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 OF THE 
 
 SCHOOL COMMITTEE 
 
 OF THK 
 
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 BOSTON : 
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 PRINTED BY JOSEPH W. INGllAHAM. 
 
 1823. • • 
 
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 . K' 
 
L \G\ 
 
 REGULATIONS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 ;m] 
 
 OF 
 
 BOSTON. 
 
 i HE following Regulations of the School Com- 
 mittee of the city of Boston, embrace the sub- 
 stance of those heretofore adopted by successive 
 boards (as far as they could be collected) from 
 1789 to the present year, 1823, who have, for a pe- 
 riod of one third of a century, with laudable zeal 
 and diligence cherished these our favourite insti- 
 tutions. They also correspond very nearly with 
 the common usages of the schools. They are 
 the fabrick of our fathers, new-modelled and en- 
 larged, and accommodated to the order of things 
 under the city charter, and to the present circum- 
 cumstances and taste of the community. 
 
 .■/ 
 
SECTION 1. 
 
 Regulations relating to the Board of the School 
 Committee. 
 
 This Board consists of twelve gentlemen, annu- 
 ally elected, one by each ward of the city, to- 
 gether with the mayor and the eight aldermen, 
 ex officiis. 
 
 They are recognized by the charter as a 
 co-ordinate branch of the city government, and, 
 agreeably to their construction of their powers and 
 duties, are authorized and required to organize 
 their body, appoint their own meetings, raise 
 their own committees, and, in short, to manage 
 their affairs in such manner, agreeably to the stat- 
 utes of the commonwealth, as in their judgment 
 will best promote the important objects for which 
 they were instituted. 
 
 1. A.t the first meeting in each year, the 
 board shall organize itself by appointing a 
 chairman, a secretary, visiting committees or 
 sub-committees, and such other special or stand- 
 ing committees, on different subjects, as the cir- 
 cumstances of the publick schools for the current 
 year seem to render expedient. 
 
 2. It shall be the duty of the chairman to pre- 
 side at the meetings of this board ; to call any 
 special "meeting thereof, when he may deem it 
 necessary, or at the request of any two of its 
 members, in writing ; and to be the organ of 
 communication with any other branch or branch- 
 es of the city government relative to any votes 
 and doings of this body which may have respect 
 to a co-operation with them in the transaction of 
 business; copies of the same having been duly 
 furnished by the secretary. 
 
In the absence of the stated chairman, his 
 place shall be filled by the board, pro tempqre. 
 
 3. It shall be the duty of the secretary to keep 
 the records of this board, and faithfully to in- 
 sert therein ail their votes and doings, to give 
 written notice of all their meetings, to preserve 
 files of the communications and reports made to 
 them, and to perform any other service usually 
 expected of such officer. 
 
 4. A visiting committee, or sub-committee, for 
 each school, shall be appointed by the board, con- 
 sisting of three^ whose duty it shall be, to visit their 
 particular school, at least once each quarter of the 
 year, and as much oftener as they can make it 
 convenient, for the purpose of attending carefully 
 to ail the exercises of each class ; of inspecting 
 the school bill, and inquiring into the deport- 
 ment and progress of the scholars, in order to 
 commend good conduct and improvement, and to 
 discountenance negligence and vice ; and of award- 
 ing the annual medals to superiour merit. It shall 
 be their duty to embrace tliese opportunities 
 to converse freely with the instructers on the af- 
 fairs of the scliools, to elicit from them such oc- 
 casional suggestions as may be turned to their ben- 
 efit, to encourage the faithful and deserving in- 
 structer in his arduous duties, and to detect and 
 marie the delinquencies of the remiss. 
 
 It shall be the duty of the sub-committee to 
 give their advice to the instructers on any emer- 
 gency ; and, on comxplaint duly made, to take 
 cognizance of any difficulty which may have oc- 
 curred between the instructers and the parents of 
 pupils, relative to the government or instruction 
 of their school. An appeal, however, to the 
 whole board is not herebv denied to anv citi- 
 
 zen. 
 
In case of a vacancy in any school in the place 
 of either of the instructers, it shall be the duty 
 of the sub-committee of said school to procure a 
 temporary supply, and to give notice of such va- 
 cancy to the board, that they may proceed to 
 fill the office in question. In each temporary 
 supply the sub-committee shall procure, as far as 
 it is practicable, a person of suitable qualifications 
 to be confirmed in his place by the board, should 
 he apply for it. 
 
 In addition to these specifick duties of the 
 sub-committees, it shall be their duty, generally, 
 to make any temporary arrangement they may 
 think proper, relative to the discipline and in- 
 struction of their schools, or the convenience of 
 the instructers thereof, in cases not provided for 
 by the general regulations of this board. 
 
 Each and every sub-committee shall report to 
 this board, when they have visited their schools, 
 what accommodations or indulgences they have 
 granted any instructer, as exemption from duty, for 
 occasional indisposition, &c. and any circumstan- 
 ces whatever that may have occurred in the 
 course of business, which have a general bearing 
 on the interests of the schools ; that an order 
 may be taken thereon, if necessary, to preserve 
 uniformity in the system of publick education. 
 
 5. An examining committee shall be annually 
 appointed by this board, consisting of three 
 members, at least, to be joined by as many 
 others of the board as can conveniently attend 
 whose duty it shall be to visit the several schools 
 of the city, in the month of May or June, and 
 critically to examine the pupils in all the branch- 
 es taught therein, in order to ascertain the con- 
 dition of the schools and their comparative merit, 
 and to report previously to the annual election of 
 
the instructers, that the appointments of the 
 board, on that occasion, may be judiciously made. 
 
 6. It shall be the duty of the chairman of 
 each sub-committee, or special, or standing com- 
 mittee, to call a meeting of the same immediate- 
 ly after their appointment, when the times of fu- 
 ture meetings, and such other arrangements shall 
 be agreed on, as shall be deemed by them expe- 
 dient. All the official acts of such committees 
 shall be done in meetings of the same, duly noti- 
 fied by the chairman, and shall be expressive of 
 the sense of a majority of any such committee, 
 and when reported to this board shall be in v»^rit- 
 ing, and shall be submitted to their paramount 
 authority. 
 
 7. Although the interest of the schools de- 
 mands sub-committees of this board, each mem- 
 ber of it shall consider it his duty to exercise a 
 watch over the literary and moral improvement 
 of every publick school in the city, and to afford 
 personal assistance in their visitations, exhibitions, 
 and examinations; in short, on common or special 
 occasions, according to his inclination, leisure, and 
 convenience. 
 
 8. In the month of June, annually, this board 
 shall nominate and appoint a suitable number of 
 gentlemen, (at present fifty-two,) as equally dis- 
 tributed as may be among the wards of the city, 
 whose duty collectively shall be to provide in- 
 struction for children between four and seven 
 years of age, and to apportion the expenses among 
 the several schools, agreeably to the direction of 
 the town at the institution of the Primary Schools; 
 and shall authorize the committee of these 
 schools to organize their body and regulate their 
 proceedings, as they deem most convenient, and 
 to fill all vacancies occurring in the same, dur- 
 ing the year ; from whom this board will respect- 
 
8 
 
 fully receive such communications as they 
 may please occasionally to make on the subject of 
 those schools. 
 
 9. Whenever this board shall judge that the 
 accommodation and benefit of the community re- 
 quire an additional school, or the enlargement or 
 new-modelling of any in operation, it shall be 
 their duty to attend to the subject, and without 
 delay to request the co-operation of the City Coun- 
 cil in the business : and there shall be appointed 
 annually a standing committee of the board to 
 meet the agents of said department, and jointly 
 Vv'ith the same to superintend the construction of 
 the apartments, seats, &c. of the building to be 
 erected or repaired during the year ; that the 
 best models may be adopted to subserve the 
 purposes of improved education, for which this 
 board is responsible to the community. 
 
 10. A majority of the board shall be required 
 to constitute a quorum for the transaction of bu- 
 siness at any meeting of the same. 
 
 1 1. There shall be the following stated meet- 
 ings of this board, viz. on the second Tuesday of 
 May, August, November, and February, at 10 
 o'clock, A. M. at the room of the Mayor and 
 Aldermen. At the stated meetings in February 
 and August, suitable arrangements shall be made, 
 and special committees appointed for the semi- 
 annual visitations and exhibitions of the several 
 schools. 
 
 Regulations relating to the Puhlick Schools. 
 
 The publick schools of this city consist of one La- 
 tin Grammar School, one English High School, 
 eight Grammar and Writing Schools, besides one 
 African School; and of forty-one Primary Schools, 
 
9 
 
 besides two Schools for the Africans ; in all of 
 which children of both sexes are freely admitted 
 to all the privileges therein enjoyed, except in the 
 two schools first named, which are designed 
 exclusively for the benefit of the male population. 
 These schools are intended to form a system of 
 education, advancing from the lowest to the high- 
 est degree of improvement, which can be derived 
 from any literary seminaries inferiour to colleges 
 and universities. In these, the youth of this me- 
 tropolis, through the unexampled liberality of the 
 citizens in their corporate capacity, and the mu- 
 nificence of individuals, at different periods, en- 
 joy advantages second to none in the schools of 
 our country, for obtaining a practical and theo- 
 retical acquaintance with the various branches of 
 a useful education, for acquiring good moral hab- 
 its, and imbibing pure and patriotick principles. 
 
 The particular superintendence of the Prima- 
 ry schools is delegated to a separate board, who 
 publish their own rules and regulations. 
 
 CHAPTER I, 
 
 Regulations common to all the Publick Schools 
 under the immediate Superintendence of the School 
 Committee. 
 
 1. The instructors, in all the publick schools, 
 shall be elected, and their salaries voted, annually ; 
 and no continuance or preferment of them in office 
 shall be predicated on any principles, but those of 
 literary and moral merit and practical skill. In 
 their original appointment, the degree of Bachelor 
 of Arts, at some respectable college, duly incor- 
 porated and authorized to confer degrees, shall 
 be considered as a necessary qualification in the 
 2 
 
10 
 
 instructers of all the publick schools, except the 
 writing. 
 
 2. As all the instructers derive their authority 
 from this board, they shall be alike responsible 
 to it for the faithful discharge of their appro- 
 priate duties, and be equally under its patro- 
 nage, and shall be alike respected and obeyed by 
 their pupils. The Masters of the schools shall 
 hold priority of rank; and their direction shall be 
 followed in cases not provided for by the general 
 regulations of this board, or any sub-committee of 
 the same, or by the written and authorized rules 
 of the school. In instances of unfaithfulness in 
 office, it shall be the mutual duty of those imme- 
 diately connected in the business of a school, to 
 represent the same to the sub-committee of the 
 school in question, and through them to this 
 board ; that any abuse of their confidence may 
 be promptly corrected. 
 
 3. The instructers shall be punctual in their 
 attendance at the hours appointed for opening the 
 schools, and shall require like punctuality of the 
 scholars. Strict regard shall also be paid to the 
 hours assigned for dismissing the schools ; and no 
 scholars shall be allowed to depart before the 
 same, except at the request of a parent or guardian, 
 expressed personally at the time, or by a particu- 
 lar note, or special messenger, or in cases other- 
 wise authorized by the committee. During school 
 hours the instructers shall faithfully devote them- 
 selves to the publick service only. 
 
 4. The mornina: exercises of all the schools 
 shall commence with reading the scriptures, and 
 prayer, by the masters, or otherwise in their 
 absence by the assistants, in their respective 
 apartments ; and the evening exercises shall be 
 concluded in like manner. 
 
11 
 
 5. The books used, the studies pursued, and 
 the general classification established, in all the 
 publick schools, shall be such and such only as 
 shall have met the approbation of their respec- 
 tive sub-committees, or have been introduced bj a 
 special committee and in due form authorized by 
 the board. No scholars shall be allowed to re- 
 tain their connexion with any of the publick 
 schools, unless they are furnished by their pa- 
 rents or guardians with the books and utensils 
 regularly required to be used in the schools 
 respectively. 
 
 6. All the masters shall be required to keep 
 bills or books, which shall be furnished at the 
 publick expense, and shall remain the property 
 of the schools, in which they shall record 
 the names, ages, places of residence, absences,'"* 
 and tardinesses of their pupils, and such other 
 particulars of their conduct, application, improve- 
 ment, promotion, and general character, as shall 
 enable the committees at their visitations (on all 
 of which it shall be the duty of the masters to 
 exhibit the same to them) to form an adequate 
 idea of the state of the schools ; and it shall be 
 the duty of the instructers frequently to remind 
 their pupils of the important consequences, which 
 may result to them individually from these per- 
 petual records. 
 
 7. It is enjoined on the instructers to keep 
 the children out of idleness, and give them as 
 full employment as possible ; to exercise vigilant, 
 prudent, and firm discipline ; to punish as spar- 
 ingly as is consistent with eflect ; and to govern 
 by persuasion and gentle measures, so far as is 
 practicable. Standing in the place of parents 
 for the time being, it shall be their duty to en- 
 deavour to exercise severally over their pu- 
 pils all that authority, and that only, which 
 
12 
 
 must be exercised by a kind and judicious father 
 of a family, to obtain and ensure the prompt obe- 
 dience and good deportment of his children. 
 
 They shall encourage and assist industrious 
 and good scholars, shall reward and honour them 
 in the prosecution of their studies, and endea- 
 vour, by judicious and diversified modes, to render 
 the exercises of the schools pleasant as well as 
 profitable. 
 
 For violent or pomted opposition to his au- 
 thority in any particular instance, or for the 
 repetition of an offence, the iustructer may ex- 
 clude a child from his school, for the time being, 
 for the purpose of reflection and consultation ; 
 and thereupon shall inform the parent or guar- 
 dian of the measure, and shall apply to the sub- 
 coniraittee for advice and direction. 
 
 Where the example of any scholar is very 
 injurious and contagious, and, in general, in all 
 cases where reformation appears hopeless, it 
 shall be the duty of the masters, with the ap- 
 probation of the Sub-committee, to have recourse 
 to suspension from the school. But any child 
 under this publick censure, who shall have ex- 
 pressed to the instructors his regret for his folly 
 or indiscretion, as openly and explicitly as the 
 nature of the case seems to them to require, and 
 manifests full proof of his amendment, shall be 
 reinstated by them in the privileges of the 
 school ; not, however, without the previous con- 
 sent of said committee. 
 
 That the children may perceive that they are 
 under a system of discipline, not arbitrary or 
 capricious, but equitable and uniform, the com- 
 mittee recommend to the instructers, especially 
 where two instructers are employed in the 
 apartment, to commit to writing, in general 
 terras, their requirements and prohibitions, and to 
 
13 
 
 cause them to be read aloud in school occasional- 
 ly, and to be posted up, that the children may 
 not plead ignorance of duty with this constant 
 monitor before them : and that where there are 
 two instructers enforcing their own rules, there 
 may be a constant and effectual co-operation. 
 These written rules, (with their sanctions an- 
 nexed in general terms,) not contravening the 
 express regulations enacted by this board, and 
 having received the approbation of the sub-com- 
 mittees of the schools, respectively, shall be 
 authorized by this board. 
 
 To promote the well being of their pupils, it 
 shall be the indispensable duty of the instructers to 
 exercise a general care and inspection over them 
 as well out of school as within its walls, and 
 frequently to inculcate upon them the principles of 
 kindness and sincerity to their equals ; of due 
 respect to the aged and to superiours ; of rever- 
 ence for the literary, civil, and religious institu- 
 tions of our country ; of love of social order and 
 obedience to the laws ; of supreme regard to the 
 name and will of God and to virtue : and, more- 
 over, they shall instil into their susceptible minds 
 an abhorrence of idleness, of profane and indecent 
 language, of falsehood, dishonesty, and inhumani- 
 ty, a dread of the misrule of appetite and passion, 
 and of the fatal consequences of a vicious life. 
 And the instructers shall be required, subject to 
 the advice of the sub-committee, to expel from 
 school any pupil, who shall manifest an habitual 
 and determined neglect of these duties. 
 
 8. It shall be the duty of the instructers to 
 exercise suitable vigilance with regard to the 
 apartments of the publick buildings, and appurte- 
 nances of the same, by them respectively occu- 
 pied, that there may be no unnecessary injury 
 
14 
 
 sustained hj them, from tlieir pupils, bj cutting, 
 disfiguring, or other improper usage. 
 
 9. The following shall be the only Holjdays 
 and Vacations, granted alike to all the publick 
 schools ; viz. every Thursday and Saturday af- 
 ternoon throughout the year ; days of Fast and 
 Thanksgiving; Christmas day, and the after- 
 noons preceding Fasts, Thanksgivings, and Christ- 
 mas; the first Monday in June; the fourth of 
 July ; the general trainings ; Election week ; 
 Commencement week ; and the remainder of the 
 week after the visitation and exhibition of the 
 schools ; and no other days, except by a special 
 vote of this Board. 
 
 10. There shall be two general visitations of 
 the schools annually, for the purpose of exhibi- 
 tion, viz. the first on the Wednesday next pre- 
 ceding commencement at the university in Cam- 
 bridge ; the second, on the third Wednesday in 
 February ; and one fortnight shall be given the 
 instructors to prepare their pupils to appear to 
 advantage on these occasions. Over these exhi- 
 bitions the special committees appointed by this 
 board to attend, shall exercise whatever control 
 they shall judge proper. 
 
 At the exhibition in August, besides other 
 marks of distinction, the Franklin medals shall 
 be bestowed in publick as rewards of merit, on 
 those boys to whom they have been previously 
 assigned by the sub-committees of the respec- 
 tive schools ; " general scholarship" having been 
 taken into consideration in the assignments ; and 
 the city medals, on those girls, who have obtain- 
 ed them by like merit. 
 
 11. In cases of difficulty in the discharge of 
 their official duties, or when any temporary dis- 
 
15 
 
 pensation in their favour is desirable, the instruc- 
 ters shall apply to the Sub-committees of their 
 respective schools for advice and direction, for 
 the time being. 
 
 12. No instructer in the publick schools shall 
 be allowed to keep a private school of any des- 
 cription whatever, or to attend to the instruction 
 of any private pupils, before 6 o'clock, P. M. 
 and any Master or Usher violating this regulation, 
 shall be considered as having vacated his office. 
 
 13. Any instructer, who shall intentionally vio- 
 ate any of the regulations of this board made 
 for his observance, or shall counteract any of 
 their orders, duly promulgated to hira, shall 
 immediately, on proof of the fact, be dismissed 
 from his office. 
 
 14. A good understanding shall ever be main- 
 ed among all the publick schools in the city. 
 
 No scholar shall be admitted to the privileges 
 of one school who has been expelled from anoth- 
 er, or even suspended, while he is under that 
 censure. 
 
 Every scholar, who shall be transferred from 
 one school to another of the same rank, shall be 
 the bearer of a certificate from the master he 
 leaves, expressing his standing and character, 
 which shall be demanded of him, as a condition 
 of his admission, by the master to whom he ap- 
 plies for that purpose. In this case no examina- 
 tion of his qualifications shall be required for ad- 
 mission to the same standing. 
 
 Children going from inferiour schools to su- 
 periour, as from the primary schools to the 
 publick grammar schools, and from these to the 
 Latin or English High School, shall also be the 
 bearers of certificates setting forth their charac- 
 ter and qualifications, as an indispensable condi- 
 
16 
 
 tion of their being admitted to examination for 
 the advanced standing, to which they aspire, in 
 those schools, respectively. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Regulations relating to the English Grammar 
 Schools. 
 
 These schools are the second in order in the 
 system of publick education established in this 
 city. The following are their situations and names. 
 
 y' 
 
 1. North Bennet Street, Eliot School. 
 
 2. Middle Street, Hancock School. 
 
 3. Hawkins Street, Mayhew School. 
 
 4. Derne Street,* 
 
 5. Belknap Street, African School. 
 
 6. Mason Street, Adams School. 
 
 7. Nassau Street, Franklin School. 
 
 8. Fort Hill, Boylston School. 
 
 9. South Boston, Hawes School. 
 
 In these, where the arrangement is completed, 
 there are two apartments in the building, or two 
 schools connected in their operation, each under 
 a distinct master and assistant ; in one of which 
 the children are taught spelling, reading, decla- 
 mation, geography, English grammar, and English 
 exercises on the various parts of grammar, in- 
 cluding composition ; and in the other are taught 
 writing and arithmetick. To these apply the 
 following regulations, in addition to those laid 
 down in the preceding chapter. 
 
 * It is intended that this schoolhouse shall be appropriated 
 wholly to the English High School^ when the schoolhouse is 
 finished, which is directed to be built in Pinckney street. 
 
17 
 
 1. Children may be admitted into the gram- 
 mar and writing schools, at the age of seven 
 years, having been qualified at the primary 
 schools, or having received the necessary pre- 
 paratory instruction at other schools. No ex- 
 amination of those shall take place, who bring 
 with thera the certificate of recommendation 
 from the ward, or district committee of the pri- 
 mary schools, stated in section 6, rule 6, of 
 their rules and regulations. The qualifications 
 of others shall be particularly ascertained by the 
 master of the grammar department of the school; 
 and it shall appear, that they have been made 
 acquainted with the common stops and abbre- 
 viations, have been exercised in some judicious 
 spelling book, can tell the chapters and verses, 
 and can read fluently and spell correctly in the 
 New Testament, in order to their admission into 
 his school. 
 
 No scholar shall attend the writing department 
 of either of these schools, w^ho has not been previ- 
 ously examined and admitted by the master of 
 the grammar department. 
 
 2. To prevent inconvenience to the instructors 
 and derangement of the classes, new pupils shall 
 be admitted into the publick grammar schools 
 only on the first Monday of every month through 
 the year. 
 
 3. Boys shall not be permitted to retain 
 their places in the grammar and writing 
 schools, beyond the day of the next semi-annual 
 visitation, or exhibition, after they have arrived 
 at 14 years of age, unless by special leave, obtain- 
 ed from this board. Girls shall be allowed 
 to attend these schools one year longer than 
 boys. 
 
 4. Children admitted into the grammar school 
 shall be required to attend half of the time in 
 
 3 
 
18 
 
 the writing department. No scholar shall be 
 suffered to give his genera! or exclusive attend- 
 ance in one department of the school, totlie neg- 
 lect of the other, without a special permit from 
 this board. 
 
 5. From the first Monday in April, to the first 
 Monday in October annually, the hours for keep- 
 ing these schools, shall be from 8 o'clock, A. M. 
 until 12, and from 2 until 5 o'clock, P. M. ; and 
 from the first Monday in October, to the first 
 Monday in April, from 9 to 12, and from 2 to 
 half past 4. Fi-om the first Monday in April, to 
 to the first Monday in December, shall be called 
 the summer term, and from the first Monday 
 in Deceoiber, to the first Monday in April, the 
 winter term, of these schools. 
 
 6. No children belonging to these schools shall 
 be allowed to come into school later than a 
 quarter of an hour after the hour appointed for 
 opening the same, and none shall be permitted 
 to depart therefrom, but at the appointed hour ; 
 except occasionally, according to the 3d Reg. of 
 the preceding chapter, and the 9th Keg. in this 
 chapter. 
 
 7. These schools shall be divided into four 
 classes, except for the purposes of writing, each 
 having its appropriate duties and employments. 
 Sub-divisions of these classes shall be left to the 
 discretion of the instructers ; as few, however, as 
 may be, being hereby recommended. It is also 
 recommended to the instructers to avail them- 
 selves of the assistance of their most advanced 
 pupils, whenever it can be faithfully and judi- 
 ciously applied, in order to render the more 
 effectual service to the schools. 
 
 8. The internal economy of these schools, rel- 
 ative to the order, extent, and frequency of ex- 
 ercises, competition for places, &;c. in the differ- 
 ent apartments, is left to the good sense and 
 
19 
 
 fidelity of the instructers, subject to the control 
 of the sub-committees of the schools respeciive- 
 Ij. But their special attention is required to 
 the ventilation and temperature of the school- 
 rooms, and to the cleanliness and comfort of the 
 scholars of these large establishments. 
 
 9. One hour before the regular time of clos- 
 ing the morning school, and one half hour be- 
 fore that of closing the evening school, during 
 the summer term, as in Reg. 5, of this section, 
 the children of the first and third classes shall be 
 dismissed in the forenoon, and of the second and 
 fourth in the afternoon, from the first Monday 
 in April to the first Monday in May ; and from 
 the first Monday in May to the first Monday in 
 June, the children of the second and fourth 
 i;lasses shall be dismissed in the forenoon, and of 
 the first and third in the afternoon, and so on al- 
 ternately by months ; such individuals of them 
 only being detained for punishment, as shall 
 have been idle or disorderly; provided the in- 
 structers see fit to adopt this mode of punish- 
 ment. During this hour or half hour as the case 
 may be, the instructers shall be at liberty to dis- 
 miss in succession such individuals of the remain- 
 ing classes as they find on recitation to acquit 
 themselves well, if no delinquency or misde- 
 meanour of theirs may render this inexpedient. 
 The instructers, however, themselves shall give 
 their full time to the business of the school, and 
 not leave the same before the hours appointed for 
 dismissing, as in the 5th regulation of this chap- 
 ter. 
 
 10. Females shall attend these schools from 
 the first Monday in April to the first Monday in 
 December; but the males shall attend through 
 the year. 
 
 11. During the summer term the boys and 
 
20 
 
 girls shall attend in the different apartments of 
 the school alternately in the following order. 
 From the first Monday in April to the first Mon- 
 day in May, all the girls shall attend the gram- 
 mar master, and all the boys the writing master 
 in the morning; and all the girls shall attend the 
 writing master, and all the boys shall attend the 
 grammar master, in the afternoon. The month 
 following, the order shall be reversed : and this 
 alteration shall continue through the summer 
 term. 
 
 12. From the first Monday in December to 
 the first Monday in January, the first and 
 third classes shall attend the grammar, and 
 the second and fourth the writing master, in the 
 morning ; and the first and third shall attend the 
 writing, and the second and fourth the grammar 
 master in the afternoon. The month succeeding 
 the order shall be reversed ; and so on alternate- 
 ly, during the wmter term. 
 
 13. The following books and exercises, are 
 those required, at present, in the English Gram- 
 mar department of these schools. 
 
 Fourth Class. No. 1. Spelling Book, by Lind- 
 ley Murray, stereotype edition. 2. New Tes- 
 tament. 
 
 Third Class. No. 1. 2. continued, and No. 3. 
 Murray's Introduction to his English Reader, 
 Collins's stereotype edition, New York. 
 
 Second Class. No. 4. Bible. 5. Murray's Eng- 
 lish Reader, Col. stereotype edit. 6. Murray's 
 English Grammar, abridged by himself, Col- 
 lins's stereotyjje edition. 7. Walker's Dictionary 
 abridged. 8.Geography,vvith Atlas, by Worcester. 
 
 First Class. No. 4. 6. 7. 8. continued, and No. 9. 
 American First Class Book. 10. Murray's Eng- 
 lish Grammar and Exercises, Collins's stereotype 
 edition; and Composition. 11. Declamation. 
 
21 
 
 14. It shall be the duty of the instructers in 
 the writing department of the school to prepare 
 the writing books and pens of the scholars at such 
 time, that there may be no delay or interruption 
 of business in school hours. 
 
 In this department all the children shall be 
 taught writing and arithmetick daily. 
 
 That there may be no intervals of idleness, the 
 instructers shall require them to learn perfectly 
 by heart such tables and rules in arithmetick as 
 they find suitable to their various capacities and 
 improvements ; and if these exercises are not 
 sufficient, spelling lessons shall fill up their leisure. 
 
 The number of classes or divisions in writing 
 shall depend on the pleasure of the writing mas- 
 ter. But for the purposes of arithmetick this 
 school shall be divided into four classes, and be 
 taught as follows. 
 
 Fourth Class. Numeration Table. Numera- 
 tion and Notation fully exemplified, in small and 
 large numbers. Roman Notation. Addition and 
 Subtraction Table, with its uses. Multiplication 
 and Division Table, with its uses. 
 
 Third Class. Simple Addition, Subtraction, 
 Multiplication, and Division, Federal Money. 
 
 Second Class. Compound Tables of Money, 
 Weights, and Measures, Reduction, Compound 
 Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication,and Division, 
 Exchange of Coins. 
 
 First Class. Rule of Three, and more advan- 
 ced Rules, in which the principle of Proportion 
 is involved. Vulgar and Decimal Fractions, as 
 applicable to those Rules, The Roofs, &c. 
 
 The author on arithmetick ret^uired to be used 
 is Daboll, for the purpose of written arithme- 
 tick. Colburn's Arithmetick and Sequel maybe 
 used for the profitable exercises of mental calcu- 
 lation. 
 
22 
 
 15. A department of these schools shall be 
 deemed full, when it consists of 300 pupils ; and 
 no more shall be admitted, except in cases of 
 emergency the sub-committee of the school shall 
 so order it. No masters shall be permitted to 
 crowd their school, while a less number belongs to, 
 or usually attends, the other schools of the same 
 rank. And it shall be the duty of the masters of 
 each school to make to the secretary of this board 
 regular quai'terly returns, i. e. on the first week of 
 April, July, October, and January, signed by both 
 masters, of the number of scholars, male and fe- 
 male, attending their school, together with their 
 ages, and places of abode, that this board may re- 
 gulate the number which shall attend each school, 
 and, if necessary, transfer some to other schools, 
 where fewer attend ; regard being always had, 
 in adopting this measure, to the distance of 
 each pupil from the schools, it being intended, 
 that the children, as far as possible, shall be ac- 
 commodated in the school nearest to their resi- 
 dence. 
 
 lb. To stimulate the senior boys to greater ex- 
 ertion, as well as to form a proper bond of union 
 between these and the highest order of our 
 schools, this board does hereby order, that the 
 two boys m.ost distinguished for their improve- 
 ment and good behaviour united, in the gram- 
 mar department, and the same number of the 
 same description in the writing department, of 
 each ot" these schools, shall, in addition to receiv- 
 ing the Franklin medals, by special favour, be 
 promoted from these schools to the English High 
 School or Latin Grammar School, at their plea- 
 sure, if of suitable age and their parents or guar- 
 dians so desire, at the stated season for admission 
 into them, without undergoing the usual examina- 
 
23 
 
 tion for that purpose, on producing a certificate 
 from the sub-committee of their school, (which 
 they are hereby empowered and requested to fur- 
 nish,) addressed to the masters of those schools, 
 respectively, setting forth the honourable stand- 
 ing of the boys in question, and their title to this 
 promotion. 
 
 CHAPTER in. 
 
 Regulations relating to the English High SchooL 
 
 This school is situated in Derne street. It 
 has been instituted, at the publick expense, with 
 the express design of furnishing the young men 
 of this city, who are not intended for a collegiate 
 course of study, and who have derived the usual 
 advantages of the other publick schools, with the 
 means of completing a good English education, 
 to fit them for active life, or qualify them for 
 eminence in private or publick stations. Here 
 are enjoyed, especially, the best instructions in 
 the elements of mathematicks and natural phi- 
 losophy, with their application to the sciences 
 and arts, in grammar, rhetorick, and belles-lettres, 
 in moral philosophy, and in history, natural and 
 civil. This establishment is furnished with a 
 very valuable mathematical and philosophical 
 apparatus, for the purposes of experiment and 
 illustration. 
 
 In addition to the common regulations. Sect. 
 2. Chap. 1. the following are required to be ob- 
 served in this school. 
 
 1. No boy shall be admitted, as a member of 
 the English High School, under the age of 12 
 years. 
 
 2. Boys shall be examined for admission into 
 this school only once a year, viz. on the Friday 
 
24 
 
 and Saturday following the semi-annual visita- 
 tion and exhibition of the school in August. 
 
 3. Candidates for examination shall produce 
 from the masters of the schools they last attend- 
 ed, certificates of good moral character and pre- 
 sumed qualifications for admission into this school. 
 It shall, however, be the duty of the master of 
 it, to institute a personal examination of them in 
 KeadiogjWriting, English Gramoiar, Geography, 
 and Arithmetick as far as Proportion, including a 
 general view of Vulgar and Decimal Fractions, 
 in all which they shall be found well versed, in 
 order to be admitted. The lads, who produce 
 the certificates granted them for their merit, as 
 in Sect. 2. Chap. 2. Reg. 16. shall be exempted 
 from examination accordingly. 
 
 4. The school shall be divided into three 
 classes ; and such sections of these shall be form- 
 ed as the good ol' the school may, from time to 
 time, demand. Each class shall have their ap- 
 propriate studies assigned them, corresponding 
 to the intellectual progress of the institution; 
 and to every class and section of the same the 
 master shall be required to give a due propor- 
 tion of his personal attention. 
 
 5. Individuals shall be advanced in these 
 classes according to their scholarship, and no 
 faster ; and none shall be permitted to remain 
 members of the school longer than three years to 
 complete their course. 
 
 6. The classes or sections shall be required to 
 pursue their respective branches of study not 
 less than one week, without mixture, except 
 where occasional exercises, as writing, reading, 
 declamation, composition, &c. may be advanta- 
 geously introduced, as a relief to the pupils. 
 
 7. Particular reviews of each class, or section, 
 shall be instituted, once a week, and general re- 
 
25 
 
 Tiews once a quarter, by the several instructers, 
 in their appropriate departments. 
 
 8. The branches of learning and authors, to 
 which the several classes shall, at present, be 
 required to attend, are as follows. 
 
 3d, or lowest Class. No. 1. Intellectual and 
 Written Arithmetick, by Col burn and Lacroix. 
 2. Ancient and Modern Geography, by Worces- 
 ter. 3. General History, by Tytler; History of 
 the United States, by Grimshaw. 4. Elements 
 of Arts and Sciences, by Blair. 5. Reading, 
 Grammar and Declamation. 6. Book-keeping, 
 by Single and Double Entry. 7, Sacred Geo- 
 graphy. 
 
 2(i Cjass. No. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, continued.' 
 And No. 8. Algebra, by dictation.... and Euler. 
 9. Rhetorick and Composition.. ..Blair's Lect. 
 Abridg. 10. Geometry, by Legendre. 11. Na- 
 tural Philosophy. 12. Natural Theology, by Pa- 
 ley. 
 
 1st Class. No. 5, 8, 9, 10,11, 12, continu- 
 ed. And 13. Chronology. 14. Moral Philoso- 
 phy, by Paley. 15. Forensicks. 16. Criticisms 
 on English Authors. 17. Practical Mathematicks, 
 comprehending Navigation, Surveying, Mensura- 
 tion, Astronomical Calculations, &c. together 
 with the Construction and Use of Mathematical 
 Instruments. 20. A course of Experimental 
 Lectures on the various branches of Natural 
 Philosophy. 21. Evidences of Christianity, by 
 Paley. 
 
 9. For every accession of forty pupils to the 
 whole number in this school, an additional as- 
 sistant shall be allowed the master, that is, there 
 shall be at least one instructor for every forty 
 pupils. 
 
 10. Supplemental to the liolydays granted to 
 all the schools, in Sect. 2. Chap. 1. Reg. 9. the 
 
 4 
 
26 
 
 English High School shall be entitled to the 
 week succeeding the week of Commencement at 
 Cambridge, as an extension of their vacation. 
 
 11. The times for beginning and ending this 
 school, dailj, and the allowance for tardiness, 
 shall be the same as in the Latin Grammar 
 School ; excepting, that no classes shall be dis- 
 missed before the regular hour of closing the 
 school, in the forenoon. Sec Sect. 2. Chap. 4, 
 Reg. 10. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Reorulations relating: to the Latin Grammar School. 
 
 This establishment is now permanently situat- 
 ed in School street. It is venerable for its antiqui- 
 ty, and of the first respectability among similar 
 institutions in our country. The Latin Gram- 
 mar School and the English High School 
 form the highest order of seminaries in this me- 
 tropolis, and complete the system of publick edu- 
 cation, enjoyed ahke by all classes of its citizens. 
 
 In the Latin Grammar School, the rudiments 
 of the Latin and Greek languages are taught, 
 and scholars fully qualified for the University. 
 The selection of authors here used is very copi- 
 ous, and the mode of studying them laborious 
 and exact, rendering the youth familiarly and 
 critically acquainted with the best productions 
 of the great masters of poetry, history, and ora- 
 tory of Greece and Rome ; and large portions 
 of the poets are committed to memory. Be- 
 sides, superiour instruction is also given in this 
 school, in mathematicks, geography, chronology, 
 oratory, and English composition. 
 
 The subsequent regulations are appended to 
 those contained in Sect. 2. Chap. 1. to be ob- 
 served in this school. 
 
27 
 
 1. Boys to be admitted into this school shall 
 be at least 9 years old. 
 
 2. Qualifications for admission shall be, (unless 
 dispensed with agreeably to Sect. 2. Chap. 2. 
 Reg. 16.) to be able to read common English 
 authors correctly and fluently, to know all stops, 
 marks, and abbreviations therein occurring, to 
 write a running hand, and to have sufficient 
 knowledge of English Grammar to parse com- 
 mon sentences in prose. Good moral character 
 shall also be indispensable. 
 
 3. The time of admission shall be the Friday 
 and Saturday next succeeding the semi-annual 
 exhibition of the school in August; on which 
 days, only, the master of this school shall admit 
 candidates who possess the requisite qualifica- 
 tions. 
 
 4. The regular course of instruction shall con- 
 tinue five years ; and no scholar shall enjoy the 
 privileges of this school beyond that term, Avith- 
 out express permission of the sub-committee and 
 the consent of this board. 
 
 5. The school shall be divided into five class- 
 es, and such subordinate sections, as the instruc- 
 ters may think advisable. In the formation of 
 these sections and the disposal of them under the 
 different instructers, regard shall be had to the 
 assignment of as few branches of instruction to 
 each as may be found by the master to be prac- 
 ticable. But both of these arrangements shall 
 be made subject to the approbation of the sub- 
 committee of the school. 
 
 6. It shall be the duty of the master to give 
 his occasional services to each portion of the 
 school, and to institute a rigid examination of the 
 pupils, in the difierent apartments, in all the 
 studies, to which they have attended during the 
 period of each month. 
 
28 
 
 7. The books and exercises, to which they 
 may be at present required to attend, during 
 their course of instruction in the school, are 
 those specified in the following numbers : 
 
 5th Class. No. 1. Adam's Latin Grammar. 
 
 4th Class. No. 1. continued. And No. 2. 
 Latin Dictionary, Entick's or Ainsworth's. 3. 
 Liber Primus. 4. Graecoe Historise Epitome. 
 5. Viri Romas. 6. Phaedri Fabulae, by Bur- 
 man. 7. Nepos. 8. Ovid's Metamorphoses, 
 by Willymotte. 9. Valpy's Chronology. 10. 
 Dana's Latin Tutor. 11. Tooke's Pantheon. 
 
 3d Class. No. 1. 2. 10. continued. And No. 
 12. Greek Grammar, Gloucester. 13. Caesar's 
 Commentaries. 14. Electa ex Ovidio et Tibul- 
 lo. 15. Delectus Sententiarura Grascarum. 16. 
 Col. Gr. Minora. 17. Sallust. 18. Virgil. 19. 
 Frequent exercises in writing Latin prose ; and 
 Translations from Latin and Greek into English. 
 
 2d and 1st Classes. No. 1.2, &c. continued. 
 And No. 20. Valpy's Elegantise Latinae. 21. 
 Bradley's Prosody. 22. Cicero's Select Orations 
 — De Officiis — De Scnectute — De Amicitia. 23. 
 Horace Expurg. 24. Juvenal and Persius Ex- 
 purg. 25. Greek Primitives. 26. Greek Lex- 
 icons — Schrevelius — Hedericus — Scapula Mo- 
 
 rell's Thesaurus. 27. Xenophon's Anabasis. 
 28. Mattaire's Homer. 29. Greek Testament. 
 30. Wyttenbach's Greek Historians. 31. Geog- 
 raphy. 32. Arithmetick. 33. Geometry. 34. 
 Trigonometry. 35. Algebra. 36. Neilson's 
 Greek Exercises. 
 
 The following are required promiscuously of 
 different classes, No. 37. Walker's Classical Key. 
 38. Lempriere's Classical Dictionary. 39. Ad- 
 am's Roman Antiquities. 40. Declamation. 41. 
 Themes. 42. Exercises in Latin prose. 43. 
 Latin Poetry. To these two last items, this 
 
29 
 
 board require the particular attention of the 
 Principal. 
 
 No translations of the foregoing Latin and 
 Greek authors are allowed in the school. 
 
 Reading English, both in prose and verse, 
 with readiness and propriety, shall be considered 
 as essential to every class in the Latin and 
 English High Schools, as well as in the Reading 
 Schools ; and the masters of these schools are 
 required to pay the greatest attention to this im- 
 portant branch of instruction. 
 
 8. Promotions of the boys from class to class, 
 shall correspond to the talent and improvement 
 of each, and shall take place as frequently as the 
 good of the institution, in the opinion of the in- 
 structors, will authorize them. 
 
 9. Such marks of distinction and such rewards 
 shall be conferred on merit, as shall be found 
 most effectually to operate on the minds of the 
 pupils as incentives to excellence. 
 
 10. The times of beginning and ending this 
 school shall be the same in the forenoon as in 
 the publick grammar schools ; but, in the after- 
 noon, school shall commence, during the summer 
 term, at 3 o'clock, P. M. and end at 6 ; and dur- 
 ing the winter term, shall begin half past 2, and 
 end at half past 4; and 5 minutes only shall be 
 allowed for tardiness, at the expiration of which 
 the doors shall be closed against delinquents. 
 
 11. The three lowest classes shall be dismiss- 
 ed from the school each day, at 11 o'clock, that 
 an hour may be devoted by them to relaxation, 
 or to some polite accomplishment, or useful study, 
 at the pleasure of each individual. 
 
 12. The holydays and vacations of this school 
 shall be the same as those allowed the English 
 High School, Sect. 2. Chap. 3. Reg. 10. 
 
30 
 
 13. A certificate from the master of this school, 
 in favour of any of his pupils of suitable age, 
 shall be admitted as their passport to the English 
 High School, but to such standing as the mas- 
 ter of that school shall determine ; and vice versa. 
 
 14. The number of instructors employed in 
 this school shall be regulated by the principle 
 stated Sect. 2. Chap. 3. lleg. 9. 
 
 At a legal Meeting of the School Committee 
 of the City of Boston, held this day, December 
 5, 1823 ; 
 
 Resolved, That the foregoing regulations, as 
 revised and amended, be, and the same are here- 
 by adopted by the School Committee for the fu- 
 ture management and regulation of the Schools; 
 and it is ordered that the same be printed, and 
 that a copy thereof be furnished to each of the 
 Masters and Ushers of the publick schools of 
 this city. 
 
 Attest, 
 
 WILLIAM WELLS, 
 
 Secretary to the School Committee. 
 
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