John A Johnson High School - Maroon Yearbook (St Paul, MN)

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QQ ' A ' fe-9 EQ MMG 3 7f2.f S. O. HARTWELL Supt. of Schools St. Paul, Minn. 4

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015132 jllilarnun Published by The Seminar Mass Ensign QI. Elnbnsun iiaigb bchuul St. 1Baul, Minn. 1922

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as feiaaao THE FUTURE OF JOHNSON HIGH SCHOOL If the present situation is at all an index for the future, the prospect for continued growth of our high schools is assured. Prophecy is always uncer- tain, but this fact of steady increase in the high schools seems to be one of the surest things ahead of us. Johnson High School has shown marked growth during the last five years, especially since l9l9. The average number of pupils in school in October, l920, was 6l4. ln February, 1922, it was 890. A couple of years ago two portables were built close to the high school build- ing, but the present enrollment is requiring various makeshifts in order to ac- commodate from period to period the classes on hand. The original provi- sions in the building gave fifteen academic class rooms in addition to the vari- ous special rooms and laboratories. The present academic classes are above this number for every period in the day except the seventh. With the indica- tions of continued growth, the necessity for better building provision is press- ing. Unfortunately the same situation is developing at each of the high schools, and the problem before the city in securing proper buildings is a heavy one. The site.and the building at Johnson are not well suited to en- largement, hence, we must look forward to provision of another building as soon as the public will grant the necessary funds. The present building in situation and arrangement is fairly Well suited for use as an intermediate or junior high school which, in the development of the city, will soon be needed in that section. Hence, provision of a new high school building will help also to relieve crowding in adjacent grade schools. How soon this need can be met no one can say definitely since it depends upon the determination of the people to invest more funds in school buildings: but we are confident that the need will be appreciated, for no public activity strikes the interest-and the profits-of more people than do the educational needs of the city. A city that provides good school buildings as rapidly as possible, that maintains high standards of school Work and a strong course of study, is a city which attracts new residents, holds and increases its industrial activities, and finds the cost of its school system more than repaid in its property increases, to say nothing of the advantages in citizenship that such a town has over one more careless of its opportunities. St. Paul has given in- creasingly large sums in the last few years to the public schools. So has every other growing city. The real difhculty-not yet fully recognized-is that the basis of a dozen years ago was seriously low for that time. The additional provisions, generous in comparison with the earlier amounts, have yet barely allowed us to keep up. The city should face for its own advancement the task of a generous increase in its school investment. This increase should include additions to other high schools, but it must include provision at the Johnson. Thus, the immediate, urgent problem is one of school accommodations. But in a larger sense the future of Johnson High School depends on its faculty and its students. They have the task of maintaining its standards, increasing its effectiveness, and making the spirit of the school a factor of power and strength for the whole community. The four years a pupil spends in high school seem a short time and pass almost before one knows it. Each student is apt to think his influence is slight, but as one class goes another comes, and the succession of students interested in their work, determined to gain their utmost and to maintain the school's reputation, constitute a factor in school growth almost as great as the influence of the more permanent faculty. Johnson High School has made a strong record. It is meeting its pres- ent difficulties arising from crowded conditions, in fine spirit, and securing just as good work as ever. With the students lies at least half the responsibil- ity for continuing this high record. Such a record will be one of the strongest points toward securing the new accommodations which the school needs. --S. O. Hartwell. m