•t^ §§f)iirteieflt 0f the Isterior, leacners Cottages B. R. S. Kellogg (In cooperation with tKe U. S. Bureau of Education; Published by Tke National Lumber Manufacturers Association Cliicago, Illinois January, 1916 Qass. Book Teachers Cottages BY R. S. KELLOGG (In cooperation with the U. S, Bureau of Education) PUBLISHED BY The National Lumber Manufacturers Association CHICAGO, ILLINOIS January, 1916 l X D. of D. APR 14 1916 CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 4 THE PROBLEM IN RURAL EDUCATION 5 THE TEACHER'S COTTAGE 7 HOW IT SHOULD BE BUILT 11 PLANS FOR COTTAGES 13 The Washington Cottages 13 The Radford Cottages 17 AS A SOCIAL CENTER 21 THE MISSION OF THE COUNTRY SCHOOL TEACHER 21 WHAT HAS BEEN DONE 23 Alabama 23 Arizona 23 Arkansas 23 California 25 Colorado 25 Connecticut 26 Delaware 27 Florida 27 Georgia 27 Idaho 27 Illinois 28 Indiana 29 loAva 31 Kansas 31 Kentucky 31 Louisiana 32 Maine 32 Maryland 33 Massachusetts 33 Michigan 33 Minnesota 33 Mississippi 37 Missouri 37 Montana 38 Nebraska 38 Nevada ' 39 New Hampshire 39 New Jersey 40 New Mexico 40 New York 40 North Carolina , 40 North Dakota 41 Ohio 42 Oklahoma 42 Oregon 46 Pennsylvania 46 Rhode Island 46 South Carolina 46 South Dakota.. 49 Tennessee , 4^ Texas 50 Utah 53 Vermont 53 Virginia 54 Washington 54 West Virginia 56 Wisconsin , 57 Wyoming [ 57 REFERENCES 58 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. The author acknowledges Avith much appreciation the great assistance given in the preparation of this bulletin by State and County Superintendents of Public Instruction, school principals, teachers and school board officers. Particularly helpful also have been the criticisms, suggestions, and information freely supplied by the United States Bureau of Education. Many of the reports upon teachers' cottages in the various states were compiled by Mr. J. C. Muerman, Specialist in Rural Education^ and are especially valuable in making this publication a somewhat complete survey of the present status of the teachers ' cottage movement in this country. Page Four TEACHERS' COTTAGES. THE PROBLEM IN RURAL EDUCATION. The Superintendent of Public Instruction of the state of Wash- ington, Mrs. Josephine Corliss Preston, states a vital problem in a few words, when she says : "The greatest problem in education today is the rural school. The greatest need is for teachers with initiative, leader- ship, experience, high ideas, character, broad sympathy and education. Where shall we get them?" There are more than 200,000 rural school districts in the United States, and over 16,000,000 children of school age who either live in the country or in towns of less than 2,500 population. In a large number of these districts it is absolutely impossible to get and keep teachers of the character so well stated by Mrs. Preston. Practically one-third of the rural teachers in the United States have had no professional preparation for their work. An examination of the conditions quickly shows the reasons for the acknowledged failure of rural education to keep pace with the progress in city schools. ^ In the usual country school district, no residence is supposed to be beyond walking distance from the schoolhouse. However, it is very largely a matter of chance as to whether any of the scattered farm houses are close enough to the school to be convenient for the teacher, and a still greater matter of chance as to whether a farm house so located has room enough to take care of a teacher, or occu- pants who desire a boarder. Many farm houses have no accommo- dations whatever for a teacher, and often kitchen, living room, and dining-room are combined in one, with no heat in any other room in the house. The farmer and his family have to spend most of their time working indoors or out, eating and sleeping. Their occupa- tions and hours of labor in no way correspond to those of the teacher, which increases the difficulty of fitting the teacher 's necessary habits to those of the farmer with any satisfaction to either. A good teacher must spend a considerable amount of time almost every evening upon school work, for which a quiet, comfortable room is essential. If she insists upon such a room when she goes to board in the country she is likely to be considered ''stuck-up" and exclu- sive. If she gets a room by herself it is often unheated and too un- comfortable for study in cold weather. On the other hand, if she is forced to spend her entire time in the living room with the rest of the family she has no opportunity to prepare properly for her school duties, and is also very likely to be drawn unavoidably into neighborhood gossip and factional disputes, of which unfortunately there are altogether too many. Many of the better situated fami- lies in the country districts who have the facilities, do not care to Page Fwk TEACHERS' COTTAGES take a steady boarder, so that if a teacher gets a place to board at all she may be forced to go to farm houses where only the barest accommodations can be secured. Under these circumstances, the teaching of a country school often becomes simply a temporary expedient for the teacher the first term after getting a certificate, and ambitious teachers who are anxious to grow in their profession, and make something of themselves, go to the city schools just as soon as possible, where opportunities for learning are greater and living conditions better. The country schools are always left with the largest proportion of young, inexperienced, poorly trained teachers, or with teachers who have been content to go on year after year shifting from one dis- trict to another, without qualifying themselves for the more rigid requirements of the city schools. Out of 9,883 teachers in one and two-room rural schools in Missouri, in 1910-11, but 55 had taught six or more consecutive years in the same location. A teacher may continue for many years with the lowest grade of certificate in the country schools, but this cannot be done in the city schools. In the four states of South Dakota, Kansas, Texas and Wisconsin, there are over 18,000 rural teachers who have not had even a partial high school education. The problem from the teacher's standpoint is well summed up by Miss Ellen G. Syse of the North Dakota Agricultural College, from whose manuscript, entitled "The Teacher's Boarding Place and the Rural School, ' ' we quote as follows : "Much complaint is made of the inefficiency of the rural schools, and vigorous efforts have been exerted on every hand to build up a more effective and efficient rural school system. But in working out the problem, it has been approached, more or less, from the viewpoint of the needs of the community, and rarely, if ever, from the viewpoint of the needs of the teacher. We have sought to biiild up an efficient rural school system by making demands upon the teacher, defining her du- ties and determining her qualifications for service, forgetting that only when we create conditions that will attract the well- qualified teacher and justify her in remaining with us, shall we secure the service which makes for good rural schools. Well-qualified teachers will not stay in a place where boarding conditions are poor, at the worst they will stay only until they have attained the teaching experience required to qualify them for teaching in the village or city schools. Rcrely, however, do they remain for more than one term in such a community. As a general rule, those communities providing congenial living conditions secure the good teachers, while those neglecting their teachers must take the less competent ones, making for less efficient work and ineffective schools. From a recent investigation in regard to North Dakota rural school conditions, it is evident that many of our rural com- munities are not aware of a close connection between good boarding places and good school teaching. Statements received from county superintendents and rural teachers of the state show that in a number of localities the living conditions pro- Page Six THE PROBLEM IN RURAL EDUCATION vided for the teacher are far from satisfactory, and that in many places they are so poor that the teachers are jeopardizing their health by staying." The final result of this eombmation of circumstances is alto- gether unfair, since nearly 60 per cent of the children of school age in the United States are in the rural districts. In the city schools there is manual training for the boys, domestic science for the girls, laboratory equipment of many kinds, and the best teachers that can be secured. The ordinary country school has but little more equipment than it had 25 years ago, which makes it doubly important that the lack of equipment be compensated for by teach- ers with more attractive personality, better training, and greater resourcefulness. The disparity between the city schools and the country schools will continue to increase until some means is found to get and hold more experienced and better trained teachers in the country districts. Better teachers result in better school houses and equipment as is well stated by A. C. Monahan of the U. S. Bureau of Education : "It is true that a good school may exist in the poorest building and with the poorest equipment, but, as a rule, the condition of the building and equipment is a good indication of the instructional work of the school. In other words, in- structional work of a high grade in a school reacts upon the material equipment for whether the good instruction is due directly to the teacher or indirectly to a good supervisor through her, its influence is sooner or later felt by the school directors and by the school patrons, and results in a general improve- ment of the material facilities. Investigation, as far as it has been carried out, seems to show that, as a rule, wherever the greatest advance has been made in rural schools, improved buildings and equipment have followed improved teaching." How to secure better teachers is a problem in which every country tax payer is directly interested, as a simple matter of get- ting a full dollar 's worth for his investment, and a problem in which everyone is concerned, because it involves the entire question of community development and better citizenship. The state of Washington has taken the lead with a simple, prac- tical solution of this problem — a solution which is so simple now that it has been found, it seems strange that it was not discovered long ago. This is THE TEACHER'S COTTAGE. The teacher's cottage, or "teacherage," is a permanent resi- dence for the teacher, built near or in combination with the school house. It serves the same function that a parsonage does in con- nection with the church. A few years ago an energetic young country school teacher in the state of Washington was utterly unable to find a family that would accept her as a boarder for the school term. Nothing Page Seven TEACHERS' COTTAGES daunted, she persuaded the authorities to move a portable cook house into the school yard. It was only 20 feet long and covered with canvas, but she partitioned it off with a curtain, furnished it, and put on ready-made roofing when the winter rains set in. Her younger brother, a twelve-year-old boy, stayed with her, and they lived in the cook shack the entire term. This example convinced the district authorities that they should provide a suitable dwelling place for the teacher, and the first teacher's cottage in the state of Washington was ready the following September, when it was occupied by the teacher and her mother. The same teacher stayed there three years, and finally left to complete her college course, but the teacher's cottage had proved its mission. The State Super- intendent of Schools took up the question, the plan spread to other districts, and now the state of Washington has 108 of these cot- tages, which are found in 29 of the 39 counties in the state. This apparently new idea in America is an old one elsewhere for it has long been the custom in England, the Scandinavian coun- Garden and Orchard Drive Way 'I ■Sanded Out -Door Gymnasium and Play^r-ound 1 Class Room m il n il — L •Si -H-+- h4*^ ^L. ;«i^s$ III ' I I I Froni- Yard F/owers and Shrubbery Forest Trees Boys \Fuel ^ i Vage Eight Living tted^e Layout of Typical Rural School Grounds in Denmark (Courtesy of U. S. Bureau of Education) THE TEACHER'S COTTAGE tries, Germany, France, Denmark and Switzerland to furnish resi- dences for the teachers, who are employed by the year, and often spend a lifetime in the same school. In Denmark, for example, the law requires that all rural teach- ers be provided with free homes, which are kept up and heated at public expense. The United States Bureau of Education, Bulletin 1913, No. 58, ' ' The Educational System of Rural Denmark, ' ' says : "Country teachers are all provided with free homes. These range from three-room suites in the case of unmarried women teachers to seven or eight rooms for married men. The suites are built, as a rule, in connection with the main school building, using either the second floor or a wing on the first floor. Where more than one teacher lives in the building each suite of rooms invariably has its own separate entrance. This system of teacher housing is very successful and means much for the teacher and for community leadership. Another thing of interest is that ail teachers are entitled under the law to a garden. This is planned and planted to shrubbery and fruit at community expense. The garden may vary from a small lot to nearly an acre of ground. In a few instances women teachers accept a sum of money in lieu of the garden. Not alone do the gardens supplement the teachers' incomes, but they are often used as experimental plats for the schools as well. Such schools provided as they are for housing the teachers and making their lives attractive and wholesome, naturally become the rallying centers for all community activities." A sketch of the arrangement of class-room, living quarters, play- grounds and gardens in a typical one-teacher rural school in Den- mark is shown on page 8. In Switzerland, every large sehoolhouse includes a residence for the janitor, and the country schoolhouses are also homes for the teachers. On this subject, the United States Bureau of Edu- cation, Bulletin 1913, No. 56,^ "Some Suggestive Features of the Swiss School System," says: "In external architecture there is usually a successful effort to make the building harmonize with its surroundings. Especi- ally in the country there is a refreshing simplicity and dignity about the sehoolhouse. Since the janitor or the teacher lives at the sehoolhouse, it is never characterized by the neglect evident in so many American country schoolhouses, which are deserted for several months in the year. The teacher's garden and the pot plants in the windows of his dwelling upstairs give the school a homelike atmosphere, in marked contrast to that which is too common with us. The plans and cuts of schoolhouses which are exhibited herewith are fairly typical of what was found in the Cantons visited." Illustrations of typical Swiss country school buildings are shown on page 10. One of the principal points of rural school improvement urged by Dr. P. P. Claxton, United States Commissioner of Education, Page Nine TEACHERS' COTTAGES ever since assuming the office in 1911, has been the "teacherage." In the Report of the Commissioner of Education for 1913, Vol. I, in his introductory chaj^ter, he urges the consolidation of rural schools, and adds : "When such a consolidation is made a good schoolhouse should be built, attractive, comfortable, and sanitary, with classrooms, laboratories and library, and an assembly hall large Schoolhouse at Gimmelwald, Switzerland Opposite the Jungfrau. Two-Teacher Country School, Sewil, Canton Berne, Switzerland. Teachers' Home in Second Story. Typical Country Schools in Switzerland (Courtesy U. S. Bureau of Education). Page Ten HOW IT SHOULD BE BUILT enough, not only to seat comfortably all the pupils of the school, but also to serve as a meeting place for the people of the district. For the principal's home a house should be built on the school grounds. This house should not be expensive, but neat and attractive, a model for the community, such a house as any thrifty farmer with good taste might hope to build or have built for himself. And as a part of the equipment of the school there should be a small farm, from 4 to 5 acres if in a village or densely populated community, and from 25 to 50 acres if in the open country. The principal of the school should be required to live in the principal's home, keep it as a model home for the community and cultivate the farm as a model farm, with garden, orchard, poultry yard, dairy, and whatever else should be found on a well-conducted, well-tilled farm in that community. He should put himself into close contact with the agricultural college and agricultural experi- ment station of his State, the departments of agriculture of State and Nation, farm demonstration agents, and other simi- lar agencies, and it should be made their duty to help him in every way possible. The use of the house and the products of the farm should be given the principal as a part of his salary in addition to the salary now paid in money. After a satisfactory trial of a year or two, a contract should be made with the principal for life or good behavior, or at least for a long term of years. In this way it would be possible to get and keep in the schools men of first-class ability, competent to teach children and to become leaders in their communities. The principal of a country school should know country life. A large part of country life has to do with the cultivation and care of the farm. The best test here, as elsewhere, is the ability to do. The principal of a country school in a farming community should be able to cultivate and care for a small farm better, or at least as well, as any other man in the community. It may be true that 'those who can, do; and those who can't, teach,' but it should not be so. It must not be so if the teacher is to do the work and have the influence in the community that he should." HOW IT SHOULD BE BUILT. The teacher's cottage will of necessity be within the boundaries of the tract of land assigned for the school house, or on a separate lot near by. The building site should be chosen so as to give the cottage as good a setting and outlook as possible. It should contain an acre or more to furnish room for a garden patch, a chicken house, a cow or horse stable, and perhaps also room for some demonstra- tion work where elementary instruction in agriculture is intro- duced in the country schools. Such courses will increase in the future, and it will be well to provide for them in selecting the site and determining its size. The cottage should be of two or more rooms, depending upon the ability of the district to build, or the possibility of combining with another district for a union school with one or more teachers. The cottage should be warmly and substantially built, for in the Page Eleven TEACHERS' COTTAGES long run it is cheaper to build snugly than to pay fUcl bills, and the same type of building which is warm in winter is cool in summer. Moreover, cheap, flimsy construction will prove most expensive in the long run for the cottage is to be a permanent institution in the community, and should be built to give many years of service. Special attention should be paid to details of arrangement since the teacher or teacher's wife will often do her own work, and steps should be saved. A good water supply is the first essen- tial. If possible a bathroom should be provided, and most cer- tainly a cheap but effective method of sewerage disposal. These are items of rural sanitation which are sadly neglected. The proper handling of them will be a permanent example to the rest of the community, and a great factor in the improvement of conditions of country living. The cottage should be built of the materials most available in each locality and best adapted to its needs. These are easily ascer- tained upon consultation with the nearest lumber dealer or build- ing supply man. The exterior may well consist of drop siding, rustic boarding, or drop shingles, the interior trim of either hard or softwoods, and the floors of hardwood or rift-sawed softwood, which will wear for a long time without splintering. The exterior should always be kept well painted so as to make an attractive ap- pearance, and to preserve the structure. The interior trim should be stained rather than painted in order to bring out the beauty of the wood-work, and harmonious schemes of color and decoration should be worked out to secure an agreeable, home-like atmosphere. None of these requirements is expensive. They simply take good judgment in the selection of materials, and good taste in their arrangement. Pleasant surroundings and right living conditions are big factors in making good teachers. An attractive teacher's cottage will permit the employment of capable married men for teachers, who become a permanent and valuable part of the com- munity life. Women teachers who have relatives or families de- pending on them can also take schools with cottages and have much better living conditions than it would be possible for them to secure in the city, and can so well afford to teach in the country for smaller wages than paid in the city schools. The principles which should guide in the construction of a small cottage for the rural districts are well stated by Dr. F. B. Dresslar in Bulletin, 1914, No. 12, U. S. Bureau of Education : "The cottage for the teacher should be as far as possible a model of its kind for the neighborhood. A beautiful, well- planned, and sanitary cottage on the school farm would help in a definite way to stimulate the farmers to build better houses (not more expensive ones) and to reconstruct to a degree those already built. What sort of cottage should be built? The complete answer to this question must of course be left to the authorities of the district. There are, however, some suggestions applicable: Page Twelve PLANS FOR COTTAGES 1. It should be beautiful and as far as possible should , harmonize with the general architectural treatment of the school building, if the latter is a modern type. An architect should be employed and the beautiflcation of the useful be insisted on. 2. It should include a living room, a bath room, a kitchen, a dining room, and a sleeping porch. The number of bedrooms will probably not exceed two, and these should connect with the sleeping porch. The plans for the kitchen should receive a great deal of care, especially with reference to modern con- veniences. 3. The sleeping porches should be models for the neigh- borhood. They should be carefully screened against flies and mosquitoes and should open from small dressing rooms, capable of being used as bedrooms when necessary. As has been said elsewhere, if the country school is to do the work now generally demanded of it, teachers' cottages are necessary in many parts of the country. There is no practicable way of making the district school the real social and educational center of a community without keeping the schoolhouse open and the agricultural operations under supervision during the summer months. This will of course mean a change in the plan of hiring teachers, and, more especially, it will necessitate the employment of a greater number of men for rural school work. There are many difliculties in the way, and some of them may seem almost insuperable, but progress in country life demands these changes and in time they must be made." PLANS FOR COTTAGES. The photographs and sketches of floor plans of several cottages reproduced in this volume chiefly represent adaptations of existing structures to new purposes, or simply the cheapest structure it has been possible to build to serve as a living place for the teacher. But few of the cottages so far erected have been the result of careful planning to meet all requirements for a considerable period of time and of a type which can serve as a model for residences of similar size in the community. The Washington Cottages. In her excellent bulletin, "Teachers' Cottages in Washington," Mrs. Preston suggests two types of cottages suitable for conditions in that state, which are equally well adapted to many localities else- where. They are as follows : Cottage for Small District- Figure 1 is the view and Figure 2 the plan of the one-story house. 'This provides accommodation for two teachers or a teacher and his family. The living room is 13x19 feet, and is suflficiently large for the dining table in one end. This room is made large so it may be used for receptions, meetings of the school classes, mothers' meetings, and all such assemblies in the interest of the domestic, social and educational life of the community. The bedroom is provided with a bed alcove enclosed with folding glass doors. The window at the end is large and is arranged to open the whole size. With this arrangement the alcove may be converted into a fresh air sleeping room by open- Page Thirteen TEACHERS' COTTAGES &-^.»-VLu,.awkKA'^lJ,,S|J ^.lM.■llllilllfekltf ''' Fig. 1. Model Single Cottage for Small District Fig, 2. Floor Plan for Small Cottage Paae Fourteen THE WASHINGTON COTTAGES ing the window and closing the folding doors. A large clothes closet is provided. The kitchen is arranged with a sink, cupboard with shelves, drawers and a cool closet division. A bathroom is shown in connection, which may be omitted if desired. The hot water tank for the bath and sink will be placed in the bathroom. A small cellar is also provided, which may be omitted. Both the front and rear entrances have porches. The cost of this home complete, without furniture, will be about $900. If the bathroom and plumbing fixtures, except sink are omitted, deduct $250. If the cellar is omitted deduct an additional amount of $50. The Double Cottage. Figure 3 is the view and Figures 4 and 5 the plans of the double two-story home. The object of building these double homes is to provide larger accommodation for community social work by using the two living rooms together by opening the double folding doors. This opening has two sets of double doors, and when closed and a quilt or blanket hung between them, no noise can pass from either room to disturb the occu- pants of the adjoining room. Cellars are provided with stair- ways from the kitchens. Both the front and rear entrances have porches, and are separated so as to give as much privacy as possible. Two bedrooms are provided on the second floor for each house. The bathrooms are directly over the kitchen and the hot water tank is placed there. The double home will cost about $2,300. If the plumbing is omitted deduct $200. If the cellars are omitted deduct $100. While these homes are designed to be substantially and well built, they are constructed of simple stock material, and there are no special detail refinements. Shades and screens should be furnished with the building. What the District Should Furnish. It is recommended that the school district provide the fol- lowing furniture: 1 kitchen queen 1 range 1 dining table 6 dining chairs 1 sideboard 1 book case 1 small table 1 easy chair 1 rocking chair 1 bedstead and spring 1 dresser The teacher will furnish rugs, carpets, draperies, bedding, table linen and dishes. We would suggest that the school district charge about one dollar a month for the use of the furniture. The furniture will cost about $125. For the double house there will be two additional chairs, and one bed and spring. This will cost about $40 additional. In planning the houses for teachers the needs of the teacher and the requirements of community life of the school district have been carefully considered. Cost and simplicity of con- struction have also been given considerable attention. Cost and Price of Plans. The cost given for the homes is the average cost condition in the Puget Sound district. In outlying districts and in East- ern Washington these prices may be 10 to 20 per cent, higher. Page Fifteen TEACHERS' COTTAGES Page Sixteen Fig. S. Double Cottage Second Floor THE RADFORD COTTAGES Arrangements have been made with the architects of these homes, to provide complete working drawings, specifications, forms for building agreement and bond, for $5 for one set of complete blueprints for the one-story home, and $10 for the double two-story home. School districts desiring them may write to the State Department of Education at Olympia, Wash- ington. The Radford Cottages. The plans of a number of teachers' cottages in various parts of the country reproduced in this bulletin, together with the model cott ^^ ♦:♦ ♦:♦ We have at present two nice cottages. One three rooms, the other four rooms. They are ceiled, and painted inside. They are intended to accommodate the principal and his wife, who are expected to supervise the house and grounds at all times. The three-room cottage is in Ada district in the northern part of Crawford County. The four-room cottage is in Mountainburg, also in northern part of county. We have two large districts just made this year. The school build- ings are just complete. Nice cottages will be built in both these districts this year. This will make us four "teacherages" in Crawford County. We are interested in building such schools, and think that this will be the plan of the future school. (Henry W. Shaffer, County Superintend- ent, Van Buren, Ark.) ♦ ^ ♦*♦ <* We have at Scott's Station in this county, a consolidated school, with three teachers, a teacherage, or living cottage for the home of the three teachers. This community is almost an ideal one — a good school-house, with three rooms to accommodate three schools, a community house, where all the public business is transacted, and where they get all their amusements, such as gymnasium, music, etc., and a teacherage, where the three teachers live, hire their cook and housekeeper, and enjoy a delightful home, amid absolutely ideal surroundings, quiet, books, com- fortable surroundings altogether. There is now another movement in the north part of the county, in a rural district like Scott's, at a place called Redoak, where I taught my first school, some twenty-five years ago, a movement to build a teachers' cottage on the beautiful school grounds, and they have recently built a three-room school building, on a plot of five acres, and there is room for this cottage. I had a long talk with one of the directors yesterday about this matter, and I am sure that in the near future, they will pro- vide a nice home for the teachers there. Let us hope that many others will follow their example, and that after awhile (pray that it will be only a little while) every school in the United States will have a home for the teachers on the grounds, supplied with a horse and buggy, or better still a car, a garden and everything that will make the teacher become a permanent profession. (E. R. Robinson, County Superintend- ent, Lonoke, Ark.) * -A- *V ^* V V V V There is one teacher's cottage in our county. It is a schoolhouse which became too small for the needs of the district, and when they built the new schoolhouse, the old one was remodeled for a "teacherage." It has four rooms and is partly furnished. One teacher lived in it four years. It stands beside the schoolhouse. There are two teachers in the school, both ladies, and are living in the cottage. The District is No. 11 of Mesa County, known locally as the "Pride" School. It is a rich dis- trict and employs three other teachers in remote parts of the district. (Mrs. Elizabeth Hinton, County Superintendent, Grand Junction, Colo.) ♦:♦ *:♦ *:♦ *> There is a teacher's cottage at Pinon, Colo., seven rooms. Two teach- ers — family of the principal. Others may be built the coming year. (Lillie O. Baker, County Superintendent, Pueblo, Colo.) ■^ -^ ♦ji- -^ We have in Otero County only one home for the teacher, provided by the school district. This building consists of one room 14 ft. x 18, and of a kitchen 14 x 14, which is provided with a sink, and is connected with a cistern in such manner that the water may be pumped from the cistern inside of the kitchen. Underneath the kitchen is a cellar 8 ft. square. The building also is provided with a porch which is 11 ft. x 14, and is planned to be used as a sleeping room, if desired by the teacher. The Board of Education is planning to plant trees in the yard next spring, so that teachers and pupils will be provided with shade. This home is located in a semi-dryland region. The District is No. 1, and the postoflfice address is Timpas. At Weitzer, District No. 18, of this county, an attempt was made two years ago to vote money to build a teacher's home at the expense of the district. For some reason the movement was defeated, and the secretary, who owns a store close by the schoolhouse, leased an acre of ground for an indefinite period from a land owner owning land contiguous to the school grounds, and placed on this leased portion a 4-room building. The Page Twenty-five TEACHERS' COTTAGES Colorado. building is in the form of a square, about 26x26. It is a very comfort- able building for a small family. Their idea is to keep the teacher in the community, and let him be, therefore, a part of the community life. Their school is a 2-room building, and their policy is to keep a male prin- cipal. (S. S. Phillips, County Superintendent, La Junta, Colo.) ♦> ♦♦♦ ♦♦♦ ^ I am sorry to say there are no teachers' cottages in Jefferson County. The nearest approach to one is in one of the mountain districts where one of the patrons built a house for the teacher since it was imperative that the teacher have a boarding place and there was no place in the district where she could go. (Berness Bunger, County Superintendent, Golden, Colo.) ^ ^* ♦> ♦♦♦ "Such a move would be good as the teachers do not stay long enough in a place." "Have been considering the matter." "The city of New Orleans gave recently several thousand acres of swamp land, 1,000 acres of which was to be set off as a home for teachers but nothing has been done toward accepting the gift." "Two rural consolidated schools are now planning to build homes for the principal." (Lafayette Parish.) "Choudrant has established an agricultural and domestic science high school and in connection with this school purchased and remodeled a six-room cottage; also furnished it completely as a teacher's home." The agricultural teacher is kept the entire year and they have 20 acres on the school farm and campus. De Soto rents two cottages owned by the school authorities to the principals but it is the intention to give them rent free as soon as the district is out of debt. Three other parishes are to try teachers' cottages. Avoyelles Parish reports one cottage and that the experiment has proven very successful. Lincoln Parish is attempting to have 20 acres for every consolidated school in the parish. The Olla Agricultural School furnishes a cottage as a home for the principal where the other teachers sometimes board. The school term is nine months and the agriculturist gives his entire time to the work. They report the plan a success and wish for one in each district and parish. Monroe reports one cottage used by the teacher at Swartz rent free. The Dodson Agricultural High School owns a home for the principal but rent is paid. Grant Parish reports one school cottage that they own and let the principal of the school have free of rent and by that means save some funds in his salary that will eventually pay for the cottage. (U S. Bureau of Education.) Maine. A home for the residence of the teacher has been, I believe, con- structed on one of the islands which is a part of the town of Jonesport or Page Thirty-two WHAT HAS BEEN DONE Jonesboro. There has been some agitation in some of the other towns for teachers' cottages or for housekeeping rooms connected with school buildings, but inquiry has failed to bring out definite information as to these. (Payson Smith, State Superintendent, Augusta, Me.) Maryland. "Nothing has been done in Maryland along the line referred to in the bulletin of the State Department of Education of Washington. (B. K. Purdum, Assistant State Superintendent, Annapolis, Md.) Massachusetts. Three years ago a house was built for the principal of the high school at Hadley from funds belonging to the school by private bequest. It is an eight-room house, costing about $5,000. It was planned by a former principal, Mr. J. E. Heald, now of the Bureau of Agricultural Education, Department of Agriculture, Washington. It is very attractive and con- venient. Last year a small cottage on the high school grounds was fitted up for teaching household arts. In the upper story two rooms were fitted up for teachers' use. The Domestic Science teacher and two other teachers room there. The pupils in the school do practically all the housekeeping. (Clinton J. Richards, Superintendent, Hatfield, Mass.) Michigan. "Would like to have the plan tested." (Traverse City, Mich.) Alger County reports that at Limestone a house is furnished rent free to the teacher and that this house is owned by the township school board. Also at Chatham a house owned by the township is furnished rent free to the township superintendent. Menominee built a bungalow for the county agricultural school which is now used by the superintendent. The cost of this house was $3,000. They also built a house for the janitor at a cost of $1,800. These houses were built because, it is necessary to keep these men on the premises during the entire year. (U. S. Bureau of Education.) Minnesota. The sections of the Minnesota school laws which bear particularly on this question are quoted as follows by C. C. Swain, Rural School Commissioner, St. Paul, Minn.: "Section 1. Two or more school districts of any kind may con- solidate either by the formation of a new district or by the annexation of one or more districts of unorganized territory to an existing district in which is maintained a state graded, semi-graded, or high school as hereinafter provided." "Section 8. For the purpose of promoting a better condition in rural schools, and to encourage industrial training, including the elements of agriculture, manual training and home economics, the board in a consol- idated school district is authorized to establish schools of two or more departments, provide for the transportation of pupils, or expend a reason- able amount for room and board of pupils whose attendance at school can more economically and conveniently be provided for by such means; locate and acquire sites of not less than two acres, and erect necessary and suitable buildings thereon, including a suitable dwelling for teachers, when money therefor has been voted by the district. They shall submit to the superintendent of education a plat of the school grounds, indi- cating the site of the proposed buildings, plans and specifications for the school building and its equipment and the equipment of the premises." Page Thirty-three TEACHERS' COTTAGES Minnesota. Teacher's Cottage in St, Louis County, Minnesota "Section 10. The principal of a consolidated school shall be qualified to teach the elements of agriculture, as determined by such tests as are required by the superintendent of education. A school of this class shall have suitable rooms and equipment for industrial and other work, a library, and necessary apparatus and equipment for efficient work, and a course of study embracing such branches as may be prescribed by the superintendent of education." ^* ♦♦♦ ♦♦♦ *** We have teachers' homes at the following schools in what is known as the unorganized district of St. Louis County; No. 14, four teachers; No. 40, two teachers; No. 41, one teacher; No. 45, two teachers; No. 56, two teachers; No. 68, two teachers; No. 71, three teachers; No. 73, one teacher; No. 70, two teachers; No. 83, three teachers; No. 85, three teachers. There are about an equal number of cottages for teachers in the rural schools in other districts of the county. Our plan for these buildings is not uniform, but in all cases except one the cottage is a part of the main building. (See illustrations, pages 34, 35.) Our object in making the cottage a part of the main building is to economize in the matter of cost of construction and to enable this little household to be used in connection with the instruction of the children in domestic arts. As a general rule the cottage part of the main building costs us about $600, and in addition thereto we are at an outlay of $300 for furniture. The buildings are equipped completely in every way with all the necessary furniture and kitchen ware. This method of taking care of the teachers we are following up, not because it is impossible to secure boarding places in all instances, although that condition of affairs frequently prevails, but rather because it enables us to secure better talent and to retain our teachers for a longer period of time. No rent is charged, and no charge is made for fuel. The teachers live usually at a cost of from $5 to $10 a month each. (N. A, Young, Superintendent of Schools, Duluth, Minn.) ■^ ^ *J* ♦> When I came here the first of August, 1913, to take charge of this school, there was no house available, and, as you may know, this school is five miles from Barnum and two miles from Nemadji, it was up to some one to provide a house, and as the laws of Minnesota did not permit Page Thirty-four WHAT HAS BEEN DONE the district to bond for such purposes, some one else had to come to the rescue, so eight of the patrons signed a joint note for nearly $1,000 and asked me to draft a plan, which they accepted. The house is only partly finished and won't be completed before next summer. I succeeded in getting our Senator to put a bill through permitting the district to bond for such purposes, but they stopped too soon as they did not authorize the State Investment Board to loan state money for that purpose, so we had to levy $1,100 to buy the house as it stands and next year we will levy again the same amount, and then can complete the house without bonding. It makes a pretty stiff tax but after two years it will be paid for. It will cost about $2,200 as near as we can tell. It may be a trifle less according to a contractor's estimate on the completion of the house. The house is 26x30, and will be two stories high, with a plain roof and a deck 8x10. It will have a porch in front 9x22, and a woodshed and enclosed porch in the rear, and the enclosed part of the porch will cover the outside entrance for the teachers to go upstairs, as that will be for them. We have four rooms downstairs with dimensions as follows, as near as I can remember: Front room, 14x16. Dining room, 14x14. Bedroom, 12x14. Kitchen, 14x14, with the exception of cellar way and stairs on part of one side. (See floor plans, page 36.) \ f VI N^ CLO^K ROOM CLASS fiOOM Floor Plan, Combination School House and Teacher's Residence, St. Louis County, Minnesota Tage Thirty -five TEACHERS' COTTAGES .Minnesota. First Floor Plan Second Floor Plan Floor Plans, Teachers' Cottage, Barniim, Minnesota The upstairs will have two bedrooms for teachers and a sitting room between, and a dining room and kitchen combined about 16x16, and a bedroom for a girl if they want to hire someone to do the work. Her room is off from the kitchen and is not connected with their apartments. Each bedroom is provided with a good closet. The house will have a hot-air furnace, but no bath or toilet. The cost of the furnace is not included in the $2,200 mentioned before, as I did not want a furnace while I was here, as I know how hard it is to heat a house to suit lady teachers, and as yet I haven't gone into the janitor business and I don't expect to, so there won't be any furnace as long as I stay, but they are building so they can if they wish to later on. I have my reasons for not wanting to be under any obligations whatever to the teachers who are teaching under my supervision, and I feel they are well grounded after my experience here. I feel that the teachers' home is the only solution of the teacher problem in the small towns and rural communities, but I am convinced there should be no responsibility between superintendent and teachers as to rent, heat, or anything of the kind. The house will accommodate the superintendent and family and four teachers if they hire their work done, and six if they do not, and I am sure from past experience they will do their own work, as it is much cheaper. We have a good three-year High School, and as soon as our enrollment forces them to build an addition, which they plan to do later, we will put in the full High School course. (E. V. Hemsworth, Superin- tendent, Consolidated School District No. 8, Barnum, Minn.) Page Thirty-six WHAT HAS BEEN DONE Mahnomen County reports one district furnishing a residence for the teacher and says, "I wish every school in our county could have build- ings like this, as the teacher feels as though she really has a home and she is not inconvenienced by long walks through the bad weather and does not have to build fires and wait in a cold room for the room to heat. A place for the teacher to board is one of our greatest problems, and in a home furnished the teacher as above she does not feel like an intruder as she often does when boarding with a private family." A consolidated district. No. 9, near Morris, furnishes a residence for the principal and two lots of ground. They charge rent sufficient to keep up the property. The plan is satisfactory. In Red Lake County cottages are very much needed, as in many cases teachers are boarding under very unfavorable conditions, and in some cases the schools were compelled to remain closed. The Saum consolidated school has a building used for such a purpose. In Carleton County one of the consolidated schools was compelled to build a house, as the principal informed them he would have to resign if no accommodations could be made. The freeholders of the district formed a building association, borrowed money on a joint note and built a building of six rooms. This building was placed on blocks so that it can be moved if necessary, as the state has given no authority to build build- ings on school ground. The district rents the house to the principal for $140 a year.. The principal rents rooms to teachers, who board at his home. The b'uilding association do not expect to make money out of the project nor do they care to lose any. Their intention is to turn it over to the district at cost as soon as the law allows them to do so. Stearns County has 22 districts that provide teachers' cottages rent free. In all instances these schools are of the one-room rural type and are taught by married men. The salaries, in addition to the use of the cottage, approach about $650 per year. In a number of instances a plot of ground from one to thirteen acres is placed at the disposal of the teacher. Many of these men have been in their respective positions for a number of years and are giving good satisfaction. (U. S. Bureau of Education.) Mississippi. George County. In a consolidated district the old two-room two- teacher school building was transformed into a home for the principal and they have a splendid man and his wife as head and primary teacher whom they could not have secured without this home. They report that this example of a teacherage is encouraging other school districts to take up the matter and they hope for many more teachers' cottages. Jackson County at the Daisy- Vestry School, a rural school 30 miles from a railroad, has a cottage called a dormitory across the road from the school. It was built about five years ago by a donation of land, labor and material. Up to that time the teacher had to board about two miles from the schoolhouse as the district is thinly settled and the schoolhouse is located between two settlements. The house is located on 80 acres of land and belongs to the school. (U. S. Bureau of Educa- tion.) Missouri. An old cottage at Bigelow on grounds recently acquired. Will be remodeled by the School Board. (S. W. Skelton, Bigelow, Mo.) *X* *X* *> *> "The question of good boarding places is fast becoming a problem. Hard time to get any boarding place." "In my judgment this would be the greatest means toward securing better teachers for longer terms." (Picture of the home of a Franklin County teacher, showing that some teachers live in tents in Missouri, was enclosed.) "The city of Bloomfield furnishes a cottage for the superintendent." (U. S. Bureau of Education.) Page Thirty-seven TEACHERS' COTTAGES Montana. We are very glad to have the school districts erect cottages for the use of the teachers where they can do so. There are, however, very few rural districts in the State where such cottages would be specially desirable, that are financially in a position at present to do anything about the matter. (H. A. Davee, Superintendent of Public Instruction, Helena, Mont.) '^ ^^ ^ ^ Park County. One rural district built a two-room teacher's cottage near the schoolhouse and connected it by a good walk to the schoolhouse. If the teacher is a young girl and timid about staying alone, one of the big girls who lives quite a distance from the school stays with her. They report it a success. Blaine County reports that a number of teachers live in their own claim shacks and have the pupils come to them and that by this plan the teacher in her own shack is not subjected to the nervous strain and does not hear the gossip of the neighborhood nor worry over the crit- icisms which are the lot of the teacher boarding with one of the patrons. Cascade County reports one teacher's cottage which is claimed to be satisfactory. (U. S. Bureau of Education.) Nebraska. This is a consolidated school, value $7,500. Was built by bonding district; main building, 54x32, with 10x20 entrance; library, 10x11; porch with hall eight feet across the building. Enter from both north and south side; full basement, 54x32; Domestic Science room, 32 x 26; Schoolhouse, Teacher's Cottage and Barn for Pupils' Horses, Berwyn. Custer County, Nebraska. School Board in Front of Schoolhouse. Teacher Feeding Chickens in Barnyard Page Thirty-eight WHAT HAS BEEN DONE 2^CR£ PLOT PLy^y GROUND SCHOOL HOUSE o 5:° 5*)?! PUBLIC RO^D Layout of School Grounds, District No. 33, Custer County, Nebraska girls' toilet to front, 8x22; boys' toilet to back, 12x22; front room, 12x28. Pressure tank; hot and cold water; water furnished by gas engine, pumped direct to pressure tank; a complete generating system. The foundation is of cement and pressed brick; hot air heat; cost of building, equipped, $4,500, exclusive of furniture. Have a high school of first class up to 10th grade. This is our second year in the new school house. We will clean up our indebtedness this year. We pay our principal $85; primary teacher, $55; furnish principal with cottage and room for keeping chickens. Have two acres of ground; six cherry trees, 45 shade trees, small, but this is a fine valley, situated fourteen miles southeast of Baker, on Billings Line B. M. R. Our school house is situated about 300 yards south of R. R. line, five miles west of Ansley. We expect to increase our grades as we need them. I will send you a rough sketch of school grounds and the location of same. (See illus- trations, pages 38 and 39.) We have fourteen high school pupils; thirty- eight primary pupils. (J. H. Linder, Director, Dist. 33, Berwyn, Custer Co., Neb.) McGill, White Pine County, has a six-room house occupied by six teachers and equipped with all modern conveniences. It was built by the trustees because no suitable boarding places could be obtained and has been most advantageous to the community. (U. S. Bureau of Edu- cation.) New Hampshrre. No teachers' cottages reported. Tage Thirty -nine TEACHERS' COTTAGES New Jersey. Reports no teachers' cottages. (U. S. Bureau of Education.) New Mexico. One place is trying the teacher's cottage plan this year. It is a se- rious problem in this State in many districts. (U. S. Bureau of Edu- cation.) New York. Reports one teacher's cottage (Nassau County) valued at $5,000 rented to the principal at a reasonable rent, also one cottage used for janitor. Another one is not owned by the district but given rent free to the superintendent. One of the buildings is so divided that the teacher lives in one side and the school is held in the other. Two of the dis- trict superintendents wished for teachers' cottages near districts and two did not. Another reports that board can always be obtained in good families at reasonable compensations and that the teacher occupies a good place in the social scale and that her company is much sought after in rural homes. Putnam County reports one cottage which the teacher receives rent free. The cottage is owned, however, by William Church Osborn of Garrison. Mr. Osborn owns and runs a free circulating library of which the principal of the school is the librarian. For this work, Mr. Osborn pays a salary and furnishes him a very fine home. He also receives light and heat free. Portland County has a teacher's cottage for the union school at Truxton but at present it is occupied by the janitor. Saratoga County, second district, reports that there are several local- ities where it is with the utmost difficulty that a teacher can obtain any kind of a suitable board or lodging place and that this is one of the great obstacles in the way of obtaining any kind of proper teaching in the rural districts. The only way that they can obtain teachers is to get a license for someone in the neighborhood who can board at home and this often results in maintaining school to comply with the law but not with any idea of improving the mental condition of the pupils in the school. But he reports that "the people of these communities are appar- ently satisfied with conditions as they exist but the problems that these conditions present to the superintendent are so many and so varied as to try the ingenuity of the best, it seems to me." (U. S. Bureau of Edu- cation.) North Carolina. Hoke County reports that all the high schools are well provided with nice homes for the principals located on the ground. In two of the country districts, homes have been built where they attempt to get a man and his wife to come and teach the school. These are all in two- room districts. In this county it is a new feature but they believe it is going to prove very satisfactory. The County Superintendent remarks, "We hope to soon be able to employ the teachers for the whole year and have them do odd jobs in the summer like looking after the library, conducting community meetings, taking the census, looking after the corn clubs and the canning clubs. We hope to use these homes for teaching domestic science on a small scale and serve a hot lunch occa- sionally to the school. We want to make the teacher a permanent factor in the community all the year round." Gates County has a dormitory used as a teachers' home for which the teacher pays rent and also for the land attached — about 25 acres. This land, however, is sublet and no demonstration work is done. Union County reports one teacher's home at the high school of Wesley Chapel and the County Superintendent believes that the teachers' cottage adds Page Forty WHAT HAS BEEN DONE a great deal to the equipment of schools like Wesley Chapel. Cleveland County reports one teacher's cottage in the Belwood School where the principal lives all the year and manages the school farm of 10 acres. Iredell County has a dormitory in connection with the Farm Life School which is occupied by the teacher of agriculture. Pamlico County is erecting an eight-room home at the expense of the district at Merritt, The County Superintendent says, "We are meeting with many inquiries as to how we raised the money for this work, etc., and in reply to them all will say that the good people went down in their jeans and gave me the money to erect this home with. We are able to get more efficient teachers for the same money and they live happier and better and are giving us better service than they can where they have to adapt them- selves to the condition of any family that they live with. This home will be the community center of this place, we are sure, from the way things are developing now." Wilson County. At the Rock Ridge County high school and at Lucama there are dormitories that the teachers use as a teachers' home. These dormitories are furnished by the school. Two cottages, one at Yadkinville and one at Courtney, are furnished to the teachers but the teachers are required to pay the insurance on the building. (U. S. Bureau of Education.) North Dakota. Twenty-two cottages were reported to the State Department last year and they were a success. Crosby County. The teacher built her own house from money earned by giving a social. In McHenry County, one old school building was fixed over for a teacher's cottage. One county reports a five-room modern house built for one of the two-teacher schools and a two-room house built for a one-teacher school. Buckingworth County reports an old schoolhouse built over for a teacher's cottage. Burleigh County reports one district remodeling the old school building and one preparing plans for a teachers' home in connection with the new schoolhouse. Hettinger County reports several teachers living in the schoolhouse because suit- able boarding places could not be secured. This is satisfactory where the teacher can get some girl pupil to stay with her. In Lamoure County, the consolidated school district of Glenmore rebuilt one of the old schoolhouses and used it for a teacher's cottage, furnishing it rent free. In another district a room was built on to the one-room rural schoolhouse. In this district (Ray) it was practically impossible for the teacher to find a suitable boarding place as the neigh- borhood was entirely made up of foreigners. This room was equipped with a blue flame stove, cot, etc. The teacher furnished his own bedding. Bowman County. The Beaver District owns two small houses which are used by the teachers free and the Sunset Butte District owns one similarly used and it will only be a short time before they have two such cottages in their rural districts on account of the difficulty of se- curing board and boarding places. Williams County has two districts with teachers' cottages, one a consolidated school district and one a one-room rural school building where the old building was converted into a very comfortable home for the principal's family. All are free and the plan has worked admirably. On stormy days the pupils are taken care of by the teacher until the parents come to take them home. This seems to have worked to the satisfaction of this district. Walsh County reports that in a consolidation of three one-teacher one-room schools, two of the old school buildings were moved on to the grounds and remodeled into teachers' cottages. This will furnish a home for the principal and two assistant teachers, the use of the cottages being free. Ransom County reports five in the consolidated school districts Page Forty-one TEACHERS' COTTAGES Ohio. and also remarks, "I am pleased to say that it is an unqualified success. Stutsmore County reports one teacher's cottage in the school yard which accommodates the principal and his family and two teachers. It is very satisfactory." (U. S. Bureau of Education.) Knox County has a teacher's home at Mount Vernon which is a comfortable and substantial residence occupied by city superintendent of schools, a fair rental price for which is figured as a part of his salary. Superintendents have occupied this residence for the past 21 years at least. Union County reports a "domin(ie)age" located at Allen Center on the school grounds — a full-sized house. The principal lives in it with his family and boards the other teachers. The plan is entirely satis- factory so far as the superintendent knows. The superintendent of Mahoney County remarks that with the advent of centralized schools this is just what Northeastern Ohio needs and that a bill before the legislature a few years ago asking for this very privi- lege failed. The superintendent of Jefferson County states that "it is now a problem for us." No place to stay; must get a teacherage in the dis- trict, are very common statements. Many teachers travel many miles to and from school — some as a matter of choice, some of necessity. The school loses. Hocking County reports that it is a serious problem for them to keep the teachers on account of no living place available. Defiance County reports a fine dwelling house in the Bryan village school which is occupied by the head of the school. It has been a great factor in aid- ing them to get good men for superintendents. (U. S. Bureau of Edu- cation.) Rural School and Teacher's Cottage, McClain County, Oklahoma Oklahoma. In reply to your request for information regarding the establishment of "Teacherages" in McClain County: I am enclosing a picture of one of our rural schools which also shows the cottage. I am also enclosing a rough pencil sketch of the floor plan and the general plat of the school grounds. (See illustrations, pages 42, 43.) As you will note from the picture the grounds are not yet highly improved as they will be in the future. This you know is a new State, and we cannot do all at once, but there are some great improvements being made. In my opinion the teachers' cottage comes nearer solving the prob- lem of rural education than any other one idea yet advanced. It would take several pages to discuss the many benefits resulting from it, and Page Forty-two WHAT HAS BEEN DONE Layout of Rural School Grounds in McClain County, Oklahoma then it must be seen to be appreciated. Many apparently necessary evils of the rural educational problem find their solution automatically in the establishment of a permanent home for the teachers. We hope to some day have a teachers' home for every schoolhouse in McClain County. As yet we do not have a great many. They are rap- idly attracting the attention of educators and officials everywhere; in fact, the demand for information has been so strong that I shall have to request you to return the enclosed picture as soon as you have made your sketch. (S. M. McCuistion, County Superintendent, Purcell, Okla.) <* *> There are two teachers' cottages in the county. (See page 45.) They are not expensive buildings; in fact, they are just box houses. They were put up merely as an experiment, but have proved very satisfactory. They have enabled the district to get settled men for principals of their school, and have helped them to hold these teachers for a series of years. They have also found that the school property has been much better cared for by having a teacher living on the corner of the grounds where he can see after it. The school property has been kept up in a much nicer shape. I think it will be an excellent thing if we had a law permitting boards to spend the district funds in this way. At present there is no law for it in Oklahoma. (L. L. Sturgeon, County Superintendent, We- woka, Okla.) Page Forty-three TEACHERS' COTTAGES Oklahoma. Hughes County reports five teacherages that are proving quite a success but in some of them the teachers are required to pay rent. One teacher's cottage is reported in Pittsburgh County in District No. 27. In Antlers County one district has a house for the teacher and the reason for this house is as follows: "Several years ago the teacher had a good deal of difficulty in securing a house to rent. He finally built in the corner of the school yard, which was a large one, and at the close of school sold the building to the district. It has proved to be a great convenience and they have no trouble now in getting a married man for a teacher. The school is located in a small village." Seminole County has two teachers' cottages in the rural districts and the plan is proving very satisfactory. In one instance this year the teacher has spent all his odd time during the school term and during his vacation time in keeping the school ground in shape. One of these districts pays $75 and $50 for teachers, the other $90 and $60. In each instance the house is furnished the teachers free. Garvin County has two homes in the rural district schools and in each they furnish the fuel the same as they do for the regular school building. If the teacher does not occupy the home, an amount equal to the rent is deducted from his salary. The question of board is a very hard one to solve. The only reason they have no more homes in this county is because they have not the money to build them. Three cottages are reported in Lafiore County. In Jackson County two common school districts have cottages which are rented to teachers. "These cottages solve the problem of a boarding place for the teachers. They aid the district to secure married teachers which is very much desired by some districts. The teacher can better care for the school property, vandalism is reduced to a minimum, the teacher can do the janitor work and is always on time. There is no loitering on the school grounds after hours. There is no jealousy because a certain family boards the teacher. The teacher remains in longer periods of service and longer hours of service. The teacher can economize to suit herself. The cottage plan is satisfactory to us and I recommend it to school boards building new buildings as the house is cheaply constructed out of the old one." Medill, Oklahoma, reports that four rural districts have built neat dwellings on the school premises for the purpose of having a teacher on the school ground during the entire term of school. The teacher pays $6 a month into the school fund of the district. Board in the rural dis- tricts is almost impossible. Johnson County has one cottage and this district is most sought by the teachers in the county. The people of the district consider it a good investment. Marietta reports three rural districts in the county that have constructed teachers' cottages. The plan works admirably as many districts prefer men teachers who have families and the districts with teachers' homes have that advantage over those that have none. Some schools fail to get teachers because they cannot get a home. Jefferson County reports one rural district, a "live one," in a two- teacher school where a neat cottage has been erected as a home for the teacher. Immediately there were a number of successful teachers apply- ing for this school. This is the first year for this in this community. So confident of the merits of the measure is the superintendent that he proposes to advocate it in several school districts of the county. In Kiowa County two such homes are found. They are in consol- idated districts and in both cases the houses are reconstructed old school Page Forty-fotir WHAT HAS BEEN DONE Teachers' Cottages in Seminole County, Olslahoma buildings. The cottages are neat and h.omellke, althougli small. The superintendent states that he has had the pleasure of taking dinner with each of these teachers when visiting the schools. In one the home is furnished by the teacher and his family, in the other the home is fur- nished by the janitor and the teacher boards with his family. "Only one district in this county, McCurtain, owns a house for its teachers to live in. This cottage is rented by the school board to the teacher of the district. "We are just introducing this plan hence do not know how successfully it will work. The problem of suitable boarding places for teachers in this new county is a serious one. In some instances teachers have given up their schools on account of not being able to obtain suitable accommodations in the district. It is our plan to induce the districts in this county to purchase from five to ten acres of land, which is now very cheap, near their school sites and to erect thereon cottages for their teachers to live in, the plot of ground of five or ten acres to be used for experimental and demonstration work. In this way it is believed teachers can be induced to remain for a number of years in their positions and thus become leaders in the rural life of their re- spective communities. Living on the experimental farm adjacent to the school premises, they will be able to care for the district's school prop- erty, and attend to the giving out of library books. We believe this plan, if properly carried out, will result in filling our schools with more mature teachers, perhaps married people, who wish to remain in the community and thus become identified with the rural life in their respective com- munities." (U. S. Bureau of Education.) Page Forty-five TEACHERS' COTTAGES Oregon. There has been but one teacher's cottage built in Josephine County. This is at Grants Pass, Dist. No. 7. Size, 24' x 34' — one-story. Wood studding, lathed and plastered, set on cement foundation. Five rooms. Bathroom, toilet, two closets. Cost, $1,000. (Lincoln Savage, County Superintendent, Grants Pass, Ore.) t^* JSt- ^* A V *V V */r In response to your inquiry concerning teachers' cottages, etc., will state that I am in hearty accord with the idea. So far, we have but one three-room teacher's cottage in this county, which is serving a very good purpose both to the teacher and the district. I should say that it is worth $25 a month to the district, and did not cost to exceed $300. It is continuously occupied. We shall have more of them. (J. W. Allen, County Superintendent, St. Helens, Ore.) •^ ^ ♦♦♦ ♦♦♦ No teachers' cottages have been erected in this county. In three dis- tricts cottages are provided for the teachers by renting, but none have been built by the districts. (S. E. Notson, County Superintendent, Heppner, Ore.) ♦♦♦ ♦♦♦ -^ ♦♦♦ In Monroe County, District No. 36, the house is furnished free to the present teacher who is a widow with three children. Without this house it would be impossible for any teacher to find a suitable boarding place and the district had agreed to furnish a house if a teacher could be secured for them. In District No. 8 a new two-room schoolhouse has been completed. The board is fitting up the old building as a cottage for the principal. In District No. 19 last year a house was furnished free to the teacher. She was a lady with three children of school age and the district needed these children to give them the needed apportion- ment. The house was an unoccupied farm house and no charge was made by the owner for rent. The County Superintendent is advocating the employment of teachers during 12 months of the year. During the vacation period, the teacher can direct the industrial work of the pupils. This will require the furnishing of a cottage. (U. S. Bureau of Edu- cation.) Pennsylvania. I know of no place in which the school board has erected cottages for teachers to live in. In my opinion a school board would be allowed to do this and thus pay for part of the teachers' compensation. The State, several years ago, erected a school building with a home on the Cornplanter Indian Reservation. This has been quite successful. (Nathan C. Shaeffer, Superintendent of Public Instruction, Harrisburg, Pa.) ■^ ^?* -^ ^ In the township high schools, Waterford Borough provides rooms partly furnished in an old academy building for the teachers. Two of the County Superintendents wish there were teachers' cottages in their county. Two more trust that the movement may spread. (U. S. Bureau of Education.) Rhode Island. No cottages reported from Rhode Island. (U. S. Bureau of Educa- tion.) South Carolina. A considerable number of South Carolina school districts have erected teachers' cottages. This work in the neighborhood depends abso- lutely upon local sentiment and local conditions. Such a cottage is per- missible under the law wherever school funds can bear the expense. (J. E. Swearingen, State Superintendent, Columbia, S. C.) Page Forty-six WHAT HAS BEEN DONE The Teachers' Home at Pleasant Hill, Hamer, S. C, was an old church, which was repaired and remodeled. (T. H. Watson, Council, N. C.) *♦* *♦* *♦* *** We have a cottage, which is used by the superintendent of the schools, valued at about $3,000. It has four rooms downstairs and three rooms upstairs. The rooms are something like 16 x 16 feet. We have electric lights and water, and the old southern fire-places. What I think we need is a boarding hall for teachers. (D. R. Riser, Superintendent City Schools, Manning, S. C.) ♦ji- +j<- ♦J* ♦J* Our school is perhaps a little different from most schools. It is located in a historic section of Anderson County. We have 125 acres of land in connection with our "Teachers' Home." Now in regard to size and construction: We have a six-room cottage, a long hall with three rooms on either side, a fire-place in all rooms except one, two rooms very small, the others fairly comfortable. I am a teacher in this school, and if you will pardon me for the suggestion — I would advise a house without a hall. We use our hall very little. Often wish it was a room. The "Teachers' Home" is a great thing, especially in the rural communities, where it is so hard to get board. Our great trouble here is getting some one suitable to run the house. (Cora E. Haddon, Liberty, S. C.) ■^ ■*$*■ ♦^ "^* The "Teachers' Cottage" here is a frame building, ordinary weather board- ing and inside ceiling of the usual beaded ceiling; inside height about 12 feet, shingle roof. Painted white, with interior painted a light oak, overhead blue. The cottage was made from the old schoolhouse that was on the ground before the consolidation of the schools of the District, and the erection here of a nice brick school building. The old building contained two large rooms wnth a narrow hall of about eight feet. This hall w^,as made wider, and the Floor Plan of Teacher's Cottage, Mars Bluff, South Carolina, Remodeled from Old Schoolhouse Page Forty-seven TEACHERS' COTTAGES South Carolina. Residence Furnished City Superintendent of Schools, Rock Hill, South Carolina two large rooms divided with partitions and the two rooms built new, and the back piazza. The old school building cost about $700 and the remodeling about $600. (See floor plans, page 47.) I consider the home very well suited for its purpose except for the lack of closet rooms. We teachers find the home quite convenient, and the Trustees and patrons are well pleased with the arrangement. (W. Y. Boyd, Principal, Mars Bluff, S. C.) ♦■ ^ ^* ^ This is the only city school in the State that provides a home for the superintendent. Quite a number of the country districts and villages do this, but Rock Hill is a town of about 12,000 population with about 2,000 pupils in all the schools. The home was built quite a great many years ago. perhaps 20 years ago. It is a two-story Avood structure, with nine rooms, front and back halls, front, side and back porches. (See illustration above.) The rooms are each about 15x15, except the kitchen, which is about 10x10. Bathroom with hot and cold water is upstairs. There is a large back yard and a large garden space, a good wood house, and a barn for horse and cow, etc. It is adjoining the Cen- tral school where I have my office. The Board has found that it is a good investment. In arranging the sal- ary the home is usually estimated at about $300 per year. The superintendents find it a great convenience not to have to look out for a home. Altogether, it seems a splendid plan for all concerned, and I think that other city schools would find it a good investment. (R. C. Burts, Superintendent Public Schools, Rock Hill, S. C.) *> *> *> Harris County rents a teachers' home for the superintendent and the teachers board with the superintendent at $20 a month. Several county superintendents report that the plan attracts teachers who in turn protect the school property. Twenty-two counties support 72 cottages. Two are not used because they could not secure married men. One county reports they have kept the teachers three years on account of the cottages. Another reports that they have more applications for the position of teacher where they have a home. One cottage has already paid for itself by renting it to the teacher at a very nominal sum. Coleman County has remodeled an old school building in one of the rural districts and furnished it for the teachei', and the teacher is more than pleased with it and looks after the school property. Twenty cottages are used in Comal County, rent free. In Medina County in two districts, the old schoolhouses have been re- modeled and made into very neat and comfortable teachers' homes. The county superintendent reports, "It is a splendid idea for the rural school districts and the Taucy High School has two teachers' homes, one for the superintendent's family, and one for the three lady assistants. Labaca County reports 13 teachers' cottages that are furnished free to teachers and their families, and that they are all located in German and Bohemian com- munities in the rural school districts. Lubbock County reports two teachers' homes for rural teachers. The county considers them quite a help to the community that prefers a married man or woman to teach. They are given rent free. Bosque County reports one that is a great success and regrets that they do not have them all over the county, as the county superintendent feels that they will solve a great many of the rural troubles. They will prepare Page Fifty-one TEACHERS' COTTAGES Texas. Teachers' Cottages Costing $500 to $750, Playground and School Garden, Walker County, Texas to build more. Portland County reports one district witli a tive-acre plot of ground, a one-room schoolliouse, a neat cottage of three rooms with neces- sary garden, stable, etc., and that they have an excellent young married man as teacher for $75 per month for eight months. His house rent and garden is free. The superintendent likes it and wishes more districts would adopt the plan. Wood County reports two cottages connected with secondary schools and that the plan works well. Benton County reports one in a consolidated dis- trict which was recently built. Falls County reports one that will be occu- pied this year. Milam County reports four furnished, rent free to the teach- ers and that the plan is more satisfactory. "The teachers are retained longer and hence are more useful as citizens. We are encouraging our people to erect more cottages." Victoria County reports one cottage not being occu- pied because men with families can do better than teach school. "Four cottages are used in Bell County by the teachers as residences. The plan is a signal success. Teachers with families have charge of these schools. The residences are an inducement and the best teachers are contracted for these schools. I believe it a very profitable investment in any school where more than one teacher is employed." Lee County was compelled to build a teacher's cottage in one district on account of scarcity of houses. "School funds were used for its construction. The people were agreed with the idea as they understood a proportion of their tax money was to go for payments on this residence as well as for the schoolhouse. The residence being a per- manent fixture, enables us to secure the services of more capable men for Page Fifty-ttvo WHAT HAS BEEN DONE the school. We find we can receive more applicants for the principalship of that school than for any other place of corresponding value. The princi- pal applying for this school is guaranteed a residence with the rent deter- mined." Van Zandt County has three such cottages. The first one was built about five years ago from funds loaned by a patron in the community. He is to be paid back from rent on the cottage paid by the teacher who occu- pies it. The teacher pays $10 per month. The cottage is located on the campus. This school employes two teachers. The plan is popular. The last year before this cottage was built, the teacher who was a married man, could not get a home in the community, so he drove eight miles each morn- ing and afternoon in going from, his home to the school. Another was built years ago by the community from money donated by the citizens. The teacher pays a small rental here and they are enabled to get a married man for principal. This school employs three teachers. The third community has just finished a cottage erected by funds that were left from a bond issue after erecting a two-room school building. The teacher will pay a small rental here. The community has employed a married man as principal of the school. Two years ago they had a married man who could not get a home in the community, so he rode a bicycle six miles and back each day. He rented him a cottage in a town of about 2,500 inhabitants, which was six miles from the school. The plan has proved a success in each instance in this county where it has been tried. Hall County reports four common school districts furnishing cottages rent free to teachers and every place is proving successful. "Teachers stay more than one year at these schools and are better satisfied. The cottages are near the schoolhouse and school property is not molested on that account. Our cottages are remodeled schoolrooms and are in districts where new school buildings have been built. The old school buildings are usually sold for a song, but with a small outlay can be made into comfortable cottages. I consider them worth a great deal to a community in class of teachers this feature attracts." Hopkins County reports one built by private subscription and rented to the teachers at a reasonable rate per month. The proceeds are used for the further maintenance of the school. The district has owned the house for eight years and the rent has more than paid for same. The district has been able to secure better teachers and more experienced teach- ers than they otherwise could have done. Scurry County reports one cottage in district No. 10. The house was purchased by the district and placed upon the school site so that the district would always have a convenient home for the teacher. Seymour County has two teachers' cottages and claim it pays. (U. S. Bureau of Education.) Utah. Such a plan would prove a great stimulus to the rural schools. Jordan consolidated district has just completed a six-room modern cottage for the principal of the high school on the high school campus. This is furnished to the principal free of charge. Two other cottages are built on this cam- pus for which low rental is charged. Carbon County reports three teachers' homes erected by the school board, but for which a reasonable rental is charged. Four or five teachers usually occupy these cottages and in some instances they have a housekeeper to do their work. The erection of these cottages has the effect of making the teaching force more permanent. (U. S. Bureau of Education.) Vermont. Very little seems to have been accomplished in Vermont, but one super- intendent says, "I have taught for 17 years and can say that I have had all sorts of trouble in securing a place either for boarding or for housekeeping. I thinlv you have a good idea and hope you will bring something out of it." (U. S. Bureau of Education.) Page Fiftij-fhree TEACHERS' COTTAGES Virginia. Five county superiuteudents report it very difficult to secure good board- ing places in tlieir county. Lunenburg County is impressed with the plan and is putting forth an effort to build some this coming year. Fluvanna County regards the suggestion as a good one. Henrico County thinks the time will soon arrive when we will find it absolutely necessary to have it. An agricultural high school near Appomatox furnishes the teacher in charge with a home. Albemarle County reports it is almost impossible to secure decent boarding places for teachers in some instances. Spottsylvania and Stafford state that teachers' cottages are well worth considering when the difficulty of securing good board is so great. In Wise County, in the min- ing town of Sutherland, where it was hard to get board for teachers, they fitted up a room on the second fioor so that the two teachers could board themselves and stay in the building. Williamsburg has plans on foot for a school cottage to he used by the colored teachers for teaching housekeeping, cooking, etc., as well as a home for these teachers. (U. S. Bureau of Edu- cation.) Washington. Washington is yet far in the lead in the number of teachers' cottages. More than 100 cottages have been built and they are popular everywhere. (Pictures of four cottages are reproduced on Page 55.) The provisions of the Washington law on this subject are as follows : COMMUNITY PURPOSES— BUILDINGS. "460. Wider Use of School Buildings — Erection of Teachers' Cottages — That school boards in each district of the second-class and third-class may provide for the free, comfortable and convenient use of the school property to promote and facilitate frequent meetings and association of the people in discussion, study, improvement, recreation and other community purposes, and may acquire, assemble and house material for the dissemination of in- formation of use and interest to the farm, the home and the community, and facilities for experiment and study, especially in matters pertaining to the growing of crops, the improvement and handling of live stock, the market- ing of farm products, the planning and construction of farm buildings, the subjects of household economies, home industries, good roads, and commun- ity vocations and industries ; and may call meetings for the consideration and discussion of .any such matters, employ a special supervisor, or leader, if need be, and provide suitable dwellings and accommodations for teachers, supervisors and necessary assistants. 461. Districts May Erect Communal Assembly Place — That each school district of the second- or third-class, by itself or in combination with any other district or districts, shall have power, when in the judgment of the school board it shall be deemed expedient, to reconstruct, remodel, or build schoolhouses, and to erect, purchase, lease or otherwise acquire other im- provements and real and personal property, and establish a communal assem- bly place and appurtenances, and supply the same with suitable and con- venient furnishings and facilities for the uses mentioned in section 1 of this act. 462. Commission to Pass Upon Plan — That plans of any district or com- bination of districts for the carrying out of the powers granted by this act shall be submitted to and approved by the board of supervisors composed of seven members, as follows : The State Superintendent of Public Instruction ; the head of the extension department of Washington State College: the head of the extension department of the University of Washington ; the county superintendent of schools of the county in which such facilities are pro- posed to be located ; these four to choose a fifth member from such county, and a sixth and seventh member, one of whom shall be a woman, from the district or districts concerned." Page Fifty-jour WHAT HAS BEEN DONE Cottage at Blue Creek, Walla Walla County Cottage at Snoqualmie — Five Rooms, Electric Light, Hot and Cold Water, 'Phone, Motor-Driven Washing Machine Small Cottage, Valley Grove District, Walla Walla County Typical Teachers' Cottages in the State of Washington Page Fifty-jive TEACHERS' COTTAGES Washington. The following expressions of opinion from county superintendents in Washington, quoted by Mrs. Preston, speak for themselves: "They seem to be a necessity in these districts. I believe it will be a step toward better harmony in the districts, better homes for teachers, and better school work because of comfort, independence, tenure, etc." (Delia L. Keeler, Whatcom County.) "I believe it is the solution to many of the rural school questions. It will give the services of teachers who will feel that they are a part of the community in which they live. Many teachers 'stay' in the community, but few really ilve' there." (Wm. U. Neely, Lincoln County.) "Much better teachers can be obtained for less salary ; teachers who wish to live in a cottage usually are moi'e anxious to understand the com- munity and its problems as well as its opportunities ; they are much more likely to remain in their positions as they grow more necessary to it." (Mrs. Lena Kohne Pratt, Island County.) "It is one of the great factors in the solution of the problems of the rural school. It aids in securing a more permanent position ; gives the teacher privacy and independence; and affords more liberty in acknowledg- ment of social duties." (Mrs. Lizzie Jones, Snohomish County.) "One of the best investments that a school district can possibly make. It tends to make the teacher more permanent, helps both teacher and school in the matter of social center work. Every rural school should possess one. One clerk tells me it was sort of an experiment, as the teacher had such a hard time finding a boarding place. The plan worked fine, and he now says : 'We would as soon think about getting along without the schoolhouse as the cottage.' " (O. H. Kerns, Skagit County.) West Virginia. There is a cottage on the school ground at Sherrard. It was the resi- dence of the owner of the property, purchased for the Sherrard Consolidated and High School. (Illustrated below.) The cottage was used by the first principal, 1911-12 and 1912-13. In 1913-14 one of the high school teachers and her brother (a student) kept house. Since 1914, it has been rented to a merchant for residence, but he Consolidated School and Teacher's Cottage, Sherrard, West Virginia Page Fifty-six WHAT HAS BEEN DONE has been asked to vacate, and it is the plan of those in charge to malve the cottage more serviceable to the school. Probably two of the high school teachers will use it the rest of the year. The cottage has been of no special benefit to the school so far as getting and keeping better teachers. It should be, and I think the time is near when every school will have a home for the teachers. (A. F. Shroyer, Prin- cipal, Consolidated and High School, Sherrard, W. Va.) **« *> *}t *> Two of the county superintendents state the boarding proposition is a serious one with them. One of them remarks he "never heard of such a thing." Two county superintendents "only wish we could report some." Two others reply that they think it is a good move. The union district at Sher- rard has a five-room cottage. It is one of those communities where each man lives in his own house and no man has one for rent. They have owned this cottage for four years. The following very interesting experience is related : "The first principal of the school was a married man with a family of four. It was just suited to liis needs. He had one-eighth acre of land for a garden, where he worked out some valuable lessons in agriculture and fruit budding and grafting. Unfortunately, he died at the close of his sec- ond year and a single man was hired to fill the vacancy. The latter did not have any use for the house, so it was rented to an outsider at eight dol- lars a month, a fair return for the investment. Since that time it has been occupied, but we still hold it in reserve for the future, when we may hire a married man." (U. S. Bureau of Education.) Wisconsin. Diificulty of securing good boarding places is mentioned by several of the county superintendents. They expect to build a teachers' home in Polk County. Some of the superintendents state they must develop some plan soon to relieve the situation. One wishes they had cottages now. (U. S. Bureau of Education.) Wyoming. As yet Wyoming has nothing to report In the matter of erection of teachers' cottages. The subject has been under discussion somewhat here and doubtless it will not be long before it will be necessary to follow the example of some of the other states in this regard, but so far the practice has not beeq put into use in this state. (Edith K. O. Clark, State Superin- tendent, Cheyenne, Wyo.) Page Fifty-seven TEACHERS' COTTAGES REFERENCES. Some of the more important articles upon the subject are : Teachers' Cottages in Washington. Josephine Corliss Preston, Bulletin No. 27, 1915. Olympia, Wash. Cottage homes for teachers. Southern School Journal, 24 :11-12, May, 1913. Southern School Journal, 24:11-13, July, 1913. Flemington, Mary B. The Teachers' Boarding Place. American School Board Journal, 50 :1S, February, 1915. Plomes for Rural Teachers. North Carolina Education, 9 :18, March, 1915. Pennybacker, Mrs. Percy V. Need of Teachers' Homes. Ladies' Home Jour- nal, 32:25, February, 1915. Illus. Teacherage. Ladies' Home Journal, 31 :5, September, 1914. Wood, Mrs. Mary I. The School Manse in Reality. Ladies' Home Journal, 32:25, February, 1915. Other publications which Avill be found particularly helpful in this connection arc : Rural Schoolhouses and Grounds. Fletcher B. Dresslar, Bulletin, 1914, No. 12, U. S. Bureau of Education. Tree Planting on Rural School Grounds. Wm. L. Hall, Farmers' Bulletin, No. 134, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. The Farragut School. A. C. Monahan and Adams Phillips, Bulletin 1913, No. 49, U. S. Bureau of Education. The Status of Rural Education in the United States. A. C. Monahan, Bulle- tin 1913, No. 8, U. S. Bureau of Education. County Unit Organization for the Administration of Rural Schools. A. C. Monahan, Bulletin 1914, No. 44, U. S. Bureau of Education. Page Fifty -eight LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 029 452 556 7