USA > Connecticut > New London County > Old Lyme > The educational history of Old Lyme, Connecticut, 1635-1935 > Part 17
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At this time the state and national celebration in connection with the Centennial was held. In Old Lyme this took the thoughts of the people back to their first gathering place on Meeting House Hill. There on July 4, 1876, throngs of the townspeople gathered for an all-day celebration. Souvenir programs were prepared which chronicled the order of events. The morning was given to a formal address and prayer, the midday to an elaborate picnic and the afternoon to races and games. The committee in charge included the following fa- miliar names: Enoch Noyes, Matthew Griswold, Daniel R. Noyes, Charles McCurdy, Charles Peck, Nathaniel Conkling and William Coult.
The last and hardest of the years of severe financial dis-
16. Report of the Connecticut State Board of Education, 1875, p. I.
184 Educational History of Old Lyme.
tress came in 1879. This was marked by a slight decrease in the average attendance at schools, in wages of teachers and in the total amount expended on schools. The following years were devoted to the improvement in methods for the certifi- cation of teachers. A bill was passed providing for county and state boards of examiners and a lay council of education was formed with the certification of teachers as its major con- sideration. This led to a new state law on examinations which was accepted, with slight modification, on May 21, 1884. This gave to the State Board of Education the right to issue, upon examination, certificates that might be used in any public school in this state. These certificates were good for one year and aimed toward greater uniformity in standards.
During this same year, 1884, a careful study was made of the enumeration in the district schools of the state. The figures for Old Lyme are immediately interesting.17 In the eight school districts within the town 314 pupils were enu- merated but the distribution was most uneven. District No. I had the largest enumeration with 64 pupils and district No. 8 the smallest with 10 pupils. In district No. 2 the average at- tendance was found to be 55 children and the per pupil cost $22.68, while in district No. 8 with 10 children the per pupil cost was $ 16.03. These data were part of a series of surveys extending over a long period of years which reflected the de- termination of the state to close small, inadequate district schools.
In reviewing the years between 1856 and 1880 certain out- standing gains are to be found in the state's program for
17. Report of Old Lyme for 1884. In this report there are notes on the towns that paid out less money than they received from the state. Old Lyme was one of these. She received $471.00 and paid out $323.00, thereby saving $148.00. Ibid., 1885, p. 144.
Enumeration of Districts
First
64
Second
17
Third
31
Fourth
53
Fifth
57
31889
oard Of
chool
Disitors
own of Id
me, jonn.
Oh I Anderson Chairman,
stevanty
Acting School Visitor, 73 f Swaney Secretary.
This Certifies that -Miss Lillian Sheffield
has been examined in Reading, Writing, Spelling, Grammar, Acitli. metic, Geography, Physiology, Hygiene and the Rudiments of History, and found qualified to teach the school in the Sixth district
.
term, 1889.
(Old Style March 30 # 1889
13 I tivarey
Write Anderson Af Hildack
School Visitors.
A yb Griswold.
-
TEACHER'S CERTIFICATE, IN OLD LYME, CONNECTICUT, SUMMER, 1889.
185
Public Schooling, 1855-1935.
schooling. Yet in Old Lyme, where certain of these newer educational practices were adopted, no real gains were made in either attendance, consolidation or higher education.
The general interest of the people of Old Lyme was cen- tered in agriculture and the river trade. Railroads and steam- boats kept them in touch with the outside world and handled all their surplus products. Farming, which flourished during the Civil War, declined with the panic of 1872 and land values fell accordingly. By the end of the decade, however, there was a partial revival of agricultural prosperity which continued until the end of the century.
The year 188I was locally significant because there was initiated in Old Lyme a long-anticipated program of printed town and school reports. The records for the years from 1855 to 1881 were kept in small school notebooks and were of necessity limited. Then for a considerable portion of this period there was no mention of Old Lyme schools in the state reports and these brief manuscript reports are all that remain of these stirring days in local educational reform. With the coming of printed reports both the town and state records of Old Lyme schools are greatly extended.
The expanding state program in other fields is reflected in certain acts which became effective in the decade from 1870 to 1880. In 1873, after having had two capitals for 172 years, Connecticut erected in Hartford its fifth capitol building and this was made the sole capital of the state. The last meeting in the capitol building on the New Haven Green was held in 1874. In 1877 further progress was shown in the establish- ment of telephone service throughout the state. The State Agricultural College was built soon after at Storrs, and this, with the legalizing of evening schools for factory workers, made two new links in a program of diversified opportunity.
After 1870 there was also a steadily increasing state par- ticipation in school affairs in accordance with tendencies stimu- lated during the preceding sixteen years. This development was manifest in largely extended state control and moder- ately increased state support. The entire state school system
186 Educational History of Old Lyme.
was expanded to strengthen existing facilities and to provide for new types of education.18
Following the act of 1866 authorizing the consolidation of districts, the change from district to town control took effect very slowly. By 1890 only one-seventh of the towns of the state had adopted the consolidated system. It was not until 1 909 that the state required every town to take over the con- trol of the public schools within its limits.
With the special enactment of 1870, the standard term of thirty weeks in larger districts and of twenty-four weeks in smaller districts was retained for ten years. In 1880 and in 1889 the term was again extended. By 1895 the term was fixed at thirty-six weeks in larger districts and in 1921 the present term of thirty-eight weeks was made standard for the state.
The school age was similarly advanced. In 1882 the com- pulsory school age was fixed at eight to fourteen years; in 1885 at eight to sixteen years; and in 1899 at seven to six- teen years. This latter specification is still standard for the state with the exception of children between fourteen and sixteen years of age who are gainfully employed.19
The curriculum was also greatly enriched. Starting in 1877 with such basic subjects as reading, writing, arithmetic, Eng- lish and citizenship, music, drawing, manual arts and natural science were also prescribed, while health instruction and physical education were made requisites in 1921. Definite recognition was also given by the state to certain specific health provisions such as vaccination, testing of eyesight, appoint- ment of school physicians, school dentists and school nurses, and the provision of school lunches. Kindergartens were au- thorized in 1886 and existed under varying age specifications until the present requirements were fixed at four to seven years. A special kindergarten certificate has recently been re- quired for teachers in kindergartens within the state.
Many grants have been made by the state to aid the towns
18. Walker, Development of State Support and Control of Education in Connecticut, p. 52.
19. Ibid., p. 53.
187
Public Schooling, 1855-1935.
in meeting the demands of these new educational laws. Con- necticut had never levied a state school tax, but in 1871, as we have previously stated, the state made the first allotment for school purposes of moneys arising from state taxation by appropriating fifty cents per child to be distributed on the same basis as the interest from the school fund. An appropria- tion of $1.50 per child was made the following year. Simi- larly in 1893 the state ordered that the interest from the school fund should be not less than seventy-five cents per child. Any shortage was to be supplied from the state treas- ury. Again in 1897 the total grant was increased to $2.50 per child. The interest from the school fund was transferred to the civil-list funds, and the new grant based on the last school enumeration became known as the enumeration grant.
The state grant for the support of schools, instituted in 1903, was designed to furnish special aid to small towns not able to meet state requirements. In 1911 this grant included towns with a valuation of $2,500,000 or less, but in 1919 it was extended to include towns of $3,500,000 valuation or less. Still further aid was made available for small towns un- able to fulfill state requirements. An average attendance grant, passed during this same year, was never financed. Many provisions have been made for the extension of sec- ondary education. Of these, tuition and transportation grants make up the largest financial consideration.
Other grants have been made for the improvement of evening schools and Americanization work, for general super- vision, for teachers' pensions and for trade schools. Provisions for teacher training within the state have been greatly ex- tended and in 1921 a division of special education and stand- ards was created for the purpose of supervising the instruc- tion of children mentally or physically handicapped.
The printed town reports of Old Lyme show in consider- able detail the way in which Old Lyme has responded to this state program of education and the extent to which the state has contributed in the financial responsibilities imposed by these expanding educational requirements.
The first printed town report of 188 1 is conspicuously de-
188 Educational History of Old Lyme.
tailed.2ยบ It was arranged to comply with a vote taken at the annual town meeting on the third of October, 1881. "On said day the Report of the Acting School Visitor was read and in as much as it embodied information in regard to the schools which all citizens should know and recommendations for the advancement of the cause of Education among us, the Report by vote was ordered to be printed for general distribution and the acting school visitor, Rev. Wm. B. Carey was requested to prepare his report for publication." Excerpts from this re- port follow.
The schools of the town have for the past year been tolerably well kept. I cannot speak in special commendation of any one of them without seeming to disparage the others. And yet I was so struck by the excellent reading in the third district that I must commend it. Spelling is generally good. . . . Arithmetic is fair.
The average attendance upon school is not what it should be. The scholars are tardy and irregular in attendance, far too much. The school registers are black with tardy marks and absence marks. Where do these fifty-three children out of school spend their time?
The engagement of teachers for long periods is far more beneficial than for short ones. The school that had the best average attendance during the year was the one that employed their teacher for the year.
The enumeration, registration and attendance of "scholars" in the town during 188 1 is convincingly presented in a care- fully prepared table giving data for the eight district schools. Conspicuous differences between enumeration and attendance
20. Old Lyme Town Report, 1881.
Enumeration and Attendance of Scholars
Districts
Enumerated Jan. 1, 1881
Registered in School
Average Winter
Average Summer
First
74
44
33
33
Second
20
I 3
10
9
Third
35
28
20
1 3
Fourth
63
52
37
26
Fifth
49
48
29
25
Sixth
39
29
1 8
IO
Seventh
41
33
20
12
Eighth
19
1 5
8
-
TOTAL
340
262
165
129
189
Public Schooling, 1855-1935.
suggest the prevailing attitude of the people toward public education. Of the 340 children of school age enumerated in the town in 1881, 262 were registered in district schools of the town and 165 were in attendance.
Some of the schoolhouses were reported to be in good order. Others however were considered not fit for the pur- poses of education. "The District Committees report this year as follows: one good school house, four fair, three poor. All things should work together to educate the child. We educate by what we are as well as by what we hear. . . . The school house should be like the church, the neatest most substantial building in the neighborhood . . . that the children may learn to appreciate the best things and imitate them."
The school visitor recommended the holding of annual public examinations in the several districts at the close of the winter term to inspire the "scholars" with a laudable ambition to excel in their studies and to waken in parents and taxpayers a livelier interest in the working and welfare of the schools.
The total appropriation for that year was $1,500.00, with the actual cost to the town reduced by special appropriation to $533.60. The teaching staff for the winter and summer ses- sion was different in every district except the eighth, where Ida Champion served for both sessions. For this she received $96.00-$64.00 for the winter session and $32.00 for the summer session. The salaries varied widely according to dis- tricts, with the male teachers considerably in the lead: H. M. Caulkins, first district, winter term, $ 100.00; Annie R. Miner, second district, winter term, $60.00; L. Bill, seventh district, winter term, $60.00; John Swaney, fifth district, winter term, $140.00; May DeWolfe, sixth district, winter term, $ 105.00. The highest salary for the summer term was $75.00 and the lowest $32.00.
That salaries were somewhat on the upturn appears in the citations of 1884 when John Swaney was paid $ 157.00 for teaching the winter term in the fifth district and Lizzie Haynes was paid $ 160.00 for teaching the winter term in the seventh district. Similarly the summer salaries were increased. Gertrude Roberts received $98.00 for teaching the summer
190 Educational History of Old Lyme.
session in the third district and William L. Smith received $ 140.00 for teaching the summer session in the first district. That these salaries were somewhat standard for this period in Old Lyme is further indicated by the complete report of teachers' salaries in the eight districts of the town for the winter term in the year 1885.21
The report of the two school visitors for 1886 suggests the general conditions of schooling in the town at that time. W. L. Anderson, acting school visitor for the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth districts, reported
school in the fifth district was largest and had the largest scholars. Scholars were orderly and did well in work. Seventh and eighth dis- trict schools were small but well attended for number registered. The teacher of the sixth district was new, young and unsuccessful. The school reduced to half in one month. Her certificate was revoked. Parents were much more to blame than the teacher. The schools in the sixth and eighth districts are not fit for use. Would advise re- building if it were not for the hope of consolidation.
The report of J. M. Huntley, acting school visitor for the first, second, third and fourth districts, was somewhat more cheerful. He found conditions generally satisfactory, though attendance was not good. Many of the children attended only the minimum sixty days required by law.
During this same year Arbor Day was created and Old Lyme records show the planting in 1887 of thirteen trees and thirteen shrubs. As in other towns these were no doubt named for the thirteen original colonies. At the same time fifty copies of the new physiology book, prepared by order of the general assembly for use in public schools, together with eight sets of wall diagrams, were received in Old Lyme. New interests and new materials were being introduced to give impetus to education.
That the problem of poor attendance, small, ill-kept schoolhouses and insufficient equipment was present not only in Old Lyme but in all of New London County is easily seen in the report of the secretary of the school board, who was re-
21. Old Lyme Town Report, 1885. All items in this book are unclassified.
Public Schooling, 1855-1935. 19I
quested in 1888 to make a systematic investigation of the pub- lic schools in New London County.22 His conclusions follow:
I. We find about two-fifths of the children in school above ten years of age cannot write-leaving out Norwich and New London.
2. A large part of the teachers do not know how or what to teach.
3. The attendance of the children is irregular.
4. The schools are too small.
5. The schools are open too short a time.
6. The schools are insufficiently supplied with blackboards and other appliances.
7. Many school houses are in bad condition.
8. In many districts there is no endeavor to get a competent teacher.
9. Few children in school of twelve years or older.
10. Young children do not receive their share of attention.
Old Lyme at this time had the same number of district schools that it had had since 1766. As with other towns in Connecticut, population changes had altered the relative size of these schools. In the twenty years from 1868 to 1888 the school enumeration in Old Lyme showed a marked decline from 377 to 261. Nevertheless there was only one school having less than twenty-four weeks of school each year, while seven of the eight schools had between twenty-four to thirty weeks of school. The distribution of the pupils showed the same wide variation from eight pupils in the eighth district to seventy-two pupils in the first district.23
22. Report of the Connecticut State Board of Education, 1889, p. 2.
23. Ibid., p. 100.
Enumeration in Old Lyme in 1888
First district 72
Second
13
Third
26
Fourth
39
Fifth
47
Sixth
23
Seventh
33
Eighth
8
261
192 Educational History of Old Lyme.
The most striking and most encouraging improvement in the common-school system in Connecticut came in this same period. This improvement is convincingly presented in the report of the State Board of Education for 1890. "More teachers are being trained, wages are rising, more kindergar- tens are being formed, more attention is being given to ele- mentary schools. There is more teaching of natural science. Less memory work is being required and more districts have school libraries."24 The period showed much educational im- provement in the directions suggested by Henry Barnard as early as 1838. It seems to record the accumulated results of the intervening years. Educational theories of 1840 were be- coming educational realities in 1890. The general conditions influencing education in the state were vastly improved.
Still the reports of the acting school visitor, J. Swaney, in 1889 and of A. H. Griswold for the years 1890 and immedi- ately thereafter emphasize the growing need of better hous- ing and some organized method for enforcing attendance in the schools of Old Lyme. Poor attendance and lack of public interest are stressed. These are referred to with considerable emphasis in Mr. Swaney's report:
I find most of the teachers faithful and the few children who at- tend regularly making good progress. I find those also who do not make much progress, and on examining the register, their names are not often among the regular attendants.
In order to improve our schools we should begin with the district meetings. The attendance at these meetings is not as good as the at- tendance at the schools.
Visit the schools and see for yourselves. Only two of the parents out of one hundred and fourteen families visited any school during the winter term just passed.
Similarly Mr. Griswold wrote, "As has been said from time to time the trouble is all with the parents. They don't take interest enough to go to the school meetings to elect offi- cers. Five out of the eight committees last year had to be ap- pointed by the Board."
24. Report of the Connecticut State Board of Education, 1890, p. 14.
193
Public Schooling, 1855-1935.
In view of the long-continued drive in the state for the elimination of small districts and the adoption of consolida- tion wherever possible, together with the very low attendance in some districts in Old Lyme and the extremely poor condi- tion of a majority of the school buildings, Mr. Griswold's further comment is illuminating: "I don't think there is in- terest or scholars enough in the town to warrant the building of an expensive school.">25
The intermittent recommendations of the acting school visitors in favor of better-trained teachers bore fruit for the first time in 1892 when Mr. Griswold entered the following gratifying report:
There has been no school during the past year or perhaps for a number of years that has been watched with more interest or had so much said about it as the First District. It being the first time a normal school teacher has taught in the town, many predicted its failure be- fore it began. But there was no failure there on the part of the teacher although she had everything to contend with. . . . Those children who went every day and went to improve did improve. The system is to be continued for another year.
The number of children enumerated in the town declined between 1888 and 1892 from 261 to 230, with a further drop in 1894 to 209. Yet the figures show a considerable increase in the enumeration in the first district and a noticeable decrease both in enumeration and attendance in some of the outlying districts. In three districts the attendance exceeded the enu- meration while in the first district about half of those enumer- ated were in regular attendance. Studied in connection with data on teachers' salaries, cost of upkeep and the general con- dition of the buildings, these figures were convincingly in fa- vor of some form of consolidation.26
From the report on teachers' salaries alone one can easily see the wide variation in per pupil cost. With a total payroll of $1,592.50 for teachers' salaries for the 174 children in attendance in 1894 there was an individual outlay of approxi-
25. Old Lyme Town Report, September 1, 1890, pp. 26-27.
26. Ibid., September 1, 1894, pp. 19-20.
194 Educational History of Old Lyme.
mately $9.00. Studied by districts however this per pupil out- lay for teachers' salaries varied from $6.00 in the second dis- trict to $ 12.50 in the eighth district. It is interesting, in the face of this total of $1,592.50 for teachers' salaries, that the full appropriation recommended for the following year was "the same as last," $ 1,750.00. Of this amount approximately $800.00 came from other than town taxes.
In many ways this year 1894 was the pivotal year in local educational reform. For approximately thirty years Old Lyme had opposed the major recommendations in the state's program for improved educational facilities. Sporadic efforts had been made to close the older buildings, which in some conspicuous instances had very low enumeration and poor at- tendance. They were continued in the face of unwarranted per capita cost. Also library funds provided in the middle of the century were left unsought for many years. Teachers' in- stitutes were seldom attended by teachers from Old Lyme, and although the New Britain Normal School had been train- ing teachers since 1850 Old Lyme had made no use of these candidates and not a single student from Old Lyme is re- corded at New Britain until 1885. Happily, five were regis- tered there in 1894. Still, of the sixteen hundred teachers registered at state teachers' meetings in 1886, not one was from Old Lyme, and still more astonishing was the complete absence of Old Lyme teachers at the Niantic summer session that same year, at which four hundred teachers were in at- tendance, 27
A number of private schools within the town, some for girls and some for boys, organized more especially for stu- dents of higher grade, provided adequate educational facili- ties for some twenty-four of the children of the town under sixteen years of age and further directed the interests of their parents away from the immediate needs of the local public schools. An atmosphere combining lethargy with thrift sur- rounded these public institutions and not until 1894 was the
27. Report of the Connecticut State Board of Education, 1887, p. 70.
195
Public Schooling, 1855-1935.
downward trend of Old Lyme schools checked by the potent forces of state control.
Local conditions challenged the responsible leaders of the town and in 1895, with the assistance of a voluntary gift from Mr. Ludington, the first consolidated school building was erected. This comprised the original unit of the recently re- placed consolidated school on Lyme Street. In 1895 it ab- sorbed four of the district schools of the town: the Center School, the Neck School, Sill Lane School and Laysville School. South Lyme, Mile Creek, Black Hall and Between the Rivers districts still used their local schools and separate reports for these districts continued until 1908. At that time the Center School was considerably enlarged and seven of the original eight districts were absorbed. Bus transportation was then provided, but the South Lyme School did not join in this plan of consolidation and has continued to prefer the lo- cal district school, largely because of the distance and the transportation problem affecting young children.
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