fifteen classrooms is nearing completion. These three buildings will
provide accommodations for 4500 children and 103 additional classes.
When these three buildings are completed, there will be 583 satisfactory
classrooms for 779 classes. The registration of the twelve schools
increased 4000 pupils from December 31, 1913, to December 31, 1914. At
the present rate of increase the new buildings will not take care of the
increase in school attendance during the construction of the said
buildings. Four new buildings in addition to those under construction
are needed now to give each child attending the schools a satisfactory
school seat. Because of financial limitations the Board of Education is
asking for only six new elementary-school buildings for the entire city,
and _two_ of the six, _to cost approximately $1,000,000_, are proposed
for the relief of the twelve schools named. If the two additional
schools requested, together with the three under construction, could be
made ready for use to-morrow, there would still be 4000 children without
satisfactory seats and no provision for normal growth in the immediate
future.
I herewith submit a plan for the reorganization of the twelve schools
named, so that 1022 classes may be satisfactorily accommodated in place
of the 583 now provided for.
Under the New Organization unsatisfactory annexes are vacated, and
unsatisfactory classrooms are used for auditorium, playrooms,
laboratories, and workshops. In place of the 779 classes and 35,580
children now in the schools, room will be secured for 242 additional
classes and a total registration of 46,000 children. A future increase
in school registration of approximately 10,000 children will thus be
provided for.
To accomplish this reorganization, rather extensive annexes are
necessary at four schools, costing approximately $475,000. The remaining
eight schools need only slight structural changes and additional
equipment, costing approximately $44,500. Additional land should be
purchased for four of the schools, costing approximately $225,000 [a
total of $744,500 for twelve schools, as against $1,000,000 for two new
plants on the old plan].
The cost of the four annexes, the remodeling, the equipment, and the
additional land will be much less than the cost for buildings,
equipment, and sites for the proposed two new schools. If the proposed
two-new-schools plan is followed, a total satisfactory capacity on a
five-hour single-school system for 671 classes will be secured, which is
108 classes short of the present enrollment. If the reorganization at
less cost than the two-new-schools plan is followed, satisfactory
accommodations in a longer school day will be secured for 1022 classes,
which is 243 classes more than are now enrolled,—a difference of 351
classes and 16,000 children.
The true economy of the New Organization is to be found in the greater
educational facilities provided for all of the children, rather than in
the great capacity of the plants secured under the new plan.
The upper grades, 511 classes, will have a daily school program of the
following type: 80 minutes in classroom for academic work; 40 minutes in
gymnasium or play-yard or grounds for physical training and play; 40
minutes for general exercises in the auditorium; 60 minutes for
luncheon; 140 minutes in classroom for academic work; and 80 minutes for
drawing-rooms, science laboratories, or manual-training and workshops.
The lower grades, 511 classes, will have a program of the following
type: same as for upper grades, except that the last period of 80
minutes will be given to play, excursions, library, church instruction,
or at home. As a rule the children will have 380 minutes in school in
addition to the luncheon hour, in place of the 300 minutes provided in
the regular full-time school. Such a study-work-and-play school removes
the children very largely from the demoralizing life of the street, and
gives ample time for academic, physical, and prevocational training.
────────────────────┬───────────────┬───────────────
│ Average time │ Average time
SUBJECTS │per week under │per week under
│ regular │ New
│ full-time │Organization in
│organization in│ Bronx schools
│ New York City │ (minutes)
│ (minutes) │
────────────────────┼───────────────┼───────────────
Opening exercises │ 75 │ 100
Music │ 60 │ 100
Physical training, │ 120 │ 200
recesses, │ │
physiology, hygiene │ │
English, geography, │ 1010 │ 1100
history, and │ │
arithmetic │ │
Nature-study and │ 80 │ 133
science │ │
Drawing │ 85 │ 133
Construction work │ 70 │ 134
────────────────────┼───────────────┼───────────────
Total time per week │ 1500 │ 1900
────────────────────┴───────────────┴───────────────
Under the old regular full-time organization, only manual-training and
cooking-rooms are provided, and for seventh and eighth grades alone.
Science laboratories for individual work, and drawing studios with
special equipment, are not provided at all.
Under the New Organization, manual-training, cooking and sewing-shops,
drawing-studios with special equipment, and science laboratories for
individual work by students are provided for all the above grades.
Besides, there will be sixty-three additional prevocational workshops
with special equipment and teachers distributed advantageously in the
twelve schools. Also there will be provided gardens, better auditoriums
and music-rooms, better classrooms, gymnasiums and playgrounds.
DESCRIPTION OF SCHOOLS
_Indicating in Detail Necessary Changes to introduce Wirt Plan_
_Public School 28_ has fifty-eight regular classes in forty-five regular
classrooms, with one wood-working shop and one cooking-room. The ground
floor play-yard and fine basement playroom provide ample play space for
nine classes at one time. There is a large gymnasium on the top floor
that is not desirable for play, and should be used for drawing-rooms.
The auditorium on the fourth floor should be made into six regular
classrooms by installing permanent partitions for the sliding
partitions. The wall partitions should be removed from the four
combination auditorium and classrooms on the second floor, and the
auditorium thus secured should be seated for a permanent auditorium.
Since four classrooms are thus used for the auditorium, there will be
left only forty-one regular classrooms. Thirty-six of these should be
used for regular class work. Two of the five remaining classrooms should
be used for science laboratories, one for a music studio, and two for
workshops. These five special rooms, with the manual-training shop and
cooking-room and drawing-studios, will provide facilities for nine
classes in science, drawing, music, manual-training or shopwork, at one
time. Seventy-two regular classes may be accommodated in this school
with thirty-six classes in thirty-six classrooms, nine in the
auditorium, nine at play, nine in special work, and nine primary classes
with an extra period for play, religious instruction in churches,
excursions, library work, etc.
With a full register of classes, seventy-six teachers should be
employed. Fifty-six teachers should teach the history, geography,
arithmetic, language, and reading, and manage the auditorium. Two
teachers should have charge of the music, four of the play and physical
training, one of the library, two of the drawing, two of the science
laboratories, and nine of the manual training, domestic science and art,
and the shopwork.
There are thirteen regular classes in the eight-room frame annex, which
must be used for class purposes in order to enable the city to hold the
property. A special program can be arranged for this annex, to
accommodate twelve classes.
Public School 28 and the annex can therefore accommodate eighty-four
classes, a gain of thirteen classes over the present enrollment, and
thirty-one classes more than the normal capacity of fifty-three classes
in a single-school system.
The only expense will be the placing of permanent partitions in the
auditorium classrooms, and the equipment of the auditorium,
laboratories, studios and shops,—approximately $10,000.
* * * * *
_Public School 5_ has twenty-seven classes in nineteen regular
classrooms, a good auditorium and two portable schools. Four classes are
now using the auditorium as classrooms, with only curtains for
partitions. There is play space in the basement play-yard for six
classes to play at once.
By removing the portable schools a satisfactory outdoor playground can
be secured. The basement has a fine shoproom, large enough to
accommodate two small shops. In these shops and the nineteen classrooms,
with the auditorium and play facilities, thirty-two classes may be
accommodated by using sixteen of the most desirable rooms for
classrooms. This is five classes more than are now in the school, and
thirteen more than the capacity of the main building on a five-hour
single-school system.
The cost of moving the portables should be charged to the school to
which they are moved. The cost for equipment and remodeling should be
approximately $5,000.
* * * * *
_Public School 32_ has sixty classes in thirty-eight classrooms, with
one workshop and one cooking-room. Five classrooms and one cooking-room
are now in a gymnasium with only curtains for partitions. Three
classrooms are unsatisfactory basement rooms, one is an unsatisfactory
attic room, and twelve classrooms are combination auditorium and
classrooms.
By placing permanent partitions in the combination auditoriums,
twenty-nine satisfactory classrooms and five shoprooms may be secured.
The gymnasium and play-yard are ample for a large school. The building
is close to Bronx Park for large outdoor play-yard and for gardens. The
present site can be enlarged without great cost. I believe that it is
desirable to make Public School 32 a seventy-two-room school, which will
enable it to accommodate twelve more classes than are now in the school.
An annex should be built containing swimming-pool, auditorium, five
shops, and seven classrooms, costing approximately $100,000.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
III
SUPERINTENDENT WIRT’S REPORT
ON THE
REORGANIZATION OF PUBLIC SCHOOL 89, BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.
_Showing the Adaptation of the Gary Plan to the Usual School Plant_
THIS school was the first to be reorganized in New York City under the
Gary plan. The following quotations from Superintendent Wirt’s report
indicate the changes that were made in transforming a congested
elementary school into a smoothly running Gary school on the duplicate
plan:—
Prior to November 6, 1914, there were forty classes attending School 89.
Twelve of the forty classes, representing the upper grades, were on full
time, having the exclusive use of twelve of the twenty-six classrooms.
The remaining twenty-eight classes were organized in groups of fourteen
classes each and were accommodated in the remaining fourteen classrooms,
small auditorium, and five cellar rooms, with a modification of the
accompanying program. (See p. 191).
Since in this program twelve classrooms were used exclusively for twelve
classes, the burden of the overcrowding was placed entirely upon the
remaining fourteen classrooms. These fourteen rooms had a multiple use
for eight hours a day, but the auditorium and playground were used only
two hours a day. This means that the auditorium and playground were
congested during the short time that they were in use. When it rained
and all the children were required to be in the building from 9.30 to
11.30, nine classes were forced to use the five cellar rooms at one time
as study-rooms. No provision was made for the systematic use of other
child-welfare agencies.
────────────┬────────────┬──────────────
│ │Exercises and
School hours│ Fourteen │ study in
│ classrooms │auditorium and
│ │ playground
────────────┼────────────┼──────────────
8.30- 9.30│First │
│group—14 │
│classes │
9.30-10.30│First group │Second group
10.30-11.30│Second │First group
│group—14 │
│classes │
11.30-12.30│Second group│First group—at
│ │lunch
12.30- 1.30│First group │Second
│ │group—at lunch
1.30- 2.30│First group │Second group
2.30- 3.30│Second group│
3.30- 4.30│Second group│
────────────┴────────────┴──────────────
The old program was not intended to secure greater facilities for
children than the ordinary single-system school offers.
The principle underlying the old program was that of securing the
traditional five-hour school day by supplementing the four hours in the
classroom with an additional hour in playground and auditorium.
Unfortunately the latter hour was used as much as possible for study in
quarters that were never intended for use as a study-room and cannot be
made satisfactory for study. No one offers the argument that such a
five-hour school is better than or even as good as five hours of regular
classroom work in the ordinary single-system school.
This program was not intended to secure greater facilities for children
than the ordinary single-system school offers. The purpose was to secure
as nearly as possible the traditional work of the regular five-hour
full-time school, and it was considered only as a temporary expedient
until a sufficient number of new schools could be built to provide the
regulation full-time school. Since the main object was the building of
additional school-buildings for permanent relief, no funds could be
expended upon this temporary double-system expedient.
In contrast to this, the new program at Public School 89 is in no sense
an effort to relieve part-time by giving the children as nearly as
possible a five-hour traditional school day until a new building can be
built.
The sole purpose determining the new program now in use at this school
is that of securing a six-hour day and much richer opportunities in a
study-work-and-play school with a coördination of the activities of all
child-welfare agencies.
By making the following improvements at Public School 89, the increase
in capacity and additional facilities can be made permanent—a gymnasium
and swimming-pool, two rooms for branch of the public library, equipment
for science laboratories and auditorium, wardrobes for sixteen classes,
permanent playground, and drawing and music studios. With the exception
of the playground, the above will cost approximately $35,000.
The cost of the site and the proposed new fifty-one unit
school-building, to relieve Public School 89 and two other buildings,
will provide the funds for similar changes in ten schools after the plan
at Public School 89. These changes would make possible a permanent
increase in capacity of not less than two hundred classrooms, since in
the more modern schools a less expenditure will secure greater capacity.
Since a fifty-one unit building adds accommodation for only forty-eight
traditional full-time classes, the satisfactory accommodation of sixteen
additional classes at Public School 89 would justify the expenditure of
one third the cost of the new building and site upon Public School 89,
or approximately $170,000. But, as has just been pointed out, it is not
necessary to spend anything like this amount.
Under the old program there were only forty classes, but one class was
very large and was divided into two sections with two teachers in
charge. The number of pupils attending this school is increasing
rapidly, and therefore a program for forty-two classes is planned.
The forty-two classes in the New Program are divided into two duplicate
schools of twenty-one classes each. In the following programs these
duplicate schools are designated as the “X” School and the “Y” School.
_The X School_: Twenty-one of the classrooms are used for the desired
academic instruction in the regular school subjects,—arithmetic,
language, reading, history, and geography. The five remaining classrooms
are used for the special school subjects,—science, drawing, and music.
In addition to the twenty-six classrooms, the school has a
manual-training shop, a domestic-science laboratory, a small auditorium,
five cellar playrooms, and a kindergarten. Because the special rooms are
not yet equipped (January 9, 1915), for the time being they are used for
additional regular class work. Since there is no library or librarian,
and since the manual-training and cooking teachers are at the building
only half-time, two extra special teachers are in charge of the
playground.
The X School has the following activities and facilities for carrying
them on:—
Type of work Facilities used by each
type of work
Academic instruction 21 classrooms.
General exercises Auditorium.
Play and physical Playground, playrooms,
training pool, gymnasium.
Special work 2 manual-training shops,
2 science laboratories, 2
drawing studios, 1 music
studio, 1 public-library
branch.
The twenty-one classes are divided into three divisions of seven classes
each, as follows:—
Division 1—seven classes, grades 6, 7, 8.
Division 2—seven classes, grades 3, 4, 5.
Division 3—seven classes, grades 1 and 2.
All these twenty-one classes, from the first grade to the eighth, take
part in these activities according to the following program:—
────────────┬───────────────┬─────────┬────────┬─────────
School │ Academic │ General │ Play, │ Special
hours │ instruction │exercises│ etc. │
────────────┼───────────────┼─────────┼────────┼─────────
8.30- 9.20│Arithmetic, all│ │ │
│divisions │ │ │
9.20-10.10│Language, all │ │ │
│divisions │ │ │
10.10-11.00│ │ Div. 1. │Div. 3. │ Div. 2.
11.00-12.00│Entire X school│ │ │
│at luncheon │ │ │
12.00- 1.00│Reading, all │ │ │
│divisions │ │ │
1.00- 1.50│History, │ │ │
│geography, all │ │ │
│divisions │ │ │
1.50- 2.40│ │ Div. 3. │Div. 2. │ Div. 1.
2.40- 3.30│ │ Div. 2. │Div. 3. │ Div. 1.
3.30- 4.30│ │ │Div. 1. │
────────────┴───────────────┴─────────┴────────┴─────────
_Summary of time schedule: Pupils’ time, minutes per week._ (_All pupils
have twenty per cent more time in school._)
──────────┬───────────────┬───────────────┬───────────────────
School │ Division │ Division │ Division
department│ 1. │ 2. │ 3.
──────────┼───────┬───────┼───────┬───────┼────────┬──────────
│ X │ N.Y. │ X │ N.Y. │ X │ N.Y.
│school │minimum│school │minimum│ school │ minimum
──────────┼───────┼───────┼───────┼───────┼────────┼──────────
Academic │ 1050 │ 840 │ 1050 │ 840 │ 1050 │ 880-1090
Auditorium│ 250 │ 75 │ 250 │ 75 │ 250 │ 75
Play │ after │ │ │ │ │
│school │ 80 │ 250 │ 150 │ 500 │ 180-300
Work │ 500 │ 280 │ 250 │ 250 │Included│
│ │ │ │ │ in │
│ │ │ │ │academic│
│ │ │ │ │ time. │
──────────┼───────┼───────┼───────┼───────┼────────┼──────────
Total │ 1800 │ 1275 │ 1800 │ 1315 │ 1800 │1255-1345
Full time │ 1800 │ 1500 │ 1800 │ 1500 │ 1800 │1200-1500
──────────┴───────┴───────┴───────┴───────┴────────┴──────────
The actual time spent by the teachers according to the New Program is no
longer than the established time. Each teacher has 210 minutes in
regular activities, and 100 in special activities, with 20 minutes for
assembling of pupils, a total of 330 minutes, which is the established
time.
The two periods in special activities should be departmentalized by
certain teachers giving both periods to play and physical training, and
other teachers giving both periods to music, drawing, and science, etc.
The manual-training teachers and the public librarian release two
teachers from the work periods, who may be assigned to play and physical
training. Six teachers should run the auditorium period, and the
remaining teacher of the Division should be assigned to play and
physical training. The only extra teachers are the manual-training
teachers. If there are a few teachers who cannot do the work of the
special activities successfully, they may give all of this time to
regular school activities. The teachers so displaced from regular
activities may give all of their time to physical training and play,
music, drawing, etc.
About half of the teachers will have an extra 50-minute period in the
school for grading papers, planning school work, looking after
individual needs of children, or professional study. In my judgment it
would be well if all teachers did their supplementary school work at the
school rather than at home. Less energy will be required to do this work
at the school than at home, and the public will have a better
understanding of the teacher’s work.
_The Y School_: Unfortunately the program described requires twenty-six
classrooms for twenty-one classes of children in addition to the
auditorium, play space, library, workshops, etc. No facility during the
school day is used more than half the time by the X School. Fortunately
the auditorium need be large enough to accommodate only one third of the
X School. The same is true of the play space and the special work
facilities. There is a great economy in using the facilities named for
three periods by alternate groups, each representing one third of the
school. But a higher first cost and a greater operation and maintenance
cost would be justifiable in all these facilities, including the regular
classrooms, if they could be used longer and accommodate more children.
Since the X School can use any of these facilities only half of the
time, what objection can there be to another school of twenty-one
classes using the facilities when the X School cannot use them? On p.
198 is shown a program for such a duplicate school, designated Y.
The Y School has the same time as the X School, for both pupils and
teachers. Neither school could use any facility any more if the other
school were not there, but both schools have better facilities every
hour of the day because the other school is there. Forty-two classes of
children are thus accommodated in twenty-six classrooms. Instead of
building a sixteen-room additional school, with its initial cost of
construction, site, janitor service, heating, maintenance, etc., an
equivalent expenditure can be made for the permanent improvement and
increased operating cost of the twenty-six-room school.
────────────┬────────────┬─────────┬─────────┬─────────
School │ Academic │ General │ Play, │ Special
hours │instruction │exercises│ etc. │
────────────┼────────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────
8.30- 9.20│ │ Div. 2. │ Div. 3. │ Div. 1.
9.20-10.10│ │ Div. 3. │ Div. 2. │ Div. 1.
10.10-11.00│Arithmetic, │ │ │
│all │ │ │
│divisions │ │ │
11.10-12.00│Language, │ │ │
│all │ │ │
│divisions │ │ │
12.00- 1.00│Entire │ │ │
│school at │ │ │
│luncheon │ │ │
1:00- 1:50│ │ Div. 1. │ Div. 3. │ Div. 2.
1:50- 2:40│Reading, all│ │ │
│divisions │ │ │
2:40- 3:30│History, │ │ │
│geography, │ │ │
│all │ │ │
│divisions │ │ │
3:30- 4:30│ │ │ Div. 1. │
────────────┴────────────┴─────────┴─────────┴─────────
(The blank spaces represent the periods when the X School is using the
facilities.)
While this program makes two schools in one possible, primarily it is
planned to provide a longer school day, i.e., six hours in place of
five, and greater facilities for each child during each of the six
hours. One hundred minutes’ daily play is given to the primary grades,
for play takes the place of work for small children. This play is
gradually transformed into work, fifty minutes’ work and fifty minutes’
play in the intermediate grades, and one hundred minutes’ work in the
grammar grades, as the older children use their after-school leisure
time for play. Thus the play impulse is transformed into the work
impulse. Productive activities are substituted for non-productive
activities. Work is made constructive play.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
IV
ECONOMY OF PLAYGROUND MANAGEMENT IN GARY SCHOOL, AS CONTRASTED WITH
PUBLIC PLAYGROUND