Batavia High School - Batavian Yearbook (Batavia, NY)

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X THE BATAVIA HIGH SCHOOL. HE Batavia High School, formerly known as the Batavia Union School, was erected in 1873, at a cost of S1'75,000. At that time, in beauty of design it was considered superior to any structure in Genesee County. Its location, on one of the highest sites in the vicinity, was, at the time of its erection on the outskirts of the village, but svince then, Batavia has grown, till it now stands almost in the heart of the town. Its campus, at the present time, beautiful with ornamental trees, was then an open field, approached by a narrow alley, now Ross Street. At some time previous to its erection, three of the school dvistriets of the village were absorbed by a school, which stood on School Street, and which came to be known as the Batavia Union School. This school proved to be too small to accommodate the four united districts, so the present Ross Street school was erected. At first this was the only school in town, being both a high school and a grammar school. Gradually various grammar schools have been built throughout the town, till now, the entire building, except two rooms, is devoted to high school work. Various improvements have been made upon the high school from time to time, such as the introduction of an up-to-date laboratory and the addition of fire escapes. The benefit the people of Batavia have derived from this building is inestimable and it has long been one of the most handsome structures in Batavia. - ' ,, A ',,.,g,,. 4 Y

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Book 1S Respectfully Dedlcated D, Ph. B of the School

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it I I UPEHIXTE NDICNT KENNEDY has been in charge of the schools of Batavia since October, 1891, Previous to coming here he was engaged in conducting teachers, institutes for the State Department at Albany. He conducted institutes in every county in the state, and conducted the Genesee County institute half a dozen times. His educational work previous to that' was as principal of the high school at Colesburg, Iowa, and county superintendent of schools' of Del- aware County, Iowa. He is the author of the following published works: The Philosophy of School Disciplinef' 'The School and the Fainilyf, What Words Say, MA' :Stem Dictionary, Robert Morris and 'tThe Genesee Countyf' Among the contributions to practical education associated with his name are the requirement that grade teachers shall be either normal or col- lege graduates and that high school teachers shall be college graduates, and the introduction of individual instruction into the schools. To us, the Class of 1912,'i Superintendent Kennedy has indeed been of the greatest influence. Through him we have been able to enjoy and make use of one of the best school systems in the world. From the day of our enroll- ment in the primary to the day of our graduation we have been taught ac- cording to his idea of modern education and individual instruction. To Superintendent Kennedy the Class of 1912 expresses its most sincere gratitude. ' M