The Gary Schools

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.

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:—

The twenty-one classes are divided into three divisions of seven classes each, as follows:—

All these twenty-one classes, from the first grade to the eighth, take part in these activities according to the following program:—

Summary of time schedule: Pupils’ time, minutes per week. (All pupils have twenty per cent more time in school.)

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.

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.