OF THE

Superintendent of Instruction.

St. Louis, Mo., May 13, 1919.

To the Board of Education of the City of St. Louis:

Gentlemen:

The Annual Report of the Department of Instruction for the year 1917-18, required under the rules of the Board and embodying the statistics of the schools for the year, was submitted to the Board at its meeting in October 1918. The printing of the complete volume of the reports of all officers making up the Annual Report of the Board of Education has been delayed until the present time for reasons unnecessary to recount here.

The discussions of various phases of the progress of the schools during the year covered by this report, 1917-18, were not prepared in the form previously followed in the annual reports of the Superintendent for many years past. Instead it was planned that the report of the Superintendent for the year 1917-18 should discuss only a few very prominent features of the school work for that year. Accordingly the war work of the schools was reviewed by a number of principals and teachers and published in September, 1918, as an advance print of the annual report of the Superintendent of Instruction under the title, "War Work of the St. Louis Public Schools."

Another phase of the work of the schools needing special investigation and report was the Evening Schools and the extended use of the school plant. Since the Board of Education adopted the policy of granting the free use of school buildings for community gatherings the so-called

"wider use" of the school buildings has grown to large proportions and during the last school year it became evident that the whole question of the extended use of the school plant and other features of public education beyond the regular school activities was in need of careful study and investigation. Likewise it had become evident that the Evening Schools ought to have their purposes and methods surveyed in the light of the needs of further education of adults of the city. A report of these studies, under the heading of "Educational Extension," was prepared and is submitted herewith as a part of the annual report of the Superintendent. It had been planned to issue this when prepared, immediately at the end of the school year, but the expense of issuing the "War Work" pamphlet precluded doing this.

A report upon the Junior High School for its first year had been planned but could not be gotten into shape for publication as an advance print of the annual report for the year 1917-18, and will therefore be made a feature of the annual report for the year 1918-19.

The plan of the Superintendent's report contemplated the inclusion of only these discussions and because of the length of them it was expected to leave out the usual summary of the progress in the several departments of the school work.

In submitting as the final report of the Superintendent of Instruction for the year 1917-18 these two main discussions, namely, "War Work in the St. Louis Public Schools" and "Educational Extension," it is not intended to suggest that the work of the various divisions formerly reported in detail in the annual report was not again worthy of such record. It was deemed particularly appropriate, however, to devote the annual report of the schools almost entirely to the overshadowing importance of the war in the schools

and to the problems of adult education which the war had. given new prominence.

In line with the form of this report which the war situation made advisable, a recommendation to publish the annual report in similar form in the future was made to the Board Nov. 12, 1918, and approved. Instead of printing a large number of complete volumes many months after the year has closed this plan contemplates the issuance during the school year of discussions of specific phases of school work as advance prints of the Superintendent's annual report. It is planned to give these pamphlets a wide distribution both in the city and outside and to restrict very materially the circulation formerly made of the large and expensive complete reports of the Board. It is expected that the publication of the report in this way will be to the advantage of the schools in a much wider and more immediate publicity of significant progress in the schools.

The truly remarkable stability of the school system and its adaptability to the new demands and conditions during the past year of stress are causes for gratification to all who are interested in the welfare of our public schools. The fine record of service of principals, teachers, and pupils, as well as those connected with the administration, is not only worthy of record in the annals of the Board of Education but should be long held in appreciative memory by the citizens of this great city.

Respectfully submitted,

JOHN W. WITHERS,

Superintendent.

IN MEMORIAM.

This page is set aside as a memorial of faithful services ended by death during the school year 1917

FLORENCE G. HELTZELL September 26, 1917 Appointed December 7, 1891.

February 25, 1918

Appointed November 26, 1889.

ANNA VANDALAINE HENKEL May 11, 1918

Appointed July 6, 1896.

PUBLIC SCHOOLS

FOREWORD.

The following report is a statement of the war work. of the St. Louis public schools for the year ending June 30, 1918.

From the first it was the aim of the Board of Education and of the Department of Instruction, first, to aid the national Government in every way possible and to the full extent of our ability; second, to take advantage of the opportunities afforded by the war to stimulate and improve the customary work of the schools instead of allowing the war work undertaken to hinder in any way the education of the children; third, to make use of the war to teach a true and lasting patriotism by having the children realize not only the full meaning of the war and why we are engaged in it, but also experience the patriotic joy that can only come through the consciousness of directly working for our soldiers and otherwise aiding the Government in carrying on the war.

In his opening address to the principals and teachers. at the beginning of the school year the Superintendent outlined what in his judgment should be the policy of the schools in relation to the war and called attention to the difficult double duty of vigorous, effective war work and at the same time of clinging tenaciously to the fundamental purpose for which the schools are maintained. There is little use of making America and the world safe for Demoracy if in doing so we permit the coming generation of men and women to be so undeveloped in mind and body as to be unable to enjoy the benefits of Democracy. The nation has in fact no more important duty, even in time of war, than the proper conservation and development of the physical, mental and spiritual life of its children.

The year was started with a broad and vital conception of the meaning of patriotism and patriotic education. It was pointed out that patriotism means much more than