Annual report. [1915]

8

academic branches were being somewhat neglected in favor of
the newer and more striking undertakings in industrial and
physical training. Since these two lines have been established
along with academic work as integral parts of our course of
study, the balance which exists in this three-phrase system is
fully recognized. In a number of ways there has been opportunity in the past year to give a new impetus to academic instruction. This work will be commented upon in detail in succeeding pages.
The rapid progress made during the past six years in school
industrial work has brought this feature to its full development
as a branch of public instruction, and brings the authorities face
to face with a problem entirely new in public school affairsthat of taking up the industrial work at the point where it
ceases to be simply instruction and becomes a commercial proposition. This interesting development is discussed fully in the
chapter on industrial instruction.
It is with great satisfaction that we find among legislators
and other public men a firm reliance upon the schools of today
as the foundation upon which to build, and on their ability to
carry to a happy conclusion the constructive work to which the
past decade and a half have been dedicated. Particularly during the times of economic stress through which the country
has been passing, the public may look with gratitude to these
men for the preservation of the school system.
With respect to school enrollment and attendance, we find
that for December, 1915, the number of schools in operation
during the year reached a total of 4,386. For the previous
school year, 1914-15, they numbered 4,187, for 1913-14, 4,235,
and for the preceding year 2,934. The total annual enrollment
through December, 1915, reached 606,597; the annual enrollment for this fraction of a school year.is greater than for any
previous similar period. For the entire school year 1914-15,
the figures were 610,519, and for 1913-14, 621,030. The average monthly enrollment for the present school year through
December, 1915, was 526,095, as compared with 493,763 for
1914-15, and 489,070 for the preceding year. In average daily
attendance, which is the most important of all, the figure for
the present school year through December, 1915, reached
473,213; for 1914-15 it was 441,742, and 428,552 for the preceding year. It is very significant that in average monthly enrollment and average daily attendance the proportion of increase
during the past two years is greater than for the total annual
enrollment; in consequence, we find that the percentage of at