Evening star., 1933-04-10
D. c. CUTS TO HURT
CROWDED. SCHOOLS
Relief of Building Program
Denied in Measure
Before Congress.
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increased congestion which the con
struction program that has been carrie
on during the past several years ha
greatly reduced"
The most acute congestion now
the District of Columbia public schools
DR.. Ballou and his staff of officers eX
plain, is in the senior high schools
where the excess enrolment is sufh
cient to fill Immediately new senio
high school as big as any Washingto
now has.
Eastern High School," DR.. Ballo
says. ''is already on a limited double
shift program, and the Western Hig
School is faced with the same neces
sity. other high schools must follo'
suit, unless the Woodrow Wilson Hig
School is provided for"
And yet the House of Representa-
tives has declined to include sum C
S475, 900 to permit the beginning @
construction of the Woodrow Wilsol
High School, which, though to be 10
Gated in Chevy Chase, would tend t.
relieve the situation throughout tn
city.
At present Western High Schoo
Thirty-f fifth street and Reservoir road
must provide senior high school facili
ties for the entire west end of the Dis
trict of Columbia This schools terri
tory embraces all the area west o
Connecticut avenue and Rock Greek
from the Potomac River north to th'
Maryland-D -Distrit line. The new Wood
ow Wilson High Shool is to be built du'
north of western, in the heart OF rap
idly developing Reno, which, IN turn
is surrounded by thickly settled Chevy
Chase, Cleveland Park, Tenleytown
Friendship Heights and other populoll'
communities.
Relief for Central High.
When the woodrow Wilson School is
opened it will embrace the entire north
ern end of Westerns present long, mar
row territory, and will extend east far
ther than Westerns present BOUNDS
Hence Western will be enabled to admit
pupils from much broader area, sc
that it will afford real relief to the Gen.
tral High School, which now is caring
for nearly 900 more students than il
has actual accommodations. Besides
relieving Central of some of its present
congestion, the relief of Western would
enable Central to extend its territory
farther east to aid Mckinley, and, tc
some slight resultant degree, Eastern
High School Woodrow Wilson High
School, by the same token OF reaching
eastward for its students, would relieve
Roosevelt High School, at Thirteenth
and Upshur streets.
Meanwhile the double shift" pro-
gram is the only solution to the prob
lem of senior high school congestion
The Limited double shift program,
which DIR. Ballou refers to, at Eastern
can be taken to mean that 1t Is lin
tied" in its worst effects to the teach
ers. The school day, under this plan
extends from o'clock in the morning
until at least 4 o'clock in the after
noon. Besides the addition OF a full
hour to the teachers class room Gay,
this plan places a burden OF almost
constant teaching. The plan ellmi-
mates all study hours which, besides al
fording the students an opportunity to
prepare work which they otherwise
would have to do at home after school
hours, gives the teachers an opportunity
to perform part of the clerical work OF
their positions, and to counsel with
students, and countless other tasks,
which the new plan either eliminates
or forces the teacher to do even after
the prolonged day.
From the pupils point Of view. 1t
means that one group of the student
body goes to school in the morning
and attends classes on an intensive
program. While that group Is IN the
cafeteria at lunch, another group or
platoon is occupying the class rooms IN
its first lecture periods OF school Gay
that thus begins around noon. Tne
first group then might return to class
for its final lectures while the second
group adjourns to the lunch room. BY
the time the second group is finished
lunch. the first group is dismissed for
the day, and then the second group
returns to occupy class rooms until
pm.
Guided BY Enrolment.
The actual scheduling of classes
under this plan would depend upon the
number of pupils enrolled, the kInd OF
courses for which they entered scnool
and the intensity of the congestion, Dut
this is the general theory under wnicn
q school is operated on the so-caiieo
Limited double-shift program" II dii-
fers from the older type OF double-shl1t
program in that under the former type
the student body was simply halVeo
One-half entered school at $3.50 am
and studied until 1 pm. The second
half then came in and stayed until
4.3O o'clock. That system, however
resulted in the elimination OF more IN
gtructional time than the second plan
In the Junior high schools, the con-
pestion is kept within the capacity Of
the buildings by holding back In the
Elementary school buildings, pupils who
ought to be enjoying the benefits OF the
enriched curriculum of the junior mgr
school. In other words, instead OF pro-
noting the elementary school pupil:
who complete the seventh grade wors
successfully to a junior high school
the authorities are forced to keep many
children in their old buildings In tn'
old-fashioned type OF elghtn grace
Such a procedure, OF course. WORKS u
the disadvantage of the child, VINO L
deprived for a longer period OF th'
benefits Of elective courses tnat serv'
to develope his particular talents NOR
rapidly and thoroughly than the OH
elementary school plan.
Even this procedure, however, ma
been inadequate to relieve congestion
at the Alice Deal Junior High School
This building is within a block OF tn
site for the new woodrow Wllsol
(senior) High School. and Is thre
blocks from the Ben w. Murch (ele
mentary) School. So heavy is the en-
rollment at the Deal, that the spac
allowed for the future establishment
of four additional classrooms in tn
Murch Building has been crudely par
titioned with paper building board t.
form four rooms" for Deal Junior Hlgl
School students. These children hav
to troop three blocks to their mail
building every time the days schedul
calls for an assembly meeting or TO
other special activities, and then the
must walk back at the expense OF edu
cational time.
The addition sought for the Dea