Newark High School - Reveille Yearbook (Newark, OH)

Page 9 text:

pointed to rent rooms for the use of schools organized on the graded plan reported the fo owing which was accepted: School house rear of the First Presbyte- rian church, at one hundred dollars a year, room in the basement of the Methodist church, on Fourth strcct, at four dollars a monghg Locmhin thcf bascgmclpt of the Epilsl- copa c urc , at our o ars a mont g school room in rear of the Welsh church, Ext iihree dpcllars a montlp, hciiise ovylned by oe Arno , corner o Fi ti an Main greets, gt one and Hue-half dollars a month, ouse o Israe Di e, on East Main street, at three dollars per month, two rooms in front of the Franklin house, east side of public square, at five dollars a month, room offA. Ja iinith, in Apollp building, :H twenty- ive o ars a year, a so two sma buildings formerly used as school houses, one on Wzgnut street, and the other in East Newar '. The committee also reported that the furni- ture and stoves necessary to furnish the rooms would probably cost one hundred and fifty dollars. On September 18, 1849, the Board of Edu- cation adopted a complete course of studies. Primary school embracing four years, secondary school embracing four years, and high school embracing four years. The course of studies for the primary and sec- ondary grades embraced all the common branches and natural history the last year of the secondary course, making this the preparatory year for admission into high school. The high school course included English grammar, composition, vocal music, rhetoric, botany, United States history, mental philosophy, logic, bookkeeping, higher arithmetic, algebra, geometry, trig- onometry, chemistry, geology, Greek, and Latin. The following was taken from the first an- nual report of the Board of Education to the council for the years 1848-1849, dated Febru- ary 19, 1850. The number of scholars enrolled during winter quarter was three hundred and ninety-five males and three hundred and twenty-five females .... The number en- rolled during the summer quarter was two hundred and twenty-five males and two hundred and seventy-five females .... They fthe Boardj are of the opinion that the interest of the schools require that a central-house be first erected for the ac- commodation of the secondary and high school on Church street, at a cost of twelve thousand dollars. This building was to be ready for occupancy at the opening of school in the fall of 1851. In 1854, the capacity of the Central building not being sufficient for the accommodation of the pupils then enrolled, a third story was added. Thus from these simple beginnings the Newark school system over the ast one- hundred years has grown to include twelve grade schools, four junior high schools, one senior high school, a gymnasium, an industrial education building, and two athletic fields, with a total enrollment of 5,008. It has become a system which olfers to its students a large variety of op ortunities in ever possible field of study at Ere public-school fevel. But the Newark school system must not stop here: it must make as great advancement during the next one-hundred years as it has since 1848- 1849, and with the same coo eration and un- selfish spirit as manifested between citizens and schoolmen between 1849 and 1949, such advancement will be possible. Seven

Page 8 text:

ix Foreword The school year of Nineteen Hundred Forty-eight-Nineteen Hundred Forty-nine rep- resents the centennial of the establishing of public education in the city of Newark, Ohio. Before 1848 there had been schools in New- ark. One of the first schools, located on the south side of the Square in a log dwelling, was taught by Archibald Wilson, jr. Another was that near the Gault tavern, taught by Samuel English. The first house erected for school purposes was a log building on the corner of Main and Fourth Streets. Still an- other was the school of a Mr. Mills, located on Church Street just west of the Second Pres- byterian Church. Prior to 1848, however, schools for the most part were in a rudimen- tary condition. These early schools were subscription schools, which were established in some deserted cabin or barn by some in- dividual who considered himself competent, generally without preparation or examination, and constituted himself a committee of one to establish a school gud keep it according to his own ideas. ' ' On February 5, 1825, the general as- sembly passed an act empowering the school board to levy a tax of one-half mill on the dollar to be a propriated to the use of the common schoolg. All other funds coming into the hands of the school board were raised by direct taxation. When these funds were ex- hausted, schools were closed. Because of the fact that the nei hboring community of Granville had estabfished a college, Newark made greater effort to estab- lish good schools than most other towns of its size. In 1837 or 1838, a Miss Simpson estab- lished the Newark Seminary for Young Ladies. At the same time the Newark high schoolv was opened for the reception of pupils, being conducted by R. K. Nash, and controlled by a board of trustees. ' In 1848, however, an important change oc- curred. The schools were organized under what is known as the Akron Law, which be- came the foundation of the later school sys- tem in the state. On February 28, 1848, teachers and others interested in education held a meeting in the First Presbyterian Church of Newark and re- solved to organize the Education Society of Newark Township. At this meeting, a com- mittee consisting of A. H. Dennis, Isaac Smucker, and L. P. Coman was appointed to draft resolutions. After the adoption of the resolutions, the following were chosen officers of the society: the Reverend Alexander Dun- can, president, the Reverend George Den- nison and Isaac Smucker, vice-presidents, and C. P. Wilder, secretary. At a meeting of citizens interested in common schools, held at the auditoris office, july 11, 1848, a committee of twelve was ap- pointed to circulate a petition to the town council for the purpose of securing signatures of such of the qualified voters as were in favor of extending the provisions of the Akron Law to Newark. This petition received about four hundred and fifty signatures, almost an unanimous consent of the voters then within the corporation. On July 20, 1848, a notice was issued by the mayor, A. H. Caffee, that an election would be held August 12 following for the purpose of selecting six school directors for the town. This election resulted in the choice of Israel Dille, Isaac Smucker, Samuel D. King, Adam Fleck, Abner H. Dennis, and Joshua Gibbs as the first school board of Newark under the organization of the graded system. Samuel D. King was chosen president of the board, A. H. Dennis, secretary, Adam Fleek, treas- urer. On November 16, 1848, the committee ap-

Page 10 text:

Eight The REVEILLE ANNUAL for Nineteen Hundred and Forty-nine is respectfully dedicated to all past and present citizens of Newark who have supported education in this city and to all schoolmen who with vision have helped to make the Newark public-school system what it is today.