The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1896-09-07
THE CROWDED SCHOOLS
MUCH DOUBLING UP- WILL BE NEG
ESSARY NEXT WEEK.
Normal Increase of Pupils Each Year
About S00-New Buildings to
BE Erected.

One week from to-day the pupHc Schools
of the city will open. There will be some
trouble experienced in accommodating the
natural increase of pupils. owing TO the
failure of the Board of School Commits
sioners to act upon the recommendations
made by Superintendent Goss in his annual
report made last February. The board has
taken action which will ultimately result
in providing additional school room, but
not in time for this school term. The nor
NAL increase of pupils has been for several
years about $780, and it will not be less than
that this year This means a requirement
for sixteen additional rooms, according to
the custom of dividing the pupils in
schools of about fifty each. At the opening
of the schools there will be but four rooms
in addition to those available year ago.
These are in the addition to school build
ing No. 4, located at the corner OF M1ch1-
gan and Blackboard streets.
1t is in the extreme northwest and the
extreme northeast that the schools Will be
the most crowded. The term will begin
with eight or ten schools without rooms TO
accommodate all the pupils The pupils
thus Inconvenience would naturally be-
long to No. 10, at the corner of Home ave-
nue. and Ash street; No. q, at Eighth
street and Park avenue, and No. 70, at
Eleventh street and College avenue. Some
of the pupils may be sent to No. 2 and
No. 80, but these buildings are too far for
the small children to walk and could not
possibly accommodate all the increase II
all were to be sent to them.
1t will be necessary during the first term
to have only halliday school in many
grades. The pupils will alternate, half go
ing in the morning and half in the after
A175
lions to this plan. He thinks the idea of
having pupils in school but half a day a
good one with the older children, provided
the halliday were in the morning and
school could begin early and last until II 80
o'clock. But with small children, and with
the short afternoons of the winter, he
thinks it is not a very wise plan. Yet this
is the only way that AL the children can be
provided for, and it will be adopted during
The School Board recently purchased
ground at the corner of Fifteenth and New
Jersey streets, and upon this it is contem-
plated to erect a large. modern school
building. 1t may be completed by Jan. l.
but may not be ready until Feb. l, the time
of the beginning of the second term The
contract for the building has not yet been
Over in the northwestern part of the city
that part which was formerly North In
dianapolis-the city owns six-room build
ing and has recently purchased adjoining
ground upon which a six-room addition
will be erected. Like the building in the
northeastern part of the city. this will not
be completed until naidwinter, and in the
meantime there are pupils enough to make
ten rooms with only the six rooms in the
school building and one rented room to ac-
commodate them.
At the Hfgh-school building an addition
has been ordered which will increase the
number of recitation rooms. An addition
or annex is to be erected Immediately in
the rear of the present building. 1t will
serve both as a gymnasium and assembly
room. The present assembly room will be
divided into two rooms. One of them viii
tod oxr1 Ia
the other will serve as large recitation
room. The rooms now occupied by the
chemical laboratory will be fitted up for
There will be few changes in the text
books this year. The graded schools are
must use the text-books adopted by the
State Board of Education. In the High
School the School Board adopts the books
The Physical department at the High School
will be under a new professor. M. E.
Crowell, who resigned near the end of the
last term, has been succeeded by John
La May, graduate of the Chicago Univer-
sity. He comes highly recommended, hav-
ing of late been acting as an assistant to
ment Of physics in Chicago University
At the Industrial Training School the
with the addition of the machine room,
which has been fitted up according to the
original plans. This department was made
a part of the second years course and was
not needed last year, The departments
now include cooking and sewing wood
turning, iron and steel casting and ma
chine fitting 1t is expected that. if the
room for the purpose can be found. man
ual training will be introduced in the
graded schools this year. The further de-
velopment of the manual training work
will be made in the lower grades as a pri-
mary training for the more advanced work
which, 1t is hoped. may be carried on in
the Industrial Training School in the flu
ture. The work done in the Industrial
Training School will then be such as com
"a owl fIr tn -s~I-
School in its relations to the literary work
of the graded schools