COPYRIGHT, 1918, BY MAY Ayres burgess, JESSE F. WILLIAMS, AND THOMAS D. WOOD ALL RIGHTS RESERVED The Riverside Press U.S.A 1611 A 98 1918 EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION THE subject of school hygiene comprises two general fields. First, the provision of healthful physical environment for school children, and second, the conduct of healthful school activities. Under the first head we have to do with such matters as schoolhouse construction, fire protection, lighting, and sanitation; under the second, we deal with medical inspection and supervision, playground activities, outdoor classes, and the like. These two main groups have been subdivided into smaller branches, each growing up almost independently of the other, and it is only recently that school men have recognized their essential unity and grouped them all together under the general heading of school hygiene. It is not at all unusual even now to find large and fairly well-organized school systems where the division of physical training has little to do with the division of medical inspection; where the medical inspection is under the control of a city or county board of health; and where the provision of school lunches, open-air classes, classes for exceptional children, fire protection, and the cleaning of school buildings are all matters which concern separate departments within the school system. The appointment of an assistant superintendent of schools in charge of child hygiene and child welfare, who shall have all such matters under his supervision, has only recently been accepted in educational theory, and is still a new and not frequently found feature of school administration. Because the question of school hygiene has never until recently been thought of as a whole by educators, but has been split up into a score of apparently unrelated minor graciems, its progress has been erratic. Minimum requirements in some cases are laid down by the State, with immense detail; in others the State makes hardly any demands upon the local school authorities, but leaves them free to carry on whatever experiments they will. In general those phases of school hygiene which deal with school buildings and the material welfare have been given large emphasis, while those which deal with child welfare have been neglected. The natural result is that in most school systems important features of school hygiene are largely overlooked or entirely ignored; and that the school superintenitent frequently fails to have any clear conception was denunded by the situation. The school author chart and superintendent, too frequently fail to the subject as a unified whole. To treat the subject mi vivie, and in condensed form, has been the pros hors of this volume in the series. The authors he met orth the essentials, under each subdivision of the sect, which the school administrator needs to know ner to safeguard the health of the children under no ore; to show what forms of organization the different dessa the subject involve; and to give a brief statement of the accepted standards in each branch. The volume shot ove very useiui is a textbook in school hygiene in eleges and ormai scivis, and should furnish a basis for gent session and constructive action by teachers, super superintendents, and school board members. CONTENTS CHAPTER I. CHOOSING THE SCHOOLHOUSE SITE. Locating a building · Accessibility — The school census and building plans — Relation to public highways — Removal from disturbing influences-Size of plot-Lighting - High ground - Soil - Improving sites of old buildings - Summary. Questions for study and discussion — Selected references. CHAPTER II. THE SCHOOL BUILDING The architect - The plan - Apportionment of space - Unit Questions for study and discussion - Selected references. 1 13 CHAPTER III. ROOMS IN THE SCHOOL BUILDING . . 31 Classroom dimensions - High ceilings - Wardrobes - Special classrooms - Kindergarten — Open-air classrooms - Auditoriums - The gymnasium-Libraries — Lunchrooms - Dispensary-Office-Teachers' room The janitor's room Storerooms. Questions for study and discussion - Selected references. CHAPTER IV. CLASSROOM EQUIPMENT Platform . 51 Dust and Blackboards-Placing and heights corners Questions for study and discussion CHAPTER V. LIGHTING Selected references. 1. Natural lighting — Unilateral - Breeze windows - Orientation-Glass area Placing Square tops- Height from floor-Frames and supports - Circulating window spacePrism glass-Overhead lighting - Window shades - Color schemes-Lighting in old buildings. 66 |