Davis School, Economy Borough
Return to Milestones Vol. 3, No. 2
School Houses-1st class, good, 7; 2d class, improvable, 103; 3d class, unfit, 27.
Material of School Houses- Brick, 27; stone, 1; log, 6, frame, 103.
School Fumiture-1st class, good, 4; 2d class, medium, 57; 3d class, unfit, 76.
Schools-1st class, graded, 4; 2d class, classified, 136; 3d class, neither graded nor classified, none.
Teachers-Ages of Teachers-Under seventeen, 1; between seventeen and twenty-one, 60; between twenty-one and twenty-five, 78; between twenty-five and thirty, 20; between thirty and forty, 15; between forty and fifty, 11; over fifty, 1.
Birth-place of Teachers-Born in Pennsylvania, 169; born out of Pennsylvania, 17.
Experience in Teaching-Taught less than one year, 91; from one to three years, 52; from three to six years, 27; from six to ten years, 6; from ten to twenty years, 7; over twenty years, 3.
Professional Reading-Number who have read books or periodicals on teaching, 120; number who have not, 66.
Permanent Teachers-Number who intend to make teaching a permanent business, 50; those who do not, 136.
Grade of Teachers-1st class, qualified, 85; 2d class, medium, 87; 3d class, unfit, 14.
Total amount of black-board surface in the schools of the county, about 9,300 square feet. A large portion of this (4,000 square feet) is in the Union school building of New Brighton.
Mental arithmetic has been introduced into ninetyseven of the schools. This is encouraging, as until but recently, it was almost entirely unknown in many portions of our county.
School Houses-Twelve new houses have been built during the year, most of them on improved plans, and one in particular, the Eakin school house in Brighton township, deserves notice for its neatness, good arrangement and durability of structure. There is also an excellent house at Fairview, in Ohio township. Arrangements are now being made for building a number more new houses during the next school year. According to report for last year, nearly three-sevenths of the whole amount of school tax levied in this county was expended for building purposes. This makes the tax somewhat heavy in proportion to the amount of schooling received, but as most of the houses are now being built so as to be durable, the building tax, in most districts, can soon be dispensed with, at least for a considerable time.
Examinations- Twenty-five public examinations have been held, so as to accommodate the teachers and directors of every district. The examinations were generally well attended. The directors, in a number of districts, propose, hereafter, selecting their teachers at the close of the examinations. I would like to see this plan adopted in every district, as there can be no doubt but it would be an improvement.
Visitations- I commenced visiting the schools immediately after getting through with the examinations last fall, and reached all in the county with the exception of four. These were not in operation when the other schools in the districts, in which they are situated, were visited. The distance from my residence is so great, and the roads were so bad, that I was not able to reach them after getting through with the general visitation of the county. During my visits I was accompanied by directors in a majority of the districts, in some cases by teachers and pupils from adjoining schools, and occasionally I met with parents in the school room. By request of teachers remarks were made to the pupils in nearly all the schools, and universally received with attention and interest. The shortness of the term, together with the irregularity of opening the schools in many districts, made the time of each visit much more limited than was desirable. I frequently did without dinner in order to have that time to travel from one school to another, so that I might have more to spend in the school room.
Schools- Our schools in the rural districts are generally open during the winter, though in some the time is divided between summer and winter, having from two to three months in each, and generally under the care of different teachers. This plan is somewhat objectionable, as it is very difficult for any teacher to get his school fairly in operation, and do justice either to it or to himself in two months, when, as is frequently the case, a number of the pupils do not get started till near the close of the first month. A better plan, where different teachers are employed for the summer and winter terms, would be to have the two terms as near together as possible, but better still to employ one good teacher for the whole time.
Institutes- District institutes have been held in a majority of the districts. The teachers of Hanover and Frankfort Springs met regularly every two weeks all winter. Frequent meetings have been held in Economy, Big Beaver, Raccoon, Independence, and some other districts. The teachers of Beaver and vicinity are now holding regular meetings for self improvement.
A county institute was held in Beaver the middle of April, at which between sixty and seventy teachers attended. A large and respectable audience of the citizens of the place was in attendance. We were also aided by the professors of the Beaver academy. The meeting was quite interesting, and the interest continued till its close, on the evening of the second day. A county association was formed, and provision made for regular meetings hereafter. A number of our teachers also attended the meeting of the Western Pennsylvania teachers' association, which was held in New Brighton the last week in March.
Directors-Most of our directors are the fast friends of the system, and deserve credit for their self-denying labors, as it requires both time and effort to discharge their duties properly, and in some cases their labors are not fully appreciated.
The Press-The county press is on the right side of the question, and the editors have freely tendered the use of their columns for any article favoring the cause. They have thus rendered material aid, and cordial thanks are due for the many favors they have bestowed.
Miscellaneous-The salaries of teachers have been slowly, but steadily increasing, and the number of pupils has also increased, so that the average cost of teaching each per month has decreased from fifty-three and two-thirds cents in 1855, to forty-eight cents last year. The reports of this year show an increase over last year in length of term, and also in the number of pupils attending school.
During my visits I learned from teachers that most of the schools had been visited by directors and parents, but a number up to that time, had received no visits from any one in the neighborhood. There is still some little opposition to the law in some portions of the county, but as far as I could learn, a majority of the people appear to be satisfied with it, and think it a good one if properly executed.
In conclusion, I am gratified in being able to report our schools generally in a flourishing condition, and so conducted as to be of practical advantage to the pupils. Those of industry district closed by all meeting together having a public examination and exhibition. Those of New Brighton will do so this month. In such cases there is no difficulty in reporting progress.
I return my warmest thanks to parents, directors and teachers, for their kindness and hospitality.
T. C. CAROTHERS,
County Superintendent. Frankfort Springs, June 10, 1859.