The Washington herald., 1920-02-02
NEED SCHOOL
IN ANACOSTIA
Buildings are Fast Filling
Up-Proyision Made
For Building.
KETcHAM EXCELLENT.
Plenty of Space for Play:
Board Must Include Sec
ton in 5-Year Plan.

Anacostia is better off from a
school standpoint than many sec
tions in a more central part of the
city, although the buildings there
are fast filing up. and the section
will need an addition in the not
very distant future. However, am
pie provision has been made for a
larger building there, as the lot on
which one of the schools is located
covers half a block.
The ketcham School, an eight
room building on Good Hope read,
is one of the new and best equipped
buildings of the school system. 1t
is situated in the corner of a piece
of land which takes up half the
block. AS it is now the children
have spacious grounds in which to
enjoy all of their outdoor games
which are encouraged in the schools.
Plan Extension.
When the plans for this building
were drawn provision were made
for an extension of eight or sixteen
rooms to be built as the section 5
school population increased. Even
with the building of additions to the
original building, there will still be
left spacious fairgrounds for the
pupils there. While there are at pres
ent other sections of the city which
will need buildings before thost at
Anacostia, the Ketcham certainly
would have to be included in the pro-
posed five-year building program on
which the Board of Education now Is
working
Just IA few blocks to the southwest
of the Ketsham stands the Van Buren,
School, one of the very old type OF
eight-room buildings. The Van Buren
is on w street southeast. between
Thirteenth and Fourteenth streets.
and the children here are not so well
off from the standpoint of play
ground space and modern school
equipment as their schoOlmates who
attend the Ketcham.
The school property here extends
through the block to V street. 'front.'
ing on which is very old building
known as the Van Buren, Annex. Here
the children of Anacostia are taught
sewing. cooking and carpentry. This
was the original Van Buren, School,
and although under heavy pressure a
rom or two might be used for class
room or two might be used for class
and not befitting the children of the
National Capital.
Use stove Heat.
The building is heated by an indi-
vidual stove in each room. While this
is satisfactory for the manual train
ing and domestic art classes, where
the children are moving around most
of the time. it would not be well for
rhfI1ran ~ - In af THAR
desks from two to three hours at a
time.
There is a small vacant space sur
rounding the two buildings which is
used as playground space, but it is
small and not suited for the playing
of present-day competitive school
games. Children of this school, to par
ticipate in these games and practice
them. usually go to the Ketcham
Fairgrounds.
Owing to the pressure in the various
classes and purely for the purposes
of efficiency and distribution these
two buildings are operated as one unit
by the supervising principal, although
there is a principal for each building.
Primary Glasses Large.
The classes at the Ketcham School
are. for the most part, made up Of
children in the "B" grades. while
those in the a. grades are required
to &c to the Van Buren, School. By
this distribution it is possible to pre-
vent loading too many children on
one teacher, or requiring her to teach
two classes in one room.
The primary classes in these schools
are large. running up as high as for
ty-eight to class and in one or two
instances to fifty. a very inefficient
arrangement. However. it is forced
on the school administrators by lack
of room and shortage of teachers.
Tomorrow The Herald will out
line the crowded conditions mt the
Ludlow. webb and Madison schools
in the Northeast section.