Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1920-10-19
D. c. SCHOOL, RELIC
Of BYG0NE DAYS,
MENACE TOPUP|LS
One Room Shack Poorly
Lighted and Heated by
Ancient Stoves.

Within two miles of the thickly
populated section of Washington there
stands a picturesque old rural school
house, which the youth of the neigh
borhood are required to attend under
the laws of the District. 1t is only
one of the several ld-fashioned types
of buildings in the public school sys-
tenn. which were erected soon after
the civil war. and still are called
upon to accommodate the children OF
the nations capital.
When built. in 1874. sign bearing
the inscription. Public School," was
placed on the front. Today the same
sign remains on the building. but it
is known to residents of the COM
munity.s the children. and school Of
ficials as "The Conduit Road School"
The building IL located on a gov
erntnent reservation on the heavily
travelled Conduit road about = mile
and a half from Georgetown. Despite
its prominent situation, its existence
is virtually unknown to a majority. Of
the residents of Washington.
This school was considered model
in it's day, but that was forty-seven
years ago. 1t is a small, one-room
frame structure. which boasts a
single modern convenience-a tele-
phone The school has no lighting
system. Its heating facilities consist
of two old stoves, which are said
to have been condemned years ago,
and referred to by the children as
hard coal burners" The only time
the stoves throw out sufficient heat
to warm the small room, it is said. is
on a warm day. The cold days of
winter find the pupils shivering, and
their teeth chattering
No Running Water.
Unlike the more modern schools in
the city limits. the Conduit Road
School has no running water. When
the pupils want a drink they are
forced to go behind the schoolhouse
and draw it from a pump. The pump,
however, is a more recent innovation
at the school The children attending
there about a decade ago were com
peIled to depend on an old colored
janitoress for their water supply. The
colored woman brought the water to
school with her each morning:
Another quaint sight which greets
a visitor at the school is a wash basin
and soap in the cloakroom of the
building. (The wash basin is clearly
discernible in the accompanying pic
ture) Conforming with the old-fash-
ioned ideas of school construction.
the cloakroom of the school was built
at the entrance. 1t has not been
changed, except it is piled high with
discarded schoolroom furniture. max
ing it dangerous for the children to
pass through to hang up hats and
coats.
Teaches Four Classes.
In the buildings lone room there
are four classes. under one teacher.
as in the days Of yore. They consist
of the first, second, third and fourth
grades. Children promoted to higher
grades are forced to attend the Reser-
voir School, about mile from the
Conduit Road School.
The enrolment at this school today
totals thirty-one, the smallest, per-
haps, in any school in the city. There
are thirty-six seats in the school,
making five vacant. 1t was pointed
out. however, that if the school was
larger and had facilities for accom- :
modating pupils in higher grades its
enrolment would increase.
Children attending this school come
from a radius of a mile and half.
Most Of them have, to walk.
when the school was built in 1874
it cost school officials $1,000. Since
it's erection there have been but few
ments in recent years was the re-
calcimining Of the single room. This
was done two years ago and was
cbronicled as one of the events in
the schools history.
Teaches -Four Classes.
Home building projects now are un-
der way in Potomac Heights and 9TH
or adjacent territories to the school,
all indicative of an increase in en-
rollment for the Conduit Road School.
The school. however. will be unable
to care for only five additional pupils.
The Conduit Road Citizens Associa-
tion has asked the board of education
to provide two new schools in the
neighborhood of the present Conduit
Road School. for children living in
territory between the Potomac river
and the reservoir. The organizations
request. it is understood. has been ig-
nored in the estimates of the school
board for the next fiscal year.
There is one interesting story in
connection with the history of the
school. which was related today by
Alexander T. Stuart. director of inter
mediate instruction of the public
school system. MIR. Stuart said that
about twenty-five years ago the old
COlOred woman wh0 acted Ia n itor