Page:History of Public School Education in Arizona.djvu/112

106 these high schools which brings out in clear relief the devotion of these people to an educational ideal which they have made their own. This is brilliantly illustrated in the history of the high school of Yuma. The Territorial penitentiary was located at Yuma for some years before its removal to larger and more spacious quarters at Florence, leaving its old buildings at Yuma unoccupied. At about the time of this transfer the Yuma High School was being organized, but was without a local habitation (1909). Under the stress of circumstances the high school was conducted in the buildings within the high walls of the old penitentiary. Says the principal:

And one of the local poets has sung:

The school moved into its new building, costing $75,000, in 1914. It employs seven teachers and offers courses in Latin, Spanish, French, English, and the sciences, including agriculture and dairy farming, domestic science and domestic art, commercial subjects, history, music, art, and physical culture.

In 1910 the Territorial board of education adopted the following uniform courses of study for the high schools: English, 4 units; mathematics—algebra, 1½ units; geometry, 1 unit; history, 2 units; ancient and modern languages, 2 units; science, 2 units; electives, 3½ units.

A unit was defined as consisting of five periods of 45 minutes each per week for 36 weeks. This course was to become effective September, 1910. In that year commercial courses were reported in Phoenix, Prescott, Jerome, Yuma, Tucson, Tombstone, Globe, and Tempe. The schools of Bisbee and Mesa also had some courses in commercial subjects.

The last report on high schools as a whole is that by Dr. Neil, high-school inspector, for the year 1915–16. It covers 26 schools located in 13 of the 14 counties of the State, Apache County alone being unrepresented. This report includes both classes of high schools, known in other States as city and country high schools. That these classes are less clearly differentiated in Arizona than in the other States is due to the character of the settlements. As water is the chief desideratum in Arizona, settlements must of necessity be within the bounds or reach of running water, hence the tendency to settlement in vil-