Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-01-26

pupils to use it even in bad weather,
and reporters found boys and girls eat
ing lunches or spending indoor re-
cess" in their class rooms There are
other buildings in which the principals
have dealt with the vault play room
problem in the same manner.
AS compared with this highly I'M
satisfactory type of play room is the
type found in the Oyster and the new
Brightwood Schools. They are light,
dry and warm. These recreation
chambers, however, are in the minority.
Fairgrounds adjoining schools are as
varied as the buildings themselves
Generally, in the older and more
closely settled portions of the city,
these yards are very small or virtually
nonexistent. Often the children are
obliged to play in the streets, which
generally, however, are closed to traffic
during the recess periods. In a few
instances even this makeShift is denied
mentS.
The Amidon School at Sixth and r
streets southwest and the Hilton at
Sixth and G streets northwest are ex-
amples of buildings practically without
Fairgrounds. The Force School lacks
not only playground but cloSed-street
advantages as well. Many of the play
grounds, while adequate as to size, are
poorly surfaced, unprotected against
treSpaSsers by proper fencing, poorly
drained and in varying stages of
grading or not graded at all. Some of
them cannot be used after a rain on
account Of the muddy clay and pools of
water. Such are the Fairgrounds, for
example, at the new Key School, Hurst
terrace and Dana place, where the
play space has simply been cut from
hillside with no attempt at surfacing,
and at the Brent School, Third and D
streets southeast.
Gullies in Playground.
At the Randall Highlands School the
playground is a succession of gullies
and bitches. The playground at the
Benntng School Is only about 10 feet
on one side from steam railway track,
and there is no intervening fence. Base
balls and foot balls, used In games by
the boys. often go over q, steep bank
on TO the tracks and are retrieved
not without risk.
On the other side of the playground
picture are such yards as those adj
joining the new Adams School in the
Northwest and the Wheatley School in
Northeast Washington. These not only
are adequately fenced and surfaced, but
are equipped with recreational facilities
OF modern type.
The city's II wooden portable schools.
still in use, were visited by the re-
porters in all kinds of weather during
the survey. On cold days thermometer
readings on instruments six or seven
feet above the floor showed adequate
temperatures, but in numerous cases
pupils were found wearing galoShes to
keep their feet warm.
Observations made in various sec
ions OF these one-room structures
showed that the heat, emanating from
an old-fashioned stove-furnace in the
corner, spreads through these buildings
unevenly and from the ceilings down.
Children seated near the furnace" in
all cases were warm as toast" while
those occupying seats in opposite cor
ncrs were chilled.
Where the furnaces" were fred to
heat the far corners of the rooms the
pupils sitting near them were too warm
for comfort and health. But the port
ables' floors are only 8 feet of the
ground in most cases and the floors are
cold. In others bolt holes were not
chinked and cold blasts of air rose to
add to the chillineSS of the children's
feet.
Board Class Work Difficult.
Blackboards in the portables are of
black-painted composition board, which
bulges outward to make writing and
board-claSs work difficult at best. While
these structures generally were found
to be In fair repair, most of them
showed such evidence of wear as sprung
or sagged doors that permitted entry
OF cold air. In some cracks had opened
in the walls where the movable sec
tons had warped out of their original
shape.
Artificial light, so long on-existent
in portableS, is losing out as a major
problem. Electricity and fixtures already
have been installed in most of them.
and the program Of installation now
going on will result in the equipment
Of virtually all Of them within a month
or two.
Lighting as a major dificulty also has
been practically eliminated in nearly
all Of the cityis permanent school build
ings. There are some exceptions, among
which is the Force School, but in most
cases there Ii SUFFICIENT daylight on
clear days, while on dark days the ample
electric lighting facilities eliminate
darkness Hence the class rooms of vir-
tually every school building in WASH
ington are now sufficiently well lighted
every school day from some source.
As conditions in each school building
are described in detail later in this
series of articles, 1t will be disclosed
that there are numerous faults not mem
l