The Washington herald., 1920-01-13
Petworth's Crazy Quilt
School Is Described as
Inadequate and Disgrace
ooNrINuEp FROM PAGE ONE.

the grades probably VIII be shifted
to other schools. It already has
been decided 10 abolish the grade
sA at this school In February. send
ing it to Park View, ten blocks
away.
In the, main or what IL at present
the administration building are
eight class rooms. teachers rest
room. and the principals ONCE. the
two latter small rooms Both these
rooms now are used for coaching
classes OF backward pupils.
The building Is nineteen year,
old. but the class rooms are well
lighted. However. there is no ade-
Quate Indoor play space. there being
only one small room in either side
of the building-one for boys and
one for girls--these in the base
ment The washroom facilities here
are insanitary, these being sum-
Client for only 100 pupils whereas
the latest school population figures
sol pupils. The Mushrooms are
reached through narrow, dark pas
sageways along which are two
drinking fountains. In addition to
the pupils in the administration
building, children in the outlying
buildings must use these, coming
out of the class room in all kinds
Of weather. and in cases having to
walk more than half a block.
Some Study In Old Church.
The school property Is on the cor
ner Of Eighth and Shepherd strets.
Alongside the main building is a
small church. I'm which two classes
of very small children are taught at
a time. that S, two In the morning
and two in the afternoon. The class
rooms are large barn-like rooms heat
ed with only small wood stoves. The
building is of frame construction.
pebble dashed.
Perhaps the worst conditions pre-
vail in what was a dwelling. Here
two large classes of children daily
receive their instruction amid dust
and dirt. The little desks are lined
up close together, with just a small
clearance in the corner where the
teacher can stand. In some cases
there are no aisles between. The
ceilings are too low, and the air
content of the room hardly sucient
to give the pupils lungs a healthy
chance.
me I1eTdlO representative TeIndlneQ
at the school during the recess Pc
Rod and saw children jam them
selves up and down narrow Stairways
of frame construction which probably
would be dangerous In event of a fire.
Those on the second floor have to
wind up the stairway and go to one
side of the building to hank up their
wraps and then double back over
the same ground to reach the class
room. There was such a jam there
at this time that The Herald repre-
sentative could not reach either the
class room or the cloak room.
Looks After Thirteen Fires.
This house is heated by two hot
air furnaces. with hardly more than
a foot clearance between their tops
and the first floor. The fire is tended
by a janitor in one of the other
buildings, who has thirteen fires to
look after.
The janitor mannifestly cannot be
constantly on watch at all thirteen
places TO prevent overheatinS. which
causes fires.
The school principal OF this group
has restricted the size OF classes
in this class of building.
Glasses in some instances are over
crowded here. However. some chill
.dren are forced to go many blocks
further to school-passlng the Pet
worth group en- route-being assigned
to the Park View, wardman and
Otis streets. and the Johnson-Powell.
near Fourteenth street and Park
road. However, the pupils cannot
be sent such a distance, and they
are kept out OF school. At the pres
emit time there Is a long list of
names OF children in the section
waiting for vacant seats so they
can start their education.
Sit In Absentees' Seats.
Even in the main building. some
children have not regular seats-at-
tending their classes by virtue of
absenteeism. That Is, there are usu-
ally absentees veery day. and the
extra child takes the seat from day
to day Of some pupil who is absent.
There is a total OF twenty-one,
classes being taught in sixteen class
room-by the doubling-up method.
Glasses which by law should be go
ing a whole day are forced to take
their instruction in halliday doses.
In some cases. during the very cold
weather, the children who are un-
fortunate enough to be assigned to the
classrooms in the dwelling have been
forced to sit on the kitchen floor,
which Is right over the top of the
two furnaces, in order to keep warm.
At other times 1t has been necessary
to close the buildings, thus delaying
the studies.
Janitor Has Day and Night Task.
The janitor who has these buildings
to look after many times has to spend
all night in order to keep up the
fires so that the children may go TO
their studies in comfort during the
day. Even in mild weather he has
to make a visit or two during the
night to see that the fires are alright
and that there is no danger. For this
he receives no extra compensation.
The buildings were anything but
clean from a sanitary standpoint The
walks and yards were not swept and
loose paper was scattered around. In
some of the rooms old desks and
debris was piled up and several
old Christmas trees were in the
closets.
There was an appropriation in
1916 of $4,000 to provide an eight
room addition to the present eight
room building. which would include
an assembly hall. However, before
the money could BE spent, mate
rails went up and the bids for the
construction were in the neighbour
bod of $4,000 Efforts now are