Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1905-05-14
of a new bailding. and its effect on
the community.
mir. H, L. Schmelz,
nHnnntnn Nn

Hampton, Va.
"One can probably find no town in
Virginia where the growth of the pub.
lie schools has been so marked both
in extent and constant steadiness as 1t
has been in Hampton for the past ten
or fifteen years.
the public school children of the town
and many of the county were accom-
modatei in the old Academy" building
on Carey street. This building at that
time contained four rooms and en-.
rolled about $50 pupils under the
principal, Miss Stone, ANA three as
sistants.
Following Miss Stone. Mr.. Wright
Denny was elected principal AT the end
Of his Two years term the school had
added che more room and one more.
teacher and the enrolment was slight,
ly large:
MI. IS. Gordon Cumming. a native of
Hampton, WIS elected 10 s,Icceed MIR
DennV and 1t is with h'> administrl-
ton that the schools really began tD
develop and grow toward their pre-,
sent standard. Mr.. Cumming reorganiZ-
ell the school entirely ami put all of its
work upon the most modern and i'm
proved system. and the people of tie
community, seeing the wisdom Of the
new methods and their fine results be
gan To send scores of children to the
public schools who had heretofore at
tended nothing but il:vate institutions
Probably the NOS. important and
far reaching thin,, when Mr. Cummin:,
did WAS to abolish The OLD eleven grade
system and substitute the eight grade
n II, iyil. lfyh
separate factor To take the place Of
the three grades taken from the gram.
mar school AT the end Of Mr.. Cum.
m!uS's administration the school had
added two more roGuS ond two mOrl
teacher, having to divide one of
each and the enroilmert had growI 10
$50
Mr.. George 4. l3eAIiett WAS the
Eext principal. and conducted the
school along the same lines started by
I'll. Cumming. H.. hal charge FOR IN.
~ ;, during wh.ch tme an,:lr'
room and another teacher was aided
Mr Dudley r. Cow les then tutk
charge Of the school and managed il
Tor the ensuing three year Probably
The greatest apparent growth III the
school took place under his admins,
traIion. In his first year he added one
teacher, having TO divide the one oi
the larger rooms to accommodate her
In his second year the school mtgrew
the building and small! two.rooIn
building on Newport News avenue ana
two teachers placed there to accom-
modatc the overflow. 1t was soon
seen that this would not be sufficiently
long and SO the new West End school
was built. and during Mr. Cowles' last
year the children from the little West
En- 1 building and quite number from
the Academy were sent ont there.
Mr.. Elliott succeeded Mr.. Cowes
and ut tie beginning Of his first term
took all the Wythe district children,
and all other children above the sixth
grade, 10 the new building. Five
teachers and six lower and small
grades were left at the Academy and
MIR. Bonneville was put in charge
there. Al this time there were about
800 children with nine teachers at The
West End and $50 children with five
teachers at the Academy making n
total OF $50 children and fourteen
teachers. Mr.. Thompson succeeded
Mr.. Elliott and Mr.. Brinkley succeed.
ed Mr. Thompson at the West End
during the past four years, and Mr.
Bonneville retained his position at
the Academy" and is still there.
During Mr. Bcnneville's first term
the Academy building was injured
quite seriously by the fire i'm the ad-
jacent mill, and II was decided TO re-
build on the same site rather than
to repair the old building, which had
heen there ever since the war Ac-
cordingly the present. modern eight
room school was constructed and
given the name Symes- Eaton Academy
in honor OF the two original donors OF
the school funds. 1t was thought that
with these two new and large school
buildings the school population could be
easily accommodated for many years 10
come. On the contrary, however, dur
ing the past four years the attendance
has so increased that we now have a
combined enrolment of $50 pupils, and
n teaching force Of %, and the schools
are seriously cvercrowded in several
grades. At the Syme3- Eaton there are
tw0 third grades Tan extra room being
rented for the accommodation OF one
Of them in the Greble haiD and two
fourth grades, while at the West End
there are two fifth grades.
"inving the extra grades I'm the
Symes-Eaton takes all the room and
HiikCS IL Impossible 10 nave an eighth
grade, thus crowdlng the eighth grade
Mt West END and also causing many
children from the extreme East End
in order to attend school in the eighth
gra1e to pass directly by the Symes.
Eaton, their nearest building and &c
to the West End daily. there and hacl
being distance Of between two and
three miles.
xtyfth y,,n r,xt
smaller children of the nth, we having
had to send between fifteen and'twenty
to the extra fifth grade at West END