The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1911-04-27
County School Letter


For every day | stand outside your door,
And bid you wake, aud rise to fight and win.
w. Malone
Eighth grade pupils should be
the busiest of all these days.
Mr., Stanley Kramer and his pu-
pills visited the Springfield Normal
in a body April Goth. They en-.
joyed the trip very much and de-
rived much benefit from the visit
to the higher institution. Trips of
this kind properly managed, are of
mnch benefit to the pupils. The
next afternoon the pupils of the
same school observed Arbor Day
by planting several large trees on
the grounds.
The exterior of the Bon Homme
school house has been treated to a
new coat of paint. The board
contemplates fencing the grounds.
This is IL much needed improve
ment as it is nearly impossible to
grow trees on the grounds success
fully without a fence to keep out
the stock.
A plan of consolidation which
would be almost no trouble and
very little expense to establish is
this: Form districts which are
three miles square and have the
boundaries on the half-section
lines. The geographical center of
the district would then be on a
"four-corners" and as nearly every
one lives near the section lines
scarcely anyone would be more
Than two miles from the school
house and in this case there would
be nc necessity whatever of gener-
ii transportation. A two-story
school could be established here
with a primary aud advanced de-
partment. Now, it is rarely the
case that a teacher is we'll fitted to
teach both primary and advanced
| pupils, SO this plan would offer
the opportunity of placing teachers
in the grade of work for which they
are best fitted. 1t offers, also, the
very important opportunity Of al
lowing the teacher double as much
lime for hsr classes for she would
have only about half as many
classes as she would otherwise
have there would be, too, more
pupils in each class which would
be an important advantage. There
are in Bon Homme county now
eleven school districts which are
two miles square and contain, OF
%course-just four square miles of
Hand. There are a considerable
number of others that have but
very little more than that amount
of land. Most all of these districts
are supporting good schools-some
of them extra good schools-that is,
nearly as good as schools can be
where one teacher has to handle
eight grades. Now a three-mile-
square district, as we all know
contains nine square miles of land.
With a two.room school in such a
district there would he a half-sec-
ton more of land for the support
of each room than there is in a
two-mile-square district with one
room. AS to the matter of a
building, if the patrons did not
care to go to the expense of build
ing a good new one the two old
buildings OF the two districts could
be moved together and one used
for one department and the other
for the other department. The
average cost of such a system
would certainly be less than the
cost Of school in the small districts
now and the results SO much
better, that the country people can
not afford to waste time and money
ON the present plan. 1t can be SO
readily, 50 easily, and SO inexpen-
siyely accomplished, and it will be
SO superior to the present plan
that they can not afford to retain
the present plan any longer.