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 1927 > Part 24
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To the School Committee of Quincy :
In accordance with the usual custom, I herewith submit the annual report for the public schools for the year 1927.
The facts and figures herein recorded may serve to increase the interest in the work in which we are now engaged.
Quincy is a rapidly growing city. Its population is increasing very rapidly and its school enrolment is increasing more rapidly than is the city population. One of the chief reasons for its growth is that it is distinctively a young people's city.
The former Superintendent, the late Mr. Fred H. Nickerson, better known to the school men of the State than to me, dedi- cated himself to the task of securing two Junior High School buildings. It was his last work here. He did this with his usual calmness of purpose and devotion to duty which were ever fruitful of results.
These new schools, the North Junior High School situated at the junction of Hancock and East Squantum streets, and the South Junior High School situated on Granite street near Center street, are splendid buildings-a credit to any city.
The North Junior High School was formally dedicated on Feb- ruary 8, 1927. Payson Smith, Commissioner of Education, deliv- ered the address of the evening. The school was opened for school work on February 1, 1927. The South Junior High School was formally dedicated on Monday, November 7, 1927, which was Quincy's contribution to Education Week. Superintendent James N. Muir delivered the address of the evening. The South Junior High School was opened for instructional purposes September 7, 1927, although the building was not entirely completed.
On September 26, the enrolment of the Junior High Schools was taken. The enrolment of the North Junior was 940, which was 190 more than the capacity of the building; that of the South Junior, 839; and that of the Central Junior, 880.
On February 1, the day on which the North Junior High School was organized, 946 pupils were transferred from the elementary or grammar grades. This involved an endless amount of detail. The teachers were drawn largely from the elementary schools. The same procedure was essential in organizing the South Junior High School and these teachers were drawn largely from the ele- mentary or grammar grades of the City of Quincy.
To complete the Junior High School building program, it was essential that a fourth Junior High School should be built. Pre- liminary steps were taken early in January to secure the Quincy Point Junior High School. Final plans for this school were ap- proved by the School Committee on June 7. The appropriation was obtained from the City Council late in August. The con- struction of the Quincy Point Junior High was started early in September and is now well under way. It is expected that it will be delivered to the school authorities not later than July 1. We have every reason to believe it will be ready for occupancy when school opens in September. Quincy will then have four Junior High Schools,-the North Junior, South Junior, Central
362
CITY OF QUINCY
Junior, and the Quincy Point Junior High Schools, with an ap- proximate enrolment in September of 3,400 Junior High School pupils. It will enable the authorities here to extend the recog- nized advantages of the Junior High School program to the entire city and should place Quincy where she rightfully belongs edu- cationally.
The Course of Study
With the beginning of the school year in September, a new Junior High School program and schedule of studies were put into use. The length of day is from 8:30 to 2:50, a continuous session allowing one-half hour for lunch periods. The periods are 55 minutes in length on the plan of directed studies, utilizing the first half of the recitation for directed study and the second half of the recitation period for recitation and check-up work. While the Junior High School program and schedule of studies have been in effect but half a year, we can safely say that they have met with general approval by pupils, teachers, and citizens.
Eighteen hundred pupils were transferred from the elementary or grammar grades during the year to the two new Junior High Schools. At present all buildings are filled to their capacity.
Realizing as the School Committee does the importance of the housing problem in a rapidly growing city, a sub-committee was appointed to act with the Superintendent on a future building program. After a careful survey by the sub-committee and Superintendent, the School Committee felt constrained to recom- mend to the City Council another Five-Year Building Program which is at the present time being considered by that body. The school authorities feel it is the only feasible plan without over- straining the financial resources of the City.
Physical education has received an impetus during the year. The work has been consolidated, intensified, and placed under the supervision of a physical director. In addition to the regular physical educational work of the gymnasium, a specific program was outlined to encourage all pupils of the Senior as well as Junior High Schools to take active parts in some form of athletics.
The wider use of the school buildings has been encouraged. The auditoriums, gymnasiums and various parts of the buildings have been used for community purposes during the entire year. The Junior High School gymnasiums have been used extensively for public gymnasium classes for adults. This work is being extended. The Committee passed a resolution that when 20 adults, men or women, wished to use a gymnasium for physical education purposes, the Committee will employ the teacher to take charge of the class. The gymnasiums in the Junior High Schools are opened also for competitive athletics.
One of the big items that the committee has undertaken the year just closing was the elimination of the mid-year promotions. The first factor in the work undertaken to eliminate mid-year pro- motions was a General Intelligence Test for all pupils from the first grade through the last year in the High School. The results of this mental test justified the efforts that the teachers, masters, and those in authority put into it.
Achievement tests based on the content of the work that the pupils covered during the first half of the year were given during the month of February. These tests were given in arithmetic, spelling, geography, history, and language, in the fourth, fifth, and sixth grades. The tests are based on the content or subject matter covered by the pupils according to our own course of
363.
REPORT OF SCHOOL DEPARTMENT
study and objectives planned. In other words, these tests are our own achievement tests. The accumulation of the results of these various tests will give us a fairly accurate measure of the pupils' standing. The mental tests co-mingled with the judgments of the teachers and masters as well as the results of the achieve- ment tests will give us some standard of where all the children rightfully belong.
Health Program
In addition to the regular routine health examinations and the work of the school physician and nurses, two very important health campaigns were conducted in the public schools-one, an extensive diphtheria prevention program in which 2,388 children received the toxin and anti-toxin treatments. Of these, 2,197 completed the treatments in the schools. This was done through the establishment of weekly clinics by the City Health Department together with the co-operation of the school physician and school nurses. We feel that this immunization work is a decided forward step in our school health work.
The other, the School Clinic, is the most complete health ex- amination of school children ever undertaken in Quincy and one of the largest and most complete Clinics ever carried on in the State.
The preliminary work was done by the school physician, school nurses, and two nurses from the City Health Department. This consisted of a health questionnaire with about 60 questions. These questions related to the state of health, the age, school grade, the habits of eating, rest, play, the amusements and the present and past histories of the children. These histories were recorded and tabulated by the school nurses and compiled ready for the immediate use of the staff of the State Department of Public Health. The school physician, Dr. Drew, and the school nurses gave most of their time to the preliminary work from the time the schools opened in September until they re-opened in January.
The purpose of the Clinic is to promote the health of the school children and to prevent disease by calling attention to any defect or infection that may be found that the condition may be reme- died before serious illness results. In any case where medical treatment is necessary, a report of the examination will be sent to the parents advising them to consult their family physician.
Children do not attend the Clinic and are not examined without the written permission of the parents.
The State Department's personnel consisted of five physicians, one nurse, an x-ray technician, two dietitians, and two stenogra- phers, and one attendant. These, together with the school physi- cian, four school nurses, and two nurses from the City Health Department, constituted the working force of the Clinic conducted in Quincy.
They began their work in Quincy on January 3, 1928 and com- pleted it about March 21. Seven thousand pupils from the ele- mentary and junior high schools have been examined. Needless to say, these schools have been beehives of industry. All partici- pants have been earnest in their endeavor to wage a war on tuber- culosis. It is a great work well done. We trust it can be fol- lowed through and carried on to the end.
The Assistant Superintendent has reported for the State-aided, Academic Evening, Academic Summer Schools, and special classes. Because of the importance attached to these reports, they are given in full. Under separate headings will be found a short report of the High School Principal, Supervisors and School Physi- cian.
364
CITY OF QUINCY
The Day Industrial School
Many people know that $47,500 was appropriated for the Quincy Industrial School in 1927; few know that all of the money is not expended and that more than one-half the amount actually spent comes back to the city treasurer in other ways. During the school year ending in June, 1927, $46,096.65 was spent to maintain the Industrial School while the following amounts were received by the treasury because of the school:
Tuition for pupils living outside of Quincy $4,380 00
Cash for products made by the school 1,879 59
Aid from the State of Massachusetts. 17,890 96
Aid from the Federal Government 3,400 20
Total Receipts $27,550 75
Net cost to City of Quincy $18,545 90
It actually cost $252.07 to educate each boy in the school, but the cost to the city for each pupil was only $101.42.
In addition to the cash receipts above mentioned, the boys do much work for the public schools and other departments of the city for which no charge is made as the students need real jobs in which to get trade experience. The teachers of the school esti- mated the value of this labor to be over $7,000. Many of the simpler electrical and plumbing repair jobs in the schools are done by industrial school boys. Below are listed a few of the larger jobs done by the boys in other departments.
Stove pipes for Portable Buildings made and installed.
48 Manual Training Benches, each equipped with vises made by the machine department.
2 Sheet Metal Benches.
16 Bolenius Racks.
36 Art Tables begun in May, 1927, completed in Sept., 1927.
36 Mechanical Drawing Tables begun in May, 1927, completed in Sept., 1927.
The type of instruction offered, the number of boys enrolled, and growth of the school is shown by the following tabulation:
Year
1921- '22
1922- '23
1923- '24
1924- '25*
1925- '26
1926- '27
Auto Mechanics
....
....
17
30
42
Electrical
32
33
39
40
36
36
Machine
31
32
33
42
37
34
Plumbing
18
21
18
42
37
38
Sheet Metal
18
18
20
16
18
19
Woodworking
48
60
75
70
70
65
Total
147
164
185
227
228
234
*Entered New Building.
365
REPORT OF SCHOOL DEPARTMENT
In three years the automobile department has reached its ca- pacity. The sheet metal and woodworking departments are the only ones where there are not waiting lists. This school is open to neighboring communities, on payment of tuition fees after Quincy applications are filled, but for several years relatively few boys have enrolled from outside the city because we have not the facilities to care for them. Undoubtedly, there are fifty or more boys outside the city who would gladly come if it were known they could be enrolled. Although the school has been built but three years it is necessary to use the corridors to assemble the work of some departments and increased facilities are needed if the school is to function to the highest point of efficiency.
Thirteen teachers and a Director are. employed in the school and all but one, the teacher of English, civics and hygiene, have had eight or more years' experience in the trade which they teach plus training in methods of teaching. Within a year Boston, which has just started a plumbing department, has taken two of our teach- ers in that department. We regret losing the men, but were grati- fied that Boston came to Quincy to find the men properly qualified to teach the trade. The instructors of the Industrial School are specially trained and perform their duties well, all are making a careful study of their courses of study to better adapt the instruc- tion to the needs of the trade they teach and the boy being taught. The increased efficiency of the school is reflected in the per cent of attendance. In 1924, the attendance for this school was 89.78 per cent, four per cent less than that of the regular day schools. In 1927 the per cent of daily attendance was 94.1 which is within .5 per cent of the regular day schools, which were obliged to im- prove their attendance nearly one per cent to keep ahead of the Industrial School.
Quincy Home Making School
The average membership for the school year 1926-27 was 43.11 as against 41.86 of the preceding year. To educate these 43 girls $13,327.27 was expended, but during the same period the follow- ing amounts were received in the city treasury because of the Home Making School:
Tuition for pupils outside the city $585 00
Cash received for work done. 1,303 77
Aid from the State of Massachusetts 5,227 36
Aid from the Federal Government. 754 57
Miscellaneous receipts
4 28
Total receipts $7,874 98
Net cost to the City of Quincy
$5,452 29
Although the total cost of running the school was $963.11 more than the total cost the previous year, the net cost to the city was $918.61 less than the net cost for the school year 1925-26.
The school employs four full-time teachers, a Director, and two part-time teachers. Every girl receives instruction in Dressmak- ing, Cooking, Housekeeping, Laundry, Millinery, Home Nursing, Textiles, Arithmetic, Science, English, and History. Laundry and Textiles are given in the first year only, and in the second year girls are allowed to make a choice and specialize in either cooking or sewing depending on their interest and ability. Those girls choosing clothing are given six hours per week in clothing and a minimum assignment of two hours a week in foods. The special
366
CITY OF QUINCY
foods girls have six hours a week in foods and two hours in cloth- ing.
The special girls in clothing conduct the newest and most suc- cessful innovation of the year, "The Tiny Tot Shop," which is or- ganized on a real shop basis. Orders are filled for outside cus- tomers for children's garments ranging from two to six years. At present the customer furnishes the material and the girls make the garment at a charge of $1.00. Since the starting of the shop the girls have had all the orders they could fill.
As in the Industrial School, the teachers have been busy under the leadership of the Director, Miss Caroline M. Wilson, revising the courses of study. More girls should take advantage of the opportunity which is provided by the school. Successful gradu- ates of the school may enter the Junior Class of the Senior High or go on to the Boston Trade School for Girls if they so desire.
The Continuation School
The table below shows the enrolment in the Continuation School ever since it was added to the Quincy school system:
CONTINUATION SCHOOL ENROLMENT 1920-1927 inclusive
1919- '20
1920- '21
1921- '22
1922- '23
1923- '24
1924- '25
1925- '26
1926- '27
Boys
104 35
136
62
77
67
84
Girls
53
36
27
71 28
127 50
26
56
Total
139
189
98
104
99
177
93
140
In 1925-26, $6,016.62 was spent to educate the 93 pupils enrolled; in 1926-27 it cost $4,951.22 to give the same training as before to 140 boys and girls, a reduction of $1,065.40 in the cost of running the school.
Furthermore, the following amounts were received by the city treasurer because of the Continuation School:
Tuition fees
$81 84
Cash for work done 56 22
Aid from the State of Massachusetts. 2,171 08
Aid from the Federal Government 450 61
Total receipts $2,759 75
Net cost to City of Quincy $2,191 47
The lower cost was accomplished by reducing the teaching force.
Mr. Harlan Harrington, who has been Director since the school was opened, was transferred to the North Junior High School in February, 1927, as sub-master and gave only two hours per day to the Continuation School. In September, Mr. Harrington's con- nection with the school ceased and Mr. Dana Clark, who had been the shop instructor, became Director and now handles all the work for the boys as well as directing the work for the girls.
367
REPORT OF SCHOOL DEPARTMENT
Although 140 boys and girls registered in the school during the year, but 68 were enrolled when school closed in June. Of the 48 boys discharged, 31 became sixteen years of age, 14 moved from the city, three returned to the regular day school. Of the 24 girls discharged, 14 became sixteen, seven moved and three returned to the regular day school.
All youths between 14 and 16 years of age who have left school to go to work must attend the Continuation School for four hours per week. If a Continuation School pupil loses his job he must attend Continuation School for 20 hours per week until he gets a new job or return to the regular day school.
The boys receive manual instruction in Home Mechanics for one- half the time and arithmetic, English, civics and hygiene for the other half. The academic work is, as far as possible, related to their day employment. The girls have the same amount and type of academic work and their choice of household arts or commercial work.
In the few hours a week which the Continuation School has the individual it cannot hope to discover the work he can do best and also train him to do it. It does, however, make a determined effort to discover the youth's interests and abilities and direct him toward that form of employment best fitted for him. The teachers in developing the pupils seek to use only such instructional ma- terial as will be of use to the student in his daily life.
Continuation School teachers are required by the State to visit both the homes of their pupils and the place of their employment. The school thus becomes a connecting link between the home and the job. The right type of a teacher has an opportunity to do much social service work, the value of which cannot be measured.
The Evening Industrial School
During the school year 1926-'27, $2,489.27 was spent on Evening Industrial Education for Men. The following amounts were re- ceived in the city treasury because of this form of education:
Tuition fees for men living outside Quincy. $232 00
Registration fees
188 00
Aid from the State of Massachusetts. 913 13
Aid from the Federal Government.
170 00
Total receipts $1,503 13
Net cost to City of Quincy. $986 14
The following tabulation shows the type of instruction offered and the number of men enrolled for the last five years:
368
CITY OF QUINCY
DATA ON EVENING INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL REGISTRATION
Class
1922-'23
1923-'24
1924-'25
1925-'26
1926-'27
Shop Mathematics for Electricians Automobile
No class
No class
No class
No class
13
Mechanics
No class 18
No class 16
No class 33
24 45
26
Electrical wiring Drawing for Gran- ite Cutters
No class
11
No class
No class
No class
Machine Shop Practice
16
27
25
21
19
Plumbing
No class No class No class
No class No class 47
No class 39 26
52
46
Roof Framing
36
10
Sheet Metal Drafting
28
45
25
29
33
Ship Blue Print Reading
No class
No class
No class
No class
63
Totals
62
146
148
234
282
The classes in Roof Framing and Shop Mathematics for Elec- tricians did not prove successful because of lack of numbers, the former was closed after nine meetings and the latter after six meetings.
The class in Ship Blue Print Reading was conducted at the Fore River Ship Yard from 4-6 P. M. and proved so successful that it was necessary to run the class in two divisions. It was one of the few successful Blue Print Reading classes in the State. The Ma- chine Drawing and Shop Mathematics class was in two sections,- one at the Boston Gear Works and the other at Fore River. The evening industrial classes carried on within the factory are new for Quincy and are successful. The State authorities agree with us that more men should take advantage of such opportunities. We are ready to establish evening trade classes whenever 15 or more men are willing to attend regularly with these limitations: men enrolling for evening industrial work must be engaged during the day in the trade to be studied in the evening and must be 16 years of age.
Ten teachers were employed in this work, all of whom have had many years' experience in the trade and several in teaching the trade to others. A registration fee of one dollar is charged each person enrolling which is returned to all who have been present 75 per cent of the time. Just one-third of those enrolled received the dollar back. If the men paid more for the instruction, I believe the attendance would be greater. Because the instruction is prac- tically free, some people tend to undervalue it and fail to appre- ciate the opportunity which lies near at hand to be obtained with little effort.
31
Machine Drawing and Shop Mathe matics
27
41
369
REPORT OF SCHOOL DEPARTMENT
Evening Practical Arts Classes for Women
Forty-eight classes were held during the school year 1926-'27 in subjects as shown in the following tabulation under the direct supervision of Miss Nellie A. Perry:
ENROLMENT DATA
1922-'23
1923-'24 1924-'25
1925-'26
1926-'27
Millinery
287
220
277
122
112
Cooking
15
34
42
85
105
Dressmaking
376
591
619
730
726
Home Nursing
19
12
17
....
16
Total
697
857
955
937
959
To conduct these classes it cost $9,538.53, but the following sums came into the city treasury:
Tuition fees for 22 non-resident pupils
$192 78
Registration fee
384 00
Aid from the State of Massachusetts 4,061 91
Aid from the Federal Government. 957 30
Total receipts
$5,595 99
Net cost to City of Quincy. $3,942 54
The women in these classes spent $13,695.07 for material with which to make dresses and hats and the market value of the fin- ished product was estimated at $49,971.07, a net saving to the women of $36,276.00 obtained at a cost to the city of $3,942.54. These classes are then a paying investment in dollars and cents. Furthermore, the skill which the women acquire in dressmaking, millinery and cooking remains with them as a permanent accom- plishment. The teachers also stress economical buying in all de- partments and in dressmaking attention is given to the texture of materials, laundering qualities and becoming color combina- tions.
Fourteen teachers were used in this type of work, most of whom have been teaching such classes in Quincy for several years. All have had practical trade experience in the subject which they teach and must maintain contact with the trade so that the women who come to them for instruction receive the latest and best methods of procedure.
Although called evening classes, at least one is held in the morn- ing and several are held in the afternoon. Whenever a group of at least 15 women over 16 years of age and not attending a regu- lar day school desire instruction in any of the household arts, it will be furnished for them.
The enrolment data shows the increasing interest of the women in cooking. For the first time all applications for instruc- tion could not be filled and women were placed on a waiting list. The opening of the Junior High Schools will remedy the situation by providing more facilities for cooking.
370
CITY OF QUINCY
Because of the popular small felt hat which can be purchased at a low price, the interest in millinery classes has steadily de- clined during the last few years.
More women should enroll in the home nursing classes; those who did enroll were most enthusiastic and reported to Miss Perry that the knowledge gained was of great practical value.
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