New Britain herald., 1927-11-05
STRICT DISCIPLINE
 IN 0LDEN SCHOOL
Catalogue of 1S75-6 in PlainVille
 Page From History

1 Pupils shall be regular and pune. i tual in attendance, cleanly in per son. industrious, respectful, and 1 obedient; and shall avoid all rude ! boisterous, and violent conduct in and about the school buildings. Any pupil guilty of profanity. obscenity truancy, or any violent opposition to authority, or of wilfully cutting, de- { facing, or otherwise iujuring the school buildings or other school property or of any other serious nlisdemoanor, may be temporarily suspended by the principal"
 Thus read the requirements for
 public school pupils in Plainville Graded school in the year 1S75-6 according to the first catalog issued
 by the school department. A CODY
 of this first edition is now the prop
 erty of Peter J. Prior, former first selectman of plainville, who intends to present it to the school depart ment as an object of historical in- terest.
 Schuyler P. Williams, who today is a grand juror and a member of the board of assessors in Plainville, was the principal of the school dur ing the year for which the catalog was issued, being listed as having a E. A. degree from Yale and as in structor in high English branches and classics. It was the second full term for classes in the then new building, which was later destroyed by fire and gave way to the present Broad street school
 320 Children of School Age
 According to brief historical sketch" at the beginning of the pamphlet there were only 320 chil- dren of school age in the little town of 1500 inhabitants which in 1869 severed it's connections with the parent town of Pennington. There were three schools within the town limits, designated by the names of West Plains, East Plains, and White Oak. The consolidation of these schools was discussed for several years and was finally voted at a town meeting on February 6, 1873.
 A new building was built on Broad street west of the present school, and this was first opened in January, 1874, with five grades en- bracing all pupils in the town ex- cept those who attended a small mixed school in the eastern section. The first principal was Charles l.. Ames, now of Hartford, who has since served with distinction as prin- cipal of the Brown school of that city and as a member of the state the speakers when the new normal school was opened here. MT. Will Hams succeeded Mr. Ames after one year and served for some time. His eaching staff during the school year covered by the catalog com prised Miss Isadora A. Curtis, Mrs. A. T. Bishop, Miss Florence s. Shep- ard, and Miss Nellie NJ. Terry. The school board was composed by Rev. A. F.. Denison (who was also acting school visitor), Henry A. Osborn, Rev A. Hall, T. P. Strong. Rev. N. J. Seeley, and Hiram Carter-cer- tainly the clergy had adequate rep resentation.
 The Curriculum
 The course of study offered in the school Is interesting today in view of the changes in subject matter and methods since a half century ago. The course was as follows:
 First primary department - Reading-First and second readers; special attention given to sounds of the letters, correct enunciation and expression. Spelling-both the words of the reading lesson and those the speller Counting and numbers both with Roman and Arabic characters. Printing and drawing on slates and black board Singing and physical exercises each llalf-day Oral instructions by means Of charts, &c.
 Second primary department - reader, sounds of