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 1926 > Part 23
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364
CITY OF QUINCY
Minded, or her assistant, gave the physical and mental examina- tions.
With all data before her, Dr. Patterson diagnosed each case and made a report to the School Department with a recommendation for the proper placing of each child.
The survey showed that we have in our schools 112 children who are now three or more years mentally retarded and that 52 more children would be three or more years retarded when they became fourteen years of age. Dr. Patterson recommended 49 children for placement in low special classes, 94 for over age groups and 10 for institutional care.
To properly educate the retarded pupils the city needs at least three low special classes and six or seven over age classes. The Daniel Webster, John Hancock, Lincoln and Willard Schools should have classes for mentally retarded pupils at the earliest possible moment because of the large number of retarded children in those buildings. At present there are no rooms available for classes, but it is hoped that the opening of the new Junior High Schools will release some rooms, now used for regular classes, that they may be used to conduct classes for the mentally retarded pupils.
State-Aided Activities
The forms of education included under State-aided activities are of such a nature that few communities could maintain them if forced to support them by local taxation alone. The State reim- burses the city approximately one-half of the net maintenance cost of these schools. Since the State contributes so liberally to such education it reserves the right to supervise the instruction and formulate many of the regulations under which the State-aided schools are maintained. The nature of the work, which is largely vocational, makes it essential that classes be small, and the State requires that all shop classes be limited to not more than sixteen pupils per teacher. This requirement alone doubles the cost of in- struction as compared with elementary schools.
1. Day Industrial School.
The growth of the Industrial School is clearly shown by the fol- lowing tabulation:
Year
1921- '22
1922- '23
1923- '24
1924- '25*
1925- '26
Auto mechanics
....
....
....
17
30
Electrical
32
33
39
40
36
Machine
31
32
33
42
37
Plumbing
18
21
18
42
37
Sheet metal
18
18
20
16
18
Woodworking
48
60
75
70
70
Total
147
164
185
227
228
*Entered New Building.
365
REPORT OF SCHOOL DEPARTMENT
The Auto Mechanics department, opened in February, 1925, has grown so rapidly that another teacher was needed in February, 1926. From now on the enrollment figures will show little change because the school has reached its capacity, except in the Sheet Metal department and possibly the Machine Shop department. About sixteen more boys could be cared for in the Sheet Metal de- partment and the same number in the Machine Shop. At present the machine trade is oversupplied with workers and it is not rea- sonable to suppose that the demand for machine shop practice will increase to any extent for the next ten years. All the other de- partments are full with a waiting list of applicants, and there is no room for expansion within the present building. Careful thought should be given to the future needs of this school so that the city may meet the increasing demand for trade training.
For this school $44,122.21 was paid out of the city treasury, but it is well to know that the treasury will receive the following money because of the Industrial School:
Aid from the State $17,316 59
Aid from Federal Government 2,755 11
Cash received for labor and products. 1,430 13
Cash received for tuition pupils 4,095 00
Total receipts $25,596 83
While it actually cost $241.25 to educate each boy in the school it cost the city only $101.29, less than half the total cost. Further- more, the boys in this school do much of the electrical and plumb- ing repair work necessary to be done in all the public schools of the city, and the other departments make many things for use in the schools that would otherwise be purchased from other funds. During the year the Industrial School boys did work for the School Department of which the labor alone was worth $3,531.54. It is necessary that the boys do such work to get a proper trade train- ing, but if it were not for this school the maintenance and supply accounts would be many dollars higher.
2. Home Making School for Girls.
In 1925-26 the average membership of this school was 41.86, an increase of seven over the average membership for the previous school year. The school can and should serve a larger number of girls. If the value of the training given was better understood by the general public, I feel that the school membership would rap- idly increase.
I invite your attention to the following statements by the direc- tor of the school, Miss Caroline Wilson:
"The school does not aim to fit girls specifically for any trade, but does give them enough of a foundation in dressmaking, milli- nery, nursing, foods, and dietetics to enable them to find their special interests and aptitudes. From here they are ready to go on in their special field, getting the additional trade training they need if they desire to enter the business world.
"We might say that the Home Making School offers more of a professional training than a trade training, as we are thinking of these girls as future home-makers, and not so much as wage- earners. Our reports show that a large number of our girls marry very soon after leaving school, or in many cases have the respon- sibility of their parents' home.
366
CITY OF QUINCY
"A new feature of the school started within the past year is the organization of several clubs. The girls gain a great deal in social, moral and civic development from these club groups, which would be very hard to duplicate in classroom work."
The installation of an instantaneous gas hot water heater made it possible to remove all coal from the cellar and tear down the coal bins. Fifty steel lockers not used in the Industrial School were installed and the girls now have a more adequate place for storage of wraps, etc.
It is not generally known that more than half of the money ap- propriated for this school is turned back into the city treasury. During the fiscal year of 1926, $12,464.16 was spent, but the school is responsible for the following receipts:
State aid
$3,890 96
Federal aid
668 54
Tuition
570 00
Cash received for work and products. 1,235 57
Miscellaneous
5 83
$6,370 90
The net cost of the school is thus reduced to $6,013.65, making the cost to educate each pupil $110.08, which is about the cost to educate a pupil in the Senior High School.
There is a splendid spirit of co-operation in the school due to the untiring efforts of the teachers under skilful leadership of Miss Wilson.
3. Continuation School.
Previous to 1920, before the Continuation School system went into effect in Quincy, over 200 children between 14 and 16 years of age were leaving school every year to go to work. Many of these minors worked only a short time and then spent a large part of several years in idleness. This loophole in the old school laws has been closed through definite supervision of the working minors by the Continuation School. Furthermore, the fact that employed minors under sixteen must attend school for four hours a day has tended to reduce the number of such children so employed.
In 1925 a committee from the Associated Industries of Massa- chusetts made a thorough survey of the Continuation School system throughout the State. This committee reported that the Continua- tion School was well worth while. The report contained this in- teresting paragraph: "Although the Continuation School is in the form of a vocational enterprise, its primary objects are those of vocational guidance, culture and citizenship. This is the marginal group of children. They left school for lack of interest or in search of wages. Few of them have any vision of what they want to do in life. In four hours a week over two years the school authorities cannot both find out what the individual can do best and proceed to train him. The vocational equipment serves as a background which catches the individual's interest and against which his abili- ties are played up."
The work of the boys has continued to be along the same prac- tical lines as of the past few years. In addition to the household arts work for girls, which is conducted with marked success, ele-
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REPORT OF SCHOOL DEPARTMENT
367
mentary commercial work has been started for those girls who will benefit by such instruction.
It has been apparent for some time that our Continuation School membership is diminishing in number rather than increasing. All directly concerned with the school feel that one man could handle all of the boys' work and supervise the girls' work. Steps are being taken toward that end.
CONTINUATION SCHOOL ENROLLMENT 1920-1926 inclusive
1919-'20
1920-'21 1921-'22
1922-'23 1923-'24 1924-'25
1925-'26
Boys
104
136
62
77
71
127
67
Girls
35
53
36
27
28
50
26
Tota®
139
189
98
104
99
177
93
For the school year ending on June 30, 1926, the total expenses of this school were $6,016.62. The city treasury will receive the following sums as a result of the school work:
From the State
$2,697 90
From the Federal Government (Smith-Hughes
450 61
Fund)
162 82
Miscellaneous
$3,311 33
The net cost to the city was, therefore, only $2,705.29.
4. Evening Industrial School for Men.
By State law three limitations are imposed upon applicants for State-aided evening trade extension courses: they must be over sixteen years of age; regularly employed; and admitted only to classes the subject matter of which relates to their regular em- ployment.
During the season 1925-26, classes were maintained in Automo- bile Mechanics, Electrical Wiring, Machine Shop Practice, Machine Drawing and Shop Mathematics, Plumbing, Roof Framing, and Sheet Metal Drafting.
The class in Machine Drawing and Shop Mathematics was a new class opened in the Boston Gear Works with the co-operation of the management of that concern. The experiment was profitable and the idea has beer taken up by the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corpo- ration.
The following tabulation shows interesting comparative data on Evening Industrial Work during the past four years. During the school year ending December, 1923, the classes were held in the old Industrial School on Phipps street. Since then most of the classes have been held in the new building of the Industrial School.
368
CITY OF QUINCY
DATA ON EVENING INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL REGISTRATION
Class
1922-'23
1923-'24 1924-'25
1925-'26
Automobile Mechanics
No class No class No class
24
Electrical wiring
18
16
33
45
Drawing for Granite Cutters
No class
11
No class
No class
Machine Shop Practice. ..
16
27
25
21
Machine Drawing and Shop Mathematics
No class
No class No class
27
Plumbing
No class
No class
39
52
Roof Framing
No class
47
26
36
Sheet Metal Drafting
28
45
25
29
Totals
62
146
148
234
The registration for 1926 was 277 per cent greater than that for 1923 and 59.4 per cent greater than that of the preceding year, in- dicating that the classes fill a felt need.
A further analysis of the registration for 1926 shows that 37.6 per cent of the men were under twenty-one, while 62.4 per cent were over that age, 10.2 per cent were over thirty-five. This indi- cates that the large majority of those enrolling for trade work are young men yet old enough to have a serious purpose in life.
The classes in Electrical Wiring, Plumbing, Roof Framing, and Sheet Metal Drafting were held in two divisions for several weeks. Even then many applicants for Plumbing instruction were placed on a waiting list. Most of those enrolling in the Plumbing class wish to learn lead wiping of joints. When that is learned they usually drop out and their places are filled from the waiting list.
The classes are held for forty evenings, if the number attending warrant it. The classes in Sheet Metal Drafting, Machine Shop Practice, Machine Drawing and Shop Mathematics ran the full term. The Roof Framing, Electrical and Automobile Mechanics classes were discontinued on February 18, 1926, for lack of at- tendance.
5 .- Practical Arts Classes for Women.
The aim of these classes is to educate the women to be better home makers and we are certain that in their homes a happier, more healthful atmosphere prevails.
The following table shows comparative data on enrollment for the last five years:
369
REPORT OF SCHOOL DEPARTMENT
ENROLLMENT DATA
1921-'22
1922-'23
1923-'24
1924-'25
1925-'26
Millinery
304
287
220
277
122
Cooking
....
15
34
42
85
Dressmaking
306
376
591
619
730
Home nursing.
17
19
12
17
....
Total
627
697
857
955
937
The growing interest of the women in cooking and dressmaking instruction is notable. The decline of attendance in millinery classes is due to the change in style,-the popularity of the felt hat has affected enrollment in millinery classes all over the State.
The monetary value of the work accomplished in the various classes is worth study.
Subject
Cost of Material
Market Value of Finished Product
Amount Saved by Women
Dressmaking
$13,050 37
$34,322 60
$21,272 23
Millinery
1,709 09
4,963 00
3,253 91
Foods
227 56
317 50
89 94
Total
$14,987 02
$39,603 10
$24,616 08
However, the value of these classes cannot be measured in dol- lars and cents for the women acquire worthwhile thrift habits, val- uable skills and higher ideals of family and social life.
The supervisor reports as follows: "In the dressmaking classes the women are taught the texture of materials, tests in textures are demonstrated in the classes, and they are advised to purchase good materials and becoming patterns. The renovation units have been especially helpful. Garments and hats have been made over at a very small expense into up-to-date stylish creations.
"In the foods classes the pupils are taught the correct combina- tions and preparations of foods, serving, and table setting."
The supervisor of this work, Miss Nellie A. Perry, is doing the same conscientious work in this field that has been shown for sev- eral years in her Americanization work. The continued success of the Practical Arts Classes is assured by her supervision.
6. Americanization Classes.
Our aim is to make all the people of Quincy literate or as nearly literate as possible. This can be accomplished by the united ef- forts of all the citizens.
370
CITY OF QUINCY
Thirty Americanization classes, enrolling 545 students, were con- ducted in the schools, factories, and club houses during the year.
Miss Perry says: "The pupils seemed to be of a superior type, anxious to learn English, to become acquainted with America and American ideals, to become upright American citizens taking their places in this country and contributing their share in a great de- mocracy.
"There is a more vital understanding of the alien today; the in- terests and co-operation of the citizens and organizations grows greater year by year."
Miscellaneous
As one means of developing the habit of thrift in young people, a school saving system has been maintained in all our elementary schools and in the Central Junior High School since October, 1908.
During the past year the total number of different depositors was 7,457, which is an increase of 1,498 over the number for the pre- vious year. The deposits for the year amounted to $57,967.68. The schools are not primarily interested in the amount saved but in the number of children who deposit, and the regularity with which de- posits are made.
In Quincy the last $300 of a teacher's salary must be obtained through professional improvement work under proper guidance. To facilitate the work, courses for teachers are given in Quincy each year through the co-operative efforts of the Quincy Teachers' Association and the School Department. Many teachers are taking late afternoon, Saturday, and summer courses in higher institu- tions of learning. At the present time there are 181 teachers reg- istered for professional improvement work and 130 teachers sub- mitted evidence of work done during 1926. Since the beginning of this system, 36 teachers have completed the necessary work and are receiving the maximum salary. Many teachers continue pro- fessional study after they have reached the maximum and there are 15 teachers who, stimulated by the required work, have re- ceived degrees from higher institutions since beginning their work in Quincy.
Additional information about the schools may be found in the several special reports and the statistical matter included in Ap- pendix A of this report.
The death of Mr. Nickerson was a serious blow to the welfare of the school system. All connected with the schools united in meet- ing the emergency and all have co-operated to work for the common good of the children. For the accomplishments of the year the credit should go to the entire corps of fellow workers for their splendid co-operation in a time of need.
In closing, I desire to express my appreciation of the unfailing support and help of the School Committee.
Respectfully submitted,
ALBERT H. COCHRANE,
Acting Superintendent of Schools.
371
REPORT OF SCHOOL DEPARTMENT
APPENDIX A
SPECIAL REPORTS
1. Report of Supervisor of Grammar Grades
MR. ALBERT H. COCHRANE, Acting Superintendent of Schools, Quincy, Mass.
My dear Mr. Cochrane:
During the past year our teachers have very largely focused their attention upon the functioning of the objectives or problems which had been worked out the previous year. In framing these problems for the pupils, the desired goals were: to provide for the entire group, to furnish a real "drive or urge," to show, as a unit, the month's work, to teach correct habits of study, to stim- ulate independent work, and to give experience in evaluating.
The teacher's part in checking up on the goals was, first of all, as a working member of the group. In this capacity, she "carried on" by looking up and assembling some references for the pupils' use, by calling attention to interesting and helpful current material, by encouraging the pupils to look for and bring in such material, and by letting them evaluate their own contributions. She met the teacher requirements by being ready-after actual classroom use of the problems-to give the pupils' reactions to them.
At the end of each month during a semester, grade conferences were held. These conferences were truly the teachers' conferences, for the reason that the supervisor merely presided and for the reason that the objectives or problems had not been superimposed. At each conference a secretary "pro tem" recorded the suggestions, criticism, and recommendations made by the teachers upon their own work, and handed them to the presiding officer. With the help of these reports, committees, appointed from each grade, have revised the objectives thus far worked out. They are Geography for the fifth, History for the sixth, and Geography, History, Arith- metic, and Language for the seventh and eighth grades.
In closing, I wish not only to express to you and my co-workers, the masters and the teachers, my deep appreciation of a most hearty and helpful cooperation, but also to pay tribute to the mem- ory of Mr. Nickerson, whose sympathetic confidence was ever an inspiration for the best service I could give.
Respectfully submitted.
HELEN MAUDE DELLICKER, Grammar Supervisor.
2. Report of Supervisor of Primary Grades
MR. ALBERT H. COCHRANE, Acting Superintendent of Schools, Quincy, Mass.
My dear Mr. Cochrane:
It is with pleasure that I submit my sixth annual report as supervisor of the primary grades.
Because of the necessarily restricted compass of any report of
372
CITY OF QUINCY
this nature, I shall attempt, rather than merely giving in resumé the details of the year's work, to epitomize the process and results of one aspect of that work which is becoming increasingly signifi- cant under the new conditions of our modern life, namely, the development of silent reading in the schools.
When we realize that in the seven-year period from 1914 to 1921 -for which authentic figures are now available-the number of books published yearly in the United States alone increased from 175,166,698 to 325,950,602 volumes, and that in 1923 there were in existence 13,077 different periodicals and newspapers, we are brought face to face with the indubitable fact that the child of this generation who is to be the cultivated man or woman of the next generation, abreast of the growth of this constantly growing world, will be required to read well and intelligently increasingly greater quantities of material. It is now obvious, as the result of careful investigations, that the old methods are becoming more and more inadequate to the demands of this new condition of things, and it therefore becomes the duty of the schools to establish and develop as early as possible, and in accordance with the best modern psy- chology, more effective reading habits.
The old method of oral reading, with its fixation of the attention upon the pronunciation of each single word, and its consequent inhibition of the immediate mental fusion of the words of the sen- tence into a single whole thought, tends to distract, at least tem- porarily, the attention of the reader from the most essential point of his reading,-the meaning, and thus to retard the reading proc- ess. On the basis of silent reading it is the ideas rather than the word-elements which become paramount in the pupil's mind, and thus, with the greater acceleration of the process and the increased comprehension which comes with this method, the child, as he passes to the higher grades, finds himself much more fitted to cope with the ever broadening demands of, and indeed more ably genu- inely to enjoy his reading in the wider range of subjects before him. The aim, however, in our plan of primary reading, is not to supersede oral reading in the primary grades,-for that, too, has its place,-but more and more to supplement it until, let us say, in the fourth grade, silent reading becomes the dominant process.
With this end in view, three years ago we tried out in just one of our classrooms, the silent reading methods of instruction; and the next year this plan was carried over into a second class room. Silent reading equipment and readers were furnished the two teach- ers, and, as the year went on, other teachers from the various schools of the city were invited to observe the work there in process. This observation and a series of conferences and discussions on reading, led to a desire on the part of a growing number of teach- ers to undertake the same method of instruction. Today in several of our schools silent reading is being taught for the first time in the first grade, and in a number of the schools it is being carried on from the first through the fourth grades with most gratifying results.
This work in silent reading is attracting many visitors to our schools, and we have received a large number of requests from school committee members, superintendents, supervisors, principals and teachers from adjoining cities and states for permission to visit and observe our reading classes.
I cannot close my report without an expression of my deep-felt
373
REPORT OF SCHOOL DEPARTMENT
appreciation of the splendid leadership and cooperation of the late Mr. Nickerson in his capacity as Superintendent of Schools, and of my sincero appreciation and commendation of the spirit of those on whom the development of the Quincy schools now depends.
Respectfully submitted,
ELSA SCHOSHUSEN, Supervisor of Primary Grades.
3. Report of Supervisor of Music
MR. ALBERT H. COCHRANE, Acting Superintendent of Schools, Quincy, Mass.
My dear Mr. Cochrane:
It gives me pleasure to submit the following report for the music department.
The music in the schools is making a very constant and sure advance, with a perceptible improvement each year both in the quality of the work and in the response of the community. We are trying to appeal to the children through every musical channel possible: first, through vocal work, which includes the singing and reading of music in the classroom, chorus and glee club; second, through listening to music and music appreciation, embodied in listening lessons with the victrola, and in music memory contests; and third, through participation in instrumental music, accom- plished by classes, orchestras and bands.
The classroom vocal work is organized and outlined carefully for the grade teachers, eliminating everything non-essential for music reading and interpretation, and with one aim in mind, namely, that the boy or girl be able to read, sing, and interpret new music at sight. In December a concert was given to the public by the glee clubs of fourteen grammar schools. Each club sang an indi- vidual number, and the combined clubs, making a chorus of four hundred and fifty, presented Coerne's "Landing of the Pilgrims." Music appreciation has been motivated this year by the annual Music Memory Contest, culminating in a concert of music memory numbers given to the children by the Boston Symphony Orchestral Club. In the instrumental work, which is carried on entirely out- side of school time, there is a steady growth. Between three hun- dred and fifty and four hundred children of the grades V to IX enroll each year in classes offered for instruction in violin, viola, cornet, trombone, horn, flute, clarinet, saxophone, and drum. Op- portunity is offered the child to buy his instruument on a part- payment plan, and to take a class lesson for twenty-five cents.
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