Complete In every detail the Sidney Lanier High School will receive almost 800 pupils upon the opening of the fall session of the public school system of Montgomery on September 26. For more than a year the construction of the building has been rushed, and even now there remain two unfinished rooms which the contractors say they will have in shape within the week. The new school is the pride of the School Board and of Superintendent Floyd and was built after the most careful inspection of the model schools of the North and East.
A trip through the new Sidney Lanier High School building at the corner of Scott and McDonough streets would be sufficient to convince the most critical eye that the building itself, as well as the interior arrangements, are perfect.
In this building, there are fifteen classrooms, large enough to accommodate altogether about 800 students. Each room is arranged with a view to having a perfect light. The chairs, desks, and blackboards, are of the latest design and make, and each classroom is perfect.
In addition to the classrooms, there are laboratories, lecture rooms and ample accommodations for the officers of the school, a suite of six rooms having been set apart for the use of the administration officers, there being fifty-two rooms in all. The ground floor will be devoted to the Industrial branches of study, including the woodworking department and several branches of domestic science as well as a general economical department.
The next two floors will be devoted to academic work while on the next floor will be located laboratories, lecture rooms and rooms for the teaching of sciences.
Complete Gymnasium
On the top floor one of the most complete gymnasiums, for the use of both male and female students, at different times, of course, has been established.
On the main floor is located the assembly hall. This hall is arranged on the plan of a theatre and is, in reality, a perfect little theatre in itself. Amateur theatricals will be held here, and reading and literature societies of the city will also use the hall.
In each room of the building there is located a clock, regulated by a master clock in the hall on the main floor. This has been established in the building to avoid discrepancies in time which are almost unavoidable in the case of a number of independent clocks.
Also in the room of the principal of the school, there is an electrical apparatus through which the principal may regulate the classes as well as ring the bells in the classrooms signalizing the opening of studies and the close of the day. There is also a touch button in the office of the principal which will cause a bell to ring in every room in the building in case of a fire.
Big Fire Escapes
In case of fire, a thing not likely as the building is almost fireproof, the danger would be minimized by the numerous means of escape which have been provided. Each room is located near a fire escape which leads from the top floor to the ground. It is a large affair and is more on the order of a staircase.
The sanitary arrangements in the new building are of the latest design, the rooms being tiled throughout. On the top floor, there are shower-bath arrangements for the use of pupils who have been exercising in the gymnasium. On each floor, there is located a drinking fountain.
In each room there is to be found a telephone which will permit the principal of the school to communicate instantly with any classroom. These telephones will also have a city connection, and may even be connected with the long-distance lines.
Besides the various industrial departments for the male students there has been established on the ground floor a completely furnished dining room with pantry adjoining, and a large kitchen in the rear. Here the girls will be taught to cook, how to set the dining room table, and other domestic features.
Perfect Ventilation
The new structure was built with a view to perfect ventilation and heating. Two enormous boilers will supply heat for the building during the winter months. This heat will be regulated by a thermometer in each room. Should the heat go above 70 degrees in the wintertime the apparatus will cut off the heat. Should the heat go below 70 degrees the thermometer will cause the heat to be turned on.
The building is being rushed to completion, and, with the exception of one or two rooms, will be ready for occupancy when school opens.
It is the intention of the School Board to make the Lawrence Street school, formerly the Girls High School, a grammar school for the seventh grade, and as soon as possible students will be given instruction in industrial and domestic science in the new high school.