The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1875-01-01
Cru Norti)erner.
me .Fanuaf Report of the County
superiRtsndeRt Of schools.

SIR,-I hereby have the honor 10 sub
nv my animal report Of the schools OF Van
Buren County. The experience OF the past
wear giving me better knowledgeof the schools
OF the County, and more extended acquaint-
ance with the teachers. their methods and eff
cheney enables me to make more complete re-
port OF the condition Of the schools than ever
before. The schools in most districts are IN a
prosperous condition, and the to achers Of this
County, in general culture and intellig ence, 80
far as l have had opportunities OF judging.
compare favorably with those Of other counties
in the State, and the teachers OF Michi gan COM
pare fayorably with those from other States
Yet, TO say that the schools Of this County have
reached 'heir acme OF excellence or the teach
ers attained the highest degree OF proficiency,
for We have some poor schools as well as many
that are good and some who are unsuccessful
among those who teach, and yet he who Will
carefully contrast the practical workings OF our
schools with what they formerly were, can but
discover commendable Improvement III their
condi ION; and that higher culture is being
obtained by those who attend them. Improve
ment Is noticeable In our schools from what
they were in the past III several respects. The
teachers possess higher literary attainments
and are better posted in im proved methods Of
school management. The attendance OF the
pupils Yves greater last year, as shown by the
statistics, than 1t has been any previous year,
and has been gradually increasing for the past
six years. 80 per cent OF the children OF school
age were enrolled as pupils during the year,
agains. ~ per cent in 1868. There is greater
uniformity OF text books used in the schools,
causing more Systematic classification and
uniform method OF teaching, nor has there
been a single instance during the year OF that
"sem-savage" practice, which prevailed quite
extensively in many of our rural districts not
many years since, o. " throwing the teacher
out Of doors" bY the big boys" unless he con-
formed pretty nearly to their idea of what was
proper in the school-room.
Whatever improvements are to be made in
cur common schools III future like those of the
past must come principally from two sources
and two only either through greater pro-
fciency on the part OF the teachers TO manage
anG teach the schools, or by the impulse and
value the people themselves give to education
IN the respective districts in which they reside.
The one is communal with the other. 1t is
impossible to have good schools without good
teachers and 1t is no less essential to have
prosperous schools that parents appreciate their
schools and strive to do their corresponding
part to build up healthy and vigorous interest
in education ia each district. The former OF
these Superintendent has more directly under
his supervision, and to make the system more
efficient there ought to be time and means az
forded for holding normal classes for several
weeks in each county, whereby teachers may
have the proper means fer improvement
Much will also depend upon the selecting
district board and the position they maintain
toward the school, whether 1t is a success or
failure. 1t is gratifying to know that there is
more lively interest taken by parents and Of
fcers IN the progress and welfare OF the schools.
Some districts having voted to hire no teacher
WHO was not capable Of obtaining at least
second grade certificate. The schools during
the winter we're well attended and with but few
exceptions were well taught. During the sum-
mer the average attendance was not nearly so
good. The non-attendance arising III most cases
from proonging the. term into the warm sum
mer months.
Absence and hardness are two sources from
which emanate many Of the evils III our schools.
TO pupils who attend school but two or three
Gays out Of the week school has but little
value. Each class to which they belong il in
terrupted, rendering system and classification
unavailable. To remedy this " compulsory
school law" has been failure, Much has been
g 10
move these evils by adopuns the threeSterm
system. thus dividing the terms in such man
uer tnat a ma ority of the pupils can regularly
attend. 1t has been thoroughly demonstrated
by 20. 1T the districts during the past sum
ner that to continue the school throughout the
months OF July and August is time wasted
The busy season OF farm work followed nsome
sections by fruit gathering causes so much lrreg-
MARTY and absence among the pupils that the
school Is shorn o. all interest to those who do
attend. and dies resisting every effort OF the
teacher 10 keep Il alive About Thirty tive pei
cent OF the schools have adopted the three term
system, and it Is steadily growing In public
favor throughout the county.
EXAMINATIONS.
During the year have held twenty-five regu-
lar examinations ia the various townships OF
the county, also Office examinations on Satur-
days during the spring and autumn. l have
granted certificates to three hundred and forty
teachers. as follows: First grade, eighteen;
second grade, forty-fve; third grade, two
hundred and Sc venty-seven. have endeavored
TO make each successive examination more
thorough and searching than the preceding
ones have been. thus by a gradual ascending
scale to advance tie standard scholarship among
the teachers.
SCHOOL STATISTICS
There are one hundred and ffty-three dis
tricts in the county, one hundred and ffty-one
school houses, one house having been burned
during the summer and one district never hav-
ing built house. The houses are constructor
as follows: two Of logs nine OF brick and one
hundred and forty are frame Estimated vaiu-
aron of houses and grounds, 1920, l63. Two
new houses have been completed during the
year. one Of brick in the village OF Hartford
and one of wood in District No. 3, Lawrence
being the finest country school building in the
county. Number OF children between five and