St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1917-04-11

school commissioners having decided
upon such a course. The graduates
u frof the graded schools in June will
Y not be affected by the change and will
enter the Academy for q full high
school course the same as usual. In
1918 the couse will be extended to
three years and three classes viii be
enrolled in the work. Supt. w. II.
Young goes to Montpelier on Monday
to confer with the state educational
department and to secure principal
to take charge of this school. It's
understood that for the first year the
"a students of the junior high school will
" be taught in one of the Summer street
y school buildings.
d A very interesting and instructive
Srarticle on Junior High Schools, writ
= ten by Ralph c. Mayo appeared il
4the last issue of The Vermont Tc
81 give st. Johnsbury people a better
#idea of the school and its work we APP
IS pend the entire article.
There are four questions which the
principal of junior high school is
| most frequently asked and which
III shall endeavor to answer from his
IS viewpoint. What is the junior higl
81 TEN? What are the purposes of sucl
q school? What is the junior higI
81 school doing in the local communitie:
II of Vermont? l shall devote a small
"a amount of space to the answer of tn
first two of the above questions as the
#t bird and fourth are the ones which
come home and are to spell either the
word success or failure.
FL The junior high school is a hybri6
%between the high school and tht
grammar school. 1t takes the child
! after he has completed six years in tn,
Elementary school and places him il
THE environment of the high school
81 Instead of dividing his school days in
to eight and four year periods, it di
vides his work into two six-yea-
periods from which comes the name
"siX-six system" The child is hall
through the high school when gradu-
ated from the junior high. The junior
high has only a four year course
whereas the junior-senior high has a
six year course devOting two more
years of time to school work and fit
ting for college.
Why not keep to the old system of
eight years in the grades and four
years in the high school? There are
several answers. The old system is
not fulfilling the requirements of the
majority If it does why do q large
majority of high school graduates
make the statement that we so often
hear? MY high school training has
Given me no direct assistance in my
present work" Why. do rs per cent
of the pupils leave the school as soon
as they have completed the law re-
quirements? There is no logical rea-
son for making the change at the end
of the eight year period; there are
logical and justifiable reasons why the
child at the end of the sixth year Of
his training should receive the benefit
of a high school which is not entirely
guided by tradition. 1t is at the end
of the child's first six year period that
the average body and mind are pass
ing through their adolescent stage and
Eahy changes made at this time do not
antagonize or discord the action of the
chlld. If the old system was satiSfac-
tory why do We find q large percent
age of the parents, after the habitual
knockers are eliminated dissatisfied
with the system? Speak with the
parents Of our Vermont boys and girls
3Sld if a fair number are taken you
F.
hent
What are the purposes of the junior
High school? The junior high school
special organization of grades 7
20 (a) providing by various means for
Individual differences especially by an
&arlier Introduction of prevocational
Work and of subjects usually confined
10 high school; OBJ providing by means
nj 0yt CT md NJ;
bloration for the pupils of various
Fields of learning and of the pupils
pwn interests. aptitudes and abilities;
@c) providing departmental teaching
promotion by subject, differentiated
curricula and special attention to eX-
ira class activities; (d) providing
Draining particularly to fit for life the
PUPILS likely to leave school before
completing the senior high school.
In this article the industrial courses
Sre emphasized. 1t is not intended to
have the impression that the academic,
pllege preparatory courses are neg
kcted. AS a matter of fact the new
purses by their practical nature make
pr better arithmetic, English, geog-
hphy, etc, than was possible with un-
Real material. The courses ordinarily
Eiven in the seventh and eighth grades
IRE retained but their content is modi-
led SO as to realize the aims stated
Dove.
Around a core of courses designed
meet college entrance requirement.
re offered certain electives of suffi-
lent variety that all the pupils viii
8e doing worthwhile work in fielt
Which makes a strong appeal to theil
overall interests and capacities. The
upil begins the study of a foreign
language in the 7th grade when hi.
Eocal cords are plastic, his memory
1nd initiative powers are good, ani
kvhen he is naturally interested in
seeret language. He begins this worl
when his interests would ordinaril,
lead him to devise sign languages ant
earn to talk "hog-Latin." In English
his taste for good reading is developed
hnd he reads widely so as to have
broad background for his future stud
Rnd reading. He works in the field O
general science so as to answer hi
why's" and at the same time explor
these subjects so his election of course
later may be intelligent He gets tn
inspiration which comes from workin
l. Il.