USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Melrose > City of Melrose annual report 1898-1899 > Part 14
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TO PARENTS.
During the past year 1066 different parents have visited the schools in their daily work. While this is a better showing in this respect than is found in many communities, it must appear to any candid person, when it is remembered that the average membership for the year has been slightly over 2,500, that the showing ought to be better in a com- munity like Melrose.
I am aware that prevailing economic and social condi- tions today tend to breed indifference to school work, but, I feel, in view of the interests at stake, that it is not too much to expect that parents who have children passing through the schools should visit and inspect their work as frequently as once a term. If such a result could be brought about, the efficiency of the schools would be large- ly increased. The reasons for this conclusion are so ob- vious that it is not necessary to enumerate them.
Parents can also assist the schools in securing better re- sults by increased thoughtfulness and care regarding the school attendance of their children.
Regular and prompt school attendance is a vital element in the success of a pupil. The majority of parents appreci-
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ate this fact and permit nothing but necessity to keep their children from being at their school tasks at the appointed hour daily. There are those however to whom regular and prompt school attendance on a child's part seems a matter of little consequence, who to gratify a childish whim, or for matters affecting their own conveniences, permit their children to absent themselves frequently from school. In reply to any remonstrance, such parents often say that it is their concern alone if they choose to keep their chil- dren from school for a half or whole day occasionally, since nobody is the loser thereby except the absentees.
If it were a correct assumption that the evil effects of irregular attendance are confined to the pupil or pupils who are.irregular, there would be some force, at least, in their implied conclusion that it is not within the province of teachers or school authorities to dictate in such matters. Unfortunately, irregular attendance on the part of one pupil affects the whole school injuriously, as any candid person must admit. Therefore, it is proper for me to express the hope that during the coming year the teachers may have the earnest co-operation of every parent in Melrose in the matter of school attendance.
Another way in which parents can aid teachers in secur- ing better results is by so ordering the home management that, when the children present themselves for work in the schools, they shall be in a fit condition, so far as possi- ble, physically and mentally, to receive the full benefit of the school work. Too many children in the schools today come to their work with their nervous force sapped by social dissipation and a lack of proper attention to hygienic diet.
The multiplication of clubs and other organizations for young people today is extremely unfortunate from an edu-
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cator's point of view, for they not only increase the nervous strain to which children are inevitably subjected, thereby rendering them less fitted for their school tasks, but careful observation has convinced me that the responsibility in nearly every case of physical breaking down on the part of pupils in the public schools is chargeable either to abnormal physical conditions or to such outside dissipation rather than to over-pressure in the work of the schools, as is fre- quently alleged. Now, if all parents would interest them- selves, as some do, to study the effect of these things upon the physical and mental condition of their sons and daugh- ters ; and if, then, they would act in accordance with the conclusions to which they must come, the results secured in the schools would be better than they are.
Again, parents can do much to aid the schools by mani- festing a larger degree of confidence in and loyalty toward the teachers.
Teachers are human and in the management of forty or fifty children for five hours in the day, for five days in the week, for forty weeks in the year, nearly all of whom come to her as strangers practically, at the beginning of the year and many of whom she barely comes to understand, before they have passed from her room, it is easy to see the possi- bility of error on the part of a teacher in the treatment of her pupils. To my mind the wonderful thing is not that teachers make mistakes but that they make so few under the conditions.
Any parent, who will review carefully the patience and energy that it has cost him to train even one child in the way that he should go, ought to appreciate the magnitude of the task of the teacher, who, as I have said, has forty or fifty children to train. And if the parent will go a step further in his thought and view fairly the numerous blun-
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ders that he has probably made in the home training, he ought to be able to understand the possibility of blunders by a teacher, loaded, as she is, with responsibility, and to pronounce a charitable judgment upon her mistakes.
I have been moved to speak thus frankly because I feel that one of the great needs today, in order that the public school system may be brought up to the maximum of its potential efficiency, is more earnest and intelligent co- operation between the home and the school.
SUGGESTIONS.
(a) SCHOOL DISTRICTS.
The determination of definite areas from which the re- spective schools shall receive pupils is a matter that ought to engage the attention of the committee before the opening of the term in September.
At present no definite district limits exist. I can easily see in the generally unsettled state of affairs, due to the erection of several new buildings nearly at the same time, that it may have been difficult to maintain any definite arrange- ment of districts, but it seems to me that at present it is practicable and wise to make an attempt to develop more system in this matter. In general, the reasons for the above suggestions are comprehended in the statement that the establishment of definite district limits about the schools, after having once been adjusted, will tend to simplify and render more satisfactory the administration of the schools.
(b) THE RIPLEY SCHOOL.
The problem presented by this school is another matter that ought to engage the attention of the committee. I am
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not yet prepared to present a definite recommendation, but I wish to call attention to a few points which lead me to think that it may be wise for the committee to consider the advisability of discontinuing the school and transporting the pupils of that section to the central districts, or, at least, the desirability of removing enough of the grades to enable the school to be handled by one teacher.
The present number of pupils in that school is 38, dis- tributed as follows : grade one, 15 ; grade two, II ; grade three, 9 ; grade four, 3.
To carry on the work required in these grades, two teach- ers are employed at an annual expense of $920. Now, the average membership of the school for the year is 36.42, so that the average cost per pupil in this school for teachers' salaries alone is $25.26 per year, while the average cost per pupil throughout all the schools below the high school for the same item is $14.70. Thus it is evident, without carrying the calculation further, that the cost of educating the chil- dren in that school is considerably more than it is in the other schools. Therefore, unless it is possible to discover compensating advantages from the maintenance of the present conditions it would seem wise to devise some means to lessen the per capita expenditure for the pupils in that school, if it can be done without causing them to suffer any educational disadvantage thereby.
I have ascertained that the annual cost of transporting the pupils of the Ripley school to our more central schools would not probaby exceed $600. Now, if the school should be closed, the annual saving for teachers' salaries, fuel, janitor's service, repairs, etc., would amount to $1,100 ap- proximately. If we deduct from this sum the estimated cost of transportation it appears that the closing of the school means a net annual saving of $500, probably.
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As I have suggested, the saving of this amount is of little consequence if the interests of the children are to suffer thereby ; but I believe not only that they would not suffer by such a change, but that they would be benefitted. There are good reasons why this should be so.
I. If the change should be made the attendance of the pupils would undoubtedly be more regular, which in itself means better work on the pupils' part.
In spite of the earnest efforts of the teachers to secure regularity of attendance in that school, the average per cent. of attendance for the past year is 85.51, while the average per cent. for all the schools in town is 93.53.
Without doubt the effort that we are now putting forth to secure better attendance will show an increase in the per cent. for the year to come, but there are well defined reasons why it is practically impossible to get as regular attendance in this school as in the other schools.
2. The working conditions are so much more favorable in our central schools in which there is one grade and one teacher to a room, than they can possibly be made where it is necessary, as at the Ripley school, to have in one room four grades and two teachers, that it is axiomatic that the children of this school could make more rapid educational progress if they should be transferred as suggested.
For the above reasons, i. e., on the grounds of economy and of increased benefit to the children who now attend the Ripley school, I have felt it to be my duty to present the above suggestion for your consideration.
It is possible that you may deem it inadvisable at present to discontinue all of the grades in this school, but, I be- lieve, that the desirability of making some change in the immediate future will commend itself to your judgment.
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(c) PRINCIPAL'S ASSISTANTS.
Another matter to which I would invite the attention of the committee is the need of an assistant to the principal in each of the eight-room buildings. This is no suddenly de- veloped need, although it has been rendered more impera- tive by the increased work required of the principals in my attempt to develop in the school system a greater degree of administrative accountability.
One who has a proper conception f the relation that a principal should sustain to his teachers, the superintendent and the public in the administration of his school, can easi- ly understand that no person in that position who is com- pelled to teach during the entire time of the session can do anything like what should be expected o im.
I am fully aware that the salary list would be consider- ably increased if this suggestion should be adopted ; but, from my experience in school work and my comprehension of the way in which a principal can be most valuable to his school, I believe the arrangement suggested is wise econ- omy. I need not at present attempt to demonstrate the wisdom of this suggestion. That is for the committee to consider, and, if in the course of such consideration there should be doubt concerning either the need or advisability of action along this line, I hold myself in readiness to show more definitely why I believe it to be for the best interests of the town to have assistants appointed as suggested.
(d) SALARIES.
There are no more important interests in a community than those for which the schools are maintained, and in order that those interests may be properly fostered and
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protected, only first-class teachers should be continued in the schools. To this statement I believe every thoughtful citizen of Melrose will assent.
Now it follows as a corollary of the foregoing proposition that it is the duty of a school committee to maintain a rate of salary which will enable it to secure and hold such talent in the teaching corps.
At present the salaries in Melrose in certain positions are inadequate to hold permanently in those positions such talent as the responsibilities of the work demand. I am aware that the heavy expenditure which the town has made in the immediate past for the erection of new school buildings has rendered it inadvisable hitherto for the committee to do better in the line of salaries than has been done, but I be- lieve that the present conditions and outlook are such that something in the way of increase in this line may fairly be attempted, therefore I commend this suggestion to the careful consideration of the committee.
TENURE OF OFFICE FOR TEACHERS.
The responsible character of the teachers' work and its importance to a community render it only just that the ten- ure of office of teachers should be more certain than it is under the system of annual elections; and I trust that, in the near future, the committee will grant the teachers of Melrose permanent tenure of office under such conditions as will be fair to the best interests of the schools.
It is sometimes said that, if tenure of office for teachers were made permanent, mediocre and, in some cases, posi- tively bad teachers would have a chance to become a life- time clog to the efficiency of the schools. I can see how such things might happen ; but with the way to permanent
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appointment properly guarded, such a result is not at all necessary, therefore it is not a valid objection.
Again, it is said that if teachers are given a permanent appointment they will be deprived of the stimulus to their best effort which results from the maintenance of the an- nual election.
In my judgment, if, as has been said, the way to perma- nent appointment is properly guarded, a teacher who will do her best simply because she fears that she may lose her position at the annual election is not likely to possess the qualifications necessary to secure appointment to the per- manent list ; and if, perchance, she should secure such ap- pointment, there would be little to encourage her to shirk, since a committee always reserves the right to discharge a teacher at any time upon evidence of inefficiency or moral delinquency.
It is not my purpose at the present time, to enter upon a discussion of the various reasons in support of the sugges- tion, but I believe that the system of permanent appoint- ment of teachers, if properly inaugurated would result in better work in our schools, because, if for no other reason it would leave the teacher free to administer her school in the interest of the best results without fearing that by offending some influential citizen, sufficient politics may be interjected into the annual election to cause her removal.
It is a well known fact that efficient teachers are re- moved from their positions sometimes in such a manner ; and the possibility of it in any case is calculated to influ- ence a teacher, especially if she depends upon her position for her support, in a way to render her less efficient than she would be under more independent conditions.
While I favor the policy of permanent tenure of office for teachers, it is with the understanding that the way to per-
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manent appointment shall be made sufficiently difficult to prevent the possibility of such appointment for those who do not possess the quality of a true teacher.
If it should seem wise to the committee to adopt the policy of permanent tenure for the teachers of Melrose, it might be desirable to impose some such conditions as the following :
I. Every new appointee to a position below the high school, in addition to other qualifications, shall have had at least two years' experience in teaching or shall have grad- uated from a Normal school ; any appointee to a future vacancy in the high school shall be a college graduate or shall possess the equivalent of a college training.
2. Every new appointee shall be elected for a period of one year, subject to removal at any time if found to be un- desirable.
3. If a teacher is re-elected at the expiration of the first year's service, it shall be for a term of three years, subject to the above condition regarding removal.
4. At the expiration of this period of service, if she shall have completed satisfactorily a line of professional reading formulated by the superintendent of schools, and if her work as a teacher is approved by him, she shall be re- elected for a period of six years.
5. At the expiration of this latter term of service, if her work is approved by the superintendent of schools and if, by a thesis prepared upon some line of school work which she may elect, she shall show satisfactory evidence of proper educational growth, she shall receive a permanent appointment subject to removal for inefficiency or miscon- duct only upon the recommendation of the superintendent of schools endorsed by a majority vote of the committee.
It is my belief that permanent tenure of office for our teachers with the substance of the above-mentioned sug-
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gestions in force would be beneficial to the schools and eminently fair to the teachers; and I trust that it may seem wise to the committee to take steps in this direction at an early date.
In case of teachers now in the service of the town, I have in mind certain modifications of the foregoing provisions, which I shall be pleased to lay before the committee at the proper time.
(f) EVENING SCHOOL.
The public statutes of the commonwealth make it obliga- tory upon committees in towns of ten thousand or more in- habitants to maintain an evening school during a portion of each year to provide instruction in certain branches for all persons over fourteen years of age who may desire it.
I understand that during part of 1891-92, an evening school was maintained in Melrose, and that one was opened in 1893 but was soon discontinued on account of the small attendance, and that since that time no attempt has been made to support another.
The character of the citizenship "of Melrose is such that, of course, the demand for an evening school of the nature contemplated in the statute is limited ; but if a school should be organized upon more advanced lines than those usually followed in such schools, bringing in for example, courses in history, English, civics, economics, commercial branches and applied sciences, and at the same time pro- viding such elementary work as might be demanded, I am inclined to believe that it would command patronage and result in much good to the community, therefore I would suggest that the committee consider the feasibility of at- tempting something along this line during the coming fall.
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(g) COURSE OF STUDY.
My observation of the working of the present course of study has convinced me that there is need of its modifica- tion in certain lines, and its expansion in others, in order that it may subserve the best interests of the pupils. There- fore I suggest that it would be well to have a careful revis- ion of the same before the opening of the schools in Sep- tember.
CONCLUSION.
The work that has been accomplished during the brief time that I have been connected with your schools is prin- cipally in the nature of beginnings ; but, as I look back over what has been accomplished, I feel that considerable has been done to strengthen the administration of the schools, and I believe that we are now in a position to begin to see some of the effects of the work of the past few months.
In my endeavors to more thoroughly systematize the ad- ministration of the schools, it has been necessary to tax the teachers severely, and I am glad to express publicly my ap- preciation of the willingness with which they have respond- ed to the calls that it has been necessary to make upon their time and strength.
The hearty co-operation of the body of the teachers, and the courteous treatment and support that I have received from the committee have made my work pleasurable and encourage me to believe that our united efforts will result in elevating the character of the school work in Melrose.
Respectfully submitted,
FRED H. NICKERSON,
Superintendent of Schools.
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APPENDIX.
a. REPORTS OF SPECIAL SUPER- VISORS.
b. PROGRAM OF HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION.
c. PROGRAM OF GRAMMAR SCHOOL
GRADUATION.
d. EXTRACTS FROM THE PUBLIC STATUTES OF MASSACHU- SETTS.
e. CORPS OF TEACHERS DEC. 31, 1898.
Report of the Supervisor of Music.
Mr. F. H. Nickerson, Superintendent of Schools.
DEAR SIR : In accordance with your request, I submit the following report on music.
It is now a little over seven years since the Tonic-Sol-Fa system was superseded by the present system of staff nota- tion, which has been under my direction during that period.
About two years ago, the books and charts of the Natural Music System were adopted in the lower grades, and have since gradually displaced the books of the Normal Course in most of the grades.
That the change has been productive of better results, is the unanimous opinion of all the teachers who have used both, and of the supervisor.
The Melrose schools should now be inferior to none, and superior to many in the music work, and in my judgment, the schools, as a whole, are up to that standard.
We have grades, the superior of any I ever met with, and yet we have some which do not rise above mediocrity.
How to bring them all up to the same high plane, is the problem which presents itself to the supervisor.
The music work in public schools today, demands on the part of the regular teacher, particularly above the primary grades, not a little musical knowledge, and a correct ear. No teacher, who cannot tell whether her class is doing the work correctly or not, can carry on that study properly,
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any more than in any other branch of work, and no super- visor can do the work for her. That leads me to suggest that teachers give more time to the preparation of their music work.
A teacher should come before her class with a complete understanding of the musical problem she is to teach, when many times I fear it is only studied out in the schoolroom and during the drill.
Is not too much sometimes expected of the supervisor ? Is he not expected to put right, in his comparatively short and few visits, mistakes and errors, which have been of daily occur- rence ? Gladly as the supervisor would do this, and heroic- ally as he may try, it is sometimes impossible to rectify mistakes and habits which have become fixed by imperfect daily drill.
It is surely the obvious duty of the teacher to fit herself for the work, so that such failures may not exis .
Some teachers are naturally proficient in music, and I am a firm believer in having the musical drill conducted by those teachers who excel in the work, but this is not always for the best interests of the general school work, and is only done in a few instances. Results, however, prove the wisdom of that course.
The greatest difficulty I meet with and one that is the greatest hindrance to good results, is the number of schol- ars, who, from year to year, are allowed to shirk the daily drill, and, after a few years, are almost incapable of making up the work, or reading the simplest musical exercise, to say nothing of carrying a part.
This is due either to poor discipline, or a misconception of the true value of the musical work. Some teachers have the false idea that the music is only for the so-called musi- cal scholar, and as a result the work is carried on and
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perfected by those who take to it naturally, while the others are left behind.
It is not an easy matter to keep hold of each individual in class work, yet class work must mean individual work, or the music falls to the ground. This is a matter I dwelt on at some length in the teachers' meetings, and has already been met by increased care on the part of the teachers, and consequent improvement along those lines.
There is no child attending the public schools, who can sing the major scale, who cannot learn as much about music as about number or reading, and if he or she is slow in learning, more attention, not less, should be given.
Lest I may seem to criticise the work of our teachers, I wish to bear testimony to the faithful, painstaking work they are doing. I believe the great majority of them to be giving their best endeavors to the work, and results are most gratifying. To the ambitious, however, room for im- provement can be always seen.
A series of teachers' meetings was held the first of the school year, which I trust were helpful, and which will be continued as occasion demands.
Agreeable to your suggestion, I have arranged an office . hour at the high school, and teachers are taking advantage of the same to consult me in regard to the work.
Your suggestion in regard to having a teachers' singing class will be kept in mind, and if deemed practicable, will be carried into effect. All of these things create an inter- est and enthusiasm, and tend to prepare teachers for more efficient work.
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