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 1922 > Part 20
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The most notable achievement in building during the past year has been the new High School for which ground was broken early in Febru- ary last. It is expected that this building will be ready for occupancy at the opening of the fall term next September. We will then have under one roof the three upper classes of the High School, the Industrial School, the Continuation School, and rooms for the School Committee.
The Home-Making School is already functioning in an adjacent house remodeled to suit its needs.
These buildings with the Coddington School and new Faxon Field will constitute an educational center of which every citizen may well be proud.
The Supervisor of Special Activities has been found most useful in look- ing after the Continuation and Home-Making Schools and Practical Arts Classes and in attending to many of the details required by the state laws.
In the selection of new teachers, the increased salaries have made it pos- sible to demand greater efficiency, so that more experienced teachers" have been employed. There has been the usual loss of teachers from various causes, but not so many as usual have been called to other cities by the lure of higher salaries.
With the able assistance of the Superintendent we have endeavored to maintain the schools at the high standard of excellence which has charac- terized the work heretofore.
The few changes in the curriculum have been in line with advances in educational thought.
The expense of maintaining the schools for the past year has been nearly $700,000, - a considerable sum, - yet it is only about 25 per cent. of the tax levy, while many cities expend as much as 50 per cent of the tax levy for educational purposes.
We feel that this money has been honestly and economically expended, and we also feel that the adequate education of the youth is the best safe- guard for the future of our city and our country.
The foregoing report, presented by a special committee consisting of Dr. Nathaniel S. Hunting and Mr. Robert E. Foy, was adopted as the annual report of the School Committee of 1922.
FRED H. NICKERSON, Secretary.
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REPORT OF SCHOOL DEPARTMENT
REPORT OF SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS
To the School Committee of Quincy.
I submit herewith my second annual report as Superintendent of Schools in Quincy, it being the forty-eighth in the series of such reports.
The following report aims to set forth such facts with respect to the schools as may furnish a sound basis for judgment as to the efficiency with which the public school interests of the city are being administered.
One fundamental factor of success in the administration of a school sys- tem is a condition of harmony in the working force. Such a condition pre- vails to an unusual degree in the school system of Quincy. Supervisors, principals, teachers, and all other employees of the system, with rare exceptions, seem disposed to give the best in them to the discharge of their respective duties.
Another important factor, affecting the degree to which a school system is able to function adequately, is the prevalence of a community sentiment that appreciates the worth of the schools and backs that appreciation with reasonably generous appropriations for school support. In this respect, also, Quincy is fortunate. The helpful attitude of the Federated Women's Clubs, of the various Parent-Teacher Associations, and other similar organizations of the city, particularly in the promotion of the important work of Americanization and in the endeavor to secure a much- needed new high school building, demonstrates that the public in general is solidly behind any intelligent movement to promote public education in the city.
Among other conditions favorable to good results in our schools are the following: (1) an unusually strong professional spirit throughout the teaching corps, evidenced by the relatively large percentage of those taking special courses to advance their professional growth; (2) a recently revised salary schedule that enables us, in the employment of new teachers, to secure a larger proportion than formerly of those who have demonstrated their fitness for the work by successful experience elsewhere; and (3) a School Committee, not only unqualifiedly devoted to the best interest of the schools, but also determined to keep the school administration free from those political influences that cripple the schools of too many communities.
So long as the foregoing conditions continue, Quincy may confidently expect steady improvement in its schools.
During the past year, little that is radically new has ben attempted in the schools - einphasis, in the main, having been put upon the develop- ment of plans previously inaugurated; but, from observation and from reports of the directors of the different lines of work, I am assured that commendable progress has been made in an effort to increase the efficiency of the schools.
Comment on Statistical Matter
Tables containing such statistics as it has seemed necessary to prepare for reference from year to year are grouped in Appendix B of this report.
Comparison of Table V with a similar table in the report for 1921 shows the following facts: -
1. The regularity of attendance of pupils for the school year ending with June, 1922, was 93.5 per cent. While this per cent is slightly below that for the preceding year, it is still slightly above the similar average for the state at large as well as for the 37 other cities of the Commonwealth.
2. The average membership of the schools for the school year ending with June, 1922, was 8,955. This is 462, or 5.4 per cent greater than that for the preceding year. This increase is sufficient to fill a twelve-room building with 39 pupils to a room.
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When one considers that nearly all of the school buildings of the city are at present overcrowded and that the rate of increase in the member- ship of the schools during the past year is practically the same as the average annual rate for the past ten years, it is evident that there is impera- tive need of immediate action on the part of the city to provide adequate housing facilities for our rapidly expanding school population. This need has been intelligently considered by the School Committee and its conclu- sions thereon appear in a later part of this report.
3. Further comparison shows an increase of 181, or 14+ per cent in the membership of the High School during the past school year. During the same period the membership of the elementary schools increased 4 per cent. In other words, during the past year, the membership of the High School increased three and one-half times as rapidly as that of the elementary schools. In view of the existing congestion in the attendance at the High School and the consequent unfavorable conditions for work there, this relatively high rate of increase in our high school membership not only indicates a gratifying appreciation on the part of the public at large of the value of educational training beyond the elementary grades, but also is a significant consideration in the determination of all plans for additional school accommodations.
4. Further study of Table V, Appendix B, shows that the membership of the High School for the past school year was 16.3 per cent of the total school membership. This ratio, which is 1.3 per cent more than that for the preceding year, affords conclusive proof that our High School is increasing in power to attract and hold our young people in spite of its overcrowded condition. This is a gratifying fact, since one important indication of the efficiency of a school system is the proportion of its membership in the grades above the period of compulsory attendance.
5. Table IX, Appendix B, shows an enrollment of 857 persons in the Evening Industrial Classes during the past school year -799 being in the classes for women and 58 in the classes for men.
Comparison of these figures with similar figures for the school year ending with June, 1920, shows an increase of 547, or 176.4 per cent, during the past two years in the combined enrollment in these classes. It is significant, however, that while there has been an increase of 561, or 235.7 per cent, in the enrollment in the classes for women, there has been a decrease of 14, or 19+ per cent, in the enrollment in the classes for men. The decrease in the number enrolled in the men's classes is to be regretted and the reason for it is not wholly clear to me. The remarkable increase in the number enrolled in the women's classes indicates unmistakably, I think, that such classes meet a conscious need of the community.
6. Comparison of the summary of the work of the school nurses for the past year, which appears in Appendix A, with a similar summary for 1921, shows an increase during the year of 12,597 cases examined for various causes, of 136 cases taken to the eye and ear clinics, of 869 cases referred to various other clinics, and minor increases in the number of cases re- ferred to the school physician, also in the number of cases of corrected vision, of home calls, and of contagion found and reported. These re- sults indicate that the health conditions of the children in our schools are being cared for with commendable zeal.
7. Comparison of the summary of the work of the dental clinics for the past year, which also appears in Appendix A, with a similar summary for 1921, shows an increase of 721 patients registered and of 713 prophylactic treatments during the past year. In view of the fact that the dental work of the year has been seriously interrupted by two changes in the head of the clinic at the Daniel Webster School, the above figures indicate com- mendable activity in this branch of our health work, in spite of the fact that the total number of operations for the year is less than that for 1921.
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8. Comparison of the attendance officer's report for 1922, which appears in Appendix A, with a similar report for 1921, shows a gratifying decrease in the number of cases reported for non-attendance, in the amount of truancy, in the number of parents and children before the court for viola- tion of the attendance laws, and in the cases returned to school from the streets. These results are due in part to the well-directed effort of teachers and principals to make school work and school conditions more attractive to the children and in part to the intelligence and the humane spirit with which our attendance officer performs his work.
The issuance of employment certificates to minors is in charge of the attendance officer, and the statistics show a total of 2,357 such certificates issued in 1922 - an increase of 442 over the number issued in 1921.
The Summer School
For the second season, a summer school was maintained during the summer of 1922 for the benefit of pupils in grades VB to VIIIA, inclusive, who were not up to grade in their work. The school opened July 10 and closed August 18.
The following tabulation gives the main facts with respect to the at- tendance and cost of the school for both 1922 and 1921.
STATISTICS ON SUMMER SCHOOL FOR THE TWO SEASONS OF ITS EXISTENCE.
GRADES
Year
Number of Different Pupils enrolled
Average Member- ship
Per Cent of At- tendance
Total Cost
Cost per Pupil in Average Membership
VB to VIIIA, inclusive .
1921 1922
391 417
334.84 364.52
92.61 91.60
$1,425 98 $1,598 25
$4 26- $4 38+
Of the 417 pupils enrolled in 1922, 201 were seeking to gain a lost pro- motion, 188 were studying to remove handicapping conditions under which they had been advanced to a higher grade, 20 were reviewing the subject- matter in which they were relatively weak, and 8 were working to gain an extra promotion.
Of the 201 seeking to gain a lost promotion, 155, or 77+ per cent, suc- ceeded; of the 188 studying to remove conditions, 157, or 84- per cent, succeeded; and of the 8 working to gain an extra promotion, 6, or 75 per cent, succeeded. Included in the number seeking either to gain a lost promotion or to remove promotional conditions were 19 pupils who had failed to secure diplomas of graduation from Grade VIIIA. Of that num- ber, 18 made up their deficiencies and secured the coveted diploma.
While, to my mind, the benefit that the pupils individually gain is the most important consideration in estimating the value of summer school work, it is worth noting that, upon the most conservative estimate, the net ultimate financial saving to the city from the maintenance of our Summer School during the past season approximates $4,000 - a return of practically 250 per cent on the cost of maintenance.
In view of the foregoing showing and of the city's investment in school property which ordinarily lies idle during the long summer vacation, it is well, I think, to consider seriously the question of keeping in operation during the summer months such portion of the school plant as may be necessary to meet the need of all who desire the benefit of the additional
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CITY OF QUINCY
educational opportunity. Many of our young people are obliged to spend the summer season within the city in comparative idleness. It would be far better, I believe, for such children to attend school during a portion of the summer than to be exposed, as the majority are, to the degenerating influences of unsupervised street associations. In my judgment, a large number would take advantage of the opportunity presented by such wider use of the school plant as I have suggested.
Therefore, I recommend that the Committee consider the feasibility of the so-called plan of year-round schools for Quincy.
The Junior High School Organization
At a meeting of the School Committee held February 21, 1922, the junior high school organization was approved for Quincy and the Super- intendent of Schools was authorized "to develop plans necessary to put such organization into effect as rapidly as conditions warrant."
In view of that action, a brief statement of the theory and status of the junior high school organization in general seems advisable.
Three outstanding features distinguish the real junior high school. Briefly, these features are
1. The grouping of pupils of the last two grades of the elementary school with the first-year pupils of the present high school organization, either in a centrally located building, or in a limited number of district centers, as the area and conditions of the community to be served may warrant.
2. The adoption, in these grouped grades, of more or less differentiated courses of study in place of the unit curriculum that has been common throughout the elementary schools.
3. The adoption, in these grouped grades, of the departmental plan of instruction, wholly or in part, in place of the common plan of teaching in the elementary schools, whereby one person gives the instruction in all subjects of the grade.
The comprehensive cause of the junior high school movement is dissatis- faction with the results from the typical elementary school organization as we have known it.
Some of the reasons for such dissatisfaction are suggested in the following statements: -
(1) Thoughtful educators have for some time viewed with concern the percentage of pupils above the compulsory school age who fail to complete the regular school course. Expert students of this problem have ascer- tained (a) that of the pupils who are in the sixth grade of the schools, approximately 40 per cent drop out before the completion of the elementary curriculum; (b) that of the graduates from the elementary schools, approxi- mately 23 per cent fail to complete the first high school year, and (c) that of the graduates of the elementary schools approximately 59 per cent fail to complete the second high school year.
It has been ascertained further that a large percentage of the elimination indicated in the foregoing statements is due to preventable causes.
(2) Again, students of social well-being have come to feel that young people entering vocations requiring college training plus professional or special technical training have been unduly delayed - in other words, that they should be able to take up their vocation at an earlier age.
Under normal conditions one who prepared adequately for a vocation requiring the training indicated could not expect, as our schools have been organized, to begin work in his chosen field under twenty-five years of age, and allowing for the years necessary to establish himself, he could hardly hope to be in a position to assume the responsibility of the establishment of a family much before thirty years of age.
(3) Again, the conviction has gradually developed in the minds of thoughtful school men that our school system, as it has been organized
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REPORT OF SCHOOL DEPARTMENT
and administered, was not democratic. We have been accustomed to think that the American public school offered equal educational oppor- tunity to all. Little by little has come the realization of our delusion. Equal educational opportunity means the chance for every one to get the particular training suited to his personality and the need of his probable vocation. This the schools heretofore have largely failed to give. There has been universal but not equal educational opportunity for the boys and girls in the schools.
(4) Still again, there has been gradually growing up in the minds of educators an understanding of the fact that children from approximately twelve to fifteen years of age require a kind of management and program of studies not sufficiently possible under the typical elementary school organization.
Such considerations as the foregoing explain, in part at least, the junior high school idea. This idea, to-day, is country-wide and is approved by practically every educational administrator of note in the land.
Discussing the movement in his "Problems of Secondary Education," Dr. Snedden of the Teachers' College of Columbia University says: "The efforts now being made in various States to reorganize curricula of training and instruction for children from twelve to fifteen years of age constitute undoubtedly one of the most significant and important of contemporary movements in education."
It would appear, therefore, that the adoption of the junior high school plan of organization for Quincy is in harmony with the progressive edu- cational thought and practice of the times.
A Building Program
Consideration of the pressing need for additional school accommoda- tions for the adequate housing of the increasing school population of the city has led the School Committee during the past year to formulate a comprehensive building program covering the probable need of the schools in this direction for the next ten or fifteen years. That need, as estimated by the Committee, is set forth in the following report adopted unani- mously at a meeting held September 26, 1922:
REPORT OF THE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON ADDITIONAL SCHOOL ACCOMMODATIONS
QUINCY, MASS., September 26, 1922.
To the School Committee of Quincy.
Your Special Committee, appointed to consider the question of addi- tional school accommodations for Quincy, and to suggest a building pro- gram calculated to meet the need of the city in this respect for several years to come, presents the following report :-
Inasmuch as the new high school building, now under construction, and the inauguration of the junior high school plan of organization, which has been approved by the School Committee, will provide ample quarters for the Senior High Industrial, Continuation, and Home-Making Schools for some years, this report deals entirely with the problem of accommodations for the grades below the Senior High School, commonly known as the elementary grades, and is arranged under the following headings: -
(a) Present conditions of attendance in the elementary schools.
(b) Increase of attendance in the elementary schools.
(c) The conclusion that the facts justify.
(d) A suggested ten-year building program.
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CITY OF QUINCY
Present Conditions of Attendance in the Elementary Schools
1. Overcrowded Schools.
(a) The Atherton Hough School. - At this school every regular class- room is occupied, also the single-room portable building erected there last year to accommodate the overflow from the main building. Moreover, two of the rooms are so overcrowded - fifty-four pupils being in one and fifty-two in the other - that an assistant is required. The only place available for the assistant and her group is a small room in the end of one of the corridors.
The registration in this school is sufficient to give an average of forty- one pupils to a room.
(b) The Coddington School. - Notwithstanding the fact that, at the opening of the present school year, all first and second year pupils residing at Adams Shore, Germantown, and Merrymount, east of Pilgrim Park- way, who had been housed previously at the Coddington School, were transferred to the new two-room portable building erected at Adams Shore, every regular classroom at this school is occupied and, in addition, it is necessary to put one class in the school hall and two other classes in small, improperly lighted and ill-ventilated rooms, never designed for classrooms. Moreover, it is necessary to employ an assistant to take groups from two other overcrowded classes into the corridors for recitations.
Three rooms in this building have each a registration above fifty, and the total registration of the school is sufficient to make an average of forty- four pupils for each classroom.
Furthermore, the indications are that the number to enter this school in February, 1923, will require the addition of a portable building to accommodate at least one class.
(c) The Cranch School. - At this building, also, every room is occupied; and the total registration is sufficient to make an average of forty-one pupils to a room.
Two rooms register over fifty pupils each, - one having fifty-five pupils, the other fifty-three, - so that it is necessary to employ an assistant, who, from lack of other accommodations, holds her classes in the small teachers' room.
(d) The Lincoln School. - Here, again, every classroom in the main building is occupied, also the portable building erected at this point in February, 1921. Moreover, from lack of accommodations, it is necessary to send one whole grade (forty-two pupils) out of the district to the Hancock School against the justified protest of the parents.
Of the available classrooms at this school, only three have less than forty pupils and the total registration is sufficient to make an average of forty-three pupils per room.
(e) The Daniel Webster School. - Not only is every classroom in this building occupied, but also it is necessary to place one class in a small, inadequately ventilated room at the end of one of the corridors - a room that was never intended for and cannot be properly equipped for regular class work.
Omitting consideration of this small corridor room, there are enough pupils registered in the regular classrooms to give an average of thirty-six pupils to a room.
.(f) The Hancock School. - Every classroom in this building is occupied and, in addition, one class is housed in a single-room portable building, erected in February, 1921.
The total registration gives an average of thirty-eight pupils to a room.
(g) The Wollaston School. - Every regular classroom in this building is occupied and, in addition, it is necessary to place one class in the school hall, where working conditions are far from satisfactory.
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REPORT OF SCHOOL DEPARTMENT
The total registration of the school is enough to give an average of forty pupils to a room.
(h) The Massachusetts Fields School. - Every classroom in this build- ing is occupied and the total registration is sufficient to give an average of forty-three pupils to a room. Moreover, from lack of rooms, it is neces- sary to send the seventh and eighth year pupils of this district to the Francis W. Parker School.
2. Schools Near the Point of Congestion.
(a) The Washington School. - In this building every regular classroom is occupied - the largest registration in any one room being fifty and the smallest thirty. The total registration is sufficient to give an average of forty-one pupils to a room.
(b) The Willard School. - In this building every regular classroom is occupied. In addition, two pupils' coat rooms have been converted into moderate-sized classrooms and two rooms have been partitioned off on the attic floor in which the prevocational pupils have the major part of their work.
The total registration is sufficient to give an average of thirty-eight for each regular classroom.
(c) The Gridley Bryant School. - In this building, also, every regular classroom is occupied, and the total registration is sufficient to give an average of thirty-four pupils to a room.
(d) The Francis W. Parker School. - Every regular classroom in this building is occupied, the largest number registered in any one room being forty-six and the smallest thirty-five. The total registration of the school is sufficient to make an average of forty-one pupils per classroom.
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