HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1953-03-05, Page 3THURSDAY,, MARCH 5, 1953
CLINTON NEWS -RECORD
PAGE THREE
Bright Classrooms
An Invitation To Pu ils
,y.
This rear view of one of the classrooms in the new school points
out some of the features which supply storage space, and added work-
ing space for Clinton's youngsters. A length of blackboard on the side
wall supplements the blackboard space at the front of the room. All
of the wall space where there isneither blackboards, windows nor
cupboards is used for good-sized tackboards, or bulletin boards a's
they are more familiarly known.
The six cuboards at the left rear are each two feet wide by six
feet high. One of them is a teacher's cupboard and wardrobe, while
the other five are equipped with shelves and a row of coathooks at
convenient height for the children in that room. To the right rear
is a project cupboard, and a sink for the use of the children during
classroom hours. Each of the eleven classrooms is equipped similarly.
STRUCTURAL STEEL
For The New
Clinton Public School
Supplied and Erected by
LONDON STEEL CONSTRUCTION
COMPANY, LIMITED
48 Burslem Street 4-1157
Our Sincere
Congzitulutions
To the Town of Clinton
onthe erection of their -fine new
- Public School
Bernardo -Hill Tile Co.
LIMITED
71 Queen St. S. Kitchener
• TERRAZZO FLOORS
- • ASPHALT TILE FLOORS
• ACOUSTIC TILE CEILINGS
• VITRO -GLAZE WALL
FINISHES
Installed by Bernardo -Hill
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7111111A
i
Fine Buildings Deserve Fine Hardware
Congratulatiois and Best Wishes
to
The Citizens of Clinton
New Public School
Equipped with
Schlage Hardware
First Name In Cylindrical Locks
Made in Canada
The distinctive beauty of Schlage locks is
matched with an ease of operation and
strength of construction that meets the
needs of all architecture.
Supplied by
Wm. Knell & Co. Ltd.
Kitchener, Ontario
Builders Hardware Specialists
From the pupils' point of view the extensive window area, which
covers almost the entire side wall, provides plenty of Tight for study
at the pupils' desks or from the blackboard. The blackboards through-
out the school are installed, and are of black slate. Although there
would be some in favour of using the new greensight board as being
more rnodern, early plans had been to use some of the blackboards
already in use in the old school. Then it was found that the cost of
moving them would practically equal the installation of new boards.
The entire length of the room under the Targe windows is devoted
to continuous shelving, part of which will be closed 'n by six doors at
the front of the room. Specifications call for each of the classrooms
to be fitted with an electric clock, which hove not as yet been installed.
New School Fills
A Definite Need
(By G. H. Jefferson)
In connection with the country-
wide observance of Education:
Week, it seems but fair that the
readers of the Clinton News -Rec-
ord should be informed of the
problems that have confronted
your Public Scnool Board, anis the
School Staff and of what is being
done in an attempt to solve these.
It is not merely a local problem,
but is quite general throughout
the whole country.
For decades, the population of
Clinton remained almost static.
Admissions to public schools de-
pend on the birth rate, as every
child is by law, entitled, even com-
pelled, to attend some Public, Sep-
arate, or Private school up to the
age of sixteen, except in a few
very exceptional cases. With the
increased prosperity of the town
in the past few years the birth
rate has increased, as more and
more young people found employ-
ment here, purchased or erected
new homes, created markets for
the varied businesses of the town.
With this growth in population
of young adults, came an increase
in school enrolment. The Public
School with eight classrooms built
to accommodate 280 pupils at 35
to a room, became overcrowded.
Even with 40 and 45 to a room it
could serve less than 300. The
annual influx of first -graders for
years 30 to 35 in number grew ;.o
between 70 to 80 per room.
Thinking perhaps this startling
increase might be but temporary,
rooms were secured in the base-
ments of churches to provide for
the overflow that had developed.
Ontario Street Church, the Presby-
terian Church and the Church of
England basements were acquired
—certainly not ideal for education-
al purpose—but the best to be had.
However the increase proved not
to be of a temporary nature. The
churches often require the use of
these same basements for the pur-
poses for which they themselves
had provided them; they are ex-
pensive to operate: separate heat-
ing systems, separate care -taking;
separate supervision, and dupli-
cation of supplies run high these
days,
GEORGE H. JEFFERSON
Moreover, the Department of
Education cannot for long condone
the operation of the school they
largely support with money grants
under such conditions. Faced with
problems of providing suitable
quarters, the Board decided the
only sensible solution was the er-
ection of a new Public. School, a
decision in which the electors
backed their representatives in a
pl ebiscite.
The new building, now in the
course of erection at the east end
of Rattenbury Street is being con-
structed for utility. It is not a
show place, as some of the mod-
ern schools have. been. It has
been planned to give the taxpayer
as much as possible for the money
he is providing in useful and us-
able educational equipment, .with-
out adding to the burden of tax-
ation more than necessary. Frills
and fancies have no place in the
work being done.
With the completion of the new
school, Clinton will have a public
building to be proud of. It is cost-
ing the taxpayer much money. Like
.everything else it could have been
built for less ten years ago, Our
it did ten years ago. School build-
CLINTON'S FIRST SCHOOL
A historical booklet published
in 1940 by St. Paul's Anglican
Church, Clinton, was provided
us by W. L. Johnson, who at
that time was People's Warden
of the church.
Recorded there among much
interesting data about Clinton is
.the fact that the first school
was of logs, built on the south-
east corner of a one acre plot on
which St. Paul's Church now
stands. The first teacher was
Alexander Osbaldestoh.
ings and equipment have almost
money buys much less today than
doubled in the last ten years.
Yet, there is an increased de-
mand for improvements in the
standards of education, and edu-
cational services must be improv-
ed. The new school should do
much to meet that end in Clinton,
but it cannot do it alone. Import-
ant, too, is the personnel of the
teaching staff, and their co-oper-
ation with the governing bodies
of the School Board, Town Coun-
cil, not forgetting the Home and
Church nor the Department of
Education which in no small way
assists in financing, supervising,
and planning the Education of our
greatest assets: our boys and girls,
Large Airy Rooms
For "leasant Living
Clinton's fine new public school is rapidly nearing
completion. Situated at the east end of maple -lined
Rattenbury Street, the modern one -storey structure may
well become the pride of every Clintonian.
The main entrance and the front
approach is done in marvellously
smooth and white Indiana Limes -
one, while the rest of the outer
walls are finished in red brick.
To the right of the entrance on a
slightly raised level, is a triangu-
lar-shaped plant box.
Within the well -lighted vestibule
is a conveniently placed bulletin
board (tackboard is the modem
name), and on the opposite wall
is a spacious display case, for use
in showing athletic and scholastic
trophies, pictures, etc.
A doorway on the left leads into
the nurses' room (11'x23') which
is complete with shelving, a cup-
board and sink, as well as a wash-
room. This room receives natur-
al lighting from two crystal domes
which admit light from the roof,
as well as from large windows
along one wall.
The vestibule leads directly into
the long corridor which runs the
length of the school, with outside
entrances at either end.
Principal In Vantage Point
Stepping around to the right the
first doorway leads to the princi-
pal's room (20'x10') which also has
its own private washroom, cup-
board and an additional small
room for general storage space.
The situation of the principal's
roomhas its advantages. It is
immediately, next to the Grade 8
classroom; from the the door the
principal may have a good view
down the entire length of hall,
and a few steps leads him to the
door of the playroom. Supervision
in the new school will be a good
bit easier than in the two levels
and four locations of classrooms
now in use.
The Grade 8 classroom just
south of the principal's room is
fitted up in the same manner as
the other nine classrooms. Eacn
of them has black -board space on
the front and one side wall. Win-
dows extend the length of the out-
side wall. Continuous shelving oc-
cupies the three-foot space beneath
the windows. Each classroom is
equipped with a sink, project shel-
ving and storage space, one teach-
er's wardrobe and five such cup-
boards for the pupils' use. These
wardrobes are air-conditioned so
wet clothing will dry while hang-
ing there.
Large Playroom
Directly across the corridor from
these three rooms is the playroom,
or auditorium. This room is ap-
proximately 73'x36', and is 16'
high. It is finished in red brick
to a height of eight feet, and from
there to the roof is finished witn
sandlime brick. It has two large
entrance doors from the corridor,
one small door leading to the stage
(when it is built), one outside doer
leading to the outdoor playground,
and another small door leading
into the kitchen.
The kitchen is roughed -in, only
for sink and stove, and the cup-
boards for the kitchen are not in-
cluded in the present plans. There
is a pass-through in the wall be-
tween the kitchen and the auditor-
ium: a necessity when a good deal
of serving is being carried on.
Above the kitchen is accommo-
dation for the heating equipment
which supplies warm air to the
auditorium, and a tiny projection
room with two apertures at differ-
ent heights which will be used in
the showing of educational films
for the pupils.
The teachers' room is next on
the east side of the corridor. It
fs approximately 24'x12' and is fit-
ted with clothes cupboard and
shelving. The washroom, here, is
accessible from either the hall or
the teachers' room itself.
Stoker -Fed Boilers
Next, down the east side of the
corridor, is the stairway leading
to the boiler -room. (Your report-
er found the construction of this
stair to be quite novel. At first
glance there doesn't seem to be
much to hold it up). In the base-
ment is the boiler -room equipped
with two stoker -fed boilers that
provide hot water for the radiant
heating coils which are in the
floors of all the rooms except the
auditorium. The heat in each of
the classrooms is controlled in-
dividually.
There is also a basement under
the floor of the auditorium, ap-
proximately seven foot, six inches
in height, which will be used f:ir
storage.
Two Large Washrooms
Continuing north along the cor-
ridor we come to a short hallway
leading to an outside entrance. On
the right of this is the boys' wash-
room and on the left, the girls'
washroom. Each of these is ap-
proximately 18'x22' in size, and is
equipped with a circular Bradley
wash -fountain. The washrooms
are also roughed -in for hand -driers.
There are three classrooms,
then, on the east side of the cor-
ridor, with windows looking to the
east while the whole of the west
side is taken up with six class -
(Continued on Page Four)
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General Contractors
Pupils Bide Their Time Till New School Opens
These Grade 1 pupils will get about as much good out of the new
school as anybody. They have lived and worked enough hours in the
drab surroundings of the old grey public school, that they are probably
quite satisfied to anticipate seven more years of school life spent in
brighter rooms, As it is, they are studying in one of the lighter class-
rooms of the old school. Here, four rows of desks practically fill the
available space, while small windows provide lighting.
Despite the efforts of their teacher, Mrs, Audrey Middleton, the
walls and display boards continue to have a cluttered appearance be-
cause the light is not good, the planning is out-of-date, opportunities
for storage are limited.
The white globe lighting fixtures suspended from the ceiling on
chains will be replaced inn the new school by modern fixtures set flush
with the ceiling. These will give beauty to the rooms and of the same
time eliminate eyestrain on the part of both pupils and teachers,
The old style school clock on the wall of this Grade 7 room will
be replaced with one of the new electric ones called for in the plans
for the new school.
These students, (if lucky) will have only cne year to spend in the
new school, but they have a good opportunity tc make the best of this
final year. They are among the few fortunate ones to have new desks
in their new cir.ssroom. Their teacher this year is Miss Edna Jamieson.
Plans are to make use of the 214 stationary type desk units now
in the old school, by placing them on skids in groups of three units
each, Before school opening the desks' will all be sanded and re-
finished so they will be as close to "like new" as possible.
There also are 124 movable desks which are in usable condition,
which with the kindergarten chairs will be token to the new classrooms.
With the addition of 3.5 new desks each for the Grade 8 classroom and
_. p ,be desks in sufficient
for the extra alas real- now fanned there will
numbers to accommodate the enrolment. The desks now In use in
the Grade 8 classroom will be used os,spares, and will be repaired and
kept for that purpose.