USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Quincy > Inaugural address of the mayor, with the annual report of the officers of the city of Quincy for the year 1917 > Part 15
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Central library :
Branches (one occupies separate building)
2
Stations (delivery)
2
Other agencies:
Schools (buildings)
6
Industrial corporations.
2
Number of days open during year (central) : For lending
303
For reading .
315
Hours open each week for lending (central) 72 (10 mos.), 57 (2 mos.).
Hours open each week for reading (central) 76 (3 mos.), 72 (7 mos.), 57 (2 mos.).
Total number of staff .
14
Total valuation of library property .
$188,275
Increase.
Adult Juvenile
Number of volumes at beginning of year.
33,633
7,678
Total 41,311
Number of volumes added during year by pur- chase .
1,166
2,468
3,634
Number of volumes added during year by gift. .
591
18
609
Number of volumes added during year by bind- ing material not otherwise counted.
143
7
150
Number of volumes lost or withdrawn during year.
252
940
1,192
Total number at end of year.
35,281
9,231
44,512
Pamphlets: Classified and cataloged but not counted.
Maps: No statistics kept.
REPORT OF TRUSTEES OF PUBLIC LIBRARY
239
Use.
Adult Juvenile Total
Total number of volumes lent for home use. .
99,918 84,016 *183,934
Number of volumes of fiction lent for home use
63,945 44,463 108,408
Number of volumes sent to agencies. .
1,802
Note: The total circulation included 3022 books either taken by teachers or sent to schools, and 175 sent to two other agencies. Each book is counted one issue in the circulation, no returns for use at agencies included. Number of volumes used in buildings not recorded.
Number of inter-library loans. 24
Other circulation: Stereographs.
Mounted and unmounted pictures
*Includes 19,083 unbound periodicals.
Registration.
Adult Juvenile
Total
Number of new borrowers registered during year
1,165
900
2,065
Total number of registered borrowers since July 1
3,485
1,945
5,430
Note: Re-registration was begun July 1.
Number of publications issued .
4
Number of periodicals and newspapers currently received: 155 titles; 237 copies.
Number of persons using library for reading and study: record not kept.
FINANCE.
Receipts.
Unexpended balance, January 1, 1917
$2,077.26
*City appropriation. .
19,810.62
Endowment funds, net .
1,013.74
Fines.
599.18
Other sources.
18.38
Total
$23,519.18
Of which $179.99 (funds) is required to be spent for books.
*Includes dog tax, $2,302.95.
Payments.
Maintenance:
Books
$3,418.69
Periodicals
530.41
Binding
941.92
*Salaries, library service.
10,936.47
Salaries, other service (janitors, helper)
1,546.67
Insurance.
437.33
Rent .
€00.00
Heat .
471.45
Light
702.99
tOther maintenance.
2,802.39
Total
$22,388.32
*Includes reclassification, $753.01.
+Care of grounds and building, including repairs (central library), $478.65.
3,535
959
Annual Report
OF THE
SCHOOL DEPARTMENT
OF THE
City of Quincy Massachusetts
For the Fiscal Year Ending December 31, 1917
0
MANKT
QUINCY
$1883
PUBLISHED BY THE SCHOOL DEPARTMENT
SCHOOL COMMITTEE FOR 1917
Chairman HON. JOSEPH L. WHITON, Mayor Vice-Chairman DR. NATHANIEL S. HUNTING
Term Expires
HON. JOSEPH L. WHITON .
December 31, 1918
29 Whitney Road, Quincy.
MR. ALFRED O. DIACK. December 31, 1919
47 Independence Avenue, South Quincy.
DR. NATHANIEL S. HUNTING. December 31, 1919 1136 Hancock Street, Quincy.
MRS. ALICE M. ARNOLD
December 31, 1918
57 Spear Street, Quincy.
DR. GEORGE M. SHEAHAN
December 31, 1918
12 School Street, Quincy.
MR. CHARLES W. BAILEY.
December 31, 1917
365 Highland Avenue, Wollaston.
DR. DANIEL A. BRUCE.
December 31, 1917
139 East Squantum Street, Atlantic.
Secretary of Board and Superintendent of Schools . MR. ALBERT LESLIE BARBOUR 14 Linden Place, Quincy
Advisory Committee on Industrial Education for Men MESSRS. H. GERRISH SMITH, ALEXANDER W. RUSSELL, HERBERT S. BARKER, HENRY A. MARR, CHARLES L. PRATT
Advisory Committee on Industrial Education for Women
MRS. CARL G. HORST, MRS. ROBERT E. FOY, MRS. GEORGE W. ABELE
Stenographers MISS MARION NILSEN MISS HELEN M. CANTY
Office, Cliveden Building, 1535 Hancock Street. Office hours : S to 12 M., 2 to 5 P.M .; Saturdays, S to 12 M.
Attendance Officer MR. CHARLES H. JOHNSON
Office, Cliveden Building, 1535 Hancock Street. Office hours: 8 to 9.30 A.M., and from 1.30 to 2 P. M., 4.30 to 5 P. M .; Saturdays, 8 to 12 M., 1.30 to 5 P.M.
The regular meetings of the School Board are held at eight o'clock P. M., the last Tuesday in each month.
4
REPORT OF SCHOOL COMMITTEE
To the Citizens of Quincy:
In compliance with the law the School Committee of the city of Quincy submits its annual report for the year 1917.
It is with gratification that the Committee can state that in spite of the unusual demands upon the appropriation made at the beginning of the year, the expense of running the schools has been kept within that appropriation.
The change last year in our City Charter brought with it a change in our School Committee. The former Board of nine members automatically dropped out and was replaced by a Board of six members, the Mayor becoming Chairman of the Board by virtue of his office. In view of this smaller body, sub- committees were given up and all matters are considered at a "Round Table" conference. We feel that this plan is working with entire satisfaction and we also wish to express our ap- preciation of the interest shown in school matters by our present Chairman, Mayor Joseph L. Whiton. Regular in attendance at our meetings, keenly interested in all matters pertaining to our schools, any plan or suggestion for their betterment meets with his hearty co-operation and support.
The unprecedented conditions brought about by the war are placing upon our schools a responsibility which must be recognized and met. More than ever should the importance of education be emphasized. Upon the children of today will largely devolve the task of readjustment and reconstruction. President Lowell of Harvard says, "The war has demon- strated that education from the lowest to the highest grade is not an ornament but a prime factor in the efficiency of a nation." These increased and unusual responsibilities are placing much additional work upon those who are carrying on our schools and the Committee takes pleasure in testifying to the broad and unselfish spirit in which these added burdens are being met by our Superintendent, Mr. Albert L. Barbour,
5
and by our teachers. It seems not unlikely that these demands will increase rather than decrease, but the people of Quincy can rest assured that any new demands will be met wisely and efficiently.
It seems not out of place to speak of the patriotic en- thusiasm of the children, every one of whom is proving the statement recently made by our Superintendent, "Every child is a true democrat; every child is a true patriot."
The past year shows much good work done. The Home- Making School for girls has fully justified itself and we hope that the time is not far distant when an appropriation can be made to enlarge the scope of its work.
The two new school buildings, the Daniel Webster and the Francis W. Parker, have been occupied since the be- ginning of the school year and have amply proved their need. The erection of the Victory plant at Squantum emphasized the already existing need of a school in that district which would obviate the great objection of transporting children to and from the Quincy School by street car. The Committee has approved plans for a one-story building having eight rooms and an assembly hall. This is a new type in school architecture but one which makes for economy, efficiency and the safety of the children. The Mayor and the City Council have appropriated a sufficient sum of money and work will be begun as soon as the weather permits.
The economic situation brought about by war con- ditions necessarily affected our teaching force and it was felt to be only a matter of justice that the salaries of the teachers be increased. This increase was quite general, though not large, and as it extends over a period of a few years will not be a great financial burden to the city.
Miss Lucy M. Hallowell, the assistant in the School Committee rooms for a long term of years, tendered her resignation this fall and we wish to express our appreciation of her fidelity, her ability and her whole-hearted interest in her work.
We note with satisfaction the increasing interest which the parents are taking in the schools and the growing co-oper-
6
ation between the school and the home. Many causes are contributing to this but none in a greater degree than the assembly halls which serve a purpose not only special but broad and far reaching.
In closing, the Committee bears witness to its interest in the work which falls upon it and to the harmonious re- lations which exist within its own body and between that body and the Chairman and Superintendent.
The foregoing report, presented by a special com- mittee consisting of Mrs. Alice M. Arnold and Dr. N. S. Hunting, was adopted as the annual report of the School Committee of 1917.
ALBERT L. BARBOUR,
Secretary.
7
REPORT OF THE SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS
Mrs. Arnold and Gentlemen:
I submit herewith my ninth annual report as Superin- tendent of the Schools of this city, it being the forty-third in the series of such reports.
SCHOOL ATTENDANCE AND ACCOMMODATIONS
The conditions which are so rapidly transforming our city into a busy industrial community have been steadily increasing our school attendance notwithstanding the draft which these same industries have been making on the ranks of the older boys and girls. Comparison of present attendance conditions shows that the increase was never greater than at the present time - the close of this year. Very fortunately, the completion of the Francis W. Parker and Daniel Webster schools came in time to obviate a degree of congestion that would otherwise have been unbearable and the city is more comfortably provided for, so far as present needs are con- cerned, than at any time within my experience. Although at both the new schools it was found necessary to utilize all the rooms, the relief upon the several contiguous districts has been such as to eliminate the overcrowded class rooms to which we had recently become accustomed. It needs to be said, however, that at the present rate of growth eight to twelve new class rooms should be added yearly merely to maintain the present even balance and the passing of any year in which that degree of school building is not maintained merely postpones what must ultimately be provided.
For the future, plans for the Squantum section of the city are already in hand and provision for the relief of the High School is under discussion. The present attendance at the High School, though much in excess of the capacity of the building for efficient work, is not apt to increase until after the conclusion of the war, at which time the city should be immediately ready to meet the situation.
This year under the revised charter the School Commit-
8
tee has taken charge of the repair of its school buildings. While this has entailed considerable additional executive work, the opportunity to systematize the plan of upkeep and to secure greater promptness of repair is well worth the additional time for oversight that may be required.
So far as possible, the classes of the Industrial School have been called upon to make any repairs that they con- veniently could do and the amount of work done in electrical and plumbing lines alone would have required hundreds of dollars if otherwise done. Proper attention to the prevention of deterioration would urge that a certain number of buildings be painted each year on the outside and that a definite num- ber of school rooms each year should be freshened with paint and kalsomine. This procedure has been begun. Its continu- ance will keep the school property in far better condition than ever before and it is the policy which every wise property owner would adopt with his own property.
A comparison of the costs of the School Committee's work for the present year will show a marked increase over the year preceding. For this no apology is necessary. It will be of interest to indicate in what items this increase was most marked.
For instruction, a greater number of teachers, was re- quired because of the opening of thirty-two new school rooms and because of the increase of salary which was granted both for high and elementary school teachers. The cost of operation of the schools has risen to a marked degree because of the increased cost of fuel and because the Committee during the past summer instead of simply providing for its needs until January purchased all the coal it was able to se- cure at that time and consequently even now has at least a full two months' supply of fuel on hand. The cost of main- tenance, in itself a charge of respectable proportions, is simply a transfer from the Public Works department budget of past years, and is not an increase, in fact. The cost of textbooks and stationery, always a constantly rising item because of in- creased numbers, has been affected this past year by the same causes that have increased the costs of all commodities.
9
Even with the large general increase of the past year, the per capita expenditure of this city for the education of its children is still much less than that of the vast majority of the cities of the state.
WAR AND THE SCHOOLS
We find ourselves at this time with all our thoughts and energies centred on the war in which our nation is engaged. It could not be otherwise than that our preparations for this war and our gradually increasing engagement in it should profoundly affect the schools and the thousands of school children. New demands upon the time of the school children and teachers are constantly pressing for attention; new activ- ities of a war nature are steadily becoming a normal part of school work as the younger people prepare themselves to do their share in the unknown times that lie ahead of us.
At the outset it may be said without fear of contradic- tion that the children may be depended upon absolutely to do whatever may lie within their power to a degree only limited by their strength and means, inasmuch as patriotism, devo- tion to country and the spirit of service are innate character- istics of childhood. Because of the manifold demands that may arise and the great number of opportunities for service, all or nearly all probably good, it has seemed best, in order that there might be no waste energy or division of effort, to ally our efforts with the Junior Red Cross organization and to undertake only such work as may be recommended by them or may be a recognized part of their programme. Probably most of the schools of the city will secure school membership in the Red Cross organization while all schools will devote their activities wherever possible to the Red Cross work.
The war, moreover, is affecting our schools in the large number of withdrawals it is bringing about both of teachers and older pupils. A number of our young men teachers have withdrawn and enlisted in various branches of the army or navy service; a few of our young women teachers have given up teaching for business, while a large number of older boys or girls have been induced either by the economic pressure
10
of high cost of living at home or by the temptation of the prevailing high wage scale, to withdraw from high school and become wage earners. This condition is nation wide and will without doubt continue. The problem of securing competent teachers, at all times the primary problem for a superinten- dent of schools to consider, has in the present times been one to absorb a very large part of his time and energies and the loss of good teachers can only with great difficulty be made good. This, too, will be a problem of increasing gravity.
So far as withdrawals of older pupils from school is concerned, the school has a positive duty to perform in acquainting itself with the reason, so far as it may be known, for these withdrawals and in acting as a guide and adviser to the young people concerned and their parents. Where the impelling reason for withdrawal is, as it fre- quently will be, the economic need at home, the school can frequently help by guiding the child into occupations that are properly adapted to his strength and capacity and that may possibly hold out hope for advancement. Where the impelling motive for leaving school is the glittering one of high wages and no real need is present, the teacher can hardly emphasize too much upon both parent and child the folly of such a course. Instead of rushing blindly from the school room and into the industries, where there is no financial necessity for so doing, the child should remain at his books just as long as possible.
If the time comes in the course of this war when the demands of government work or of the industries vital to the war call for helpers to do work which children can do, then it will be time for children to respond, but to rush blindly into business or productive life, in most cases on unessential work, is the height of folly and will work ultimate harm to the community.
The war, with its demand on our interest and attention, should not so absorb us that we allow our efforts to flag in the endeavor that we are making to provide every child with an education and put every child into physical condition such that he may profit by an education. In the last two or three years Quincy has made rapid progress in the welfare work that
11
it has carried on in the school department. Its school nurses, dental clinic, co-operation with Boston clinics for eye, ear and throat work as well as the work just begun this past year to remedy speech defects, all represent progress which under no circumstances we should lose. I had hoped that when the Parker and the Webster schools were ready there would be ample room for open air classes for children who might need them as well as classes for atypical children. Both these are needs which we should not neglect as you will agree without question, and we should seize the first opportunity presented by centrally located rooms to undertake to care for both these groups of children.
In every community the ratio of children belonging to these groups may be found to be a fairly uniform and con- stant one and every child in these groups offers a far more im- portant problem than the ordinary child. As a community we can ill afford to allow children in ill health or poor physical condition to continue to labor under these handicaps if any form of special school environment or publicly provided clinical treatment will restore them to normal health and make them more valuable members of society. In like manner the child who is slower of comprehension needs special care and treatment to make his school years count for so much as possible while it is equally true that the gifted child needs to be allowed to make progress commensurate with his gifts.
In class room instruction, too, the war inevitably leaves its mark. The newspaper, daily and weekly, has become one of the principal textbooks. Geography and history have be- become living things, reading and oral composition have had a new impetus and there is no school room but finds itself able to teach the duties and responsibilities of citizenship far more concretely and effectively than before. By every means in our power, our teachers are endeavoring to make children realize what this republic means to us, why we must bear our part in this conflict, and what the consequences will be of failure to come through successfully. The enthusiasm and the intelligence of school children in the present situation is a stimulus to us all.
12
EVENING SCHOOLS
The evening schools have shown the effects of war con- ditions to a greater extent than any other part of the school system. Schools for non-English speaking people flourish best when there is a constant influx of people of that class and when conditions of employment are such that there is com- petition for opportunities and for the added wage which a knowledge of English brings. Neither of these conditions is now present, as practically no foreigners have come to us from abroad since early in the war. There is, moreover, no stress of competition in the ranks of unskilled laborers for employment; wages have increased to such an extent that they do not feel the economic handicap which ordinarily the ignorance of English brings and the burden of overtime labor as well as the temptation of its added recompense leaves the laborer too exhausted or disinclined at the close of the day to spend additional time at intellectual effort. As a result of this condition, the term which closed in the spring showed a poorer attendance than any term in many years, while the new year which opened in October proved so thoroughly disappointing that the classes were closed just previous to the Christmas holidays.
The classes at the High School for the instruction of those who wish preparation for commercial life, civil service examination or for pursuits where drawing will be of ad- vantage, have shown a similar decrease due to causes involved in the present economic situation. Very few men or women go to evening school as a purely intellectual pleasure. The im- pelling motive is a desire to better one's condition in a material way, to enable one to rise above the present level, to win in industrial or commercial competition. When, as at present, opportunities are bidding for the employee and at an ad- vanced wage scale the employee is blinded to the fact that relatively even greater opportunities are waiting on the level above and he is apt to be content with the less improvement which circumstances alone have brought about.
The term for the High School classes which has closed
13
this month has been the least successful in point of attendance for some time. In my opinion, there is little expectation of improvement so long as the war continues.
THE HIGH SCHOOL
When the High School closed its school year last June, we looked forward, in view of the conditions around us, to a decrease of 20% in our enrollment for the new year in Septem- ber. It was a welcome surprise when the opening came to find the decrease in attendance practically negligible. To a certain extent, we held our pupils better than in other high schools and in addition the growth of the city has been such as to overcome much of the shrinkage which did take place. The teaching corps of the High School has been greatly affected by war conditions. There have been more changes among the men teachers than in many years and it is with the greatest difficulty that we have been able to secure new teachers when resignations have taken place. As the war continues this difficulty will undoubtedly be accentuated and the result ultimately and inevitably will be a decreased percentage of men teachers in a school where the proportion is already too low. It is a fortunate circumstance for this school that the increased salary scale adopted by the School Committee early in the year enables us to hold our own in that respect with any of the cities of the state.
Fortunately, too, for the school, a decree of court now enables the city to make use of the Adams Temple and School Fund. A word or two on this matter will be of interest and should be made a matter of record.
As is generally known, by trusts established by Presi- dent John Adams, funds were set apart the income of which should contribute to the educational good of the community. It will be of interest to note here that John Adams cited as the consideration "the veneration he felt for the residence of his ancestors and the place of his nativity and the habitual affection he bore to the inhabitants with whom he had so happily lived for more than eighty-six years and also his
14
sincere desire to promote their happiness and the instruction of their posterity in religion, morality and all the useful arts and sciences."
In 1872 the Adams Academy was opened on this founda- tion and continued in active operation until 1907 when for lack of income the school was closed and has not since been re-opened. As it had become apparent that the funds avail- able would probably never increase to a degree where they would be adequate to the demands made on them and as the public High School was already doing all that John Adams had in mind for this community, application was made to the court that the trust originally established be administered cy-pres.
As a result, the court has decreed that "the net income from the funds held under the trusts established by President John Adams may be expended by the City of Quincy acting through the School Committee with the approval of the Board of Supervisors for the furtherance of the instruction in languages, arts and sciences in the High School of the City of Quincy provided, however, that in determining said net income the City of Quincy shall require no payment from said income by reason of any taxes assessed upon any lands or other properties held in said fund, and provided further that said expenditures shall be for the enrichment of the curricu- lum, the providing of more skilled instruction and the facili- ties thereof than is now given by the City in its High School, or both, and as an addition to the amounts that would other- wise be raised by taxation for the support of such school; to the end that the income from this fund shall not be used by the City to reduce the burden of taxation for school purposes."
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