Morning journal and courier., 1884-01-05
The Public Schools.

meeting and is as follows:
 The term of four months just closed has
 been marked by good health on the part of
 the teachers and pupils, full attendance, and
 an evident desire to do honest and efficient | work
 | The schools have run with as little friction
 as could be expected whom 90 many and so varied interests are involved. | In fact, if may judge from what is said | by patrons of the schools who visit this of- fee, and the statements of principals there l is prevalent in the community general spirit ! of cordiality between parents and teachers, and mutual recognition of the common end l to be reached through the influence of family 1 and school.
 This is as it should be, and I believe the principals and teachers who make systematic efforts to bring parents into their school 1 rooms, where they can see with their own eyes the efforts put forth to make their chll- dren prompt, accurate and cultured, are do- ing 8 little more than others to make our system of schools give the best possible re- turn for what they cost.
 The spirit and method of teaching changes but slightly from year to year, but concern, l ing the conditions under which children can be l best trained and instructed there is much dis cussion. A strong advocate of physical cul- ture in schools is made to say in the New York Tribune of yesterday that more atten- l tion should be paid to the bodies of children than to their minds. This seems like radi- l cal view. but who is prepared to deny the assertion?
 The change of hours in the High school whereby pupils are dismissed at p. an., and | can thereby reach home at seasonable hour l for dinner, is approach toward those bet ter conditions to which I have alluded. A slight inconvenience was felt at first in adapting the classes to the new time table, l but otherwise the results are favorable. | Some of the teachers declare that the | pupils look healthier and study better, and l that the amount of time for actual recitation
 is only 8 trife less than before. l The work of preparing the graduates of | our High school to teach has claimed con l siderable attention the past term, and will 1 continue to do SO until our forces are fully 1 organized for this work.
 Sixteen graduates of the class of '63 en- 1 tered the Cedar street school on September l, and have thus far, without pay, given | their time to careful observation and practice 1 in the several rooms of that school, and a study of methods and principles of teaching,
 under the direction of the superintendent, 1 the principal and special teachers. | These special teachers are called critic
 teachers, but it must not be supposed that 1 they are engaged simply in pointing out the | faults of young teachers.
 | They supervise their work at every step, | helping them to correct their mistakes and giving sanction to any worthy attempts made ! | This close supervision of the pupil teach l. 1 CTS not only helps to make them skillful, but ] it is one way of insuring considerate and l faithful treatment of pupils in the school of practice. Take away this supervision, and I the school itself would suffer. 1 am confident that the Welch school wien
 organized and equipped under the system | which is contemplated will rank as one of the l best in the city.
 1 Under that system young ladies will not be l allowed to teach until by observation and
 theoretical study they have learned to teach
 properly.
 Notice has been sent to the remaining mem bers of the class of 'S3 who have expressed a desire to enter the training school to present l themselves for that purpose on February l. l AS the Welch school will be practically 1 finished at that time 1t will be convenient to use two or three rooms, although I believe 1 it would be unwise to make general transfer of school children to that building before | May 1st.
 1 The results of the test exercise given
 last term to the several grades, after being | marked by teachers were sent to this office
 and during the vacation were examined. l In this examination attention was given | mainly to mechanical execution and quality 1 of work done in the several rooms. 1 Some practical results might be stated as | follows: Pupils who have been in school six
 months generally copy 1eeibly from 1 blaekboards simple sentences. Pupils who have been in school one year nounced by the teacher, and can perform any operation with numbers to ten. Pupils who have attended school two years can write descriptions of objects and pie | lures, and in many cases can form a letter. | and can operate with numbers to twenty, and so on.
 In all rooms the majority come up to the
 standard in a few rooms the teacher seems to have succeeded in making all reach the
 mark, and this of course implies superior
 skill and persistency.
 In general, believe that any fair tests ap- piled to our schools would show that power to think and do is sought for quite as much as the acquisition of knowledge. The occupation of new rooms in the Ed wards and Winchester schools has greatly re- Iieved the pressure of numbers in the Win chester and Skinner district, but it is certain
 that on May the two remaining rooms in Edwards street aud tho one vacant room in Winchester will be filled to overhoWing. This is rendered the more certain from the fact that large number of pupils residing in the Skinner district are now attending
 the Hamilton school, who, on account of
 pressure there, will have to be sent to Ed wards street at the opening of next term.
 The endeavors being made in the Dwight and Skinner schools to train boys and girls in the use of carpenters tools have aroused
 much interest here ss well as abroad.
 The method of working and the result attained are worthy of inspection by mem- bers of the Board and others. The problem to be solved is, Can hand work aud brain work be united in school life
 so that the one may stimulate and help the other?
 Intelligent taxpayers will surely encourage 1 all attempts of this kind, for, if successful, they can lead to nothing more serious than slight modification of our present system of 1 instruction and need not add materially to
 the expense thereof.
 If the brain power of a child is best de veloped by this union with hand work, l whereby the physical as well as the mental is I trained and the best energies are brought to the surface to fad concrete expressions, then l we must agree that the industries of the kin l dergarten have legitimate place in all prim- arg schools and our present grammar course should include for boys a uss of the more 1 common tools and for girls some experience in plain sewing.
 Presentation of a Bible to the Second Uni. versalist Church.