The age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1897-1902, 1900-09-10
THE ANNUAL SCHOOL REPORT OF
SUPERINTENDENT !. /. PHILLIPS
Detailed Accounted the Condition Of
Schools Number of Improve
ments Are Urged.

to additional accommodations. Every
school shows a substantial increase In at
tendance over that of the preceding year.
During a part of the session several of the
schools were over-crowded; indeed at one
time II was necessary to decline appl1ca-
tons for admission into certain classes,
until seats were vacated by Withdrawals.
In each school the principal was required
to keep waiting list of applicants who
were admitted in order, as seats were made
vacant by trasfer or withdrawal. 1t is
unfortunate that 1t should be necessary
to close our school room doors in the face
OF any child that desires to enter. To per-
NIT any room to become overcrowded is
still more unfortunate. An average at
tendance of thirty-five to the room should
be the maximum limit; more than this
number must hamper the teachers efficien-
cy. When the attendance reaches Atty
however. II Is time to call halt; to per-
nit more to enter is not only to impair the
efficiency OF the service rendered but to
menace the physical, as well as the mental
and moral welfare of all. The first half
OF the school year invariably presents more
difficulty in this respect than the second
During the entire year, the fluctuations
In the attendance account of sickness
and other causes, kept the average per
teacher in the elementary white schools
ranging from thirty-five to ffty-fve and
in the negro schools from fifty to seventy.
Whenever congestion threatened certain
classes, the trouble was remedied, so far
as possible, by transfer to corresponding
grades of other buildings But this remedy
fails when all the schools are filled
New Buildings
When the three additional buildings now
projected by this board are completed, the
conditions in our white elementary schools
will be materially relieved. at least for the
next few years. The prospect of contir-
ually increasing attendance upon the
schools during the coming year makes the
early completion Of these buildings i'm
perative, and it is to be hoped that they
will be ready for use not later than the
first of January, 1901.
In a supplementary report | shall present
to the board the results of my investiga-
ton with regard to the proper heating
and ventilation of school buildings.
iUurse of In -tructioa
While the past year has witnessed no
radical departure from the work of former
years in courses of study, textbooks or
methods, the working out of plans and
principles already established has involved
the necessity of change in many matters of
detail. Some of these changes have been
suggested by educational movements COM
mon to the country at large, while the
majority have grown out of our own ex-
perience in following the course of study
prescribed In the essential studies of the
curriculum, such arithmetic, language
and geography, 1t has been the constant
effort of superintendent, principals and
teachers to eliminate all unnecessary de-
tails and concentrate the interest and the
attention of the pupil upon few impor-
tant essentials; intensive rather than ex-
tensive teaching Is deemed the best and
most profitable In arithmetic particularly,
many topics formerly taught for their dis
ciplinary value, have been abandoned. To
the great majority of the pupils in our
schools the business concerns of active life
will seldom require the application of such
topics as annuties. allegation equation of
payments compound proportion, circulat-
ing decimals and cube root. 1t is true
that the study OF these topics would afford
fine mental discipline; SO would the study
o. Sanscrit. There Is no reason why the
same degree of intellectual power may not
be generated by dealing with more practi-
cal and more modern topics. In the ele-
mentary schools thoroughness is required
in the four fundamental principles-United
states money, fractions, common and
decimal denominate numbers mensura-
ton, proportion, percentage with its SIM
pier applications and square root. The
metric system Is touched upon but lightly
Although required in governmental and
scientific calculations It Is but little used
In ordinary business life.
The system 10 explained In the elementary
school SO that those who may not enter the
High School shall be able to acquire Its
practical use with little effort, in the event
the conditions of life require 1t. This seems
to be wiser than to burden children with
something they will never use. The French
system can never be legislated into general
use. The English system, so generally used
in business affairs. Is essential. and every
child is required to become familiar with 1t.
Many of the children In our schools have
but few years at most to get their edu-
cation, and 1t is our plain duty to give
them that training that will find useful
application in their daily lives. The same
applies to the teaching of geogra-
ply and language. The practical and use
full in the subject matter must always be
considered an important determining fac
tor.
The school must emphasize the mechanic
cal processes of education. The child must
acquire the power of skllfully manipulate
Ing these processes by doing for himself
But more important than the mechanical
Instruments of instructions are the power
to feel keenly, to think clearly and to rea-
son cogently. The child should master the
mechanical process of reading, but he will
never make good reader until he under
stands and feels the import of the SUBJ
ject matter. The process of writing should
be mastered until 1t becomes an automatic
and subconscious exercise. More important
than the reading, is the appreciation of
thought and feeling; more important than
the writing Is clear knowledge of what to
slant and vertical writing is harmless. It
simply deals with the external form, and
does not affect the soul OF the matter. The
only requirement that should be made of
The pupil In this respect Is that the writ
ing shall be legible. Each pupil for himself
will In a short time deviate from the sys-
tenn taught and his handwriting will be-
come individual and chara cteristic.
The mechanical process of spelling has
perhaps given more trouble to teachers
than any other subject In the curriculum. |
With no other subject perhaps has there |
been more experimentation to find bet
ter way" But the difficulties of English |
spelling are not confined to school children
There are many educated adults who can |
not spell without the aid OF the dction- |
ary. The difference between the adult and
the child Is that the formers experience in |
life has taught him the necessity for cor |
rect spelling. while the latter In the inno- |
cence of inexperience regards incorrect !
spelling entirely harmless The difference !
between good speller and a poor one de- |
ponds largely upon the development of a
special conscience in the matter It makes !
little difference what method NAV he used