CAFETERIA is hub of traffic flow in this Midwest high school (page 9 4 ) .

OCTOBER

Supervision and the Improvement of Instruction

Beginning a New Series of Superintendents Round-Table Discussions

Some Long-Range Questions About N.D.E.A.

Bible Reading in Classrooms — A National Issue

The Facts About Citizens Committees

C O M P L E T E C O N T E N T S O N PAGES 3 and 4

THE Nation's Schools

THE MAGAZINE OF BETTER SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION
 SCHOOLHOUSE PLANNING/SCHOOL LUNCH

Cafeteria

BOTH
students, who bring their lunch, file
physically andpsychologically,the round, glass-walled
Is 'Hub'
through the regular cafeteria lines
cafeteria (illustrated on this month's
for milk, malted milks, and desserts.

of School's
cover) of Maine Township High
No student is permitted to leave the
School West, Des Plaines, III., forms
campus during the school day.
the center of nonacademic activities.
It is located on the first floor of the Students enter the cafeteria through
hub from which three two-story the seven glass doors of the con-
academic wings and two intermediate tinuous glass wall. They file past one
wings protrude. The spacious and of the two double serving lines — one
colorful room is a pleasant place to on each side of the cafeteria and
Traffic Flow
dine for the 2450 students. It is also located to the rear of the room — and
the natural social center of the school. select any table they wish. After
finishing their meals, the students
return the soiled dishes to the central
Minimum Traffic. One outstanding dish counter, possibly stop by one of
feature of the design of Maine Town- the four drinking fountains in the
ship West is the economy of move- center of the rotunda, and exit
ment. About 800 students spend at through the door of their choice.
least three-fourths of the school day in Despite the freedom allowed
each of the three academic wings. students in entering and leaving the
Since the central services — adminis- cafeteria, there is no traffic confusion
trative suite, library, auditorium, caf- or congestion. While the dining ca-
eteria — are housed in the central pacity is 900, there are now tables
core, student traffic is about one-third and chairs for only 650. Thus the
that ordinarily found in a high school maximum number of students leaving
of this size. at any one time through any one of
The distance from any one of the the seven doors is an average of
wings to the cafeteria is relatively less than 75; at other times there are
short. Handwashing facilities are pro- as few as 50. Orderly exit time,
vided in the corridor of each wing. clocked by teacher supervisors, has
Students can leave their books and been as low as 40 seconds.
personal items in their wing lockers, Cafeteria service is provided by a
so no storage space for these is professionally trained manager, a
needed in the cafeteria area. Wing chef, 20 full-time workers, and sev-
passageways merge into the wider, eral student helpers.
circular corridor space which com-
pletely circumscribes the glass-en- Social Center. In addition to lunch
cased rotunda. period use, the cafeteria also has other
Across this corridor on one side functions:
is a social area which in turn opens 1. It is a study and visiting center'
onto an open terrace. This serves as for students who arrive by bus, prior
an outdoor extension of the cafeteria. to the first class meeting.
2. It is an overflow study hall dur-
Service Schedule. The lunch period ing certain periods of the day when
extends from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. the three regular study halls are filled.
Service is in six shifts; about 350 to 3. It can be used for group testing.
500 students are excused at intervals 4. It is a community meeting
for each shift. Some 1350 students center.
(about 55 per cent) utilize the full caf- During after-school hours of the
eteria service. Since no separate snack 1959-60 school year, the cafeteria
bar is provided, the remaining 1100 served more than 20,000 persons, or

94
CAFETERIA at Maine Township High School West, Des Plaines, III., is center of activities,
center of building. Cafeteria is used for lunch, study hall, central staging area for buses.

FIRST FLOOR - CENTRAL CORE

 CIRCLING a bright
red pillar in center
of cafeteria are
drinking fountains and
enclosed storage cabinets.
Notice how students
enter serving line through
glass doors (back center)
from a surrounding corridor.

AUDITORIUM (upper left) is on sec-

ond floor of central core, above
cafeteria. Floor space in front can be
used for dances, exhibitions, and
placing of opera-type chairs. The lat-
ter are stored under stage when not
in use. . . . FLOATING STAIRCASE
(lower left), at main entrance (ex-
treme left) to central core, leads to
cafeteria on first floor and auditori-
um on second floor.

about one-fourth of the 83,400 who

also used the school's auditorium
(above the cafeteria) and other facili-
ties. The 83,400 persons attended
school club meetings, a variety show,
pancake day, gatherings of boy and
All photos from Francis G . Owen Studio, Chicago
girl scouts and other community and
civic organizations, all-school dances
and other all-school social affairs.
Food service on these occasions
generally is provided by the school's
own staff, although at larger gather-
ings catering service is arranged,
aided by several school lunch depart-
ment employes.

Cafeteria Design. Topping the vast

lunchroom is the reinforced concrete
ceiling. Exposed concrete beams radi-
ate in all directions from a massive
central pillar to provide a clear area,
120 feet in diameter, unobstructed
and free from interior columns. Above
the ceiling is the ventilation system-
Within various recessed portions of
the ceiling are mounted clusters of
light fixtures.
An array of colors contributes to
the cafeteria setting. Below the

aluminum framed window walls,
along most of the periphery, are
finished enamel panels of bright red;
the panels match the color of the
massive pillar at the room's center.
Circling the pillar are enclosed stor-
age cabinets in contrasting light
colored wood. Cabinet tops form a
shelf for the four drinking fountains.
Walls of the serving area are white
glazed tile, the same as in the kitchen
area. Floors throughout are resilient
tile. Windows look out on the sur-
rounding corridor.
Kitchen Plan. Directly behind the
service counters is the spacious, well
lighted kitchen. The modern off-floor,
away-from-the-wall equipment in-
cludes gas ovens and ranges; reach-in
and walk-in refrigerators; counter,
food preparation, and dishwashing
equipment. Fire extinguishers are con-
veniently located on the kitchen walls.
Raw food is received at the rear
dock, placed on a large freight eleva-
tor, and taken down to the lower
level for dry storage. Garbage is
taken out through the back door and
burned in an incinerator.
All steam and hot and cold water
lines, as well as electrical conduit,
are under the cafeteria floor, which
forms the roof of a large, undivided
space below ground level. The latter
also houses the electrical substations;
central transformers; distribution
switchboard; fan, locker and laundry
rooms, and an indoor track and in-
door game facilities.
Vol. 66, No. 4, October I960
Faculty Room. Members of the ad-
ministrative and teaching staff are
served in an adjoining room, also glass
walled, which has its separate serving
counter. From here students in the
general cafeteria area can be ob-
served; however, several faculty mem-
bers are assigned especially to super-
vision. Soiled dishes are returned by
teachers to the central dish room.
The only vending machines are in
the honor study hall, operated by the
student council. It is located near
the cafeteria and is open to students
with a grade average of C or better.
Comprehensive School. Maine
Township High School West is a four-
year comprehensive school. It pre-
pares students for both terminal em-
ployment and college; about 60 per
cent of its graduates enter college. It
is the second school of the 32 square
mile Maine Township High School
District No. 207. In addition to Des
Plaines, the school serves the city of
Park Ridge, parts of Glenview, Niles
and Morton Grove, and a large unin-
corporated area. Earle W. Wiltse is
district superintendent.
Maine West was planned under the
direction of the former superintend-
ent, Harry D. Anderson, who re-
tired in 1959. The school was de-
signed by Childs & Smith, architects-
engineers, Chicago. First classes met
in September 1959.
Ralph J. Frost Jr., Maine West's
first principal, now is assistant super-
intendent. The new principal is
BUS CONCOURSE
provides covered access
for students into
cafeteria, which serves
as study and visiting
center before first class.
Food delivery is facilitated
because bus concourse
is adjacent to kitchen area.
Herman L. Rider, former assistant
principal and chairman of the sci-
ence department. Continuing as assist-
ant principal is Robert A. Wells.
Asst. Supt. Frost had these obser-
vations to make regarding Maine
West's 1959-60 school year:
"The consensus of staff and stu-
dents at Maine West is that the first
year of operation has been successful.
Strong morale, brought about by an
emphasis on a team approach to
school problems, has made for an ex-
cellent esprit de corps.
"The physical design of the build-
ing, too, has contributed to the de-
velopment of a good rapport among
faculty and students. The idea of
'schools within a school' has helped
to foster a warm, friendly atmosphere
often considered to be an outstanding
characteristic of a small school; yet
Maine West offers all the educational
opportunities of the large, compre-
hensive high school.
"The arrangement by which stu-
dents spend the major portion of
their day in the wing to which they
have been assigned has helped to
bring students into closer relation-
ships with their instructors and has
tended to develop an educational cli-
mate which encourages each student
to do his best. With this decentral-
ized approach, there is less likelihood
that the individual will be lost in the
crowd and a greater likelihood that
he will find himself in a situation
where he will be well known to both
his instructors and classmates." •
97