of
Muscatine County Iowa
1911
| History of Muscatine County Iowa 1911 | |
Source: History of Muscatine County Iowa, Volume I, 1911, pages 348-349
BUILDING ON EAST HILL. As a result of this vote a new four-room building was erected on East Hill; four rooms each were added to West Hill and Musserville school buildings and a two-room school was established on Hershey avenue.
These various additions to the school buildings together with other necessary accompanying expenses, used up not only the $25,000 voted at the special election, but by February 15, 1904, made it necessary to report an overdraft of $13,650.39. This overdraft has since been paid, and in addition thereto the board was able to build out of the district fund a four-room addition to the new building erected on East Hill. About this time the board changed the names of the various ward buildings. The First Ward school became the Washington building. The Cedar street school was henceforth to be known as the Jackson building; the Third Ward, the Jefferson school; the Fourth Ward, the Franklin; the East Hill, the Lincoln; the West Hill, the McKinley; the Musserville, the Garfield; the Butlerville, the Hamilton; the Hershey Avenue school, the Harrison. The last named has since been abandoned and the property sold.
While in 1901 only three of the ward buildings fitted pupils for the high school, now seven of the buildings complete the grade work and fit pupils for the high schools. They are named as follows: Washington, Jefferson, Jackson, Franklin, Lincoln, Garfield and McKinley.
In 1907 manual training was introduced, with Harry A. Jacobsen as director. A four years' course of instruction was provided for, including the last two years in the elementary grades and the first two years in the high school. A course of instruction in sewing was also provided for the girls in the grammar grades. The curriculum will not be complete, however, till a full course in domestic science has been provided for the girls. They should receive as much consideration as the boys.
In 1903-4, a teachers' training course was organized. It has furnished for the schools a large number of its most efficient teachers. No system of city schools is quite complete without some such provision for the training of its prospective teachers. Experience demonstrates its value. It has resulted in a higher standard of entrance requirement.
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