Worcester morning daily spy., 1898-02-28
THE IDEAL SCHOOL
.continued From Firgt PAGE,

We have now reached a point where
we are the acknowledged leaders in the
new education, as it expresses itself in
secondary schools. We have reached it,
as President Mendenhall says, through
"a judicious generosity on the one hand,
and a wise courage on the other"
Gentlemen, to reverse the old proYerb,
and to be not without honor in ones
own country is most delightful.
Our present condition involves i'm
mediately two considerations; first, our
ability to use the great advantages We
have won by the patient prosecution of
a high ideal, and second, the financial
endowment and security of the school.
There should be no reasonable doubt
of our power to meet both of these
questions with wisdom. The former is
a question of internal administration to
be worked out particularly by the prin-
cpal and his associates, and touches
their professional skill and good
sense. We are first to know the educa-
tional tendencies, that the good may be
followed and the bad avoided. We
must be informed Of the educational
values of the various subjects that ap-
pear in school program. In other
words we must be wise and sound
schoolmen. Again, in reference to our
latest development, we must make it
Kingsley laboratories must be adequate
to the building itself. Otherwise the
building would mark our folly and not
our wisdom. May / quote from Presi-
dent Halls address? Referring to this
building, he said: "It can contain and
demonstrate the best apparatus. Many
buildings of this kind absorb most of
the funds in grounds and brick and NOR
tar-and little is left for the contents,
which is the all-important thing"
We must remember that the equip
ment of such a noble building as ours
means the microscope, the delicate scale
and other fine instruments of exact pre-
cision and closest measurement. Charts,
diagrams and models, and all ingenious
attempts to make possible the study of
nature in truthful miniature, together
with the best devices to illustrate cleo
trical forces, must be found within, the
limits Of our work in our laboratories.
Among DR.. Halls words again we find
the following with reference to the fur
n:shing of our own laboratories: "A
larger and larger part of the body of
scientific truth is now incarnate in ap-
paratus, acquaintance with which is
perhaps the very most concentrated pos
sible form Of education. The equipment
of laboratory is it's soul, and is more
precious than its body, and ought to
cost more"
We must then so administer the build
ingJas to utilize it's advantages fully.
The other consideration that should
claim our immediate attention concerns
the financial condition of the school.
To this question the board should give
its close attention and most careful
thought. Here the principal cannot
work alone, but should have the hearty
cooperation of the trustees.
The income of the school increased
about $4,000 during the two years fol-
lowing the occupancy of Walker Hall.
1t has incr eased nearly or quite $50, 900
beyond this increase since the new dor
mitory and dining hall were erected In
other words, the increased income from
term bills and general receipts, exclusive
of interest on endowment, has been
about $45,0)0 more, rather than less,
since the first great step was made in
the development Of the school, and
$50, 900 since the new dormitory and
dining hall were occupied FIVE years
ago. In other words again, the increase
from term bills for the last eight years
represents a sum equal to what We
might reasonably expect to receive as
interest had 1000, 900 been added to our
endowment. And the increase for the
past five years, since we have had the
use of the new dormftory and dining
hall, represents the interest we would
have received had $500, 900 in endowment
been added to our fund These are i'm
pressive figures, and graphic state
ment Of the value to the school OF the
steps taken in it's development prior to
the erection of the Kingsley laborato-
ries. The development of the school
would have been impossible without
these buildings; they have been the
source of the revenue that has enabled
us to extend our courses of study, en-
ploy a more efficient and larger body Of
teachers and call to our aid suitable ap-
paratus. They have not merely been
self-sustaining in matters of heating,
lighting, janitor's service and gem
eral repairs, they have also been
our almost sole source of income.
In other words, they have been at
once the basis of our solvency and
of our power of expansion. Without
them the school must have inevitably
continued in it's distressed condition
of fifteen years ago.
Most fortunately the cost Of the din
ing hall was secured by the bequest of
Dea. Cook, and its erection has not
entailed an adverse interest account.
Since the erection of tse dining hall and
the new dormitory, the school has met
it's steady expansion in a remarkable
way. The ordinary current expenses
that have grown annually have been
carried, new ground has been bought,
a fine oval and playground has been
purchased at great cost from the cur
rent income, and each year our ac-
counts have shown balance on the
right side.
To the debt that has rested on US un-
til now, is henceforth to be added some
thing more than half the cost of con-
struction of the new laboratories. This
building and it's equipment have cost
about 100000 There has been secured
towards this sum about $S0000,, leaving
an unpaid balancerof about $30,O0e.
Again in this as in every other ad-
vance the school has made, we have
acted wisely, and we shall see the
school, responding to it nobly. But still
it is our plain duty to use. every meas
ure to remove this debt at the earliest
possible moment. We have already re-
ceived an impulse of strength from the
laboratories. The present senior class
is nearly double the size of the class
graduated last June, and the growth is
due almost wholly to boys who have
been attracted to our unrivalled, science
courses. In almost every case the new
seniors are graduates Of the better high
schools throughout the New England
States, and have come to us for the
opportunities our laboratories offer.
Furthermore, we shall receive on an
average, should we merely hold our
present members, more than $2500 in
fees from this building, in addition to
the increase in term bills from the grow
ing numbers. This sum will more than
provide for the constant expense in add
ing to apparatus and maintaining the
laboratories 1t should also nearly meet
the interest ON the debt.
Without doubt no other school in our
country can show an equal performance.
These sums do not express growing
income from endowment, but a remark
able increase from term bills; and they
hear eNidence of the Iarae 1uisdntn Of