The cover image was created by the transcriber and is placed in the public domain.
THE FROEBEL SCHOOL, GARY, INDIANA
A model Wirt school plant, with all grades, from kindergarten through the High School Social center and people’s university. Built 1913.
THE GARY SCHOOLS
PREFACE
The public-school system of Gary, Indiana,has attracted during the last few years thegeneral attention of progressive educators allover the country as perhaps the most ingeniousattempt yet made to meet the formidableproblems of congested urban life and modernvocational demands which are presented tothe administrators of the city school. A broadeducational philosophy has combined withadministrative skill to produce a type ofschool which represents a fundamental reorganizationof the public school to meet changingsocial and industrial conditions. A newbalance of school activities, an increasedwealth of facilities, the opening-up of opportunitiesto the younger children, the institutionof a new kind of vocational training, thefusing of activities into an organic whole sothat the school becomes a children’s community,the correlation of school activities withcommunity activities, and lastly, the applicationof principles of economics to public-schoolivmanagement which permit greatlyincreased educational and recreational facilitiesnot only for children in the schools,but also for adults,—these are the featuresof the Gary school system that have arousedthe enthusiasm of many educators, and madeit one of the most visited and discussed schoolsystems in the country. Dr. David Snedden,Commissioner of Education in Massachusetts,has said that the system of education atGary “more adequately meets the needs ofcity children than any other system of whichthe writer has knowledge.” Professor JohnDewey declared recently, at a public meetingin New York City, called to discuss the adopti