USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Norwood > Norwood annual report 1900-1903 > Part 44
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55
S
In view of these conditions, it is earnestly hoped that decisive action, will soon be taken. In the absence of immediate action, your Committee will find it necessary to hire such rooms as may be adapted to school purposes in respect to surroundings, heat- ing and ventilation.
The estimated expenses of this department for the coming year are as follows :
Teachers and Superintendent,
$21,500 00
Fuel,
2,100 00
Books and supplies,
2,000 00
Incidentals and repairs,
1,700 00
Janitors and sweepers,
1,900 00
Water rates, insurance and Truant Officer,
500 00
Total,
$29,700 00 .
Respectfully submitted,
GEORGE W. CUSHING,
MARY J. ALDEN, MARCIA M. WINSLOW, EDWARD W. JEWETT,
CLIFFORD B. SANBORN,
GEORGE H. SMITH,
School Committee.
The term of Mr. George W. Cushing expires March 1, and he has declined to be a candidate for re-election. Mr. Cushing has been a member of the School Committee for six years, and chairman for the past four years.
The remaining members of this Committee desire to testify to the ability and faithfulness with which Mr. Cushing has worked for the best interests of our schools, and we, in this manner, wish to place on record our appreciation of the value of his services to the educational interests of the town of Norwood.
MARY J. ALDEN. MARCIA M. WINSLOW. E. W. JEWETT. CLIFFORD B. SANBORN. GEORGE H. SMITH.
SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT.
To the School Committee : --
I submit herewith my second annual report, together with the reports of the High School Principal and of the Supervisors of the special studies. I append, also, the report of the Truant Officer and such statistics relating to the attendance as are likely to be of general interest.
MANUAL TRAINING.
The establishment of a commercial course in the High School leaves manual training as the one thing to be desired to put our schools in line with the spirit of the age. No matter in what sphere of life a man's chosen work may take him, the more ade- quate his preparation the more successful he will be, and the more successful he is the better citizen he will become. We now have in our curriculum, courses that lead up to a professional or to a business career, but there is nothing that tends to induce a boy of a mechanical turn of mind to continne his education.
It is not necessary to argue that manual training is mental training as well, since it consists not merely of manual skill, but it carries with it a mental discipline which makes the boy broader, wiser and better. It teaches the dignity of labor, and for this reason it makes toward that end which is the ultimate purpose of all school work - good citizenship.
I have prepared, to be submitted to your Committee, an esti- mate of the expense attaclied to the introduction of a course in manual training into the schools of this town, and I trust that an appropriation will be made for this purpose.
PROMOTIONS.
As was indicated in the report of last year the question of
10
grading and promotion is of paramount importance. Any plan of organization which does not take into account the supremacy of the pupils as individuals is confessedly defective. A teacher should be placed in charge of as many pupils as she can serve as individuals and no more. To bring this about completely it would be necessary to lessen materially the number of pupils assigned to each teacher, a course which is not possible with our restricted accommodations. With the permission of your Com- mittee, however, an approach to this plan was made last year by dividing the several grades into two sections each, the divisions being made on this basis of the ability of the pupils. This
change was made in recognition of the self-evident fact that it is unwise to expect or to require the same quality or quantity of work from a class in which the individuals differ widely in mental capacity. This seems to be at present the most satisfactory solu- tion of the problem that confronts every committee : how best to arrange the classes so that each pupil shall be given work suited to his individual capacity.
Last year, and again this year, pupils have been selected from the three seventh grades of the Everett School and are working to complete the three remaining years of the grammar school course in two years. This plan seems advisable from an educa- tional as well as from a financial standpoint. The suggestion has been made that this is a contradiction of the arguments that influenced the committee to lengthen the elementary course frou eight to nine years. The opposite of this is true. In very many cities and towns the eight-year course below the High School exists. It was the experience of this town that many of the pupils could not in that time satisfactorily complete their prep- arations for high school work. It was equally demonstrated by your experience that a fair percentage of your children could secure adequate preparation in eight years, and the present arrangement offers an opportunity to do this. More than this, I believe that school authorities have no right to accept any scheme of grading which prevents a capable pupil from mastering a course of study as rapidly as he can do it and do it well. It has been urged, also, that the withdrawal of the brightest pupils
11
from a class removes the inspiration that comes from competition between the pupil of excellent and the pupil of average ability. The experience of teachers tends to show that the person of average ability becomes discouraged rather than inspired by daily competition with one who is mentally his superior. Hence it will be seen that the adoption of this plan does not partake of the nature of an educational experiment, as it is similar in operation to that prevailing in most communities that are educa- tionally progressive.
HIGH SCHOOL.
The Principal's report, to which your attention is called, con- tains much valuable information with reference to the general condition of this school. The increase in membership is grati- fying and we may expect in the next few years a more general patronage of the school. The courses of study as now consti- tuted are appended and with some minor changes they are suffi- cient to meet present requirements. It will be noticed that in each of these courses a critical study of English is given promi- nence. While there is no intention of lessening the amount of time devoted to the study of Latin and Greek, we cannot over- look the fact that the tide is setting against them and that Eng- lish, the modern languages and business branches, are coming to the front. The object of study is two-fold : for practical use and for mental disipline; perhaps in the light of recent thought, a third object may be added : it provides an elevated form of pleas- ure and there is certainly no study so broadening, so elevating and so full of possibilities as the study of English literature. It has recently been said that although we have literature more varied and more copious than any other nation, we are just beginning to find out how potent for the best training and the broadest culture our native tongue and its literary treasures are.
There is always a temptation in a public high school to give undue emphasis to the classical course and frequently the effi- ciency of a school is judged entirely from the fitness or unfitness of its graduate to pass college entrance examinations. Neither of these conditions should obtain. I believe that to be really
12
prosperous a school must respond to the demands of the times. In the endeavor to fit pupils for college satisfactorily, we should not overlook our obligation to those whom we are fitting for the immediate duties of life. I am persuaded that if preference must be shown to any class it should not be to those who are subsequently to enjoy the advantages of college training, but rather to those whose school privileges are to end with the com- pletion of a high school course.
The objection has always been urged by men of the business world that there are few high school studies that tend to fit a boy or girl for a business career. This objection has been answered in Norwood as elsewhere by the formation of a business course which will provide thorough training in those lines of study that are distinctively commercial. The popularity of this course is evidenced by the fact that it was elected by more than one-half of the entering class of this year, and the success with which it is now carried on, amply justifies the wisdom of your Committee in the action which you have taken.
TEACHERS.
It will be seen from an examination of that section of the Report which indicates the changes that have taken place in the teaching force during the past year, that the number of resigna- tions has been unusually large. Four of the teachers resigned to accept appointments elsewhere, at largely increased salaries; six resigned by reason of their approaching marriage, and six because the quality of their work made their retention inadvisable. The departure of most of these sixteen teachers was regrettable, but considering the corps of teachers as a whole, I am confident that it has been materially strengthened. This fact is evidenced by a marked improvement in the work of the schools and the per- ceptible increase in interest and enthusiasm among both pupils and teachers.
In the selection of new teachers a persistent effort has been made to secure those who are not merely qualified by education and training, but who possess a personality sufficiently strong to
13
inspire in your boys and girls higher ideas and lofty ideals. I conceive it to be true that a person may be competent to teach and yet be conspicuously unfit to teach. It was formerly considered the province of the home only to give attention to the moral de- velopment of the child. The school disciplined the mind and the home educated the heart. More and more, as our public school system develops and its sphere of operation broadens, we are coming to recognize the fact that our schools have a higher mis- sion to perform than simply to instruct. Teachers are being held responsible to a greater extent than ever before for the moral training of those who are entrusted to their care, and it is right that they should be.
In conversation recently with one of the most intelligent mothers of this town I learned that because of her many social and household duties she had never visited the school which her young boy was attending, nor had she had opportunity to make the acquaintance of his teacher. From her own knowledge of the boy's disposition, and from his growing tendency toward the for- mation of certain habits, she had formed an opinion of the traits and temperament of the teacher. and I found that her estimate of the teacher's attainments and deficiencies was remarkably accu- rate, and, in the main, coincided with my own observation. There is nothing unusual or unexpected in this incident. It is one of those daily occurrences that go to prove that, whether at home or in school, the child is imitative, and that he will not fail to take into his own life the leading characteristics of the lives of his associates. We cannot expect a teacher to inspire his pupils with a desire to acquire qualities that ennoble unless he possesses those qualities himself. Just as a stream does not rise higher than its source, no school ever did rise or ever will rise above the moral and the intellectual level of the teacher.
Pupils in school are forming habits that are to follow them through life, and it is in the power of the skillful teacher to exert an influence in this direction that will either make or mar their future. State Superintendent Stetson of Maine expressed this thought tersely and happily in an address to the teachers, in which he told them that "the future of the children and the
1
14
children of the future" were in their hands. In the midst of the busy routine of the school-room, with its cares and anxieties and the patient and constant endeavor to fulfil the requirements of the course of study, little time is found to devote to purely ethical teaching, and even under the most favorable circum- stances formal attempts in this direction seldom succeed. Such teaching must be done indirectly. Environment influences, and personality teaches. Of greater importance, then, than courses of study, text-books and all school equipments, is the elevating and refining mastery of the ideal teacher. From a school in which the spirit of optimism and altruism prevails will be grad- uated boys and girls who are optimistic and altruistic, and who are educated in the best and highest sense of the term.
The duty of the teacher and that of the parent are identical in purpose. The school and the home should be working together for a common end. There should be, and there must be, if better schools are to result, a spirit of earnest and cordial co-operation. No matter how persistent in her efforts a teacher may be, how conscientious in her attention to the details of her daily work, how diligently and tactfully she may labor for the ultimate good of the child, her full measure of usefulness is not reached unless she can have the assistance and enjoy the inspiring confidence of the parent. Under such conditions a teacher can act as her judgment dictates, confident that her motives will not be mis- construed or her acts condemned by unfriendly critics.
The faithful work which your teachers are doing deserves high commendation from the people of this town, to whose service they are giving the best years of their lives. I bespeak for them the confidence and the co-operation of every home. For their loyalty and for the cordial support with which your Committee has favored me, I return my sincere thanks.
Respectfully submitted,
A. P. WAGG, . Superintendent.
15
1
REPORT OF PRINCIPAL OF HIGH SCHOOL.
To the Superintendent of Schools : -
I hereby submit my third annual report of the High School.
Our number has seen a considerable increase. The highest number enrolled has been ninety against sixty-eight for last year. The membership has kept up well since the first of the year. But four have dropped ont since the opening of school in Sep- tember. This number has been offset by those who have come in from other towns.
Of a graduating class of forty-nine from the ninth grade, thirty-seven entered the High School. Ten others have come in from outside or dropped back from the class above. Of these twenty-seven have elected the commercial course and twenty the other courses. It will be seen that about the same proportion of the ninth grade has entered the High School as in former years, and we have failed to do what we hoped in introducing a new course : namely to attract a larger number of pupils to the High School. On the other hand the large number that have chosen this course shows that it has met a want. The novelty of the course may have had something to do with this, and it is too early as yet to tell what the final result may be.
At present there is afforded an excellent training for those who wish to fit themselves to do office work and a large proportion of the girls entering have availed themselves of this opportunity. The boys have not shown a drawing toward the course.
I would approve of giving those in the commercial course who so desire an opportunity to elect either French or mathematics with the other courses, and it seems that this might be done with- out unnecessarily complicating the work of the school. Some also would doubtless like to remain an extra year and graduate ' with their elass as regular four year gradnates.
A difficulty is experienced at present in arranging the work in French so as to accommodate both those who wish to take it through the whole course and those who need it but one year, which should be the last in making out their college require- ments. This could be easily arranged for by offering German
16
during the last year. Besides providing for those now taking Greek, it would enable those who wish to do so to offer two modern languages.
In the school itself we need larger provision for reference books, especially in the line of history and literature. The ordi- mary chairs that are now used at many of the desks in the main room are both inconvenient and noisy and would be better re- placed by the adjustable ones that are used elsewhere in the building.
If as large a proportion of the next class, as of the last, elect the commercial course, the number of typewriting machines will have to be at least doubled to give the number of hours to each pupil that the course calls for.
Respectfully submitted, N. A. CUTLER.
REPORT OF DIRECTOR OF MUSIC.
To the Superintendent of Schools :
The results secured in the department of music during the year just closed have, in the main, been satisfactory. Although there has been an unusual number of new teachers, yet the energy and enthusiasm with which they have applied themselves to their work in music have been productive of a higher degree of excel- lence than has before been attained. This excellence must be continued. In music, as in other lines of school work, we must have a growing ideal. What was satisfactory last year should be broadened and enlarged this year, and with each successive year should come a fuller appreciation of the dignity and respon- sibility of the teacher's position.
The work which has been done in physical culture, introducing as it does a system of breathing exercises, has had an important effect on the production of purer tones. More individual work has been attempted than in former years, and this tends to give - each pupil a confidence in himself and an ambition to excel in music. The plan of half-term tests in musical theory and in the writing of music has been beneficial in its effects, and I advocate
17
its continuance. In accordance with the recommendation made in my report of last year, the scholars are now marked in music as in other studies and it is an incentive to better and more thor- ough work.
I desire to call particular attention to the improvement at the High School. With the consent of Principal Cutler the High School and the two ninth grades are united, and their chorus work is of superior quality.
I extend sincere thanks to all who have contributed in making our musical interests what they should be, -an object of pride to every citizen and a source of inspiration to every child.
Respectfully submitted,
B. HAROLD HAMBLIN.
REPORT OF SUPERVISOR OF DRAWING.
Mr. A. P. Wagg, Superintendent of Schools : -
The work in drawing has progressed along the same lines as in the year preceding. Work from natural objects was taken in the spring and fall terms. Models are studied during the winter term, also mechanical drawing and design. Picture study, pose and animal drawing have also found a place in the course. More attention has been paid to composition and much improve- ment is noticed from the study.
The aim has been to obtain freedom in the work of the lower grades in expressing in any medium what has been seen, also to find beauty in the objects studied and render them in a beautiful manner. In the upper grades the object has been to create higher ideals in order that only the best effort to express faithfully the facts of form, color and arrangement of the object studied would satisfy the eye, as music the ear.
Each room has been visited twice each month and a half-hour lesson given. Three classes at the High School have each one les- son a week of forty-five minutes. The number of drawing lessons given each month is sixty-four, making about six hundred forty for the year. A meeting is held each month for the teachers, in
18
order that a plan of the work may be given and explained.
I wish to thank the teachers for the interest shown and faithful work done, which makes the year's work in drawing a pleasure to look back upon and brings the pupils so much nearer the desired goal.
Respectfully submitted,
ANNIE A. ROBINSON.
REPORT OF THE SUPERVISOR OF PHYSICAL TRAINING.
To the Superintendent of Schools : -
This department of school work has been under my supervision for a year. During that time I have visited each grade once in two weeks. The lessons begin with a series of free and order exercises in which every child participates.
The manner in which'the lessons are conducted by word of com- mand calls for absolute attention and each scholar is held respon- sible for perfect movements, since the carelessness of one injures the' good impression of the whole. The children exercise at their desks, body held in a correct standing position. The exercises are executed in as pure form as possible and the spirit manifested in each room has been one of intense interest. Ten minutes are allowed each day for physical culture. The public school is of course restricted somewhat by the little time that can be adopted to physical education, yet with the assistance of your teachers the efficiency acquired is greater than would at first seem pos- sible.
The benefits received by exercising wisely and breathing deeply for a few minutes each session cannot be overestimated when you imagine the children in their restlessness, twisting them- selves for five hours or more in their chairs. The time has been when the instructors needed all the time for reading, writing and arithmetic. School hours were too crowded to admit gymnastics, and tax-payers said it was an expensive luxury. These condi- tions are fast changing. One of the encouraging signs of to-day is that the most thoughtful persons believe that "soundness of
19
brain depends upon the soundness of the body." Physical edu- cation, then, is as important as mental, for without health one can do very little. Earnest efforts have been made to induce each child to take genuine interest in his bodily condition, to desire to remedy his defects and take pride in the uprightness of his figure. We hope to do still more this coming year.
I appreciate sincerely the generous support of the Superin- tendent and the Committee.
Respectfully submitted,
ALICE LOUISE McINTIRE.
REPORT OF SUPERVISOR OF PENMANSHIP.
To the Superintendent of Schools :-
In accordance with your request, the following report is here- by submitted :
From January 7, 1901, to January 9, 1902, the Supervisor gave 594 lessons to about 1,300 pupils. During each of these lessons every pupil received individual help and encouragement, and his work repeated inspection and correction.
It is now one year since the present Supervisor began to teach and to supervise penmanship in the Norwood schools, and it may be of interest to indicate some of the results of the year's work.
(1) In the first place, the teachers had to be trained in the methods to be used, and themselves to learn a new style of writ- ing well enough to do neat blackboard work. Writing is a technical subject, and to teach it successfully demands both technical and teaching skill on the part of the teacher. The impossibility of teachers securing adequate training in this de- partment during their normal course, leads to their consequent inability to do satisfactory work in this line except as they gain the necessary skill from private lessons or from some special teacher. Teachers' meetings for instruction and practice have been frequently held, to which the teachers have given a cheerful and faithful attention, and I wish to take this opportunity to
20
express my most hearty appreciation of the spirit as well as the skill with which my suggestions have been carried out by them in their everyday work.
(2) Effort has been made to train the children habitually to sit in an easy, comfortable, hygienie position, not only during the writing lesson, but at all times, and to hold the pen and use the hand in such a manner that they will never need to learn a different way of doing it. We have not sacrificed position and movement, or speed, to exactness of form, or allowed the writing to become pen-drawing, but have aimed to get better forms exe- euted in an easy. correct way. . The pupils themselves have, as a whole, taken great pride and interest in this work, and have shown a commendable improvement. A comparison of almost any pupil's work of to-day with that of a year ago is convincing proof of their industry and progress, of serupulous neatness, accuracy of attention and execution, and proper arrangement of all written work, especially requiring correct margins, headings, punctuation, and capitalization. The gain along these lines has been very marked. The evident improvement is all the more encouraging because it has been accomplished by devoting an average of only fifteen minutes per day to the writing lesson. This means about forty-five hours for a year's work, which would be no more than one week's work for an adult who was trying to learn to write, and which we know to be less than some expert penmen have spent in four or five days' practice during their apprenticeship period.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.