Edwin Washington Project

Five Point Star Standard

On March 15, 1918, the Virginia legislature passed a bill providing for public health nursing and medical inspection and health inspection of school children.  County Boards of Supervisors could also appropriate county funds for the inspections.  Those inspecting had to be appointed by the Health Commissioner of the State and normal schools were to prepare teachers for health work.  (Hood, State Laws Related to Education Enacted in 1918 and 1919, Bulletin No. 30 1920, pg 324) We have one of these inspections from 1919 and have surmised that the interest expressed in physical inspections led to the Five Point Star Standard.  This was a program of the State of Virginia “State Board of Education and State Board of Health” which we believe began in 1926. In the October 1926 annual report of the Department of Education., the Five Point Program was mentioned under “Corrections” in the Physical and Health Education section.  It was stated that, “The report on correction of physical defects, which is the follow-up work pertaining to the annual physical inspection, shows that a great deal more was accomplished during the past year than during any previous year.  A new program known as the ‘Five Point Standard’ – ‘Physically Fit School Child’ was successfully carried on in one or more schools of fifteen counties[1].” (Hart, Annual Report of the Superintendent of Public Instruction 1926, pg 36).

In the November 1927 annual report, the Five Point Standard program was again mentioned under “Corrections” in the Physical and Health Education section, which reports that  “this program was offered to the State as a whole at the beginning of the past school year and practically every county within its limits gave it serious attention.”   They wanted to know if children “had normal or corrected vision, normal or corrected hearing, teeth reasonably clean, no exposed roots or unfilled cavities, normal throats, and are less than ten per cent underweight or not more than twenty per cent overweight[1].”    As noted elsewhere in this catalog, the intent wasn’t just to promote good health; in addition, the administration wanted to reduce absenteeism.  Therefore, in a similar vein, High School principals also paid attention to the health of those students who participated in sports, not to score more points, but to avoid absences due to health.

The earliest records we have in Loudoun are from 1928/29, though we are studying whether or not the county participated in the 1926 experimental work.  Based on the Virginia Teacher’s Term Reports, the system also continued at least to 1950/51.  Statistics on the program are reported in the annual Virginia Teacher’s Term Reports in section 6.3.2.  In addition, personal evaluations of students appear in the annual Term Reports in 6.3.1.  We don’t know yet if the program ended in 1950/51.

We found a set of certificates, probably from 1931, referencing the "Five Point Standard,” "which is the minimum requirement for physical fitness." Red stars indicated that students had met the minimum requirement while blue Stars indicated a score of high five.  Gold stars indicated high five with immunization against smallpox and diphtheria

Vickery found a description of the Five Points of Health tests in an article on page 4 of the Richmond Times Dispatch from 07/30/1926, which states that, “vision- the child reads on the Snellen eye-testing chart at a distance of twenty feet, or has glasses which are properly fitted: hearing- child hears conversational voice at a distance of twenty feet. (Each eye and ear tested separately): teeth- child has no stained teeth or unfilled cavities: throat- child has no symptoms of trouble with tonsils and adenoids: not a mouth-breather (preferably checked by a doctor): weight- child is not 10 per cent or more underweight or not 20 per cent or more overweight.”

We do think that the tests applied to both “colored” and white schools.  See article on page 34 of the Richmond Times Dispatch from 11/20/1932 that mentioned “Close competition marked the award of the federation[1] prizes for the schools, white and Negro, for the school having the highest percentage of pupils who qualified under the State Board of Health standard for a “five-point” child in health covering physical perfection.”

Other references to the Five Point Star in the Catalog

• See 7.3.1 Yr  May, 1928 Gala Day in Broad Run:  Carter school[1] was mentioned for giving a health play and was presented a Virginia flag for the highest percentage of five point children in one and two room school houses in the district, as was the Sycoline school of Leesburg.  105 children were presented five point certificates[2]. 
• See 4.2(a)   White Teacher Institute.  Sept 11, 1928.  Inside the agenda are hand written notes alluding to the five point certificates.
• See 4.2 (b) Colored Teachers Institute.  September 23, 1929.  Leesburg School Building. Vaccination, five point children, compulsory attendance.  Address by Mr. William D. Gresham, State Superintendent of Negro Schools.  How can we reduce large number of pupil failures each year?  Clearly, there was a worry that without the inspections, attendance would decline in “colored” schools, due to the increase of illness.
• See 5.1 Curriculum:  1929.  Five Point Star.  Attached to the description of how to make such a star was the header for the County School Board, showing Miss Harriet Wharton as Rural Supervisor.   She served during the 1929/30 academic year.  (Superintendent of Schools 1946).

We also found a four-page memo describing activities in Broad Run in the spring of 1928.  Teachers, children, parents and friends of one and two room schools in Broad Run met at Mount Hope, which was located near Waxpool, in the center of the Broad Run Magisterial District[1]. The events were under the coordination of Miss Hannah Turman, Supervisor of Rural Schools.  Quite a few children are mentioned for accomplishments, but we saw no indication of any activities by African-Americans.  Carter school[2] was mentioned for giving a health play and was presented a Virginia flag for the highest percentage of five point children in one and two room school houses in the district, as was the Sycoline school of Leesburg.  105 children were presented five point certificates[3].  Of them, the following students were listed in the proceedings:

Girls                                        Boys

1. Allison, Annabelle                  1. Benson, Albert                   
2. Allison, Elizabeth                   2.Downs, Edwin
3. Atwell, Margaret                     3. Downs, Frances
4. Bonshee, Catherine                 4. Downs, Oswald
5. Carson, Milburn                      5. Fox, Alvin
6. Cockerill, Elsie                       6. Fox, Woodrow
7. Donohoe, Catherine                7. Minor, Cecil           
8. Downes, Vivian                      8. Munday, James
9. Gheen, Eva                             9. Poland, Gilmore
10. Goode, Minnie                        10. Poland, Russell
11. Groome, Catherine                  11. Stickman, Harold
12. Hodge, Helen
13. Jones, Grace
14. Jones, Louise
15. Kirkpatrick, Dorothy
16. Marcum, Isety
17. Marcum, Maxie
18. Pound, Hazel
19. Printz, Virginia
20. Reynolds, Dorothy
21. Shear, Bernice
22. Smith, Evelyn
23. Sowers, Louise
24. Turman, Mary Alice
25. Walker, Villa
26. Wickline, Wanda

1941/1942:  Hamilton.  In that academic year, there were no “five pointers” among the 29 children attending the elementary school program (13 girls and 16 boys).[1]  It would be interesting to know what the administrative and health implications were.

How to make a five point star

These are instructions on how to cut out a five-point star.  This is most likely from 1929.    See also 4.2(b) Colored Teachers Institute.  September 23, 1929, when such stars were discussed. In addition, attached to the description of how to make such a star was the header for the County School Board, showing Miss Harriet Wharton as Rural Supervisor.   She served during the 1929/30 academic year.  (Superintendent of Schools 1946).