River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1919-12-25
OUTSIDE AID

| f.U
Town of Gilman. ........... $500
Town of Trenton. ........ 12SO0
Village of Ellsworth. ........ 7S.O0
Village OF Spring Valley $500
Clty OF River Fails. $500
Total 81 oe7 oO
Respectfully submitted this 18th day OF
November, A. D. 1919.
Il. A. SEVERANCE
T. B. EATON
E. w. CAMPBELL
County Superintendent of Schools read
his annual report and the same was
accepted.
REPORT OF COUNTY SUPERINTEND.
ENT OF SCHOOLS. 1919
To the Honorable Board of Supervisors
Pierce County, Wisconsin.
Mr.. Chairman, Gentlemen In accord
ance with fixed custom 1 take pleasure in
presenting my annual report as county
superintendent of schools of Pierce County
for the school year ending June 80, 1919.
There have not been any changes in
school district boundaries the past year
and very few alterations in buildings. Two
buildings have been formally inspected by
! the State Department of Education; the
Lindgren and the Clifton Hollow schools
In the former repairs have been made meet
ing the state requirements; in the latter
case the building and site were condemned
Two districts have voted to close their
schools and transport the pupils to other
schools Rock Elm, Joint TO- is transports
ing to Rock Elm and district 2 of Spring
Lake is transporting to Elmwood. The
school in East Ellsworth has been closed
and the pupils are hauled to the high
school building. Beginning this current
school year many districts have started re-
pairs and other improvements. / believe
there is growing strong sentiment for
school Improvement This is manifesting
itself in greater willingness to secure up.
date equipment and in an effort by
boards to secure experienced teachers Dur
! ing the war expenses were held down wher-
ever possible but since then people are
giving more thot and care to the school. We
learned in the war that we were poorly pre-
pared not only in a military way but that
our educational preparedness was far De-
low what we should have right 60 ex-
pect. We experience no trouble now in
getting needed books and apprenticeship
boards are eager to do all they can. Our
weakness lies in the teaching force due
largely to the scarcity of teachers. Altho
the schools in this county are at present
supplied with teachers, we feel that there
is tendency on the part of these to get
away from teaching and into more profit
able work.
The work was badly broken up last year
DtCduS6 OI Tie uu. our SCuOOIS lOSC Ill all
1924 days. The work of supervision nat
urally suffered for the same reason and
failed to visit all the schools 1852 visits
were made and most of these were of short
duration
The work of the supervising teacher is of
a more constructive supervisory nature.
The committee on common schools reelected
Miss Martin for this important work. Dur
ing the year she made LAG visits varying
in length from half to two days. The
to thecOunty superintendent on all school
visitati0ns and he sends to the school clerks
a letter following each such visits as well
as visits made by himself setting forth the
date of the visit, the number of pupils en-
rolled and the number present and such
other comments as he deems advisable on
the discipline, grading and spirit of the
school and makes recommendations for
needed improvements and additional equip
ment where that is necessary
Some Of the schools have extended their
courses of study. Maiden Rock formerly
did three year high school work and are
now giving the full high school course
Prescott and Ellsworth have added manual
training and agriculture, respectively.
Spring Valley has also added manual train
ing. The Rock Elm Graded School has
added the first year of high school work.
ElmwOod has found it's grades so crowded
that it has been necessary to add an extra
teacher.
153 teachers have been employed in the
schools the past year, only seven of whom
were men. ~ of these held state papers,
held first grades, SO held second grades,
held third grades and 80 held teachers
training course certificates. Our school
census was 43 below that of the previous
year. Our graduates numbered 232; 81
from the common schools, % from the
graded and 50 from the high schools. Three
of the schools did not comply with the law
in that they had no school flag; and had
no means of displaying the flag. 81 schools
were running school societies. SO schools
did war saving work % did Junior Red
Cross work; s did work in local history
and 20 did some form of boys and girls
clubWork
10 certificates were issued from the office !:
namely, / first, 9 second, and third One
was refused. SO of our teachers received
the state aid Especial aid given to teachers
who remain in the same school two years
or more and do excellent work. The change
in teachers has ben so general this current
year theat only II have applied for this aid
The laws of 1919 require that every school
must be named and that each must have a
mail box. The minimum salary for teachers
was raised from S45 to $50. The maximum
tuition in high schools was raised from 81
to 50 per week. Teachers whose certificates
were not granted by the county superin-
tendent must register their papers with
him. After Sept. ] this year a person in
order to teach must have an equivalent of
Two years nlgn Sch00l work and one year
professional training. After Sept l. 1923
he must have the equivalent of four years
of high school work and one year profes-
sional training.
In regard to the office can say that the
various reports to the State Superintendent
Teachers Retirement fund, County Clerk
and County Treasurer have been made. The
township library books were ordered in
May. The school board convention was
held in January. ] attended the state con-
yention for superintendent in Wausau in
February. / believe that the proper rec
ords have been kept.
In conclusion I want ito express my ap-
probation of the support this board is
giving to educational matters in the county
believe that at no time has the training of
good citizens been more vital than it is
today and that this must be done to large
extent thru our schools
Respectfully submitted.
H. b. AASTERUD,
County Superintendent.
Ellsworth, Wis,
Nov. 1910.
The Report of NJ. T.. Sparks, Superintend-
ent of the County Farm and home was
presented and accepted.
The Board at this time listened to very