Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly volume 25.djvu/143

PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH SCHOOLS 125 a larger number than that with which we close. In fact, the year just closed has shown so much larger attendance and the prospects at the present time are so much better than they have been for six years, that I feel more certain of the future than for a long time." 17 The further growth of the school which Dr. Hill pre- dicted, was completely stopped by his resignation in 1901 and starting his own school, the Hill Military Academy. As there was objection to leasing the school, as had been done in the past, the Board of School Trustees took over its direct financial management. Mr. A . C. Newill, re- cently a student in Oxford University, was selected to succeed Dr. Hill as Head Master. A number of factors operated against the success of the new regime, in addi- tion to the growing competition of the public schools. Although Dr. Hill asked that the Bishop Scott Academy send its surplus of students to his new school, he actually took many of the former students with him, greatly reducing the attendance of the older school. That there was friction and lack of loyalty to the Bishop Scott Acad- emy on the part of the church is indicated by the fact that, exclusive of the children of clergymen, there were just three pupils enrolled the first year whose parents were members of the church, and the secretary of the board said that, "The feeling seems to have been more than one of mere indifference." Another feature of the situation was that, although Dr. Hill, by the terms of the lease, had agreed to keep the buildings repaired and im- proved as needed, and although the board had actually paid him several thousands of dollars when he had ex- ceeded his instructions, when the board took over the management of the school plant it found it necessary to spend $9,277 for repairs and refurnishing it in order to make it fit for school purposes. The decrease in attend- 17 It is interesting to note that Mr. Hopkin Jenkins, the present prin- cipal of Jefferson High School, was a member of the faculty in 1900-1901. He was a graduate of the school, had been an assistant teacher, and had just completed a course in Yale. I yi i &