The Sunday herald and weekly national intelligencer., 1891-04-26
OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
PARENTS AND TEACHERS SHOULD
KNOW EACH OTHER BETTER
A Talk With superintendent Powell on
the Notwithstanding the Young
Folks Botany-Personal Notes From
the Schools.

The public schools of Washington are
justly the pride of our best citizens. 1t is
safe to say that they lose nothing by compar-
ison with the schools of any other American
cities. There are forty white and twenty
three colored schools, graded from the first to
the eighth grade. In addition there is cen
trail high school on o street northwest, be-
tween Sixth and Seventh streets; branch
high school in the Curtis building, of George
town, and one on Capitol Hill, In the Pea
body school. There is a manual aud cooking
school at 603 aud COS o street northwest, with
six annexes, located In the Twining, Walach,
Force, Jefferson, Curtis, and Addison schools,
and one business high school in the Thomp-
son school building. There are twelve trus-
tees appointed from our leading citizens and
confirmed by the Commissioners of the Dis
trict, with two superintendents, one white
professor w. B. Powell) and one colored,
(Mr. G. +. L. Cook.) There are hundreds
of teachers and thousands Of pupils brought
into our usually well-equipped ol-rooms,
and under the best educational influences for
their mutual benefit Yet, with all things
made apparently smooth, the road of life that
leads through the school-room will have an
occasional jolt of friction, and some parents
feelings are wounded because of what he may
consider mismanagement or harshness on the
part of the teacher, while the teacher some
times suffers wrong at the hands and from the
free tongue (or pen) of an irats parent as
recently at Anacostia, where a citizen took oc-
casion to rush into print because his child was
set to do tasks as a punishment in way that
did not suit the parent.
Professor Powell was found in his pleasant
office in the Franklin Building yesterday and
talked freely on this point. 81 do not Think
he said, " that parents and teachers are we'll
enough acquainted with one another An in
telligent parent should occasionally visit the
schools where his children are being educated
and cultivate the acquaintance Of the teachers,
and let the teacher know In what direction he
wishes to educate his child, If he has any
definite ideas on the subject. 1t is just as
proper for mothers to do tnis kind of school
visiting, IL fathers are too busy to interest
themselves in it. Parents need not contine
this kind of school visiting to the annual ex-
aminations, although these interesting events
should never be overlooked or neglected by
the heads of families.
81 do not on general principles approve of
teachers being put upon the pillory of public
opinion until they have had chance to vindi-
cate themselves. Such course is specially
unkind to woman, and 1t often appears upon
investigation that 1t is the parent who is over
sensitive and not the teacher who was in
fault. But If a teacher man or woman, does
commit an error of judgment in governing, as
all are liable to do. it is their duty when the
matter is made plain to set themselves right
with the aggrieved party by manly or wo-
manly acknowledgment.
'There is another point would like to call
attention to- | have just come from teachers
meeting in the normal class, where | have
been instructing teachers in the use of colored
papers in the construction and development
of harmonies in color, beginning with the first
grade and going through the fifth.
81 have also been expounding the rudi-
ments OF botany, so as to teach children the
wonderful beauties of the buds and growing
things about them, and that they may be en-
abled not only to perceive external beauty,
but the internal wonders by which nature de-
velops. Thus the child is taught to observe
and think, and little later ON to investigate
He has to be told how to distinguish between
leaf and flower bud. The teacher is given an
outline of each branch of the work Appar-
emily as pleasant pastime bright child is
taught the common facts of reproduction in
flower and tree, the growth of seed and plant
Besides, he soon learns to express himself, for he
is taught to write down the facts as observed
and that difficult thing, learning to write a
composition, is learned without knowing it,
OF course, our beautiful parks, with
bursting foliage and blooming flow
ers, make these primary lessons de-
lightful. Then we go little further and
peer into the ground and see the wonders
taking place there where roots take hold and
sustain and nourish all this vegetable life we
see about us. We have lessons on their
forms, properties, and, lastly, their uses.
Then We go on to forms of leaves and make
studies of flowers and fruits that are peculiar
to this season of the year, all Of which the
teachers make the foundation of daily talking
lessons about nature from basic facts their
sequence and development"