The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1884-04-23

REPORT OF THE SOMERSET Schools.
tom has made tia duty for a teacher to pub
lish as often as may be, the success or non
success of his school and ofthe pupils under
his charge. whether or not such publication
be Of interest 70 the great mass of readers
who peruse the weekly newspapers OF their
county.
Before making any remarks on the sue
cess OF the schools during the past winter.
or their prospects for the future, it may be
well To STAKE that my aim has been in the
past ever siuce accepted the principalship,
and shall be whie retain it. to raise The
standard Of the schools in general, and Of
the two higher rooms in particular
think that the schools Of the Borough
during the term that is past. have met with
more than a fair measure of success. have
Introduced some reforms, ana have been
sustained ia the same by the Board OF Di-
recturs, and So far As know, by the people
The teachers of the schools have all length
ened the course of study, l mean taught
more than the course prescrIbes. Had it
not been for the kind and hearty co-opera-
ton of my assistants in this respect, / would
not have been able to carry out my plan of
making no promotions during the term.
The enrolment for the term has been the
highest ever known in the Borough, and
what is very greatly to the credit of the
schools, the average and percentage of at
tendance fell of scarcely any during the last
month indeed, in almost every case of pro-
tracted absence it is to be accounted for by
sickness either of the pupil or in his family.
Tardiness, too, has been less than hereto
fore. There should be determined effort in
the future to eradicate this vice completely
No person can hope for business success who
does not acquire the habit of doirg quickly,
promptly, and Hojr What conscience die
tates To be done Next winter il has been
decided that seven rooms will be necessary
instead of six, rs heretofore. | have made
the necessary provisions for carrying outthe
plan and submitted each room 10 a thorough
examination, and promotions are dependent
entirely on the character of the papers sub
mitted. I may say that room No. will
comprise new No :, all of No. being pro-
NOTED unless at the opening next fall the
I Principal shall find it necessary to denote
some persons In the other rooms the a
/ classes have been promoted without excep-
ton, and "B' classes will form the "A"
classes of the new rooms. ! would say, Just
here, 10 the boys and girls of the schools, to
have published the names OF three hundred
. pupils would occupy more space than edit
ors would care to spare for school report
and y IA understand Just as well as though
/ you saw your names when ] tell you. all
A" classes are promoted, all b classes
remain where they are and Room No. all
promoted 90 Room No. :. The present gra-
daton will demand new course of study,
and ! am now occupied in its preparation.
Just what ! shall recommend ] shall not
discuss here, but shall recommend that the
the new : and be considerably changed
from what old ami were. This change
will rli,r the grade of both these rooms,
very materially.
/ desire here 70 call attention 90 the fact
that the time Of the school term is not near
/ ly long enough. / have talked with many
citizens Of this Borough and I have not
I T und man who dissent, from the PROPOSE
tion Children are In school five months
/ iu the year, and out OF school seven months
iu the year. In other words thev spend
/ turty per cent more time counted in day.
out Of school than they spend in school
/ How long should the school term be? To
/ this I can only say. as long as possible
} Nine months is uot too much, and believe
can be had without very materially iuereas-
/ ing the rate of taxation above what has
D been heretofore necessary for five months.
! OF course it will be understood that make
no account Of the levy for building tax.
I While on the needs of the schools, | may
suggest that Dictionaries should be procured
and some other works of reference are abso-
/ lutely necessary. Also. each school build
/ ing should be furnished with large bell. ]
think perhaps this would do much to break
zap tardine>s.
To those citizens and directors who a few
: times admitted a ray Of sunshine along with
/ their genial countenauces in visitation, |
extend my hearty thanks and when the
wheels Of time shall have rolled round
another year, aud some one is performing
the work on which I am now engaged, |
t~u>t the list Of names may not exist
against which must be written the SEN
tence, A. school visitor you are not a
success
To my Assistants, to the Board of Di-
rectors, to citizens. to pupils, to each and all
Il
in any other manner have contributed to
the success of the term, extend my hearth
est thanks. and should my connection with
the schools ofthe Borough be severed from
any cause. ! shall ever look back with
! pleasure to days spent in them.
Very Respectfully.
A. c. HOLBERT.
f SOMERSET. Pa, April Is, lSS4.
/ The tide of immigration setting toward /
our shores is subject to fluctuations, but
+ there exists no reason 10 anticipate that /!
during the life Of the present generation it .
will fail 20 reach the average height of the .
past ten wears Immigration, therefore. con
tinue> to be one Of the great economic ques- .
tions Of this country, and it involves .
political problem Of the highest Importance, 4
that Of naturalization That our naturaii-
zatiom laws are defective in many respects
Is notorious, and the demand f1r their re-
vision viii. no doubt acquire added force
from the publication Of an article by Justice
William Strong upon that subject in the
Norh Ameicp Ecriss for May. In the
same number of the Reuar Edwin 7 Whip
pie offers candid judgment OF Matthew
Arnold, as a thinker and a. man of letters
Richard \. Proctor, under the title Of " A
Zone ot Worlds, writes cf the vast multi
tude Of the pigmy kindred Of the earth,
known as the asteroids. In The Railway
and the State Gerrit l. Lansing essays to
prove that the multiplication and extension
OF railroad lines. aud the establishment of
low rates Of transportation, are hindered
rather than helped by government interier-
ence Prot. Henry F. Osborn. of Princeton
College, has a highly interesting article on
Illusions of Memory Helen keudrick .
johnson contributes an essay on The .
Meaning Of Song" Finally there i a joint .
discussion Of Workingman's Grievances
by William Goodwin Moody and Prof J.
Laurence Iaurhliu of Harvard University