SOME SCHOOL HISTORY OF PARAGOULD
DECEMBER 24 , 1909
THE DAILY SOLIPHONE
TRANSCRIBED BY : TINA EASLEY
PROF. GEORGE R. HOPKINS WAS THE FIRST TEACHER THAT EVER TAUGHT A SCHOOL IN PARAGOULD. HE IS NOW PRINCIPAL OF THE PEABODY SCHOOL IN LITTLE ROCK AND IS REGARDED AS ONE ONE OF THE LEADING TEACHERS OF THE CAPITOL CITY . WE EXPECT HIM TO BE SUPERINTENDENT OF THE CITY SCHOOLS OF LITTLE ROCK , IF HE STAYS THERE. HE IS ALSO CONDUCTING A TEACHER'S AGENCY IN CONNECTION WITH HIS WORK AS A TEACHER. HE TAUGHT IN PARAGOULD IN 1883 IN THE METHODIST CHURCH , WHICH WAS A ROUGH FRAME BUILDING , OF BARNY APPEARANCE.
FOLLOWING HIM A.A. KNOX TAUGHT THE PARAGOULD HIGH SCHOOL. KNOX DID NOT NEED AN ASSISTANT AND THE ATTENDANCE WAS ONLY FORTY OR FIFTY AT THE BEGINNING BUT GREW. KNOW WAS FROM UNION CITY , TENNESSEE AND HAS GROWN UP WITH THE TOWN. HE QUIT TEACHING MANY YEARS AGO AND HAS BEEN ONE OF THE FOREMOST CITIZENS OF THE TOWN AS HE IS NOW AND HAS PROSPERED AS A GENERAL BUSINESS MANIPULATOR , ESPECIALLY IN REAL ESTATE.
H.R. PARTLOW , SUPERINTENDENT 1909
IN ORDER THAT READERS OF THE SOLIPHONE IN OTHER SECTIONS MAY KNOW SOMETHING OF THE PROGRESS OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF PARAGOULD WE HAVE ASKED PROF. H.R. PARTLOW , SUPERINTENDENT OF THE CITY SCHOOLS TO PREPARE AN ARTICLE FOR THIS ISSUE OF THE SOLIPHONE AND HE HAS KNDLY CONSENTED TO DO SO AS FOLLOWS :
PARAGOULD LONG AGO REALIZED THE VALUE TO THE TOWN OF AN EXCELLENT PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM AND HAS IN EVERY WAY POSSIBLE ENCOURAGED THE UPBUILDING AND IMPROVEMENT OF THE SAME . THOSE WHO ARE FAMILIAR WITH THE HISTORY OF THE GROWTH OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS HERE HAVE EVERY REASON TO BELIEVE THAT PARAGOULD IS ABREAST OF THE TIMES IN GIVING TO THE PEOPLE THE BEST AND MOST MODERN METHODS OF EDUCATION . IT IS NOT NECESSARY TO REVIEW THE ENTIRE HISTORY OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN ORDER TO SHOW THE IMPROVEMENTS WHICH HAVE BEEN MADE FROM TIME TO TIME IN THE COURSE OF STUDY OR IN THE REGULATIONS GOVERNING THE SCHOOL. SUFFICE TO SAY THAT THE WEST SIDE PUBLIC SCHOOL BUILDING WAS ERECTED IN 1888 AND HAD THE FIRST PRINCIPAL PROF. GARRISON WHO SERVED IN THAT CAPACITY FOR ONE YEAR. PROF. DECKER WAS PRINCIPAL FOR THE SECOND TERM , FOLLOWED BY PROF. HOPKINS WHO SERVED IN THAT POSITION FOR A PERIOD OF FIVE YEARS .
IT WAS UNDER THE PRINCIPALSHIP OF S.E.L. BROWN IN 1897-98 THAT PARAGOULD BEGAN TO ASSUME THE FORM OF SUCH REGULATIONS AND THE RULES AS ARE INCORPORATED IN THE CITY SCHOOL SYSTEMS. THE FIRST RECORD ON FILE IN THE OFFICE OF THE SUPERINTENDENT , SHOWS THAT THE BOARD CONSISTING OF THREE DIRECTORS , ENTERED INTO CONTRACT WITH S.E.L. BROWN IN WHICH THEY PLEDGED THEMSELVES TO SUPPORT THE TEACHERS IN THE MAINTENANCE OF THE RULES OF THE SCHOOL , A COPY OF WHICH WAS ATTACHED TO THE CONTRACT. IT IS INTERESTING TO NOTE THAT THE RULES WHICH WERE THEN MADE ARE NOW ENFORCED NOT ONLY IN PARAGOULD , BUT IN EVERY WELL REGULATED SCHOOL SYSTEM IN THE STATE. THERE WERE SEVEN GENERAL RULES INCORPORATED IN THIS CONTRACT WHICH ARE THE FUNDAMENTAL RULES IN THE REGULATIONS OF THE SCHOOLS TODAY . THESE RULES PERTAINING TO DISCIPLINE OF THE SCHOOL WERE SIGNED BY T.R. WILLCOCKSON , J.V. LANDRUM AND M.F. COLLIER.
IT WAS THE FOLLOWING YEAR THAT PARAGOULD HAD HER FIRST SUPERINTENDENT WHICH WAS MORE IN NAME THAN IN THE FUNCTIONS OF THAT POSITION . THIS WAS PROF. MALONE WHO SERVED AS SUPERINTENDENT AND PRINCIPAL . HE HAD UNDER HIS CHARGE BOTH THE EAST SIDE AND WEST SIDE PUBLIC SCHOOLS , SO FAR AS PERTAINING TO THE RULES GOVERNING THEM AND THE ARRANGEMENTS OF THE SCHOOL COURSE .BUT IN THE STRICT SENSE OF THE TERM PROF. MALONE WAS PRINCIPAL OF THE WEST SIDE SCHOOL . IT MUST NOT BE OVERLOOKED , HOWEVER THAT MALONE'S ADMINISTRATIONS THE RECORDS SHOW THAT THERE WAS ENROLLEMENT OF 629 WITH A DAILY ATTENDANCE OF 358 OR A PER CENT OF ATTENDANCE OF ALITTLE MORE THAN 51 PER CENT . THIS SHOWS THAT THE SCHOOLS WERE NOT AS YET WELL REGULATED.
FOLLOWING MALONE'S ADMINISTRATION THE DAILY ATTENDANCE WAS CONSIDERABLY IMPROVED FOR 1905-1906 THE ENROLLEMENT WAS 635 WITH A DAILY ATTENDANCE OF OVER 80 PER CENT . TO THE CAREFUL READER THE DISPARITY WHICH EXISTS IN THE ENROLLMENT IN 1900 AND 1905 IT IS WELL TO STATE THAT DURING MALONE'S ADMINISTRATION ALL PUPILS WHO CAME TO SCHOOL A SINGLE DAY WERE ENROLLED WHILE DURING THE ADMINISTRATION OF PROF. W.L. SKAGGS THE ENROLLEMENT WAS NOT MADE OUT UNTIL THE FOURTH WEEK OF THE FIRST MONTH.
AN IMPROVEMENT HAS BEEN MADE IN THE SCHOOL COURSE FROM TIME TO TIME IN ACCORDANCE TO ADVANCEMENT MADE IN OTHER CITY SCHOOLS. IN 1906 THE GRADUATING CLASS COMPLETED THE FOLLOWING SUBJECTS: PLANE GEOMETRY , LATIN GRAMMAR , PHYSICS, ZOOLOGY , HISTORY OF EDUCATION , BUSINESS FORMS , PSYCHOLOGY AND SCHOOL MANAGEMENT . SINCE THAT TIME TWO MORE GRADES HAVE BEEN ADDED TO THE SCHOOL COURSE MAKING THE HIGH SCHOOL COURSE CONSIST OF FOUR FULL YEARS OF STUDY , WHICH ACCORDS ITSELF WITH THE BEST HIGH SCHOOLS OF THE COUNTRY .
PARAGOULD GIVES FOUR YEARS IN EACH OF THE FOLLOWING FUNDAMENTAL BRANCHES OF STUDY : LATIN , ENGLISH , MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE . ALSO ONE YEAR IN GERMAN OR FRENCH.
THE REQUIREMENTS TO ENTER THE HIGH SCHOOL ARE THROUGH A KNOWLEDGE OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR , U.S. HISTORY AND ELEMENTARY ALGERBRA , THE LAST NAMED SUBJECT BEING ONE OF THE RECENT REQUIREMENTS.
THE MANAGEMENT OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOL BELIEVE IN THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH AND ITS USE , FOR SPELLING IS BEING TAUGHT IN THE NINTH AND TENTH GRADE . NEXT YEAR RHETORIC WILL BE TAUGHT IN THE REMAINING TWO GRADES , MAKING A FULL FOUR YEAR'S COURSE IN ENGLISH . IT IS NOT TAUGHT AS AN ISOLATED SUBJECT BUT ONE WHICH HAS A VITAL CONNECTION WITH AMERICAN AND ENGLISH CLASSICS.
THE SUPERINTENDENT'S TIME IS LARGELY GIVEN TO THE FIRST SIX GRADES WITH AVIEW OF BUILDING UP THIS PART OF THE SCHOOL SYSTEM IN ORDER TO MAKE PREPARATION FOR THE HIGH SCHOOL . EACH YEAR , HOWEVER , IS COMPLETE WITHIN ITSELF .
THANK YOU
LINDA