Rogue River courier. (Grants Pass, Or.) 1886-1927, 1906-09-14
GRANTS PASS SCHOOLS
LEAD SOUTHERN OREGON
Enrolment Increases and Twen-
ty-Two Teachers are Now
Employed.

The Grants Pass schools opened
Monday with an enrolment of 5S3,
which is "a more than for the first
4 day of the term last year. The at
tendance will be greatly increased
during the next two weeks by the
return to the city of the families
who went to the hop yards and by
those who moved to the. sawmiIls
and mines last Spring. The corps
of teachers numbers 22, while Ashland
has 81 and Medford IA. thus giving
Grants Pass the lead of Rogue River
Valley towns in the siz of its schools.
The enrolment in the High School
has made satisfactory increase and
City Superintendent r. R. Turner
hopes the number Of graduates for
this year will be double the number
of last year, thus keeping up the ratio
of increase for the number of gradu.
ates last year was just double that of
the previous year. A number of addi-
tional students are expected to enter
the High School but Prof. Turner
does not anticipate that they will in.
crease materially the size of the
graduating class as it is the rule in
all high schools that fully 80 per cent
of those who enter after the first drop
out before the close of the term. The
cause is that student who has not
ambition to start with the class lacks
the energy to keep up with his
studies The High School is q county
high school the fund for its main.
tepance being raised by both Grants
Pass and Josephine county, SO that it
is open free of tuition to all residents
OF the county. Heretofore the county
has. contributed $ll00 each year for its
support the city putting up the bal
ance. At the request of number of
leading taxpayers the county board
Of education composed Of County Su-
perintendent Lincoln Savage, County
Judge Stephen Jewell and Commits
sioners J. I. Logan and NJ. A. Wertz
at their session Wednesday increased
the High School fund to $3.50 year.
This with the increased amount that
the city provided for in its tax levy
for this year will give maintenance
fund for the Grants Pass High School
not exceeded by any similar school in
the state in a town the size of this city.
The course of study in the schools
of the city has been enlarged and
made more in keeping with the de-
mand of the times to have the school
work practical and to fully fit boys
and girls to take up the ordinary vo-
cations of life without the further
expense and time and the necessity Of
leaving home to attend distant
school, In addition to the usual class.
ical and English branches taught in
the best high schools, bookkeeping
and stenography are taught and the
board intends to add typewriting in
the near future. That this latter
study has become a necessity is ap-
parent in the correspondence that a
business man receives, for very
large per cent of the type written
letters show a gross lack of knowledge
by the writers of the most common
rules of spelling, capitals, punctu-
alton and arrangement of the matter.
In a written letter these essentials
can be hidden by poor chirography
but the printed characters OF the type
writer bring them out in embarrassing
prominence. It has come that every
person having even a reasonable
amount of correspondence uses type
! writer and as it is not possible for all
: Co have the benefit of training at a
business college the high school should
fill this need as much as possible.