Photo Essays: Classroom Facilities--Physical Plant
Figure 1.--This prep school used a basement space for a science lab. The boys here are studying physics. Sespite the image of pampered children and posh facilities, many small private schools were less well equipped than state schools.
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To an extent what can be done with a classroom space was affected by the physical plant. Many prep schools were operating with classrooms that were converted for classroom use rather than purpose-built classrroms. Quite a few schools were founded as old mannor houses and rooms were converted to classrooms. This varied quite a bit. Some of this was done very effectively. We found charming classrooms in these old buildings. And a many schools has small class sizes, there was a degree of flexibilty as to what size speces could be used. In other cases the classrooms were very basic. We found some classrooms that barely accomodated the desks jammed into them. Others were spacious. This partly depended on the need for classrooms. We founds schools using matginal spaces like basements. In some cases this was because the schools were expanding and need additional classrooms. In other schools these msrginal spaces had been used for some time. The basic construction can vary widely, such as the heating system. Some have systems dating from before World War II while other schools have very modern systems. Quite a few schools had added purpose-nuilt classrooms or were in the prov\cess of doing so.
