St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1874-03-27
ST. cSohnshurp Galrdonian.
st. Johnspury. VT. Friday. Mar. -, 1874.
Superintendent Report for the Town
of Barnet

form with the requirements ot The stat
ute. as superintendent. | now oi1,I you
the following report of ny labor. an'
the result nf my nh>cr, atiuE~ anI"n4
the schools of the town.
| spent one day at the >uprri'rtcnd-
ents' meeting held ut st. bloomsbury ii
March two days public examination al
teachers. one in May and one in No
vemhcr: and. III addition to some time
and labor given to the Teachers lu>ti-
tute held at McInd"r> Falls in June.
District Clerk reports, Sc. have made
seventy-two visits to the several schools
which visits consider the most impoi-
tant part of my duties. During these
visits. by inquiring of judici"u> parents.
and carefully examining the schools my
self have cndeIvnrcd To- ylin an accu-
rate knowledge of the condition of each
of them.
You have supported the past wear six
teen schools comprising thirty eight
terms to teach these schools. twenty
seven teachers have been employed,
four male, and twenty three female. At
the public examinations in May and
November. nineteen candidates were
examined. of whom fourteen were Ii
censcd. Private examination has been
given to eighteen applicants. sixteen of
whom received certificates. making III
all thirty examined and thirty Ii
censed: III only two instances have
schools been taught 10y unlicensed
teachers.
The average attendance. methods OF
instruction. discipline. &c. havcs been
very good, | will NOW give You Il brief
sketch of the districts in detail.
Il. I, 4
two terms of twelve weeks each. Mag
gle Whitehill commenced the SUMMER
term but at the end of five weeks Aus
tin II. EMERSON of the Sophomore class.
Dartmouth College. wa> engaged to
teach the remaining seven. | visited
each teacher twice and found Il marked
contrast between the two schools. The
first was Il failure; the school horj~c had
better been closed. The last seven
weeks was an excellent school. MIR.
EMERSON also had charge of the winter
term Uhi> being his third term in this
schooD. | visited the term twice and
found n first class school. rapid perma
nent progress was made. The UucS-
tioning was well directed to the think
ing powers of the pupil. explanations
clear, and instruction generally wa-
characteristic of an excellent scholar
like Mr.. X.
District No. > During thu, first term
the school WAS taught bN Lila VI. Stro-
bridge. This Wa> u snail school of
small scholars to which rla-> of scholar ;
Miss Strohridgrs mode of instruction is
well adapted. The teacher Wis mild IN
her discipline inclined to he It little
nervous. Vet the school WH> orderly and
| consider il il very profitable term.
Albert W. Warden had charge OF the
winter term. ~ ioi education hr WIS
abundantlN fitted tu teach tn" school.
(of the thirty seven examined he passed
the best written rNamiiitinn.) but lack
ed discretion and tact necessary to 4
teacher. Visiting the school in the
early part of the term | gave Il Wuld at
caution, but towards the clo>c two al
the larger boys were arrested and iimcd
for disturbing the school. Hearing of
this called II >crond time. found that
many of the scholars had left the school.
and the district considerably excited
over the matter. But upon c:,lciuiiy
inquring of teacher. some of the >rhnl-
ars and parents. | came To the cou-
cluson. that. although the teacher had
been very iuiudici"u> and somewhat tea
blame. Yet the main source ui difficulty
was elsewhere. advised Nh. WaIdrm
in strong terms to resign his position
believing. that il such school difficulties
cannot Ice settled HmicahlN it i better
for all that the teacher should leave
District No. 3 has had only Il winter
tenn of ten weeks. under he charge of
Anna +. Buchanan. This is the small
est school i'll town Give >cholar>) how
ever found it one ut the most adNanr-
ed. The pupils evidently attended
school for the purpose of lcauing. /
visited the term once. and WAS well
pleased with its appearance: iiudin"
more interest than | would expect in 50
small Il school. Miss buchanan gives
promise of becoming Il good teacher.
District No. /. (CcntIcD. cougrath-
late together with others adopting tn,
same plan) upon l. cir good >en~r i'll en-
ploying ill.," same teacher foT the Ncdi.
Both terms We're in the hands OF ATTAIN
III j. McPhce. who has had much sue
cessful experience in the ,,chool-ro"n
and the past Years Labor only confirms
the fact that she is Il good Teacher.
District No. ). (Stcvcn>' villag"). In
this district There have been Two schools
of three Terms each. The committee
exhibited good Judgment III securing the
services OF the two sisters. Kate and
Mary McPhce. ini the entire year. Kate
for the Higher and Mary tor the Primal
~ department. The two schools were
equally well managed. In discipline
and ~ stcnatlc aI;Ing, mcni they were
the best in town. The teachers worked
faithfully. spaling no i',iim> to render
the schools profitable which they did in
highly gratifying manner-the mode
OF conducting reading classes was espcc-
tally good. IT pays Il district to retain
such teachers. and. if available, would
recommend the securing The. same
teachers another wear.
District No :. PaSsump>ic). Here
again find good Judgment exercised in
regard to hiring the same teacher for
the year. The three terms of eight.
eight and twelve weeks respectively
were under the direction of Maria II.
Cummings. This was the largest school
in town under the care of Il single teach
er. | visited the iilSt tenn once. the
second and third twice each. and CON
slider the school for the year highly sat
isfactOry. Ii was especially 81 in gov
eminent particular in which our
schools are most likely to fail | would
make no unt;lvorable criticisms con-
corning this school.
District No. 81 visited each term
once, the first and second We're in the
hands of Hattie b. Conant. Miss Co
nant possesses qualifications necessary
to successful teacher. She managed
her charge III Il manner very acceptable
to all. her method of instruction showed
m of I.,t Ia, r.,