should and would otherwise be cxpcnd-
ed in rendering the schools really more valu-
able, is devoted to self adulaton and cor
disparagcment Of other schools.
lccturing, and other forms Of
engineering TO secure patronage, all sap the
pockets and energy of both teachers and peo-
pie. Can not the money and energy thus
be employed TO better advantage
in some other way 80, NJ. r. I.
INFLUENCE or OuT.DooR AIR AND Sun
SHINE ON IONGEyTTY.-A writer i'm one of