Daily Arizona silver belt., 1907-09-25

parents may make your work easy or hard, successful or a comparative fail ure.
 the progress of their children, their tar diness, absence, misdemeanors, etc. In the administration of any severe dis cipline it is we'll to confer with parents in regard to the same.
 At the same time that we urge you to become acquainted with the parents and home life of your pupils, we are not forgetful that parents owe it to you and to the successful education of their children that they shall meet you at least half way. A duty devolves upon them to search you out, to learn your motives and points of view; on the whole, to get your side of the question. Now, l come to speak of what will be one of the most exasperating and difficult things with which you will have to contend, namely, truancy, tardiness and absences. Those of you who have been in other schools, I doubt not, will be appalled, by the frequency of and apparent unconeern about tardiness and absence. The enormity of this matter will become apparent by comparison with other schools in other parts of the country. For instance, take Colorado Springs. In that city the school enroll ment is about 6,000 Their per cent of tardiness on the enrolment is seven. Globe $ is thirty-seven, or more than five times as great.
 It is our hope that every endeavor will be put forth to correct this eondi- | tion. It is unfair to the pupils who attend regularly and who come on time that others should be absent or late without good reasons. Recourse to a few figures will show how absences and tardiness rob the faithful of their just rights. Suppose that you have fifty pupils in yoar room and that all are , in their places on time but two. These ! two come in after the days work has been begun. They interrupt the work for two minutes each, or four minutes | for both. Four minutes each for fifty pupils is two hundred minutes, or more than three hours of time lost to the room. And in the case of an absence, the pupil falls behind, say, just one lesson in each study. He returns the next day and it becomes necessary for the teacher to leave the rest of the room to themselves and coach him for thirty minutes. That one absence means a loss to the rest of the room of twenty ! five hours. l repeat that it is unfair to those pupils who attend regularly and punctually that others should be habitually late or absent without suffi- eient cause.
 The school laws of this territory re- quire that you shall require an excuse from each pupil who is absent or tardy. | You will adhere strictly to this law, not so much for your own information as that parents may be fully aware of all absences and tardinesses of their children. l have found from experience that most parents appreciate hotif cation of their child s absence as a means of preventing truancy, and that they cordially cooperate with the teacher to that end.
 You will find yourselves much ham pered in your work by reason of the crowded condition of the schools.
 In the central building we have but 52s seats, all told, and we have GAG children to occupy them. Judging by the reports of last year, there will bC not fewer than 700 pupils to be cared for in the central building by the first of October. Last year new pupils en tered the schools at the rate of good sized roomful every month for si, months after school opened. The sam, condition is likely to prevail this year
 As soon as the new buildings arc completed we shall have room; mean while, you will have to do the best yor can.
 We regret the necessity that is upor us of putting some of the grades upor half day sessions. l know that such al arrangement is always unsatisfactory to teachers, but it is also unsatisfactory to the patrons of the school. Under existing circumstances do not see how we can do otherwise with the facilities which we have on hand.
 In closing this address l wish to ex tend hearty welcome to the new teac h CTS, words of praise to the old, and tC express the hope that we may, one anC all, work harmoniously together, always remembering that these young lives ar' committed to our keeping and that t is our supreme business to educate then in mind, body and character, both b, precept and example.