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 1923 > Part 20
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SCHOOL COMMITTEE FOR 1923
Chairman Hon. GUSTAVE B. BATES, Mayor.
Vice-Chairman Dr. NATHANIEL S. HUNTING.
Dr. DANIEL B. REARDON . . Term expires Dec. 31, 1923
1186 Hancock Street, Quincy
Col. WARREN E. SWEETSER
. Term expires Dec. 31, 1923
99 Elmwood Avenue, Wollaston
Hon. GUSTAVE B. BATES .
. Term expires Dec. 31, 1924
33 Dimmock Street, Quincy
Mr. GEORGE W. ABELE
. Term expires Dec. 31, 1924
64 Presidents Lane, Quincy
Mr. SYDNEY W. YOUNG 73 Conant Road, Atlantic
. Term expires Dec. 31, 1924
Dr. NATHANIEL S. HUNTING
. Term expires Dec. 31, 1925
1136 Hancock Street, Quincy
Mr. ROBERT E. FOY
13 Eliot Street, South Quincy
Secretary of Board and Superintendent of Schools Mr. FRED H. NICKERSON 25 Edgemere Road, Quincy
The regular meetings of the School Committee are held at 8 o'clock P.M. on the last Tuesday in each month excepting July.
ADVISORY COMMITTEES ON INDUSTRIAL EDUCATION
For Men
SAMUEL W. WAKEMAN, ALEXANDER W. RUSSELL, HERBERT S. BARKER, CHARLES L. GILLIATT, HARRY E. D. GOULD
For Women Mrs. WALTER S. PINKHAM, Mrs. ROBERT E. FOY, Mrs. GEORGE W. ABELE
. Term expires Dec. 31, 1925
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CITY OF QUINCY
Superintendent's Clerks
ยท Stenographer MARION NILSEN 33 Nilsen Avenue, Quincy
Bookkeeper HELEN M. CANTY
5 Pierce Street, Atlantic
Office: Cliveden Building, 1535 Hancock Street.
Office hours: 8 A.M. to 12 M. and 2 to 5 P.M .; Saturdays, S A.M. to 12 M.
Attendance Officer
CHARLES H. JOHNSON 24 Upland Road, Quincy
Office: Cliveden Building, 1535 Hancock Street
Office Hours: 8 to 9.30 A.M., 1.30 to 2 P.M., and 4.30 to 5 P.M .; Saturdays, 8 A.M. to 12 M.
REPORT OF SCHOOL COMMITTEE
To the Citizens of Quincy.
The School Committee desires to submit herewith its annual report for the year 1923.
Once again, the most important question before the Committee has been the completion of the new High School. It was our belief and earnest desire that this building would be ready for occupancy at the opening of the February term, but now we are informed that it will not be ready until the September term. The Committee has repeatedly urged the imperative need of this building, has made personal inspections of the work, and has attended a conference with His Honor the Mayor, contractor and subcontractors, in order that the construction of this building might be hastened.
It is the keystone of the entire question of school accommodation in this city, and the delay in its construction has caused a backing up and congestion in our school system. We have found it necessary to erect more temporary portable school buildings in the John Hancock-Lincoln districts to care for the increased number of children.
Average membership of pupils June 22, 1922 . 8,955
Average membership of pupils June 22, 1923 . 9,376
This shows the normal increase of about 5 per cent, while in our High School the average in 1922 was 1,428, and in 1923, 1,573, - an increase of about 10 per cent. A glance at these figures demonstrates quite clearly that our per cent of increase in the High School is twice as great as in the elementary grades. With these comparisons it is very evident why the School Committee adopted all means at its command to finish the new High School building as soon as possible.
We realize the need of an athletic field for the games participated in by our High School students. Through the generosity of Mr. H. M. Faxon, land adjacent to our plant was given to the city for athletic purposes. As yet, very little has been done to develop this field. We recommend that this land be filled in and prepared for an athletic field at the earliest possible moment, so that the properly directed physical training may go on hand in hand with the mental training.
The constructive ten-year building program has received our attention, and steps are under way for the purchase of land in the South Quincy and
.
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REPORT OF SCHOOL DEPARTMENT
Norfolk Downs districts. Recently a request has been sent to His Honor the Mayor, recommending that plans be obtained for a junior high school in the South Quincy district. The new addition at the Massachusetts Fields School is well under way, so that the congestion in that district will be relieved in a short time.
Ever zealous for maintaining the standard of our teaching force at a high level, the School Committee has adopted this year a resolution re- quiring that our new teachers be graduates of a normal school or some equivalent training school. We believe this will react for the benefit of the schools, children, and city.
The Committee realizes full well the handicap under which our Super- intendent, with his assistants and teachers, have been working. Insufficient accommodations have been largely responsible for it, yet the fine spirit of co-operation demonstrated by all has been admirable.
It cost the city about $750,000 to maintain the School Department during the past year. While the cost increases yearly, due to the normal increase of about 5 per cent in the number of school children, we feel that efficiency with economy has been the dominating factor in preserving the present high standard in our Quincy public schools.
The foregoing report, presented by a special committee consisting of Dr. Daniel B. Reardon and Col. Warren E. Sweetser, was adopted as the annual report of the School Committee of 1923.
FRED H. NICKERSON, Secretary.
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CITY OF QUINCY
IN MEMORIAM
ALEXANDER SHIRLEY Twenty-three years a janitor in the School Department of Quincy Born June 24, 1853 Died February 25, 1923
JOHN HENNIGAN Twenty-six years a janitor in the School Department of Quincy Born December 25, 1843 Died February 4, 1923
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REPORT OF SCHOOL DEPARTMENT
REPORT OF SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS
To the School Committee of Quincy.
The aim of the following report is to present briefly such considerations as seem necessary to an intelligent understanding of the management of our schools from the point of view both of results secured and of economy in administration.
Conditions in General
In general, the conditions upon which good educational results primarily depend are unusually satisfactory in Quincy: (1) the citizens at large appreciate to an uncommon degree the community value of a first-class system of public schools, broad-gauged enough in the scope of its procedure to meet the needs of "all the children of all the people," and their repre- sentatives in the City Government have shown commendable willingness to make adequate appropriations to maintain such a system; (2) the School Committee is made up of men dominated by the purpose to manage the school interests of the city solely with reference to the best interests of the community; (3) the administrative and supervisory staff of the schools is organized on a thoroughly sound basis, and is given that degree of freedom in working out the policies of the Committee which is essential to efficiency; (4) our teaching corps has been materially strengthened during the past few years by the policy of filling vacancies with a larger per cent of ex- perienced teachers than was the practice formerly, so that today the corps is stronger than at any previous time since I have been connected with the schools; (5) our school accommodations, which have been too cramped, will soon be improved by the completion of the new high school building and an addition to the Massachusetts Fields School building; (6) our first junior high school will be organized in the present high school building immediately upon the completion of the new high school building, thereby relieving somewhat existing congestion in some of the elementary build- ings; and (7) a ten-year building program has been approved by the School Committee which, if carried out by the City Government, will enable junior high schools to be organized within the next few years in the southeast, southwest, and north sections of the city.
Occasionally one hears from individual citizens adverse criticism upon some feature of school procedure. Doubtless some such criticism is war- ranted, since no work planned and executed by human agencies can be expected to be perfect. I am convinced, however, that much of such criticism is due to failure on the part of the critics, either to grasp the large purpose for which our public schools are maintained, or to understand what is actually being accomplished in the schools.
The high standing of the Quincy schools in the estimation of the public outside our city is suggested by the fact that delegations of teachers from other communities are frequently visiting our schools to observe the work done here, many of whom state that they came upon the advice of the State Department of Education.
The greatest handicap under which the schools are now working is inadequate accommodations for our rapidly increasing school population.
The lack in this respect forces many pupils out of their districts to more distant schools; compels, in many instances, too many pupils to be as- signed to one teacher; and prevents the desired early development of our proposed junior high school system.
Requests from the School Committee for additional land for the en- largement of two of our present elementary school buildings and for the erection of a new junior high school building have already been sent His
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CITY OF QUINCY
Honor the Mayor, and it is hoped that action thereon may be taken in the near future.
For additional and more specific information regarding educational conditions in the schools, your attention is invited to the special reports of the supervisors of instruction in the primary and grammar grades, and the directors of music and drawing which may be found in Appendix A of this report.
School Costs
The total expenditure for the support of our Public Day, Evening, and Vacation Schools - i.e., for all purposes excepting new buildings, altera- tions, and permanent repairs - for the year ending June, 1923 (the latest date from which comparative figures are obtainable from the State report) was $629,360.90. Based on the average membership of the schools for that year this was an average expenditure of $67.12 per pupil.
Reference to the above-mentioned State report shows an average ex- penditure of $81.97 per pupil for the State at large, and of $$3.51 per pupil for the 3S other cities of the Commonwealth. In other words, the cost for school support in Quincy for the year ending June, 1923, was less than that for the State at large by $14.85 per pupil, and less than that for the other 38 cities of the State by $16.39 per pupil.
Going a step farther in this comparison, it appears that if Quincy, for the past school year, had expended for each pupil in the average member- ship of its schools as much as was expended for the State at large, our school budget would have been larger than it was by $139,233.60; and that if, for the same period, Quincy's expenditure per pupil had equalled that for the other 3S cities of the State, our budget for school support would have been increased $153,672.64.
It is worth noting, also, in this connection that, while our per pupil cost for the year ending June, 1923, was 3.1 per cent larger than for the pre- ceding year, the similar increase for the State at large was 4.9 per cent, and that for the 38 other cities was 6.4 per cent.
It appears, therefore, that, in comparison with other Massachusetts communities, the cost of public education in Quincy is being kept at a relatively low figure - so low, in fact, that one may fairly ask whether a larger per capita expenditure may not be wise economy.
Enrollment and Attendance
During the past school year 10,412 different pupils were enrolled in the regular day schools, and the average membership of those schools was 9,376. Comparison of these figures with similar figures for the preceding year shows an increase for the past year of 656 in the total enrollment, and of 421 in the average membership. Additional facts with reference to school attendance may be found in Table V, Appendix B.
Thrift Training
From the viewpoint of efficient citizenship, for which primarily public schools exist, one of the important phases of school endeavor is training in thrift. The most effective method for promoting such training with the pupils in our schools is to encourage them in the practice of systematic savings. This is accomplished in our schools through a system of school savings, in the operation of which we are assisted by the Quincy Savings Bank.
Through a carefully devised plan, worked out by the co-operative effort of the officials of the bank and the masters of the several elementary schools, pupils are given an opportunity weekly of making such deposits as they
315
REPORT OF SCHOOL DEPARTMENT
wish at the schools. Such deposits are carefully recorded and conveyed to the bank, where they are credited to the individual depositors.
The encouragement given pupils in this work by their teachers and the bank officials, the ease with which their deposits may be made, and the example of their schoolmates lead many young people to become regular depositors who otherwise would fail to develop this valuable habit of thrift.
This work began in our schools in October, 1908. During the fifteen years that it has been in operation the deposits of the children have reached the total of $169,487.87, - an average yearly saving of approximately $11,299.19.
During the school year ending June, 1923, there were 4,011 depositors in the schools, and the total deposit for the year was $26,733.80. Of these 4,011 pupil depositors, only 638 made any withdrawals, and the total withdrawn was $1,711.50, leaving a net amount of $25,022.30 for the year untouched in the bank.
Comparison of the above figures with those for the preceding year shows an increase during the past year of 639 in the number of depositors and $8,305.23 in the total yearly deposit. This indicates gratifying growth in the habit of saving among our young people.
When one considers, as I have previously suggested, that thrift is one of the fundamental factors in worthy citizenship, it is easy to see the value of the contribution that our schools are making through this work to social well-being.
Health Work
Physical well-being is another fundamental factor of efficient citizenship. It is, therefore, important that definite and intelligent effort should be made in our schools to develop in the thought and practice of young people an observance of those conditions upon which sound health largely depends. To this end the following means are employed in our schools:
1. An organized system of physical training is carried on throughout the schools under the supervision of two trained directors, who have proved their worth by the efficiency of their work.
2. Recognizing that considerable of the ill health which retards the progress of children in their school work, and cripples the efficiency of men and women in later life, is due to disorders of the teeth, two dental clinics are maintained in connection with our schools, one at the Daniel Webster School in charge of a dental hygienist, and one at the Coddington School in charge of a dentist.
The scope of the work of these clinics is suggested by the following facts: for the year ending December 31, 1923, there were 6,115 patients registered at the clinics, and 8,474 operations of one kind or another were performed.
It is impossible to evaluate the worth of this work to the future efficiency of those who were treated, but no intelligent person can doubt that it is a worth-while contribution to social well-being, and therefore properly a part of the program of school endeavor.
3. Another important means for the promotion of health work in the schools is that carried on by our school physician, with the assistance of three trained nurses.
The scope of the endeavor of this group of workers is suggested by the following facts:
During the past year 38,252 examinations of pupils were made for various causes; 1,077 home calls were made for consultation with parents upon conditions affecting the physical well-being of their children; 226 children were taken to clinics for the eye and ear; 140 cases of corrected vision were accomplished; and 214 operations for tonsils and adenoids were made upon advice of this department.
These figures do not cover the entire field of effort of these workers, but are sufficient to suggest the importance of their work to community well- being.
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CITY OF QUINCY
I desire at this time to commend the entire corps of workers in the field of health promotion for their devotion to the welfare of the boys and girls in our schools.
The Summer School
For the past three summers we have maintained summer schools for the benefit of pupils in grades VB to VIIIA, inclusive, who, for one reason or another, needed and desired special instruction in the major subjects of the curriculum beyond what it had been possible for them to secure during the regular school year.
The following tabulation gives the main statistical facts with reference to this school for the three summers of its existence:
SUMMER SCHOOL STATISTICS
GRADES
Year
Total Enrollment
Average Member- ship
Per Cent of At- tendance
Total Cost
Cost per Pupil in Average Membership
VB to VIIIA, inclusive
1921 1922 1923
391
$4 26-
417
334.84 364.52 296.43
92.61 91.60
$1,425 98 $1,598 25
$4 38+
361
93.35
$1,517 06
$5 11+
The following interesting facts regarding the summer session of 1923 are taken from a report of the Supervisor:
Of the 361 pupils enrolled in 1923, 210 were seeking to gain a lost promotion; 139 were studying to remove handicapping conditions under which they had been advanced to a higher grade; 9 were reviewing subject-matter in which they were weak; and 3 were trying for double promotion.
Of the 210 seeking a lost promotion, 181, or 86 + per cent, succeeded; of the 139 studying to remove handicaps, 126, or 91 + per cent, succeeded; of the 3 working for double promotion none succeeded.
Among those seeking to gain lost promotion or to remove promotional con- ditions were 15 pupils, who had failed to secure diplomas of graduation from Grade VIIIA. Of this number, 12, or 80 per cent, secured their diplomas.
The foregoing facts not only justify the maintenance of this phase of our school endeavor, but also suggest the wisdom of its farther expansion.
The Academic Evening School
This school is maintained to afford persons beyond the compulsory school age, who are not in attendance at the regular day schools, the opportunity to secure additional training in the so-called academic subjects.
The enrollment at this school during the past season shows an increase of practically 32 per cent over that for the preceding season; and, what is more important, the quality of the work done has shown gratifying im- provement over that of previous seasons.
Such improvement is due largely to the closer supervision of the admin- istration and instruction of the school that has been possible through the employment of a supervisor of special activities, a portion of whose time is given to the direction of this school.
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REPORT OF SCHOOL DEPARTMENT
During the past season 321 different persons were registered in the school. The enrollment in the various courses was as follows: 164 for Typewriting, 111 for Business English, 105 for Stenography, 81 for Pen- manship, 80 for Business Arithmetic, 75 for Mechanical Drawing, 66 for Bookkeeping, and 23 for Grammar School Subjects.
The High School
This school has been working for the past three or four years under a serious handicap due to overcrowded conditions that have annually grown worse. These conditions are so well known to the majority of our citizens that extended discussion of them is unnecessary.
At this time I desire to commend the head master of this school and his entire corps of coworkers for the patience and faithfulness with which they have labored during these trying years, and for what they have been able to accomplish for our young people under such unfavorable conditions.
The educational loss to the city from the unfortunate delay in the com- pletion of the new high school building cannot be accurately determined, but that it is great is unquestionable.
No one appreciates this more than the school officials, who, by the pro- visions of the city charter with respect to the construction of school build- ings, are powerless to prevent delay in this direction.
To my mind it would contribute to educational efficiency in Quincy if some means could be adopted whereby the construction of its school build- ings might be taken outside the field of possible political complications.
For particular information upon the administration of the high school you are referred to the following report of its head master.
REPORT OF HEAD MASTER OF HIGH SCHOOL
Mr. FRED H. NICKERSON, Superintendent of Schools.
I have the pleasure of handing you my twelfth annual report as head master of the Quincy High School. The comparative figures which follow will show that the school has continued to increase at a rather rapid rate. I believe a comparison with other high schools in the vicinity of Boston will indicate that our growth is faster and that our membership is already greater than in many cities of our size or even larger.
1921
1922
1923
Whole number enrolled
1,425
1,596
1,753
Whole number December 1 .
1,389
1,550
1,691
The entering class in January, 1924, gave us a net gain of 151, making a total of 1,842 on February 1, 1924.
Since the new building is rapidly nearing completion, and within a few months we shall be relieved of the present congestion, I shall omit the usual reference to the tremendous difficulties under which we are struggling.
Probably few people realize how complex have become the activities of a modern high school. For this reason it may be worth while to give a brief, and by no means complete, summary of both curricular and extra- curricular activities of our own school.
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CITY OF QUINCY
The early high schools had for their real purpose preparation for col- lege. This is a very important part of our own work, and the school pre- pares pupils adequately for all college, scientific schools, and normal schools. Last September, 52 graduates from this school entered higher institutions of learning after having received their complete preparation in the school.
But high schools long ago ceased to make college preparation their chief aim. Over half the pupils in this school are enrolled in the commercial course, where they are receiving training in bookkeeping, shorthand, type- writing, and English, - the definite tools of clerical work, with the added opportunity of acquiring a general education along the lines of foreign languages, science, history, and other branches interesting to the individual pupil.
A large number of boys are in the manual arts course which offers four years of instruction in woodworking and four years of mechanical drawing with both machine and architectural design. Ample opportunity is pro- vided for allied mathematics and science in addition to more general subjects.
For the girls is provided scientific instruction in cooking and serving food, sewing, and millinery and applied design, together with allied science. Aside from the particular subjects noted above, this course of study is very general, catering to the special interests of the individual girl.
The above is a brief enumeration of differentiated courses of study in the school. Several lines of work, however, are offered to all pupils of the school so far as our accommodations will permit. Art courses of any type that will interest a group of pupils are given. Correlation of this work with the pupil's other studies is carried out to a large extent.
Music might be called a general course of the school because it reaches so many pupils. Besides three large choruses there are four glee clubs and two orchestras. Definite instruction in the theory of music is afforded by courses in harmony and musical appreciation. Moreover, for several years it has been customary for the musical organizations and picked chorus to give a concert during the spring term.
The present building has only one gymnasium, but so far as limited equipment allows, systematic physical training is carried on, being required of all pupils in first-year classes and elective for both boys and girls of other classes. Under direction of this department, the boys have football, baseball, basketball, and track teams, and participate in both interclass and interschool competition. The girls have basketball and field hockey teams with interclass competition.
The school is very fortunate in having means afforded by a private fund to maintain a school library. Here is offered an opportunity for reference work in connection with every department of the school under the guidance of a librarian and assistant. Class instruction in the use of a card catalogue and reference books is given in order that the pupil may quickly find desired material not only in the school library but also in the Public Library.
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