Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1913-06-11
ONE SESSION IS
HURTING PUPILS
Montclair Parents Complaints
at Last Considered by the
School Authorities.

There has been considerable agita-
ton recently among the parents Of
pupils attending the Montclair Pub
lie Schools against the one session
plan nov in force in that city. They
advocate a change to the two-session
plan. Several times Of late parents
have complained TO the Board of
Education that the health Of their
children has been injured By the long
session, from a. m. TO lis p. m,
with two recesses, one Of FIVE min
utes and another of twenty minutes,
with barely time 10 eat a sandwich.
AS the present board is not respon-
sible for the one session plan, which
was adopted about eight years ago,
it decided through It's health COM
mittee TO call a meeting for the dis
cusison of the matter The meeting
vas held last night in the assembly
room of the High School. and of the
$50 men and women who attended
only two, both of them teachers.
advocated continuance Of the pres
ent system.
DR.. F. P. Backman. OF Upper Mont
clair, who is member Of the COM
mittee which is investigating the New
York schools, said You could count
on your fingers all the schools in this
country that have the one-session
plan. No elementary school, with the
most loyal body Of teachers. can full
I'll its proper functions on a one-ses-
sion plan.
1T is lamentable," he said, that
the children of the fifth grade. after
a long session. have to go home to
study They are muddling over their
books with only a 50 per cent. eff
cheney and believe they are studying
their work, when they are really do
ing nothing"
DR.. Fletcher F. Carman declared
that he was now treating FIVE pa
tents whose i'll health he attributed
to the one-session plan. THE pu-
pills. he said, have breakfast at I
o'clock and get nothing to eat, except.
perhaps, a dry sandwich, until 2
o'clock in the afternoon. In many
cases the family has had its midday
meal, and the pupil has to take what
is handed out to him. This, with the
long. continuous hours of study, is
sufficient to make the average child.
between 10 and II years old, mental
and physical wreck"
John D. Newman read letters from
thirteen Montclair physicians, ten OF
whom favored the twe-session plan.
He also read letters from three COL
lege professors who favored the two
session plan.
| Prof, j. c. Stone, of the Montclair
Heights State Normal School. said he
| had communicated with forty-six
| boards of education in towns similarly
| situated to MontcIair in this State
and in New York and Massachusetts,
and received answers from thirty
five. OF the thirty-five. thirty-fou
had the two-session plan and the
other one apologized for having the
one-session system. He declared that
| the health of his own two children
had been injured by the one session
| plan since he took up his residence in
Montclair and that he was compelled
several times to take them out OF
school for medical treatment and
rest. Hsg
He Favored Change.
Joseph Buchanan favored change
to the two-session scheme, and sym
pathized with Professor Stone, de-
| claring that the health of his own
| children had been endangered from
the same cause. Former School Com
missioner Ellis L. Aldrich also ia
vored the two-session idea.
Those who spoke against the
change were Miss Green, teacher
in the Maple Avenue School. and Mr..
| Chase. a teacher. in the Hillside
| Grammar School. Both declared that
the pupils were just as bright at the
| closing periods of the session as they
were at the first period. All the mem
bers of the Board of Education were
present, and the president. Arthur c.
| Harris, presided at the meeting.
Mr.. Harris said that the health
committee of the board. under whose
auspices the meeting was held, would
make its report TO the board. when
the matter would be taken up. As
! the meeting seemed to be all one
! I'll