A High-school Class in Domestic Science.
A High-school Class in Manual Training.
Consolidated Schools. Consolidation is generally looked upon as a method of bettering conditions in the rural schools. A consolidated district is one formed by the union of several districts. The little district schoolhouses are replaced by a larger building, usually centrally located, to which the children are conveyed in wagons provided for that purpose. With its larger valuation the consolidated district can have plenty of teachers and equipment and can offer a greater variety of subjects. There are a number of consolidated schools in the State now, and the plan is being considered in many communities. The good roads movement will no doubt do much to encourage consolidation.
A County High School.
Growth of the High School. A number of years passed before there were many high schools in Kansas. Four schools constituted the list of accredited high schools of the State as published in 1876. By 1886 the number had grown to thirty-six, and by 1896 it had reached seventy-seven. From that time on the number increased very rapidly until in 1918 there were six hundred thirty accredited high schools in the State, one hundred twenty-one of which were rural high schools. Until about 1905 the standard for an accredited high school was a course of only three years. Since that time it has been four years. In the early years the real purpose of the high school was considered to be that of preparing the pupils for college, and the courses of study included only such subjects as were suited to that purpose. The present idea is that this is only one of the purposes of the high school, the other being that of supplying to the great mass of pupils, who will never go to college, the best possible preparation for living. To accomplish this latter purpose courses of study have been broadened to include such work as music, manual training, agriculture, commercial work, household arts, teacher training, and industrial training. Until very recent years high schools were established only in towns and cities, but now they are to be found in consolidated districts, and in rural districts, sometimes in small towns in those districts and sometimes in communities that are entirely rural. There is not now a county in the State that is without a four-year accredited high school.
Fort Hays Kansas Normal School.
