Norwich bulletin., 1915-08-31
RENINeroN's NEW
HIGH SCHOOL BUILDING
Where Fred .. MahreN Formerly Of
This City in Principal.

The American School Board Jour-
nal, Milwaukee Wis, has an dlustrat-
ed description of the Bennington, VT,
new high school. of which Prof. Fred
erick d. Mabrey is principal. The
Journal says:
The village of Bennington is situat-
ed at the southern end OF the West
ern valley of Vermont. It Is a VII
lage OF 5000 people. II I'm noted. ma
tionally, as one OF the most import
ant towns for the manufacture of both
underwear and of the special ma
chinery necessary for IL and as being
one Of the first towns of it's size to
have Fairgrounds with organized play
under trained supervisor. In many
ways IL Is town in the van Of all
progress that effects the welfare Of the
coming generation.
During the past year. it has added to
its well-eQuipped school system a new
high school building. This is the pride
Of the village and it's photograph re-
cetved the place Of honor in the State
Commissioners annual report for 1914
as the handsomest school building
erected in the state during the year
The building is of brick with a
high basement, built with composition
stone made by filling the concrete
with marble chips and hammering the
hardened product, after the molds
were removed. The trimmings, steps
and cornice are of this same stone In
front are four huted, monolithic col
umns, nodded in stu To gain the
main entrance the visitor ascends a
flight Of steps between two buttresseS,
surmounted by electric torches and
passes into an open vestibule with di-
verging sanded side walls A short
flight of steps leads to the main en-
trance doors These doors give access
to a vestibule with another set of
doors which lead. directly into a ten
foor corridor. which runs the whole
length of the main building from east
to west.
Directly opposite the main entrance
are doors leading into the assembly
room. 1t is a room so by SO. capable
of seating 500 people. The floor is
level and the chairs are mov>$ble so
that all school functions can be held
here. In front of the hall, is a stage
II by %. with two dressing rooms at
either side
The han has eight emergency exits
all plainly indicated by red illuminat-
ed signs. Under crowded conditions
the hall can be emptied in less than
two minutes with no crowding.
Along the west side of the playroom
is the manual training shop.
On the opposite side of the play
room is the Domestic Arts Cooking
Laboratory, equipped with two cooking
tables, made by the boys in the Man
ual Arts course.
TOR evening USE GaCu TOOn Is equip
ped with five eighty-candle power
Tungsten lamps.
Two sides of each room are equip
ped with slate blackboards and one
end has bull % in bookcases with draw
ers below and large coat and stor-
age closet, with looking glass upon
the inner side OF the door.
Each wall is covered with burlap
to q height of six feet.
The building is OF standard second
class construction. The walls have
metal lath with an especially prepared
hard plaster. The floors are of matched
hard wook with sanitary base so that
there are no dust collecting corners.
The whole building is piped for a
vacuum cleaning system.
The building is the best in the state
from both the artistic and the usabil-
| lty standpoints. 1t cost $4,000 for the
building. With the land and the
furnishings the cost has been about
| $4,000. This is cost Of $222.22 per
pupil for the building or OF $24s per
pupil for the whole project.