The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1911-11-23
IDEAL SCHOOLHOUSES
Movement to Improve Rural Edu-
cationai Institutions Spreading.
SHOULD BE fiADE INVITING.

ed marked advance in school archi-
lecture in many towns in the rural
sections Of the country. More atteu-
ton is being paid today to school
buildings, sanitation. surroundings ana
location than ever before The United
States was slow in making the start.
but now that the initiative has been
taken there is no excuse for progress
i've school directors not doing every
thing in their power to rclegate the
old, obsolete and frequently insani-
tary buildings TO oblivion, replacing
them with modern, up to date, sanitary
and slightly schoolhouseS.
Il cannot urge too strongly the need
Of an enlightened ana liberal policy in
schooihouse construction to the end
that the schoolhouse be attractive in
appearance and scientifically construct
ed says IoWa's superintendent Of
public instruction 1T may REQUIRE q
few dollars more 10 secure such a
! sehoolhousc, hut it Should be rcncm.
/ bercd that the district is building for
! half q century at least. and only the
/ best should ha considered. The school
house with lis surroundings should be
the most attractive place in the dis
| trtct, in which every child and every
/ patron viii take pride And the school
/ room -houu not only be inviting, but
! it should be 50 ventilated. lighted and
heated that the physical health and
mental energy Of the children shall
not be impaired"
In various Iowa counties the old bar
| ren. barnIikc structure is being sup
planted by neat. commodious ana com,
fortably equipped buildings. Miny Of
them are making rapid strides.
The problem of supplanting the old
schoolhOuse with Il new structure car
ries with it the discussion of several
important topics, chief among them
being the school site, the school build
ing and the ventilation ofsthe building
We can do no better in this connection
than TO quote from Professor w. II.
Gemmill. superintendent of schools in
Dallas county. Ia, who gives practi-
cal advice Oh all these subjects. as fol
lows:
I'm selecting a site tine area Of the
lot, the elevation. the character of the
soil, the drainage, the direction of the
slope a9d the central location should
be considered No school ground
should ever contain less than one acre.
with frontage of $50 feet and
depth Of $40 feet. in the larger con
solidated district 1t should contain not
less than two and may very properly
contain three acres. If possible it
should be an elevated piece of ground.
a small knoll or a gentle slope, and the
drainage should be away from the
yard and house. The soil should be
light, dry and porous A sandy or
gravelly subSoil affords the best drain
age. while an eastern or a southern
slope secures rapid evaporation. Tn
der no circumstances should the stra-
tum be clay impermeable TO ground
water. 1t is desirable that the school
house should be located near the geo
graphical center of the district, and
the board should select the site with
this is mind. but the site should be
high and dry and the brightest and
most beautiful spot near the center
Under 10 conditions should pleasant
and wholesome surroundings be sacri-
feed if better and more suitable site
can be secured some little distance
away. The additional distance in tray-
cling will be labor well spent if there
by the pupils are placed in more beau
tiful and Inspiring scenes.
The house should be placed in
front of the center, with the play
ground in the rear. Where the house
is heated by furnace the fuel supply
should be stored in the basement. If
there is no basement a small building
for fuel should be erected at the rear
of the schoolhouSe.
THE foundation walls Of the school.
house should be brick or stone and eX-
tend a little below frost line. The
walls should be at least one foot in
thickness and extend about three feet
above the surface 1t is usually well
to have u vertical air chamber, and if
there is no basement suitable ventila-
tors should be provided on each of the
four sides, so as to permit Of thor
ough ventilation of the space between
the surface and the floor during the
summer months. Good shutters should
be provided for these openings in or
der that the winters cold may not af-
feet the air within the room near to
the floor
1T would also be a step in the right
direction if there were basement un-
der the entire building. partitioned
into a furnace room. a workshop and
a kitchen. Adequate but inexpensive
tools for manual training can be
bought for SO. Here the boys would
learn to construct simple th,l-S in a
scientific manner and eyeH ST slj the
apparatus necessary tor the school.
A good stove and some Kitchen Utensils
would br SI...eicat for ;h2 teaching Of
the priun'pips Of demosti. cco@omv.
mo NOR important question IS BE-
fore the ,ilrr today ta.u That In
vOlying TIE 'ousn+ Of his ch.3.pN -
school TO-. ,.:.h aI awaErncd apprc-
citation If t. fac, tnat hester rural
schools viii I:..@ "AnH. 81 stay-a;-
home famH} which Wiii not Gad il nee
eSSgrV TO s.pt fine tpy-u fer the dpSirrd