Manlius School - Haversack Yearbook (Manlius, NY)

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THOMSON HALL

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l a MAN LIUS HE Manlius School is located among the hills of Central New York, eleven miles from Syracuse. The buildings are on high ground with excellent natural drainage. The immediate locality, as well as the region surrounding it, is extremely healthful. The completeness, fitness and beauty of the school plant are evidenced by the illustrations in this book. There is every provision for the comfort and happiness of the boys. The grounds are extensive, comprising one hundred and twenty-five acres, including woods, campus, and athletic fields. It was founded as Saint John's in 1869, and for thirty-nine years it has been under the management of its present Head, Who, with the assistance of trained specialists and veteran teachers, has brought the school to the high degree of success and excellence which it now enjoys. Manlius is essentially a college preparatory school, working under the most favorable conditions for study and character building, and the fact that the military regime is superposed thereon does not detract from as complete and successful education as may be had in institutions where the military character is-lacking. It is a fact that the precision and effi- ciency of the educational side is enhanced by the greater regularity of our methods. The military life of the school is in its atmosphere, and con- serves time rather than wastes it. The drills and exercises do not conflict with the recitation or study hours in any Way. T ' At Manlius it has been from'the first the law and method of govern- ment to appeal, through a military system, to what is best and loftiest in the pupil-to his honor, his veracity, his candor, his self-respect, his loyalty, rather than to fear or comfort or popularity or promotion, or any material reward. What is right or true or generous or beautiful in itself is the first question. This rule unites liberty with obedience, courage with refinement, and right conduct with scholarship. Self-government is the best of all governments in the junior republic as well as in the great one. We foster the expression of the principles that We inculcate. The idea comes to us from the English schools, but our experience is that American boys need a stronger and more clearly defined system of self-government than the English. They have often been more 9

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MANLIUS ll indulged at home, and, as a whole, are rather less tractable. -Hence, we have been led to adopt the military system, with its steady regularity and impartiality, its wide room for graduation of responsibilities, its traditions of fidelity to honor and its forceful appeal to the imagination. We trace its permanent influence in the after careers of our graduates. To keep a boy in an atmosphere like that must be of cardinal importance in his career. Such an esprit de corps in a school is a priceless possession. It enables us to make the discipline open and frank, to discuss and explain matters with our boys, and to appeal with confidence to their sense of justice. Public opinion in the School is sufficiently organized to make grave breaches of discipline sure of general reprobation and speedy discovery. The self-governing instinct and atmosphere for things right, and the public opinion against things wrong, are as valuable as the influence and example of the members of the Faculty. In maintaining the hold over our boys, we place the greatest dependence upon the close touch and cordial relation between teacher and pupil. The barrier between them is so -far broken down that it scarcely exists. One of the pleasantest features of this co-operation is the keen zest, the joyous energy in common interest that characterizes the School. Strangers are sure to notice the eagerness and alertness of our boys. Unrestrained freedom and imitation of college life, without self- government and college spirit, make the result of attendance at some of the larger civilian schools precarious. On the other hand, there is a multi- tude of smaller schools which err, with the best of intentions, in the opposite direction, by treating grown-up boys as children, and by oppress- ing them with unreasonable rules. Our method has avoided both extremes, and as a result our boys have a spirit and dignity of bearing and action not often found in a preparatory school. The Gentle Discipline . As too much study might warp a boy, too much athletics make him muscle-bound, and too much military make him automatic, so extremes are avoided, a cheerful home life is interjected, and a happy social condi- tion is made to harmonize the system. Teachers live with boys and get close to them, honor and reward take the place of punishment. A boy's self-respect is cherished and self-confidence promoted.