Staunton spectator and vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1896-1916, 1907-07-05
Some Important Considerations on
School Construction.

Some Important Considerations o.
School Construction.
CONTINUED from last week
EXTERIOR DEsIGN.-The exterior o
the building should possess merit an
ar stic excellence in architecture. Il
should be of simple design, free from
an eXuberance of ornamentatiOn, bu
possessing good proportion and proper
ly disposed masses. 1t should be th,
trnthful expression of the internal ar
rangement or plan, and should be de.
void of such accessories as meaning
less gables, sham towers, and the like
A school building should have the
above characteristics ip order 20 exert
an educational and elevating influence.
Tie use of galvanized iron or sheet
metal for architectural features should
b reduced to minimum; materials
of a more permanent character requir.
ing little or no attention should be used.
Al artistic, beautiful, and chaste de
sign does not necessarily increase the
cost of the building.
| THE SCHOOLROOM.-The standard
sc oolroom demands that Is feet of
floor space and 200 cubic feet of air
space be allotted to each pupil Its size
should be rs feet wide by 30 feet long
and 13 feet high, with seating capac
lty for 4S pupils.
Tue windows should be on the long
side and on the end opposite to the
teacher g desk. but never on the two
10 lg sides. The amount of glass sur
face of the windows admittir light
should be from one-fourth to OF sixth
of the floor space of the room, the
rooms on the, north side having rela.
lively more than those with southern
exposure of clear sky line. The use of
ribbed glass in the upper sashss will
increase the effective lighting Of the
room. The use of luxfer prisms is es-
pecially effective when the windows
open upon narrow street or court
The windows should be set with the top
as near the ceiling as possible. leaving
about six inches to the glass, as the
best illumination is produced by light
coming in as near the ceiling as possi-
be. There can never be too much
window surface in room, as direct
sunlight can be excluded with shades
or blinds. The space between the win
dows in every case should be as narrow
as will conform with good construc.
uion. In Holland the minimum space
between windows is one and one half
feet.
A greenish color for the walls seems
best. The ceiling should be white.
Each classroom should have cloak
room which should connect with the
hall and the classroom. 1t should be
heated and ventilated, and lighted
from the outside.
Tine blackboards should be of slat Q,
and four feet wide. Those in the pri
mary grades should be twenty six
inches from the floor; in the interme
date thirty inches, and for the higher
grades thlrty-six inches from the floor.
Every blackboard should be provided
at the bottom with trough two and
one-half inches wide. The trough
should have an open wire cover. with
One-quarter inch m esh, set with hinges.
The object of this cover is to permit
the crayon dust to fall through into the
trough and so lesson the stirring up of
the crayOn dust that is SO injurious to
children and teachers
The platform of the teachers desk
and chair should be discarded, because
of the dust and dirt that collect behind
and underneath it.
CLOsETs.-CIosets should be outside
the building. They should be we'll
lighted. The floor should be asphalted.
Well constructed closets and latrines
with the best plumbing and appar atus,
and kept thoroughly clean, are the re-
quirements that will insure satisfac
tion.
HEATING AND VENTILATION.-G
ventilation. heating and lighting of q
schOolroom will augment the capacity
of attention of pupils by at least one
fifth as compared with that of children
taught in schoolroom of common
G instruction. bad air prod uoes a gen.
al lowering of strength and vigor and
greater prOneness to respiratory and
other diseases. The drOWsiness and
languOr SO frequently noticeable in
school children are to the intelligent
teacher not an indication of wilful in
attention, but the need of purer air.
Yawning is cry of the nervous sys.
TEN for purer blOod-fOr blood contain.
ing more oxygen and less effete mat
ter. In order to ventilate school
room properly, it is nee essary to re.
move quickly the air vitiated with re
sp ration and to replace it with frest
air. There are two kinds of ventila
llion, natural and artificial. Hhe ma
tural ventilation is produced b. the or
dinary interchange of air when door
and windows are allowed to remain
open. Artificial ventilation depends
upon the assistance of heating appa.
ratus, or of some mechanical appli anc,
t ,r the forcing of the air into til q room
and sucking it out of them. Natura
ventilation is possible only during th
warmer months and must be discard
ed entirely during the winter months
Investigation and experience show tha
the heating and ventilation of schoo