supervision of the work, and no time or expense was spared to make the buildings, within and without, just what they should be, model school houses. The school is a graded one, with Prof. C. M. Hutchins as Principal, assisted in the different departments by eleven teachers. The school is in every respect an ornament to the village in which it is located, as well as an honor to its founders, and I have no doubt has advanced the value of property in the district more than treble its cost. Teachers.-There were employed in all of the schools in the county during the year, forty-two males and 159 females. Of these, perhaps one-fourth follow teaching as a permanent employment. Teachers employed during the year past have devoted a little more than eight terms each to teaching. The average wages, exclusive of board paid, to male teachers, for the winter schools, is about $27 per month; to female teachers, for the winter term, about $20 per month; and for the summer $14 per month. The attendance of teachers on Institutes and Associations is very fair. Candidates for certificates are subjected to both written and oral examinations. I find teachers best prepared to teach mathematics, grammar and geography, and most deficient in orthography, reading and spelling. Nearly all of the teachers employed have studied Page's Theory and Practice of Teaching. I have granted, during the year, nine certificates of the first grade, fifty-four of the second, and thirtythree of the third; and have refused to license about twenty-eight per cent of all the applicants. I usually grant third grade certificates to beginners, and never grant a third grade to the same person more than twice. The applicant must be able to raise the grade or is thrown out. The demand for teachers of high qualifications exceeds the supply. There are at present three Normal School graduates and under graduates employed in the common schools, with excellent success. There is a growing demand for their services. There are two Academies in this county. The Dundee Academy, located in this place, and Starkey Seminary, two miles east of this place, eligibly situated, and commanding a view of several miles of the beautiful Seneca lake. Prof. O. F. Inglesbee is principal of Starkey Seminary, and Prof. E. Chadwick, of Dundee Academy. The principal of each of these institutions is assisted by an able corps of instructors. The Dundee Academy is a frame building, capable of accommodating 150 pupils. There are in present attendance 118 pupils, one-half of whom are under twelve years of age, one-fourth are between the ages of twelve and fifteen, and the remainder are from fifteen to twenty-one years of age. The Academy has a good supply of apparatus and a library. Starkey Seminary is a brick building, which has been greatly enlarged and beautified during the past year, at an expense of about $9,000, and is now capable of accommodating 300 students. The grounds are spacious and beautifully adorned with trees and shrubbery. I doubt whether in the entire State a more fitting spot could be found on which to erect a school, than the site of Starkey Seminary. The Seminary is supplied with all the modern improvements for teaching; has a fine library, apparatus, &c. The number of pupils in present attendance is 149, one-fourth of whom are under twelve years of age, one-fourth between twelve and fifteen years, and the remainder, on an average, nineteen years of age. The teachers' classes are taught in the higher or academical department of the graded school in Penn Yan. The class has been examined by me four times during The result of the examinations was very satisfactory. Private Schools.-There are ten private schools, a decrease of four. There are in attendance on them 395 pupils. the year. District School Libraries.-The condition of the district school libraries is anything but flattering. Sufficient pains has not been taken in the selection of books. In very many instances, works of fiction and books of doubtful character have been palmed off on the unsuspecting trustees, until we have in our school libraries, with a few honorable exceptions, a perfect medley. The libraries are not generally held in esteem by the people. A large share of the money apportioned for library purposes is now perverted, and I would recommend that some other and better use of the money be made than in the purchase of books as now practised. Trustees. Sixty-two districts have one trustee each, twenty-two have two trustees, while but sixteen have three trustees. The sentiment of the people is strongly in favor of the "one trustee system." Teachers' Institute.—A Teachers' Institute was held in Penn Yan during twelve days, commencing Sept. 17th, 1866. Rev. John C. Moses, of Dundee, Prof. C. W. Sanders, of Hanover, Maj. R. P. Bush and Prof. C. M. Hutchins, of Penn Yan, were employed as instructors. The above named gentlemen, together with Prof. Case, of Benton Center, delivered during the session very practical and interesting lectures on various educational topics. There were in attendance eighty-six teachers. Not as many as on some former occasions, but in point of ability, and in the zeal manifested by its members, I can safely pronounce it the best Institute ever held in the county. The evening lectures attracted so much of the public attention, that a theatre in the town was compelled, for want of patronage, to postpone its engagements. A Teachers' Association was organized in this county ten years ago. Meetings are held six times a year in different parts of the county, and nearly all of the teachers and members of the Association attend its meetings when possible to do so. The citizens of the county have always manifested a deep interest in the success of the Association. Commissioner's Labors.-My labors during the year have been such as are incident to any one discharging the duties of the office I hold. I have held public examinations, have made 174 visits in the different schools, have conducted six meetings of the Teachers' Association, and have paid out of my own purse, for lectures, &c., for the benefit of the [Assem. No. 79.] 19 Association, over forty dollars, made arrangements for, and attended Institutes twelve days, have apportioned school moneys, have changed the boundaries of five districts, have annulled two, and renumbered and assisted in renumbering eleven, have attended nine school meetings, have carried on an extensive correspondence, have made to the Department sundry reports, and in various ways have, to the best of my ability, discharged the duties of my office. As this is my last report, permit me to say, in regard to the patrons of schools and school officers of Yates county, and in my own behalf, that the relations existing between us have always been of the most friendly character, and that the counte nance and uniform support so cheerfully tendered me, has added not a little to the meager success I have attained. I bespeak for my successor in office, Schuyler Sutherland, the same hearty support that has always attended my labors. I may be a little selfish, and perhaps six years intimate association with the teachers of the county may have blinded me to their faults, if they possess any, but I am quite sure if every Commissioner in the State were to receive the same hearty support and co-operation from their teachers, that I have received, from time to time, fewer would manifest a disgust for the duties of their office. Thanking you for the uniform kindness shown to me, and for the interest you have manifested in the schools of our county, I am, very respectfully, GEO. P. LORD. School Commissioner. |