More on My Schools- Emma Conn School- Raleigh NC

Come to think of it, I didn't go to Fourth Street School in Greenville, NC, for fifth grade. I went to a lab school for East Carolina University named Wall-Coates. We had quite a few student teachers that year, as well as Mrs. Fennel, a teacher I really hated, but the best I ever had as it turned out. She MADE me change my ways and improve my grades.

I did not know who Emma Conn was, so I went on the internet and found some really interesting stuff about her and Emma Conn School in Raleigh, NC, where I went from 1st to 3rd grades. It was named for a Raleigh city school educator of 50 years, 20 as a teacher and 30 as a principal.

Emma Conn had an interesting philosophy on discipline. She would always give a student three choices when they did wrong: 1. sent home with a note- the absolute worst thing that could happen to a kid back then, let the beatings begin, 2. get a switch, and 3. go back to the room and behave. I'm sure most students in trouble chose the last one. She felt that corporal punishment should be done at home. "School discipline consists of guidance, understanding, and patience," she once said.

When she found out the school board was going to name a new school after her, she said, "I will have to be really good for the rest of my life." The new school was to open October 15, 1954, but due to construction delays, the first actual day was January 3, 1955. It cost $390,000 and had 505 students in grades 1-7, 15 teachers and 20 classrooms.

One stipulation from Emma Conn was that her name was not to appear on the outside of the school while she was alive. She died in May of 1970 at the age of 90 and is buried in Raleigh's Oakwood Cemetery. A sign was put up immediately after that. I attended first grade starting in 1957 so it was still a new school.

Tomorrow, I'll do Fremd and Palatine high schools.

Quite a Remarkable Educator. --RoadDog