Nebraska advertiser. [volume] (Brownville, Nemaha County, N.T. [Neb.]) 1856-1882, 1870-01-06
Select Schools.

Select Schools.
It is question among educators
whether 'transcient schools are real
ly benefit or an injury to the cause
of education.
Every community desires to afford
good advantages to their children,
and the idea of sending them away
from home is not pleasant, and the ex-
penses attending it are so great that
only few more favored ones are able
to endure the theme; hence, arises
the desire to establish a High School
nearer home, and we find that every
town has had one or more High
Schools started, and usually as many
failures as attempts.
Take the State of Nebraska, and
how many Seminaries would there be
in it to-day in successful operation
had all proved a success? Doubtless
more than one hundred, while not
five exist.
Now, there are good causes for all
this, and the first is a general failure
to count the cost. A High School
first implies proper building.
True, a select school may be kept
few months in a church, court house,
or private edifice; and there are in
stances of noted Colleges having their
incipiency in Wagon shop, as did
Union College, Schenectady but in
such cases there is capital pledged in
the start, and high talent engaged in
instruction.
Let us see what an Academy inn
plies. We must have building with
large audience room, and at least
two recitation rooms and such a
building cannot be erected at a less
cost than from $4,000 to $1,000. This
every educator knows is completely
indispensable.
Now, we have house furnished,
say, so as to be able to start, at $4,000.
How much can any community ex-
pect to engage the services of a COM
petent teacher for: one who expects
to continue there and make the school
a grand success? No man of ability
would think of accepting such a situ-
alton at less salary than $500 a year;
and only then, as an experiment, with
a reasonable hope of, in a short time,
increasing it.
Now, no Academy can start with
any show for success with less than
two teachers, and if the higher
branches are pursued to any extent,
there must be three. These extra
teachers will add at least $500 a year
more to the expenses, and that is a
very low figure indeed.
The expenses now incident to rum
ming the school must not be overlook
ed. These of course will vary accord
ing to the size of the school, and the
number of fires kept up, and the
amount of work performed by the
teachers in making fires, cutting
wood, sweeping and other things
but suppose these are hired done, as
they must be in every Seminary that
merits the name, we may add $500 a
year for incidental expense.
Thus we have at least 81, 800 per an
mum to be raised in some way, by tu-
ition, donation or endowment fund.
Now, supposing we expect to sup
port the school by tuition, how many
students must attend? This of course
will depend on the amount of tuition
charged; but say we average S. per
scholar per term, land to do this, we
must charge some as high as 50 if we
put down the Primary Department to
49, but granting this and we must
have an average Of over one hundred
pupils in constant attendance.
No school in Nebraska has that
number, nor will have for years to
come.
Another thing to be considered is,
where will the students find accom-
modatiOns. Take sixty students and
let them undertake to find boarding
places at rates that schools usually
charge, even in Nebraska City, and it
will be found difficult to do.
Then take a place of from two to
five hunered inhabitants, and the diff
ficulty increases a hundred fold.
These are some of the problems that
every community should well consid-
er before starting an Academy, for
they must be worked out, if success
follows; and that is the goal Of all en-
terprises.
Now, suppose these schools only
prove what are termed Select
Schools" and continue for a few
months, wherein is the injury? Do
they not awaken a greater interest in
the subject of education, and arouse
a spirit of ambition in the hearts of
many young men and women to be-
come great scholars?
Granting all this, we still think the
evil accruing much greater than the
good resulting, but we must reserve
these for another article, and only ask
an unprejudieed perusal of our rea-
sons, and we are not fearful of the
! decision. EDUX.