The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1903-09-21
DISTRICT CITY SCHOOLS.


will likely soon consider. 1t is not 4
new conception, but was publicly adj
yocated some years ago. There are
many reasons in favor of mapping out
the city plot into school districts with
fixed bounds One of the most obvious
is that it would bring individual
attending them. AS it is now, hundreds
of children travel distances measuring
miles to attend school. Many do so
who live within close reach of another
school than the one they attend. The
more convenient school may beat pres
ent undoubtedly is in every instance
crowded. 1t is perhaps gone past be-
cause the child's family had moved
from another part of town, but prefer
red to keep the child in the school he
originally entered. Then the nearest
school may have its attendance largely
of pupils born to a different tongue and
bred to diverse manners from the child,
which, leaving all questions of color
and race out of the account, make con-
ditions amounting to q serious handi-
cap for the child in his educational
progress. This condition incident to
Honolulu's polyglot population is work
ing another way at present, in its
bringing a crush of various nationali-
ties to the grades of the High school
group The result is a crowding out of
children to whom that group of schools
would be most congenial and most con-
venient, not least in some instances be-
cause elder children of the same family
had worked their way up from the
primary of the same group.
No doubt it would be an ADVANTAGE
to children of alien tongues to be
grouped in schools apart from those
born to English, as they need special
methods of tuition for which time cam
not be afforded in greatly mixed schools
without injustice to the English-speak-
ing pupils. Where such grouping can
be done without Fictitious herding or
the purpose, it would be of beneficial
effect all round in the city system of
public schools. The object can be eff
fected without making invidious dis
tinctions between races or tongues in
no better way, probably, than by divid-
ing the city into districts and provid-
ing any one district with just as good
a school house and teaching staff as
any other district. There has been the
beginning of such a system as that here
advocated in existence since the estab-
lishment of Kaiulani school at Palama
and Kaahumanu school at Kulaokahua.
BY a judicious location of the new
Royal school and the substitution Of
the small old schools Kawaiahao way
with one respectable edifice convenient
to the Kawaiahao and Kakaako dis
tricts very substantial progress would
be made in the right direction.
AS the English-speaking residents
nave for a considerable time past
shown tendency to cluster in certain
sections, the institution of district
schools would go far to solve the diff
cult problems of popular education
which have hitherto prevailed. AS pu-
pills of alien race and tongue advanced
in knowledge and general western
habits in the district schools, they
would be entitled as fast as they could
pass reasonable tests to enter the High
school. At this stage they would not
element there. AS a matter of course.
High school accommodation would I'M
der such a system have to be increased.
High schools in mainland cities are
common which have an attendance of
a thousand and upward. It would be
more economical here. as well as hay-
ing other advantages, to have a sim
gle High school large enough to receive
promotions from all the district schools
than to establish small institutions of
that class.
With the absolute necessity of very
greatly increasing the school accom-
mediation of Honolulu now confronting
the Board of Education, there is an op-
portunity of devising system of dis
trict schools which. it is hoped, will not
be left I1niuorovad
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