Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-01-17
Wider Use Of
School Plant.

schools as recreation centers and for
social purposes is being enacted In all
parts of the country. These facts are
brought out in a report of survey of
the movement which has been made
for the United States bureau OF edu-
cation during the past year by Clarence
Arthur Perry. recreation expert of the
Russell Sage Foundation.
The people in many sections Of the
country, according to Mr.. Perry. have
given up the idea that schools should
be open for only four or five hours
each day and closed for public uses in
the late afternoon and at night. In the
vast number of letters which have
been received from school superintend-
ents by the expert there is scarcely a
dissent from the view that wider use
OF the school buildings and grounds
has come to be accepted as BILE.
Speaking of the recent progress in the
movement, Mr.. Perry says:
"The most convincing evidence that
both school officials and the public
want to extend the use OF the school
plant is seen in the number and char
use of the school halls in the after
study hours Of the day and evening.
In general this condition has come
about thrGuEh ersater h9spta1! t
largest class of bodies seeking such
use of the school halls is composed of
the mothers clubs. patrons societies
and other forms of parent-teacher or
CARNATIONS.
Next in Importance are the various
taxpayers. ward and town improve
ment associations. These groups natu-
rally resort to the schoolhouse as the
neighborhood Allied with them are the
women's civic clubs, housewives
leagues and similar ORGANIZATIONS with
civic and cultural objects.
''In the thousands of letters which
have come into the bureau of educa-
ton we have found that another large
group Of organizations meeting in the
school building is made up OF those
engaged in some kind of musical en-
deavor These include choral and ora
torical societies. bands and amateur
orchestras. To the school building also
come art clubs. natural history So
cleties. chautauqua circles. county his
torical societies. Dauehters and Sons
lar groups interested in self-improve-
ment. Still another large class is
composed very appropriately of Boy
Scouts. Campfire Girls. junior chambers
of commerce and other bodies OF young
people with similar aims. In the rural
districts the farmers Institutes and
grange meetings are frequently held
in the schoolhouse.
an some of the states where laws
have not been enacted to permit the
alton centers superintendents have
taken a liberal attitude toward re-
quests which have cone in for the use
Of the buildings. One state superin-
tendent says that the. policy of our
committee IL to allow the school plant
to be used as frequently as possible
until objection is made
THE use of the schools as voting
places is extending to all parts of the
country. Many cities have used the
school for this purpose for years. and
included in the number are Boston. Los
Angeles. Milwaukee, Worcester. Mas
sachusetts. Seattle and other places.
Besides the use of the schools al So
cial and recreation centers and as
meeting places for various civic asso-
Citations. Mr.. Perry's report shows that
much has been accomplished in adult
education through lecture courses car
ried on in the public schools of a num-
Der Of cities.
The wider-use-of- the school plant
movement has resulted in library ex-
tension through school branches in
many cities, and some of the superin-
tendents report that the movement has
led to the making of the high school as
an art center for free exhI billions of
/, good pictures which are brought from
private homes, art societies and public
art galleries The report lists the fol-
lowing states as those which have en-
acted recent legislation providing for
wider use of the school plant: Cali
fornia, Indiana, Idaho. Iowa, Kansas,
Kentucky and Massachusetts,.
RAYMOND W. PULLMAN.