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Manuals
Conduct of Christian Schools:
SECOND PART - CHAPTER 8
MEANS OF ESTABLISHING AND MAINTAINING ORDER IN SCHOOLS
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CHAPTER 8
School Officers
There will be several officers in the school. These officers will be charged with several different functions which the teachers cannot or ought not do themselves.19
These officers will be appointed by the teachers of each class on one of the first three school days after the vacation.
Each teacher will submit the names of those chosen as class officers to the Director or to the Head Teacher. The teacher will not have them begin to exercise their duties until they have been approved. If it later becomes necessary to change them or to change one of them, the nomination of another or others will be made in the same manner. These officers and their obligations will be discussed below.
The Reciters of Prayers
There will be two officers in each school to whom will be assigned the duty of reciting the prayers. One of them will recite the prayers in the morning; the other will recite the prayers in the afternoon. They will alternate between reciting morning and evening prayers.
The one who says the prayers in the morning during one week will say them in the afternoon during the following week. The other one will change in the corresponding way. They will recite all of the prayers that are said in school sedately, attentively, and decorously. They will recite all of the prayers in such a manner that they can be easily heard by all of the students.
No students will be appointed to this office unless they know all of the prayers perfectly, recite them distinctly, and are reserved and well behaved, so as not to cause the distraction of the other students.
Two Reciters of Prayers will be appointed each month and will be chosen from among the class of writers. They may be continued in this office in case there are not others who can acquit themselves as well as they do of this duty, but for no other reason, for this appointment contributes much to making the students recite the prayers well in private and to making them like to say their prayers at home with deliberation and attention.20
The Holy Water Bearer
There will be one student who will take an aspergillum 21 to Holy Mass on every school day. On Sundays and holy days of obligation, this student will take the aspergillum to both Mass and vespers. In this way, students may take holy water on entering and on leaving the church. This officer and the keeper of rosaries will go first and will lead the others on the way to church. On entering the church, the Holy Water Bearer will stand near the holy water font and will remain there until all the students of all the classes have passed and have taken holy water. The Holy Water Bearer will do the same when the students leave the church. This student will be placed in such a manner that the students can easily take holy water from the aspergillum, which will be dipped from time to time in the font whenever the Bearer observes that there is no more holy water on it.
The aspergillum will be held straight out in front of its bearer, who under pain of punishment will not use it to sprinkle the others or to play with it.
For as long as the students are passing, the Holy Water Bearer will remain standing in a modest posture, with eyes lowered, without looking at any one of them as they are passing, and without turning. When all of the students have left the church and are not to go back to school, the Holy Water Bearer will return to the school with the carrier of the rosaries and replace the aspergillum where it is usually kept. This student should be very pious and very well behaved and will not be replaced by another unless it is necessary.
The Rosary Carrier and Assistants
There will be one student chosen to carry the rosaries to the church every time the students are taken there. A teacher will count out the rosaries to this carrier, who will take care to count the rosaries every day immediately after Holy Mass or in the afternoon. If any of them are missing, the Carrier will notify the teacher who is responsible for counting them on the last school day of each week. There will be as many bundles of rosaries as there are rows in the church of two students in a row. If there is more than one row of two in a row, there will be one or more assistants to distribute the rosaries, one to each rank of two students in a row.
When the students are all kneeling in their places, this officer will take one or more bundles of rosaries to give to the assistant or assistants. Each one of them will go down a row between two students from beginning to end. Each will distribute the rosaries to those who do not know how to read, that is, to those who read only the charts of the alphabet and of the syllables.
As soon as Holy Mass is finished, they will go in the same way, each down the assigned row to take back the rosaries from those to whom they were given at the beginning of Holy Mass. The Carrier of the Rosaries will then take the bundles from the assistants and add them to those already collected.
If the students do not return to the school after Holy Mass, the Carrier of the Rosaries will go with the Holy Water Bearer to take the rosaries back to the school and put them in their usual place.
It will also be the duty of this officer every day at the beginning of school, both morning and afternoon, to give the rosaries to those who are to be the first to say the rosary in school. This officer will be careful to remember who were the last to say the rosary during the preceding session of school.
This class officer will notify the students who say the rosary in turn in the order of the benches, and will see that those who say the rosary in school say it with deliberation, piety, and decorum and that they do not talk and play. If any students are guilty of any of these things, the officer will at once inform the teacher.
If there are more than three classes in a school, there will be two or three students appointed to this office. They should be very sensible, very well behaved, and even very trustworthy, since they must be careful not to lose the rosaries.
The Carrier of the Rosaries and the assistants will ordinarily be chosen from the class in which the rosary is said. If, however, there are not any in it who are capable, these officers will be chosen from another class.
The Bell Ringer
There will be in each school a student whose function will be to ring the bell for the beginning of school and of prayer exercises. At the beginning of school and at every hour this attendant will ring five separate strokes of the bell. On every half hour, five or six strokes of the bell will be tolled.
At the end of school, the bell will be rung and then also tolled five or six strokes. This will announce that it is the end of school and that the prayers are to begin.
Care must be taken to ring the bell exactly on time. About the time for a Miserere before the beginning of the prayers in the morning and before the Catechism in the afternoon, the Bell Ringer will toll two or three strokes to notify the students to put their books away, the collectors to gather up all papers, and all to prepare themselves and be ready to begin the prayers without a moment's delay and as soon as the bell has ceased ringing. This officer should be very assiduous in attending school, careful, vigilant, exact, and very punctual in ringing the bell on time.
Monitors and Supervisors
There will be Monitors in all of the classes during the absences of the teachers but at no other times. The exception is in the classes of the writers. In those classes, there will be a Monitor during breakfast and the afternoon snack. The Monitor will supervise those who are repeating the prayers, the Catechism, and the responses of Holy Mass.
All of the care and attention of the Monitor will be directed to observing everything that takes place in the classroom. The Monitor will do this without saying a single word no matter what happens and without leaving the assigned place. Monitors will not permit any student to speak to them or to approach them during the entire time that they are fulfilling their duties.
The Monitor will not threaten any student either by signs or otherwise no matter what the fault committed and will never use the ferule or anything whatsoever to strike the students.
The Monitor will always remain seated at the assigned place and will report faithfully to the teacher everything just as it has happened, without adding or concealing anything, noting those who keep silent and those who make the least noise, and above all, being careful to give a good example to the others. Students who have been appointed to this class office must be convinced that they have been put there not merely to watch all that takes place in the school, but even more important, they have been appointed to be the model for the others.
The teacher will examine carefully the things that the Monitor reports, in a low tone and privately, before determining whether or not to punish those who have been reported for having committed faults. In order to find out more easily whether the Monitor has told the truth, the teacher will ask privately the most trustworthy students who have witnessed the faults whether the matter took place in the manner and under the circumstances that the monitor has declared. The teacher will punish the students who have committed the faults only in case the teacher finds that what the others say agrees with what the Monitor has reported.
The teacher will listen to complaints that are made against the Monitor, especially if those who make them are disinterested and if they are among the more sensible and more trustworthy students. Should the Monitor be found guilty, the punishment will be much more severe than for another student committing the same fault. Furthermore, this Monitor will at once be deprived of the office.
The Monitor must be very punctual and among the first to come to school. The Monitor must be vigilant, so as to observe all that takes place in the school. The Monitor must be neither frivolous nor a liar and must not be prone to partiality for anyone. In other words, students who have this office must be prepared to accuse their siblings, their friends, and their companions, that is to say, those with whom they associate as well as they are prepared to accuse others. Above all, the Monitor must not receive any gift from anyone. If detected in this fault, the Monitor will be very severely corrected and deprived of office.
Supervisors
There will be two students in each class appointed to watch the conduct of the Monitor while the latter is exercising the functions of that office. Their responsibility is to see whether students who hold the office of Monitor allow themselves to be corrupted by gifts; whether they demand anything from the others for not declaring their faults; whether they are always among the first to come to school; whether they speak when they should be silent; whether they leave their place; whether they see to it that no one else leaves their place; in short, whether they fulfill their duties with very great exactitude. It will be best if these Supervisors are not known to the Monitor. For this reason, they will not be appointed like the other class officers and will not even be called officers. These Supervisors will be among the most sensible, the most pious, and the most punctual students. They will be privately instructed to pay attention to the conduct of the Monitor, and will render an account of that conduct as soon as possible whenever anything extraordinary happens.
There will also be certain Monitors or Supervisors for the streets, especially for those in which many students live. They will watch how the students of the district to which they have been assigned behave when returning from school.
There will be Supervisors in each district or important street. They will watch everything that takes place and will at once notify the teacher of it in private.22
Distributors and Collectors of Papers
There will be in the class of the writers one or two students to distribute the papers to the writers at the beginning of the writing period, to take them again at the end of it, and then to put them back in the proper place.
If all of the students in the class are learning to write, there will be two charged with this function. If only some of the students in the class are learning to write and if they are not too numerous, there will be only one student assigned to this class office.
The Distributors and Collectors of Papers will be careful to place all the papers in the proper order, one upon another, in the same order as the students are seated to whom they belong. In this way, they can return all of the papers properly.
They will go from table to table, both to give the papers out and to take them back. If any students are absent, they will nevertheless leave the papers at their places. They must distribute and collect all of the papers promptly and silently.
If the teacher finds it useful, these officers will go to each writer a short time before collecting the papers to see what each has written. They will note whether the students have written as much as they should have, whether the paper is rumpled, and the like. If they find that anyone has been remiss in anything, they will at once inform the teacher.
Collectors will make sure that all of the students dry what they have written and fold their papers before returning them.23
Sweepers
There will be one student in each classroom whose duty will be to sweep it and keep it clean and neat. This student will sweep the classroom once daily without fail at the end of the morning school session. If the students go to Holy Mass, the Sweeper will return to the school for this purpose.
Before beginning to sweep, this student will put the benches near the wall, some on one side and some on the other. When there is need of it, the two Sweepers from the two adjoining classrooms will help one another to remove and replace the benches, but in nothing else.
After having removed the benches, the Sweeper will, if it is necessary, sprinkle the floor of the classroom. The student will then sweep the room and carry all of the rubbish in a basket to the designated place in the street. The Sweeper will then replace the broom, the basket, and the other things that have been used back in the place where they are ordinarily kept.
The teachers will see that the Sweepers always keep the classrooms of which they have charge very clean.
The Sweepers should not be slow, but very active, so that they do not take too much time in acquitting themselves of their duties.
They should be distinguished by a great care for neatness and cleanliness. They must, however, also be sensible and not given to quarreling or trifling.
The Doorkeeper
In each school, there will be only one entrance door. If there is more than one door, the others, which the Director will select, will be closed and always kept locked.
A student from one of the classrooms, ordinarily the one at the entrance, will be appointed to open and shut this entrance door each time that anyone enters the school. This student will be called the Doorkeeper.
The Doorkeeper will be placed near the door in order to open it promptly. The Doorkeeper will not leave the door open, and will always bolt it.
The Doorkeeper will allow no one to enter except the teachers, the students, and the priest of the parish in which the school is situated.
When someone knocks at the door of the school, the Doorkeeper will at once open it quietly, and with the least possible delay answer the person who is knocking. After having again bolted the door, the Doorkeeper will notify the teacher who has been designated as the one to speak with visitors.
While the teacher is speaking with someone, the Doorkeeper will leave the door sufficiently open for it to be possible to see from within the classroom both the teacher and the person with whom the teacher is speaking.
The Doorkeeper will guard the door from the time when it is first opened until the time when the students begin to leave the school. For this reason, this student must always be the first to arrive at school. The Doorkeeper will always keep silent and will never speak to any student who is entering the school or going out of it.
The Doorkeeper will be exact in reading in turn like the others, and as far as possible pay attention to and follow the lesson during all of the time when not busy at the door. Doorkeepers must be frequently changed, and care should be taken that they do not lose time for reading. This can be done by making the student read at the end of school or by having another act as Doorkeeper during the lesson.
This officer will also have charge of the stick which is given to the students when they go outside, giving it to the one going out and taking care that no student goes out without it. In this way and in so far as it is possible, no two will go out together for this reason. The Doorkeeper will put the stick away every day after school, both morning and afternoon. The Doorkeeper will let no student go out unless the student has the stick.
The Doorkeeper will be chosen from among the most diligent and the most regular in attendance at school. The student should be sensible, reserved, well behaved, silent, and capable of edifying the people who come to knock at the door.
The Keeper of the School Key
The Keeper of the School Key will be at the door of the school punctually every day, mornings before 7:30 and afternoons before 1:00. This class officer will be forbidden to give the key to any other student without the permission of the teacher who is in charge of this school. When the students do not return to the school after Holy Mass, the Keeper of the School Key will return with the Carrier of the Rosaries, the Holy Water Bearer, and the Sweepers, and will see that the latter make no noise while they are sweeping. The Keeper of the School Key will not leave before the others do.
This student will also be responsible for everything in the school, and must take care that nothing is carried away. This class officer should be chosen from among those who are the most assiduous and who never miss school.
19 At this point in the 1706 manuscript of the Conduct of the Christian Schools, there appears a list of the class officers in the school. While no listing of these officers appears at this point in the 1720 manuscript, all but five of these class officers (the second, third, eighth, ninth, and eleventh) are retained and their job descriptions are provided in Chapter VIII. This first paragraph of the 1706 manuscript can be found as EXTRACT TWELVE on page XXX in Appendix B.
20 At this point in the 1706 manuscript of the Conduct of the Christian Schools, there appear the job descriptions of the Mass officer and of the almoner. The material about the Mass officer can be found as EXTRACT THIRTEEN on page 000 in Appendix B. The material about the almener can be found as EXTRACT FOURTEEN on page 000 in Appendix B.
21 An aspergillum is a short-handled brush or a perforated globe holding a sponge which is used for sprinkling holy water.
22 At this point in the 1706 manuscript of the Conduct of the Christian Schools, there appears the job description of the first student in the bench and of the visitors of the sick. The material about the first student in the bench can be found as EXTRACT FIFTEEN on page XXX in Appendix B. The material about the visitors of the sick can be found as EXTRACT SIXTEEN on page XXX in Appendix B.
23 At this point in the 1706 manuscript of the Conduct of the Christian Schools, there appears the job description of the Distributor and Collector of Books. This material can be found as EXTRACT SEVENTEEN on page XXX in Appendix B.
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