APPENDIX ONE: SCHOOL RECORDS

In conclusion, I would earnestly call the attention of the Trustees of Schools to the important duties which the law, as well as their own immediate interests, imposes upon them — to take care that the school be properly conducted; that the requisite conveniences, such as suitable firewood be provided — that the children be at stated periods regularly examined, so that their progress may be seen, and that the teacher be not careless or remiss in the discharge of his duties — to be strict and conscientious in not giving a certificate of sobriety and good conduct, to any teacher, but such as really deserves it — for when Trustees neglect their duty in this respect, all the enactments of our Leglisature requiring good conduct on the part of the teacher, will be rendered nugatory.

- John MacNeill Visitor of District Schools October 261“, 1837

In 1830, school inspectors began to travel the Island to promote the establishment of schools and as schools were established, they inspected their growth. John MacNeill was the first School Inspector to travel the Island, inSpecting fifty—one schools his first year in 1830. (48) The Annual School Inspector Reports, the first province wide educational report, begin to appear in 1830 and lasted until 1917. At this time, the Provincial Department of Education was established. For every year after that, a “Department of Education Report“ appears in the Annual Journals of the House of Assembly,

which include the School Inspectors Reports? These reports, where the schools in the St. Peters Fire District Area fall under the “Inspectorate Number Six Division," contain a wealth of information, especially about the one— room schoolhouses that dotted the Island’s landscape not so awfully long ago.

The condition of the school, improvements made, the level of the student’s ability, the number of pupils, the school secretary's name and the teachers’ names are just a few of the things that were frequently listed in these detailed reports. Although the reports were quite detailed, initially not every school was inspected every year. The early years of the School Inspector Reports are sometimes inconsistent in this aspect, but the records show improvement in their consistency in the mid—18705.

Another inconsistency that appears is the teacher’s names that are listed. Sometimes there may have been up to three teachers in a school in one year, but only one or two of the names were documented. The list of teachers’ names and the names of the “School Secretaries” stop being listed in the Department of Education Reports in 1943.

The following is a list of the one—room schools that have been located in the St. Peters Fire District area since the early 18305. The quotations that appear are the comments written by the School Inspectorfor that year.

' Both the School Inspector Reports and the Journals of the House ofAssembly can be viewed at the public Archives of Prince Edward Island.

279