directory. - Surrounded by Reality

MADISOI' DIRE CTORY. 115At tho present time there arc cloven sepa rate schools, in whicharc employed fifteen teachers. Th e whole amount expendedfor the suppo rt of schools during the year, including rent ofschool houses, repairs. fuel, incident al exp enses nod teacherswages, according to the report of the treasur er of the B oard ofEducati on, is less than €;GOOO. T his is less than six dollars andflft,Y cents per scholar for the whole number who ha ve attendedsch ool. J udging from those DQW in t he pu blic schools, whohave been instructed in private schools, we believe t hat pupilscan be bettcr educa ted in th e former, at 3 D expense of lessthan two dollars and fifty cents per term, than in any pr ivat eschools in the city where the t uition for a single pupil rangesfrom fifteen to forty dollars per annum.T he new school houses, which were ready for occupancy inOctober, 1I:1\"e enab led mc for th e first time t o inaugurate a systomof graded schools. Hither to it has been impossible to gr adethe schools in such a manner as to enabl e teachers to do justice,eit her to the mselves or their pupi ls.Although we han not been able to classify the scholars asth oroughly as would be desirable, sufficient has been done inthat directi on to convin ce the most skept ical of the practicnbili,ty , uti lity and economy of a g raded system of schoo ls. Classeshave been formed in accordance with the course of study adopted.In conseq uence of the crowded condit ion of the school housein t he first ward, it has been found necessary to exclude scholarsunder six yea rs of age, to ~i\"C place to those who arc older,and whose attendance at school is much more important. Parents have sometimes complained of this, Lut when it is necessaryto exclude any class of pupils, on acco unt of a lack ofroom, it is better to exclude those who would be-least benefitedby school privileges. )108t ex perienced educators entertain th eopinion t hat no child under six yea rs of nge should be allowedt o attend sehoul at all.SC HOOL HEGSIT ERS.-Th c regi ste rs heretofore in usc in ourschools were both faulty in plan and deficient in mut ter. '1'0secu re a uni for m system of school statistics, I have pr epared :l.new one for each of the depar tment s in which will be pre servedthe following facts, viz : Xa me of school j name of teacher ;length of t erm, with t he det c of its commencement and close jnumber, age, name and attendance of each pupil j nu mber oftim es dismissed; nu mber of t imes tardy ; number of tim es eachpupil has communica ted ; number of tWimcs punishcd ; number