A history of public education in Rhode Island, from 1636 to 1876 ... Comp. by authority of the Board of education, and ed. by Thomas B. Stockwell ...

THE PROVIDENCE SCHOOLS. 23
" That excuse for absence shall be by a note from the parents or guardians of
such scholar.
"That monitors be appointed by the masters of each school, to notice the
absence or tardiness of the delinquent scholars, the list of whose names shall
be preserved and exhibited to the committee at their next visitation. Submitted by Enos Hitchcock, John Howland, Jonathan Maxcy, Joseph Jelicks, committee."
The above report having been accepted, it was voted and resolved,
that the rules therein rccommended, be adopted for the regulation of
the schools, viz.:
"That as far as possible they exclude corporeal punishment from the
schools: and in particular, that they never inflict it on females.
"That they inculcate upon the scholars the'proprieties of good behavior during their absence from the school. That they consider themselves in the place
of parents to the children under their care, and endeavour to convince them by
their treatment, that they feel a parental affection for them.
" That they never make dismission from school at an earlier hour than usual,
a reward for attention or diligence, but endeavour to lead the children to consider being at school as a privilege, and dismission from it as a punishment.
"That they never authorize one scholar to inflict any corporeal punishment
on another.
"That they endeavour to impress the minds of their pupils with a sense of
the Being and Providence of God, and the obligation they are under to love and
reverence Him; their duty to their parents and masters; the beauty and excellence of truth, justice and mutual love; tenderness to brute creatures; the
happy tendency of self-government and obedience to the dictates of reason and
religion; the observance of the Sabbath as a sacred institution; the duty which
they owe their country, and the necessity of a strict obedience to its laws; and
that they caution them against the prevailing vices."*
Four public schools were thus opened in Providence on the last Monday in October, 1800. The number of scholars was beyond anticipation, and a fifth school was soon required. For twelve years, however,
the whole attendance rarely exceeded eight hundred. The four original
schools had each a master with a salary of $500, and an usher who was
paid $200. After a time the rules were revised and new regulations established, from which the following is an extract:
" The public schools are established for the general good of the community;
and all children of both sexes, having attained the age of six years, shall be received therein, and faithfully instructed without preference or partiality. The
instruction shall be uniform, in all the schools, and shall consist of spelling,
reading, the use of capital letters, and punctuation, writing, English grammar
and arithmetic.
* Barnard's Journal of R. I. School Inst., Iti. p. 41.