MISS TOOTS SECOND GRADE CLASS, MT WASHINGTON, KCMO 1950

MISS TOOTS SECOND GRADE CLASS, MT WASHINGTON, KCMO 1950
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AS ESSAY ABOUT PUBLIC EDUCATION IN THE USA IN THE 1950S BY R.L. HUFFSTUTTER

MT WASHINGTON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL WAS BUILT IN 1903; IT WAS BRIGHT RED BRICK WITH GYMNASIUM, THREE INSIDE PLAYROOMS, A CAFETERIA, AN AUDITORIUM WITH A STAGE, A CLASSROOM TERM AS THE "OPEN AIR CLASSROOM" FOR ANYONE WITH PHYSICAL AILMENTS BORDERING ON TB. IT WAS A TERRIFIC SCHOOL AT THE TIME. IN EACH CLASSROOM, A PORTRAIT OF GEORGE WASHINGTON WAS ABOVE THE BLACKBOARDS. VARIOUS PORTRAITS OF LINCOLN WERE THROUGHOUT THE SCHOOL. UNUSUAL FOR THAT ERA WAS A FULLY STAFFED LIBRARY WITH A WIDE SELECTION OF BOOKS. IN ADDITION TO THESE FACILITIES, MT WASHINGTON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL HAD A MUSIC ROOM AND AN ART ROOM. PLAYGROUNDS WERE SPACIOUS AND FENCED WITH NUMEROUS TYPES OF RECREATION ITEMS AND AREAS EXCLUDING SWINGS. THE SCHOOL WAS VERY PROGRESSIVE FOR THE ERA. THERE WERE NO COMPUTERS, BUT FILMS WERE USED EXTENSIVELY. THE SHADES WERE DEEP GREEN AND CREATED A PICTURE SHOW MOOD AMONG THE STUDENTS. DISCIPLINE CONSISTED OF SITTING IN THE PRINCIPALS OFFICE FOR A LENGTHY PERIOD FOLLOWED BY STERN WARNINGS. THERE WAS NO CORPORAL PUNISHMENT IN THE SCHOOL SYSTEM. IN THE 1940S AND 1950S, STUDENTS HAD TO LIVE AT LEAST THREE MILES FROM SCHOOL IN ORDER QUALFY FOR SCHOOL BUS TRANSPORTATION