Mr. H. P. Smith, Superintendent
B.A.; M.A. State University of Iowa. Post Graduate work in Chicago University and Iowa State University, Columbia
Mr. Smith is completing his fifth year as Superintendent of the Newton schools, and by his untiring efforts he has greatly enlarged the curriculum and extended the scope of the work.
During the past year arrangements have been perfected for enlarging and improving the West school, by the construction of four additional rooms, and by thorough modernizing of the entire building. A community room will be added for the purpose of holding programs, parent-teachers meetings, etc. A new Junior High School building is to be build on the present site of the Central Building. This will accommodate all of the seventh, eighth and ninth grades of the city, and will be furnished with complete equipment for Domestic Science and Art, and for Manual Training. A large and up-to-date gymnasium will be provided which will permit systematic work being done in physical training.
With the erection of this new building and the consequent relieving of the crowded condition of the present High School, Newton schools will compare favorably with any in the state.
Miss Lucy E. Hall, Principal
As the school year closes, it leaves us with various memories, some pleasant, some regretful. The parting of teachers and students always leaves a sting of sadness. This year it is exceptionally so as our Principal, Miss Lucy E. Hall, is leaving us.
Miss Hall graduated from the Newton High School in 1897. After graduating from Drake University, she returned to Newton, accepting a position as teacher in our High School. She has been with us for seventeen years, having been Principal during the past six years.
Miss Hall is a woman of the highest ideals, and her influence has always been for the very best. She has shown herself to be a true teacher in every sense of the word. Possessed of keen discernment, strong executive ability, and a vision of the true greatness of her profession, no sacrifice has ever been too great for her to make in order that her school work might be first. She has had a sympathetic personal interest in the welfare of each individual student, an interest which has made each one recognize in her a friend and adviser as well as a teacher, and in this respect she will be keenly missed. Miss Hall has freely given of her services, not only in the regular routine, but in ways that can never be paid for in dollars and cents.
While the teachers and students keenly feel the loss of Miss Hall from our High School, they also feel that in whatever work she may be engaged, her interest in us will still live.