ON THE
Reorganization of Public School 89, Brooklyn, New York.
Showing the Adaptation of the Gary Plan to the Usual School Plant
This school was the first to be reorganized in New York City under the Gary plan. The following quotations from Superintendent Wirt’s report indicate the changes that were made in transforming a congested elementary school into a smoothly running Gary school on the duplicate plan:—
Prior to November 6, 1914, there were forty classes attending School 89. Twelve of the forty classes, representing the upper grades, were on full time, having the exclusive use of twelve of the twenty-six classrooms. The remaining twenty-eight classes were organized in groups of fourteen classes each and were accommodated in the remaining fourteen classrooms, small auditorium, and five cellar rooms, with a modification of the accompanying program. (See p. [191]).
Since in this program twelve classrooms were used exclusively for twelve classes, the burden of the overcrowding was placed entirely upon the remaining fourteen classrooms. These fourteen rooms had a multiple use for eight hours a day, but the auditorium and playground were used only two hours a day. This means that the auditorium and playground were congested during the short time that they were in use. When it rained and all the children were required to be in the building from 9.30 to 11.30, nine classes were forced to use the five cellar rooms at one time as study-rooms. No provision was made for the systematic use of other child-welfare agencies.
School hours | Fourteen classrooms | Exercises and study in auditorium and playground |
| 8.30- 9.30 | First group—14 classes | |
| 9.30-10.30 | First group | Second group |
| 10.30-11.30 | Second group—14 classes | First group |
| 11.30-12.30 | Second group | First group—at lunch |
| 12.30- 1.30 | First group | Second group—at lunch |
| 1.30- 2.30 | First group | Second group |
| 2.30- 3.30 | Second group | |
| 3.30- 4.30 | Second group |
The old program was not intended to secure greater facilities for children than the ordinary single-system school offers.
The principle underlying the old program was that of securing the traditional five-hour school day by supplementing the four hours in the classroom with an additional hour in playground and auditorium. Unfortunately the latter hour was used as much as possible for study in quarters that were never intended for use as a study-room and cannot be made satisfactory for study. No one offers the argument that such a five-hour school is better than or even as good as five hours of regular classroom work in the ordinary single-system school.
This program was not intended to secure greater facilities for children than the ordinary single-system school offers. The purpose was to secure as nearly as possible the traditional work of the regular five-hour full-time school, and it was considered only as a temporary expedient until a sufficient number of new schools could be built to provide the regulation full-time school. Since the main object was the building of additional school-buildings for permanent relief, no funds could be expended upon this temporary double-system expedient.