This column continues exploring the 1913 – 1914 Second Annual Catalogue of Ellis Public Schools. This portion deals with the curricula for the College Preparatory Course. Keep in mind the limited faculty available to prepare Ellis youth for their futures.
According to the catalogue, the district (or perhaps the state) required 15 units for graduation. Those desiring to attend college needed to take and pass “at least two units of a foreign language and three units in one subject besides English, to be taken from the following: Foreign Language, Mathematics, History, Natural Science.”
The catalogue adds an explanation stating, “In the branches that do not require preparation by the student outside of the recitation a unit of credit is given for a course of daily exercises extending through the year with double eighty-minute periods, and a half unit of credit is given for a course extending through the year with forty-minute periods.”
In additional paragraphs, the catalogue records that, “The Normal Training Course meets the requirements of the State Board of Education.
"If agriculture and domestic science are taken in the third year, this course will also satisfy the requirements of the State Board with reference to appropriations for these subjects.
"If two units of foreign language are included in the electives, this course will be satisfactory for admission to most colleges.”
And finally, “Satisfactory rhetoricals are required of all students.”
Clearly, earning a diploma and the right to apply to colleges required diligence on the part of students and faculty.
I don’t pretend that I understand all of these requirements, but I do recognize that the students and their families sacrificed more than tuition money to achieve educational success. I wish I had more information regarding teacher preparation that detailed how educators instructed students to meet these standards.
