USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > Waterbury > History of Waterbury and the Naugatuck Valley, Connecticut, Volume I > Part 10
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In 1903 the Mulcahy school, off Baldwin Street, was opened. The building was three stories in height, not including basement; it had a frontage of 72 feet and a depth of 91 feet. The building had four entrances, one on the Vol. 1-5
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front, one in rear, and one on each side. The basement contained play rooms for both boys and girls, sanitaries, engine room, fuel room and janitor's room. The first floor contained four class rooms, principal's office with toilet and supply room. The second floor contained six class rooms, one recitation room and teachers' room with toilet. The third floor contained six class rooms, recitation room and teachers' room with toilet.
This year, 1903, the old Elm Street building was condemned and abandoned, and plans made for the new Margaret Croft School.
The Sprague School at Waterville was remodeled and a large wing added.
In the report of the superintendent for 1904, the crowded condition of the schools is again emphasized. He says :
"Five new rooms have been opened and filled, and as soon as we have the funds, at least one more room must be opened. In September, 1905, there will be but three unoccupied rooms in the entire city and it is quite possible that these may be occupied. The attendance for September, 1904, has been a record breaker, the increase, 533, being larger than that in any city in the state, and probably larger than in any city of similar size in New England.
"There has been no increase like this within recent years, and as far as I can see, there is not likely to be any immediate relief. The first grades throughout the city are greatly overcrowded, the room that has less than sixty in attend- ance being the exception, and many have over sixty-five pupils. These figures mean that if we would properly house these children, we must still continue to open about eight new rooms each year. It is surprising how evenly this increase is spread over the entire city. Of the thirty-one schools, twenty-four show an increase and seven remain practically stationary. Provision for additional rooms to be opened in September, 1905, should be made at the Webster School. Three rooms could have been occupied in this district this fall if we had had them. I would recommend that an eight-room addition to this school be built during the coming year and a portion be ready for occupancy in September, 1905."
In the enumeration for 1904, the following schools showed large gains : Bishop and Driggs, 186; Lincoln, 56; Merriman, 102; Croft, 218; Bunker Hill, 25; Park Road, 25 ; Hopeville, 40 ; Town Plot, 38.
The growth of the city was again apparent in the records of 1905. The regis- tration was 9,413, an increase of 697. The new Mill Plain School was occupied and was a model district school. Bunker Hill purchased the site for a new eight-room building. Bucks Hill started on its new structure; Park Road opened its new four-room building. During 1904 and 1905 the districts voted over ninety-four thousand dollars for sites and school buildings.
In Waterville, the Sprague School, later destroyed by fire, assumed some- thing of its present shape. The original building, which was erected over fifty years ago, served the needs of the district until 1892, at which time a two-room addition was built to supply the want of a growing district. In 1897 it was neces- sary to add two more rooms to meet the increase, and six years later, in 1903, a four-room wing was added to the group. In 1905 it was deemed wise to give up the use of the first building for classroom needs and part of it was arranged for other uses, such as principal's office and supply rooms. A new brick addi- tion, erected in 1905, contained on the first floor a kindergarten, and on the sec- ond floor a classroom and a principal's office. Each floor had roomy corridors.
With the addition completed and occupied, the district in 1905 had nine class- rooms and one kindergarten for the accommodation of the school population.
In 1910 the Sprague School accommodations were again increased by the addition of a building containing three classrooms, a recitation room and a library.
Scherl 1898
TOWN PLOT SCHOOL-A DISTRICT TYPE OF BUILDING-WATERBURY
THE WALSH SCHOOL, WATERBURY
ม
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The new Margaret Croft School, which took the place of the abandoned Elm Street School, was opened in 1905. This is three stories high and the stairways and landings were built of reinforced concrete.
On the first floor are five classrooms, each 25 by 28 feet; a kindergarten, 25 by 40, and a principal's room II by 25 feet, complete with toilet and lavatory.
The second floor contains six classrooms, a teacher's room with toilet, and a library. The third floor is a duplicate of the second, with a supply room and hospital.
The building is covered with a flat roof, sloping to the center, from which the rain water is drained by means of pipes extending down in the interior of the building, thus doing away with dripping cornices and frozen conductor pipes. The entrances for the scholars are on opposite sides of the building, that for the girls being on the south, near the front, and that for the boys on the north, near the rear. From these entrances the scholars pass directly either into the base- ment or up to the first floor.
All classrooms and corridors on the first, second and third floors have a wainscot of glazed brick six feet high, the junction between it and the plaster above being covered by a wood moulding in the corridors, and by a picture shelf and moulding in the classrooms. The exterior is faced with red pallet brick.
In 1906 an addition containing seven classrooms, a kindergarten, and an assembly hall were added to the Webster School.
In 1907 the superintendent records the increase in school population as fol- lows:
"The complete and corrected returns from the census enumerators show that the number of children of school age in this city is 17,781, which is a gain of 931 over the census of 1906. This gain is far in excess of that of previous years and means that in the near future, if we are to properly accommodate our grow- ing school population, it will be necessary to build, every school year, one 18 to 20-room school building. The central district, Croft, Welton and Clay Street schools, shows an increase of 580; the northwestern district, Driggs, Bishop Street and Lincoln schools, an increase of 333; the Washington Hill dis- trict, Washington, Mulcahy and Merriman schools, an increase of 102; West Side Hill. Russell School, an increase of 66; the Brooklyn district, Duggan, Porter Street and Barnard schools, and the northern district, Webster and Walsh, show smaller increases; and the eastern section, Hendricken and Hamilton, remains practically stationary. The enormous increase of 580 in the heart of the city certainly means that within a few years it will be necessary to carry out the original plans of the Croft School by removing the old building and erecting an addition of 20 to 24 rooms to the present new structure. One only needs to walk a comparatively short distance on the streets near the center to note the number of large tenement blocks that are being erected on every side, and this is likely to continue for several years, producing in the center of the city a school popula- tion very much greater than at present. The city is very fortunate in having sufficient land in the rear of the new Margaret Croft School on which to erect an addition which will accommodate this increased number of children. Among the district schools, Bunker Hill, Sprague and Town Plot show the largest increases."
During this year a ten-room addition to the Driggs School was opened, as well as six- and eight-room additions at the Duggan and Webster schools, respectively.
In 1909 the conditions at the Crosby High School were such that half sessions became necessary. In 1908 the assembly room had been given over to classes, but this failed to help out as the attendance for 1909 reached 760, a further gain of forty over the previous year.
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It was still necessary to shift about and provide for overflows in various sec- tions. The total attendance for this year, 11, 119, showed a gain of over five hundred.
For 1910, the attendance was 11,503, a further gain over the previous year, the High School gaining fifty-two. In this year the High School classes were divided, 305 pupils attending the afternoon sessions and 507 the morning sessions.
However, the board had acted and plans for a new school were drawn. Unfor- tunately the financial conditions were such as to prevent an immediate sale of the bonds.
In this year the evening schools led the entire state in attendance, the registra- tion reaching nearly a thousand.
This year saw the opening of its first community playground. The first report of Joseph A. Colloty, supervisor of physical training in the public schools, con- tains the following :
"If public opinion that has been gathered from all sources may be used as a judge, the eight weeks' session of playgrounds, just completed at Hamilton Park, has been one of the most successful movements undertaken. It was instituted by the Board of Education and plans carried out by the Board of Public Works.
"A boys' baseball league was organized for boys under fifteen years of age. Forty league games were played, with an average of two hundred and fifty root- ers each day, and they were rooters, giving that number of boys something to do beside playing in the streets or up to some mischief or other.
"Swearing, smoking and fighting were absolutely prohibited; the rules were kept in good shape; not a fight occurred during the series, and the absence of swearing was commented on by every adult who witnessed the games.
"The tennis courts proved a big success, being engaged from as early as 9 A. M. until dark. We had two double courts and six would not have been too many. Over seventy-five boys, one hundred adults and twenty-two young ladies and girls were instructed in the game and had the use of the courts. The spec- tators numbered as high as one hundred a day; an average was not kept."
In 1908 the school census showed the beginning of a notable shifting of popu- lation. In the number of children at school, there was an increase of 275 and in enumeration a decrease of 536. Washington Hill, comprising the Washington, Mulcahy and Merriman schools, showed a decrease of 113. In the Brooklyn dis- trict, the Duggan and Barnard schools showed a decrease of 342, while the Porter showed an increase of 192, making the net decrease in Brooklyn 150. In the northern section of the city the Webster and Walsh schools gave an increase of III and in the northwestern section the Driggs and Bishop Street schools an increase of 417.
The total number of children in attendance this year was 10,093.
In 1910 large additions to both the Russell and Merriman schools were begun. The Merriman school work covered by the contract consisted of a new wing con- taining five class rooms, a kindergarten, wood-working room, and cooking room; this new wing being a duplicate of the front part of the present building. The new and old buildings are connected by a wide corridor ; the space between build- ings forming a court in which is placed the new main entrance.
The addition to the Russell School contains on the first floor two class rooms, a kindergarten room and a large teacher's room or office. The basement has a cooking school room and a manual training room, all well lighted, heated and ven- tilated.
In his report for 1911, the superintendent thus briefly describes conditions :
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"The corrected school census returns show that the number of school children in the city is 20,347, a gain of 1,341, which is considerably larger than any during the past fifteen years. The number of children actually in attendance in the public schools is 13,683, a gain of 1,010; in the private and parochial schools, 4,500. The returns show that the Brooklyn district remains about stationary; the district which includes the center of the city gives a gain of 628; the north end section, a gain of 408; Washington Hill, a gain of 57. Of the district schools, East Farms and East Mountain show the largest relative gain, 40 in all; Hopeville, Mill Plain, Park Road and Waterville, about the same, 15 each ; and Town Plot, 43. In this connection it is interesting to recall that the city will receive from the state this year, and from the Leavenworth fund for the expenses of our schools, an amount in excess of $55,000, a rather tidy sum. The total number of children attending the public schools is 12,129, a gain of 635 as compared with the attendance last year. The gain this year is abnormal to the extent of at least two hundred pupils."
The total registration at evening schools for 1911 was 1,284.
In commenting on the new playground movement, the superintendent says :
"I think it is generally conceded that playgrounds have come to stay in Water- bury. During the past year the Board of Education co-operated with the Board of Public Works, as in 1910, and paid part of the expenses of the playground at Hamilton Park. In this connection it is pleasant to note that the Board of Public Works opened several other playgrounds in different sections of the city where they seemed to be specially needed, and also, that the Associated Charities had a large playground in the center of the city, on South Main Street. Every move made in this direction is praiseworthy and should receive the hearty co-operation of the public."
In IQUI the crowded condition at the Crosby High School was to some extent relieved by an addition to the rear of the building. This was three stories high, 30 feet by 96 feet, and gave six additional school rooms, a girls' toilet room and storage and stock rooms in the basement, a superintendent's office and a principal's office, with waiting room, and secretary's room and toilet room for each, a physical lecture room and a physical laboratory, a chemical laboratory, and two botanical laboratories having been provided in the old part.
In 1911 the expenditures for new buildings and furniture amounted to $138,845. Of this sum $81,000 was expended on the Crosby High School, $28,700 on the Merriman School, and $18,945 on Driggs School.
In 1912 the enumeration was 20.933, a gain of 586; the number of children in the public schools was 14, 117, in the parochial schools, 3,886. In the High School the attendance was 935, a further gain of 82 or 255 more pupils than could be accommodated at single sessions. The evening school attendance for 1912 was 1,426.
Superintendent Tinker thus summarizes the school accommodation problem in his report for 1912:
"The growth in the number of school children has been much greater between the years 1908 and 1912 than between 1902 and 1908; yet the total amount appro- priated for new grammar schools during the period of rapid growth was only $171,900, an average of $28.700 per year, while in the period of slower growth the amount of money appropriated for the same purpose was $261,814, or an average of $43,635 per year. This shows most conclusively that in new construc- tion we have been falling behind during the past six years from $15,000 to $25,000 each year, and there is little likelihood of our catching up unless future appropria- tions for new construction are largely increased. To state it in another way, dur- ing the last eight years the increase in school attendance has been 2,650; the num-
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ber of rooms opened 35, which, with an average accommodation of 45, would seat 1,575 pupils, leaving over one thousand pupils for whom no new accommodations have been provided."
In 1912 the first report was made on the ages of grammar school graduates, and the number of years required by them to complete the grammar school course. For nine years a card system had been kept. These cards, which are still kept, contain a complete school record of each pupil, giving his name, date of birth, birthplace, parents' name, address, and for each year, the school attended, his grade and rank ; in addition, the card also contains a great many facts about the general health of the student, his eyesight, hearing, contagious diseases, etc.
In his report for 1912, the superintendent says :
"There were 400 graduates, of whom 2 completed the course in six years ; 7, or 134 per cent, in seven years ; 66, or 161/2 per cent, in eight years ; 234, or 581/2 per cent, came through on schedule time, nine years ; 74, or 181/2 per cent, in ten years ; 15, or 334 per cent, in eleven years, and 2 pupils in twelve years. Eight, or 2 per cent, were twelve years of age ; 43, or 1034 per cent, were thirteen years; 109, or 2714 per cent, were fourteen years : 139. or 3434 per cent, were fifteen years ; 76, or 19 per cent, were sixteen years, and 25, or 61/4 per cent, were seven- teen years of age."
In 1912 the four-room Hill Street School was built, at a cost of $23,000.
In 1913 the school enumeration was 23,171, a gain of 2,238. Of this number, 15,527 were in the public schools and 4.362 in private schools. The Washington Hill gain was 665, the Center gain 497, the North End gain 345, Brooklyn 274, the western section 103, and a small gain in all the districts. The number of pupils attending half sessions in 1913 was 1,327. The evening school attendance was 1,385.
The city was now thoroughly awake to the need of new schools. The Slocum School, twelve rooms, was promised to the North End for 1914. This did away with half sessions in both the Webster and Walsh schools. An eight-room addi- tion to the Clay School and a similar addition to the Washington School were well under way.
The Slocum School plans called for a twenty-four-room building, of which twelve were to be completed in the future. The architects of this fine semi-fire- proof structure were Freney & Jackson. It is considered one of the best of the city's schools.
On December 25, 1912, the Sprague School was visited by a destructive fire which left practically nothing standing but the brick walls. Plans were at once prepared to rebuild on the same lines as the old except that the committee decided to place the heating plant in a separate building at the rear of the school. Con- tracts were let in February and the work was pushed with such speed that the building was completed and available for school use in 1913. No changes were made in the exterior design of the school. The old assembly hall was divided up which gave two more class rooms, so that the building contains one kinder- garten, fifteen class rooms. two offices, two toilet rooms, recitation and supply rooms and a library. Each floor also has roomy corridors in which are placed the wardrobes for the use of the pupils. The wardrobes are of iron. The entire basement was given up to boys' and girls' play rooms. Several fire protective features were installed, chief of which were the fire walls. These extend from basement to roof and serve to confine a possible fire within the wing in which it may start. These walls are of heavy brick, and the openings in the walls in the different stories are protected by fire doors which are automatically closed by the melting of a fuse at a certain temperature.
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Extra promotions had been begun in 1912, and in 1913 it was decided to give 461 pupils an opportunity to do two years' work in one. Only those who stood highest and were physically strong were selected. This was a new device to over- come the school congestion, and resulted in shortening the grammar course by one year for these advanced pupils. In 1914 the double promotions numbered 40I.
The school enumeration for 1914 again reflected local economic conditions. The figure was 21,681, a loss of 1,490. The public school attendance for the year was 14,880; private school attendance, 4,255. The losses were as follows: Merri- man, 5; Mulcahy, 90; Croft, 281 ; Webster, 129; Bishop, 624; Porter, 116; Driggs and Lincoln, 304; Hamilton, 159; Hendricken, 230; Waterville, 54. All others showed small gains. The attendance at the evening schools was 1,529.
Of the conditions at the Crosby High School, the superintendent says :
"The situation in the high school is such that it is very doubtful if it will be possible to house the pupils next year, even in two sessions and a third session is absolutely out of the question. Twelve hundred and twenty pupils are now in attendance, which is nearly twice the full capacity of the school. Fortunately up to the present year the two divisions have been somewhat equally divided and the selection of courses of study by the pupils has been such that it was possible to accommodate everyone, but during the present year there has been a sort of a realignment on the part of the pupils with the result that a large number of pupils can not take the studies that are called for in their courses for the reason that it is absolutely impossible to organize additional classes. The laboratory facilities are proving to be inadequate and the commercial practice rooms entirely too small."
In 1914 the Slocum School was opened and filled to capacity. Additions to the Maloney and Washington schools were begun. The Mulcahy, which was par- tially destroyed by fire in 1914, and the old Croft School building, which was also heavily damaged by flames, were both thoroughly repaired, and ready for occupancy in 1915. After these fires sprinkler systems were placed in all new schools and in the old ones as rapidly as funds would permit.
In January, 1914, the Board of Education decided to make the superintendent of schools the executive head of the entire school department and to hold him wholly responsible for all of its activities. The superintendent up to that time had charge of the purely educational work ; the physical plant being in charge of the Committee on Schoolhouses and the inspector of school buildings. Under the new arrangement, the superintendent was also made responsible for the condition of the physical plant.
In 1914 plans were adopted for the new Clark School on Scovill Street, adjoin- ing the Croft School. It is a fourteen-room building, complete with wood- working and cooking departments, gymnasium, swimming pool, boys' and girls' lockers, shower and dressing room. This building is a model in every respect as to its construction and finish, and the entire range of modern schoolhouse work in this country was searched to produce a building which would be of most thor- ough and at the same time most economical fireproof construction. The walls of the building are of brick, the exterior facing being of selected brick trimmed with a small amount of Indiana limestone in keeping with the Croft School.
The Sprague School gymnasium, which was begun in October, 1914, was ready for occupancy February, 1915. The auditorium in this seats 500.
In 1915 the enumeration was 22,300, a gain of 709 over 1914. The largest gains were as follows: Washington District, 180; Duggan, 109; Mulcahy, 103; Hendricken, 101 ; Barnard and Maloney, 81 each ; Croft, 50; Porter, 48; Lincoln,
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43 ; Walsh, 38; Driggs, 30; Merriman showed a loss of 76; Russell, of 69; and Webster, of 198. Town Plot showed a gain of 162; Bucks Hill, 27; Hopeville, 20; East Mountain, 15; Mill Plain, 13; East Farms, 7. The losses in Waterville were 34, and in Bunker Hill, 17. The reports of the attendance for September, 1915, show a total number of 13,959 pupils, a gain of 611. There was a loss in attendance of 98 at the Driggs and Lincoln schools, due to the opening of the new St. Margaret's Parochial School. The attendance at the evening schools was 1,679, the largest in the history of the city up to that time.
In 1915 a decided advance was made in the planning and construction of new schools. Of these the most important enterprises were the planning of the new Wilby High School and the opening of the Clark School on which in 1915 $100,667.94 was expended. The total expenditures in 1915 for buildings, additions and furniture was $128,214.93, in 1914 it was $129,133, of which $42,930 was spent in the new high school addition and $58,974 on the Maloney School.
The work on additions and alterations of the Hendricken School was com- menced in October, 1915, and finished in March, 1916. In the basement the following new rooms were added: Cooking room, boiler room, woodworking room, girls' and boys' sanitaries, store room and new exit. On the first floor were added a kindergarten, teachers' room, kindergarten and teachers' toilets, store room and exit. On the second floor were added a class room, principal's room and library and toilet.
The school department in 1915 had four new gymnasiums and one up-to-date swimming pool. The pool and one new gymnasium are located at the Clark School, one at Washington, one at Maloney and one at the Sprague School. They are all well lighted, heated, and ventilated.
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