Central High School - Cog N Pen Yearbook (Newark, NJ)

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ТЕ ЕРІ WW, E. om . SET IDA children hear a foreign language at home and where the surroundings are not altogether favorable for the best educational results, failures are bound to be rela- tively numerous. Children so handicapped are at a disadvantage regardless of the iype of elementary school they attend. It is a graduates of ten-month schools situated in certain matter of record that the crowded neighborhoods are relatively inferior in ability to do high school work. The ten-month school does not increase their native ability. Тһе all-year school, on the other hand, by additional trainining, tends to offset their disabilities. that the all-year plan enables us to graduate pupils Also, it must be remembered who, under the ten-month plan, would drop out of school before graduation. Іп other words, the all- year plan gives the dull pupil a chance to graduate, while the traditional plan gives him no chance. Con- sequently, only the brightest of the regular schools are compared with the rank and file of the all-year schools Also, it is well to remember that many children living in con- and, hence, ought to show a better record. gested districts find it difficult to meet high school because they lack suitable places for They fail, not because they lack intelligence, but because requirements, study and can obtain little assistance at home. of certain conditions under which they must live. It is manifestly unfair to charge such failures to all-year schooling merely because all-year schools happen to be located in these districts. figures bearing upon this subject is not that all-yearness The significance of the makes the product inferior, but that schools in crowded city districts have many handicapped children to deal with. What is to be marveled at is not that some of these children fail in high school, but that they are enabled to reach high school. It may happen that some pupils go to high school poorly prepared, but since poor scholarship is not con- fined to all-year schools, there is no justice in placing blame for such conditions upon the all-year plan. [here is no good reason for promoting pupils too rapidly in any school. Wherever this mistake is be- ing made, the proper remedy should be applied, and that remedy is simply not to promote pupils until they are fit for promotion. The remedy is the same for both all-year and ten-month schools. Abolishment of all-yearness would aggravale, not remedy, the situa- tion, for the handicapped children would have little opportunity to overcome their handicaps. What has been said of high school records applies also to records obtained by our school surveys. Some all-year schools made a good showing, others, a poor one, but the same is true of regular sc hools. In gen- eral, records made by the two-language' schools were inferior, regardless of the type of organization, this inferiority being due principally to the children's not knowing the English language well. THE ГІМЕ ELEMENT It has been said that the short term of the all- year schoo! is a disadvantage because the school must be reorganized so many times during the year, but the truth is that several reorganizations are not necessary and are not actually made, for it is just as rasy to arrange that a teacher keep a class a year under the all-year plan as under the regular plan. This is a matter of administration. Even the reorganization of July Ist, when about one-fourth of the pupils leave for the summer, may be effected without loss to the pupils, if the plan is administered with care. From the standpoint of the children the short term is really an advantage, for when a pupil fails he must repeat only three months’ work, while in a ten-month school a before receiving another opportunity for promotion—five if child must wait either five or seven months he fails in February, seven if he fails in June. Cer- tainly it is better for a pupil to lose only three months than it is for him to lose six. Го children who cannot afford to remain in school many years this is an im- portant item. Under the all-year plan a pupil may fail once during the year and still accomplish a full year's work as measured by the course of the ten- month school. Repetitions of grades in the all-year school are not so costly to children and do not pre- vent ultimate success: in the ten month schools repeti- tions are serious and lead to almost certain failure to graduate. It has been said, however, that pupils do not save (Please note that in one breath it is said that they gain so much time by attending school all year. much time that they reach high school too young, and that in another it is said that they really gain little time). By the all-year plan children are given an opportunity to do in nine months what others do in Then for the next three months they may ad- (Continued on page 93) len.

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түне BIN ns. rrt THE OPPORTUNITY SCHOOLS (THE ALL-YEAR PLAN) All-year schools have been in operation in Newark for twelve years. [hey were heralded by the highest educational authorities as a wholesome contribution to education, and for a decade have been looked upon with favor. [heir growth was not sudden; it was gradual, as their worth became apparent. Intervals of several years marked their extension, two schools be- ing established in 1912, one in 1915, two in 1916, nd four in 1920. AMERICANIZATION It is admitted by everybody that the all-year school has been a success from the standpoint of socialization. Since the problem of assimilating children of the for- eign born is one of prime importance, Newark has good reason to be proud that it maintains an institu- tion. which is coping with the problem successfully. Even those not expert in schoolcraft can readily un- derstand that children of congested neighborhoods аге better off under school influences in July and August than under conditions that they would obtain were ihe schools closed. Proof of the unlifting influence of all-year schools that when kept in constant touch with the school. children are easier to manage Bad habits ordinarily contracted by a long summer vacation lies in the fact have less opportunity to develop, while the children naturally inclined to make trouble are moved along be through the grades more rapidly, causing them to more interested in their studies and less inclined to be disorderly. Formerly the low grades contained many over-age pupils, some of whom were difficult io con- trol. Now in the all-year schools, retardation has been overcome, with the result that teachers may dis- cipline less and teach more. If all-yearness has brought about an improvement in conduct (character), then it has accomplished something toward fulfilling the chief aim of ed ucational endeavor. EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY Not only do children profit socially by schooling that continues through the summer months, but they 5 gain educationa!ly as well, for it is obvious that chil- dren can learn more in twelve months than in ten. It is or must lie inactive in July and August. folly to suppose that the brain becomes dormant The fact is, one can study and learn just as much in July :5 in January. It is a good plan, therefore, to give chil- dren, especially those that are handicapped іп го many ways and still have the ambition to learn, an opportu- nity to improve themselves intellectually during the summer months. Otherwise, because of language difficulties and other adverse conditions, many chil- dren would be effectually barred from all chance nf receiving a public school education. We have thou- sands of children who could not, before reaching working age, complete the course in a regular ten- month school. [hey need the two extra months each year to offset their natura! handicaps. To deny ruch children all-year advantages would be tantamount to depriving them of a complete American public school education. Nor should we overlook the fact that it is the children who are least favored socially that need education most. Our welfare, as much as theirs, depends upon education. About seventy-five per cent. of those attending all- year schools return to schoo! for ihe summer term, and they do so voluntarily. There is no law to compel them to return. That so many pupils should be will- ing to give up a vacation for the sake of learning is a glowing tribute not only to the attractiveness of our schools, but to the fundamental goodness of our chil- dren. ignore the demands of three-fourths of our all-year More than 13,000 of Newark’s children enrolled in nine schools have such ambition It seems everything but wise, therefore, to school population. to obtain an education that they attend regular school sessions during the vacation period. The mere :tate- ment of this fact is sufficient to guide us in the proper direction. SCHOLARSHIP The assertion that graduates of all-year schools do not do well in high school needs qualification. Be- cause all-year schools are situated in districts where

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TO PARENT | А | | | April 29, 1924. Dear Parents:— Duty! How many ideas it brings to mind! Duty, a word all- enveloping in its magnitude! All of our acts involve duty. Duty to self, to parents, friends, country— in fact every right act is the result Xf duty consciously or unconsciously performed. We readily understand why our children must ever have the thought of duty before them. Duty is the guardian and director of our conscience. It is neces- sary to imbue our children with the conception of duties well accom- plished. Duty well performed loses its routine when it comes from the heart and becomes zlorified into service. Too many of us fail to do our duty to ourselves. Is your child do- ing his full duty to himself or to society? One way in which children fail to do their duty is to neglect school tasks and duties. Children should regard it as a duty to be in their places each day, eager to do their day's work, with the feeling of appreciation of the opportunities, offered them. If children are imbued with the feeling that school is.a: p rivilege involving the duty of tasks well done, the school will be cleared of retarded pupils who are clogging the system and preventing the ambitious from: progress- ing. Unpreventable causes may result in failure, but most of the failures ire due to neglect of duty. If each child does its duty to the very best of its ability, life will be happier and our schools will be able to accommodate ail who are seeking admission. Urge your children to see to it that they do their duty at all times thoroughly and willingly. Principal.