The Portland daily press., 1882-03-04

the school if some means could be devised to
break it up entirely.
| For full and detailed account of the varl-
GUS departments of our schools we refer you
to the reports of the superintendent, princ.i-
pals and special teachers accompanying TINS
report.
For the committee. LA. GRAY.
SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS
Mr.. Thomas Tash, superintendent of schools,
has prepared his annual report, of which the
following is an abstract
The particular schools are taken up in order,
their condition stated, and the improvements
| that have been made in them during the year.
| The question is raised for the consideration
| of the committee and of citizens, whether
children between four and five are properly
| excluded from our schools. They are not SO
| excluded from the schools of any other town or
city in the State except Portland. Before re-
| pairs are made upon primary buildings IL
should be decided whether sub-primaries are,
or are not, proper classes for which to proVlde
| school rooms and accommodations. VI chli-
dren between four and five years we have over
600 in the city, and enough of those would at
tendIschool, if allowed land proper schools with
kindergarten occupations were provided Ior
them, to fill ten rooms, one in each primary
district. st. Loais and other cities have estaD-
lished such schools and they are found to add
profitable year to school life, an especially
valuable year in parts of the city where
these children have little home care and are
! subject at all times of the day to tne
perils of the street. The sentiment among
educators is strengthening in favor OF an
earlier admission to school than at present.
What is the duty of the largest and wealthiest
CITY in Maine in this direction? While there
seems little question on the part OF any IN re-
gard to the propriety OF maintaining IN tne
highest degree of efficiency the ordinary
primary and grammar school, when we come
to the high school the case is somewhat dlf-
ferent. AS in the lowest grade so here the
question is sometimes asked what is the pro-
per limit in this direction. From 120 to 200
pupils finish the grammar school course In
Portland at about Is years months OF age an
nually. Parents do not generally wish to put
them to industrial pursuits thus
early. Are they to end their school life at this
early age? Eliminate the high school and
this would be the case with most of them. Sup
pose one-quarter of them to be sent away from
home to school, besides the perils OF absence
from home at that age the expense to citizens
would be far worse than to the city for high
school. A worse feature than this is that OF all
the classes in the high school 300 at least
would be left idle upon the streets at the time
when they are now, and should be, acquiring
most valuable part of sn education, That
the high school in some important particulars
''overlaps' the State colleges should cause no
uneasiness; it is proof of its efficiency and OF
the advantages presented to our own children.
The superintendent asks whether, without
impairing the efficiency of the standard OF the
high school, the committee may not make such
adjustment of the general scourse, or the es-
tablishment of subordinate course OF study.
in that school suited to pupils OF moderate
abilities who finish the grammar school course
with no very high credits in the studies of the
grammar school, that would give these youths
the important studies of algebra and book
keeping, hemistry and physics geometry,
trigonometry and drawing, composition ana
history, &C., studies not very difficult for mod
crate minds to master, but very useful when
mastered. "By those studies,o as DIR. Harris
the grammar school studies that lately nearly
mastered them" Such course in the high
school would meet the popular desire for
practical and business education. In this
way we should keep larger number in the
high school and should more nearly conform to
the expectations and requirements OF the State
The usual school statistics which accompany
this report not yet being made up, will appear
later