The Portland daily press., 1884-03-03

The following is an abstract of the annual
report of the Superintendent of schools, Mr..
Tash: The statistics belonging to this report
are not vet ready; they will appear later.
The school accommodations of Portland are be.
coming uett IT and better every year. The prinei-
pal changes made this ysar the addition II two
rooms, capable of seating eighty or ninety pupils.
to he Monument street primary Sch ol house, and
The rem deling o. the Chestnut street house. In
he former building besides the ad iition of two
rooms ether importtnt changes nave peeh maze; IN
the latter, the Chestnut street house, four fafly
G cd rooms, and four ro ms unfit for use, have
neen replaced by eight excellent rooms This
building before being I.aired was incohvenient,
un- afe and sa,itari,y had; il is now of the
most convenient, the safest. aud in sanitary point
of vi. one OF the best school houses OF the rity 1t
u W accommodates 400 children the first two
floors. aud in the third sto IL contains hall with
ante-rooms suitable, and we'll located for an eve
ming school for drawing and other industrial
udies; tho on y hall of the kind attached to our
public school buildings. The cha ges m lde in this
buihiing minutely described In the rep rt. The
s5 OF the repairs ON the Ailding has been mo
than the school Board were led TO expect, tut hsd
the actual cost beeu foreseen it does not appear how
this work could have been deferred day longer
with any proper regard to the rights of the people
of this district to the safey of their children.
No question has been raised 10 the necessity of
the work, or as to the propriety ef the changes
made.
The only old school buildings remaining that
need early at ention are The Casco street, the
School street and the Park street houses.
he Casco street school house has been for several
years il sufficient TO acc ,mmodate the primary
children of the district, and macy children Of the
sixth class have been excluded from school at all
seasons ii the year especially iu the spring, sum
mer aud fall. The las. tern of this year so macy
children applied for admissi especially to the
wet class, that room was generously offered
without expense for that term III the basement of
the Casco street church near by, and over fifty
children were placed there under the care of
extra ceacher. These child en- have remained there
to the present time. IG is not to be expected that
this room will be longer furnished gratuitously.
Guc hon n OF lazo ftur
ditioDal rooms and important sanitary improve
mems pesides. This is the most pressing school de
mand to be brought to the attention of the next
city councils demand that cannot well be over
looked or deferred. 1t is thought the expense of
fitting up the building need not be more than was
laid out on the Spring streat building.
The School street house Is in worse condition az
building than auy other school house in the city.
Seven years ago it was formally decided, after
thorough investigatio IN by the Mayor and comm ttee
on public building of the City Council "to make
NJ further repairs on this house, as it was unfit,
and in an VI fit location for school, that another
lot SHOULD soon be selected and new school house
built upon it.p 1t has since remained wi hout
repairs of consequence, and its coudi.ion has be
cole too bad for use. lot should now be selected
and the long promised new building built. A LOT
near Emery street between Danf rth and Spring
streets Is recommended. This would accommodate
children from the Transfer Station.
The Park Street School House is the last of the
old buildings to receive attention. This house may
be used as it now is. perhaps for some time longer,
and it wonld not be introduced In this report were
it not that the primary district limits of the western
part of the ei ought be carefully ed by
citizens before laying out money upon this build ng
The building ia not, most are aware, m del,
hardly suitable. primary school house. 1t
never built for a primary, but for a grammar school
house, and principally used as such up to 1879,
when the Butler gram mar school house was COM
pleted. Its location, while well selec ed for gram
mar school, was never good one for 3 large prim-
ary school.
10 be we'll districted for primary schools the
rge primary school houses of thckly settled city
should be- nearly equally distant from each other.
hal ofrc 0O1 ia iU
respect in Ita Ocaio while in that portion of the
city north of Congress street ant west OF Caseo
street there is not, and has never been, primary
SC ooi located This is part of the city that has
been TO some time, and is now, rapidly increasing
in population The want of school house on that
side of Congress street is seriously felt and is be-
coming more and mole 50 every year. On account of
the of the Park street. schBl house for prima-
ry school this portion of the CITY has become imper
fecty distracted. This district ssariiy consists
of narrow strip of territory exten ting nearly or
vuite across tue CITY, and IS wedged in between the
Spiing and G SEQ street districts the side,
AMI The Brackett aud Vaughan sire districts on
the other. The question now raised is whether this
shape of the district j. to be made permanent it
will lie if conside' able sum is ever laid out on the
Park street building; wnether 1t may not be
RENE led. another question OughS per haps, ia this
connection to be first inside Ell especially as the
Park street lot il valuable for oher til III schO 1
purposes. Would not the value of the Park street
llt and building aided t. the probable cost of
pairi il a school house, amount to as much as
the price of sui able lot north of Congress street,
and the cost of new primary school building of
eight rOi ms erected the e"n? If this que tion
be answered In the affirmative as good judges think
it can be- then with pair of compasses and map
of the city it will not be difficult select proper
location for new building 1t may be noticed t. at
the sta ce from the SpriDg street building TO the
Bracket street house is about one-third of mite;
the distance between The Bracket street and the
yaus han street uses is about the same a lot can
be selected nearly the same distance, nne.third of
mi from each of the four houses the Casco street
tho Spring street, the EBrackett street al d the
Vaughan rect. We're school house SITUATED
there instead OF Park street city coul be very
we'll divined into m' re- shapey primary district,
and pr m4ry chilrren be much better actommodat-
G than now. This may seem to be looking too far
INTO he future but timely foresight m ~ save the
ci monev and add greatly to the convenience of
cilzens. e-pr rcially of their children. 1t should
further be borue in mind that o her school bui d.
ings tve i'll the pat been re- inqa he'd for similar
ms in various parts of he city, as for instance,
State, Sp ing and South Streets and the lots de-
vote to other puri oses.
Partc lar schools are next considered in the re-
port. but it il Impossible in brief abstract ie-
fer them all or to refer to the changes of teach
ers that have &C urred iu them Two achers have
been aalded i'll The ooms of the Monument
street house, and addltio,s have been made to III
primary district by adding portions taken frow the
Smaller prlm ry district This relieves the over
crowded condition of the Shaler school.
The Chestnut stTe-t h oil, in consequence of the
radi :ai ch anges made in the bu dns, has been en-
tlrely re-classified On entering this new building,
the principal the school as beset With difficult
i-s. She was comparatively new to her position
her school was dis,rgan z-d, as it must be, conf g
from rooms SO unlike in size and SO badly arranged
The eiga class room, with new to 4cher vas
found necessary TO be continued. Teachers we're
o be assigned 10 their proper rooms ami their
proper work; all the movements and police details
or n large school We're to be established anew: un-
usual promotions 10 be made to suit her school to
her new rooms; and, in addition her own room was
found 10 be necessarily overcro ded; these and
many other ditticu ties she has had to SUI mount.
All this she has hruy and dscreetly doDe at every
step commencing herself more an more fully to
the confidence of those most famili .r with her
work. In these perplexities she has had the loyal
RuDpOrt OF l6r assistants. All these arrangements
having once been we'll made, the school will here
after be han led with much great ease.
We can only further notice that some changes
have been made in the curriculum of the High
school within brief period. Bookkeeping has
been introduced as a regular study, English Gram
mar aud Arithmetic how thoroughly reviewed,
am additional opportunities for choice of st1dies
especially in the direction studies tending to in
dustria puIsu ts are aft ,rded. The further addi-
ton - the courses of the High School of industrial
and geometlical drawing, as underlying the great
iudu riacf Dc aai