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     Besides the giant strides, a horizontal bar, parallel bars, and a swing outfit consisting of six swings will soon be erected. These are now on the ground and will be put up in a few days. They are made of galvanized steel and are of the best design.

A. G. GULLIVER,          
Superintendent.     

     The school census of Bloomington for 1909-10 was 212; the enrollment 210, and the average daily attendance 144.6. In point of numbers the growth has not been great, but there has been growth in the school along other lines, which is deserving of notice. During the past few years the chemical, physical and botanical laboratories have been equipped with the latest and best apparatus; city water was installed in the building and for the use of the grounds, and a substantial increase was made in the high school library--improvements made possible by liberal appropriations of the board of education. The literature department was especially strengthened the last year by adding the best books of the poets and authors, including the best works in fiction. For the purpose of stimulating literary work among the pupils the high school was divided into three societies and a program was given every other week. The interest in this work was augmented by a spirit of rivalry among the societies. Considering the great number of poor writers in the high school and the grades the superintendent and board felt that the school should be given instruction along this line. In addition to their regular work the high school pupils were required to give twenty minutes each day for penmanship. "The muscular movement" with blackboard exercises was used. Some flattering results were obtained.

     The normal training class has steadily increased until last year the class had an enrollment of fifteen. As an experiment a regular music teacher was hired for last year. The results have justified the continuance of such a teacher.

     The athletics of the school was in the form of football, baseball and basketball. The year 1909-10 was the first for football, but the boys played the game well. In baseball the school had an exceptionally strong team, which was defeated but once during the season.

ENOR K. MATSON,          
Superintendent.     

     When the writer took up the work at Bridgeport in the fall of 1908 he found a good ten-grade school with five teachers. But it was the purpose of the school board to introduce the eleventh grade work and as more school room was needed a two-room building was erected out of funds that were on hand. A second teacher was hired for the high school work and the work carried out for that year. We also gave the normal training reviews, reading and grammar, that year
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in the eleventh grade. The next fall a third teacher was elected for the high school, the twelfth grade work taken up and the school qualified as a twelve-grade normal training high school. Although the school census showed only 210 in 1909, the enrollment for the year 1909-10 was more than that number.

     The two buildings are frame structures and are heated by stoves. They are well arranged for school work, the light entering all the rooms from the rear and left sides. The high school assembly room is small and is crowded, as are also the first and second primary rooms. More room will soon have to be provided and it is the purpose of the school board to have the question of bonds for the erection of a modern building submitted to the people in the near future.

     The school has the required reference books for the normal training work, besides a good list of other reference books and books of fiction. One hundred dollars was spent during the year 1909-10 for books, this money coming from the proceeds of a play given by the pupils.

     Most of the parents are anxious for their children to have the best possible education, yet there are a few who have to be reminded of the compulsory attendance law, and in one or two cases the law has had to be enforced against the parents.

     The state course of study is followed throughout the grades as closely as possible. No industrial work has been taken up as a part of the school work, though some work along that line was done by a girls' domestic science club during the year 1908-09.

      The pupils of the school are interested in athletics and have organized both a boys' and girls' basketball team. Work in debating was started this past year, and some very good work done along that line as well as in the declamatory work.

     The growth of the Bridgeport schools has been remarkable. The town is growing rapidly, located as it is in the heart of a government irrigation project that is just being developed. The people believe in good schools, as shown by the fact that they went beyond the limit of the law and taxed themselves 52 mills for school purposes during the year 1909-10. Still another teacher has been added for the year 1910-11, and the outlook for the future is for an even more rapid growth than in the past.

L. R. HILL,          
Superintendent.     

     The Broken Bow schools have made a steady growth during the past few years. In proportion to the number of pupils the high school has had a larger increase in attendance than the grades, due largely to the fact that people are taking advantage of the free high school attendance law. The total enrollment in the high school in 1908 and 1909 was 124, in 1909 and 1910 it reached 134 and the enrollment so far this year has reached 153. The enrollment in the high school will, no doubt, reach 170 before the year closes.

     The school census for 1909 and 1910 shows 784 children of school age in the district, the census for 1910 and 1911 shows a slight increase over the previous year.

     Broken Bow has two school buildings, a North Side and a South Side ward building, besides a new high school building in the process of construction. This building when completed will be used exclusively for high school pupils and will seat over 200. The lighting, heating and ventilating of this building have received special attention by the architect and the members of the board of education and will be up-to-date and sanitary in every particular. Besides a large gymnasium, this building will contain a manual training room, a domestic science department, a large assembly room, laboratories both physical and chemical and seven recitation rooms. In addition to the rooms mentioned there will be a library room, teachers rest room, principal's office and superintendent's office.

     At present the library in the high school contains over 200 volumes of standard works on science, history, pedagogy and a number of supplementary books to be used with regular high school texts. A new list of books for high school English is being prepared and will be in the library in a very short time.

     The course of study prescribed in the high school manual is followed in the main, a few slight changes having been made for convenience sake. Physical geography is taught the second semester of the ninth grade instead of the first, as prescribed in the manual.

     Latin is made elective throughout the school and special emphasis is placed upon the teaching of the sciences and English. Strong courses are offered in both of these lines.

     The normal training work has always been very popular in the Broken Bow high school, the enrollment in the normal training class is twenty-six. Out of this number two are boys. Last year there were only twenty-three enrolled. The work in normal training follows out the plan suggested in the normal training bulletin.

     A domestic club has been organized and has been doing good work in both sewing and cooking. A debating squad was organized last year and will be this year as soon as practice work begins preparatory to the interscholastic debates. Football, baseball and basketball receive attention at the proper time during the year. Special training in athletics is given under the supervision of the physical director.

     The Broken Bow schools are progressing slowly, a kindergarten department having recently been installed, the salary of the teachers has received a substantial increase and when the crowded condition is removed by the completion of the new building the schools will be in shape to do better work.

H. I. ELLIOTT.       
Superintendent     

     The growth of the Burwell public school has more than kept pace with the growth of the town. The enrollment for the present year is 325, showing an increase of nearly 100 per cent during the last five years. The school is now offering twelve years in its course of study, having been placed upon the accredited list of four-year high schools in 1909. The course of study conforms very closely to the standard state course.

     The school has eight teachers, three of whom are in the high school. Burwell has a handsome brick building containing eight rooms. The heating and ventilating system is one of the very best.

     A chemical and a physical laboratory has been equipped with apparatus to the amount of $300.

     Besides a good reference library the general school library contains 400 volumes.

GEO. R. BOOMER,          
Superintendent.     

     The Butte school has been an eleventh grade school since 1901 until this year, when the people at the annual meeting last June voted unanimously to add the twelfth grade.

     Two years ago, 1908, the school was accredited by the university as an eleventh grade school. The 21st of last June the district voted bonds to build a new high school building. The bonds have been sold and the building is being erected this fall.

     The enrollment last year was 188, of which twenty-nine were in the high school. A class of seven, four boys and three girls, graduated from the eleventh grade last spring.

     Only two pupils so far as known failed to comply completely with the compulsory attendance law last year.

     Seven pupils from the rural districts attended under free high school privileges.

     This year the school employs seven teachers, occupies seven rooms, three of which are devoted to high school work.

      The board of education has purchased $147,36 worth of chemical and physical supplies for the laboratory, $85 worth on hand previously. A complete list of new and up-to-date text books for the twelfth grade have also been purchased at a cost of about $175. The laboratory room is equipped with eases for apparatus and a chemical table fourteen feet in length. There are about 325 bound volumes in the school library. About a month ago the board adopted a course of study, a copy of which is inclosed. Latin is made an elective in the tenth, eleventh and twelfth grades. German is elective in the ninth, tenth and eleventh grades. School is now in session and a fine class of thirteen, six from the twelfth and seven from the eleventh grades, are taking normal training.

J. R. ALCOCK.          
Superintendent.     

     The Cedar Rapids public schools have made more advancements in efficiency than in numbers in the past few years. The work of adjustment began with the term of Superintendent Bettenga and has continued under the present management (Superintendent Claus). At the beginning of Mr. Bettenga's term of office there was little or no system in the high school course of study, but he began the work and this year will see it almost brought to the state course.

     The school census for the past year was 309, the, total enrollment 290 and the average attendance 247.

     There has been little or no call for the necessity of the compulsory attendance law to be enforced. A few cases were reported to the board and proper notice given when the matter was adjusted.

     The free high school attendance is one of the marked features of the Cedar Rapids high school. We have at present eighteen pupils in the high school or about 40 per cent of the high school enrollment.

     The people and school children of Cedar Rapids are very proud of their school grounds. It can be said without doubt that no prettier or bettor kept grounds could be found in the state. The building is a three-story brick structure, three rooms of the first and second floors of which are as good as any one could wish, lighting and ventilating very good, but the high school room is poor and recitation rooms inadequate, but there is a movement on foot for an addition next year, which will overcome this difficulty. A new heating plant will be placed in the building at the same time. The general equipment of the building is good. An excellent set of relief maps are at the general disposal of the teachers, while there are plenty of descriptive maps for all general purposes. The physics department has an equipment amounting to about $200, the chemistry at least $250 and the agriculture and physical geography at least (including relief maps) $175, and the botany about $75. This makes a very complete laboratory course in all the science possible.

     The library consists of about 750 hooks on fiction, 175 on history, about 30 on education and about 10 each on the various sciences.

     The regular state course of study as above mentioned is very closely followed and in one year more will be followed exactly.

     The normal training is the greatest addition that has ever been made to the school. It has given the school a new impetus and one which has the best of influence. The pupils who are taking the work realize a new responsibility and respond to it. This has an influence upon the whole school in return. The conduct in the halls and upon the grounds is better and a general uplift to the school as a whole is very marked.

     The classes of the high school each have their organizations and have definite work to do in the school. Each grade or class has a definite time for opening exercises, that is one class will conduct open-

ing exercises one week then another and so on. The student body as a whole have a literary organization and conduct literary work every six weeks.

     We began last year to introduce self-discipline among the pupils of the high school and found it to work very well. The pupils are given complete control of class dismissal and self control under various other instances, which works along the lines of the normal training which young people should have who are expecting to control others.

C. E. CLAUS,            
Superitendent (sic).     

     The schools at Central City occupy a ward building of three rooms and a central building having eight class rooms for the grades and an assembly room, library, laboratory and two recitation rooms for the high school. The building is heated by steam, lighted by gas and provided with sanitary drinking fountains and automatic electric signals. Our grounds are large and contain numerous shade trees and a heavy sod of blue grass and white clover. Strangers often remark about our well kept grounds.

     The enrollment for the year just past was more than 600, of whom 120 were in the high school. Our schools have had a steady growth and the enrollment now is greater than it has ever been. There is a good school spirit and we have seldom had to invoke the compulsory law to keep pupils in school.

     We have two general courses--an English and a Latin--with the normal training as a special course. The number of students in the normal course is increasing. A few years ago the board introduced manual training for both boys and girls, but because of a lack of room and because no suitable teacher could be had it was dropped. However, the girls of the sixth and seventh grades have been organized into sewing societies and the girls of the high school into cooking clubs on the Crete plan.

      Our library, though not large contains a good list of reference books for all departments. The city library and the Y. M. C. A. reading room furnish a large list of magazines and works of fiction, to which all students have access.

     Our high school has had track and basket ball teams that have won in a number of close contests. Many of our boys belong to athletic classes in the city Y. M. C. A. and so receive systematic training.

     In debating our students have also won honors. At present all classes of the high school are organized into debating clubs or literary societies that have their appointed times for class work the same as with any other subject.

     The teachers have their regular social meetings among themselves. They also entertain the members of the board and in turn

are entertained by the board. In all social gatherings of the teachers our present county superintendent, Miss Frances Kelley, for more than twenty-five years a teacher in our schools, is included.

F. E. MORROW,       
Superintendent.     

     In recent years the Chadron schools have enjoyed a steady growth. The census of 1910 showed a school population of 654. The total enrollment for the school year of 1909-10 was 610. The average daily attendance was 426. A beginning in industrial education has been made in the grades Normal training has been carried on in the high school. In the school year of 1909-10 nearly $200 worth of pictures for school room decoration were purchased. A high school paper is published. Prominence is given to debating and to literary and musical programs on Friday afternoons. A German club that meets twice a month is an interesting feature of the work of the high school. A university extension lecture course has been supported, the expense of which has been provided for out of the district funds. The spirit of co-operation between the school and the community is one of the marked conditions that prevail.

E. P. WILSON,        
Superintendent.     

     Clay Center, the county seat, is in the center of Clay county and the school building especially is located as near so as possible. The first building on the present school site was a four-room frame structure put up in 1884. In 1902 or '03 a brick building was built and in 1909 this brick structure was enlarged by a $12,000 addition. The whole building is practically all new and supplies the needs of the district sufficiently well. It is lighted with electricity, has direct and indirect ventilating flues, which work so well that bad air is never noticeable, and has a modern heating system. Two running fountains go in this year and a gymnasium in the basement next.

     The grounds are large, including a good sized block covered on the south and west with large elm and ash trees. We are proud of the large playground where pupils and children play with or without supervision and get in no one's way. The growth of the school is attested by the increased building facilities. The census for 1909-10 was 330, with an enrollment of 288 and an average daily attendance of 267.

     Compulsory education is strictly enforced, but very few cases have made it necessary to apply the law. Even though Clay Center is a manufacturing town, little trouble is experienced in keeping boys in school up to fifteen or sixteen years of age. After that however, factory influence is felt on both boys and girls, as the large incubator business affords a ready means of employment to young people who

are desirous to earn a little. The transient population also fluctuates attendance during the year. Clay Center would be a good place to start a business school, as many students attend such a place as soon as possible to get a little shorthand, typewriting, etc., so as to get a place in the factory office, where seventy to eighty in that profession are employed the greater part of the year. This tendency on the part of the students gives no little concern to the authorities in charge of the course of study. The needs of the community are taken into consideration, but so far nothing radical has been done. The ordinary course of study prevails, including the sciences, history, mathematics, literature and three years of Latin and one year of German with a possibility of two years of each.

     Normal training has not been added because of the lack of funds and that is the case with some of the industrial branches. This does not preclude interest in agriculture, which is carried on by the boys in all the grades. At the corn exhibits held at the county fair, also the state fair, prizes have been sufficiently numerous to encourage the boys to further efforts. One boy, after winning at the county fair, won a first prize of $25 at the stale fair. Corn shows are attracting much attention among both old and young. Manual training outside of school is encouraged and carried on to such an extent that prizes were won last year at the county fair.

     Last year a domestic science course was added, based on the Crete plan. This has been an unusually popular and successful course and will be continued. At the close of this school year the high school girls banqueted the patrons in one of the most successful social events ever held in Clay Center. Aside from being able to cook the girls also furnish good music as a glee club. They also have their regular basketball and tennis organizations.

      The boys wisely do not indulge in football. Baseball, track work, basketball and systematic winter gymnasium work under the direction of an instructor constitute the athletics. They have won the Clay county championship in track and field events for the past three years straight. Clay Center also won the county debate and the declamatory contest the last year.

     The Van Dyke Literary society, meeting every two weeks, is a feature in the students' school life. Mr. Henry Van Dyke, professor of English literature in Princeton university, in a personal letter to the society, gave permission to use his name and encouraged the students along the line they were beginning. He later sent his photograph, which framed, decorates the room in which the meetings are held.

H. W. WENDLAND,      
Superintendent.     

     During the past three years the yearly enrollment of the Columbus schools has increased from 903 to 1,078. This looks like a small en-

rollment when our census shows about 1,800 children of school age.

     The deficiency is largely made up by attendance at our parochial schools. We have a Catholic school of about a dozen teachers and the German school has two teachers. The parochial schools enroll between 300 and 400 pupils.

     The compulsory attendance law has been enforced with some degree of success, yet we have found it very inefficient in case of the "in and out" pupil. We have also found difficulty in many cases in collecting fines, as it is usually the worthless, no account financially and otherwise whose children are out. Our local authorities do not think imprisonment can be inflicted under the law in lieu of the fine. I am of the opinion that the law should be amended in order to reach the irregular pupil, who misses a day or two each week, and when fine is not paid imprisonment may follow at the option of the court. We have six buildings, four brick and two frame. Our equipment is strictly first class. We have a reference library of about 1,200 volumes, besides a city library. In our high school we have four laboratories, one each for biology, physics, chemistry and domestic science. These are equipped with all the apparatus necessary for first class work. While we regard manual and industrial training as of great importance, we try not to forget that there are other important things to be done in school as well.

     In the first five grades, the primary idea in the industrial work is weaving. This has been carried by our teachers to a high degree of success. It takes time for teachers to become proficient, and our experience has shown that one line of work well done is far better than many things attempted and nothing done well. We are willing to leave many good things alone that we might do in order to do a few things well. In the sixth grade we have clay modeling. In the seventh and eighth grades the boys have elementary bench work and the girls have sewing. The bench work is taught by the regular manual training teacher and the sewing is taught by the regular teachers as outlined by the domestic science teacher. In the grades below the high school we devote one-fourth day each week to industrial work. In the high school manual training is given only in the ninth and tenth grades and is elective. Here one-fourth of each day is given to the work.

     The high school work for the boys consists of bench work, wood turning, mechanical drawing and blue print work, and forge work; for the girls the work is sanitary science and hygiene, cutting and fitting and cooking. In our manual training department we can accommodate forty boys at one time. We have tools for each boy. In the domestic science department we have twenty hot plates and a range, besides cupboards and such kitchen utensils as may be needed.

     Manual training has been in our schools for about eight years and domestic science for two years. Our patrons would, no more think of leaving either out of our course of study than they would of

omitting arithmetic. The cost of maintaining these departments after they are once installed is no greater than that of physics or chemistry.

     We have had a normal training class every year since the law went into effect, however our classes have been small. Most of our students prefer to prepare for other lines of work.

     About 50 per cent of the graduates of our last four classes are now in attendance at university or college.

     In our high school courses, we make three lines uniform in all courses and a fourth line elective. The elective subject determines the name of the course pursued. I do not think it wise to give a wider latitude to a high school student in his elective work. A boy who has taken almost any well balanced course, and has done his work fairly can easily adjust himself to the requirements of his occupation when he has completed his high school course.

U. S. CONN,          
Superintendent.     

     To all who have been keeping in touch with the west the past few years, the great growth of this section is apparent. Its villages have sprung into thriving little cities, enjoying all the comforts of the larger cities. The schools have kept pace with this development. Fine modern structures are fast taking the place of the old, poorly equipped buildings. Located on the crossing of the Northwestern and Burlington railroads, Crawford bids fair to become one of the leading cities of the west.

     Following are some of the facts about the Crawford schools:

     1. Last year normal training was inserted in the course of study. The benefit this has been to the school can hardly be overestimated. It has raised the ideals of the entire, school, and aided materially in the general discipline.

      2. The building is located on an eminence in the east part of town. This point commands one of the most beautiful views to be found in Nebraska. The heating is by steam and during the last winter only one-half day was lost on account of the cold. Only one room was dismissed then. At the present Crawford has perhaps, the best equipped scientific laboratory in the western part of the state. At the beginning of the school year of 1909 and 1910 the board expending nearly $400 in fixing up the laboratory.

     3. The school year of 1909 and 1910 was the first that the compulsory attendance law was enforced. At first it was like meddling with bees, but when it became evident that the law was going to be enforced, the children were sent. A truant officer was appointed and all delinquents were looked after twice each day.

     4. A parliamentary law class has been organized in the high school. This has proved to be one of the most beneficial things in the school. Many students who were diffident and awkward before

an audience have been polished up until now they are capable of conducting an ordinary public gathering. Coupled with the debating work the quality of the recitations of all students engaged in the above has increased because they are more able to express their thoughts.

     5. The attendance record of the year 1909 and 1910 follows:

     The attendance for the year 1910 and 1911 bids fair to reach the 500 mark.

     6. One of the things that has made the school so profitable is the splendid feeling existing between the teachers and students. The teachers have all worked in harmony with the administration and this always reacts for good of the pupils. The teachers take part in the sports of the children. This directing of the play of the children is appreciated by them and the presence of the teacher on the play ground is always wholesome. On account of the growth' of the schools the board is looking forward to the erecting of a new school house. The teaching force for the coming year has been increased and more teachers are needed; but no additions in the teaching force can be made until the erection of a new building.

     7. Preparations are being made to put in manual training in a year or so. A demand for this line of work is being constantly made. It is safe to say that when this is added the enrollment of the high school' will more than double.

H. H. REIMUND,          
Superintendent.     

     In the fall of 1907 the Creighton schools moved into a magnificent modern building with nine grade rooms, two recitation rooms, library, office, laboratory, assembly room and gymnasium. All the rooms are large, well lighted and ventilated and heated by steam, and most of them newly furnished.

     With the new building came an awakened pride and interest and as a result three teachers have been added for the grades and excellent facilities for good work provided. It has not been necessary to invoke the aid of the law to compel attendance or secure regularity.

     The last census showed a school population of 454. The enrollment in 1909-10 was 400 and the average attendance 300. During the two years just closed the high school attendance has increased from forty-five to over sixty.

     No expense has been spared to provide the best in the way of teaching apparatus and furniture, over $1,000 having been expended in the two years for maps, charts, globes, laboratory equipment and furniture.

     The course of study has been made to conform as nearly as possible to the standard Nebraska course in both the grades and high school. Last year handwork was attempted quite extensively in the grades below the seventh and proved very popular, both with pupils and parents, and will probably result in the adoption of a manual training course for all grades in the near future.

     In 1908 normal training was offered for the first time and has proved to be a most popular and valuable addition to the course. Of the eighteen graduates in the last two classes sixteen have been from this course and are now teaching. While normal training has resulted in a larger number of the graduates going directly into the work of teaching it does not seem to have lessened, but rather increased the desire for higher education. The two graduates from the regular course will both attend the state university this fall, as will one of the normal class. Three of the normal class attended summer school at Peru and several have declared their intention of taking a college course as soon as they have earned the money for their expenses. This spirit of independence has been one of the most noticeable and gratifying effects of the normal work upon the pupils.

     No fraternities or societies other than the regular class organizations are permitted and each of these is under the supervision of a teacher as advisor. No trouble from these sources has been experienced. The teachers have shown a real interest in the social and individual welfare of the class and are accepted by the class rather as honored members upon whose counsel and advice the class may rely to aid them in getting the most out of their school and social life. There is a good class spirit, but little class rivalry.

      A good healthy interest in athletics is fostered. Track and held work receive their share of attention in season and a baseball team and girls' and boys' basketball teams are maintained. Pupils are required to maintain satisfactory standards in deportment and class work to participate. This has done much to aid in keeping both boys and girls in school and raise the standard of the classroom work.

E. S. COWAN,          
Superintendent.     

     Every member of the Crete board of education has in the past year shown an active interest in the welfare of public schools. As a consequence, many benefits have resulted--especially to be noted is the improvement in the condition of the ward buildings. New wood and iron turning lathes have Increased the interest and effectiveness of the work in manual training, and a large room in the basement

recently equipped, which will be used in connection with the Crete plan of teaching the subject, will add greatly to the value of the work in domestic science. The purchase of a block of ground in the south part of town for the use of the high school class in agriculture and for school gardens for the grade children has been a great benefit. Over 250 children have planted and cared for beds of flowers and vegetables during the summer.

     Two-thirds of our grade teachers were enrolled in summer schools, the institutions attended being the State Normal at Peru, Nebraska Wesleyan and the Universities of Nebraska and Chicago. As a result standards of work have been raised and a new inspiration is found in all departments of the work. Salaries have been increased substantially, teachers in the grades receiving $50 to $65 per month, and high school teachers $70 to $80.

     The course of study throughout the grades corresponds quite closely to the state course and monthly examinations are to be given during the year. In the high school, pupils may elect an English-German course, taking two semesters of literature, one semester each of civics and English history, and two years of German instead of the four years of Latin offered in the regular course. Students receive high school credit for mechanical drawing, manual training, domestic science and approved work in music or typewriting. A strong class of seventeen is doing the work In normal training under the direction of the superintendent.

     The high school reference library has received substantial additions and is now located in a new oak bookcase of twelve sections, the gift of the class of 1910.

     Basket ball, base ball and track teams are organized and while far from championship caliber, have made a good showing considering the youth of the material from which they are drawn.

     All students meet one period a week for drill in music or debating and parliamentary law. Both lines of work are arousing considerable interest.

     The great need at present is for physical training facilities and prospects are now bright for achieving, sometime within a year, the erection of a gymnasium of ample size.

E. W. MARCELLUS,     
Superintendent.     

     Under the administration of Prof. J. O. Lyne the school was raised from a two-year to a three-year high school in 1907.

     Prof. C. L. Anderson raised the school to a four-year high school in the fall of 1908 and the school was accredited as a full four-year high school for 1909-10, last year.

     The school census of 1909 was 276, the total enrollment for 1909-10 was 292 and the average daily attendance was 200.5.

     The compulsory attendance law is not well enforced on account of the work in the sugar beets, of which there are a great many raised here.

     There were in attendance on our high school last year ten persons under the free high school law.

     There are two school buildings, accommodating eight teachers, the main building being heated by steam and the other heated by means of stoves.

     The grounds of the main building comprise two entire blocks or about five acres, while the other building has only two lots.

     The school library contains 250 volumes.

     The course of study is the one recommended by the state.

     In industrial education we have attempted nothing yet but agriculture. In the year 1909-10 we gave normal training.

     Our high school organizations are only baseball and basketball.

     During the year 1909-10 our school took part in the district and the state declamatory contests, and we took a gold medal as first honors in oratorical declamation in each case.

     Of our nine graduates of 1910 one will enter the state university, one Bellevue college, one Creighton university and one Hastings college this fall, while the ninth member has a good position in a bank in Chicago.

J. B. STACKHOUSE,    
Superintendent.     

     This being the first year of my connection with the David City schools I am in a position to speak only in a general way. concerning school affairs.

     The records left by my predecessors point to the fact that the enrollment has been practically at a standstill for several years. The free high school law, as it is familiarly called, has added about twenty-five to the high school enrollment, while the number in the grades is just about where it was five years ago. Our low enrollment in the grades is due to a flourishing parochial school in the heart of the city.

      The compulsory attendance law gives us very little trouble as parents and children alike seem to feel the need of the advantages of an education. I feel that the high school course of study could be somewhat modified so as to make it more attractive to some who should be in high school, but who are not.

     Our buildings are all comparatively old, judged by the time of construction, but have been kept as near up to date as it is possible to keep old buildings. Sentiment here very strongly favors a new high school building and I feel confident that bonds will be voted within a year. At present we are installing manual training and domestic science and these with our regular work, make our conditions very crowded.

     Our course of stud corresponds directly with that outlined in the high school manual. We require Latin of everyone for the first two years, after which students have an option between two more years of Latin, two years of German, or two years of normal training and reviews. I feel that the addition of a commercial course would be of material benefit, both to school and pupils, in keeping pupils in school, and in preparing them for immediate employment.

     The graduates from our normal training department are showing the result of their training in the excellent work they are doing over the county.

     We place considerable emphasis on our athletics, but make them strictly secondary to the school work. The results along this line are very gratifying.

W. A. JULIAN,        
Superintendent.     

     The schools of Edgar have made a modest growth in the past three years that I have known it. While we have lost fifty-eight by census report from the district and lost six in total enrollment our average daily attendance has increased twenty-two.

     We have had no trouble in compelling attendance.

     The number attending from other districts has increased 40 per cent.

     Our building is practically new and is so constructed as to lighting, heating and ventilation that results are very evident. There is practically no trouble with eyes and the absence of cold epidemics attribute to light and ventilation.

     Little change has been made in our course of study. We have added a second year of German. The third year of Latin is taken by but few.

     We have no industrial or normal training work.

     There are practically no high school student organizations except class organizations, and that goes little farther than something of clanishness.

ALBERT SNARE,         
Superintendent.     

     During the last few years the Emerson schools have grown and improved in many respects. The pupils are much more neat and tidy in personal appearance than formerly. They show greater respect for the school building as a place for work and study. They are very neat and tidy in the rooms and hails. These things, together with improvements made by the school board have made the building a very pleasant place for both pupils and teachers.

     One hundred and twenty-five dollars worth of books have been added to the library. These books are placed at the disposal of the

pupils in such a way that each one of them can have a good book to read every two weeks if his school duties will permit. The laboratory equipment has been greatly increased and during the present year music has been added to the curriculum.

     The attitude of most of the pupils toward their work is that of pleasure in solving the difficulties that come up to them. They work much more independently than formerly and are more rational and logical in their habits of thought. Discipline has improved very greatly and causes very little trouble.

     Punctuality and regularity of attendance of any pupils that are disposed to shirk their school duties are secured through the cooperation of teachers, superintendent, janitor and town marshal. Absence from school of pupils of this character is reported at once to the superintendent. The delinquency is brought to the attention of the parents of the child and by showing them our friendly interest in their child we have been able to reduce cases of this kind to a minimum.

     The number of pupils availing themselves of the opportunity for free high school attendance is small. We have found these few to be among our very best pupils. They are punctual and regular in attendance, earnest and faithful in their work, kind and courteous to their classmates, and in every way indicate that they will become worthy and substantial citizens in this great state.

     The school grounds occupy one-half of a city block. The building is in the center of this half block. The ground in front of the building is a fine grass plat kept green all summer by water from the city water system. Back of the building and adjoining it is a plat of ground kept level and smooth for outdoor basket ball. The remainder of the ground is grass covered and is used as a general playground.

      The building is of brick, modern in most respects, having two stories and a basement, and is covered with a tile root. In the basement are the boiler room and heating plant, water closets and two playrooms, one for the girls and another for the boys, and a small gymnasium. There are four class rooms on the second floor. One of these is used for a kindergarten and first primary; another for the second primary and second grade. another for the third and fourth grades; the other one for the fifth and sixth grades. On the upper floor are the seventh and eighth grade room, the high school room, two recitation rooms, the laboratory and cloak rooms, and the superintendent's office. The building is heated by steam and the lighting and ventilation of the entire building is modern in every respect. The building is well equipped throughout with maps, globes, charts, encyclopedias, dictionaries, etc. Laboratory supplies are furnished in sufficient quantity for carrying on the work in science.

     There are about 600 volumes in the library classified under the following headings: Fiction for the high school grades; fiction for

grammar school grades; teachers' reference library; reference library in English; reference library in history; reading for primary grades; general literature and documents and reports. One of the high school teachers is assigned to the care of the library and books may be drawn out at regular and stated intervals.

     The course of study covers a period of four years' work. A pupil completing the course may get thirty-one credit points. Thirty are required for graduation. The course conforms in every respect to the high school manual.

     Normal training work is carried on here in conformity with the normal training bulletin No. 4. We had our first graduates last May since this course was put into the school. There were only five in the class, Of these two are teaching with success in country schools, one has gone to college, one is a very competent railroad clerk, and the other is employed in a newspaper office.

     The only high school organization here is that of a basketball team among the girls. They are enthusiastic over the matter and have mot teams from several other schools. They have thus come into contact with pupils doing a similar grade of work elsewhere and they have been able to measure themselves somewhat by the standards of others. The general results of these meetings have been for a better and brighter outlook into the future.

C. B. GARBUTT,        
Superintendent.     

     The school census of the Exeter district for the year 1909-10 was 274. The number enrolled in the public school was 214, and in the parochial school here was sixty-five. This in both schools includes about twenty-five nun-resident pupils.

     The average daily attendance in the public school was 163, of which seventy-seven were boys and eighty-six girls.

     With regard to the compulsory attendance law, we have had but little trouble, only one student having failed to comply with the law, she having fallen eight days short of the required six mouths attendance.

     Of the non-resident pupils in attendance, eleven came in under the provisions of the free high school attendance law.

     Our school grounds comprise one block pleasantly situated within four blocks of the center of business of the town. The grounds are abundantly provided with shade by a double row of trees extending entirely around the block, the remainder of the grounds being unoccupied by trees and affording ample room for play.

     The building is of brick and was originally a four-roomed building, to which however, four years ago the growth of the school made necessary at a cost of $5,000 an addition comprising an additional four rooms--a school room, a recitation room, a laboratory and an office.

     The building is heated throughout by steam and the results are very satisfactory. We have a laboratory equipment for science work of the value approximately of from $250 to $300. The library, including reference books and books for general reading, contains about 600 volumes valued approximately at about $400.

     The course of study for the grades is the state course with such modifications as local conditions may from time to time seem to make advisable. The course of study for the high school is at present in a somewhat transitory state, our efforts being directed to getting it as rapidly as conditions will permit into closer conformity with the suggestions of the state and university authorities. The number of points required for graduation is thirty-two of which thirty must be such as are accepted for credit by the university. In foreign languages, eight points are required, six in Latin, two in German; in English six points; In American History and Civics, two points; in European History, three points; in science, including physics, botany, physical geography and agriculture, five points; in mathematics, six points. The other two points necessary to complete the number required for graduation may be secured from among the following subjects, which with certain restrictions, are optional: Normal training, senior reviews, bookkeeping, domestic science and oratorical, debating and declamatory work.

     The past year was the second year of normal training in the Exeter schools and the results of that addition to our school course have been very satisfactory; in fact it seems to me that the senior reviews In connection therewith should be an essential part of the work of every high school regardless of whether normal training for its own specific purpose might be desired in the school or not.

      At the beginning of the past year domestic science on the plan originated by Superintendent Gregory in the Crete schools was introduced into the Exeter schools. The work was carried six months, requiring four hours per week, one in the home of some one of the ladies giving the demonstrations, and three in their own home kitchens. The work proved extremely popular with students, parents and instructors; and not the least valuable part of this plan would seem to have been the good influence upon the students resulting from the more intimate and sympathetic relations thus brought about between them and so many of the best homes of the city. On account of having to limit the number in the class the work was given only to the eleventh and twelfth grades; next year it will be given to the tenth and eleventh.

     This year also manual training was introduced in a small way to the seventh and eighth grades wood work for the boys and sewing for the girls. For lack of room, we were only able to start with four benches, or rather a bench for four, but the interest shown in the work guarantees that it is only a question of a little time until we will be given additional room. This manual training work, which is the Beardsley system, was not put in at the expense of the district, but

by some of our enterprising club ladies who had the nerve to guarantee the cost of the bench work for the boys and the sewing for the girls for the year and three months, beginning the first of last March and extending to June 1, 1911.

     One feature that we will have in the schools next year that we did not have this will be regular instruction in music, the board having elected to the position of instructor in that subject Miss Stone, who the past year instructed in music in the Albion schools.

H. JENNINGS,          
Superintendent.     

     A complete transformation has taken place in the material equipment of the Fairbury schools in the past ten years. Ten years ago every school room was heated with stoves, furnished with double seats and the poorest of blackboards. School was held in three frame and three brick buildings scattered about town. Sanitary conditions were poor as to lighting and ventilating and the toilets were the poorest of outside affairs. In all there were eighteen rooms in use to accommodate high school and grades.

     At present the schools are located in four modern brick buildings, and fill thirty rooms, each of which is steam heated, well lighted and ventilated and thoroughly equipped with all necessary school facilities. Each building has sanitary toilets for each floor. The grounds of each location have recently been graded, cement walks laid and many trees planted.

     The high school now occupies a ten-room building erected and occupied first in 1905. It is equipped with suitable laboratories for agriculture, botany, physical geography, physics and chemistry. The building formerly occupied by the high school is the only one of the old buildings still in use. It has been remodeled end refitted, and is now used as grade school of six rooms. Two new grade buildings have been erected and occupied within the past two years. Each of these contain eight rooms, seven of each now being used for school purposes.

     The high school enrollment has grown from 123 in 1900 to 260 in 1910. The grades have increased during the same time from 774 to 1,020. The teaching force has grown from sixteen in 1900 to thirty members in 1910. The school census for 1909-10 showed 1,334 children of school age in the district, the enrollment reached 1,274 and the average daily attendance 927. There were six students paying tuition and fifty-five who came under the provisions of the high school free attendance law.

     The high school reference library contains about 500 well selected books suited to the various departments. The city library is located on an adjoining block and its books are being extensively used by public school children. The course of study includes all

subjects given in the state course of study. The high school prepares for university entrance, review of the common branches is given and also some work in preparation for business life. It also offers normal training under the direction of the state department. Music is given throughout the grades and chorus and glee club work in the high school. Industrial education will undoubtedly become a part of the school course in the near future.

     The boys of the high school maintain an athletic club devoted to athletics and a high standard of student work. The girls have an organization called the Girls' Tri-Club, to which all high school girls are eligible. Its active members pledge themselves "to try (1) to strengthen their character by being lady-like in speech and manner; (2) to improve their literary taste by a careful selection of literary selections. (3) to be loyal to their high school by supporting athletics and work of the school." The Tri-club has promoted a splendid fellowship among all girls of the high school, has brought the mothers represented in the high school in close touch with the lady teachers of the high school and has greatly aided and encouraged the work of the boys' club. Its work is done under the guidance of a faculty adviser.

A. L. CAVINESS,          
Superintendent.     

     The growth of the Fairfield public schools during the past few years has been quite remarkable. It is not so much a growth in the enrollment that is noticeable as it is the improvement in the equipment and the replacing of the old building with a new modern structure. The new building was erected in 1905. Bonds were voted to the amount of $17,500, but after the building was completed and equipped with new furniture and desks throughout about $23,000 had been expended. There are fourteen rooms besides cloak rooms in the. building; six of the rooms are used for the grades. The high school has ample room. There are for its use an assembly room that will seat about 100 pupils, three large recitation rooms, a laboratory and a library. The building is heated throughout by steam heat and thus far it has been very satisfactory. The janitor who has been here for the past eight years reports that it has not yet been necessary to dismiss school on account of not being able to keep the building comfortable. All the rooms are very well ventilated, through ventilating shafts placed in the wall. Electric lights and water have recently been placed in the building. Drinking fountains are now used and the undesirable drinking cup has been laid aside. The school also has plenty of ground, occupying a five-acre tract. The grounds are quite well kept, the janitor being employed during the whole year. On the grounds are about 200 trees.

      The school census taken in June, 1910, showed the number of children of school age to be 351; total enrollment for the year 1909-10

was 353; the average daily attendance was 269. Quite a large number from the country take advantage of the free high school attendance privilege. Last year the total enrollment in the high school was eighty-five and of this number twenty-five were non-resident pupils The normal training course is a strong drawing card for the country pupils.

     We do not have a printed course of study, but in the grades we follow quite closely the Nebraska state course of study. In the high school in addition to the four subjects each semester in each of the four grades German is taught and may be taken in the eleventh and twelfth grades in place of Latin. The normal training is perhaps the most popular feature of our high school course. The people here would be very much opposed to having this work taken out of the high school. This year five of the eight who graduated in May in this course are teaching. Of the three who are not teaching one is entering the university this fall and one is unable to teach on account of her health, but expects to take up the work as soon as she is able.

     This fall a course in domestic science for the girls of the high school is being arranged. The course is similar to the Crete plan, a large part of the work devolves upon the ladies of the town. They have taken hold of the work very enthusiastically, however, and we feel assured that after a time the work will be carried on successfully here, as it is in other places which have adopted this plan.

     In the library we have about 450 volumes. Last year many of the books purchased were reference books for use in history, literature and pedagogy. We use the card index in cataloguing our books. The books are divided into four groups: (a) Reference books; (b) standard and popular fiction; (c) juvenile books; (d) miscellaneous books. A brief syllabus of each book is written on a separate card and filed in the index. Last year about $60 was spent for sectional book cases, which were placed in the library.

     Athletics has been given for some time a prominent place in school affairs. For several years the school has had very successful baseball and basketball teams. The Clay County Athletic association holds each year a field meet. The public schools of Harvard, Sutton, Clay Center, Edgar and Fairfield participate in this meet.

     The most successful plan that we have had as yet for getting our pupils to appear before the high school for rhetoricals, etc., is through the organization of two rival literary societies. Each society gives programs every alternate week. Programs are given twice each week, usually on Tuesday and Thursday. Last year almost everyone took some part either in a debate or gave a reading or a piano solo.

     The Jones gold medal contest is held annually at Fairfield. This is a declamatory contest which is open to all schools of the county, but usually only the five largest schools send representatives. Two

medals, a gold and a silver, are given by the local jeweler. For the past three years Fairfield has been a member of the Nebraska High School Debating league.

C. B. TOOF,          
Superintendent.     

     The attendance at the Fairmont high school has increased very materially since the free high school attendance law was passed until now the total enrollment is about 100. Of this number thirty-eight are non-residents. The school spirit is so strong in our district that we have only little occasion to use the compulsory attendance law. The secretary of the board of education acts as truant officer and not over two cases a year have been reported by him.

     The school is now housed in a splendid new building, costing the district about $40,000. The building is modern in every respect, plans and descriptions of which are given elsewhere in this report. The building is provided with an electric program clock and bell system. Each room and closet is supplied with electric lights.

     In planning the comforts of the building the board of education did not overlook the sanitary side, for we have sanitary drinking fountains, a perfect system of heating, ventilating and lighting. Especially must be mentioned the fire protection; fire hose, two in the basement one on each floor, and one in the garret are permanently attached to the water mains. A fire company is soon to be organized among the high school boys, with regular drill practice in using the hose.

     We have two laboratories, well supplied with all sorts of equipment, such as city water, electric lights, hood for experiments, etc.

     The library occupies a separate room on the first floor, it is stocked with references and fiction and supplementary reading, in all over 1,000 volumes, besides bound magazines, charts and atlases.

      At this writing the manual training benches are being set for manual training work, and we hope to be able to put in sewing for the girls next semester.

     The Fairmont high school was one of the first to be recognized as equipped to handle normal training. This department is now strong and flourishing with a present enrollment of eighteen and a special teacher in charge of the work.

     The social life of our students is not overlooked. We have a Girls' Glee club, Girl's quartet and a course of light gymnastics in the gymnasium for the girls.

     The boys indulge in all kinds of athletics, such as calisthenics, basketball and baseball. The boys have a quartet and glee club. A real live high school orchestra is one of our organizations of which we have been specially proud. Both boys and girls are admitted to this.

     Fairmont high school is a member of the State Debating league

and one semester of our English is given over to the subject of argumentation. This is given the first semester of the junior year and all pupils must take it.

     With the senior class now numbering twenty-five we have a prosperous looking year ahead.

W. H. MORTON.        
Superintendent.     

     The Franklin schools were organized into a high school in 1890.

     Mr. J. T. McKinnon was principal. Three other teachers were employed. A class of three was graduated from the ninth grade, E. M. Hussong became principal in 1892 and the tenth grade was added to the course of study. In January, 1898, Mr. E. M. Short was elected principal. An assistant was employed in the high school. An eleventh grade was provided for in 1900, but later the course was reduced to ten years. Mr. Franklin M. Richard, now secretary of the board, became principal in January, 1904. A new building had been erected in 1902 and the school was steadily growing in interest and worth to the patrons. The village had grown to a city. Mr. J. R. Lane succeeded to the superintendency in 1906. Improvements were made in the school library and a fine interest in athletics was aroused. New cement and brick walks were laid. Able assistants were employed in the high school.

     H. M. Hussong, who was then teaching in the Utah State normal school, was employed as superintendent to begin in September, 1907. Mrs. W. F. Humphreys was made high school principal. Two assistants were employed in the high school. The course of study was made twelve years and fully accredited at the University of Nebraska. An expenditure of $1,000 was made to equip fully the reference libraries, the laboratories and class rooms. Superintendent J. L. McBrien appointed the school s normal training high school.

     In 1909-10 the history of the school seems to be pleasing to the people of the city. The school census was 430, the enrollment 342, with an average daily attendance of 84 per cent. The compulsory education law requires a moderate enforcement and the free high. school law sends to us about forty students each year. Our normal training class had twenty-six in it last year. Nine boys and four girls graduated from the twelfth grade, completing both the regular and the normal courses. Eleven of these were granted first grade teachers' certificates and the holders are teaching in Franklin and adjoining counties.

EDWARD M. HUSSONG,      
Superintendent.     

     In the last few years there has not been a very great growth of the schools in point of attendance. In the last five years there has

been a total increase of about 150. The free high school attendance law does not add so much to the attendance in the high school here as it seems to do in some other of the towns in the state. This arises largely from the location of Fremont, being in the extreme corner of the county, and from the fact that surrounding Fremont there are four other excellent high schools which naturally attract the pupils who otherwise would attend our high school. We have an average of about twenty-five attending our high school.

     Until the last year there has not been a serious effort made to enforce the compulsory education law. This evident indifference arose to some extent from the knowledge that up to that time the law could not really he enforced in such school districts as Fremont. However, since the amendment to the law making it effective was made, we now are enforcing that law with reasonable vigor. We have a truant officer who is exceptional in his fidelity to duty, and who at the same time conceals the disagreeable necessity of compliance with the law under a many times persuasive argument for the final gain of attendance. We have found it necessary to take but one case to the police court in order to convince refractory parents that there is such a thing as an enforceable attendance law. A few others have been served with notice, but have heeded before the case was called in court.

     There are in all nine school buildings in the school district of Fremont. Of these nine buildings seven of them are brick. The two wooden buildings are outlying buildings and because of their location are in character much like district schools. While the school buildings are not what might be called modern in the present acceptance of the term when applied to school buildings, they are equipped and so arranged as to enable us to do our work well, and under fairly satisfactory conditions. As with many school buildings erected a number of years ago when lighting and ventilation received less attention from the architects than now, most of our buildings are deficient in means for meeting the highest requirements for satisfactory lighting and ventilation.

      Means supplementary to the construction facilities for ventilation have been adopted from time to time. The most recent attempt to improve the ventilation is by means of an adjustable ventilator to be placed either at the bottom or the top of a window in a room needing additional ventilation. The construction of the ventilator is of such a character that there is a free passage of air in or out of the room without any draft being perceptible to the occupants of the room.

     Uniformity of heating in the various rooms of a building is more nearly secured by requiring the teachers to report the temperature of their rooms every hour of the day, and then at the end of the week sending to the office the report for the week. The gain in this is that teachers stress themselves to note the temperature of the room,

whereas, without the necessity for this stress, they would be more apt to lose sight of the need to note while interested in class work. We have found that this system of reports, coupled with the injunction to both teachers and janitors to let radiators alone, except under special conditions, and regulate the heat from the firing end, has a decided tendency to reduce the quantity of coal heretofore thought necessary to heat the buildings.

     Our school library is small, but with the city library within three blocks of the high school, and with the willingness of the management of that library and the librarian to facilitate in every reasonable way the full resources of the library we do not feel the need of a full high school library as we would were we denied the use of so good a public library. We are adding a little year by year to the school library.

     Thus far nothing is done in our schools which would come distinctly under the term "industrial education." However, there is a growing feeling in the community that more and more is there getting to be a need for such a modification of our courses as to permit them to include some same features leading to greater industrial efficiency. What we are at the present time stressing is the better doing of the ordinary school work than ever before, in some measure believing that a satisfactory doing of the present, things will increase efficiency.

     We do not have large normal training classes in our high school. This can rather easily be accounted for from the fact that the Fremont normal college quite strongly appeals to many who desire as soon as possible to teach, and therefore takes quite a number of outside students who otherwise would be in our high school. The results of the work done in our training classes as demonstrated by the success of those who have had the training in their teaching is such as to cause us firmly to believe that some of the very best young teachers come from the normal training classes. We have such an arrangement in the last half of the twelfth grade as to enable the members of the class one-half day in each week to observe the work of the various grades of the city schools and to report on their observations in class.

     We have four high school pupils' organizations. These are a debating club, a girls' literary society, a boys' and a girls' glee club. It would be a pleasure to report as satisfactory work in the literary clubs as we have in the glee clubs, but we are unable to do this, probably for the reason that they are not so well, nor can they be so well directed.

     The course of study for our high school differs somewhat from the high school manual for the reason that the normal training course is largely given in the twelfth grade, and in the last half of the grade. American history runs for the whole year, and two other subjects are given in the first half of the year. By thus condensing the work in

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