Imperial County CA Archives History - Books .....Educational 1918 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ca/cafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com February 15, 2006, 6:03 am Book Title: History Of Imperial County California CHAPTER V EDUCATIONAL BY A. P. SHIBLEY ON SEPTEMBER 8, 1901, Mr. J. E. Carr opened the first school in Imperial Valley under a ramada, roofed with arrow-weeds and that roof supported by eight poles, not far from the present city of Calexico. He enrolled fifty boys and girls, many of whom came trudging across the desert for four and five miles. In the fall of 1903 John W. Shenk, now a judge of the Superior Court of Los Angeles, opened another school in the newly organized Calexico School District. His school house was a tent about fourteen feet by twenty feet. It had a board floor, canvas top, sides and ends. The sides and ends were drawn outward and upward and attached to mesquite poles during school hours, except during windy weather. This school was located just south of the canal levee and west of the main traveled road at the bridge across the main canal just north of Calexico. This school opened with nearly fifteen pupils and increased to twenty before the close of the session in the following May. Judge Shenk says: "The pupils came on burros, on horseback and on foot from habitations not as a rule visible from the school house. Two or three ranch tents in the distance and the California Development Company's building and water tank at the international boundary line were the only signs of civilization apparent to the eye. The pupils were earnest and eager, with but an occasional infraction of the arbitrary rules prescribed by the schoolmaster. Corporal punishment was seldom resorted to and when used it was, of course, with the full approval of the parents—obtained after the incident was closed." During the same year Mr. L. E. Cooley was the teacher of the school in the Van Horn community, somewhat west of the present town of Heber. This school of Mr. Cooley's was frequently spoken of as a "rag knowledge box"—a name fully indicative of the kind of structure in which the school was taught. These three schools were all that Imperial Valley afforded up to the close of the school year 1902-1903. But from this time on the population increased rapidly and just as rapidly were the facilities for the education of the pioneer children provided. During the summer of 1907 the County of Imperial was formed from the eastern part of San Diego County. The first teacher of the Imperial Valley became the first county superintendent of schools. Under his supervision the following school districts opened and maintained schools during the school year of 1907-1908: Adair, Alamo, Brawley, Calexico, Central, Colorado, Eastside, El Centro, Elder, Eucalyptus, Heber, Holtville, Imperial, Jasper, Picacho, Silsbee and Sunset Springs. The Spruce School District had been previously formed, but maintained no school that year and the Old Beach School District was suspended and somewhat later ceased to exist. The Imperial Valley Union High School at Imperial was the only high school in the county during this first year of the county's existence. The elementary schools enrolled one thousand sixty-seven boys and girls and employed thirty-eight teachers. The high school enrolled forty-eight pupils, who were taught by three teachers. The elementary schools were maintained at an expense of $22,201.06 for maintenance and. an expense of $9,129.96 for sites, buildings and furniture, and the high school at an expense of $4,782.93 with but $200 spent for building purposes. The total amount of elementary school property was estimated to be worth $51,965 and the high school property was valued at $7,555, making a total valuation of all school property of $59,520. During the administration of Superintendent J. E. Carr the schools showed a remarkable growth in every respect, including the number of schools, enrollments, valuations of school property, number of teachers employed and efficiency of education generally. In January of 1911, Superintendent Carr was succeeded by Superintendent Lewis E. Cooley, another of the triumvirate of pioneer Imperial Valley teachers. At the time Superintendent Cooley began his work in the county office Imperial Valley had come to "blossom as the rose," agriculturally and educationally. Thirty-four elementary school districts were employing sixty-three teachers and had an enrollment of seventeen hundred ninety pupils. There were five union high schools, employing twenty-six teachers, and with an enrollment of two hundred thirty-eight pupils. The educational foundation had been laid and the superstructure started. But big and worth while work was yet to be done. For four years Superintendent Cooley gave of himself liberally and well in the handling of the mighty tasks that fell to his lot. He was then succeeded by the writer in January, 1915. Figures are not yet available for the year 1917-1918, but the annual report of the year 1916-1917 shows a remarkable growth when compared with those of the first year of the county's history. Imperial County now has fifty elementary school districts and last year employed one hundred sixty-seven teachers, with an enrollment of four thousand one pupils. She spent $167,848 for maintenance of them and $58,372 for buildings, sites and equipment. She has five union high schools and last year employed fifty-eight teachers, with eight hundred thirty-six young men and women enrolled. She had one evening high school that enrolled five hundred men and women for study in branches mainly applicable to their own needs in daily life. She expended for maintenance $118,709 and $112,588 for extensions of union high school plants. The elementary schools owned school plants valued at $593,004 and the union high school plants valued at $611,321. Most of these schools are located on tracts of land varying in size from three to eight acres in area. Careful attention has been given to the construction of the buildings and equipment to make them modern and well adapted to the educational needs of those whom they are designed to serve. Most of these schools have either an auditorium or two or more rooms with accordion doors between, making these rooms convertible into an auditorium. Practically all of them are adorned with trees, vines and shrubs. In some cases groves have been set out with the idea of making picnic grounds, as well as to serve the usual needs of the schools. On the whole the school districts are large. It is the hope that these districts may be kept large, thus obviating the necessity for the much-heralded consolidations of schools that such great lengths have been gone to obtain in the eastern and middle western states. It is not unusual to see ten to fifteen horses—and often several burros—hitched about one of our schools, oftentimes in sheds that have been erected for their protection. The writer has seen as many as twenty-seven horses and burros about one school; all of them had carried or drawn precious burdens to a rural temple of learning. In a few of the elementary school districts transportation is provided at public expense. Doubtless the next few years will see a considerable expansion of the transportation facilities of school children. Transportation of high school pupils is now carried on by each of the five union high school districts; all of them own automobiles of their own; most of them pay certain individuals for transportation of themselves and some of the pupils from neighboring families, and some pupils are transported by contract. In a few instances pupils are transported from homes fifteen miles distant from the high school. Thus are the homes kept intact, the pupils enabled to retain the benefits and pleasures of home life and home environments. Imperial County is seeking the best in courses of study for both the elementary and high schools. Essentials are striven for and nonessentials eliminated as far as possible. Our schools attempt to securely fasten the worth while parts of the formal subjects. In addition, we are stressing the teaching of agriculture, nature study and school and home gardening, and a strong beginning has been made in Agricultural Club work. Nor are our schools neglecting the newer subjects demanded of the schools. All of our high schools and many of the elementary schools have well taught courses in drawing, art, manual training, home economics, music—including, in some cases, both vocal and instrumental —and from time to time other desirable and needed courses are given. An article prepared by Principal W. T. Randall of the Central Union High School will give an idea of the real breadth of our high school courses and the courses in the other four union high schools are similar. "The school provides instruction in the following lines: English, four years, with an extra year in commercial English and another in journalism; history, four years, with a year in civics and economics and debate; the foreign languages are Latin and Spanish; in mathematics, a year's work in practical business arithmetic and four years in the higher and advanced subjects; music includes chorus, glee club, orchestra, piano, sight singing, harmony, and history; the sciences, involving full laboratory practice and interwoven with the practical affairs of life, are agriculture (together with a competition club), botany, chemistry and a year of qualitative analysis, physics, physiology, hygiene and zoology. The vocational subjects meet the needs of two classes of students : those who elect these subjects in an academic course, and those who are studying them for immediate use in business. The commercial subjects are bookkeeping and stenography, with their arithmetic, English, law, geography, history, penmanship and typewriting. Drawing is both free-hand and mechanical. Household arts at present are confined to cooking and sewing. Shop work as yet extends only to some of the simplest forms of carpentry, cabinet work, a little forge work and automobile repairing. Some excellent practice in the use of a library is given by the efficient teacher of that subject, who has at her service the collections also of the city and of the county. An exceedingly homelike cafeteria is provided." Each of the five large towns of the Imperial Valley are maintaining well equipped and well taught kindergartens. Thus it will be seen that Imperial County is caring for its children in an educational way from the kindergartens through the four years of high school and beginnings have been made in junior college work. We expect in a short time to put the ambitious boys and girls within two years of obtaining a bachelor's degree without the breaking of home ties and the large expense of four years at college. Additional Comments: Extracted from: THE HISTORY OF IMPERIAL COUNTY CALIFORNIA EDITED BY F. C. FARR IN ONE VOLUME ILLUSTRATED Published by ELMS AND FRANKS BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA 1918 Printed by Taylor & Taylor, San Francisco File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ca/imperial/history/1918/historyo/educatio237nms.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/cafiles/ File size: 11.5 Kb