USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Melrose > City of Melrose annual report 1904 > Part 4
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III. Medical Inspection. While the School Committee has not had at its disposal funds that could properly be used to defray the expense of systematic and thorough medical inspec- tion of the schools, it is gratifying to note that the members of the Committee recognize the importance of such inspection, and that through the efforts of a special sub-committee, headed by Dr. Fish and acting in conjunction with the Board of Health, a step has been taken during the year in the direction of further safeguarding the interests of the children in our schools so far as the development and spread of contagious and infectious diseases are concerned.
Under the plan now in operation certain physicians are sub- ject to the call of the school authorities at a nominal expense which is borne by the Board of Health. Teachers are instruct- ed to note carefully the physical condition of the children in their charge, and, at the appearance of anything in connection with a child that would seem to endanger those with whom he comes in contact in the school or in any case concerning which the teacher may be in doubt, to summon a physician for the purpose of examining the child. If an examination of the case reveals a necessity for exclusion, the child is sent home with a note to the parent explaining the nature of the trouble and suggesting that proper action be taken in the matter at once. In such cases a certificate from the Board of Health is required before the child can be re-admitted to the school.
This is emphatically a step in the right direction and when- ever the finances of the Committee will permit, this work should be extended. With compulsory school attendance comes the responsibility to communities to afford all possible reasonable protection to the health of pupils while in school.
.
53
SCHOOL REPORT.
It is proper to note, also, in this connection that by a com- paratively recent vote of the School Committee the Superin- tendent of Schools is authorized to purchase sufficient optical charts to use in testing the vision of the children in our schools.
It is the purpose in this work simply to make such test of the vision of the children as may show any noticeable abnor- mality of sight. If a child's vision should be found to be abnormal, the parent or guardian will be notified and refer- ence to an oculist will be suggested in the interest of the child.
As soon as conditions permit work in this line will begin.
Those whose business has made it necessary to observe and study children considerably are aware that there are many young people in the schools who are suffering seriously educa- tionally and in many cases physically from visual defects of which neither they nor their parents may be aware.
I recall instances within the range of my own observation of pupils who found it impossible to secure promotion regularly with their classes and were rated mentally deficient when the cause was principally a defect of sight. I have seen those same pupils, after the defect had been discovered and rem- died, easily take creditable standing in their work.
IV. Manual Training. In its comprehensive meaning the term manual training may be applied to any form of construct- ive handwork that is carried on in an educational way.
As here used, it refers particularly to the card-board construc- tion, wood-working, and sewing that we are carrying on in the schools of Melrose.
As at present arranged, we have card-board work for all pupils in grades IV, V, VI, and· sewing for girls and bench- work in wood for boys in grades VII, VIII and IX.
The special director of this department of our work, Miss Ferson, personally teaches the classes in wood-working in the sloyd room in the basement of the high school building. Each class is sent here once a week for a lesson of an hour and one half.
While the boys are taking their lesson in wood-working, the girls in the corresponding class are being instructed in sewing in the regular school-room by the room teacher, in accordance with directions given by Miss Ferson, who also inspects the results secured, and, through meetings with the teachers from time to time gives needed criticism and suggestion.
The work in card-board is done in connection with the work in drawing and under the immediate direction of the Supervisor of Drawing in consultation with the Director of Manual Train- ing who is responsible for the general plan.
54
CITY OF MELROSE
Our first classes in these lines of work were organized in February, 1904. At the close of the school year in June an exhibit of the work done was made at the office of the Superin- tendent of Schools. This exhibit, which was visited by a large number of citizens, showed conclusively, I think, that an auspi- cious beginning had been made. Practically every citizen who saw the exhibit expressed surprise at the amount and quality of the work that had been done and satisfaction that work in this line had been made part of our public school curriculum.
That there should be a few who not only questioned the pro- priety of manual training as a school subject but also actually opposed its introduction, was to be expected. Practically every step of educational progress outside the "Three R's" has been taken in the face of more or less opposition.
In my judgment, however, any fair-minded individual who grasps the meaning of education and has thought to any extent and intelligently upon the purpose of manual training must conclude that it is an essential part of any rationally construct- ed school course for young people.
Those who have made little observation of manual work in the schools and who have not studied its bearing upon mental development err frequently in supposing that the purpose of such training in the schools is simply to teach boys and girls skill in sewing, carpentering, etc. Thinking thus they natur- ally oppose the expenditure of public money to support this work in the schools, for they ask, properly enough, "Can't girls be taught to sew sufficiently well at home?" and "Do any number of boys need to learn carpentry?"
Now, manual training is not in the schools for the purpose, chiefly, of developing manual dexterity in any line; it is there rather as a necessity in securing a rounded mental develop- ment of the child. Acquirement of skill in handiwork, although a thoroughly practical result, is incidental in the purpose.
The theory of the educational value of manual training is by no means new. Luther and Comenius gave expression to their belief in it; Rousseau and Pestalozzi advocated it; and Froebel made the fundamental principle of his work "The devel- opment of the self-activity of the child by connecting manual labor with every exercise of the intellect." In speaking of the schools of his day he said :- "It is surely one of the greatest faults of our current school arrangements, especially of the so-called Latin and high schools, that the pupils are wholly de- barred from outwardly productive work. It is futile to object that the boy at this age, if he is to reach a certain degree of skill and insight, ought to direct his whole strength to the learning of words, to verbal instruction, to intellectual culture. On the contrary, genuine experience shows that external, physical, productive activity interspersed in intellectual work strength-
55
SCHOOL REPORT.
ens not only the body but in a marked degree the mind in its various phases of development."
Practically every educator of repute today indorses the opinion of these leaders of the past with respect to manual training.
That the public at large has a well-defined desire for manual · training in its schools is indicated by the following facts :- Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Illinois, Wisconsin, Utah, and Wyoming have enacted state laws authorizing manual training in the public schools; Indiana authorizes it in cities having a population of ten thousand or more; Georgia authorizes county manual training schools; the state of Washington requires it to be taught in each school under the control of the State Normal School; Congress regularly makes appropriations to carry on manual training in connection with the public schools of the District of Columbia; and Massachu- setts in 1898 placed among its statutes the following requirement expressive of its faith in the value of manual training as a part of public school work,-"Every town and city of twenty thousand or more inhabitants shall maintain as part of both its elementary and its high school system the teaching of manual training." This is not the first legislation in Massachusetts upon this subject. As early as 1876 sewing was made permis- sive in the common schools, and in 1884 Chapter 44 of the Gen- eral Statutes of the Commonwealth, which refers to the branches of study to be taught in the public schools, was amended so as to include "the elementary use of hand tools" in the list of sub- jects that shall be taught in public schools wherever school committees deem it to be expedient.
Now, whether or not everyone who advocates manual train- ing in the schools can give a scientifically sound reason for his faith, physiological psychology assures us that certain brain centers can be developed and matured in no other way than through the activity of the hand and the eye and that, if these external organs are not given proper activity, the correspond- ing motor and sensory areas of the brain become atrophied to a greater or less degree. Therefore we may accept as a safe guiding principle for educational practice the following state- ment of a prominent educator,-''An elementary school course without manual training places a premium upon mental defi- ciency."
V. Additional School Accommodations .- A careful study of the present registration and arrangement of grades in the schools indicates that at the opening of the next school year in Septem- ber two additional rooms will be needed for the eighth grade pupils, one for the sixth grade pupils, and probably one for the fifth grade pupils.
56
CITY OF MELROSE
At present the only unused rooms in our school buildings that are available for school purposes are one in the Converse build- ing at the Fells, one in the little single-room building on Frank- lin street west of the Boston & Maine Railroad, and the school hall in the Lincoln school building at Wyoming.
The room at the Converse School is practically useless in relieving the conditions that we shall have in September, (1) because the location of the building is such that no class can be withdrawn from other buildings and sent there and (2) because the number of pupils in the different grades who come from that section to our central schools is so small that it would not materially affect the problem if they should be held at that school.
The old single-room building referred to at the Highlands could be used, but it would require more or less expenditure to put it in proper condition.
The Lincoln school hall could also be used, but to meet the needs as given above it would be necessary to divide it into two rooms. To take such action would deprive the school of the educational advantages that come from an assembly hall in connection with a school,-advantages which I deem val- uable.
Therefore, while it may be possible with a moderate expen- diture in these lines and at considerable disadvantage and con- sequent educational waste to go through another school year without enlarging our present accommodations, it is my opinion that such a plan is not the wisest solution of the problem.
There is another condition that has bearing, I think, upon the question of what to do at this time. For two years it has been necessary to place one class regularly in the Washington school hall. This was never intended for use as a class-room; and, if we must continue to use it as such, additional window surface should be provided so that the room may be adequately lighted.
I believe that the best interests of the City at this time de- mand not a temporary arrangement that, at best, may last one year, but such an expenditure as may be necessary to pro- vide an enlargement of our school accommodations that will be sufficient for a number of years.
In the report for 1903 I outlined in a general way the path along which the growth of our school accommodations should advance in the years to come and it is unnecessary at this time to repeat what was said in that report. Our immediate need is expressed best, I think, by the recent communication of the School Committee to the Board of Aldermen requesting an enlargement of school accommodations and suggesting the addition of twelve rooms to the present high school building.
57
SCHOOL REPORT.
The following statements with reference to this plan are worth consideration :---
1. Such enlargement will leave good opportunity for future additions to the building sufficient to provide for the require- ments of this school for many years to come.
2. The enlargement can be accomplished without impairing either the structural firmness or the architectural beauty of the present building. Indeed, it is the opinion of those most com- petent to judge that the proposed addition to the building will improve its appearance.
3. The plan will afford opportunity for a consolidation of the ninth grades, which not only will enable these grades to be taught to better advantage but also will relieve the congested condition in our grammar buildings.
4. Whether or not the ninth grades are centralized, the growth of the high school alone will require an enlargement of the building in the near future.
5. It will be more economical, both immediately and per- manently, to enlarge the high school building than to build a separate building such as has been suggested; and the advan- tages from the point of view of school administration are de- cidedly in favor of an addition to the present building.
6. The proposed enlargement will give opportunity for cer- tain internal changes in the present building that are needed for the best good of the school.
In view of the foregoing facts it seems not only that the plan suggested by the School Committee is wise but also that favor- able action thereon by the Board of Aldermen cannot come too soon for the good of the educational interests of the city.
VI. Music, Drawing, and Penmanship. In the annual school report for the previous year, the supervisors of these special subjects reported somewhat fully, giving their plans of work and the ends sought therein. Therefore it is sufficient for present needs to say that during the past year the work of our schools in these subjects has followed, in the main, the lines laid down in those reports and that the results secured on the whole are commendable.
VACATION SCHOOLS.
During six weeks of the summer of 1904 vacation schools were maintained at the Centre and at the Highlands through the joint effort of the Melrose and the Melrose Highlands Women's Clubs.
Such school buildings as were needed in this work were placed at the disposal of the Clubs by the School Committee.
Six hundred and sixty pupils registered for work in the schools and the average attendance upon the classes was approx- imately four hundred and seventy-five.
58
CITY OF MELROSE
The lines of work carried on were cooking, sewing, wood and card-board sloyd, loom-weaving, basketry, nature-work and drawing.
The exhibition held at the close of the term indicated that the undertaking had been very successful. It is impossible to estimate definitely the value to a community of such work as this, but one who has intelligently considered social conditions in centers of population will readily admit that it is great. Data bearing upon the need of vacation schools in Melrose may be found in my last year's report, pages 59 to 61.
With a view to the best community interests, it is desirable, I believe, to make such schools an integral part of our public school system. Whether or not the condition of the City's finances will warrant a request for an annual appropriation sufficient to maintain such schools is a matter for the Committee to decide. I trust that the question may receive your con- sideration.
CHANGE IN SCHOOL COMMITTEE.
Fortunately only one change has occurred in the member- ship of the School Committee during the past year. Edward W. Frentz, whose term of office expired with December, 1904, declined to be a candidate for re-election, and Charles A. Castle, a lawyer residing at 98 West Emerson Street, was elected to the vacancy.
CONCLUSION.
It may be fairly assumed, I think, from the foregoing report, not only that the schools of Melrose are being administered with a reasonable regard to economy, but also that the work done in them is characterized by a fair degree of excellence.
For whatever there may be to commend in the schools as they are today credit must be given an intelligent and hard-working corps of teachers, a Committee ready at all times to support its Superintendent of Schools in any wise effort, and a com- mur ity thoroughly loyal to its school interests.
Respectfully submitted,
FRED H. NICKERSON,
Superintendent of Schools.
April 11, 1905.
APPENDIX.
MELROSE HIGH SCHOOL
GRADUATING EXERCISES. CLASS OF 1904.
CITY HALL, EVENING OF JUNE TWENTY-THIRD AT EIGHT O'CLOCK.
PROGRAM.
INVOCATION,
REV. E. A. SCOVILLE.
SONG AT SUNRISE
Manney
GLEE CLUB.
ADDRESS, "Gunnery"
REV. P. S. HENSON, D.D.
DOWN IN THE DEWEY DELL
Smart
GLEE CLUB.
AWARD OF PRIZES GIVEN BY FRANKLIN FRATERNITY.
FORGET ME NOT
.Geise
GLEE CLUB.
PRESENTATION OF DIPLOMAS, WILLIAM D. STEWART, Chairman of School Committee.
REST THEE ON THIS MOSSY PILLOW
Smart
GLEE CLUB.
60
CITY OF MELROSE
CLASS OF 1904.
Concilio et Animis.
Atwood, Mary Alice Bartholomew, Persis Bullen, Charlotte Packard Blanchard, Angie Merrill Bunker, Ichabod Campbell, George Abram Carter, Alba Pearle Carter, Philip Barrett Child, Florence May
Cochrane, Clifford Nelson
Critchett, Charles Wood
Davis, Paul Bloomfield DeCecca, Virginia Rose Dennis, Julia Thorndike Ellis, Leslie Burton Emery, Faith Elizabeth Etter, Fred Mosher Farnum, George Rossiter
Fields, Florence Lizzie
Folsom, William Cumner French, John Howard Gerrish, Herbert Thurston Gerrish, Louise Waters Gerry, Edith Mabel Gould, Ethel Gertrude Harris, Evelyn May Hill, Helen Mendum Hills, Aubrey Flawith
Hurd, Florence Mabelle Keeney, Howard Russell Kingston, Louise Alice Knapp, Charles Howard Leavitt, Edna Gertrude McDaniel, Elizabeth May Ormsby, Harriet Louise Orton, William Lydston Pierce, Frederick Newton Perkins, Charlotte Anita Riley, Mary Josephine Rowe, Winthrop Price Sargent, Harold Rodolph Sawyer, Winifred Warren Sayward, Samuel, Jr. Scanlan, Alfred William Serra, Julius Herschel Simpson, Ethel Merrill Stafford, Marion Harriet Stowe, Maida Eddy Tobey, Ada Florence Toomey, Helen Gertrude Verge, William Clifford
Weeks, Ralph Clements Wheeler, Harry Edmund White, Reginald Harold. Whitney, Caroline Gertrude Worth, Daisy Young, Gilbert Edward.
CLASS HONORS.
Marion Harriet Stafford
Florence May Child
HONOR LIST.
CLASS OF 1904.
Florence May Child Marion Harriet Stafford
Ethel Gertrude Gould Caroline Gertrude Whitney
George Rossiter Farnum
CLASS OF 1905.
Alfred R. Loring Annie B. Murray
Florence E. Copeland Ester B. O'Brien
Augustus B. Merry
61
SCHOOL REPORT.
Ruth A. Baker Hazel Lufkin
CLASS OF 1906.
Ruth Hazard Zelma Stone
Ruth A. Wentworth.
Ruth P. Guilder Dora F. Perkins Alice M. Scribner
CLASS OF 1907.
Mildred Jenks Martha A. Morrissey Frances Spaulding
Lucy S. Spaulding
MELROSE WOMAN'S CLUB HONORS.
Maida E. Stowe Florence M. Hurd
FRANKLIN FRATERNITY PRIZES.
ENGLISH (Senior Class) Ethel L. Gould.
ENGLISH (Junior Class) Agnes B. Edwards.
ENGLISH (Third Class) Mabel A. Farnum.
ENGLISH (Fourth Class) Alice M. Scribner.
ADVANCED GEOMETRY. Ethel L. Gould
GEOMETRY (Third Class) Edith W. Simpson.
ADVANCED ALGEBRA Geo. W. Lawrence, Jr.
ALGEBRA (Fourth Class) Dorothy E. Hodgkins
GREATEST IMPROVEMENT IN PENMANSHIP IN BUSINESS DEPT. Reginald B. Fonda
PRIZES AWARDED BY EDITORS OF HIGH SCHOOL "LIFE."
FOR BEST SHORT STORY Mabel A. Van Riper FOR BEST POEM Wadsworth G. Provandie.
62
CITY OF MELROSE
PUPILS PROMOTED FROM THE NINTH GRADE TO THE HIGH SCHOOL JUNE, 1904.
*Adams, Kate
*Akers, Samuel L.
*Aldrich, Mildred L. Alexander, Anastatia
*Hart, Marguerite
*Allen, Lilia F.
*Hartigan, Theresa M.
*Almy, Marie
*Haven, George F.
*Atwood, Frank W.
*Heartz, William F.
*Austin, Harold
*Baker, Marguerite
*Baldwin, Edna
*Hogan, Frances L.
*Belyea, Jennie J.
*Brettell, Herbert L.
*Hughes, Thomas H.
*Boylen, Edwin
*Bowser, Hazel
*Johnson, Agnes C.
*Keeney, Ethel M. Keeley, Helen
*Knapp, William D.
*Lent, Marguerite
*Carney, Ethel M.
*Lent, Mary
*Carney, Mary C.
*Locke, Harrison
*Long, Raymond H
*Cleveland, Coral
*Critchett, Ruth G.
*Davis, Edward L.
Davis, Grace H.
Davison, Joseph S. DeCreny, Earl C.
*Dike, James
*Doucet, Sadie I.
*Doucette, James L.
*Drake, Helen Ruth
*Duffy, Mollie A.
*Duren, Chester E. Eagan, Rose V.
*Eaton, Chas. E.
*Eaton, Lawrence
*Eyrick, George J. Fahey, Rupert F.
*Munroe, Sidney P
*Murphy, Harry J.
*Murray, Walter R. Nickerson, O. Edwin
*O'Brien, Thomas
*Phinney, Charlotte F. Pittaway, Annie S.
*Pray, Beatrice
*Rice Albertine E.
*Riley, Julia I.
*Riley, Marguerite *Robertson, Etta L.
*Rowse, Ralph Russell, Harry
*Saltmarsh, Wm. H.
*Griffin, May E. Grundy, Maude E.
*Merrill, Mildred
*Merrill, Nathaniel G.
*Moore, Albert F. Muehlberg, Hattie Munroe, Elmer
*Farmer, A. Annie
*Farwell, Esta May
*Fletcher, Allen
*Fletcher, Dorothy
*Flett, Louis E.
*Gassett, Chas. H.
*Grant, Wesley
*Gibson, Lester E.
*Goldstein, Annie G.
*Gordon, Emily C.
*Goss, Helen K.
*Gould, Wallace I.
*Gunn, Frances E.
*Hardy, Harold Harris, Mildred E.
*Higgins, Thomas Hilton, Olive
*Beeler, Leslie
*Howard ,Grace E. Howell, Dorothy
*Brown, Doris G. Buckley, Margaret G.
*Burrell, Alden W.
*Caldwell, Mabel L.
*Cassell, Arthur D.
*Chapman, Ethel M.
*Lowe, Laura M.
*Lucey, Jeremiah F. Lynch, Caroline E.
*Lynde, Edith B.
*Manley, Frederick S. Marr, Isabel T.
*McCarty, Chas. E
*McDonald, Herbert McLean, Ernest A. McMullen, Purdy
*McMullen, Sidney McNider, Grace
*Jack, Lawrence I.
63
SCHOOL REPORT.
*Sayward, Ruth
Tucker, Robert
*Shapleigh, Wm. P. Simonds, Ethel M.
*Turpin, Ida B. Tyzzer, Edith
*Smith, Marjorie L.
*Snow, Lendol D.
*Verge, Melbourne Waite, Nelson
*Stafford, Robert W.
*Wardwell, Annie L.
*Stanley, Myrtle M.
*Wardwell, Arthur
*Stantial, Harold S.
*Warner, Royal
*Stevens, Martha L.
*Webber, Azile
*Swain, Alfred
*Webber, Charles
*Thomas, Walter F.
*White, Elliot A.
*Thompson, Arthur E.
*Wildes, Kenneth M.
*Thorndike, Helen
*Wolley, Arthur L.
*Tucker, Ella M.
*Young, S. Frances
*Entered High school in fall of 1904. 82 %
64
ORGANIZATION OF THE SCHOOL STAFF. December 31, 1904.
Superintendent of Schools. FRED H. NICKERSON, 77 Upham Street. Superintendent's Clerk, ROSETTA M. PENDLETON, 179 Trenton Street.
CORPS OF TEACHERS. HIGH SCHOOL.
NAME.
GRADE.
WHERE EDUCATED.
WHEN ELECTED.
William C. Whiting .
Principal.
Dartmouth College. 1899
Alonzo G. Whitman.
. Principal Emeritus.
. Bowdoin College .. 1874
George H. Hutchins.
Sub-Master
Bates College . 1901
Kenneth Beal.
. English Department.
Dartmouth College.
1902
Christine D. Ross.
. Modern Language Department
. Elgin Academy, Scotland.
. 1904
Margaret McGill.
History Department.
. Mt. Holyoke College
1900
Adelma A. Ballou.
Latin.
Dean Academy.
. 1887
Harriet C. Fairbanks
Algebra, Latin
. Natick High School.
1880
Hattie G. Ricker.
. French.
Lapham Institute.
1884
Jennette Moulton .
. Greek.
Wellesley College.
. 1899
Lillian A. Bolster.
. German and French
. Partial Course Harvard & Chicago Univs. 1904 1902
Sara Fisher .
. History, Stenography
Boston University
Amelia C. Ford.
History, English.
Radcliffe College.
. 1903
J. Thatcher Sears.
. English, Algebra.
. Harvard University. 1903
G. Walter Williams
Business Department.
. Wilkesbarre (Pa.) Business College. ... 1903
Clara A. Snell. . English and Mathematics.
. Bates College. .1904
CITY OF MELROSE
FRANKLIN SCHOOL, COR. FRANKLIN AND MAIN STREETS.
NAME.
GRADE.
WHERE EDUCATED.
WHEN ELECTED.
Alton C. Churbuck.
. Principal
. Bridgewater Normal School . 1905
Rose D. Lanphear.
IX
. Boston University .
1903
Alice G. Drake.
VIII.
Salem Normal School. 1904
Louise G. White. .
. VII.
State Normal School.
1895
Marguerite Pierce.
VII.
. Farmington (Me.) Normal. .1903
Nora P. Nason.
. VI ..
. Gorham (Me.) Normal School. .1899
Blanche M. Brickett.
. VI . .
. Bridgewater Normal School.
1903
Alma J. Guptill.
.V ..
. Girls' High School, Boston. 1884
Evelyn Pike. V.
Newburyport Training School
. 1904
SCHOOL REPORT.
WASHINGTON SCHOOL, COR. LEBANON AND LYNDE STREETS.
Eva R. Crane.
Principal.
. Coburn Classical Institute. 1899
M. Blanche Fogg ..
. IX ..
. Boston University . . 1904
A. Gertrude Stone. . IX.,
. Boston University .
. 1904
Winifred Dodge.
. VIII.
. Plymouth State Normal School. 1899
Lavinia Smallwood . VII
Bridgewater Normal. 1899
Etta J. Call.
. VI and V
. Ellsworth (Kan.) Normal Institute. . 1890
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