Juniata sentinel. [volume] (Mifflintown, Pa.) 1846-1873, 1873-06-18
Miscellany.

Annual Report Of the County Super.
intendent Of Common Schools Of Ju.
niata County, for the Year ending
June 2, 1873.
In submitting my first Annual Report
| shall be brief. The Common School
system is firmly established and work.
ing well in this county.
SCHOOL HOUSES AND GROUNDS.
Four new school houses were built
during the past year, viz one in Green.
wood. one in Fayette, one in Beale, and
one in Spruce Hill. They cost about
$1,000 each, are good substantial houses,
well lighted. we'll ventilated, furnished
with suitable furniture. and suficen,
blackboard surface but three of them
are without porticoes and sufficien,
grounds. The ninety four houses in the
county; sixty-f five are frame /; nineteen
brick or stone, and ten. log. Twenty
eight are unfit for use, and thirty are
badly ventilated Thirty-one have suit
able, and sixty three. injurious furniture
Forty are without out houses-buildings
which the common decencies of life de.
manG, and which should be erected al
once. No Improvement was made on
school grounds only four are fenced
They are, with few exceptions, too small
and in good many cases badly located
APPARATUS.
No schools are well supplied with ap.
paratus, and thirty have none worth men
lioning. Outline maps are to be found
in seventy five schools, globes in eight
reading and spelling charts in nearly all
astronomical charts in eight, and black
boards in all, but some of them are en-
tirely too small, or in such bad condi.
ton that they are unfit for uae.. The
schools of Fermanagh h were supplied with
outline maps last fall, those of Turbett
with Webster's Unabridged Dictionaries
and their old and worn out maps were
replaced with new ones.
SCHOOLS.
One hundred and two schools were
open during the past year. Thirteen
more are needed. Three schools were
kept open seven months eight. Elk
months six, four months, aud all the
others five months. They were attend
ed by over four thousand pupils. The
number studying reading was 3 $50
writing, 1880; mental arithmetic, 2,lS6
written arithmetic, l.962; geography
l,343; grammar, Csc history, 10
algebra, Al !; composition, 22S, and mu
sic, 1873. These figures show sad ne
glect of arithmetic, geography, grammar
history, and the higher branches in oul
schools, and that the greater number Of
the children of the county are receiving
very limited and imperfect education
which arises from the indifference of pa
rents, pupils and teachers. Sixty schools
were well classified, and the books found
uniform in seventy two. A very impor
tant part of the duty of directors is tc
adopt and enforce the use of a uniform
series of books. There are few schools
in which much of the teachers time liz
wasted every session on account of the
different kinds of books in use. The
Bible was read in ninety eight schools
About SIXTY Sabbath Schools are open
during the summer. They are produc
tive of much good. The County Sab
bath School Convention was held at Milf
flintown, May 9th and 2Stb, 1878. Il
was well attended.
EXAMINATIONS.
Fourteen public, two special, and foul
private examinations were held. Ont
hundred and twenty applicants were ex
amined, and one hundred and ten provl
sional certificates granted. Ten appli
can.s we're rejected. Two professional
certificates were issued in the winter
Fiftv-fo directors and about two hun
dred citizens attended the examinations
TEACHERS.
One hundred and eight teachers-six
ty-seven male, and forty-one female
were employed. Forty-two have taught
more than five years. Twenty had nj
experience Ninety-six have read works
on teaching, and the majority are readers
of the Pennsylvania School Journal, O.
some other educational publications. =
Seven have attended and two have grad
mated Mt a State Normal School. Very
few EXPECT to make teaching a perma
nent business, and every year some
the most active leave the ranks to engag
in other pursuits ). and it can not be ex
pected to be otherwise until the length o
tbb school term is increased, and the sal
aries of teachers are considerably ad
vanced. We have many good earnes
teachers, who discharge their duties yer.
acceptably to their patrons
/ eetruvc "t VISITS
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