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Alberta School Regulations
1916
Caroline Alberta Canada

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GENERAL REGULATIONS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

APPROVED MAY 1916

1.These regulations shall apply to all schools under the control and mangement of the Department of Education.

2.In rural and village districts the site for the school be approved or selected by the Department. As far as possible it should meet the following standards.
(a) It should be located near the centre of the district as practicable.
(b) It should be easily accessible to all children of the district.
(c) It should be in a dry evalated position , admitting of easy drainage.
(d) It It should be removed from stagnant water and noisy surroundings.
Subject to the provisions of the SCHOOL ORDINANCE in that behalf the board of any town school district may select such site or sites as in its judgement may seem desirable.

3.The school grounds in rural and village districts shall comprise an area of at least two acres. In town districts the school site shall comprise of an area of not less than three acres and more if deemed necessary by the Department in view of the size of the building to be erected thereon.The site in all cases should be levelled and kept clear of underbrush, weeds, rubbish, etc. The grounds should be surrounded by a suitable fence(not barbed wire) which should be kept in good repair.

USE OF SCHOOL HOUSE AND GROUNDS

Subject to the provisions of School Ordinance a school house and grounds may,outside of the hours during which school is in session, be used for lawful purpose-social,educational or religious-with the consent or approval of the board,but no advertisements other than satutory notices and notices of public meetings shall be posted on the school premises or distrubted to the pupils unless approved.

CONDUCT OF SCHOOLS

School shall be held between the hours of nine o'clock and twelve o'clock in the forenoon and half-past one o'clock and four o'clock in the afternoon(standard time) of every day except Saturdays and Sundays and days declared to be holidays by or under the SCHOOL ORDINANCE, but the board may alter or shorten the school hours upon receiving permission of the minister.
The board of any district may direct that school be open at 9:30 during a whole or portion of the months of November,December,January and February and the board of any rural district may direct that only one hour's intermission be taken at noon,in which case the school shall be closed at 3:30 p.m. The board of any district may direct that the time spent in the class-room by the pupils of Grades I and II shall not exceed four hours per day. No pupil in a grade below the sixth shall be required to perform homework in connection with the ordinary school studies except upon written request of the parent or guardian.

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School barn
1908
Caroline Alberta Canada

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Barn used to shelter the horses the children rode to school.

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Mock up South Fork School
1985
Caroline Alberta Canada

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TOILET ACCOMMODATIONS ALBERTA EDUCATION REGULATIONS 1916

Where inside toilets accommodations cannot be provided,separate privies under different roofs, or otherwise erected according to a plan approved by the Department, shall be provided for the boys and girls. They should be widely separated and each entrance effectually screened from obersvation. The outhouses shall be kept in a cleanly condition and in good repair.

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School desks
1920
Caroline Alberta Canada

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Desks

The students' desks were placed so that the windows were on their left as the students faced the front.

MINIMUM SCHOOL FURNISHINGS AND EQUIPMENT
Every school shall be furnished with a sufficient number of comfortable seats and desks for accommodation of the pupils attending school. These should be provided at least sixty square feet of blackboard space; a suitable bookcase or cases to accommodate the library, if any such maps and globes as shall be prescribed by the Department and such other furniture and equipment as upon recommendation of the inspector the Depatment may direct to be furnished.

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School Library
1920
Caroline Alberta Canada

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Book Cupboard

The book cupboard was usually at the rear of the room and also held lunch pails.

School Libraries

All school library and reference books purchased by boards for the use of pupils and teachers, except those received from the Department in lieu of grants or those contained in school library lists authorized by the Department shall be subject to approval of the Minister.
The board shall provide such books as may from time to time be prescribed by the Department in which to keep a complete record of the books belonging in the school library, and also a record of every book loaned.
In rural and village schools the principal( or teacher) of the school shall be responsible for the cataloguing and loaning of the books contained in the library.
Each book received in the library shall be directly marked on the inside of the front cover with the name and number of the school district, the number of the book and the date received.In addition thereto there may be attached to the outside of the book a label showing stock or accession number.
At the close of each school term and at any time which maybe prescribed by the board all books belonging to a library shall be called in and the proper entries regarding their return made in the library record book.
It shall be the duty of the teacher and the secretary of every school to make such returns regarding the school library as may be required
from time to time by the Department.

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School water pail and dipper
1920
Caroline Alberta Canada

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Water

There were many kinds of utensils used to hold drinking water - from a pail and a dipper to a stone crock which had a push tap on it.
Ricinus: I attended Ricinus school. I recall there was no well there, so we took water in quart sealers and crawled under the school to keep
it cool in the dirt.
Hazel Dell: There wasn't a well that functioned properly on the school ground. The water was carried from a farm across the road.
Wooler: The pump on the school well never worked during my stay, so in addition to having the wood fire burning every morning before I got to school, a student carried our daily pail of water from home.
Dovercourt: Our water supply was a well, pump, a water pail and dipper.
REGULATIONS 1916
If there is any likelihood of getting good water at a reasonable cost a well should be sunk on the premises. For sanitary reasons the well
should be bored or drilled if practicable, and shall be situated and protected as to be free from surface drainage and other impurities.
In case an abundant supply of water is obtained the well should be pumped or baled out several times during the year. In all districts where water cannot be obtained by sinking a well the board shall provide a sufficient supply of wholesome drinking water for use during school hours.

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Lamps for lighting
1920
Caroline Alberta Canada

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Lamps

The most common lights used for evening activities was the gas lantern. The earlier models had two mantles. You pumped air in to the tank with a small cylindrical pump - then lit the mantles. The mantles were very fragile and many a time a moth would fly into them and they would be destroyed. The next model came out with a glass globe that encased the mantles and a built-in pump. These are still used today on camping trips. At home, students would do their homework by another type of lamp. The base was filled with coal oil. It had a wick that you lit and a glass globe to fit over the wick. If you turned the wick up too high, you had a job of cleaning the globe as the glass would be covered with dark soot. When an aladdin lamp was used it was much easier on the eyes.