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assistant
principals, tutors, teachers, assistant teachers, and stewards who were
in charge of the boarders, set their salaries, and drew up contracts.
Other matters involved tuition rates, adoption and revision of rules and
regulations governing operation of the school and conduct of the students
and staff, recommendations to the General Assembly, and regular visits
to the school to examine the physical facilities and to review academic
accomplishments of the students. In 1841 the trustees created an
executive committee to supervise the affairs of the academy between board
meetings.
The
trustees met for the first time on September 4, 1783, and spent the next
ten months trying to secure the services of a principal, then called a
president, for the academy. One of his first acts was the submission of
rules and regulations which were adopted by the board. Although not affiliated
with any denomination, the school
operated
within basic religious premises. In fact, for many years ministers served
as principals. Students were required to attend prayers twice a day. Hours
for study were set at 6-7 and 9-12 in the morning and 2-5 in the afternoon.
In 1813 a new rule provided that each "student shall commit to memory the
Catechism of his Own church, & Keep by him a New Testament."
Misbehaving students could be admonished by the faculty, but expelled only
by the trustees. The minutes also contain
investigations
of charges of cruelty against teachers.
The
minutes are heavily laden with financial matters, both routine and extraordinary.
On December 9, 1818, the board directed the treasurer to state accounts
in dollars and cents, not pounds, shillings, and pence. Periodically detailed
accounts would be recorded. For example, the minutes for May 3, 1820 delineated
expenditures and amounts for tuition and board received from parents and
guardians. In February 1843 the trustees lowered tuition because of the
depressed state of the economy
as
a means of maintaining an income stream. |
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Some
time prior to April 18, 1797, the school house was destroyed by fire. The
trustees
obtained
a private house for temporary use, and even considered taking over the
Eden School building which was for sale at the time. Eventually a new building
was constructed. In 1824 a carriage house and stable were added for use
by the principal. Ten years later a committee of trustees considered replacement
of the roof of the main school building. Instead they recommended the less
expensive route of repairing the roof and coating it with tar and fish
oil in a black or red color.
The
earlier proceedings contain little information about the number of students
attending the academy. A report for 1818 shows 45 boys in attendance. Ten
of them, named in the minutes, were present as free students, those whose
parents had insufficient income to pay the public school fees. The academy
received state funds for educating these poor pupils. Whenever a free student
left, the trustees reviewed applications and selected another one in his
place. The total number at any one time
varied
between six and ten.
By
1829 the number of boarders had fallen so low that their fees could no
longer support the services of a steward. Instead the principal was given
the boarding operation. Boarders were charged $1.75 per week for room and
board and $5.00 for fuel in the winter. Day students paid $2.00 for fuel.
The tuition fee was set at $10.00 per quarter.
In
1869 there were 35 paying students and 10 free ones. On September 27, 1869
the principal submitted an analysis of the performance of each of the ten
free students. Attached to this report was a wish list which included more
frequent visits by board members, coal in place of wood for fuel, and blackboards.
Periodically
the trustees would outline the courses of study for the academy. In 1842
the subjects included English, Latin, Greek, geography, |
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