Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1914-11-23

shown them that the way TO advance
Is through the school house door.
lie has stirred up his staff OF In
structors 80 that a score OF them now
hold professional first grade certif'-
Gates. the highest that can be Eranfed
In New Mexico. certificates that mean
actual work. study and application to
the science Of pedagogy. Many OF his
staff have been In che county empioy
several years. making the country
school their work instead OF the city
institution.
In 1912 there were but thlrty-fo'Ir
teachers employed By the county To-
day there arc fifty-two. Last yea1
there were forty. Old Albu1nerq'ie
and some other districts have IT.
creased their forcs Of instructors az
much as 90 per cent Under the mr.
isdlctlon of MFR. AIontoya. within inc
last year. the following Increases have
been rade:
In district No. 10. four teachers,
! in,dietfict M. }. onn toach'r; IN aus
trlct M. 1. two teachers; In districts
No. C. No. 4. No. lG. No. II. one
teacher ench.
Higher GradcS Well Intended.
when Mr.. Montoya took office only
1.-Two OF tho 1909 children enrolled ha"
\ progressed as far as the scvcnth grQuc
and none had reached the eighth
! Now .horc are great many more. ~
rs evident by the increased attends.
I ancc. A large shuro Of this lncrenfc
in attendance comes from keeping
tho children In school for longer pc
RODS, which Is admittedly one OF tne
hardest things an educator hns to do.
Quit as important to the school
child. because Of Its bearing upon MS
/ health and eyesieht. as the Increase IN
educational facilities, Is the change
from the od-time adohe school house
TO the modern structure. This chang
ls very largely. II not entirely, tho
work of Mr.. Montoyn. The onc-roon
adobe OF the old days. with It's carth-
en- roof, poor light. little ventilation
and scanfy furnishings has gone 10.
stay In us place has como the com
modious brick or pehhie-dasned
structure. with lots Of !irht---all APP
Piled On the most approved uni-latffsn
lighting system--with adequate sanl-
tafion and ventilation, proper wan
colorIng and cleanliness everywhere.
The new schools are models. They
have had their pictures printed n
many educational Journals and the
tale Of their building has gone forth
to hearten many an ambitious super-
Intcndent who Is faclng problems no
worse than confronted Mr.. Montoyn.
Acts ne an Architccf.
This versatile superintendent not
only Is architect enough to deslgn his
school houses and save directors
money In fees, but he manages the
intricate legal red tape which involves
the Issuance OF bonds TO build thr
structures. He has standardized his
school plans and his bond issue meth
DDS. The result is the most for the
least money In school houses and the
most money for the fewest bonds In
the financial operations.
Uniform ceiling heights ttweive
feet). uniform light buff color for
ceilings, uniform mountaineering erays
for walls, uniform green boards to re- /
place the old blackboards with their
baneful glare, uniform desks. uniform \
metal ce'linps. all condHee alike To q 4
common standard Of excellence and a l
lcssening of cost.
sccures Mann copd lsss,cs.
The district system being IN vogue I
IN New Mexico school management. I
pumber OF separate problems eoB-
fronted the superintendent when he !
took office. rather than rnc largo I
problem. lie Ind to convince not one. I
hut several. sets of men that moro
money WIS needed for school houses !
arid TO- school maintenance. How /
ever his first few months work nro
dpccd four bond Issues. totaipe 4
$4,000. Last year h got two more /
voted by the peopIe. iotallng Sa,5e0. 7
This year he has had four voted and I
has fisiit three schools with tho pro 4
ceeds from the first trio, which to- !.
tailed $500. How many moro he will ,
get this year Is problemationl. The
ioan1 limit Which n school district I
may vote ia Is mills for interest. sink +
ing fund. school maintenance AMI I
other school purposcs Mr.. Montnyn
has got the schools catching up with Z
the demands of the districts now and I
the number Of hand issues each yea''
will likely decrease. running only IA
little ahead Of immediate demands fer
several years to como. AS 4 sample
of the sort of work done. the North \,
Fourth street school, a short distance
outside Albuquerque. in populous
district, stands upon two acres of
ground that cost s2,172. The building
cost $4,000 and the equipment, out I
buildings and fences an additional
$1,000. The entire plant has been set
UP since Mr.. Montoya took office I.
Likewise the Alameda building, /,
which, with equipment, cost $1,000.
1t must be understood that the ex-
penditures in different districts fire.
quently exceeded the amount of the
bond issues voted by those districts.
by reason of the amount OF funds on
hand for those sections. Also some
districts voted several bond issues at
different dates, as their school attend L
ance demanded increased facilities.
The following are the principal ak
penditures for school buildings made
under Mr.. Montoya's jurisdiction:
District No. Is. $4,000: district Nd I
3, $4,000; district No. 4, $4,000: dis Z
trict No Q, $4,000; district No. S, Il
$1,000; district No G, $4,000; district +.