USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Melrose > City of Melrose annual report 1893-1895 > Part 26
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48
183
SCHOOL REPORT.
ovoid, the potato and pear. The leaves, like the elm, based on the ellipse, the linden leaf on the oval, etc.
Drawing in connection with the nature study is a very necessary help, very often a child can express his idea bet- ter by drawing than he can in his own words. The drawing may be very crude, but give the child credit, for he has given you the picture as it appears to him, not in detail, but the general appearance as a whole. Drawing can also be made very helpful in connection with the other studies in both primary and grammar schools. The course in the grammar schools is almost the same as last year, with the exception of what is done in nature work. The exhibition given in the Town Hall last June, gave a good idea of what is being done in our schools to-day. In the high school, mechanical drawing is taken up the first two years; the last two years drawing is optional. We thought by making it optional it would reduce the time I have to spend in the school every week, but it hasn't as yet. Most of the boys in the two upper classes take the mechanical work with the lower class, in preference to the free-hand. The boys show so much interest in this mechanical work, that if manual training was introduced in the schools, they would be pre- pared to take up the work very readily. This work we hope to see in our schools some time in the near future.
In closing this report, I wish to thank the committee, superintendent and teachers, for their hearty support dur- ing the past year."
Mr. Drake still continues his work in music and is faith- fully seconded by the regular teachers, so that the results obtained are good. Mr. Drake in his report says :
" In the schools of the town, almost without exception, cer- tainly a greater interest is manifest in the pupils and teachers than any year past. In adopting the method of having
184
SCHOOL REPORT.
classes of boys by themselves, as has been done in many of the schools, the boys, who often hold back in such work, have proven themselves, at least, the equal of the girls in music. Music generally suffers in comparison with other work, on account of its always being ensemble work, and with the exception of the very few who possess no tone-per- ception at all, everyone sings, and there is no sifting of the wheat from the chaff. Even under these sometimes dis- couraging conditions the music in our schools attains a pleas- ing standard, and one of which we may be proud.
The many additional schools of the past year or two render my actual teaching time in each room somewhat less, and the additional studies for the regular teachers, likewise take away somewhat the time for music, but a proper pre- sentation of the work will bring about required results even if time be somehat limited. It is certainly not the amount of work, but the kind that brings about the best results.
While the ability to read at sight is the legitimate out- come of a proper presentation and study of the normal course system, yet there is much of equal, if not more, im- portance in our music study.
Too much stress cannot be laid upon the quality of the tone we wish from the child. Public school music is often condemned in this one point, yet with proper care and train- ing this can be made one of the virtues rather than faults of the work. Rhythm, expression, phrasing and a general idea of the notation, with an ability to express music in that no- tation, all this can easily come under the head of our school work. This calls for more or less musical ability on the part of the regular teachers, and while thus far we have felt no great need of teachers' meetings for our music, the requirements are such that meetings may be not only profit- able but necessary. For our high school I would suggest, that, instead of a text-book, which cannot but contain mu-
185
SCHOOL REPORT.
sic which fails to please and interest, some of the easier oratorios be introduced, if the material in the school war- rants it. Certainly there are easy cantatas, both secular and sacred, which would interest more and be more profitable than most any text-book, and can be had for a small sum. If such works could be introduced year after year, we would soon have a musical library which would be a fund of inter- est and profit for time to come, all at not too great an ex- pense. This year the scholars have purchased a work for themselves. Let us hope another year such may be pur- chased for them. In closing, I wish to thank committee, superintendent, teachers and also scholars, for their kind- ness and support during the past year."
PHYSIOLOGY AND HYGIENE.
Through the kindness of the Woman's Christian Temper- ance Union of this town, each of our teachers is this year provided with "The School Physiology Journal," which has been very helpful to them in giving the instruction that is required to be given in all the schools of the town by state law, and we believe that this is being better attended to and better done than ever before, as the teachers are anxious not only to comply with the law, but to make the work interesting and profitable to the scholars.
ANTI-TOBACCO LEAGUE.
There is probably no city or town in America where the Woman's Christian Temperance Union is more active and effective in its work than in Melrose, with Mrs. Mary A. Livermore as the leading spirit.
Feeling that the cigarette habit was getting too strong a hold upon the boys in our schools, the ladies of the Union started early in the year to organize the grammar school boys
186
SCHOOL REPORT.
into leagues, following substantially the same plan as was recommended in New York by school commissioner Hubbell, who, although a smoker himself, recognizing the fact that no young boy can habitually indulge in the use of tobacco with- out seriously affecting his physical, mental and moral growth, has headed a most successful movement against the use of cigarettes by the boys in their public schools.
While the movement is one entirely outside of school au- thority, it was so closely connected with the work of the teachers in their instruction regarding the use of stim- ulants and narcotics that all the teachers were most willing to second the efforts of the W. C. T. U., and the result is that a very large majority of the boys in all the schools be- low the high school, and in some schools all of them, have joined the league.
In order to further interest the boys, the ladies of the Union decided to give them the benefit of military drill, and the boys from the several schools were organized into com- panies and are now drilled every Saturday by Mr. P. J. Flanders of Wakefield.
Under Mr. Flanders' excellent guidance the boys have already become quite proficient in the elements of military tactics, and there is no doubt about the success of the move- ment ; but still it will require constant care and watchful- ness on the part of someone to keep up the interest now manifest, and it is hoped that all parents will heartily sec- ond the efforts of the ladies of the W. C. T. U. and co-oper- ate with them in their good work,
THE MARKING SYSTEM.
During the year something of a change has been made in the style of report card sent home to parents, the per cent. system of marking giving way to the word system,
187
SCHOOL REPORT.
and the change is proving to be a wise one for both teachers and parents are getting to understand the meaning of the marks and are taking an interest in their children's standing more and more.
In addition to this a series of five report blanks has been devised, which are sent to parents when either the work or deportment of their children is very unsatisfactory, and it is hoped that these will keep parents of such children as re- fuse to do the work assigned them in a proper manner in- formed as to their work, and that they will co-operate with the teachers in bringing up the standard of the work.
We believe that a child should be promoted upon the work he does during the year and the marking system has meant far too much in the past to both teachers and schol- ars and we may say parents. Marks and promotions have too often been the teacher's measure of success, while the children have worked too much for marks and too little for the power and delights that come from the acquisition of knowledge.
Written tests are a good thing to show the teacher where- in the children are weak or deficient in their work, and thus guide her in her work ; but when the teacher teaches and the scholar studies that high marks may be obtained in the required written examinations the school is generally more or less of a failure.
SCHOOL DISCIPLINE.
Parents are to a greater or less extent responsible for much of the friction and breach of discipline that comes in school, for instances have come to my knowledge where it was common for the children to call the teacher by her first name, or worse yet, by some opprobrious name in the presence of parents, and where school tricks and happenings that are not at all to the credit of those having a part in
188
SCHOOL REPORT.
them are told for the amusement of the home circle, and furthermore, where the child's statement of any, and all things that happen in school is accepted as correct and an estimate of the teacher formed therefrom, A wrong is thus done the school, and a lasting injury to the child that it will require years of careful training to efface.
The teacher on the other hand has a great responsibility resting upon her shoulders, she has no right to be cross, fretful or nagging; she must so act in all things that no child can rightly charge her with favoritism, partiality or injustice. She should not live in the school room alone, but must mingle in and gain such a knowledge of the outside world as will be of value to her scholars, and be able to give it to them. The teacher should further remember that she is to serve the school, and not the school her, and that all classes of scholars and grades of intellectual capacity must be treated by her with strict impartiality, not only as to matters of discipline, but in the matter of dividing the time of instruc- tion, endeavoring to develop the powers of the weaker as well as the stronger intellects.
I have constantly urged the teachers in cases of breach of discipline on the part of scholars, to consult with and get the co-operation of parents, and I would as urgently re- quest the parents in case the work or deportment of their children is not satisfactory, to consult with the teachers and I think they will find them ready and willing at all times to listen to suggestions.
If your child has peculiarities which the teacher should know about in order to do the best by him that can be done, don't leave them for the teacher to find out, but go and tell her and thus help the teacher and benefit the child.
I believe that the work of the year has been excellently done in some of our schools and not as well in some others,
189
SCHOOL REPORT.
and it is not always those who seem to make the greatest effort who obtain the highest degree of success, as the quiet worker who has acquired right methods and gained com- plete mastery over herself is able to govern her school quiet- ly, yet effectually, and when she has done that the scholars are ready to be taught and there is no chance for trouble.
SCHOOL BUILDINGS AS POLLING PLACES.
The superintendent of schools in one of our Massachusetts cities has the following to say regarding the use of school rooms as polling places :
" I have in previous reports called attention to the evils arising from the use of school rooms as polling places, and for caucuses. The putting up of booths, the day of elec- tion, and the removing of the booths occupy three days time at each election, during which time the rooms cannot be used for school purposes, while all the rooms in the building must be dismissed on the days of election. These enforced vacations greatly disturb the work of the schools, but there is an additional evil,-the filthy condition in which the rooms are left. The floors are stained almost beyond cleans- ing with tobacco expectorations, and an ill odor poisons for some time the air of the school room. After the last election bottles containing liquor were found in some of the closets. Such an object lesson in the habits of men is hardly a de- sirable one for school children."
Luckily we are not obliged to make any such sweeping criticism of the system as the above, as it happened that the last election came on the day that our Middlesex County Teachers' Association met, and there was no school, other- wise it would have been necessary to close several schools. In addition to this the rooms were left in such a condition that a thorough cleaning was necessary before school could
190
SCHOOL REPORT.
be resumed. The school grounds at Grove street, upon which considerable time and money had been spent in an attempt to make a lawn, were driven over and cut up so that they looked more like a prairie road in springtime than like a lawn, and the general public were inclined to use the same as a public thoroughfare for some time after election.
While the school property is the property of the town, and is to be used for the benefit of all its citizens, the school committee are responsible to the public for its proper use and care, and they claim the right to say that the public shall not abuse either the buildings or the grounds, and with this end in view respectfully suggest that if it is possible some other arrangement be made for polling places in the future.
In closing permit me to bear testimony to the faithful and efficient work of the teachers generally, and to thank them for their co-operation. I wish also to acknowledge my indebtedness to this committee for their kind consideration and hearty support.
Respectfully submitted,
B. F. ROBINSON, Superintendent.
In School Committee, MELROSE, Jan. 26, 1895.
Ordered, That the annual report of the superintendent of schools be accepted and adopted as the report of the school committee to the town.
B. F. ROBINSON, Sec'y.
191
SCHOOL REPORT.
To the Superintendent of Schools, Melrose, Mass.,
DEAR SIR :- The report of this department must of neces- sity be brief, as no work was done till the last of September, the first call being made Sept. 25th. Since that time forty visits have been made, but the larger part of the complaints when investigated were found to come from parents keeping children at home to attend to household duties. Few can really be said to be cases of truancy. ·
We find the parents to be lamentably ignorant concerning the law regarding a child's attendance upon school. In a few cases the child has been detained at home after my first call, but as far as we can learn one presentation of the case has sufficed.
Respectfully submitted, I. C. WEEKS, Truant Officer.
Mr. B. F. Robinson, Supt. of Schools.
DEAR SIR :- The report of the work in the Ling system of gymnastics must necessarily be short, as but two months have passed since it was introduced into the Melrose schools. The plan of the work is as follows :
In the primary and grammar grades from fifteen to twenty minutes daily are given to the physical exercises. These are conducted by the teacher, and are taken by the pupils in the aisles between the desks. The work is entirely free- hand, no apparatus being used. During the exercises the windows are opened, thus giving a chance for a complete change of air in the school room.
In the high school the work at present is very inadequate, as the pupils have very little time given to the gymnastics, only forty-five minutes on one day of the week, and the
192
SCHOOL REPORT.
young ladies only half that time. Their class is so large it has to be divided into two sections, thus allowing about twenty minutes exercise for each division. The room in which they are obliged to take the gymnastics is also very unsuitable, as the pupils are crowded and the marching ma- noeuvres have to be entirely omitted on account of insuffi- cient floor space. But, in spite of all these disadvantages, the pupils have started the work well, and we expect to see good results before the close of the year.
It is hoped that the time is not far distant when the high school pupil shall have the advantages of a large hall, pro- vided with some few pieces of apparatus, and a regular time appointed each day for their physical improvement. This is being done in many of the neighboring towns and cities, and the result shown in the improved health, the erect carriage and the freedom of motion of the pupils, more than justifies the additional expense.
The teachers of all the grades meet me once a fortnight, in the high school building and have a practical lesson in the gymnastic exercises. To most of them the work is en- tirely new.
They are giving me their hearty co-operation, and I feel that whatever benefits the pupils in the lower grades may de- rive from the gymnastics,will be largely due to their faithful efforts.
The Ling system of gymnastics is a thoroughly scientific system, based on anatomical and physiological principles and most carefully arranged in a progressive series. The movements in each day's work are placed in such a way that every part of the body is exercised in the most beneficial order to the whole system. Also the work progresses from day to day, requiring more and more difficulty of execution and precision as the strength of the pupil increases, never however
SCHOOL REPORT. 193
being beyond the physical ability of the pupil at the time. Both teachers and pupils have helped us by their apparent interest in the beginning of the work, and I cannot but feel that with their cordial support it must succeed.
Respectfully submitted,
CLARA E. SHEPPARD, Supervisor of Ling Gymnastics.
13
194
SCHOOL REPORT.
"Too low they build who build beneath the stars." 1894.
GRADUATION MELROSE HIGH SCHOOL, TOWN HALL, WEDNESDAY EVENING, JUNE 27, Eight o'clock.
PROGRAMME. PART I.
OVERTURE .- "Zampa," Harold. HIGH SCHOOL ORCHESTRA.
SELECT CHORUS. - "And the glory of the Lord." . Messiah.
SALUTATORY ESSAY .- "Emerson's Ideal Scholar." OLIVE B. GILCHRIST.
SALUTATORY ESSAY .- "The Scholar." .
WILLIS A. MOORE.
. . Gottschalk. PIANO SOLO .- "The Last Hope." .
JOSIE B. WORTHEN.
ESSAY .- "The Space Between is the Way Thither." LUCILE E. SARGENT.
CLASS PROPHECY.
WM. EBEN WATERHOUSE.
SELECTION FROM OPERA .- "Wang," . E. Boettger . HIGH SCHOOL ORCHESTRA.
PART II.
READING OF ROLL OF HONOR AND AWARDING OF FRANKLIN FRATERNITY PRIZES.
Court Scene from "GILES COREY." Time, 1692. Place, Meeting House in Salem.
TRIAL OF CERTAIN PERSONS FOR WITCHCRAFT.
GILES COREY, .
MARTHA COREY,
OLIVE COREY,
AFFLICTED GIRLS,
JOSIE B. WORTHEN. AMELIA M. BALDWIN. ROBERT BROWN. CARL C. CRANE.
MINISTER PARRIS,
CONSTABLES,
ASHLEY D. LEAVITT. J. WM. AMES. Geo. H. TOWNE.
WIDOW HUTCHINS,
. POLLY PARKER. . SARA M. ANDERSON.
NANCY FOX,
¡People of Salem Village .- MEMBERS OF CLASS.
WILLIS A. MOORE. HELEN I. MOORHOUSE. MABELLE S. MERRILL.
MAGISTRATES, .
195
SCHOOL REPORT.
ESSAY .- "England's Relations to the United States, Past and Present." CHARLES FRANCIS MARDEN.
SELECTION FROM LONGFELLOW .- "The Famine." A. LENA ADAMS. VALEDICTORY. · . . LOIS MONROE HOLMES.
. SELECT CHORUS .- "Ave Maria." . . Solo, GERTRUDE UPHAM. AWARDING DIPLOMAS.
Abt.
CLASS NAMES.
G. A. LENA ADAMS,
E. SARA MUNROE ANDERSON,
G. AMELIA MUIR BALDWIN, P. EDITH MAY WHITFORD,
C. LILLIAN BEMIS,
G. LILLIAN FRANKLIN,
c. OLIVE BACON GILCHRIST,13
CT. MARCIA LENA HINCKLEY,
c. LOIS MONROE HOLMES, MERCY MONTGOMERY HOOD,
E. ALICE GERTRUDE LEAVITT,
C. ALICE GERTRUDE LITTLEFIELD, T. JOHN HEBER LARRABEE, CT. ASHLEY D. LEAVITT, G. MABELLE SPENCER MERRILL,
P. HELEN ISABEL MOORHOUSE,
E. POLLY IMOGENE PARKER,
E. CARRIE LOUISE POWER,
E. GRACE EVANS ROWE, MELVIN WILBUR SMITH, G. LUCILE ELAINE SARGENT, E. JEANETTE LYNDE UPHAM, G, General Course. E, English Course. GEORGE H. TOWNE, WM. EBEN WATERHOUSE. P, Partial Course. CT, Certificate.
c, College Course. T, Technology Course.
CT. GERTRUDE MAY WEEKS, E. LOUISE MADELINE WELLS,
G. JOSIE BELL WORTHEN, E. MAY AGNES CHISHOLM,
T. J. WILLIAM AMES, E. CHARLES A. BACHELLER, ROBERT BROWN,
G. CARL CUSTER CRANE, ERNEST F. CURRY,
T. SAMUEL FULLER DIX, CT. FREDERICK JUSTUS GEIST,
T. W. HENRY MAGNER, c. CHARLES FRANCIS MARDEN, WILLIS ALBERT MOORE,
SUBJECTS FOR FRANKLIN FRATERNITY PRIZES.
Ist Class .- The Mythology of the Ancient Greeks. The Life of Achilles. Emerson's "Ideal Scholar." "The Scottish Highlander." Milton : the Man and the Poet. Guinevere : - Princess, Queen and Abbess.
196
SCHOOL REPORT.
2d Class .- Character of Xenophon. The Wisdom of Touchstone. The Punishment of Shylock. 3rd Class .- Thoreau at Walden. Cyrus the Younger. 4th Class .- Among the Ancients. From Seed to Leaf.
Honorable mention is made of the following scholars for excellence in literature.
First Class.
Lois M. Holmes,
A. Lena Adams,
Edith May Whitford,
Helen I. Moorhouse,
Amelia M. Baldwin,
Olive B. Gilchrist,
Wm. E. Waterhouse, Carl C. Crane,
Willis A. Moore.
Second Class.
Ethel Fernald, Jessie M. Baker,
Carrie L. Worthen,
Ethel M. Patch,
H. Edith Bradbury,
Margaret Grady,
Evelyn T. Chalenor,
Roland W. Harris,
Geo. Phillips Bryant, Albert W. Snow.
Third Class.
Susie M. Keizer,
Alice F. Bond,
Ethel B. Mayall, Grace Gilmore,
Mabel L. White, Edith Hunt, Eugene W. Owen, Waldo Wildes.
Fourth Class.
Blanche A. French, Marion C. Waterhouse,
Clara Edith Baker, Addie L. Pratt, Cassie L. Pratt,
Marion G. Thorpe,
Georgia L. Carpenter, Mildred A. Wagg, Frank N. Loveland, Christopher F. Collins.
Frank H. Merrill, Jr.
197
SCHOOL REPORT.
First Class. In Mathematics.
Olive B. Gilchrist, Grace E. Rowe, Lois M. Holmes, Gertrude Littlefield,
Jessie M. Baker,
Margaret Grady,
Laura M. White,
Ethel Fernald,
Carrie L. Worthen, Albert W. Snow,
Geo. Phillips Bryant, C. Gardner Barry, Edward E. Albee, Samuel Dearborn, Geo. E. Glover, Roland W. Harris,
Chas. A. Holbrook. Third Class.
Edith M. Barron,
Susie M. Keizer,
Grace P. Washburn,
Ethel B. Mayall,
Alice F. Bond, E. W. Owen,
Harvey B. Hurd, Frank R. Carr.
Fourth Class.
Addie L. Pratt,
Laura Hood, E. Osgood, Mildred A. Wagg, Edith Baker,
Bertha Packard, Carl Smith, Harold Stewart,
Florence Sanford,
Edwin Wooldridge,
Mattie Mirfield,
Frank H. Merrill, Jr. Frank N. Loveland.
Etta M. Pierce,
J. William Ames, John Heber Larrabee, Wm. E. Waterhouse, Willis A. Moore.
Second Class.
Prizes were awarded as follows : Literature : First prize, William Eben Waterhouse ; second prize, Lois M. Holmes; third prize, Alice F. Bond. Fourth class prize, M. Eleanora Smalley.
198
SCHOOL REPORT.
Honorable mention is made of Amelia M. Baldwin, Ethel Fernald, Jessie M. Baker, Aimee L. Sears, Clara E. Baker, Cassie L. Pratt, Georgia L. Carpenter. Mathematics : First prize Geometry, William E. Waterhouse; third class Geometry, Edith M. Barron ; first prize Al- gebra, Susie M. Keizer ; fourth class Algebra prize, Mildred A. Wagg.
" Work to Win. " GRADUATION EXERCISES OF THE MELROSE GRAMMAR SCHOOL. Town Hall, Tuesday, June 26th, 1894, 10.o'clock a. m.
PROGRAMME.
1. MARCH.
2. RECITATION. . " Minot's Ledge." RUSSELL KNOX.
3. RECITATION " The beautiful ballad of Lady Lee." . CARRIE DILL.
4. SONG. " Ave Maria."
5. RECITATION. " The Prize Violin."
MAUD BRICKETT.
6. RECITATION. "The Experience of a Genius." RALPH FRANKLIN.
7. CORNET SOLO. . .
. "Young America." GRACE HARDY. "The White Lily." . .
8. RECITATION. .
ANNIE BRISTER.
9. 'RECITATION. " Her Brother."
GRACE REED.
10. SONG. . "Morn is Beginning."
11. RECITATION. . "Liberty and Education the Preservation of the Republic." F. H. CURRY.
12. SONG. . " O, Sweet Summer Wind."
13. AWARDING DIPLOMAS.
14. SONG. " The Huntsman's Chorus."
199
SCHOOL REPORT.
GRADUATES.
Adams, Louis S. Amory, S. Lillian. Anderson, Elsie M. Anderson, William A. Bacheller, Alice. Barker, Susie G. Barnes, Ara E.
Bense, Theodore L.
Bosson, Ruth C. Brickett, Maud M.
Brister, Annie J. Brown, Carl. Brown, Harry H. Burbank, Ethel G. Carney, Anna B. Carney, Sadie W. Casey, William E. Center, Katherine. Cleveland, W. Emerson. Coates, Violet C. Copithorn, Addie G. Curry, Frederick H. De Creny, Alice G. Dill, Carrie B. Doherty, Carrie T. Everson, W. Forrest. Folsom, Alice L. Franklin, Ralph S. Frederick, Louise. Frost, Dan T.
Lane Katie F. Lassell, Charles I. Leach, Allen L. Leavitt, Helen. Libby, Marguerite. Long, Anna J. Lovell, Charles L. Lynde, Alta E. Maroney, Nellie M. Martin, Lizzie B. Mason, Florence H. M'Coy, W. Albert. Moore, Mabel L. Munn, Joseph B. Munn, Luella. Oakes, Mary L. Ogilvie, Clarissa A. Orton, George A. Osgood, Bertrand M. Perham, Clara L. Perry, Llewellyn L. Provandie, Francis H. Quinn, David S. ·Reed, Grace E. Rich, Marion S. Ricker, A.Winnifred. Ring, Siguard I. Robinson, Alice W. Russell, William H. Smith, May E.
200
SCHOOL REPORT.
Glover, Myrtle P. Hall, Mary E. Hardy, Grace L. Hawley, Martha I. Hilbourn, Tom R. Hills, J. Welsford.
Hocking, Helena M. Hodge, Mary I.
Holbrook, Dora A. Howes, Ethel O. Johnson, Lillian C.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.