TRUSTEES' REPORT

To His Excellency, the Governor of Connecticut, and to The Honorable General Assembly:

The Trustees of the Mystic Oral School for the Deaf submit their second biennial report of this school as a state institution.

The enrollment of the school has increased and as soon as our new building is put into use we can accommodate more pupils. Since our last report we have erected a new building for which the general assembly of 1923 appropriated $125,000. The entire amount was put into the construction of the dormitory. We have requested the sum of $60,000 with which to equip this new building. This sum includes a heating plant, furniture, linen, in fact everything to make the building usable. It also includes money to be spent on grading the grounds around it. We are very proud of our new dormitory and feel that we have used all the money to the greatest advantage. In this new building are dining room, kitchen, playrooms for the children, schoolrooms, dormitories, hospital room and rooms for the teachers. It is very necessary that our teachers and officers have suitable quarters. We have accommodations for a few in the new building but they are not enough. We have therefore requested an appropriation of $100,000 for a fireproof building to replace the present frame structurethis main building to provide us with additional rooms for our teachers, suitable quarters for the Superintendent and his family, more schoolrooms and other special rooms necessary for the best accomplishment of our work.

We have also requested an appropriation of $5,000 for a new barn, silo and shed for wagons and farm implements. In 1923 our herd of cattle was given the tuberculin test and found positive. We disposed of the herd and renovated the barn as best we could before purchasing a new herd. We now have a herd of cattle free from reactors.

cost per capita of each child and in comparison with the per capita cost of other state schools is very reasonable.

The past two years have been a period of progressmuch of this has been due to the fine spirit of cooperation and the efficiency of our corps of teachers and officers. Numerous improvements have been made in the buildings and grounds and with all our needed expenses and repairs we have kept within our maintenance appropriation. Children like ours, who are laboring under such a serious handicap, need the best educational facilities which the State can provide.

The general health of the children has been good and because of the isolation of the school we were spared the diseases prevalent in the village. The watchfulness of the school nurse, overseeing the diet of the children and giving prompt attention to their sicknesses has contributed to their healthy condition.

The farm has proved its value, educationally as well as economically, and without it the question of good wholesome food would indeed be a problem. The farm furnishes the school an abundance of fresh meat, milk, poultry, eggs, fruits and vegetables and has supplied the contents of the five thousand quarts of canned food put up in glass jars for winter use.

Included with this report are the reports of the Superintendent and the Principal respectively. These give a detailed account of the general condition of the school and of the school work in both the literary and industrial departments.

In conclusion we wish to commend the Superintendent faculty, officers and employees of the school who have worked so harmoniously and efficiently under the present management. Their fidelity and loyalty to their work have won the Board's highest commendation.

Respectfully submitted,

LOUIS M. ALLYN,

CHARLES E. WHEELER,

MARY JOSEPHINE DICKINSON,

FREDERIC DENISON,

FRANK V. CHAPPELL,

HENRY R. PALMER.

To the Board of Trustees of The Mystic Oral School for the Deaf, Gentlemen:

It is with pleasure I submit this report to you for the fiscal years beginning July 1, 1922 and ending June 30, 1924.

Our enrollment for the year 1922 was ninety-nine pupils with an average daily attendance of eighty-three. For the year 1923 our enrollment was one hundred and three pupils with an average daily attendance of ninetyfive, which proves that we are steadily growing.

Through the generosity of the general assembly of 1923, we were given an appropriation of $125,000 for a new building to be used as a girls' dormitory and school house. Work on that structure for various reasons was not begun until April 1924. The T. J. Pardy Construction Company of Bridgeport were the contractors. The building proper is practically completed and can be entirely finished for occupancy within a few weeks. Since the bill calling for the appropriation read for the erection of a new building, the entire appropriation necessarily had to be put into the building. It is a fireproof structure with three stories and a basement. In the basement, which is however more than half way above ground, are the dining room, kitchen and living room and emergency bedrooms for the help. The bedrooms supply a long felt want, as until now we have had no suitable quarters for the single farmers. This part of the building is entirely separate from the rest, with a special entrance.

On the first floor are six schoolrooms, the principal's office and a large auditorium. This has a stage at one. end. This room will be used for chapel exercises, school parties and moving picture entertainments.

On the second floor are the girls' dormitories. In the center is a large dormitory for the smaller girls with a supervisor's room opening into it. There are also three smaller rooms to be used for the intermediate and large girls. Two locker rooms provide ample space for the girls' clothing. At the southwestern corner of that floor is the hospital room with a nurse's room and toilet adjoining. This room will be used for minor illnesses. We have had only one case of diphtheria and that was a