Morning journal and courier., 1880-03-26
Public Schools.

1 The Schools Years Ago Past and | Present.
 | A reception was given yesterday afternoon
 ct room 6, Washington school, Miss Catherine
 0. Jones teacher. There was good attend
 aace of parents and other friends. The chil-
 dren showed good proficiency in their studies. l The principal of the school, Mir. Burton, at
 the close spoke briefly explaining the plan pursued in the studies. Superintendent Par ish also made an address and threw out & few 1 ideas He was reminded by o conversation he had few days before at 8 school reception of l what would serve ss starting point for his remarks. He was spoken to by gentleman, who, saying that he had been familiar with the public schools of Now Haven for 40 years, expressed surprise at the changes he had mo- ticed, and which tho exhibition bro ught to his mind He said the best evidence I have of the improvements in the schools is the better behavior of the scholars. There ars not so
 many bad boys in the streets, not so many rude ones rowing around Principal Parish took this illustration incidentally as an evidence that the scholars had made improve
 ment mentioned in two or three things, show
 ing the difference between things now and 15
 years ago when he came here. Fifteen years
 .go when came here 1t was the practice in
 Ill the schools that teachers might suspend
 insubordinate boys, or truants, and send them
 out of the schools without asking any ques
 tions, and these boys thus shut out of school
 were in all manner of miEchisf, and among
 them were many who robbed fruit orchards,
 pillaged watermelon patches, If not falling
 into higher crimes and misdemeanors. Thus
 there were often 400 or 800 boys out of
 school and wandering into all sorts of mis-
 chief. Another thing Of those days was the
 lack of school accommodations, and those
 turned out of school had to wait until when
 ever there was 8 vacancy before they could
 have g chance to get back into school. The
 consequence of this was that many were out
 of school all the time, until we began here to
 build new school buildings and thus make in
 creased accommodations. The Skinner school was the first of the new ones, and others quickly followed, and we have besn going on ever since. In connection with this old way of wedding out the bad and unruly boys, it was added that now the teacher is relieved of thess insubordinets boys, who are placed in the truaut school, as also are the truant boys. All these go to the truant school, so that now one goes anywhere without finding idle boys on the streets loafng or wandering about. It is moreover made the duty of the truant officer, and all policemen are instructed also, to iu- quire of boys idlng about the streets their
 business, and all such are required to nttsnd
 the truant school unless it is found that they
 are following some employment requiring
 their time. Then as to inside work, we are
 daily making improvements in methods of
 tsaching, as well as otherwise, and the per formance of the school this afternoon is high l ly creditable and as showing what can be
 done, es was explained by MT. Burton. The
 exercises pa ssed of very agreeably to all.