The schools of the village were graded at the opening in the fall of 1880 as a new building had just been constructed. At that time there were 40 in the higher grade, 50 in the grammar department, 56 in the intermediate, and 57 in the primary department." Steps were taken in the fall of 1881 to formally establish a high school partially under the public-school organization. In the Columbia Chronicle on August 20, 1881, is found the following item: Public-school matters At the meeting of the school directors of this district last Saturday evening, a plan was adopted, which we think will not only be satisfactory to the people, but will be of direct and almost immediate advantage to our town. It was decided to establish a "High school and academy " in connection with the public school, so that pupils after finishing the usual studies in the latter may enter the former, and prepare themselves at home to enter any college on the coast. Prof. Burdick will assume charge of the "high school" and until all his time is de voted to this work will assist in the work of the public school. There is at present a demand for higher education in our midst, and year by year men and women are being sent abroad to obtain it, at great expense, when it might as well be acquired at home; This demand will greatly increase as pupils finish the public-school studies, and the inauguration of this school will only serve to encourage a most desirable immigration. The "high-school" course of study will embrace three years and is most complete; and in addition it is intended to offer special inducements to young men and women prepar ing for the teacher's profession in our territory. It is not designed nor intended to apply the public school fund to the support of the "high school," and a reasonable tui. tion fee will be required of all pupils pursuing the studies as set down in the course. Prof. McCully is to remain as principal of the public school as heretofore, in accord ance with the expressed wish of a majority of the patrons and pupils of this department. The full term of the public school will begin Monday, September 12. All who apply will be received as arrangements have been made to accommodate all." The earliest Seattle High School.-Because the earliest school records in Seattle were burned some of the school history of the city cannot be reconstructed. According to the first superintendent's report, pub lished in 1885 The first move toward grading of our public schools was made in January 1877. In January 1878, a course of study and set of rules and regulations were adopted by the board and ordered printed (p. 34). On January 14, 1882, a mass meeting was held in Yesler Hall for the purpose of agitating the question of sufficient schoolroom facilities to accommodate the youth of our city. Judge Lewis was chairman of the meeting. The following is a digest of a report contained in one of the city papers and filed in the school board rec ords: He spoke of the schoolhouses of Seattle as a disgrace to so pretentious a city and said the only respectable public school building in Washington Territory was located 'Western Historical Society-History of Southeastern Washington, p. 412. Columbia Chronicle, Aug. 20, 1881. 65757°-35-12 in the little town of Goldendale, in Klickitat. The Judge then contrasted our public school shanties with those beautiful and imposing edifices in San Jose, California, which make that little city famous all over the coast. Seattle takes the lead in manufactures, in commerce, in enterprise, in wealth, but is way behind in educational matters. Let us make education and commerce go hand in hand. We have had saloon booms, and real estate booms, and now for God's sake, said the Judge, let's have a school boom." A committee meeting was held 2 days later, January 16, 1882, at which it was reported that The second floor is occupied by those pupils who are farthest advanced in their studies, and is presided over by Prof. Ingraham. The room is a dingy, ill-ventilated apartment, with from 85 to 90 children, crowded together on low uncomfortable benches, three on a seat. Some of the children have to sit uncomfortably near the stove, over which a great false cover has been placed to keep the heat from blistering the faces of those who sit closest to the stove. On July 24, 1882, the contract for the erection of a new building was awarded to Leslie and Mesener for $20,877.10 The construction of this new building, the most pretentious school building in the northwest gave a new impetus to education in Seattle and the territory. On October 26, 1882, the board records show that After due consideration it was decided to appoint a city superintendent in accord ance with the 64th section of the general school laws of this territory and on motion E. S. Ingraham was unanimously elected to the position of city superinten dent. He was also elected principal and O. S. Jones, vice principal. Mr. Ingraham was undoubtedly the first city superintendent of schools in Washington." The first formally recognized high-school work under the board of education and paid for out of the common-school fund was organized and launched in 1883 according to Superintendent Ingraham's first report. His own words are drawn upon here to recount the story: Two years ago those pupils who had finished the grammar-school course were allowed to continue their studies in a high-school course. Up to that time it could not be said that Seattle had a high school. Instruction was given in some of the higher branches, but, owing to the crowded conditions of the lower grades, those pupils who would gladly have remained to pursue a higher course of instruction, had to give way to the pressure from below and yield their places to pupils of the higher grammar grades. Some of those who were thus crowded out went to the university to receive instruction, while others dropped out of school altogether. The young ladies and gentlemen of Seattle are to be congratulated that they now have the opportunity to take a full high-school course. And it is the aim of those who have the matter in charge to make the course second to none on the coast. For 2 years the successive classes finishing the grammar school course have been moving steadily upward in the high school. In 1 year hence the first class will graduate. School Board Records, vol., Jan. 1, 1882-Nov. 1, 1889, p. 5. ♦ Ibid., p. 7. 10 Loc. cit., p. 38. 11 School Board Records, vol., Jan. 1, 1882-Nov. 1, 1889, p. 49. The course is at present a scientific one, requiring three years' time for its completion. I am satisfied that a longer time should be given to this course, or that a literary course of four years be established, by taking some of the branches from the scientific and adding others not included in that course. In case of such an arrangement, pupils would have a choice between two courses and the work could be better arranged, 12 The Seattle schools were organized with a primary department consisting of the first four grades; a grammar school department of the next four grades; and "The high school which shall embrace an English course of 3 years-Junior, middle and senior classes." The high-school curriculum was organized as follows:13 SEATTLE HIGH SCHOOL, 1885 English course Junior year B class.—Algebra, bookkeeping, English composition, civil government. English course-Middle year B class.-Geometry, physics, general history. A class.-Geometry, chemistry, botany. English course-Senior year B class.-Trigonometry, rhetoric, astronomy. A class.-Arithmetic, mineralogy, political economy. Spelling, writing, drawing, composition, and declamation are required throughout the course. Every pupil of the high school is expected to acquire a thorough knowledge of English literature, by a careful study of the leading English and American authors of the past and present. Pupils must also keep themselves posted in passing events by a careful perusal of the best newspapers and magazines of the day. The total enrollment in the Seattle schools in 1885 was 1,478 of which 986 were in the primary department, 403 in the grammar department, and 89 in the high school. In 1889 the curriculum was still 3 years in length. It was extended to 4 years in 1890. From 1893 to 1895 it was called a senior grammar school because the legality of using public-school funds to support a high school had been challenged. This is discussed more fully later in this chapter. 11 First Annual Report of the City Superintendent of the Public Schools of Seattle, Washington Terri tory, June 20, 1885, pp. 14-15. 18 Loc. cit., p. 37. II. Development of High Schools Under Statehood 1. Small Number of High Schools at the Beginning Comparison with Territorial conditions.-Attention has already been directed to the few and struggling high schools established prior to 1889. In the decade subsequent to the advent of statehood high schools multiplied rapidly in number and increased in efficiency. Table 24 shows that the 6 high schools with 16 teachers and an enrollment of 320 pupils in 1890, by 1900 had increased to 47 schools taught by 137 instructors and enrolling 4,186 pupils. In the next 5 years those numbers were doubled and by 1910 they were more than quadrupled. Later developments were even more marvelous as will be shown in subsequent paragraphs. Curricula lengthened and enriched.-The enumeration of numbers of schools, teachers, and pupils tells only a part of the story of progress. The high schools of 1900, 1910, and later were very different in charac ter from those of Territorial days. We do not know for certain that any Territorial high schools had a 4-year high-school course. We are certain there were but few, if any. Table 22 gives a list of all the schools in the Territory with 9 grades or more, i.e., all those offering any high-school work. Just what was offered beyond the eighth grade cannot be determined. In all probability much of the work, especially in the ninth-grade schools, was mainly of an elementary character. Table 22 shows that as late as 1892 only five schools-Fairhaven, Olympia, Seattle, Spokane, and Tacoma-had full 4-year curricula. Four more Aberdeen, Sumner, Walla Walla, and New Whatcomwere offering 3-year courses. One more-Pomeroy--had a 2-year course. Only 10 schools in the State had schools with 2 or more years of work beyond the grammar grades. The table reveals that in many cases the number of pupils was very small. Aberdeen, for example, had only 11 pupils enrolled in the 3 high-school grades. Everett had no high school in 1892 and in 1896 enrolled only 67 in its 3-year high school. Seattle, Tacoma, and Spokane with the three largest 4-year high schools enrolled only 227, 200, and 105, respectively. While only a few had fully developed 4-year courses in 1900 we must remember that the State board of education in 1879 had specified only 2 years, "junior" and "senior" as constituting a high school. |