USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Norwood > Norwood annual report 1923-1927 > Part 47
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The probable enrollment in the Senior High School next September will approximate 525. The number of rooms now being provided at the New Senior High School will accommodate from 620 to 650 pupils. The enrollment a year from next September will approx mate 622, and will then fill the new building to normal capacity.
The probable enrollment of the Junior High School next September
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will approximate 856. The present High School building was built to accommodate about 550, but when the Senior High School is removed and the laboratory and other special equipment taken out, it can be made to accommodate from 750 to 800. This means that a few of the Junior High School pupils will probably be forced to remain in the Everett School next year. A fair estimate for the Junior High School a year from next September would seem to be about 870.
The allotment for school house construction next year should be used to complete the assembly hall at the new Senior High School. The next construction should be an addition to the Junior High School building. Before that will have become completed, a large number of classes at the Balch School will again be on half-time.
Music
Much progress has been made the past year in musical instruction. The Supervisor of Music recommends in his Special Report that better opportunity be afforded for the instruction of the Senior High School and the ninth year of the Junior High School. Plans are being made to carry out these recommendations next September when the new building is available.
Vacation School
The vacation school was again conducted in the Guild School building the past summer. The total enrollment was 114. Of this number, 15 gained a year's promotion. The other 99 gained much in preparation for the work of the grades to which they had been assigned for September.
The total expense of maintaining the vacation school was $693.00, an average of $5.90 per pupil. The cost per pupil in the elementary grades in Norwood for the school year 1924-25 was $67.08, at which rate it would have cost the Town $1,006.20 for a year's instruction of the fifteen pupils who gained a year's promotion in the vacation school.
Clinics
The Norwood Board of Health has continued its policy of conducting the Eye and Dental Clinics in a school building, under the direct inspec- tion of the School Department, which has been helpful to all concerned. Both clinics are conducted by able specialists and are functioning very effectively. The difficulty seems to be that there are so many worthy cases which cannot receive attention because of the limited service pro- vided. Additional service should be secured.
Adult Alien Education
The report of this department for last year made special mention of the results of the first year's work in Adult Alien Education, under the direct supervision of Miss Vose. This work has been extended the past year. The report of the Special Supervisor printed elsewhere in this report covers the statistics and objectives of the work.
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Thrift
Thrift instruction through the practice of systematic saving has been continued throughout the year. The report of the Norwood Trust Com- pany shows the following list of deposits for 1925:
Schools
Deposits
Balch
$3,518.49
Beacon
784.86
Everett .
387.95
Guild
1,580.61
High.
51.79
Shattuck
1,509.53
Winslow
2,060.88
Total for the ycar
9,893.11
Total deposits, 1924.
8,508.45
Increase in 1925
$1,384.66
Retrospection
In the Annual Report of the School Committee of the Town of Norwood for the School year 1872-73 of which Committee Mr. F. O. Winslow was Chairman, are found the following interesting statistics with respect to the schools:
"Total number of teachers 9
Average membership
364
Total appropriation
$6,500"
Also these exceedingly interesting comments on the school housing situa- tion:
"Another and a growing difficulty, seriously affecting the progress and usefulness of our schools, is the lack of room for our scholars.
"The present proportion of school children to our town popu- lation, and the increasing numbers of our primary scholars would certainly intimate that a High School established in our midst need never lack its annual class of recruits."
Again in the Report of the School Committee for 1889-90 are to be found the following statements:
"Our long needed and long looked for High Schoolhouse is built and ready for occupancy. At our last March town meeting an appropriation of $14,000 was voted for this purpose, and a Building Committee, with full powers, consisting of F. O. Wins-
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low, Tyler Thayer, E. B. Morse, E. J. Shattuck and F. J. Casey, was appointed with the understanding that the house should be finished in time for the fall term. An excellent site was secured on central land near the Congregational Church, but long and un- expected difficulty in the selection of a plan delayed the com- mencement of the work until the last of October.
"The New High Schoolhouse . . . will accommodate seventy- five pupils, having besides main classroom, three recitation rooms and laboratory. . How long it will be sufficient for the needs of the High School will depend on the town's rate of growth.
"Owing to the close quarters, bad ventilation and general in- convenience to which the High School has been subjected while waiting for the new building, the pupils of the first class have been allowed to study their lessons at home, meeting their teachers only at recitation hours. .
"The establishment of the school in the new building will in- crease its facilities for work, and be like a birth into a new exist- ence.
"The High School now has forty members. These in two classes represent its one-half growth. In the fall, according to present indications, another class of twenty will enter, making a two-thirds grown High School. Whether, when the fourth class enters in September, 1891, the full-sized school will crowd the new building as the old ones have been crowded, remains to be seen when the time comes.
"Eight scholars are studying in preparation for a college course."
The above excerpts have been selected for insertion into this report I:ecause the writer believes they will be of particular interest to the citizens of Norwood as showing how history repeats itself in the matter of school housing needs in a growing community.
Conclusion
President Coolidge has said: "The world needs education in order that there may be a better estimation of true values. It is not easy to assemble facts. It is not easy to draw deductions. It is not easy to distinguish between the accidental and the essential. In the complica- tions of modern civilization, these are becoming more and more difficult. If world problems are to be solved, it will be through greater application, through more education, through a deeper faith, and a more complete re- liance upon moral forces. .
Facts set forth in a recent exhaustive study by the research department of the National Education Association seem to show conclusively that "mental flexibility is a characteristic of the educated man," and that no matter what may be the shortcomings of our present educational system,
237
earning power, intelligence, and skill increase with education, and school costs are investments which pay handsome dividends.
Intelligent and sympathetic co-operation make for success in any line of endeavor. Your Superintendent wishes to express his appreciation for the full measure of such co-operation received from his associates and co-workers throughout the year.
Respectfully submitted,
HERBERT H. HOWES, Superintendent of Schools.
Mr. Herbert H. Howes, Superintendent of Schools, Norwood, Massachusetts.
My dear Mr. Howes:
! submit herewith my fifth annual report as Principal of the Norwood High School.
Enrollment
The opening day of school showed an increase in the enrollment of ninety- two over the June enrollment. The total enrollment to start the school year of 1925-26 was 421. This gain is accounted for by the very large entering class numbering 189. In the twelfth grade of this year, 103 are enrolled, and again all records for graduation are expected to be broken as to the number receiving diplomas.
Housing Facilities
The ninth grade still attends the same session as the one attended by grades 10, 11 and 12, making a total of nearly 700 pupils housed in a building originally intended for 550. This over-crowding has occasioned many difficulties of administration, particularly in reference to scheduling classes and arranging study room for pupils who are not scheduled for recitations. An additional burden has been placed on the lunch counter facilities, originally intended for 350 pupils, particularly in view of the fact that only about twelve minutes of the shortened school day can be allowed for recess.
With Physical Training classes arranged for the seventh grade at the Norwood Civic Association, facilities there are now in use by over 1200 pupils. Both Everett Hall and the gymnasium are in use constantly from eight o'clock in the morning until five o'clock in the afternoon. This use of Everett Hall for gymnasium classes has seriously affected the possibility of extra class room work by High School organizations, and adequate time cannot be arranged for the school orchestra, Glee clubs, dramatic work, and school assembly meetings.
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Faculty
The increase in enrollment over the previous year made necessary the addition of three full-time teachers, making a total of seventeen full-time teachers for grades 10, 11 and 12. Three resignations were received in June, those of Hazel M. Blaisdell, head of the English Department; Flor- ence M. Hayes, head of the Modern Language Department; and Helen E. Johnson, Teacher of Latin. Lucille M. Foster was appointed as head of the Modern Language Department, and Bessie D. James, a former teacher in the school, was appointed head of the English Department. Elizabeth H. Upton, a graduate of Smith, was appointed as Latin teacher, and Elizabeth Shirley, a graduate of Wellesley, was appointed to a posi- tion in the English Department. A fourth teacher was required for the commercial work, and Marie A. Watson was selected for the position. Other new teachers appointed were: Jennie C. Beaulieu, Modern Language Department; James C. Geer, Teacher of Science.
Class Scholarship Trophy
Through the co-operation and generosity of the Norwood Board of Trade, a class scholarship trophy in the form of a cup has been arranged and donated, and was awarded for the first time in the fall of 1924. This trophy is awarded cach term to the class which has maintained the best record of scholarship. The cup is a substantial trophy, and on the metal base there is room enough to inscribe the numerals of the winning class for a long term of years. The school seal appears on the upper part of the cup with the school motto "Ad summa Contendimus."
For the five terms of the school year 1924-25 the cup was awarded as follows:
First Term Class of 1925
Second Term Class of 1925
Third Term Class of 1927
Fourth Term
Class of 1927
Fifth Term
Class of 1925
For the first two terms of the present school year the cup has been awarded to the following classes:
First Term
Class of 1927
Second Term
Class of 1928
The awarding of this cup has been a genuine incentive for better group scholarship and, therefore, better individual results in many cases. It establishes the idea of competition in the matter of scholarship.
239
Commercial Department
The work in this department has proven itself to be genuinely practical throughout, as is shown by the many calls received by the school from employers. Pupils who have taken this work for their three years of high school have received direet benefit by obtaining afternoon and Saturday morning employment in local offices, and by obtaining permanent positions after graduation. Thirty-one graduates, or about 333% of the class of 1925 completed the course. Of these, thirteen were permanently placed before graduation, and all but two of the remainder were temporarily employed. The demand for commercial-student employment was so great last year that it was necessary for the school to send out some of its best Commercial Juniors.
The school tries to keep in touch with all of its graduates, and the records of the commercial graduates of the class of 1925 show that they are employed as follows:
North Adams State Normal School (Study) 1
Office Appliance School (Study)
1
School of Design (Study)
1
Bird & Son ..
5
American Glue Company .
2
Town of Norwood .
2
Hollingsworth & Vose.
2
Holliston Mills. 1
Plimpton Press
1
Norwood Press
1
Morrill Ink .
1
Norwood Trust Company
1
Norwood Civic Association.
1
Norwood Lumber Company 1
Western Union. 1
Hyatt Construction Company
1
United Co-operative Store . 1
Boston . 1
1
Moved from Norwood. ยท
1
Other Employment.
4
At Home
31
The department, in addition to sending out pupils into the business world, is also anxious to have some of its graduates attend higher institu- tions of learning. It will be noted that one member of this elass is study- ing at a State Normal School. Since the only subjeets required for en- tranee are United States History and English. every commercial graduate is eligible for admission. It is to be regretted that a member had to go to
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Boston to learn the operation of a calculating machine. The department is now inercasing its office machine equipment, and within a year it hopes to be able to give all Commercial Seniors instruction in standard office applianee machines.
Matriculation for the Class of 1925
The graduates in the Class of 1925 numbered ninety-one. Thirty- one of this number were enrolled in the Commercial eurriculum, and most of them obtained positions in or near Norwood as the paragraph headed Commercial Department explains. Of the other graduates, numbering sixty-one, thirty-seven have continued their education and are enrolled in colleges, normal schools, and special sehools as follows:
Boston College 1
Boston University .
1
Boston Teachers' College
1
Bridgewater Normal Sehool 1
Brown University .
1
Burdette Business College
1
Chandler Normal School
2
Manual College . 1
Fitchburg Normal School.
2
Framingham Normal Sehool.
4
Harvard University . 2
Hebron Academy
1
Hyannis Normal Sehool
1
Jackson College 2
New England Conservatory of Musie.
1
Normal Art Sehool .
2
North Adams Normal School
1
North Eastern University
2
Potsdam Normal School
1
Radcliffe College
2
Simmons College
1
Tufts College
2
Wentworth Institute.
1
Westfield Normal School 1
Wheaton College
1
Woreester Normal School. 1
This number constitutes forty per cent of the elass as a whole, and sixty per cent of those who did not eleet the commercial eurrieulum. While no comparative statistics are available on the subject, I feel safe in stating that this record places Norwood High among the first ten High Schools in the state. It has been reported that five members of the Class of 1924,
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have, after saving money, been able to give up their employment temporar- ily, and take up work at college.
Graduation, 1925
Graduation exereises were held on Friday evening, June 12. There were ninety-two members of the class who received diplomas. This is the largest graduation in the history of the Norwood High School.
Graduates
*John Alphonse Anderson Chester Amasa Bailey
Oliver Ellsworth Hastings Anna Louise Higgins
*Mary Priseilla Balboni Nora Regina Barry
Frederick Abdallah Howard
Franeis T. Hurley Edmund Leonard Johnson
*Gertrude Bataitis James Edward Bunney
*Margaret Caverly
Olgot Eliel Johnson Vera Johnson Gladys E. Keith
*Congetta Flower Civale Mary Elizabeth Clancy Edwin B. Cobb Julia Elizabeth Connolly Ruth A. Connors
Agnes Bernice Kelliher
David Matthew Kelter
*Daniel Vincent Kenefick Charles Edward Knaus
Helen Cecelia Coreoran Bernard Paul Cronan
*Eva Natalie Kneznek Aune Kulmala Harold Benjamin Lailey
Mary Margaret Crowley Anna Evelyn Curran Helen Gertrude Curran Margaret Ellen Curran Helen Medora Dean Mary A. DeCosta
*Myrtha Salome Lindeberg Nora Josephine Lydon Lawrenee R. MacKenney Ruth Yvonne MaeLean Edith V. Macready Maurice Francis Maher Bruno Louie Maini
James Emmett Doran Richard J. Dowling James Elias Sylvia Gertrude Endresen Frederick Edwin Eppich
*Carl Anton Mattson Mary Madeline McDonough Ida Milesky
Mary Frances Fanning Edith Naomi Fay
Irving Edward Fireman Mary Agnes Flaherty
*Dorothy Esther Flansbury
*George F. W. Fredcriekson Eva Ellen Gifford Elizabeth W. Gilliland Marie Frances Griffin Howard Peter Hansen
*Ernest L. Molloy, Jr. Elizabeth F. Moloney Eleanor J. Morse Mabel Helen Newark
Louise E. Nugent Margaret Blanche Owens Frederick J. Pendergast James E. Pendergast, Jr.
*Graee Elizabeth Potter
*Alice Marie Pratt James Joseph Regan
Leo Francis Dolaher
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Alyce Miriam Riley Jeanette Hamlin Rosengren
Josephine M. Saelen
Lilly Alice Skoogberg Elsie Theresa Smith
Michael Spierdowis
Dorothy Jean Sullivan Marion Coleman Swift George Barrett Taylor
Lydia Pavlana Tolander
Lea Frederick Towne Arthur Oliver Tucker
Doris Helen Turner Joseph Sully Wacks Robert Chester Waldheim Teresa Brigid Welch Mary Louise Welch Lena Amelia Wenzel
Dorothy Williams *Mary Frances Wolfe
The starred pupils were awarded John C. Lane medals. The United States History medal was awarded to Carl Anton Mattson. The Berwick English prize was awarded to Myrtha S. Lindeberg. The Senior Plimpton Art prize was awarded to Myrtha S. Lindeberg.
Respectfully submitted,
L. W. GRANT, Principal.
Mr. H. H. Howes, Superintendent of Schools, Norwood, Mass.
My dear Mr. Howes:
On January 1, 1925, the Junior High School enrollment was: Grade 7 275; Grade 8, 262; Grade 9, 223; a total of 760. On January 1, 1926, it was: Grade 7, 297; Grade 8, 269; Grade 9, 256; total, 822, an increase of 8.1% as compared with an increase of 9.7% last year. The present 6th grade numbers 335 pupils, which is 10% more than were in last year's entering class, and will necessitate an additional teacher for this grade. By promotion to the high school, we shall lose about 225; so that the total number of pupils in the Junior High School in September may be estimated as about 900. One notable feature of this year's registration has been the large number of pupils who have entered this school from other towns, there being enrolled now 31 who are in Norwood schools this year for the first time, and it is further to be noticed that the largest part of these are in the 9th grade. The large and increasing number remaining through the 9th grade seems to show that we are holding pupils better and longer through the Junior High school than by the old arrangement of the 8-4 plan.
The completion of the new High School building and the removal thence of the High School in September, will enable most of the Junior High School to be housed in the old building, as there are to be available by a few alterations seating accommodations for 21 home room sections, leaving
243
four sections of the 7th grade in the old Everett building. The alterations needed consist mainly of the building, moving, and removal of two or three partitions, and the addition of seating facilities. It is unfortunate that all cannot be brought to the new building, but with the present building program, this will doubtless be accomplished within a few years.
In this connection attention should be called to the entirely inadequate dressing room and toilet facilities, and the poor lighting in rooms and corri- dors. This building was built to accommodate about 550 pupils of high school age. There are in it six dressing rooms and six toilets available for use of pupils. There will be at a moderate estimate, 800 pupils in the building in September, or 130 to cach dressing room and toilet-by far too many for orderly or sanitary procedure. This over-crowded condition as far as coat rooms are concerned, can be corrected by the installation of lockers in the corridors which are of sufficient width to give plenty of space for such an arrangement and still leave room for the use of pupils in passing. The installation of lockers, too, would reduce to the vanishing point practically the constant losses of pupils through misappropriation by others of clothing and other articles left of necessity where they can be easily reached.
The lighting of the building is entirely inadequate, and the school nurses will uphold us in saying that at present it, is positively injurious to the sight of pupils and teachers alike to work under these lights sometimes for an entire session. This is particularly true with work which requires close use of the eyes, like that in printing and drawing.
By the addition of Mr. Ward to the force in the department of physical training, we have been able to give the prescribed physical training to all the grades. Mr. Ward has also had charge of the inter-class and mass athletics in this school. He has already brought to a successful close a soccer series in Grade S, and at this date has in full swing a basketball series in the same grade.
For the first time a team representing the Junior High School played baseball with other schools last spring, and a limited schedule has been arranged for a basketball team from the school this winter. The school is handicapped in these activities, however, by lack of funds, as we cannot charge admission to ganies, and there is no source except through contri- butions by the pupils from which to obtain them. We are indebted to the generosity of the High School A. A. for the uniforms for the basketball team.
The school as a whole appears to be in a prosperous condition. The disciplinary problems are not excessive, there being very few of a serious nature, and minor infractions of necessary school regulations being very few in proportion to the number of pupils. Most of the latter are confined to a small group among the 32% of over-age pupils in Grade S, and the 39% in Grade 9.
The contemplated changes will simplify and strengthen the curriculum, offering in the middle grade a real opportunity for "tryout" work, and
244
enabling teachers to better advise and pupils to better choose and elect their work for their future school life, basing their choices on their experi- ences in this grade, rather than on mere guesswork.
As is always the case, the success of the school is largely due to the efforts of the teaching force, which is entitled to all the credit possible.
Respectfully submitted,
GEORGE W. ALLEN, Principal.
Mr. H. H. Howes,
Superintendent of Schools,
Norwood, Mass.
Dear Mr. Howes:
I submit herewith my report as Director of Physical Education for Boys of the Senior and Junior High Schools for the year 1925.
The work in physical training for boys was carried on according to the outline suggested by the State Supervisor of Physical Education, Carl L. Schrader.
As has been the custom, all boys of the Senior and Junior High Schools were examined in September by the school physicians. There were 188 in the Senior High and 411 in the Junior High. Of the 599 examined, six boys were declared unable to take physical training. Fourteen boys were put into "second class." The requirements for boys in this class were much less stringent than those for boys of the "first class."
Each boy of Senior and Junior High Schools took two forty-five minute periods of gymnasium work a week.
During the year, regular classwork consisted of drills, calisthenics, apparatus exercises and games. The ends sought in all class work were correct posture, proper physical development and coordination of mind and body.
Special corrective work was given by Mr. Ward and myself to boys of both schools who needed individua! attention.
The Senior High School basketball squad consisted of forty-eight boys; of this number ten were considered members of the school team; eight others made up the school second team.
The remaining candidates formed class teans and played a series for the championship of the Senior High School. The school team played a regular schedule of seventeen games with outside teamns, winning nine and losing eight.
In the Junior High School a class schedule was arranged with a team representing cach room-eleven teams in all. These eleven teams played a series of games; the winning team received a silver loving cup which
245
remained in their classroom for one year. An All Junior High Team was selected to play the winner of the class competition in the Senior High School. This team also played six games with outside teams, winning four and losing two.
In April, forty-five boys presented themselves as candidates for the Senior High Baseball Team. Fifteen made the first team and the others formed a class league which competed for the championship of the Senior High School. The school team played a schedule of eighteen games, winning nine and losing seven-two were called off on account of rain.
In the Junior High School a league was formed of ninth and eighth grade room teams. The winning room team in the ninth grade played the winning room team in the eighth grade for the championship of the two respective leagues. The winner of this series played an all-seventh-grade team for the championship of the Junior High School and the possession for one year of the baseball silver loving cup.
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