The Washington herald., 1908-08-29
STUART OUTLINES
W0RK In SCHOOLS
General Conditions Here Bet
ter Than Ever Before.
PUPILS NOW NUMBER $4,000
Many improvements Made During
VaeatiOn-AccommO PrOvid-
ed for $4,000 More PuPils-COn-
demned Buildings Made Safe-Five
1eyv Houses Under Construction.

when the fall term OF the Washing
ton schools opens OF September Il. aboU-
three weeks hence. said Superintendent
OF Schools A. T. stuart last night, -the
school system Of Washington VIII be IL
better general condition and better pre-
pared q meet the needs Of the $500
children of the District than ever before"
superiutendeut Stuart returned on
Thurs-ay night from his vacation spent
at Atlantic City. and says the iuvig0rat-
1ug effects Of the salt water have PUT
hin in fre shape TO handle the rerus
o1 tie schools I-- the coming nine
months
Cher among the Improvements men
toned By The superintendent Is the in
creased facilities for the accor-modaJion
OF the constantly growing numbers o.
school children in tle city Last season
there was considerable trouble expert
enced by the authorities in finding places
FOR t-e great number of applicants
Room Is Limited
Owing To the condemnation by the fre
marshal of the District of several Of the
buildings because of possible danger in
case OF IRE. The already limited available
room was greatly reduced. and The stu
dents IN many instances had 20 be housed
Temporarily in rented quarters
This was especially true In the case Of
Mckinney Manual Training School at
Seventh street and Rhode Island avenue
northwest The enrolment Of that insti-
1ution is about 71l and the authorities
were able TO seat in the building last year
IL j
[0T service this term VIII arccmUodate
some 80 more An appropriation viii BE-
available next summer 10 make another
addition on this building. which viii
make room for the entire enrolment 10y
faIl OF next year
Outside OF this school new buildings
and additions 20 the graded schools Of the
city now ready Tor occupancy when school
open viii provide talr-y-fo-r rooms more
IN seven buildings, or accommodations
for about $50 pupils These additions
are IN the following schools White
schools. Van Ness. located In the south
east. the Emory Ia lexington the Pet
worth in Perwo-rh- the Gage in Bloom
.uEdalz- the LauECo-. IN LaCEd1l. and
Ihs Brignrwo0d. in Er-elrwood PARK
The DearwooG. located in Dsanwlud,
D c.
New school BuiIdings-
use this year. there are in course Of con
structicn Two new E5-r1om school build
t-gs and one 11-rlom one The Henry ID.
Cooke school iu Seventeenth street. near
Euclid street northwest. is planned % re-
liave The congestion OF IL schools In Co
1umbia and Washington Heights
For the use OF colored pupils. the Mott
School the other SiEcezu-r1ou building.
Is well under way near the Howard Uni
versity- The Bryan. of twelve rooms. is
being built on Capitol HIu near Lincoln
Park These buildings VIII greatly aid
IN the handling OF the children in the
district named
The three schools. the Potomac. Threl-
keId. a-d Beuri1z- and the Two school
additions. al The johnson and the Cook
al OF which were condemned by the FIRE
CHIEF last spring. have all been remod-
eled during the summer and are now
ready % be -e-uccup.s6-
A recent appropriation Of Congress for
The purchase OF thirteen portable school
houses makes an additional provision for
ac-oDu5dauln Of pupils Superi-tend-
e-r Stuart Is a firm believer IN this mode
Of building de says thai it is Il ad-
vantage not only for the purpose of re-
Levl1E unexpected congestion. but also
IN The following Of moving population
ce1ters something which happens not in
Frequently i1 this city
Capt. Oyster Has Been Busy.
Capt James T. Oyster. president OF the
beard OF education. has been in the city
al through the summer. experimenting
The work Of the new building. and he
now has all ship-shape for September
q As far as IS known ar present. all
Of the l.7-5 teachers IN the local schools
VIII return 10 their duties on time. Many
Of them have been away al various uni
versity sumner schools. studying school
and teaching methods
Tons OF supplies for the whole system.
consisting Of textbooks. copy-books.
paper. pens. pencils, chalk, &c. have
been purchased and are now stored in
Ihe Franklin Building. preparatory TO
their being distributed 10 the schools next
week
IN the resignation Of two OF the leading
supervising principals Of the public
schools. Superintendent Stuart feels that
me city experienced 2 distinct loss
Charles s. Clarke. OF the First division
resigned 10 accept the superlate1cency
q the schools Of Souervile. Mass. W
W Black left The schools TO accept an
appointment as professor Of pedagogy IN
The Indiana University
T. ". 1Iurch has been appointed TO III
the vacancy caused by the departure OF
1Ir. Clarke. but the other place is as yet
unified
No Change In Courses.
Regarding the courses Of instruction TO
be followed this year. Mr. Stuart said
that there has been little change The
great tendency Of the modern school the
ory and practice is toward giving more
and more attention TO the physical side
Of the growing child and toward more in
dIvidual instruction in place Of the an
cieur class idea
Superintendent Stuart says that when
he first began teaching school in this
city, about 1870, every. teacher had some
sixty children under his or her charge
This IS now reduced 10 about forty. and
The trend Is to reduce II even further
To get al the real individuality Of each
and every pupil, 10 discover and segre
gaze the defective pupil from the mass.
is the idea Of to-day. IN this way none
are retarded OF sent ahead at such
pace by being obliged 70 follow a class
that they fan 70 absorb what the teacher
IS trying 20 instilL
Superintendent stuart Is sanguine as 10
the future OF the public school system