The Penn's Grove record., 1917-05-18
SCHOOL PROBLEM GROWS.
More Rooms and Teachers Need
ed. Also Better Scholarship

The Board of Education has not had
a meeting to transact business this
month, Notwithstanding there is imp0r-
tant business to elect teachers, also to
provide more room and teachers get
books and provide a course of study
which will improve the scholarship.
The supervisors report for April may
interest some. 1t is in part as follows:
DAYS present ..14.616h
Days absent ............ 1852
tardy ............ 800
Measles and mumps nave reduced the
attendance. The truant officer has look
ed after 200 cases and most of the
truants now attend regularly. Most of
them are in families where the parents
do not control their children.
To provide room for the high school
pupils is a problem. The graduating
class numbers %. The class to begin
next September may nave 56 from the
Sth grade in Penns Grove school. 80
from n. p. Neck Township and 10 from
Oldman's, a total of 90.
The four rooms in the basement may
he fitted up by installing a steam heating
plant. The present hot air system will
hpt hCdt INT OdScHltnl Dln DtSIutS
four class rooms in another building
will be needed.
A drain is also needed to take water
from the basement which soaks in at
wet times.
Two beginning classes are now on
half day sessions. Two extra class
rooms are needed. With two rooms
each for the 18th and Sth grades will
make % graded class rooms below the
high school. We now have 20.
The State Board of Education re-
commended that pupils above IA be ex-
cused to work on farms. Fifteen are
at work. The State Department re-
commends that a supervisor of home
gardens be employed. The teachers are
urging as many as can to make home
gardens.
Pupils from Penns Grove High School
have not been making very creditable
records in some of the higher educational
institutions lately.
The scientific labratory needs addi-
tons greatly. especially a hood to the
chemical labratory to take off the gases.
A letter from A. B, Meredith, assist
ant commissioner of Education stated
thdt iVSullS OI cAdiilllttlDIH lOT ttdcu-
ers certificatks during the past two
years show lamentable failures in Eng.
fish, arithmetic. geography. U. S. his
tory and drawing. 1t is difficult to see
why failures are so marked in grammar
and history as these subjects are in the
programs of study of all high schools.
1t is urged that more attention be given
to grammar and spelling and that in
the senior year arithmetic and geo.
graphy be studied four or five weeks.
Mach help may be had from mono
grams.
COMMENT
The State officials complain of the
lack of school graduates knowing gram
mar and. composition. If they do not
know it they should learn that gram
mar is not taught in may schools. The
fad in the grammer schools has been
language and in the high schools read
novels is a specially. 1t is all very well
in its way. but to the neglect of funda-
mental construction of the language and
the meaning of words it is wrong.
But what are high salaried State Off
Gals doing to remedy the educational
deficiencies except to Recommend their
monogram theories.
Little of value will be brought about
until there be a more uniform system of
text book. At present not only the tax
payers, but the pupils are the prey of
the multiplicity of educational fads pro-
mulgated in hundreds of different books
published every year. What does the
average member of the Board of Edu-
cation know, and what does he care
about education so long as he has the
honor of the office.