Gilroy’s grammar school woes
”
The general expression of the scholars was animated and pleasant
and among many we observed a beauty and intelligence that was
highly pleasing. We scanned their countenances closely and did not
find what might be called a stupid expression among them,
”
the Advocate Editor observed, during an 1871 visit to Gilroy’s
Public School. The building was only two years old, completed in
November 1869.
Gilroy’s grammar school woes
“The general expression of the scholars was animated and pleasant and among many we observed a beauty and intelligence that was highly pleasing. We scanned their countenances closely and did not find what might be called a stupid expression among them,” the Advocate Editor observed, during an 1871 visit to Gilroy’s Public School. The building was only two years old, completed in November 1869.
It was not the town’s first public school. That distinction was accorded a one room wooden structure described as “located on the east side of town,” founded in 1853. At the time, the community was still known as Pleasant Valley and the population so small that teacher John R. Bane began with only four pupils.
Within a year, the citizens erected a one-story schoolhouse to serve the growing settlement. Located near the southwest corner of Third and Church streets, the schoolyard took up part of the block extending to Rosanna Street. The little schoolhouse served the community for the next 15 years.
In 1869, a year after Gilroy was incorporated as a town and received its permanent name, citizens were rightfully proud when a spanking new two-story structure replaced the smaller one on Church St. “Certainly our school facilities are ample and of the highest order. The oldest and most favored portions of our county do not enjoy better,” the newspaper announced. The two-story building with belfry had been funded by local taxes at a total cost of $5,825. Four classrooms took up the ground floor space, each with sliding doors that were opened up for large events. An additional four classrooms comprised the upper floor space.
Excitement over the new edifice was short-lived when, the following July, the school was briefly shut down for lack of funds. Only a new census count provided sufficient capital to keep it running until vacation time. By 1871, when the Advocate Editor enthused over the pleasing countenances and academic diligence of the students, he neglected to mention that classrooms were bursting with 40 to 50 pupils per teacher.
He did observe that the young schoolmarms excelled at their jobs. “The scholars worked Arithmetic problems given to them with admirable correctness and smoothness and showed an intelligent understanding of the rationale of the operation. Anyone who has heard the girls go through the reasoning portions of the Arithmetic would have felt their opposition to women suffrage vanish into thin air.”In 1871 as today, teachers with experience were at a premium.
Many began careers with little preparation, some taking over a classroom in their late teens, with only a high school diploma for qualification. Trained teachers were lauded, “We were pleased to see the Trustees have placed an experienced teacher with the younger scholars. Many believe that any teacher can teach young scholars. Good education depends entirely on the kind of foundation that is laid.”
Recital and lengthy memorizations were standard at the time, and command of good diction could make or break a student’s effort. The practice and drill of proper speech habits was a classroom requirement. “Faults of enunciation, indistinctness of articulation, a drawling unaltered tone and other careless habits are the creation of the first teacher,” the Editor admonished.
The Gilroy Public School, unfortunately, closed down again early that year, for lack of funding. Again, in April 1872, the same problem arose.
“The public school is full to overflowing, primary departments have had to refuse admittance to several because of inadequate accommodation. Two departments have nearly 70 students in each room, which is at least 20 more than any teacher can do justice to. Just think of 70 little restless, noisy children being confined in one room on a hot summer day,” a reporter noted.
The schoolhouse had been constructed so that an additional wing or two could be added, but the problem, then as now, was financial. In 1872, that meant a tax of 26 cents on every one hundred dollars. “Parsimony is extremely bad policy,” the Advocate mused. By May, once again for lack of funding, the school was reported for closing ahead of schedule. “Just imagine, four months of vacation with 300 school children running in the streets, forgetting everything they have learned.”
One happy note that year was celebration of the first annual examination and exhibition of Gilroy High School’s first class, an event that spanned three days. Fireman’s Hall was jammed with townspeople to observe the events held on a schedule beginning Tuesday morning and ending Thursday afternoon. Parents were proud to attend and watch their students recite and answer questions, to show off their learning.
Besides school closures and over crowded classrooms during those early years at Gilroy’s Public School, adequate fencing around the school grounds became a problem when wandering cattle and hogs entered the premises.
“They have free access to the grounds, browsing the grass beneath the trees, rubbing their sides against the school house, and making the plot anything but neat and tidy,” a reporter lamented.
Despite the financial difficulties involved in keeping the doors open to maintain sufficient teaching days during the school year, by 1873, things were looking up. The Gilroy Public School could boast a Principal, Mr. A.W. Oliver, plus four teachers. A rigorous curriculum required children to undergo a 10-day series of exams prior to being released for summer vacation, which lasted from mid-June until mid-August.
Even so, then as now, a common complaint arose, as noted by the local newspaper, “There is one thing that is altogether wrong and that is that so few parents visit the school. It is a shame that parents can get time to attend to everything else but the education of their children.”
