The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, December 25, 1895, Page 19

P ———— e3P THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 25, 1895. 6166; children under 5 years, 2237; total children” under 17 years, 7403. Average month ry, male teachers, in the 1d grammar schools, §68; aver- salary, female teachers, monthlv salary, both male $ 5; average salary, male in High School, $115; average female teachers, in high fchool, average salary, both male and female teachers, $86. Iu a number of the schools of this county stees keep the schoolheuse in re- nish the wood and other neces- tis to the district, so that the ds may be used in maintaining Thi. s highly com- servants. N. Mgzssee, County Superintendent. —— e Solano County. pleasant duty to visit r the public schools of results of these visits ve been to create a greater appreciation the work that is being done in the hools and a greater enthusiasm for the omotion of their efficiency. The leading schools in this county are the ones in Vallejo that have every de- partment from the accredited high school down to the receiving class. They #ire ontrolled by a Board of Education and are supervised by a City Superintendent. I'wenty-two teachers are employed and the average daily attendance is about 735 ano Count The other extreme, in size and situation, is well represented by the school in Cres- cent Island District. It is situated miles out in the tules and has an average attend- ance of about six pupils. The Benicia schools, with twelve teach- ers and an average attendance of about 350 pupils, are second in importarce. other g Is are in Vacaville, Dixon, Rio V Suisun, Cordelia and | Elmira. Thec s well supplied with high schools Vallejo and Be a have their cwn, and there are union b chools in Fairfield, Eimira, Vacaville and Dixon. Some of these schools sre accredited schoels, and many of their g es are in attendance at Berkeley and St:nford. In all the schools, from the highest to he lowest, from the 1 d, I have found great professional , untiring energy and unselfish devo- n to duty. teacher in the little country schools. to tell of their virtues; se of the prominent educators” are forever being A. C. SANEORN, County Superintendent. Amador County. To say we have an admirable system of common schools, su Or in many re- speets to that of other States of our Union, ich ours e, but the cation, and in this in- particularize, for much that ig written of this section of our tate might as truthfully be recorded of othe cally of the foothill or footing of the um number of of our peo- location of the ounty from market and business centers. With few exceptions the Amador County schools are well managed and teachers are alive to their advancement and general progress. Only one matter has a tendency to pre- vent or prescribe the general upward progress of qur pu schoo!s. That is, a scale of low wages for many of our small schoois. Fifty dollars per month for the same work required of teachers in other co ies who are paid $75 is a difference that impels teachers, after gaining ex- perience in the schools of Amador County, to seek employment where the salary is better. ] Our annual institutes are well attended. Sixty teachers out of a possible sixty-five answered the rollcall at our last conven- tion, which was convened in Ione. Of late much interest is shown 1n a proposition to establish a high school at some point in the county. The following statistical information is gathered from the Superintendent’s an- nuai report to the Department of Public Instruction. Area in square miles, 600; population, 11,384; salary of County Super- intendent, $1200; county assessment-roll of taxable property, $4,046,901; number of ildren between 5 and 17 years of agc, 2716; number of male teachers employed, 15; number of female teachers employed, 46; average monthly salary paid to male teachers, $85; average monthly salary paid to female teachers, $57 50. GeorsE F. Mack, County Superintendent, e Lake County. Nestled among the hills lies Lake Coun- ty, the Switzerland of America. There is no section of California which to-day offers to home-seekers better chances than this garden of the gods. It is characteristic of a true American to ask, “What are your school facilities?”’ Lake County can an- swer, “‘good.” There are forty-five school districts, em- ploying fifty-four schoolteachers. The schools are divided into primary and gram- mar grades. A Board of Education, com- posed entireiy of schoolteachers, manages the school system, and in its advocacy of later-day methods is fully abreast of the times. Mrs, E. K. Harrington, the Super- oved tendent, made sixty-one visits during the | year, traveling over mountains, hills and plains in the discharge of her duties. The schools are well provided with nec- essary apparatus and material for the work they have to do. Thirty-two cis- tricts maintained an eight months’ school during the last year. When it is remem- bered that there are forty-five q:strigts, the per cent of school terms is fairly lengthy. The people are always ready to respond generously to a tax levy for schoal purposes, as shown by the last rate, 30 7-10 per cent. The normal schools of the State have five representatives teaching in the county, and there are five holding high-school cer- tificates. The pay of the male teachers averages $66 78 and the female teachers $56 54 per month. The teachers are an enthusiastic body in the work of their chosen profession. 3 The attendance at the public schools is exceptionally good, only 259 out of & school population of 2359 being returned as not attending any school, while the percentage of attendance was 97, a phenomenal recor_d, considering the rainy months and the dif- ficalty for the little ones to reach the schoolhouses. Around each schoolhouse are large play- the unappre- { rable in years but | grounds, which to the city child would be ! county in the State that had a high school Ttotal of fifty teachers employed, only a continual delight. The total amount received for school pur- poses last year was $28,469 14, of which $23,312 87 was paid to teachers, §2262 for current expenses, $553 44 for library books, $209 72 for anparatus, leaving a healthy balance of $2130 66. The total value of school property is $54,693 43. Lakeport leads in value, having proverty valued at $8700. The value ot the school libraries is quoted at $784543, representing 7272 vol- umes. There are fourteen male and thirty- seven female teachers in the county at the present time actually engaged 1n teaching. :At Lakeport is situated the ““‘Academy.” a local high school, which prepares candi- dates for the State University and the county teachers’ examinations. A high school is one of the needs of the county, and it is safe to assume that ere long an aceredited school will be established. One mile above Upper Lake is located the United States Government school for the Indians, in charge of Mrs. Here the wards of the Government, fifty- five in number, are carefully educated. With this representation Lake County can take her place by her sister counties. Mgs. E. K. HArRINGTON, County Superintendent. EtgTe e San Jo;quin County. Never before in the edncational history of the State of California has a heretofore apathetic public realized such a full ex- tent its sense of responsibility to the youth as during the past year. The teachers of San Joaquin County on November 27, 1895, in institute assembled, adopted a report on course of study,which { has already been accepted in full by three | county institutes. The | Its recommendations are closely in line with those of the famous | committees of ten and fifteen, representing the schools of the Urited States, and will undoubtedly have a marked influence in shaping the course of study for the public schools of this State. The county has a model corps of The salaries are above the S This and the length of the school term, which averages nine months year, attracts the best teachers. Our teachers evince a desire to improve Ives on all educational topics. the schools the fundamentals, the three R’s, are kept continually in view, while the demands of the times for an ed- ucation that will fit the child for the duties of modern life are borne in mind. Language, & y, literature, mathe- matics and science are given due promi- nence in all the work. The teachers of the county at their last institute unani- mously demanded that the thcught sub- jects, science and history, be given a larger portion of the daily programme, by | curtailing the time now given to technical | arithmetic and grammar. The work of | many of the schools of the county, par- ticularly those of Stockton, has attracted widespread attention. The Stockton schools were among the first to incorporate a nature study as a part of the regular school work. The ma- terial for this work is drawn entirely from the children’s environment. The children are greatly interested in the work. A study of the results of two years’ work along this line in the Stockton schools would seem to indicate that the reading and oral and written expression of ali grades of pupils bave been improved. Owing to the influx of population in Stockton the schools are becoming over- crowded. The question of bonding the | city for $150,000 for the erection of a new | bigh and two grammar school buildings is | now agitated. 1t is to be regretted that up to date the publication of a State series of textbooks has not resulted in the success hoped for by the originators and supporters of that measure, The theory of the publication of textbooks by the State muy be ideai; the practice as shown by the books pro- duced has been a dismal failure. It is to be hoped that the work of revision now going on may result in an improvement. GEORGE GOODELL, County Superintendent. Butte County. It has always been the policy of the Board of Supervisors of this county to ap- point on the Board of Education only men of advanced ideas in educational matters and in close touch with the latest and best edncational progress, and who hold re- sponsible positions in the most important public schools of the county. According to the last school census there are in the county 4220 children of school age, being a gain of forty-nine over the preceeding year, and 1586 children under 5 years of age. The sehool districts number seventy-five, and there are 109 teachers required to fill the positions created there- by. Nearly all of the teachers are either graduates of the normal schoolsin the State or hold grammar-grade certificates, there being but a small percentage of the schools which do not require at least grammar-grade teachers to fill the position of teacher. The salaries of these teachers range from $60 to $150 per month, and they are employed during the year for an average of nine months, some of the larger schools having terms of ten months each year. Graded schools are located at Nord, Paradise, Palermo, Bangor, Cherokee, Forbestown, Biggs, Gridley, Oroville and Chico. The public schools of Biggs are honsed in a handsome two-story brick building. The public echool of Gridley is equally as large, and there is also located at Gridley a Union District High School, which has been in successful operation since 1892, and promises to continue to prosper under the present management. The public schools of Oroville are next to the most largely attended and prosper- ous in the county. From the interest taken in her schools and the scope of their work, especially so since tLe locstion of the Northern State Normali School there, Chico has been justly styled the ““Athens of Northern Califor- nia.” Inaddition to its excellent public grammar schools the city is provided with an academy, a private business college and a kindergarten; and a large number of its children are educated at the training- school connected with the State Normal School; and a number of enterprising citi- zens are at present supporting by private tuition a high school, which is success- fully pursuing the approved course of study prescribed by the University of Cali- fornia and the State Board of Education, with the expectation of having a fully equipped public Gity High School in opera- tion the coming school year. The City Board of Education has already inaugu- rated measures for the establishment of such a school. Rrcuarp WHITE. County Superintendent. Del Norte County. Little Del Norte County is nota whit behind her sister counties in the great commonwealth of California, either in her educational facilities, or in the qualifica- tions of -her teachers. She was the first M. Cole. | organized under the McGowan act, wiWch authorized the establishment of county and district high schools. The population of the county is only 3000, and there-are only 575 census chil- dren within its borders, and only twenty- five teachers are required to instruct these. The County Superintendent of Schools is ably assisted by a very excellent and efficient Board of Education with two practical teachers among the members, D. W. Finch, principal of the “Smith River”” public school, president of the board, and Miss E. Lippowitz. The ex- aminations for teachers’ certificates in the county are so strictly conaucted that only the best teachers can secure positions, to whom, however, excellent salaries are paid. DAvip LESHMAN, County Superintendent. El Dorado County. 01d El Dorado County is ccming to the front, we kope, as well in her educational interes her mining and fruit-grow- ing indust We have 2112 census: children in 59 dis- tricts, emploving 65 teachers. Of the 59 districts, 44 are grammar grade ang 15 primary grade schools. Of the teachers employed in the county, 25 per cent are gradunates of State normal schools, and 55 percent hold grammar grade certificates or educational or life diplomas of the grammar or high school grade. On account of the shifting of census chil dren from one locality to another, we havi lost some districts with such novel and characteristic names as Coyoteville, Jay Hawk and Wild Goose, but still we have Coon Hollow, Deer Valley and Indian Diggings. The County Board of Education issued a new course of study last July, and made arrangements for s natic promotion from one grade to anotlier. Thehoard will examine pupils for promotion from the fifth primary to the first grammar grade, and for greiuation from the grammar grade, and the teacher in charge will ex- amine and promote in all other grades. The County Board recognizes grammar grade and high school certificates on three conditions as follows: First, the teacher hoiding such certifi- cate must have taught at least eight months in the county where such certifi- cate was granted. Second, the certificate must show an average of at least 85 per cent on subjects { eleven are teachinyg their first term in the county. Of these one is a California Uni- versity graduate of several years’ expe- rience, one the hoider of an educational diploma of California, three are normal graduates, five are holders of grammar- | grade certificates and only one is the holder of a primary certificate. The following average salaries paid in this county indicate reasonably well the quality of service we get from our teachers: High school teachers, $125 a month; grammar school teachers, $80; primary teachers, $65. That the teachers themselvesare making an honest effort to improve the schools of the county is skown by the fact that they | have almost without exception organized | themselves into clubs, not for the purpose | of demanding higher salaries, but for the | study of the principles of education, in | order that they may the better teach the | schools under their charge. | The reasons that combine to make what- ever dezree of success or failure there | exists in the schools of Glenn County may | be found largely in the facts set forth in | the foregoing statement. { Wirniax M. Fixcs, ‘ County Superintendent. —————— Merced County. The public schools of Merced County do not suffer by comparison with those of the more populous sections of the State. We oint with pride not only to the schools of | our towns, but to the most remote dis- tricts of valley or mountain. | Asa rule our school buildings are neat in appearance and comfortable in appoint- | ments. They furnish ample room to the pupils of each district. Our teachers are capable, energetic and progressive. Nearly 40 per cent of the teachers have received professional train- ing in normal schools or universities. About one-third of them hold life or edu- | cational diplomas. The country schoolsof Merced County | are being rapidly graded by the plan now | in operation, and before lonz ungraded | schools, so far as we are concerned, will be things of tl.c past. Pupils are systematically promoted from grade to grade throughout the schools of the county. The high school is in the first year of its existence, but has already established a reputation for its excellent work. The Supervisors have already adopted PHILIP M, FISHER, EDITOR “PACIFIC EDUCATIONAL JOURNAL.” |Drawn by a “Call™ artist from a photograph.] required for like grade of certificate in this county. Third, the El Dorado County Board of Education must be satisfied that the board granting such certificate will recognize our certificates. In connection with the primary and grammar grade schools Placerville has a successful kindergarten, givinz a three years’ course, and also a first-class high school, with a three years’ course leading to the university. The Teachers’ Institute, held November 20, 21 and 22, was one of the most profit- | The teach- | able ever held in the county. ers responded promptly and willingly to the work assigned them on the prozramme. I believe our schools can and will be the best in the State. Our climate is very favorable—just cold enough to give health and energy to puvils and teachers, yet not | 50 severe as to hinder attendance. Wedo not have that sameness of temperature so productive of physical laziness, mental in- activity and moral stagnation. The variety of climate, scenery and oc- cupation all tend to give our people, and therefore our schools, a mental stimulus that must produce the highest intellectual, moral and physical development. T. E. McCArTy, County Superintendent. Glenn County. Glenn County, with an assessed valua- tion of about ten million doliars, contains | but thirty-nine public school distgicts and two high schools, while the latest returns show a total enrollment of only 1440 school census children. The area of the county is about twelve hundred square miles. From the foregoing it will be seen that we have an average of only a small frac- tion more than one census child for each section of land. due principally to the large landholdings in all parts of the county, an illustration of which may be found in the following statement: Three adjoining school dis- tricts, assessed at nearly a million dollars each, the whole area of which is as rich a body of land as sunshine and rain ever combined to make productive, report a total of only sixty-eight school census children. Subdivision has already been com- menced in different parts of the county and small farms may be had on reason- able terms and at fair prices in the most desirable localities. The school facilities of the county are now such that we may confidently welcome the new era that is dawning upon us, feeling certain that the settler who brings his family' to Glenn will here find every opportunity to edu- cate his children in our schools up to the time that they are ready to enter the State University. Two high schools have been organized in the county during the present year, one at Willows and the other at Orland. There were enrolled in the public schools of the county during the last year 1342 pupils. 2 During the present school year, out of a This state of affairsis | plans for the erection of a new brick build- ing in which to open school in September, | 1896. It isto be two stories, with a 10-foot basement, and is to contain some ten | rooms, including recitation-rooms, library, | office, assembly hali and lavoratories. The schools of Merced County are in | healthy condition, financial and educa- tional. ‘We invite those seeking homes where | education receives due attention to come | to Merced County and cast their lot | with us. 0. W. Grove, County Superintendent. oSesugvis Nevada County. The public schools, like every other pub- lic institution in a republic, should be so conducted as to lead to the greatest good | to the greatest number. ‘While the public school system of Ne- | vada County is not perfect, it is weil ad- vanced. For the carrying out of the sys- stem the individual teachers are respon- sible. In some instances the work has | been but indifferently done, but on the | whole Nevada County’s corps of teachers is worthy of the highest commendation for its efliciency and faithfulness. The early history of Nevada County is that of every mining section. The first school in the county was protably estab- lished in Nevada City in1851. TIm the early sixties a high school was established at Nevada City and also one at Grass Valley. Qutside of the Nevada City and the Grass Valley districts (which are organ- | izea under a special law), the schools of the county are working according to a course of study adopted by the County Board of Education. Of the eighty-one teachers employed in the public schools of the county, twelve are graduates of the State Normal School and three of the San Francisco normal | class. The salaries range from $60 to $160. A. E. Baven, County Buperintendent. e Kings _gounty. Kings County has been particularly favored with natural educational advan- tages. The climate is all that could be desired. It is never cold enough to pre- vent children going to school, and seldom rains enough to keep them away. Pupils are thus enabled to ride, when wecessary, several miles to school. This prevents the necessity of cutting districts up into small areas with only a few pupils, thereby en- abling the country schools to have two or more teachers. This gives the country pupils all the advantages of a graded city school without any of the pernicious sur- roundings. Kings County is also fortunate in its location. It is situated midway between Ban Francisco on the north and Los An- geles on the south, the Throop Poly- technic School on ona side and Stanford University on the other. We are in reach of instructors from both cities and from both the above-named schools. The growth of the public schools of this county auring the past few years has been remarkable. Ten years ago Hanford had a little one-room frame struciure for a schoolhouse and perhaps two dozen pupils. To-dey it has a $20,000 brick building, accommodating hundreds of pupils, and is clamosing for more room. Six years ago three teachers were em- ployed in Hanford. Now there are ten employed in the grammar school alone, and each teacher has a large class. This remarkable growth has been made under the principalship of C. C. Childress, who is now serving his seventh year in that ca- pacity. In addition to the grammar school there are in Hanford a union high school, com- posed of eleven districts; and a kinder- garten. The high school was established in 1891. In January, 1896, the school will move into the magnificent new building just erected at a cost of $7500. E. H. ‘Walker is principal of the high school, and under his supervision the school has been placed on the accredited list by the State University. Lemoore, the second school in size in the county, employs hive teachers, and has over 300 pupiis. George W. Hinkle is servinghis third term as principal. Giddings, Grangeville and Cross Creek each employ two or more teachers. The county contains thirty districts, besides the high school, and employs fifty teach- ers, at salaries ranging from $60 to $150 per month. Every teacher in the county is striving to make himself or herself better fitted for the profession of teaching. Clubs are being formed among the teachers through- out the entire county, for the purpose of studyirg pedagogy as a science. The work is being done with a view of making the next annual institute yield the best possible results to both teacher and school. J. W. Granmay, Superintendent of Schools. Sy Kern County. In common with the other communities of California the people of Kern County recognize the necessity and importance of making adequate and liberal provision for the education of the coming citizen; and to this end, though the more remote sec- tions of the county are but sparsely in- habited as yet, the division of territory has been so effected as to place every con- siderable settlement within easy reach of a schoolhouse. For educational purposes the county is divided into fifty-four dis- tricts, listing 2900 children of school age and aggregating an actual enrollment of 2300 pupils in the primary and gram- mar schools. The course of study as laid down for the guidance of teachers and school officers covers a period of eight years. Aside from the facilities provided in the primary and grammar schools, there is also in successful operation a good high school, situated at Bakersfield, established and conducted under the State law, providing for the organizatien and main- tenance of county high schools. This in- stitution came into existence January 1, 1293, and isopen toall pupils of the county completing the grammar school work. The course of study for the high school is constructed along the lines laid down by the State University and the work in most of the branches pursued is accepted by the institution at Berkeley. The new high school building, a cut of which appeared in THe CALL some time since, is a handsome two-story brick structure containing four classrooms, as- sembly hall, chemical and physical labor- atories, and in all represents an outlay of $29,500. In no county in the State have the citizens manifested a greater interest in school affairs, as is evidenced by the willingness with which they have in recent years taxed and bonded their property for the purpose of providing commodious and comfortable quarters for the education of their children, AvLFRED HARRELL, County Superintendent. LA e Placer County. The public school system of Placer County was organized in 1855. There were then nine districts and about 450 children. It was not until 1857, however, when the first school census 1n the county was taken, that the exact number of children became known. The census for that year showed fifteen districts and 836 children between 4 and 18 years of age. The total amount of money from all sources paid out during the year for school purposes was $3007 33. To-day the public schools of Placer County consist of fifty-five districts, repre- senting 3278 children between 5 and 17 vears of age. Seventy-six teachers are em- ployed, whose salaries for the year ending June 30, 1895, amounted to $43,403 75. The total expenditures for all school purposes during the year were $71,828 05. The aver- age length of the school term was 8.32 months. The total enrollment of children in the schools was 2637, the average daily attendance being 1729. Placer’s public schools are systematic- ally graded. A uniform course of study, consisting of nine grades, each of which requires a school year for the average child io complete, is pursued in all the schools of the county. As a rule, the teachers of the county are earnest, enthusiastic and progressive. Nearly all are experienced or have had professional training. With the exception of a few dilapidated and some rudely constructed and poorly furnished buildings, the schoolhouses of Placer County are splendid monuments to the energy, enterprise and intelligence of the people of the districts. The greatest defect of the Placer schools, in the opinion of the writer, is there are no high schools—no connecting link between the excellent grammar schools and the universities. P. W. SmiTH, County Superintendent. Shasta __County. Shasta County, at the extreme northern part of the State, rich in mineral wealth and endowed with a salubrious climate, covers an area of about 2500 square miles and contains some 12,000 inhabitants. With its ninety-three schoolhouses dotted upon its face, it forms oneof the.| departments in the great public school system of Californis, and although it has much to be proud of from an educational standpoint, it has yet much to accomplish, having no high school in the county (a great detriment and false enonomy). Redding, the county seat of Shasta County, voted $10,000 bonds, and now has a lovely two-story frame structure con- sisting of four rooms be sides other con- veniences. The old building, consisting of four rooms, was compl etely renovated, and is now occupied by the primary pupils. Redding marshaled 525 census children last spring, thus entitling the district to eight teachers—two male and six female. The principal’s salary is $120. The aver- age salary paid the remaining teachers is $65 14 5-7 per month. Anderson has a neat two-story brick structure consisting of four rooms, all of which are occupied. Oak Knoll, another district on the railroad, has a two-story brick structure consisting of two rooms 19 downstairs for school purposes, while over- head is a large assembly-room. Shasta, the pioneer town of the county, has two teachers, and the school is sit- uated in the mining region. The average number of months school was maintained in the county last year was 7 3-5 months, thus giving a vacation of 42-5 months. The total number of census children in the county by the last census was 3565—183 of whom are Indians. Male teachers num- ber 24; female, 80. Mrs. M. E. DITTMAR, County Superintendent. e Plumas County. From a perusal of its history, we find that there were no schools in Plmas County at the time of 1ts organization in 1854, In June, 1854, an aitempi was made by the Court of Sessions to organize school districts, and the county was divided into three school districts. As soon as possible a school was opened in the third district at Elizabethtown or Betsyburg. The first Superintendent of Schools was Dr. 1. N. Hartzell, whose report for the school year ending October 31, 1855, was as follows: District No. 1, 18 chiuidren, so scattered that no school was practicable; district No. 3 bad, between the ages of 4 and 18 years 75 children, enrcllment 29, and average daily attendance 16. On the decline of Elizabethtown in 1856, Quincy became the prominent town. From a school census population in 1854 of ninety-three chiidren, three districts, one school and a school fund of $141 93, the educational status of Plumas County has increased to twenty-seven districts, three of which contain graded schools of two teachers, or thirty ‘schools, a school census of 959 children, and a school fund of $19,185. Of the 959 census children, 856 are en- rolled in our public schools. The average number belonging is 643. About two-thirds of the teachers em- ployed are females, who receive an average monthly salary of $63. The average monthly salary paid male teachers is $73. Of the twenty-seven schoolhouses in Plumas County but two are built of brick. M=zs. Kate L. DONNELLEY, County Superintendent. e w - Inyo County. The most important portion of Inyo County is the long and narrow valley of the Owens River, reaching from Owens Lake on the south to Mono Countyon the north. Fourteen of tie fifteen )onnty schools are located in this valley, while the fifteenth is situated at Round Valley, which is a short distance to the west of Owens Valley and at the northern ex- tremity of the county. The number of census children of Inyo County has steadily increased during the past few years until our census roll this year lacked but twenty-five of being 1000, while the corps of teachers advanced from sixteen last year to twenty for the present term. Of the fifteen schools one has three teachers, three have two each and the re- maining eleven have one each. The material prosperity of a rural school district is manifested chiefly by its school buildings. Excepting in several newly formed districts the schools of Inyo County have cost from $1000 to $7000. Though Inyo County has not the ad- vantage of a high school, still it can boast of two excellent private schools, which offer to all pupils an opportunity to ad- vance beyond the limit of the grammar schools, 8. W. AusTIN, County Superintendent. Stanislaus County. - | In many respects the people of Stanis- | laus County may feel justified in the par- | donable pride manifested in her public | schools, As the teacher is, so is the school. The teachers also have reason to be en- couraged. Including the Oakdale Union High School there are fifty school districts in the county, employing seventy-one teach- ers. These schools are maintained at a cost of from $50,000 to $65,000 annnally. A movement is on foot looking to the establishment of a union high school in Modesto, including a number of the sur- rounding districts. A new manual of the course of study is now in course of preparation by the Board of Education, and taking it all inall the outlook for the schools of Stanislaus County is very encouraging. J. A. WAGENER, County Superintendent. — e Mono County. Mono County fills but a small space in the great educational system of our State. However, we are not made of the stuff that weakens in the face of obstructing ele- ments and conditions. By employingonly the best, the most enthusiastic and ener- getic of teachers we try to keep abreast of a system thatis making tremendous strides to the front. Our taxpayers are loyal to the cause. Realizing, as they do, that in our free public school system lies our greatest hope for the perpetuation and perfecticn of our American institutions, they cheerfully contribute the full limit allowed by law to be levied for school pur- poses. For the past six or eight years Mono has levied the full 50 centson the $100 of taxable property within its limits for the support of her schools. This with the amount received from the State main- tains an eight months’ school in the sev- eral districts, which, however, isfrequently augmented to ten months by means of special district levies. And it may be said to the credit of our people that it is not within the memory of man that a special school-tax proposition was ever voted down in Mono County. We have ten schools in the county, those at Bodie and Brideeport employing two teachers each. Our schoolhouses will compare favorably with country school- Louses anywhere in our State. Our schools are amply supplied and equipped with the Jatest and most approved apparatus, com- fortably and neatly furnished and sup- plied with libraries. We are proud of our schools and proud of the evidences of their good work. Within the little school- houses that dot our county many of onr most successiul teachers have received their first and only instruction. Within the past ten years six young ladies whose instruction has been limited to our.public schools, have passed creditable examin- ations and been awarded certificates to teach school. Of this number three. hold first-grade certificates, and two have been honored by appointment to positions on our Board of Education. J. D. MurPHY, President Board of Education. R Orange County. Orange County has been fortunate in having the continuous services of J. P. Greeley as Superintendent of Schools from the organization of the county to the pres< ent time. The course of study has attracted the attention of educators, not only in Califor- nia, but in every part of the country. Mr. Greeley has personal letters from promi- nent educators saying that the courseof study is the best that they have ever ex- amined. But what is of still greater ipportance in the conduct of schools, there is a body of progressive teachers who are able to carry out inteliigently the plan of work. There are two high schools in the coun- ty, Santa Ana and Fullerton. The Santa Ana High School has four courses of study preparing for the various courses of the university and is accredited by the university in every subject taught. The school at Fullerton is now in its third yearand has become thoroughly estab- lished under the efficient management of W. R. Carpenter. Special attention is given in this county to the work in English. The course is rich in the line of literature and language. In schools where there are several depart- ments, as in Santa Ana, Anaheim, Orange and Tustin, and also in the smaller dis- tricts, great advance has been made in this work during the past three years. The libraries are now looked upon asa vital factor in school , and instead of serving sumply as circulating libraries for the families of the district, they are com- ing to serve as the workshop for teachers and pupils in the study of literature, his- tory, geography and science. F. E. PEraay, County Superintendent. Santa Clara College. The oldest, the largest, the most com- pletely equipped Catholic college on the Pacific Coast, famons Santa Clara, occu- pies a beantiful site of ten acres within the limits of the pretty town of the same name, and is conducted by the fathers of the Society of Jesus. For nearly half a cen- tury the college, chartered in accordance with the laws of the State and endowed with the rights and privileges of a univer- sity, has been accomplishing a great and good work. On the lists of the alumni are inscribed the names of hundreds of successful men in this country and in the sister repub- lics under the Southern Cross—men who | have distinguished themselves in legisla- tive assemblies, on the bench, at the bar, in scientific pursuits, or in the manage- ment of vast commercial interests. The curriculum of the college includes a scientific, classical or commercial course, as the student may choose. At the end of the course the degrees A.B. or A.M. are conferred, or in the case a business course is chosen, successful students receive a commercial certificate. Santa Clara College is 2 most interesting place to visit. There are nine libraries, the principal one containing more than 15,000 volumes on science, politics, theol- ogy, philosophy, etc., including many rare volumes, some nearly four centuries old. There are 350 volumes, reprodvcing in their original text the most prominent his- torical and polemical writings of antiquity, from the first century of the Christian era to the ninth. The museum contains 4000 specimens of natural curiosities from all parts of the world. The philosophical cabinet is the most complete in the West, containing & very rare and costly collection of more than 450 machines and instruments per- taining to mechanics, hydraulics, pneu- matics, heat, electricity, optics, meteor- ology, astronomy, etc. There is a fine chemical laboratory, where assaying and chemical analysis are thoroughly taught. The palmontological depart~ ment contains many casts of prehistoric animals ana geological specimens: of past ages. The School of Design is an art gallery of finely executed paint- ings and drawings, drawn and painted by the students and their accomplished in- structors. The scrupulously clean dormi- tories, the large washrooms with modern sanitary appliances, the beauntiful gardens and vineyards, the great assembly hall, accommodating 3000 persons, the hand- some memorial chavel, the famous old mission church, with its quaint frescoes and Mexican wood-carvings, these and a hundred other features form the ensemble of one of the greatest institutions of learn- ing in the State. ¥ PUBLIC SCHOOL AT WHITTIER. [Drawn by @ “Call” artist from a photograph]