School Days

NOTICIAS Quarterly Magazine Of The Santa Barbara Historical Society VoL LII, No. 1

Spring 2006

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SCHOOL DAYS

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n 1963 EpfxrtN. Christian submitted,inpartialjulfdlmentofthe requirementsforhis Master’s in Education,"A Study ofthe Historical Developmentofthe Santa Barbara School District.”

It remains, overforty years later, the vwst complete historical treatment ofSanta Barbara primary education. In this issue o/Nocidas,we present a portion ofChristian s larger work,

documenting the history ofSanta Barbara educationfrom presidio days up to ig2.^.

Christian examines a number of

issues. The debate over the necessity and quantity ofeducation re-

mained a concern through the igth century, coalescing around issues ofpublic support and the efficacy ofkindergarten. Diversity in the studentpopulation,with the attendant issue ofbi'lingualism dominated public debate in the iS^os and 1860s. In the early igoos,schools began to take on a largerrok in the lives ofpupils, primarily in thefield ofstudent health. Debates over expansion,funding, and physical plant were on-going throughout this period. Christian utilize periodical and newspaperaccounts,as well as the minutes ofthe Board ofEducation meetings to understand the issues ofthe moment as those involved would have seen them.

Front cover and page one photograph depicts agroup ofstudents posing on the steps ofQarfield School, ca. 1905. Backcover image is the logo ofthe Santa Barbara School-High School District, mid-igSos. All images arefrom the colkction ofthe Santa Barbara Historical Society unkss noted otherwise, 'llllIAUTl10H,:A native ofLos Angeles, Rpbert N.Christian received his BA.from Los Angeles State College,and then earned hisM.S.in Educationfirm the SchoolofEducation at the University ofSouthern Calfomia.Hespent thirty-four years in the Santa Barbara School Districts asa teacherand administrator. How retired and living in San Luis Obispo County,he has become involved infamily history research and is a volunteer at a local genealogical society.

INFORMATION FOR CONTRIBUTORS: NOTiciAs is a quarterly joumal devoted to the study of the history of Santa Barbara County. Contributions of articles are welcome. Those authors whose articles are accepted for publication will receive ten gratis copies of the issue in which their article appears. Further copies are available to the contributor at cost. The authority in matters of style is the University ofChicago ManualofStyk,i^th edition. The Publications Committee reserves the right to return submitted manuscripts for required changes. Statements and opinions expressed in articles are the sole responsibility of the author.

Michael Redmon, Editor Judy Sutcliffe. Designer © 2006 The Santa Barbara Historical Society 136 E. De la Guerra Street, Santa Barbara, California 93101 ● Telephone: 805/966-1601 Single copies $5.oo ISSN 0581-5916

THE FIRST PUBLIC SCHOOL ill AIca Calitor-

either he must have worked overtime or

nia was opened in a granary in San Jose in 1794, ac the urging of Governor Diego de Borica. The need for a school was also

his students were older than normally would have been tound in a grade school, for "soldiers, corporals, and sergeants were ordered to review their studies with

felt at the presidio in Santa Barbara, so in 1795 the second school in Alta California

him and prepare tor promotion.’’^ Toca taught from October 1795 to June 1797, at which time he was called back into service

was opened. The teacher was a gmmctc or ship boy from a Spanish transport in the harbor, Jose Manuel Toca, This school was as much (or the ben-

as a ship boy.^ This is a good indication ot the lack ol interest shown in education at chat time.

clit ol the soldiers as it was tor any of the children at the presidio.

As late Lis 1800 there were niLiny soldiers LictingLiscorpLyrabwhoanildnothcpromoted hecaiLsethcycouldnotreadandiniyg^there ivas not a man in San FmncLsco ivho could read,so thatone wassentfrom Santa Barbara toJill the need} When Jose Toca started his school

As of February 25, 1796, there were thirtv-two students enrolled in this first school. "The paper they used was colIcctcd alterwards and saved tor making cartridges. Learning was based upon the three educational necessities ot the time prescribed by the governor’s orders. They were reading, writing, and the teach-

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ing of Christian doctrine, the Doctrina Cristiand.

In 1797 another sailor. Jose Medina, became the teacher of the school. He was tlien followed by an army man of some standing in the field of education of that time, for in 1798 Manuel Varga, the first teacher of tlie school in San Jose, became the new teacher. "How long he continued to wave the pedagogical birch or, rather, ply the cat'O-ninc tails, which was the schoolmaster's instrument then, is not known.""'

The non-native population of Santa Barbara had grown to 370 in 1798, so it can be assumed that the school also grew.

It is very unlikely, however, that it grew in equal proportion to the population growth, lor parents were not prone to send their children to school.

With the departure of Governor Bo-

rica, the schools of California disintegrated through general apathy of the public and the Church. This included the school at Santa Barbara and the next sixty years saw a number of abortive attempts to establish a permanent school here.

After the founding of Santa Barbara Mission in 1786 there developed the pas toral socicty/cconomy based upon agricul ture and ranching. After political control of Alta California passed from the hands of Spain to those of Mexico in 1822, the government began to issue large grants of land w'hich ushered in the era of ranchcros.

Within this society, formal schooling was not in great demand. Some wealthier mem bers of society sent their children abroad to be educated. Others hired private tutors or taught their children themselves. Still, "education was usually the thing about which the Californian, priest or layman.

Although Santa Barbara became home to the second school in Alta California in ijg 5,public education was not a pariicidarly high priority during the Spanish and A Lexican eras. Anist's conception ofthe Ej)ydl Presidio at Santa Barbara, piussellA. l^dz, igbi-

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3 troubled himself least. For girls it usually consisted of dancing, music, religion, and amiability.”^ For boys to be expert horse men and polished gentlemen was enough.

Some schools were started, usually at the behest of the governors.

In 1807 Jose Argiiello was appointed comandante of the presidio in Santa Bar bara. Concerned with civic betterment, he utilized prisoners sent to him from Mexico to build walls and make building repairs.

"Another important act of Argiiello was the opening of common schools. Thus by availing himself of every opportunity, he succeeded in obtaining for Santa Barbara all the improvements that could tend to make it a modern city.”^ Whether Argiiello’s efforts were fruit ful it is not known, but in 1817 a girls’ school was in operation and "in 1819 it would appear from old records that Diego Fernandez was receiving fifteen dollars a ”8 month for teaching.

GDbe MextcAn <6(t^ In 1822, the Spanish flag was lowered and the citizens of Santa Barbara took the oath of allegiance to the new Mexican gov ernment. Apparently the school of Diego Fernandez survived through the change, for in 1828 Governor Jose Maria Echeandia considered the amount being paid to the teacher useless because no students were attending the school. The governor ordered the comandante to compel parents to send their children. The records do not show whether this effort was successful.^ In December 1826 Echeandia issued an order known as the First Ayuntamiento, which changed the government of Santa Barbara from military to civil auspices.

This had far-reaching effects on the area, for Santa Barbara was no longer just a military post and the town could grow

and prosper as a civil community.The first school under this order was established in 1829. In fact, there were two schools: Oneat thepresidio with sixty-‘Seven schol ars,and one at the mission withforty-four,but these do notappear to have been very successfulowing to lackqffunds and the impossibility ofobtaining suitable teachers. No progress was made,due to Qovemor Echeandia being unable to contend against the indifference of the people and the poverty ofthe treasury.

After this, the schools throughout the province once again declined and were only open about one-third of the time, irregularly, depending on the condition of the treasury.

The rancho life, with its cultural pecu liarities, arrived at the apex of its grandeur during the 1830s and 1840s in the Santa Barbara area. New land grants were es tablished in what is now Santa Barbara County by the Mexican government and large herds of cattle roamed the foothills and valleys.

On August 17.1833, the missions were secularized and the Indians released into an unknown world, differing greatly from their past and their adopted mission life.

Many of them became cheap labor for the ranchos. All of this material affluence made the establishment of schools harder than ever,for all material wants were being met for the average non-Native American.

By May 1834 Governor Figueroa reported that the school situation had de teriorated to such a state that only three primary schools were operating in Alta California: ... among them one at Santa Barbara, and these were taught by ill-qualified, in experienced men, and attended by butfew children. These schools werefor boys, none forgirls existed,notforseveral years had any attempt been made in connection withfemale education.^ ^

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Classes were at times conducted in less than ideal settings. In the mid-i3^os the presidio cluipel, lyy that time in poor repair,served as a schoolhouse. W’atercolor by James Madison Alden, Barbara Aiission Archive-Library.

The governor presented these facts to the opening session oi the assembly and it in turn asked for aid from the central government, but no attention was paid to the request. The governor had precious little time to put any plan into action, lor he died in 1835, A school ol sorts was operating in Santa Barbara in 1840, when the popiilacion stood at about nine hundred. One student related "how she went to school in an adobe house in Santa Barbara, where a Spaniard taught them many new things, but when he said the earth was round, they all lauohcd out loud."12 In 1844, Governor Michekorena made an attempt to establish schools in sev eral communities, among them Santa Barbara; 'Ihe plan adopted provided for teachmg reading, writing, and the elementary ndes of arithmetic;aiso that girls shoidd have lessons in mafdng and mending clothes, and to a certain extent in cmbnndery and weaving

Courtesy Santa

Iry hand. Alt children hetivcen six and eleven years were to attend, unless they were bemg taught at home,or there was some othervalid I'cason.'^ Apparently the statement in the proc lamation about a "valid reason" was the only thing taken literally by the local authorities and the general population, lor even chough an opening dace ol the ftrsc Monday in June was sec, in most places the schools did not materialize. In Santa Barbara a primary school was opened, but was closed after a few months tor want ol kinds. "Within a year ol its adoption, this scheme was found to be impractical, and once more the question ol education was shelved."H The last Mexican governor ol Alta Calilornia. Pio Pico, also had education on his mind, but like previous governors, his ellorcs proved fruitless. Pico also had additional concerns, as Mexican control ol the province was coming to an end with die advent of the Americans. Santa

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5 Barbara was in the middle of this situation and the impending crisis overshadowed all else. In August 1846, Commodore Robert Stockton captured Santa Barbara, and left

on the part of the hungry gold-seeking Argonauts in northern California.

Locally, the number of American set tlers was increasing. Santa Barbara was incorporated as an American city on April 9, 1850 and the first common council was

a small garrison behind before sailing away.

He returned in September, removed the garrison, and again left the pueblo.

One week later,John C. Fremont passed through the area and left a garrison of ten men to protect the American population. In October this force was forced from town

elected on August 26. California became a state on September 9.

During this state of flux, the need for public schooling was felt by com munity leaders. The common council had

and it fled to Monterey. Fremont returned, leading his force down San Marcos Pass, and retook the town on December 28,

inherited the responsibility for the ylustre ayunmiento, the public school of the late Mexican period of rule.

1846, lowering the Mexican flag for the last time.

The school was presently being con ducted by one Victor Vega Villareal and was in part supported by public funding.

Villareal was paid seventy dollars a month in return for which he admitted twenty students without charge. The school’s secretary had waived his salary as a subsidy for local public education.'^ Shortly after the election of this first common council a committee was formed

Newly arrived Americans in the com ing years were concerned about the lack of schools and the unsteady progress of education under Mexican rule.

The curriculum of the Spanish and Mexican schools was like the annals of the poor— "short and simple. .. The princi pal numbers in the course were the Doctrina Cristiana and Fray Ej-palda’s catechism.

These were learned by rote before the pupil was taught to read. If there was any time left him after he had committed to manory these essentials to hisfuture spiritual welfare, he was given a little instruction in reading, writing, and numbersfor his eanhly advantage.^^ Although with the coming of the Americans, there was a growing demand for better schools, public apathy still re mained a problem as did a lack of funds and of competent teachers.

GDbe II^iRsc iScbooLs D[nbeR URuLe As the middle of the nineteenth cen tury approached, a rather affluent society flourished in the Santa Barbara area. The ranchos were prospering, due primarily to the seemingly insatiable appetite for beef

to report on the state of the school.

Villareal’s salary was reduced to sixtyfour dollars a month and. early in 1852, he closed the school.

The closure resulted in a number of petitions addressed to the council asking for a re-opening of the school. The council reacted slowly, in part because truancy had become a serious problem. The council appointed Jose Maria Covarrubias to sur vey the school once a month, determined which students had missed more than a day and replace those "truants” with new students.

In November 1852 came an impor tant move in the county which directly affected city schooling. Three school commissioners were elected in each of the county’s three townships, each township being designated as a school district. Tliis effectively took control of the city school

6 out of the hands of the common council.*® In 1854 an ordinance was passed which created a school fund and at that time J. J. Sparks, H. B. Blade, and V. W Hearne were appointed school commissioners. A county tax of five cents per one hundred dollars was levied.*^ Conflict with the state government flared in 1854 when the county school superintendent failed to file a report to tap into a newly-created State School Fund.

In response to local efforts to correct this oversight, the State pointed out the poor condition of the Santa Barbara school, that there was not a dedicated schoolhouse,and that English was not being taught. Indeed, at that time school was conducted in the damp,poorly lit chapel of the Royal Presi dio, much of which had fallen into ruin. "It is said that about forty scholars attended.

For lack of books,they studied an alphabet ’20 written upon the wall in chalk.

An apportionment of the State School Fund was finally received, "The first school warrant drawn on the State school fund was paid to Miss Manuela Cota,sister of Don Miguel Burke,and was for $375.00, a year’s salary, in 1854.’’^* Incredibly a report was again not filed with the state the following year.

The city’s first newspaper, the Santa Barbara Qaz^tte,took up the cause of edu cation in 1855, in its third issue; Through the efficiency ofourSchool Com' missioners in this district, we have now in this

NOTICIAS classes must be so evident to everyone that we trust no one having children will delay sending them where they may be taught what they must know in afteryears to become eithergood 22 citizens or attend to the duties oflife.

The school was run by Pablo Caracela, whom one historian referred to as: ... an illiterate individual who made Spanish the sole medium ofcommunication with his pupils, and whose services were repaidattherateof$8o.oopermonth.Inorderto draw publicfundsforthesupportoftheschool, it was essential the teacher be examined as to hisproficiency.Itis remembered thatin answer to the query,'Which is the largest riverin the world? he unhesitantly replied, "The Santa Maria. '23 This was a small river in Chile, the country from which the teacher had origi nally com.e.

The district that this school served was sixty miles long and varied in width from five to forty miles. The school census showed a total of 453 white children of school age. while the teacher reported only 60 scholars in attendance. Even though they were taxed for the school, parents apparently took little interest, causing the Qaz^tte to editorialize in September 1855: In this county there is, as yet, no public edificeforaschoolhouse,and in thisrespect we arefar behind our neighbors It is believed that parents takefar too little interest in the education oftheir children in this county,and

city a school containing nearly yo scholars, who are making rapidprogress in the acquisition ofa practical education.

The greatest want at presentfelt in the public school of this city is the absence of suitable booksforinstruction. The difficulty in

keep them at homefrom too trivial causes.

The effect ofirregular attendance is highly detrimental,and prevents a uniform progress in the various classes.^"^

obtaining the apportionmentoftheschoolfund has hitherto been the cause ofthis,which will, we trust, be removed by speedy payment.

The very great necessity ofzducationforall

ran for the positions, with Daniel Hill, G. D. Fisher, and Antonio de la Palma y

In September 1855 new trustees of the Common Schools were elected. Seven men

Mesa receiving the most votes. The new trustees had to deal with unfavorable public

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NOTICIAS Early in 1856. the commissioners interviewed tour candidates for teaching positions, a Mr, Bailies, Owen Connally, Victor Mondran, and Pablo Caracela. Con nally and Mondran were subsequently chosen as the new teachers, but only after a protest by Caracela who claimed his cer tificate was good for another year. These new teachers were to be paid seventy-five dollars a month for a period ol one year, beginning February i, 1856. Two schools

Alpheus Ihompson xva.s a .sc/ioo/ supaintendent in the mid'iSOos. A prominent machanlman, he manied into the Camllofamily and Iniilt one of

were established, Connally teaching the English-language school and Mondran the Spanish-langLiage school. Neither school met in very desirable quarters; one met ”in the house adjoining the billiard saloon, and the other in the house of the late Pedro Diabelar. ’2h

thefvstiMontcrey'Style adobes in Alta California, in

Two schools soon became a financial

opinion, tor many were dissatisfied with

burden to the community, even though both schools were well-attended and there seemed to be a need for two schools. The

the state of the schools, particularly the English-speaking population.

The Santa Barbara Qazette increased this unrest, printing editorials about the need lor more school districts and the need

$441 ,v56, its existence previously unknown to the trustees, was discovered. This

for an English-only school. The newspaper questioned the current curriculum and the

oversight was typical of the rather poor state oi affairs of the schools at this time.

qualifications of the teacher at the city’s .school. One scathing editorial ended:

Eventually the tw'o schools were combined into one. The Qazette chronicled this sad state of affairs;

Ihe system ofinstruction adopted in the school in this city might doJorsome countries, hut it is not lifely to prove profitable in this.'Ihe salary paid to the present teacher is sufficient to employ a person properly Ljualified to take charge of a sciwol here. It shoidd be required that the English language be taught, and a teacher unacquainted with that language does not possess the required qualifications 2,' to teach an English sciwol.

Pressure continued to increase, Tlie C/azette soon dropped its single Spanish-language page in protest to what was felt to be an increasingly intolerable situation.

late arrival o( state money necessitated a $3.00-per-month tax on parents who could afford it. This tax was withdrawn when

A memorial ivas i-ccdvedjrom nnc nj the teachers oj this district, setting Jonh that the room nmv occupied lyy him as a school house is u’hotLy unsuitable for that purpose, being adjacent to a billiard saloon and in other 27 respects objectionable...

'Ihe school money due this county Jor the last tivo years has been received here by the County Treasurer. Vie arrival is opportune, and ivill give a nezv impidse to our public schools. Vie teachers deserve credit for continuing so long on promise of payment merely.~^

8 The money received from the state amounted to $1,969.92 of which $890.00 had been for the year 1855.

In December 1856, a long letter from Owen Connally to the School Commis sioners appeared in the Qazctte and, after inviting them to the school, using very flowery terms extolling the benefits of the school and of his teaching, he closed with this remark; And permit me here to statefor your infor mation, that 1 have been teaching this schooi for nearly a year past at a salary ofonly ^75 per month. 1 now respectfully and earnestly appeal to your honorable Board, hoping you will kindly please to increase my salary, and thereby give us new impetus in the discharge 29 ofour laborious duties.

Tliis had no effect upon the right people and so he wrote again on April 15,1857, us ing many superlatives about Santa Barbara, stating that the school had seventy-eight pupils, half of whom were young ladies.

One-third of the students were Americans, the rest were Mexican. Subjects taught were recitation, orthography, reading, penmanship, arithmetic, geography, and syntactical analysis and grammar of both English and Spanish. Connally said he planned to add bookkeeping,composition, and declamation to the subject matter. He hoped to bring culture to Santa Barbara, when visitors to the schools would "have their eyes and ears greeted by the classics, the arts and sciences, for the cultivation of which Santa Barbara is peculiarly adapted to inspire taste. He went on to say that, due to the depreciation of the county scrip, in which he was paid, he felt obliged to tender his resignation.

The attempt to teach two linguistic groups in one school did not go well. The Qazctte, originally in favor of this move, later expressed a different opinion: It is indispensably necessary to establish

NOTICIAS another schoolfor the education ofthe chil dren ofAmerican parents. School exercises cannot be advantageously conducted in two languages in the same room. This has been sufficiently demonstrated already in this city, and the parents ofAmerican children, unwilling that they should learn a confused jargon and gibberish, prefer to k^ep them at home.^^ The newspaper went on to state that people were moving elsewhere and not settling in Santa Barbara because of the lack of good schools. It suggested that the Common Council separate the necessary funds from the County funds and that a special tax should be levied, "not exceed ing one-fourth of one percent upon all the property, real and personal, within the city, ’32 to support them.

In 1857 Santa Barbara County con tained four school districts. School District One included all the land between the Los Angeles County line and the Rincon Ranch, extending back to Kern County.

This district, which included what is now Ventura County, encompassed almost 1,500 square miles. District Two extended from the Rincon to Nopal Street on Santa Barbara’s Lower Eastside.

District Tliree had as its eastern bound ary Nopal Street and ran up to Canada del Corral near the Gaviota Pass. District Four included the rest of the county. Pupils were widely scattered and it cost almost one dol lar a head to conduct a school census. The schools were small and rather miserable institutions compared to modern times.

The massive Fort Tejon earthquake of January 9, 1857, rendered the old chapel building of the Santa Barbara presidio, where the school was once again meeting, unsafe and a new building was erected at the corner of State and Carrillo streets at the cost of $1,500. It was ready for use in 1858. One half of the money was sub-

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scribed and the other half came from the County School Fund.

This engendered such protest, the Board of Trustees was removed. At the same time, the decision was reached to eliminate instruction in Spanish which was not popular with the Spanish-speaking population. The decade of the 1850s ended on notes of ill-feeling and controversy.

iScbooLmQ DuRitiQ che i86os The mid-1860s was a calamitous period for the California economy A series of floods followed by a tremendous drought virtually destroyed the cattle industry in the state; Santa Barbara County’s ranch ing enterprises were similarly devastated.

This economic upheaval would lead to many Californio families losing their ran cho lands and accelerate a shift in political power into the hands of the newly arriving Americans.

Despite these economic troubles, plans moved forward to build a new'school house in Santa Barbara, under the supervision of

County Superintendent, Pablo de la Guerra. ^l^c new'school opened in 1863 at a cost of $2,074. As the statewide economic problems began to effect Santa Barbara, an ob.servcr described Santa Barbara's .schools in 1865: Morning lightshows us Santa Darbani,a fossil old tmvn covered with tiles, Ux>king like some old centenarian under a shocking had hat. Ihe boy's school, wefind, is not remarkable eitherjororder or scholarship. Asfor the gb'l's school, the mean unventilated adobe fifteen by twenty Jeet packed with some sixty girls, is a libel on the town and a disgrace to the trustees. Santa Barbara can boast, we conclude, ofperhaps the veryfinest climate in Calijomia,and ofthe unexcelled thriftlcssness and indolence ofits native popidation, hut not of the efficiency ofits schools. Planning to arouse the population to action, the State Superintendent makes an appointment to lecture on common schools at the courthouse at halfpast seven. Unfortunately,the steamer from San Francisco docks at the same hour. iNohody comes to the courthouse except the school ma’am and three little girls and the 33 meeting is adfounied immediately.

In the late 1860s, as the Santa Barbara

Ihe Sebastopol building housed asciwolin the late i86os,and then saued lIs thefacadeforJoseLobcm !s oOera hoiLse, which opened in iSyi. Ihe Sebastopol may be seen at the right end ofthe laige adobe theatre.

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10 economy began to rebound, there devel oped renewed interest in local schools and how they were administered. On June 6, 1866, the Santa Barbara School District was formed. The schools were no longer to be administered by the County Superintendent, but by elected officials.

In 1866, County Superintendent Alpheus B. Thompson reported that there were three school districts in the county, San Buenaventura, Montecito, and Santa Barbara. The census showed that there were 1.243 children between the ages of five and fifteen residing in the county, with 325 enrolled in public plus another 41 in private schools. Each district had two schools, with the length of the school year varying from three to five months. The teachers’

when the schools are not crowded even adults are admitted. 3.-> In the late 1860s two departments were set up.one for boys and the other for girls.

Abbie Green ran the department for girls while A. E. Birmingham headed the boys’ department. The latter’s arrival was noted in October 1868,"Miss Birmingham, who formerly taught school in Montecito, has been employed by the Trustees to take charge of the boys’ school in this place, arrived on the On^fiba on Thursday last, and will commence her duties immedi ately’’^'^ In a follow-up story the newspaper reported that, "Miss Birmingham opened the boys’department of the Public Schools in this place on Monday last. We do not know the number of scholars in attendance, but we do know that this lady keeps a very ”37

salaries ranged from thirty to fifty dollars a month.

The County Superintendent made eight visits to the schools of the Santa Barbara district during the year and received a sal ary of two hundred dollars. The teachers in the county were Alexander Forbes, Abbie Green. Mary Furlong, H. E. Williams. A. D. Chateuneuf. and Alice Brinkerhoff.

orderly school.

In 1869 agitation increased for the improvement of school facilities. Letters to the editor complained about the per formance of the school trustees and the condition of school facilities. One writer complained about poor attendance, taking note of boys who were not in school but could be seen around town playing games

During 1867, attendance in the county rose to 340 students with fifty-seven in the San Buenaventura district, forty in the Montecito district, and 243 in the

and "carrying fighting cocks under their arms” while little girls were "making mud pies and almost getting run over.” This same writer went on to give his graphic

Santa Barbara district. The average salary for male teachers was seventy dollars a month; female teachers received an aver

impression of the city’s schools: Onfour sides a dusty street; withinforty

age of sixty-two dollars. The county tax was thirty-five cents and the total assessed valuation was $773,285.^^ Tlie census for 1868 showed that the Santa Barbara district had a total of 785 children; 395 white boys and 362 white girls; 14 Indian boys and 14 Indian girls.

The Indian children were members of white families. "Boys and girls over 15 are allowed to attend the public schools, and

yards an institution emitting an effluvia daily that would knockdown a well-bred hog,with a watercloset near the doorwithout anything to screen itfrom the public gaze; old adobe walls, moist at all seasons, and you have an object suffleient to disgust the minds ofyour children and it ought to bring the blush of shame to the cheekofany and every school officerwho insists on a school being kept in any place so entirely inappropriate— The building for the girls’school is one

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11 degree,ii?ici only one better;theiVLills are brick, and the ivatcrcloset has a boardjence aroimd it;othenvisc it stands naked, not even aJence aroimd the lot, not a shade tree planted, al though it has been some seven or eight years used as a place to corral children in, jar you can scarcely call thateducatimi which ignores all the finerfeelings ofthe children and only requires them to be h^epi off the streetsfor a cenain number ofhours dailyd’^ In March, the lot around the boys’ school was duly fenced.

Miss Green,in charge of the girls’school, was a good organizer and an outstanding teacher. Such was her success, the Sun Fran cisco Bulletin commented chat, "alter years ot labor. Miss Green was rewarded by an improvement so great that she could almost feel herself the creator of minds chat had so "39

rapidly developed under her care.

In the County Superintendents’ report in June 1869, it was noted that the girls’ school was divided into a primary and an intermediate department with Abbic Green

as head teacher and Mary Furlong as her assistant. Tlie school accommodated some eighty students, most of whom were in the primary department.

The boys’school was an old two-story adobe, known as the Sebastopol building, on the northwest corner of Anacapa and East Canon Perdido streets, which was large enough to accommodate everyone on the ground iloor. A.E. Birmingham was the principal and C.J. Langley was her assistant. Attendance at the boys’ school was very irregular.

The report recommended chat the trustees should establish a graded grammar school and that the Santa Barbara district had not levied a school tax, unlike the other districts in the countv.'^°

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A new period in the history of Santa Barbara education was marked by a water shed event in 1871. On June 30, 1870 the

A watershed evait in the histni-y of local[niblic education ivas the openmg of Lincoln School iSji. In 2875, the secondfloor became home to the high school.

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city’s electorate voted on a proposed tax rate of seventy cents per one hundred dol lars for the purpose of raising five thousand dollars to construct a new schoolhouse.

The Santa Barbara Times reported; Intelligentpersons usually draw theirconelusions as to the respectability and standing ofapeople by theirinstitutions oflearning;and we venture to ascertain that no one would ever concede to ourpeople any interestfor the welfare ofDurchildrenfrom the imposing appear ance ofthe old Sebastopol hulk,Tet us have a decent building in which our children may be at least comfortable while they are endeavor ing to obtain a knowledge that in afew years they will be called upon to exercise}^ The new tax passed and Lincoln School, a two-story structure with four rooms on each floor located on the northeast corner of Cota and Anacapa streets, opened in 1871. The newspaper crowed.

The building will be an ornament to the portion oftown in which it is to be built, and will be amply fitted for all the purposesfor which it is to be devoted, making comfortable, quiet, and above all, healthy roomsfor the youth ofboth sexes to remain in during the 42 wet as well as dry seasons.

Members of the Masonic Lodge laid the cornerstone in November 1870; over five hundred people attended the ceremony Total costs came to $7,300; $4,500 from taxes, some $1,000 from the sale of the Sebastopol property, and about $1,800 from the school fund.^^ The building was completed in June 1871 and a Independence Day ball was held at the school. That fall the school welcomed seventy-eight boys and seventytwo girls with a Miss Green in charge of the latter and a Mr. Stone overlooking the boys.

Educational funding was always a concern and a proposal was raised at this time to conduct a lottery to raise money

for the schools. "Tlie proposed measure evoked a storm of dissension, and the local newspapers were drawn into the dispute, the Press opposing, and the Times support ing the project.

Nothing ever came of the proposal.

Attendance by modern standards was still poor; in 1871 there were over 760 school-aged children while only 344 habitually attended classes. In 1875 there were 2,282 children in the county with 796 attending school in the city. Out of this number 485 were in public school, 145 were attending St. Vincent’s Institute, 62 attended the private school Santa Barbara College, 31 were at school at the Old Mis sion, with the balance attending a number of private schools.

lyinbeRQARcens In the late 1870s there were two pri vate kindergartens in the city; one had been opened by Kate Douglas Wiggin in 1877 Wiggin would go on to forge a national reputation in the field of early childhood education. She called her new endeavor, Swallow’s Nest, and the local press reported; So we are to have a kindergarten. The kin dergarten belongs to large cities where moth ers were compelled, before its introduction, to leave their ofispring to carefor themselves while they were at theirdaily toilin thefactory.

We have here no mothers who go out to toil and the cases are exceptional where they will part with halftheir lifefor the ease secured by the kindergarten. We can see no need ofthe 46 kindergarten here. ’SMggin’s initial effort did not meet with great public approval,for kindergarten was not yet generally accepted as an essential part of the educational program.

This changed with the founding of the Kindergarten Association in February

NOTICIAS

13

Kate Douglas Wiggin, a leader in the kindergarten movement in this country, ivith two young charges.

1887 The Association, with six charter

Indeed, Santa Barbara had become a leader

members, started a kindergarten, charging twenty-five cents per month lor tuition.

Classes started with seven children and

in the development of kindergarten in the United States.

by the end of the first year seventy-seven children were attending.

Classes moved Irom location to loca

bara City Superintendent of Schools, and Caroline Frcar Burk wrote A Study oj the Kindergarten Problem,a guide on how other communities could establish kindergarten programs. As the authors put it in their Introduction:

tion as attendance continued to grow until a Central Kindergarten was built in 1895 at a cost of $2800. In June 1896 a special tax to support the kindergarten was passed overwhelmingly by the electorate, show ing that the public had come to enthusi astically support the idea of kindergarten.

In 1899 Frederic Burk, Santa Bar

ITie siiccess oj the movanent is uncjiieS' tioned.In many other communities,similar in conditions to Santa Barbara,the kindergarten is stnigglingjor public recognition and sup-

H

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port,and the kisto^-y oja success/id cstcihlisk' ment in our community may he oj assistance 47 to sister^city attempts.

0cpAnsvon The Santa Barbara school system was beginning to gain favorable notice from outsiders. In February 1888, Santa Bar bara schools garnered praise in chc Sclioot JoumaL, published in New York. The editor commenced upon the excellent accommo dations, the large clean rooms, and good desks found in the schools. In reference to chc grammar school pupils,"It appears chat a society exists here that debates literary subjects and chc two leading debators t.-c) were introduced to chc visitor.”4K

In the lace 1880s chc curriculum in the primary schools included orchography, arithmetic, grammar, geography, U.S. history, physiology, mental arithmetic, bookkeeping, word analysis, penmanship, school law. music, and drawing. Pupils who received an 80% in these subjects received a Primary Ccrcihcacc and passed onto gram mar school(fourth, fifth, and sixth grades), where algebra, natural history, natural philosophy, and English literature were added to chc curriculum. A pupil needed to score an 85% to receive a Grammar School Cercificacc.

The 1890 federal census listed 4,429 children in Santa Barbara County; 3,439 ol these attended school.'^” In 1891 the city ol Santa Barbara had 1,630 children with

Anna S. C.Blake(ypened her sloyd school in Santa Barbara in 1893. Damaged in the igz^eanhquake, the building luis tom dmvn in 1930.

f

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Slcryd becamepan ojthe publicschonlcwriculum. 1 lere somevisitingy(nmgcarpenta-sJrom\\{LshingtQn School ijrt’ /lUJti at u'or/j., 1903.

1,228 enrolled in school. The average daily attendance was 840. There were twentytour teachers with average monthly salaries ot $61 tor women and $75 For men.

Tlicre came a new addition to local edu cation in the autumn of 1893 when Anna Sophia Cabot Blake opened a sloyd school at the northeast corner ot Santa Barbara and East Dc la Guerra streets. Tlic Anna S.C. Blake Manual Training School was the first on the Pacific Coast to have a cur riculum ot manual, applied, and household arts. The name "sloyd’ was derived from the Swedish, "slodj." meaning skilled labor or manual training, Blake had arrived in Santa Barbara from Boston in 1891 and hoped to bring the sloyd method to all elementary school children in her new hometown. "Wlicn

opened, the Sloyd School’s pupils in woodworking and cookery came on toot from the city schools, on designated days.

Sometimes girls took carpentry and boys took Home Economics.

The slovd classes were added to the city school cur riculum in 1895.

Upon Blake’s death in the spring of 1899, the sloyd school was taken over

by Ednah Rich. Blake's assistant, who remained at the helm until 1916, As the sloyd class otlcrings expanded and at tendance grew, new quarters were needed.

A new building, which came to be called the Blake Memorial Buildina, on Victoria Street between Chapala and Dc la Vina, streets opened in 1908. Anna Blake's school later became a teacher-training facility and after a number ot changes in location and

NOTICIAS

16 curriculum grew into the University of California at Santa Barbara.

On August 10,1897,School Superinten dent C. Y. Roop presented to the Board of Education a plan of organization for the city schools: Vie schools ofthe Santa Barbara district shall consist ofthe Kindergarten, Elemen tary, Manual Training, and High School Departments.The Kindergarten Department shall be open to all children ofthe district between ^ and 6 years ofage. The course of study shall extend over a period of^ years.

The Elementary Departmentshall be open to children over 6 years ofage and the course of study shallextend overa period of8 years. The Manual Training Department shall be open to girls in grades^,6,and yforinstruction in sewing and to girls in grade 8forinstruction in cooking,and to boys in grades 5, 6, y, and 8,for instruction in Sloyd. The High School Department shall be open to pupils who have completed the work ofthe Elementary Department and shall extend over a period of^ years.

In each building or group of buildings occupied by the different departments ofthe schools, there shall be one teacher designated asprincipal. Heshall be responsible underthe superintendentfor the discipline and control ofthe pupils in and about such buildings or group of buildings. A vice-principal shall be appointed for each building or group of buildings who shall perform the duties ofthe principal in the absence ofthe same.

The Board ofTrustees shall elect a Super intendent who shall havegeneralsupervision overallschools,employees,andproperty ofthe district,and he shallperform such duties and make siLch reports as the Board may direct.

He shall also be Principal ofthe High School and teach in the High School such portion of his time as in thejudgment ofthe Board may be sparedfrom his other duties. All pupils in the schools and employees ofthe Board are

governed by the rules and regulations printed in the state register.

On August 30 the Board began to hold separate meetings for the business of the High School and the other departments, respectively.

As the 19th century drew to a close the basic organizational outlines of Santa Barbara’s schools had been laid out. The schools passed out of county control with the first meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Santa Barbara School District in June 1866. In ensuing years, enrollment, the number of teachers, and the curriculum continued to grow, despite periodic prob lems with funding and physical plant. The integration of kindergarten in the 1880s,of sloyd in the 1890s, and the construction of the first high school in 1890 were all important advances. A firm foundation had been built for continued growth in the 1900s.

IDAwn op cbe 20cb

CfencuRy The new Board of Education, under the leadership of Superintendent William A. Wilson, published the Exiles and B^egulations ofthe Board ofEducation ofthe City ofSanta Barbara, California in 1900, the first fully realized statement of philosophy and organization for the city schools. The Ru/es were detailed and explicit as the du ties of the Superintendent made clear: It shall be the duty ofthe City Superinten dent ofSchools: 1. To act as the executive officer ofthe Board ofEducation and transmit all orders ofthe Board to principals,teachers,and other employees ofthe school district.

2. To direct and supervise the details of instruction in theschools ofthe city,noting the mannerin which theirdefects may be remedied and their eficiency promoted.

17

NOTICIAS 3. To recommend to the Board,from time

to time, such measures as, in his judgment, ivill promote the welfare ofthe schools imdcr his charge.

To hold monthly meetings ojthe princi' pab and teachersfor the purpose ofdiscussing school affairs and regidating the detaib of school administration.

5. To report to the Board the names ofany teachers ivho shall, unexcused by him,Jail to attend the teachers' meetings or any other meeting calledfor their benefit.

6. To visit each sdu)olfrom time to time, obsaue carefully the methods ojdiscipline and instnictum, offer suggestions, and give such directions as are calculated, in hb judgment to promote the efficiency of the schoob.

7.‘Id ma}{c a report to the Boanlinjamuiry aiidjidy ofeach year,shaving the condition of the schoob and the ivorf{accanplished by the Departmentfor the previous six months.

8. Id suspend any teacherfor the willful violation of the R;ules of the Board,and report such suspensums to the Classification Com mittee, who shall investigate the charges,and

report the residt at the next regular meeting of the Board, g. To recommend to the Board the dismissal of teachers, stating the reasons therefore, whenever, in hisjudgment, the best interests ojthe Depanment so require.

10. To have the name of the teacher ajid the grade ofthe class posted on the outside door of each classroom, n. To bsue supplies to teachers and jani tors on their ivritten reqidsitions.

12. To report to the Superintendent ofPub lic Instruction and to the Board ofSupervbois of the county, on or before thefirst dayofjidy in each year, the number ofchildren in the Santa Barbara School District betiveen the ages offive and seventeen years, as appears by the latest returns of the CensiLs Marshal onfile in his office.

23. Jo attend to such other matters as may,from time to time, be referred to him by the Board.^^ The publicacion ol this document was an important step in the organization of the school district.

W'wshington School, near the intersection oj Anacapa and East Arrellaga streets opeiied in igni. It iviis tom down in u)^g.

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18 The oraanization ot o trades at this time o consistedol cwo kindcrgarccn grades, four primary grades, five grammar grades, and three hiah school aradcs. Kinderaartens were in session for two hours a day, grades one and two for 3>.5 hours, grade three for four hours a day, and grades tour through eight for 4.5 hours a day. No homework was assigned to pupils below the fourth grade; fourth-grade pupils could be as signed a maximum of one-half an hour of homework a night. In grades hve and six, three-quarters of an hour of homework could be assigned.

In the lilies the duties of principals covered topics ranging from "Manage ment and Discipline" to "Advertisements and Entertainment." Regulations tor teachers, twenty-three in number, ranged form "Reporting to Duty" to "Harsh or Passionate Expressions." Student conduct was covered in sixteen sections, with topics such as keeping one s desk clean and the use of tobacco on school grounds.

Books and supplies were largely the responsibility of the students’ families:

J\'o pupilshall be alloived to attend school unlessJumished with hool{s and otherneceS' saiy anicles required to he used in the class to zvhich he belongs;provided that no pupil shall be excludedJarsuch cause until thelollowing conditions have been compliedivith: i. Ihe teacher shallJwiiish the parent or guardian with a list oj the books and articles needed.

2. One iveek shall elapse after such noti' fication without the bool{s or articles having been provided.

Vic teacher shall be satisfied that the panies arefinancially able to provide such hooky or other articles.''^ The books and other supplies were authorized by the Board and a teacher could not require a student to purchase anv others.

IBuiLbmQ I\ew iScbooLs In 1900 there were four elementary schools and three kindergartens in the district. They had formerly been known by the number of the electoral ward in

Qafield School was part oftheflurry ofschool construction which tookplace in the early igoos. Able the Aiissiun l^’vival'Style toivas.

19 which they were located, but they now of ficially received names: Franklin, Lincoln, Jefferson, and Washington. The three kindergartens were christened the Lincoln, Jefferson, and Washington kindergartens, 54 respectively.

From 1900 to 1925, the Santa Bar

NOTICIAS by a vote of 319 to 12. Sites were purchased for the two new schools and in August the low bid of $24,600 was accepted for construction.

bara School District underwent a building "boom,” with the completion of seven new schools as well as a number of auxiliary

Initially, Garfield was called Webster School and McKinley was referred to as the Haley Street School. A Board committee journeyed to Los Angeles to seek out ideas for the new schools; its primary recom mendation was to install flush toilets, a

buildings.

recommendation that was not acted upon.

WashingtonSchool:Th.c original Wash ington School was located near the corner of Anacapa and Arrellaga streets and burned down on May 24, 1900. Five days later a notice for bids for a new grade

Electric lighting was wired in the halls and in the principals’ offices. On February 6, 1906, the Board accepted the new schools 57 as completed.

Additions to physical plants between 1906 and 1921 consisted of auxiliary build

school building was voted by the Board, the new building to be located at the south corner of Anacapa and Arrellaga. In July a bond issue for $10,000 to purchase lots and for school construction passed by an

ings and bungalows to expand school ca pacities. In 1907 another bond issue passed, this time for $20,000. Franklin School was

overwhelming margin. Initial bids were rejected as too high and a bid of $7,868 was accepted on August 30. Until the completion of Washington School in 1901, its students attended half-day sessions at

at Franklin and Jefferson schools. A bunga

Jefferson School.'^^ Qarfield and McKinley schools:The first Garfield and McKinley schools were built from identical plans, the specifications of which were advertised by the Board in the Morning Press in March 1905: 1. A one-story, six-room modem school building with the necessary halls, closets, and sanitary conveniences.Preference will be given to the adaptation ofthe Mission style of architecture. Classrooms to be at least 24 by 34feet, basement not to exceed one-halfofthe floorspace.

2. Each ofsaid school buildings not to exceed the cost of$iz,ooo.

3. The sameplansfor both orseparate ones 56 in option ofarchitects.

A bond election was held April 15 to finance these new buildings and was passed

then enlarged and additions made to the kindergarten buildings.

In the mid-191Os, additions were made low or "open-air building” was constructed on land donated by the Riviera Association in 1917 to avoid children having to attend Washington School. A group of four buildings was also put up at Anapamu and Rancheria streets, which soon after became the site for the new Wilson School.

Lincoln and Wilson schools: By 1919 the need for more classroom space was obvious. It was proposed to tear down Lincoln School and the group of Ran cheria Street buildings and replace them with new schools. For this purpose a bond election was called for November 28, 1919 for $430,000. The Board had printed in the Morning Press a com parison of school funding, Santa Bar bara with Long Beach, California. Long Beach had spent $1,233,000 compared to Santa Barbara’s outlay of $151,000.

The advertisement concluded:

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It!uis long been pointed out by opposition to the bonds that Lon^ Bedch is almost tivice the size oj Santa Barbara. 'This is readily granted;at least one reasonjor the wonderful grcnvth of Long Beach is its equally wonder^ fid school system. Long Beach doesn’t make any apologies Jor her schools — she doesn’t have to. Within Long Beach’s popidation are a good many that moved therefrom Santa Barbara on account of the better schoolfa cilities. Personal letters can be shoivn to this affect. 'Ihe Aioming Press expects to print some ofthem.Santa Barbara afew years ago was a larger city than Long Beach. Santa Barbara today cannot compare with Long Beach citheras to pojmlatum orschooLs;there must be a reason.^^

Nielson and Wilson received the contract 59

for the electrical work for $6,894.

As the old Lincoln School was torn

Dcspicc chis strong language on behalf ol the measure, the bond tailed to garner the two-thirds majority necessary for passage.

Tlie serious need tor more classroom

down,classes were conducted in temporary quarters on shortened days. The two new schools were the first to have forced-air

space still existed and in January 1920 the

to install tire alarm systems, Wilson School was officially dedi

Board organized an action group made up ot members trom such civic groups as the Chamber of Commerce, the Rotary Club, the Federated Council of Labor, the P.T.A., and a number of churches. Their task was to find ways and means to remedy the overcrowded school conditions.

The group met with success in mak ing the community aware of the district’s needs and, in the tall of 1920 a bond issue of $295,000 was passed overwhelmingly.

The Board proceeded to buy further parcels of land and hired Soule, Murphy, and Hast ings to design the new Lincoln School and Wilson School. The two schools were to have the same design plan and were each to have twelve rooms.

In May 1921. the contract to construct Lincoln and Wilson schools was awarded to J. Y. Parker tor $117,886 each, Ott’s Hardware received the plumbing, heating, and ventilation contracts for $41,615 and

heating instead ot wood or oil-burning stoves. Tlie Board, however, saw no need

cated on March 17, 1922, although classes had begun tour days earlier. The Native Daughters ol the Golden West presented to the school an American flag as well as several trees for the grounds.

Classes at Lincoln School began on April 17, with the ofticial opening ceremo ny held the next day. California governor William D. Stephens attended as the Na tive Sons ot the Golden West presented a flag to the school.

Student enrollment continued to climb; 429 more students were attending school early in 1922 than in the previous year.

Even with the opening ot Wilson and

I he original AlcKmley School (ABOVP) opened in ujo6 U7id ivas replaced by a Span ish Colonial-style facility {PJQII'L) in iy.32, designed by the architectural firm ofSoule, /rlurljhy, and I tastings.

21 Lincoln schools, increased expansion was planned. The Board paid $31,750 lor a parcel ot land tor the new Franklin School in October 1922. The school would move from the northeast corner of Moncecito and Milpas streets to Voluntario street between Yanonali and Montecito streets.

Roosevelt School would be constructed in the Hawley Tract, just south ot the Old Mission. A bond issue for $400,000 to finance these two projects passed on a vote of 1.565 to 466 on January 23, 1923.

Soule. Murphy, and Hastings were once again chosen as the architects. Tlie cornerstones tor Franklin and Roosevelt schools were laid December 14,1923. Con struction costs tor the termer amounted to just over $140,000 and for Roosevelt almost $154,000. The Board allowed one hundred sixty days to complete construc tion. The schools opened in the spring of 1924. The next year the Board sold the site of the old Franklin School for $15,150.

Growth necessitated increased office facilities to conduct the business of the

NOTICIAS district. In 1922 a new Administration Building opened at 1235 Chapala Street at a cost of about $15,000; this cost was shared with the High School District.

Two small school districts merged with the Santa Barbara district. In 1921 the La Mesa School District started proceedings f or annexation to the city district with the merger taking effect in October 1922. This district consisted of one school equipped with an organ.

Another district which followed suit was the Mission School District which merged with the city district in February 1925, by petition. Tlie one-room schoolhouse included grades one through five with about thirty-five children, mostly from Japanese and Italian families. The school had a private library known as the "Ship Library" located in a small cot tage about a block from the school. This was eventually integrated into the city’s Central Library, The Mission School \A'as destroyed in a fire in 1927 The kindergartens also grew. In 1907

UJ

22 the Kindergarten Association was taken over by the Board ot Education and the kindergartens officially became part ot the district. In May 1906 lots were purchased in order to move two kindergartens, Washington and Jefferson, to new sites.

Washington was moved to the iOO block of West Valerio Street; Jefferson was moved to the 1100 block of Castillo Street.

Further expansion in ensuing years included a Garfield Kindergarten in 1912 and expan sion ot Washington Kindergarten in 1913.

NOTICIAS to supplies and equipment.

In 1900 the district operated on a lalsc economy. Books were in poor condition 61 and many facilities were being rented.

In general, it appears facilities were ad equately maintained: chimneys cleaned, schools hooked up to the city sewer sys tem. installing radiators at Wilson and Lincoln schools, paying the $12.10 utility bill in June 1916. In March 1922 the Board

By 1924 over $4000 was being spent on the 60 upkeep of the city kindergartens.

hired the first full-time carpenter to work for both the School District and the High School District.^^ One item that raised cost concerns in

C(osc op IDomp IBusmess

the early 1900s was fuel for heating the schools. In 1900 a cord of wood cost the

Between 1900 and 1924 the budget of the Santa Barbara School District grew from $12,863.57 to $252,265, a twentyfold increase. This was due not only to the growth ot the district but also due to an increase in ottered services and upgrades

district $3.50, but by 1907 this had risen to $12.90 a cord. This rise in the price of wood was a primary factor in the district's gradual move toward heating oil; as late as 1922 the district was still buying wood along O with oil and coal.

In September 1902 the California Liq-

Franklin School, atAlilpas and y^iontccito streets, was originally lt)^owm us the First Ward School. A nexc Franklin School wms built in igzi.

23

NOTICIAS

uid Asphalt Company offered to install heating plants in the high school and in Washington School at a cost to the district of only forty dollars and thirty-hve dollars, respectively, in an attempt to persuade the district to abandon its use of wood. The two plants were removed that December.

It was not until 1914 that heating oil began to be used on a regular basis. In 1919 oil cost ten cents a gallon; by 1921 it cost only four and one-half cents a gallon, saving the district a substantial amount of money.

In July 1906 the Board attempted to place the requisitioning of supplies on a more organized level by passing a resolu tion: P^solved by the Board ofEducation, City ofSanta Barbara, California: i. That all ordersforsupplies orforservices ofwhatever kind shall be by requisition made by (a)the proper committee ofthe Board,(b)the super intendent,(c) the principals ofthe various schools. 2. That all requisitions except those made by the Board,must be countersigned by thesuperintendentand thesecretary before the ordercan beplaced.3.That no bill will bepaid from theschoolfinds that has not been ordered by thepropercommittee ofthe Board,or by the 63 superintendent and secretary.

Cj>An<?es m Ctu^mculuof) In 1900 the Board accepted and pub lished a "Course of Study,” covering the primary, grammar, manual arts, and kindergarten schools, the first for the district. Among the approved books were Natural System of Penmanship,Prang System ofDrawing, Natural Short Course in Aiusic, Nlother Tongue Book tti, Ejce’s Rational Telling Book Pierce’s First Steps in Arithmetic, Paine’s Qeographical Nature Studies, Talking with a Pencil, PfLtt’s Myths ofOld Qreece,Stepping-StonesofLiterature,

and MacMurray s Classic Storiesfor Little

Folks.64 The Chamber of Commerce reported in 1906: Last yearthe Board inaugurated theplan ofgivingleaveqfabsencetooneortwo teachers at a timefor a term offive or six weeks under full pay, while they are away at somefirstclass institution studying the best and most modem methods.

Acarejullyworked-outcourseofstudy,as extensive and complete asin any city outlines nine yearsofworkforthe Elementary Qrades, the average pupilis able to complete it in eight 65 years and the High Schoolinfour years.

During these years the number of pupils per elementary class dropped from fifty to thirty-eight. Teachers were allowed two hours a week to visit other classes in order to promote consistency in curriculum.

The elementary curriculum was ex panded in 1900 with the addition of art, a move which caused some controversy in the community;some thought the expense of an art teacher was unnecessary. Superin tendent William A. Wilson defended the addition in his 1901 annual report: The course in drawing which was intro duced into ourschools one yearago hasproved an unqualified success, and its value will be morefully demonstrated as time goes by. To justify its introduction,ifanyjustification be necessary, and to emphasize its importance, 1 desire to quote thefollowing extractfrom a recent article by ProfessorAlfi-ed V. Churchill 66 ofColumbia University Wilson went on to state that art would remain part of the curriculum and those that complained were the kind that would object to anything new being done in the schools.

Specialization in elementary instruction was a continuing trend in the early 1900s.

In 1904, Helen Hathaway became Super visor of Music while Geofrey Waustall

NOTICIAS

24

A ■

f.

IhcsdiooLinAiission Canyon, L^Sy.'I he/Mission School Ddtrict hcca7ne part of the city syatcni in igii.

became die ftrsc playground director lor the grade schools in 1914. Also chat year, Grccchen Lillcy became Nature Study Teacher for the grade schools.

Manual training continued to be an important part ot the curriculum. It was noted in 1906: Allpupib ojthe city heUnv thefowth grade have papersLryd and otherJonns ofhanduwk ivhich is carried on in the regularclassrooms.

From thejourthgrade to High School the boys tahyC up sloyd, while the girls havesaving and coolpng. Once a iveek each class marches in a body to one or the other oj the tivo Alanual draining buildingsjor two hours ojthe happiest and most helpjid ojall their school work.

It would be hard indeed to overestimate the importance, the lijc'Value, ojthis trainmg to eve)~y child fortunate enough to live within our city. It has been epoch-making in the life 67 ofour schools.

Manual and domestic arts remained part ol the curriculum until 1923.

In 1914. Superintendent Edwin Snyder recommended that classrooms be set aside

for students who needed additional help in their studies. In 1918, psychological testing of students began and in the following year a Night School was established lor boys under fifteen at Lincoln School, In 1921, special teachers were hired to teach these "opportunity classes" and two years alter that Washington School became the home for the city’s first special education school, an acknowledgement ol the diversity ol the student population with differing needs.

The first hot lunch program in the district was established at Garfield School in 1907 In November 1917 the Board ap proved a district-wide lunch program with the Manual Training School as the distribu tion center. The Board approved the hiring of a cook; the total cost was estimated at a little over lour hundred dollars.

Tlic school health program had its start through dental hygiene. On November 19. 1901, "Dr. Lane addressed the Board and asked permission to circulate, via the teachers, a booklet calling the attention ol the children to dental manners and care

25

NOTICIAS

ot cccch."^^ In August of the following year the State Board of Health nocihed the district that all school children would

position of School Nurse was created in

have to show a certificate from a reputable physician to verily vaccination before admission to school that fall. This caused

1922. In November 1924, Dr. Edward J. Lamb became the first School Physician 70 at $'1,000 a year in a part-time position.

In less than twenty-five years the Santa Barbara School District had taken on a

a delay ol two weeks in the opening of school to allow parents time to comply with the ruling,

the city.

In the school year 1900-01 there were

In 1905 Superintendent Henry Adrian recommended that steps be taken to aid

1,312 children attending kindergarten and elementary school in Santa Barbara with

those children with deficiencies in eyesight and hearing. A major step in school health occurred in 1910 when the Visiting Nurses Association was granted permission to

twenty-eight teachers and principals. By June 1925 there were 3,022 students and

begin working in the schools. Through an agreement with the VNA,school nurses in 1913 received seventy-five dollars a month.

A bathtub and heater was installed at Lincoln School in 1914 for those students whose homes did not have the necessary facilities.

The district took over more and more responsibility tor student health in ensuing years. The VNA Dental Clinic was taken over by the schools in June 1919 and the

major role in the health of the children of

seventy-three teachers and principals in the system.

The first standardized teacher con tracts were instituted in 1904; before that time contracts had been agreed upon on an individual basis. Elementarv teach ers received sixty dollars a month while principals received seventy-five to cightv dollars a month. Kindergarten teachers drew forty-five to fifty dollars monthly while the kindergarten director pulled in sixty-five dollars a month. Total salaries cost the district less than $10,000.

Lfrou'tli ujthe school system necessitated admmistrativeJacilities. City sekooLs ivere /leticic/iaiitered in this budding at Chapala and West Victoria stivets from igzi until the mid-ig6ns.

9●

* ”j

I

NOTICIAS

26 The first salary schedule was adopted in July 1907 to be superseded by a more elaborate one in September. Each teacher was listed with experience outside the district and inside the district. Principals’ salaries ranged from $1,050 to $1,250 per year based on experience and the size of the school administered. Teachers re ceived $700 to $900 annually. The new schedule stated that "the classifying of teachers shall be determined by excellence of work, amount and kind of experience, and previous preparation for teaching.’’^* The schedule was modified in 1915 with teachers who reached the top rank earning $1,000 a year.

In 1916 the teachers presented to the Board a petition asking for clarification of sick leave policy. In response the Board passed a resolution: It is resolved that in accordance with the opinions of(State] Attorney Qeneral Webb and District Attorney Squire herewith filed a contract entered into with teachers on their employment by the Board, shall allow full pay during periods ofsickness or other unavoidable absence,ifthe reason for the absence is satisfactory to the School Board,not to exceed lofull days provided, however, the teacher shall cheerfully volunteer to substitute when possible and when it shall be consistent with the proper 72

discharge oftheir own duties.

It was another step in standardizing the relationship between faculty and the

Board.

An important organization in this pro cess was the City Teachers’ Club, which allowed the teachers to communicate with the Board with a single voice. The 1916 petition was presented through the club and in 1918 the club recommended further revision of the salary schedule. Among the changes instituted was allowing a teachers’ group to grade their fellows on efficiency

which would impact salaries. Salaries con tinued to go up; by 1925 teachers could earn a maximum of $1,900 a year while principals could attain $2,800 annually with a university degree.

In 1900 the Santa Barbara School Board consisted of five members, three elected every four years and two every two years.

A secretary was chosen from among the members and paid twenty dollars a year.

There were live standing committees: Fi nance,Building Sites and Repairs, Library, Furniture and Supplies, and Classification.

This basic organization remained intact except when the High School Board offi cially split away from the School District Board in 1917 By 1925 the Santa Barbara School District could look back on a significant period of growth. New schools had been built and the kindergartens had become integral parts of the district. The curricu lum had also grown to include enriching subjects such as art and music. Health and school lunch programs were initiated.

Professionalism among staff increased with specialization, better salaries and benefits, and improved communication between teachers, principals, and the Board.

The importance of schools to the com munity was perhaps best put in a Chamber of Commerce publication in 1906; The characterofany community is exactly measured by the quality ofits schools.Ifthey be poor, then are the people who support and endure them either ignorant and unrefined or else they are grossly blind and indifferent alike to both the material and the spiritual welfare ofall.

Thoroughly awake to the importance of having the best in all things, Santa Barbara has taken hold ofher school problems with a mgorand a breadth ofview that is rapidly advancing hersystem to aforemostplace among Leaders—East or WestP

27

NOTICIAS

1 Owen H. O’Neill, cd.. Ilistory njSanta Bar bara County State oj California: Its People and Its l\esowces (Sanca Barbara: Harold McLean Meier. 1939). 60.

2 Ibid.

3 James M. Guinn, Historical and Biographical Rjtcord oJ Southern Calijornia (Chicago: Chapman Publishing Co., 1902), 163.

4 O'Neill, 60.

5 Guinn. 163.

6 John R. Southworth, Santa Barbara and Montecito Past and Present(Santa Barbara: Oreha Studios, 1920). 121.

7 C.M. Gidney,Santa Barbara,SanLuis Obispo atidX'enturaCountksin Cd/i/o>-n2a(Chicago; Lewis Publishing Co., 1917). 52.

8 Southworth, 198.

/Icnry Adrian,as Santa Barbara School Super intendent u)ojf.-ic)og, sail’ the public schoob get more involved in student health during his taiure.

I le is slunvn here, at leji, u’ith William Jennmgs B)'yan in igib.

9 Ibid., 199.

10 Ibid.

11 Ibid.

12 Ibid.. 121.

13 Ibid.. 200.

14 Ibid.

15 Guinn. 164.

16 Laurance L. Hill and Marion Parks, Santa Barbara‘He}raAdorada:A Community His tory (Los Angeles: Security First National Bank of Los Angeles, 1930), 52.

17 Guinn, 164.

IS Ibid.

19 O'Neill, 70, 20 Hill and Parks. 53.

21 O'Neill. 170.

22 Santa Barbara Qa^ttc, 7 June 1855.

23 Jesse Diamond Mason. History oj Santa Barbara and \'entura Counties Calijornia (Oakland; Thompson and West. 1883).

325.

24 Santa Barbara Qazette, 20 September 1855.

25 Ibid,, 20 December 1855.

26 Ibid., 7 February 1856.

27 Ibid.. 3 April 1856, 28 Ibid., 2 October 1856.

29 Mason, 101.

30 Ibid, 31 Santa Barbara Cjazettc. 7 May 1857

32 Ibid, 33 William S. Carr, John Sivett (Santa Ana: Fine Arts Press. 1933), 92.

34 Ian James Crow. "A History of School Organization and Administration in Santa Barbara County " (Ed.D. diss.. University ol Southern California. 1959), 67-68.

35 Santa Barbara Post. 18 July 1868.

36 Ibid.. 10 October 1868.

37 Ibid., 23 October 1868.

38 Ibid., 13 January 1869.

39 Quoted in the Santa Barbara Post, 19 May 1869.

40 SantaBarhara Post, lOjunc 1869.

41 Santa Barbara Ibncs, 28 May 1870.

42 Ibid,, 10September 1870.

43 Ibid.

NOTICIAS

28 44 Mason. 326.

60 Ibid., 17July 1924.

45 Ibid.

61 lieports ofthc Superintendent oj Schools and the Sca-etai-y ofthe Bouixl ojEducation ofthe

46 Santa Barbara ‘limes, 16 May 1877 47 Frederic Burk and Cartdine Frear Burk. A Stiuly oj'the Kindergaiten Problein in the Pub' lie Kindergartais ifSanta Barbara, Califor nia,j'orthelear iSgS-giSan Francisco: The Whitaker and Ray Co.. 1899), 20.

48 Morning Press (Sanca Barbara), 11 Febru ary 1888.

49 Guinn, 165.

50 Walker A, Tompkins, "Sanca Barbara Yesterdays,” Santa Barbara Neivs-Press, 24 September 1961.

51 Minutes. Sanca Barbara Board of Education, 10 August 1897 52 Santa Barbara Board of Education. P}des and l\egulations ojthe Boaid ojEducation oj the City ojSanta Barbara, California(Sanca Barbara: Daily News Press. 1900). 9-10.

53 Ibid.. 23.

54 Minutes. Sanca Barbara Board of Education, 18 December 1900.

55 Ibid., 29 May to 30 August 1900.

56 Ibid., 21 March 1905.

57 Ibid,, 22 April 1905 to 6 February 1906.

58 Morning Press(Sanca Barbara), 8 November 1919, 59 Minutes,Santa Barbara Board ot Education, 23 Mav 1921.

City ojSanta Barbam (Sanca Barbara: Daily News Job Dcpartmcnc), July 1900.

62 Tlicsc and ocher icems were noted in Min utes. Sanca Barbara Board ot Education. 19 June 1900 through 5 February 1925.

63 Minutes,Sanca Barbara Board ol Education.

30 July 1906.

64 Ibid., 19 June and 26 July. 1900, 65 "The Public Schools of Sanca Barbara," Santa Barham, March 1906, 14.

66 l\eports oj'the Superintendent oj Schools and the Secreta>-y oj the Board oj Education oj the City ofSanta Barbara, Calif.(Santa Barbara: Daily News Job Department), January 1901.

67 "The Public Schools ol Sanca Barbara," Santa Barbara. March 1906. 10.

68 Minutes,Sanca Barbara Board of Education, 13 February 1919, 69 Ibid., 19 November 1901.

70 Ibid.. 20 November 1924.

71 Ibid., 2July 1907 72 Ibid,, 9 May 1916.

73 "The Public Schools of Santa Barbara,” Santa Barbara. March 1906, 7

Class dismissed!fejjerson School,ai. 1905.

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CONTENTS Pg. 1: Schools