The Mena weekly star., 1913-12-25
SHOOL WORK IN
 POLK COUNTY
Bond. Supervisor of Rural z.hools in Arkansas, Writes of Progress He Found During
 His Recent Inspection.

Bond. supervisor of rural schools of Arkansas, who recently ,na3e an inspection trip over part K polk county, writes of what ne
 s.W as follows from Little Rock
 polk county has now had county 4,,nerintendency for a year. anu the nrogress made in the school ,.ark of the county in this snort neriod of time has been most sra'i-
 canntv uniformity of text books s.as heen secured, and with thls Aries of books as basis, the mn '.srtant work of grading the schools |6f the county was begun. A county So,lrse of study, based on the state ss,,rse of study was issued, and '|nder the direction of the county
 ,nerintendent and with the active
 ;d and cooperation of the teachers I6e work of grading the schools o1 |'be county is now far advanced.
 The annual report from thls
 onnty for the last fiscal year will |zhow a splendid increase over the
 .revious year in the valuation of
 ehool property-increasing from
 el 26i to S98,6i5. During the same 4eriod of time, the revenues avail 4ble for school purposes have m |sreased from Sl6,93S to S5i, ,73i:
 rhese increases show that marked material progress has been made. # There are now ten rural schools Sn the county that employ two Teachers, thus insuring more ef- '6cjent work in these schools. It IS |a we'll known fact that two teach- 'ers working together can teach |more students efficiently than three Teachers working independently in |separate schools, because the Glasses are not duplicated.
 The county superintendent has also been working to secure better equipment for the schools, and 1t was observed that a number of the schools visited had recently added to their equipment. A number of rural schools have also installed heating systems, and the county superintendent is urging that as rapidly as possible all the schools be supplied with adequate working equipment in order tkat more eff fcient work may be done.
 County Superintendent Adams is to hold a county rural school promotion day exercise near the closing time of the schools next spring. At this time all the pupils in the county, completing the com mon school course, will be brought together at some central place to be awarded their common school certificates. The holding of exer- cises of this kind must count for much in the school work of the county.
 Practically all of the districts in the county are now voting the full local tax limit of seven mills. It is a most hopeful sign in the school work of a county when the people are willing to vote upon them selves the limit of tax permitted under the law for the support of the schools. Superintendent Adams has worked out in his office a very complete system of filing reports and documents from the different districts. In this way he has at ready command all the information and data for all his districts. This is indeed important to the school work of any county.
 On a recent visit to the county, found the teachers enthusiastic in their work. Superintendent Adams and his teachers are working har- to make the schools bet ter and more efficient. There has been much improvement in the school work of the county under the superintendency plan of work, and the work has only begun. Still greater results in improved school conditions under the direction and leadership of County Superintend- ent Adams may confidently be ex- pected in the future. The superin- tendency plan of work for Polk county is proving most successful and meeting with favor.