USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > Fifty years of Boston; a memorial volume issued in commemoration of the tercentenary of 1930; 1880-1930, Pt. 2 > Part 7
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Some of the seetions that follow will deseribe in more detail the various types of advanced education offered to the youth of Boston. Others will deal with adult education and with important special phases of the publie sehool system.
5. The High Schools
We are proud - indeed it is our proudest educational boast - that such a large number of our pupils are enrolled in the high sehools. It has been remarked frequently that in proportion to sehool population the enrollment in the high schools of Boston is greatly in excess of that in other large eities of the country. This exceptional attendanee in the high schools and the persistency
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of pupils therein may be attributed to several causes. Conspicuous among these causes are the numerous courses of study with diversified educational, occupa- tional and vocational content provided for our boys and girls.
SUBURBAN HIGH SCHOOLS
In addition to the Teachers College and the Clerical School (both of which are described elsewhere in this report) Boston maintains seventeen high schools. Of these, ten are classified as suburban and bear the names of the geographical districts in which they are located. They are: The Brighton High School, Charlestown High School, Dorchester High School for Boys, Dorchester High School for Girls, East Boston High School, Hyde Park High School, Jamaica Plain High School, Roxbury Memorial High School for Boys, Roxbury Memorial High School for Girls (originally the Roxbury High School) and South Boston High School.
These schools, unless otherwise indicated, are co-educational and admit pupils from their respective districts. They are comprehensive in their character and in miniature they present the various activities of the special central schools. As a supplement to the general curriculum, each school offers specialized instruc- tion along one or more lines. The courses offered are too numerous to give in complete detail but they include the following : College preparatory, commercial, mechanic and domestic arts, industrial and industrial co-operative. In addition to the superior instruction which the pupils receive in these schools they have the additional advantage of convenient location and ease of access. Most of the buildings are comparatively new, some of very recent construction, embody- ing the latest facilities for classroom and laboratory work.
CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOLS
The Girls' High School and the English High School (for boys) are also of the comprehensive type but with a more restricted course of study than many of the suburban schools. Their curricula are similar. Both are located near the business center of the city and are open to pupils from all sections. Each has the distinction of being the oldest public high school of its kind in the country. Each has in consequence a very large number of devotedly loyal graduates.
The English High School was established in 1821. The need which this school was designed to meet is stated in a report of a subcommittee of the Boston School Committee published in 1820:
"No money can be better expended than that which is appro- priated to the support of public schools. If anything will preserve tranquillity and order in a community, perpetuate the blessings of society and free government, and promote the liappiness and prosperity of a people, it must be the diffusion of knowledge. These salutary effects, the committee conceive, would flow from the institution of this seminary."
The following courses are offered in the English High School: College preparatory, technology, general, commercial, including secretarial, accounting and merchandising.
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The Girls' High School was founded in 1852. It offers a broad, general secondary education, and at the same time makes it possible for girls to specialize in the clerical arts, salesmanship and college preparation. The commercial curricula give varied and effective preparation for business life. Household Arts is an elective subject during the first two years, and throughout the full four years the girls are given excellent physical instruction and care.
HIGH SCHOOLS WITH SPECIALIZED COURSES
The remaining high schools, five in number, offer specialized courses of study for pupils who desire preparation in the direction of their future work. They are centrally located and receive pupils from all parts of the city. In these as in all the central schools the sexes are segregated.
THE LATIN SCHOOLS
The Public Latin School for Boys, the first and for nearly half a century the only public school in the town of Boston, was established April 23, 1635. From the earliest times it has been a school for higher instruction, its purpose being especially to prepare boys for college, originally through the medium of the Greek and Latin classics.
In response to the demand that equal educational opportunities be pro- vided for girls, the Girls' Latin School was opened February 9, 1878, with the purpose of giving to girls a preparation for college equivalent to that offered by the Public Latin School for Boys.
These schools are open only to boys and girls whose parents or guardians present a written statement of their intention to give them a collegiate educa- tion. For many years they have been the largest single source of supply to Harvard and Radcliffe Colleges. The course of study, which is arranged with the requirements of the best colleges in view, includes English, Greek or German, Latin, French, history, mathematics and physics. The aim of the schools is to give real mastery of a few fundamental subjects and the power to think and to work.
There are two regular courses of study, a four-year course, open to pupils who have completed the eighth grade in the elementary schools, and a six-year course, open to pupils who have been promoted to the seventh or a higher grade.
PREPARATION FOR COLLEGE
The Boston school system, through its two special preparatory schools and the college preparatory courses in other high schools, articulates with all the local colleges and furnishes a goodly share of their membership. The record of the two Latin Schools at Harvard and at Radcliffe is such as to justify the belief that their standard is exceptionally high, Not seldom it has happened that in a particular year or even a series of years the graduates of these two schools have excelled all others in their percentage of honors in scholarship .*
* EDITORIAL NOTE .- Of one hundred and thirty-two members of the present freshman class at Harvard who received honorable mention in all their entrance examinations, thirty-five prepared at the Boston Latin School. That is, this school trained more than a quarter of the best scholars of the class of 1935.
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The record of the Roxbury Latin School, which, though privately endowed and not a part of the public school system, is free to residents of Roxbury, is also one of steadfast excellence; and the same may be said of the central and suburban high schools, in so far as they furnish students to the colleges.
THE MECHANIC ARTS HIGH SCHOOL FOR BOYS
The Mechanic Arts High School is not a trade school but a high school in which much emphasis is placed on shop work and mechanical drawing. Con- siderable dexterity is developed by the shop work, but provision is not made for repetition of operations sufficient to produce the skill of a journeyman. The aim of a trade school is to teach thoroughly some one trade as rapidly as the student's ability will permit. This school, on the other hand, teaches processes that are fundamental to many trades, with a view to fitting boys for executive positions in which mechanical skill is less important than mechanical insight and judgment.
The primary purpose of the school is to meet the needs of boys whose chief interests are in science, mathematics, drawing and the mechanic arts. Every boy is required to take courses in woodworking, patternmaking, forging and machine shop practice. The purpose of these courses is to give clear notions of good workmanship, accurate and systematic knowledge of the funda- mental processes common to many industries, and an appreciation of the impor- tance of mechanical activities and the value of mechanical intelligence.
The course for the first year is the same for all pupils. At the end of that year, boys are required to choose between the mechanical course and that which prepares for the technical colleges.
THE HIGH SCHOOL OF PRACTICAL ARTS FOR GIRLS
This school, established in 1907, strikes a new note in secondary educa- tion. It is conducted in the belief that woman's highest calling is that of homemaker. In order to present to the girls the highest ideals and to prepare them to meet the problems of life in a dignified and intelligent manner, all the pupils are given courses in cooking, dressmaking, millinery, art, home nursing and home cconomics, in addition to the regular high school work in English, history, mathematics and science. The work in the academic subjects is related to the industrial arts and is conducted with constant thought of its relation to the development of efficient womanhood. In science, for example, the girls are taught the practical working of the plumbing, heating and lighting systems of the modern home, the dyeing of materials, the chemistry of foods, and many other useful things.
The school is also related directly to the home by a plan of home project work; that is, all pupils are expected to perform at home regular and useful tasks, the selection of which is left to them, with the limitation that it must have practical value. Two teachers devote all of their time to this work, and by their visits to the homes bring about a valuable co-operation between home and school.
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Recognizing the fact that many of the girls will not go directly into the home, but will from necessity or choice earn their living for a few years at least, the school provides vocational training in dressmaking, millinery, art, salesmanship and lunchroom management.
Some of the graduates go directly to work at the close of their course here; many others go on to higher schools such as the State Normal Schools, schools of physical education, kindergarten schools and training schools for nurses.
THE HIGH SCHOOL OF COMMERCE FOR BOYS
This school was established in 1906 to prepare boys for entrance into the commercial life of the city. It was modeled after the New York High School of Commerce and the High Schools of Commerce found in Europe, and it was the intention of the School Committee to surround it with quarters, teachers, traditions and a course of study such as would attract and train a worthy group of young men.
Since the school is free from college entrance requirements or other limit- ing agencies, it can make its chief concern the best interests of the individual. The school is regarded as made up of individuals, not classes. The course of study is flexible and at the same time so comprehensive that a serious-minded boy can find himself assisted into almost any field of useful work without loss of time or motion.
This school has maintained a consistently high standard and its graduates are filling positions of responsibility in business leadership in Boston and else- where. Among them are to be found no less than five per cent of the certified public accountants of Massachusetts. The friendly attitude of the merchants and business men of the city has been a factor contributing to the success of the school.
6. Special Schools
THE CONTINUATION SCHOOL
In 1909 the School Committee first took action leading to the establish- ment of the so-called continuation schools. Early in 1910 classes were organ- ized for young persons employed in the shoe and leather and dry goods industries and in department stores.
The age of permissible regular employment in Boston is fourteen, or in some cases later. Acting under the provisions of chapter 805, Acts of 1913, the School Committee established compulsory continuation schools for all minors between fourteen and sixteen years of age holding employment cer- tificates; in other words, part-time instruction for boys and girls who have left school too young to have obtained a really satisfactory training.
The Continuation School, which has separate departments for boys and girls, housed in excellent adjoining buildings, aims "to help employed youth to make immediate and prospective adjustments (social, civic or economic) from their status as full-time pupils to that of responsible wage-earning citi- zens." This means the development of skills, habits, attitudes and ideals, as well as the recognized industrial virtues. Provision is made for pupils who are temporarily out of work, as well as for those who are employed.
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The activities of the school are different in the two main departments. In the Boys' Division machine shop work, woodworking, bookbinding, print- ing, electricity and sheet metal work are taught; in the Girls' Division power machine operating, cooking, millinery, dressmaking and novelty work. In both divisions there are classes in typewriting, bookkeeping, office and business practice, as well as in academic subjects. The shops in the schools are equipped with man-size machinery and exercise work is reduced to a minimumn. A commercial if not marketable product is expected wherever possible.
The average number of pupils in the Continuation School in 1929 was about 4,000.
THE BOSTON TRADE SCHOOL FOR BOYS
The Boston Trade School was created by vote of the Committee on April 3, 1911, and began work March 18, 1912. It was housed in the Brimmer Schoolhouse on Common street until the fall of 1917, when it was transferred to its present specially constructed building on Parker street.
The school is organized into trade departments. The courses are from two to four years. The school calendar is the same as that of the other schools, although the day extends from 8.30 a. m. to 4.30 p. m. The student day is divided equally between academic work and shop work, one half the school at all times being in the shop. The trades taught are selected from a list which includes auto and airplane mechanics, the building trades, electrical work, metal working, wood working, printing, and several others.
The purpose of the school is, first of all, to train boys who are to enter industrial life in the essentials of the chosen trade and instruct them in subjects closely related to it, and at the same time to give them such general instruc- tion as shall make for efficiency, self-improvement and good citizenship. In short, the school aims to give the boy a trade training that he could not possibly secure if he began work as an unskilled apprentice, and to provide an academic course of instruction in the usual studies of a secondary school (with the excep- tion of foreign languages) that shall serve as a basis for self-directed study after leaving school.
About 1,600 men already in the trades attend evening classes in the Trade School building and its branches. They receive instruction in more than a score of subjects useful to them in their daily work.
THE TRADE SCHOOL FOR GIRLS
Like other activities now a part of our system, this school owed its incep- tion to a group of public-spirited women. Founded in July, 1904, under the auspices of the Massachusetts Association of Women Workers, it was carried on as a private enterprise, until in 1909 it was accepted by the School Committee as the first state-aided industrial school in Massachusetts. During the years 1905-OS the Douglas Commission, investigating the need of industrial schools, and the Commission on Industrial Education, with Professor Paul H. Hanus as chairman, found a working model at hand in this school, then located at 676 Massachusetts avenue.
As this school was the pioneer in Massachusetts in aiming to meet the needs of girls obliged to go to work at the earliest possible moment, by training them
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under shop conditions to a degree of specialization and efficiency which would make them sought by the best employers, the methods employed have always diffcred radically from those of purely cultural schools. The trades taught are those which are believed to have the highest practical value for girls need- ing work in Boston. Among these have been dressmaking, millinery, catering, machine operating, commercial arts and crafts and trade design.
A report on Vocational Education incorporated in the Annual Report of tlie Superintendent of Schools for 1923 gives an idea of the many unique features of this school. It has no upper age limit; it offers evening courses for working women; it includes a placement bureau; it keeps "open doors during twelve months in the year and eight hours a day." A gratifying feature is "the increasing number of graduates who become teachers in grade schools, in practical arts classes, and in the school itself."
THE BOSTON CLERICAL SCHOOL
Every ycar a considerable number of young women who complete the academic, normal, or general curriculum of the high schools find it necessary to enter business instead of continuing along the lines of their original aims. The commercial field offers little to those without specialized training, so these girls are cither obliged to accept employment in the humblest capacity with consequent tedious promotion, or to take training for business in some private school.
These conditions are not peculiar to Boston, for they exist in all cities, but Boston is the only city that has made ample public school provision for the reshaping of the educational equipment of these young people by providing them with the opportunities of a training for business meant to fit them for the higher types of office positions and to enhance their promotional possibilitics during employment.
Many graduates also of the high school commercial curriculum for one reason or another were not sufficiently skilled to render acceptable service or a service equal to the ineasure that might be expected from their natural ability, unless it was augmented by further training adapted to their individual necds. In addition to these, there were some young women who after completing two or three years in high school preferred to devote themselves immediately to intensive training for business.
To mect these demands the Boston Clerical School was established in 1914 with four offerings, courses in business, shorthand, secretarial service and accountancy. An employment department helps the graduates to find positions.
7. The Teachers College
The Norinal School, as it was formerly called, has had an interesting his- tory. Established in 1852, the second oldest city normal school in the coun- try, it has been intimately associated with the expansion and progress of the public school system of this city. Although the supply of teachers for the Boston schools has never been restricted to the product of our own institutions, nevertheless a very large proportion of the teachers in the elementary grades have been graduates of the local Normal School.
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The course of instruction in the earlier years of the school required only one year for completion, but in 1888 the course was lengthened to one and a half years; in 1892 it was further extended to two years, both for students preparing for the elementary grades and likewise for those contemplating kindergarten service. In 1913 occurred a further reorganization of the work of the school. The courses of study were made three years in length and the academic content was broadened and made more dignified. Much of the work of the school was raised to collegiate grade and was recognized by our neighboring colleges.
Since students in the Normal School were actually accomplishing a sub- stantial amount of college work, it seemed to the school authorities advisable to establish, in addition to the three-year courses, four-year courses of standard college grade, for the completion of which degrees in education might be received. The School Committee accordingly secured the passage of an Act, April 11, 1922, authorizing the granting of the degrees of Bachelor of Education and Bachelor of Science in Education to graduates of the Boston Normal School satisfactorily completing a four years' course of instruction. In September, 1922, the new courses were introduced into the Normal School and the cur- riculum was organized upon a collegiate basis. The objective of the college courses was defined; the course leading to the degree of Bachelor of Education should prepare students for future service in intermediate grades, and that leading to the degree of Bachelor of Science in Education, supplemented by a year of graduate study, should qualify for service in high schools.
Logically the next step in the development of the institution was to secure for it, in name as well as in character, collegiate recognition. Therefore, the School Committee petitioned the General Court, asking a change in the title of the institution from the Boston Normal School to that of the Teachers College of the City of Boston; and the petition of the Committee was granted.
Through an Act of the General Court (chapter 16 of the Laws of 1926) the School Committee, in addition to the degrees previously authorized, may grant the degree of Master of Education to graduates of colleges or universities who have satisfactorily completed a graduate course of instruction in the Teachers College.
In 1929 legislation was passed, providing that, beginning September 1, 1930, all candidates admitted to the Teachers College for the first time should enter upon a four-year degree-bearing course. In other words, the institution has become a college in fact as well as in name. The requirements for admis- sion are on a parity with those of the best colleges in the country. The stand- ard required for promotion and graduation is high.
The School Committee, on the recommendation of the Board of Superin- tendents, had previously raised the requirements for candidates seeking the high school certificate so as to include a master's degree. That legislation became operative January 1, 1929. After January 1, 1934, all candidates for kindergarten, elementary and intermediate service, must possess a college degree. Such high academic standards together with other eligibility require- ments, including health, character and teaching experience, must ultimately place teaching in the Boston public schools upon a plane of excellence com- parable with that of the other learned professions.
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The teaching force in the Boston schools, as elsewhere, consists largely of women, a large proportion of whom, as we have said, received their training in the Teachers College or its predecessor, the Normal School. A significant change since 1880 has been the appointment of several women as principals of elementary schools. There are also three women principals of high schools for girls, and women are at the head of the Manual Arts Department (which in- cludes the Fine Arts), the Department of Household Science and Arts, the Department of Vocational Guidance and the Department of Practice and Training. Several women have served as assistant superintendents and as members of the School Committee, and the secretary of the School Department is a woman. An examination of the records of fifty years ago reveals no women holding similar positions at that time.
S. The Arts and Crafts
Such are the schools, in all their variety and richness, as they have been built up during the last fifty years on the foundations well laid by our fore- fathers. If in the chapters that follow we seem to emphasize special branches and new departures, it must not be inferred that there has been less progress in the fundamental subjects. It would be a satisfaction, if space permitted, to relate the sure, steady advance that has been made in the teaching of history, the foreign languages, English, mathematics and geography, the solid meat of the old curriculum. But to do this we should have to exceed our limits. It will be understood by the reader that in what follows a selection has been made among those features of the school system that present the twofold interest of importance and of novelty.
THE FINE ARTS
During the period from 1881 to 1896 the declared policy of art education in Boston was that of minimum supervision in day schools and emphasis upon the evening drawing schools. The course of study included in the primary grades writing and drawing on slates. Children copied patterns of objects, designs, lettering and writing from the examples stamped on the wide wooden frames of the slates. Blackboard drawing and pencil drawing from copies in drawing books and from large cards constituted the work in grammar schools. Crayon and charcoal drawing from models, with much emphasis on memory drawing and perspective, occupied the hours of study in high schools. Very little, if any, color was used. The system produced good linear copyists but was essentially mechanical and somewhat repressive.
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