Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1894-05-19
CITY s0PEEIsTEsDEaT's FINAL REPORT.
Board of Education.

Gentlemen
In obedience 10 the requirements Of
u school law. | herewith submit my
fifteenth semi-annual report, showing
the condition, requirements, and needs
of the free schools of the Independents
district of Martinsburg.
STATISTICAL.
Tue complete enrolment OF our city
schools for the session ending June 80,
1894, is as follows:
High school. l57; second ward, PA;
third ward. 253; fourth ward, 205:
fifth ward. 270. Total, white. 1859.
Colored school, i13. Total, white and
colored, 1872.
THE VACCINATION EPISODE.
Considerable opposition was mani.
tested to the order given BIZ the secre-
tary of the State Board of Health, that
all pupils attending the public schools
of Martinsburg should be vacciuated.
Our school law reads; "No pupil
who has not been vaccinated shall be
permitted to enter any school of this
district
The above cited clause of our school
law had, however. remained for so
many years a dead letter upon our
statute books, that, in every depart
ment of our schools, from the infant
o of the ward schools to the Senior
Glass in the High School, pupils were
to be found who had not been vacci-
mated.
To avoid further trouble, in the flu
ture, upon this question, advise that
hereafter the law be enforced at the
beginning of each school year.
If all children are vaecinated before
they enter the primary department, no
trouble, along this line, can possibly
arise in the higher departments.
IMPROVEMENTS NEEDED.
In many Of the school rooms of the
city, the seats are in u dilapidated
condition. These old worn out desks
should be replaced with new and i'm
proved desks. Two rooms in the High
School should, by all means, be reseat-
ed with modern desks.
No Improvement, however, is SO
much needed, at the present time, in
the High School. as a library room.
We have 600 volumes in our library,
with nothing for u library room save a
cloak room.
The school buildings should be re
painted, furniture Vanished and all
other necessary repairs made, dur
ing tie summer vacation.
The suggestion offered by Commiss-
ioner Grozlnger, that the front yards
be sodded, and shade trees planted,
is an excellent one indeed, and one
well worth the thoughtful considera.
ton of the Board.
Money spent in boautifying The
school premises is well spent. In fact,
if for nc ether reason, as a valuable
aid in securing cheerful attendance
and ready obedience, the surround.
ings should be made as attractive and
as inviting as possible.
FAULTY ATTENDANCE.
Imperfect attendance ON the part Of
the pupil is one Of the greatest hin
ORANGES to the progress of any school.
| believe that all pupils who are tardy,
or who ask to leaye before the hour
for dismissal, either in The morning OF
in the afternoon, should be punished.
Sickness, in my judgment, should af-
for the only exception to the above
statement.
When the pupil presents n written
excuse for his hardness, or for leave
OF absence, it is utterly impossible fol
the teacher to decide whether the ex.
cuse be valid. or whether it be forged.
and it is certainly absurd to argue
that the teacher should hunt up a
dozen or more parents a day in order
to ascertain the facts in the case.
IL as he parents duty 70 send The clao
10 school; IL is The teachers duty 10 IL,
struet and discipline him whca At school.
IL the pupil enter the school room
room one half hour late, how is the
teacher to know whether he %loitered
on the. way to school. or whether he
was kept at home by his parentsg II
were much better for the school, if the
pupil remained at home the entire hall
day. than that ne interrupt the session
by entering late, lis lessons in all prob.
ability wholly unprepared.
Again, why should a pupil be excus.
ed at say 8 p. m. to take a music
lesson? If u public school pupil, he
should give the hours devoted tc
school work, his entire attention. His
music lessons should be taken at some
other time.
If the parents themselves would but
concede TO teachers the authority tc
punish all pupils who are iardy, Of
who leave before the regular hour fol
dismissal, sickness excepted; and If
in addition TO this, they would bu,
sustain the teachers in publishing al
stated times the list Of absentees, ",
should hear but little complaint about
%truant play ing, the reputation Of oui
schools for superior discipline would
be at once established, and the good
Of the entire community thereby pro
NOTED.
OUR CURRICULUM.
Our course of study is not 50 full and
complete as 1t should be. / have fol
several years contended that the pnpiIi
enter the High School too young. They
should remain, at least, one year long.
err in the Ward Schools. This wouId.
Of course. neeessitate the employment