OBSERVATION AND DIRECTED TEACHING
Laboratory facilities for observation and directed teaching and for practical
research in Secondary Education are made available through the co-operation
of the school systems of the city of Charlottesville, the county of
Albemarle, and the city of Winchester. Students of the Department of Education
will do observation and directed teaching in the high school of the
city of Charlottesville under the supervision of critic teachers selected from
the city high school staff and the supervisor of instruction who is Assistant
Professor of Secondary Education in the University of Virginia.
The schools of the city of Charlottesville and the city of Winchester are
also available for practical research and experimentation in the fields of
school administration, secondary education and educational psychology.
Certain well-qualified students will be assigned special problems to study
under the direction of the Superintendent of Schools and the Education
faculty.
The schools of the city of Charlottesville are organized on the prevailing
7 — 4 plan of the State of Virginia and afford an accessible working laboratory
which reflects the actual working conditions in high schools of the
State.
The school system of Albemarle County is now organized on the county
unit basis. It consists of the following schools for white pupils: seven accredited
four-year high schools, four junior high schools, five four-room
schools, four three-room schools, fourteen two-room schools and twenty-one
one-room schools. A number of the small schools are recognized by the
State Department of Education as standard in their respective grades. The
supervision of the county schools is under the direction of the county superintendent
and three full time supervisors.
Arrangements have been made with the Superintendent and School
Board of the City of Charlottesville for members of the Faculty of the Department
of Education to direct such studies in the fields of Educational
Psychology, Secondary Education and School Administration as shall be
requested by the Superintendent of City Schools.
The school system of the city of Winchester is open for observation,
research and experiment by students of the Department of Education. This
school system is divided into four departments: Primary, consisting of kindergarten
and Grades 1, 2 and 3; Elementary, consisting of Grades 4, 5 and
6; Junior High School, consisting of Grades 7, 8 and 9; and Senior High
School consisting of Grades 10, 11 and 12. Each department is in charge of
a supervisor who gives all of his or her time to supervision.
The new school plant in Winchester, opened in 1923, provides many features in
addition to the regular classrooms. For the elementary school division there will
be a covered play court with fresh air ventilation for year-round use; a nature
study court; outdoor classrooms for convalescent and anemic children; and facilities
for hot lunch provided in the high school cafeteria. In the junior and senior
high school division, besides the regular classrooms equipped with movable
desks, there will be a business department with special equipment; science
laboratories and science lecture rooms; sewing and cooking laboratories with
special equipment; art studios; music studios; industrial shops for woodworking,
metal working, electrical working and agriculture; library study and
reference room; gymnasium and swimming pool; teachers' work room and library.
For recreation and community service there will be provided an art
gallery exhibit and history museum, auditorium seating twelve hundred, an
athletic stadium, tennis courts, golf course, arboretum, and public park.
These arrangements give to students in the Department of Education
an excellent opportunity to study the problems of school organization and
administration.
