The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1864-04-08

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If no other motive had impelled parents to
make such visits beyond the satisfaction
seem. their children in the pursuit O. kno~i-
ed :. under difficulties l commend that ten
derress Of parental sensibilities that pro b.
ab.v kept them away. BIT alas. for the
schoo: and the teacher from which much is
expected with such miserable acccmmoca-
,ions. WHAT stimulus can children have TO
beh.ve decen,ly. or study diligently. where
neiih-r parents or friends care to visit and
encourage them, and where too, such deport-
meat and effort would hardly seem to be in
harmony with anything to be seen around or
above them.
To the satisfactory quality already ascrib-
ed to your schools generally, some exceptions
shonli be mentioned.
The school in district No. l3 during the
winter term just closed has, l regret TO say,
proved unsatisfactory TO all parties interested
in ii.
The teacher while possessing more than
the average qualifications TO discharge his
du,y, and solicitous, am confident TO make
his service in the highest degree useful and
satisfactory to the district. has for some rea-
son failed 10 accomplish this object Had
he possessed self-reliance and skill sufficient
to discipline and conciliate refractory sehol-
ars, without the sympathy and cooperation
Of their parents or guardians, he might per-
haps have secured good order and satisfactory
Improvement in his school, and, at the same
time, might have protected the school house
from abuse and depredations that seem to
have been especially wanton and superAuous
considering its previous deficiencies.
But although failing to accomplish these
objects | trust the intelligent and considerate
people of the district will hesitate to hold
him solely responsible for the result, or to
censure him very severely in view of the
obstacles everywhere in the way of the sue
cessful prosecution of the. teachers calling,
and especially the obstacles, if such there be,
peculiar to their district which seem to haze
deprived them of satisfactory school i'll
previous instances. And l trust also that a
few suggestions in regard TO the apparent
wants of the district will not be deemed i'm
pertinent in this connexion. And first OF
all better house for the accommodation of
the school should be provided Immediately by
the district. That now occupied is too small
for the number of children in The disiric. that
| ought to be constantly in Inc school. Besides
it is to be remembered as it has been already
more than suggested, that the house IS well
as the teacher is an efficient educator of the
children in The school, and while that, as at
present is so bpreft in its interior of ey-
erythins that can please the eye or consult
the comfort of its occupants, and at the same
time, is so suggestive Of insubordination and
mischief in its battered walls. broken win
dows and whitfield benches, II must require
more than the amour. OF skill and energy
found in teachers generally TO prevent a
school from becoming dsmoralized in it. II
would be doing the district injustice, am
sure, to suppose that their school house in
its present condition represents correctly ifs
general estimate OF the value of education
or the extent Of It's obligations TO the rising
generation.
WITH good house for its accommodation
and little earnest and persistent effort on
the part Of The majority of its supporters,
neither more or less than is eUery,chere re-
CURED TO make and sustain a good school,
there is no reason that can see, why the
school in district No.l3 should be long behind
the best within the town. There is no
lack Of capacity on the part of scholars which
l have met in the school to hinder such re-
suit, nor do | believe that there is among
them any performance of iusubo,dinate or
vicious prcpensities, that with a faithful CO.
operation of parents and teachers for their
discipline and Improvement would have pro-
duced the frequent failures in the school
hitherto. But whatever may, or may not
have been the cause of failures in the past
it is manifest that good school, and that