Scores of millions of dollars are spent annually in the United States for new school buildings. With this large. expenditure has come a general desire that schoolhouses shall be usable, healthful, comfortable, and beautiful. Educators and architects have united in devising plans for school buildings. This bureau has published a valuable bulletin…

The school yard has been one of the least utilized of our educational resources. Surfaced with a view to his convenience and used mostly in accordance with his desires, it has practically belonged to the janitor. In the past 10 years the great play movement has burst upon us and has brought with it an illumination as to the educational value of…

Because of the individual authority of each State for its own educational program, practices and policies differ widely among them in many respects. Yet in the midst of differences there are also common elements of development. The U. S. Office of Education, in presenting this series of monographs, has attempted to point out those common elements,…

Since the publication by the Bureau of Education of Bulletin (1910) No. 5, entitled "American Schoolhouses" much progress has been made in school architecture from every point of view. In this revised edition such changes and such additions have been made in the text as will, it is hoped, bring this progress to the attention of school…

Since the beginning of the recent revival of interest in rural schools, millions of dollars have been expended annually for country schoolhouses, and expenditures for this purpose have grown larger from year to year. Some of the newer buildings are large and relatively costly, but many, probably most, of them are built with little or no reference…

The phenomenal growth of science and technology in the past decade has made science teaching more important, and at the same time more difficult. An awareness of these changes has caused an unprecedented public support for sound science programs in the schools. A good science program makes effective use of equipment and materials in teaching basic…

In the last 8 or 10 years there has been unusual progress in the establishment of kindergartens in most of the cities and States, but still the kindergarten is a phase of school work less known than the work of the grades in the elementary schools. Many school officers and school architects lack information as to the character of rooms and…

In preparing this bulletin the writer has addressed himself to some of the more important questions with which school boards and architects have to deal when they enter upon the work of planning a school building. It is not a treatise on school hygiene, but a discussion of the requirements of school buildings from the schoolman's point of view…

The present study of school building construction and school building needs was made at the request of school building experts from all parts of the country who urged the need of detailed data by cities as well as by counties and States, as to the types of schools for which buildings had been constructed during the past 3 years, the kinds of…

Adequate school plants are essential to a modern educational program. The school plant that is not properly maintained soon fails to provide the service for which it was intended. The total program of maintenance, including repairs, renovation, remodeling, rehabilitation, and modernization should be carefully planned. Some tasks will recur at…

This bulletin is designed as an outline to direct the attention of local officials to various features and steps meriting attention in planning and carrying out a school-plant construction program. Planning, administration, and construction practices and procedures may vary with buildings of different sizes or types of construction or with those…

During the past fifteen years, educators and electronics specialists have been experimenting with language facilities, usually by modifying equipment components which were originally designed for other purposes. The rapid growth, wide diversity, and newness of these electronic aids to language learning have created the need for a study of the most…

School fires endanger pupils' lives and take annually a heavy toll in school property losses. If not controlled, these potentials may be changed quickly into serious losses. School officials, teachers, parents, and the public have an interest in school fire safety. Because of other interests and a lack of assigned responsibility in this area fire…

The present bulletin deals with the evolution of the school auditorium, and presents recommendations for the planning of the auditorium, with particular reference to the stage, so that the auditorium can be used as a theater, concert hall, for forums, for motion pictures, and for radio programs. The auditorium is one of the most important units in…

Because of the individual authority of each State for its own educational program, practices and policies differ widely among them in many respects. Yet in the midst of differences there are also common elements of development. The U. S. Office of Education, in presenting this series of monographs, has attempted to point out those common elements,…