USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Norwood > Norwood annual report 1936-1938 > Part 19
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John J. Conley, 13 Central Street, term expires 1939.
Gladwin M. Nead, 40 Hoyle Street, Died December 13, 1936.
Organization
John J. Conley Chairman
Elizabeth Zurba Secretary
Standing Committees
Appointment of Teachers: Mrs. Chandler, Mrs. Probert, Mr. Connolly.
Educational Program: Mr. Nead, Mrs. Chandler, Mrs. Probert.
Finance: Mr. Shaw, Mr. Connolly, Mr. Nead.
Janitors, Schoolhouses and Grounds: Mr. Connolly, Mr. Shaw and Mr. Conley.
1
Committee Meetings
The regular monthly meeting of the School Committee is held at the School Committee Rooms, Junior High School, at eight o'clock p. m., on the second Thursday of each month.
Superintendent of Schools
Lincoln D. Lynch, 196 Washington Street, Telephone Norwood 1266.
The office of the Superintendent of Schools is at the Junior High School and is open from 8:00 a. m. until 5:00 p. m. every day except Saturday, when it is open from 8:00 a. m. until 12:00 m. Telephone Norwood 0133.
Clerks
Elizabeth Zurba, 49 Saunders Road, Telephone Norwood 1155 W. Mabel H. Newark, 36 Berwick Road, Telephone Norwood 1207-J.
SCHOOL CALENDAR 1936-1937
First term begins September 9, 1936, ends December 23, 1936 16 weeks Second term begins January 4, 1937, ends February 19, 1937 7 weeks Third term begins March 1, 1937, ends April 16, 1937 7 weeks Fourth term begins April 26, 1937, ends June 25, 1937 9 weeks First term begins September 8, 1937, ends December 23, 1937. 16 weeks
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Holidays -
October 12, 1936-Columbus Day.
October 30, 1936-Norfolk County Teachers' Convention.
November 11, 1936-Armistice Day.
November 26 and 27, 1936-Thanksgiving recess.
December 23, 1936 to January 4, 1937-Christmas recess.
February 19, 1937 to March 1, 1937-Winter recess.
March 26, 1937-Good Friday.
April 16, 1937 to April 26, 1937-Spring recess.
May 31, 1937-Memorial Day.
No School Signal 2-2
Repeated at 7:15 a. m. No forenoon session for grades 1 through 12.
Repeated at 7:30 a. m. No forenoon session for grades 1 through 9.
Repeated at 7:45 a. m. No forenoon session for grades 1 through 6.
Repeated at 12:15 p. m. No afternoon session for grades 1 through 9.
Repeated at 12:30 p. m. No afternoon session for grades 1 through 6.
Repeated at 6:15 p. m. No session for Evening School.
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REPORT OF THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE
To the Citizens of Norwood:
The reports of the Superintendent, Principals and Supervisors contain vital facts related to Norwood schools. Such statements concerning school activity as the School Committee regards worthy of consideration and not elsewhere included in the reports aforementioned are submitted herewith.
Changes in Personnel, 1936 Resignations
1. Leonard W. Grant, Superintendent of Schools.
2. Herbert H. Archibald, Principal of Senior High School-to accept the Principalship of the Watertown High School.
3. Harriet M. Gay, Science Department, Senior High School-to teach elsewhere.
4. Sarah A. Blake, Mathematics Department, Senior High School-to be married.
5. Ardra L. Briggs, Commercial Department, Senior High School-to be married.
6. Dorothy R. Guptill, Commercial Department, Senior High School-to be married.
7. Mrs. Julia A. Sheehan, Grade 2, Callahan School-retired.
8. Dorothy I. Guy, Grades 5 and 6, Shattuck School-to be married.
9. Maude A. Woods, Grade 2, Shattuck School-retired.
Position Eliminated
1. Elizabeth Walker, English Department, Senior High School.
Deaths
1. A. Walfred Carlson, Janitor, Junior High School.
2. Carl Carlson, Janitor, Senior High School.
Promotion
1. Lincoln D. Lynch, Junior High School Principal to Superintendent of Schools.
Appointments
1. Leighton S. Thompson, Principal of Senior High School.
2. Robert J. Newbury, Principal of Junior High School.
3. Henry F. Fairbanks, Mathematics Department, Senior High School.
4. Margaret A. Kenefick, Commercial Department, Senior High School.
5. Mary M. Cassidy, Grade 2, Callahan School.
6. Harriet M. Hultstrom, Grades 5 and 6, Shattuck School.
Temporary Appointment
1. John B. Kelley, Commercial Department, Senior High School.
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Janitorial Appointments
1. Frank E. Richardson, Junior High School.
2. Philip Small, Senior High School.
Occasionally, sometimes for the best, and sometimes not, our schools must face situations which are bound to tax the feelings of those of us who are most concerned.
On the one hand, we rejoice with those who leave us, either to improve their professional status, or to spend reclining years of rest, after a long period of satisfactory service have established a background of the pleas- antest of memories. On the other, we sorrow with those who see their best removed from this life of happy associations of home and work.
Among these, we have found this past year to have been numbered, in addition, to our School Committeeman, Mr. Gladwin M. Nead, two of our able and conscientious building janitors, Mr. A. Walfred Carlson and Mr. Carl Carlson, and we here register our feelings of deep regret, and tender to their families our heartfelt sympathy.
Resolutions
WHEREAS Mrs. Julia A. Sheehan has been a teacher in the Public Schools of Norwood for twenty-nine years, rendering faithful service and giving unsparingly of her time and effort for the children who came under her care,
RESOLVED, that upon the occasion of her retirement from the service of the Town of Norwood, the School Committee record its deep apprecia- tion of her efforts and her accomplishments in the field of Education.
(Signed) JOHN J. CONLEY, Chairman, JOSEPHINE A. CHANDLER, EUGENE L. CONNOLLY, GLADWIN M. NEAD, CHRISTINE L. PROBERT, HAROLD E. SHAW.
Maude A. Woods has been a teacher in the Public Schools of Norwood for thirty-seven years, four years in the North School and thirty-three years in the Shattuck School, rendering faithful service and giving un- sparingly of her time and effort for the children who came under her care.
Upon the occasion of her retirement from the service of the Town of Norwood, the School Committee records its deep appreciation of her leadership and guidance in the field of Education.
(Signed) JOHN J. CONLEY, Chairman, JOSEPHINE A. CHANDLER, EUGENE L. CONNOLLY, CHRISTINE L. PROBERT, HAROLD E. SHAW.
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WHEREAS Gladwin Mearle Nead, a member of the Norwood School Committee, and for three years its Chairman, died on December 13, 1936,
BE IT RESOLVED: That in the death of Gladwin Mearle Nead, the Norwood School Committee has lost one of its valued members, and the schools of Norwood one who took a vivid interest in their welfare and always actively assisted in the advancement of all projects of a construc- tive nature for the best interests of the young people of the town. He was a man of rare character and his departure from this life will be keenly felt in this community, and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED: That our deep sympathy be extended to his family and that these resolutions be spread on the records of the Norwood School Committee and published in the Norwood Messenger and a copy be sent to his family.
(Signed) JOHN J. CONLEY, Chairman, JOSEPHINE A. CHANDLER, EUGENE L. CONNOLLY, CHRISTINE L. PROBERT, HAROLD E. SHAW.
Table I. Teachers Employed
School
1931-32 1932-33 1933-34 1934-35 1935-36 1936-37
Senior High
31
31
31
31
31
30
Junior High
31
28
28
28
27
27
Elementary
57
53
53
53
53
53
Specials.
23
20
20
20
20
20
Total
142
132
132
132
131
130
Table II. Enrollment for Ten-Year Period
Year
Elementary
Junior High Senior High
Total
1925-1926
2084
829
431
3344
1926-1927
2034
836
474
3344
1927-1928
2000
845
507
3352
1928-1929
1830
915
519
3264
1929-1930
1734
949
568
3251
1930-1931
1604
1006
596
3206
1931-1932
1502
937
709
3148
1932-1933
1473
907
747
3127
1933-1934
1384
836
765
2985
1934-1935
1374
781
687
2842
1935-1936
1322
719
743
2784
% of increase, 10 year period .
72.39
% of decrease, 10 year period .
36.56
13.26
16.74
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Table III. Anticipated Receipts, 1937
Anticipated 1936
Received 1936
Anticipated 1937
Tuition :
State Wards
$ 500
$ 290.68
$ 300
City of Boston Wards
1,000
776.24
800
Day School.
1,500
1,205.03
1,300
Vocational Schools
800
574.67
800
State Reimbursement:
Regular Teachers' Salaries
27,000
26,447.50
26,500
Americanization, Teachers' Sal- aries
1,300
1,251.10
1,300
Manual Arts .
175
247.85
250
Rentals
350
598.50
500
Telephone
15
32.05
20
Miscellaneous-Repairs, sale and
breakage of supplies, text-
books, etc.
75
85.33
100
Lunch Counter Operation .
8,750
8,178.37
9,300
$41,465
$39,687.32
$41,170
Change of Administration
Reference to the tabulation of personnel changes reveals the fact that the administration of three of our key positions in the department has been reorganized. The election of Mr. Lincoln D. Lynch, our Superintendent, who for two years has served the town as submaster of the Senior High School and for two and one-half years as Principal of the Junior High School, has brought to the office one who, by reason of his intimate contacts with the two large school units of our system, as well as an acquaintance with the aims, policies and methods of our elementary schools, has been able to maintain a continuity of policy in school administration.
Through his counsel, it has been possible for the new Principal of the Senior High School, Mr. Leighton S. Thompson, to administer more easily the affairs of that unit. This is equally true of the situation at the Junior High School wherein Mr. Robert J. Newbury, the new Principal has been able to adjust himself to the school and its needs with no loss to the effective- ness of its administration.
Mr. Thompson came to us from the Principalship of the Gardner, Massachusetts High School. For seventeen years he has been a successful high school Principal in the towns of Foxboro, Methuen and Gardner. Mr. Thompson has already won a place in the esteem of pupils, parents and teachers. Ever alert to the needs and possibilities of our high school, he is doing an excellent piece of work.
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Mr. Robert J. Newbury, who came to us from the Principalship of the Needham, Massachusetts Junior High School, has adjusted himself nicely into the Junior High School staff and enjoys the administration and re- spect of his fellow-workers, pupils and parents. Prior to his coming to Norwood, Mr. Newbury for eight years has served well the communities of Needham, Massachusetts and Essex, Connecticut as a Junior High and Elementary School Principal.
Purchasing
For several years the Superintendent of Schools has exercised purchasing power in furnishing the schools with needed equipment and services. Under the terms of the Town Charter, excepting textbooks, all purchasing must be done by the General Manager. The Superintendent of Schools reports that this is a very satisfactory arrangement for the reason that money can be saved by an expert purchasing agent. Less of the Super- intendent's time has to be devoted to interviews with salesmen. This allows him more time to devote to the real business of the schools, improve- ment of instruction.
Community Services-Budget
From time to time, the School Committee is called upon to perform community services, some of which, though technically not of an edu- cational nature, can be performed best by the School Department. In most instances, this involves a financial burden which the School Depart- ment must carry, and which must reflect itself in the school budget.
To mention a few of these services: The several school halls and gym- nasiums are rented for the use of townspeople, and always at a figure which is much smaller than one which would represent the actual cost of operation and maintenance. Frequently, rooms in our buildings are offered for the use of local associations interested in community improve- ment work, such as the Garden Club. Rooms and halls are used for ad- ministering civil service examinations, Parent-Teacher Association meet- ings, and the like.
The wear and tear upon our buildings and grounds during the summer playground season, when our facilities are available for the use of children, is considerable every year. Much of our capital equipment, such as scenery used in plays, cooking laboratories used for demonstrations, pianos in re- citals and at dances, is used regularly through the year and the financial return to the School Department for the use of these things, which are being worn out, is inconsiderable.
To be more specific and to illustrate, the rental fee for the Junior High School gymnasium for an evening's use from 7:30 to 10:30 is $8.00. Fre- quently, on a cold winter's evening, the School Department has to pay more than that amount for the oil which is burned to provide heat for the hall, to say nothing of the fact that the chairs which have to be moved
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would be worn out long before enough fees were collected to pay for them. So, too, with the stage equipment, and general wear and tear upon the property which is constantly depreciating.
By reason of the state law, passed in June, 1936, requiring the School Department to furnish transportation for private school pupils, we are asking the Town to appropriate a sizable sum to furnish transportation for the children of St. Catherine School.
The Norwood Woman's Community Committee has, for some weeks, with the cooperation of the School Department, sponsored an opportunity study hour for pupils in the Balch district. In our system there are many pupils who, because of crowded conditions in the home, lack of good reading material at home, or other equally important consideration, need a place in which they may study or read in the early evening hours.
The School Committee has made available for their use a lighted room in the Balch School and for some time evening attendance has averaged approximately thirty pupils.
Having in mind, then, the fact that the School Committee, in asking for a rather sizable school appropriation, is doing with that money what could not possibly be done in some other communities, it might be well to reflect upon the amount and quality of services rendered when making com- parisons.
Improvement of Balch School Grounds
The children who attend the Balch School have for many years had to cope with a difficult walk and grounds condition. Through the use of W. P. A. funds, a project, partially completed, has been developed to grade, build walks and drives, and to improve the appearance of this excellent piece of town property.
Improvement of Junior High School Grounds
Travel and walking conditions in the rear of, and at the Winslow Avenue entrance to the Junior High School building have for some time been poor, particularly in the fall, winter and early spring months. The grounds need grading for adequate drainage. This must be done before walks and a drive are built.
Except that such improvements are made, the mud which is carried into the building upon the footwear of children will be a constant source of unnecessary dirt and dust annoyance. The danger resulting from children getting wet feet is a health hazard of some proportion. We feel that something should be done to remedy this situation.
W. P. A. Nursery Schols and N. Y. A. Activities
The Federal Government has adopted a policy of financial retrenchment and it appears that such a policy has had its effect upon our three Nursery Schools. It has been impossible to establish certification for any teacher
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to continue the work in this program which ended last June. Immediate prospects of the restoration of a Nursery School program are not bright. Although it has cost the town some money and, for all that the Federal Government bore most of the expense, your Committee regrets its passing.
Another activity sponsored by the Federal Government and supported in part by school appropriations is the youth play activity under the super- vision of the National Youth Administration. Discontinued in April of 1936, it probably will be resumed early in 1937. In such a case, the facilities of the Junior High and the Balch Schools will be used.
Such a program as the N. Y. A. sponsors is designed to provide worth- while leisure-play activities for young men during the early evening hours.
Textbooks
When the Committee submitted its statement of budget requirements for 1936, there was one matter of vital concern which had to be considered in all its aspects, that of textbook purchases. Our Superintendent of Schools made it perfectly clear to the Committee that our schools needed more, newer, and better, textbooks. On the other hand, he pointed out the fact that, with the market flooded, as it were, with all sorts of excellent textbook materials, considerable time would be needed to make proper selections.
There has been going on, particularly in the grades from I to IX, course revisions which ultimately will insure better programs of study in our schools and course requirements will then be satisfied by, among other things, textbooks which are chosen for their appropriateness. The Com- mittee has, as a result of these considerations, decided to ask for $6,150 as a necessary allowance for textbook needs for 1937. This represents a request for $2,400 more than was asked for last year.
Preparations are now being made by the Superintendent of Schools and his several committees, for the articulation and integration of study and school programs to the end that we may more effectively administer the needs of our school population.
JOHN J. CONLEY, Chairman, JOSEPHINE A. CHANDLER, EUGENE L. CONNOLLY, CHRISTINE L. PROBERT, HAROLD E. SHAW, EDWARD H. THOMPSON
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REPORT OF THE SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS
Herewith, 1 submit my first annual report as Superintendent of Schools.
That you may better understand the points of view here expressed, I would like to present a resume of my personal philosophy as it is related to the problems which I, as your Superintendent of Schools, face in the administration of school affairs.
In the first place, education is a personal matter. It is an individual achievement. Administratively only, is it a group proposition. It is the process by which an individual improves, extends and organizes his ac- tivities in the pursuit of more abundant living. A richer life is made possible by fuller understanding-knowledge, by the acquisition of tech- nical skills required to do work well and through wisdom, which insures proper direction of one's efforts in its pursuit.
This explains to some extent the reason for the fact that we have ac- tivities in our schools, activities which require a knowledge of relevant facts, an acquaintance with the skills necessary and an insistence that what is done should be worthwhile doing and must be done well.
In the adjustment of the school situation to the child, we must, then, create a live situation which is predicated upon the proposition that the child is living today as well as getting ready to live in the future. Woven into the background of the pupil's school experiences are those under- standings and concepts so vital to a full appreciation of the better things which life has to offer. The greatest joy for the child in his life is his living and, that he may get the utmost out of his living, the school must attempt to keep him actively engaged in the pursuit of those things, the satisfaction of which will mean a better life.
Right here we face our difficulties: all pupils are not equally gifted in talents; all pupils have not the same abilities and interests; all pupils do not meet the same difficulties or make the same mistakes.
Enough has been said to indicate the range in pupils' interests, capa- bilities and deficiencies which the teacher must face in the classroom.
More and more the teacher is aware that the child in hand is the most important thing in the world to his mother and father and that he is not "just one more" in a group of thirty or so.
Even more does the teacher realize that the pupil is a product of his heredity and environment, growing, as it were, in a world that would destroy him but for the protecting and guiding graces of his benefactors. All too often, we see a young child's personality twisted in much the same way as an evergreen would be on a coastal promontory, whipped, lashed and beaten by the storins of the sea, until so gnarled, knotted and twisted as to bear poor resemblance to what it would be if grown and nurtured in a protecting haven.
The foregoing, it seems to me, pictures in a measure the school-child situation and, to some extent, suggests a method. Truly enough, the
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school can add nothing to a child's capacity to learn. It, can, however, make the learning situation more agreeable to the child, to the end that he learns and does the best of which he is capable-better than that, we have no right to expect, nor can we do more.
Just so long, then, as the pupil does his dead-level best and registers progress commensurate with his ability to develop, we are sure that edu- cation is a vital force in the molding of an integrated and wholesome personality.
Lest the matter be passed over lightly and without emphasis, it might be well to consider the child planted, so to speak, in the fertile soil of the classroom, nurtured and encouraged by the richness of the food upon which it thrives. Left to grow in a pleasant environment wherein every encouragement to solid growth is adequately conceived, the child will plan things and do things which can do nothing but add to his growth, mental, spiritual, and physical.
Truly enough, this represents the ideal, and, for all that it is impossible of perfect attainment, it is a goal for which the school must strive. Con- sidered practically, the picture is at the moment of drab color, and has been, in American education for many years. However, there is looming upon the horizon a brighter day for our schools and in the not too distant future, many of our hopes may be realized.
In the following lines, I shall attempt to summarize briefly some of the things which have concerned us, and to which our teachers have given every effort, that we may provide for our Town a better school program.
Better Reading Instruction
As a result of several tests which were administered in our schools, we learned that many of our pupils are handicapped because they do not read as well as others in the same grade, even though they do as well as pupils in other cities and towns. Reading difficulties are many and the skills required for effective reading are numerous. A pupil may have many difficulties, in fact, as many as another pupil, but they may be different. So, too, with errors and with special abilities. This situation makes the teacher's task more complex. In addition to solving problems of adjustment and confusions in the mechanics of reading, the teacher is reminded to adapt the content of reading materials to children's interests, to remember that learning to read is different from reading to learn, to correlate reading with other activities, to provide a balanced program through reading and to establish independent reading habits and interests.
Keeping in mind the fact that children differ so among themselves, does it not appear then that much of our teaching, if it is to be effective, must be in the nature of individualized instruction?
We are not losing sight of the fact that in our reading program we must aim to improve the effectiveness of the reading skills of all children, good, fair or poor, in reading ability. As long as the text and reference books
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remain necessary in the instruction program, we must aim to improve the reading habits, skills and interests of pupils so that all may do this work up to the limits of their individual capacities.
It would be well to note here that, until remedial reading instruction is better than it has been, and we learn more about it as time goes on, we must depend upon good oral presentation of material, well prepared and upon such visual aids as are available for classroom use.
In passing let me say that we have, in one year's time, added materially to our visual education equipment in the purchase of two motion picture projectors, screens, an opaque projector and have equipped many rooms in our schools for the presentation of motion and still film picture material.
Approximately sixty Norwood teachers are now, and several others at other times, have taken, a course in Reading Instruction under the super- vision of Professor Mabel Bragg of the Harvard-Boston University Ex- tension Service.
Eighty of our teachers have organized a committee, under the leader- ship of Miss Katharine L. Carbee, Balch School Principal, for the purpose of reviewing our reading instruction program with a view to reorganize it.
Science
Under the leadership of Miss Marian E. Lynch, Shattuck School Prin- cipal, a committee is at work for the purpose of selecting course materials and text books for an elementary natural science program. Within a year or two, we plan to have this interesting study presented to the pupils of our schools. Our purpose is to broaden the horizons of their understanding and to push back the clouds of ignorance regarding natural phenomena. There is much to be hoped for in such a program, for it offers a chance for children to explore the wonders of nature at an early age and with some appreciation. To the child for whom abstract study pursuit in the field of intangibles is difficult and uninteresting, it offers relief in the form of the study of things to be observed, handled and with which to carry on elementary experimentation.
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