Norwich bulletin., 1919-06-25

The plan of a junior high school for Norwich which will not only serve as hlgh school but as a memorial for those who gave their lives in the world war met with some opposition at the meeting held at the town hall on Tues day evening. The opposition to the plan was led by Edward Kirby, who in heated words strongly opposed the junior high school as he thought it would add two mills to the tax, and that Norwich taxes were high enough. Albert Boardman was the only other one who presented any opposition. He was in favor of another school, but thought that a technical high school would be much better than the pro- posed plan.
 When the meeting was called to or der by 5. P. Bishop. chairman of the town school committee, at 8.05 o'clock there were little over 100 present. but before the close of the meeting there were nearly 20e in attendance, and all with the exception of a scant score seemed to be in favor of the plan when MT. Bishop called for an expression on the matter. The audience included about 20 women.
 In opening the meeting Mr. Bishop sald that the school board were unani- nous in the belief that the present system of schools was inadequate to the needs of the town. Besides being unable to take care of the constantly increasing number of pupils, the buildings were out of date and soon would have to be discarded and new ones built. The Broadway school, said MT. Bishop, was first class school 50 years ago, but is now severely crit lclzed by the state school inspectors The condition of the buildings, how ever, Is not what concerns us most. It IS our need for more room. In many or the schools the pupils of two grades are m the same room and many of the anteromos have been utilized to af- Iord accommodations for the overflow. supt E. J. Graham has been more far sighted, said MT. Bishop, than many of us. He has seen the need of a new school building and he saw that the new school might not only care for the overflow but give additional education to the children. The plan of the junior nigh school was looked into and it's success in other cities noted This school was seen to be able to supply the need in Norwich. If Norwich has such school she will keep abreast of the times and her educational system will rank with the best in the state TOT city the size of Norwich
 It has been suggested that the building be not only a school but serve as a memorial to those soldiers and sailors who died in the service. The cost or such a building has been carefully investigated by MT. Graham and the total will be about S250, 900. The cost of some of the schools in the west have been investigated and it is thought that the proper building for Norwich would have about 30 rooms at a cost of s7.00o each. making $210,000, and if an auditorium and gymnasium is added it would bring the total I'D to $Zo0,000. The running expenses of the school has been estimated at S20.0O0 per year, which would mean about an additional tax of one mill on the grand list. Our rate. said MT. Bishop, is not as high as many of the cities in the state in. regard to school matters. Out of 32 mill tax the school gets only about eight mills. which is small com pared to other cities. We are better prepared for this than many of the other towns. A school Of this sort will earn more for our town than any other. Not only that, but we as citizens want the best for our boys and girls. We believe that the junior high school does furnish the best opportunities for our children.
 Springfield Man Speaks.
 MT. Bishop then introduced J. H. Van Sickle superintendent of schools in Springfield, who has had more or less to do with the junior high school system of that city, which has one of the best school systems in the country MT. Van Sickle said in part: A city that presents such beauty as Norwich should certainly have the best of schools. You in Norwich. as I under stand it. have the s-grade system, which is a good one. Springfield used to have the s-grade system and then changed to the S-grade method and finally as the need arose adopted the junior high school plan. A great deal has been said about the junior high school and it surely seems as if there must be something to it. as nearly every state in the union has scores of such schools.
 The 6-9-3 plan seems to be the best that is, six years in the elementary schools, three years in the junior high school and three years in the senior high school. In Springfield we felt that we could give the 7th, 9th and 9th grades better advantages by the junior high school. The teachers can do bet