The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1912-12-16
WILL SOON MOVE
into MISSION
FREE KINDERGARTEN AND REV.
9. E McRAcKEN ARRANGED
FOR FRONT STREET SCHOOL
TO OCCUPY ROOM I'M THE GLAD
THINGS CHURCH.

HIsH
In a short time the free kindergarten
will be removed from the little old
school In which 1T has been located for
many years and viii occupy a room in
the new Glad Things mission on the
same street, Rev. O. e.. McCracken and
the ladies Of the kindergarten having
entered into an agreement for that
purpose, for the old building is total
ny UNITED by reason of its age, for
the purpose.
Ii was about twenty-six years ago
that the institution was formed in this
city by Miss Stout, who at that time
was a teacher In the Washington
school, and who saw the need for
such a school among the thickly set
tied locality and Miss Stout and Miss
Birchell were the first teachers, Civ
ing their time gr~atHitopsly to the
work.
The first board of directors was
composed OF Mrs. Alex Stern, Mrs. /.
=. Clapp, Mrs. o. u. de Lendrecie and
William Bal1ou. AT the first the att
tendance was quite small, but it kept
growing all the time until the average
has been for the past few years forty
two. The first school was held in the
little old sehoolhouse which is still
housing the Institution and this was
the first school1ouse ever constructed
in Fargo. lit stands on land that was
leased from the Northern Pacific rail-
road n as the road expects to use
this land at no great distant day, the
school must be moved.
Mrs. Stern and Mrs. Ike Herbst last
spring went before the Fargo board of
education and asked to have the build
ing moved onto another lot and re-
paired and a committee was appointed
for the purpose but nothing has been
done. SO that the new arrangement lis
for the schooIto occupy a room in the
new mission church, the services of
the janftor to be paid part by the
church and part by the board Of the
kindergarten.
The present board of directors is
composed of the following
President-Mrs. i. p. Clapp.
Secretary and Treasurer-Mrs. w.
G.. Macfadden.
Difectors-Mrs. Alex Stern, Mrs.
Ike Herbst, the above mentioned Of
fcers and r, B, Blakemore and John
D.. Farrand.
The Froebel system of kindergarten
work is taught in the school and that
the teachers have been successful is
easily told by the number of men and
women who, in the past twenty-five
years, have made successes of their
lives. There are men who are now
successful attorneys, men who are
successful in business, who secured the
nucleus of their education i n this little
school. The ladies who have been for
twenty-five years engaged in thewwork
are still attending to their duties for
Mrs. Stern and Mrs. /. p. Clapp, and
Mrs. Herbst pay frequent visits to the
school. They feel that their efforts are
rewarded. The present teacher is
Miss Keifer and she has an assistant.
The past summer was the first dur
ing which an attempt was made to
keep school, a play ground vas opened
and there were regular instructions
given.
what we need now" said Mrs.
Stern, is a building to house our school
properly. In Minneapolis when the
free kindergartens were first intro
duced the first one was placed right
in the thickly settled portion of the
city, just as the one in Fargo and
from that on others sprung up as they
were needed all over the city, but we
believe that there is no place in Fargo
that is needing such an institution, so
much as does that part of Front street
which is benefited by the school. We
went before the school board last
spring in an endeavor to secure the
moving of the old building onto a lot
which we had secured, and we asked
to have the building repaired. al COM
mittee was appointed for the purpose,
but it. was found that unless we Sc
cured petitions of a majority Of the
voters Of the city the school board
could do nothing. We have been get
ting small donations each year from
the board of education and are very
thankful for that but we feel that the
time is here when the school should be
fathered by the board, and we think
that we have done our duty. The work
is of such a character and appears to
us to be SO necessary that we do not
care to abandon it, neither shall we
I'VE are feeling grateful to the
young ladies' who promoted and car
ried through the recent charity ball,
for it was a grand and 1t
netted something like 5000, which will
be Of great help to us in carrying out
our plans for the winter"