USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Norwood > Norwood annual report 1936-1938 > Part 41
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 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70
Board of Health, Incidentals. 64.78
Drains, Maintenance
2.50
Playgrounds, Maintenance.
31.19
Playgrounds, Operation 69.92
Dec. 31 Maintenance Fire Alarm 12.10
Memorial Day
1.38
Certification of Notes 7.70
Care of Trees.
2.84
700.00
500.00
108
Parks, Maintenance
2.49
Public Works, Incidental Expense
124.11
Police Department, Incidentals
357.29
Light Department, Operation
208.44
Police Department, Salaries Special Officers.
2.05
10,185.46
Less: Credit Account of Funds Returned
Schools, Maintenance of Buildings
254.00
$ 9,931.46
Respectfully submitted,
FRANCIS C. FOLEY, Chairman JOHN R. RUSSELL, Clerk EDMUND F. MURPHY
Finance Commission
ANNUAL REPORT
-of the-
SCHOOL DEPARTMENT -of the-
TOWN OF NORWOOD Massachusetts
For the Year Ending December 31, 1937
111
REPORT OF THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE
School Committee 1937
Josephine A. Chandler, 100 Walpole Street, term expires 1938. Christine L. Probert, 11 Marion Avenue, term expires 1938. John J. Conley, 13 Central Street, term expires 1939. Edward H. Thompson, 9 Gardner Road, term expires 1939. Dennis P. O'Leary, 724 Washington Street, term expires 1940. Thomas A. Kerr, 153 Winslow Avenue, term expires 1940.
Organization
Christine L. Probert Chairman Elizabeth Zurba . Secretary
Standing Committees
Appointment of Teachers: Mrs. Chandler, Mrs. Probert, Mr. Thompson. Educational Program and Purchase of School Books and Supplies: Mr. Thompson, Mrs. Chandler, Mr. Kerr.
Finance: Mr. O'Leary, Mr. Conley, Mr. Thompson.
Janitors, Schoolhouses and Grounds: Mr. Conley, Mr. Kerr, Mr. O'Leary.
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 Street, Telephone Norwood 1207-J.
SCHOOL CALENDAR 1937-1938
First term begins September 8, 1937, ends December 23, 1937 . . 16 weeks Second term begins January 3, 1938, ends February 18, 1938. 7 weeks Third term begins February 28, 1938, ends April 14, 1938. 7 weeks Fourth term begins April 25, 1938, ends June 24, 1938. 9 weeks First term begins September 7, 1938, ends December 22, 1938. .. 16 weeks
112
Holidays
October 12, 1937-Columbus Day.
October 29, 1937-Teachers' Convention Day.
November 11, 1937-Armistice Day.
November 25 and 26, 1937-Thanksgiving Recess.
December 23, 1937 to January 3, 1938-Christmas Recess.
February 18 to February 28, 1938-Winter Recess.
April 15, 1938-Good Friday.
April 15 to April 25, 1938-Spring Recess.
May 30, 1938-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.
Note: When the No School Signal is sounded, all street lights are turned on for three minutes.
113
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, 1937 Resignations.
1. Helen J. Paul, Home Economics Department, Senior High School- to be married.
2. Loretta J. Burke, Commerical Department, Senior High School-to accept another position.
3. Phyllis E. Lindstrom, Home Economics Department, Junior High School-to be married.
4. Marian E. Lynch, Principal, Shattuck School-to be married.
5. Helen L. Nickerson, Grade 3, Winslow School-to be married.
6. John P. Oldham, Supervisor of Janitors, Schoolhouses and Grounds- retired.
Appointments
1. Ruth T. Goddard, Home Economics Department, Senior High School.
2. Felix A. Babel, Commerical Department, Senior High School.
3. Grace G. Russell, Home Economics Department, Junior High School.
4. Gretchen E. Goldsmith, Grade 2, Shattuck School.
5. Marie C. Kelly, Grade 6, Shattuck School.
6. Katherine D. Griffin, Grade 1, Winslow School.
7. Patrick J. Cloherty, Janitor, Balch and Junior High Schools.
Promotions and Transfers
1. Mary A. Dean, Grade 6 teacher to Principal of the Shattuck School.
2. Mary G. Connolly, Head Teacher, Shattuck School.
3. Alfred M. Disnard, Head Janitor, Junior High School, to Supervisor of Janitors, Schoolhouses and Grounds.
4. Frank E. Richardson, Assistant Janitor, Junior High School, to Head Janitor, Junior High School.
5. Henry Santoro, Janitor Balch and Junior High Schools, to Assistant Janitor, Junior High School.
Position Eliminated
1. John B. Kelley, Temporary Teacher, Commerical Department, Senior High School.
Resolutions
At no other time, in our memory, has the need for efficient and faithful service been more pressing or highly valued than within the period of the last six years, during which Eugene L. Connolly and Harold E. Shaw
114
have rendered invaluable services to the Town of Norwood. Both of these men brought to the School Committee a lively and genuine interest in school affairs, and each of them contributed in a most helpful way in solving the problems of the schools in these difficult times. They, ad- mirably equipped and exceptionally capable by reason of character, train- ing and experience, have been a credit to the School Cominittee, to our schools, and to the Town of Norwood.
(Signed) CHRISTINE L. PROBERT, Chairman, JOSEPHINE A. CHANDLER, JOHN J. CONLEY, THOMAS A. KERR, DENNIS P. O'LEARY, EDWARD H. THOMPSON.
John P. Oldham
After thirty-seven years of uninterrupted service in the work carried on in the public schools of Norwood, we know that you must feel that you have played a very important part in, and contributed in no small way, to our school program.
Ever mindful of your generous, cooperative and enthusiastic spirit in your work, it is with regret that we note the departure from our ser- vice of one whom we shall long remember.
We hope that in years to come, you will look back upon this record with much satisfaction. We hope, too, that the memories of pleasant asso- ciations and work well done will enrich the enjoyment of the many years which we hope lie before you.
(Signed) CHRISTINE L. PROBERT, Chairman, JOSEPHINE A. CHANDLER, JOHN J. CONLEY, THOMAS A. KERR, DENNIS P. O'LEARY, EDWARD H. THOMPSON.
Table I. Teachers Employed
School
1931-32 1932-33 1933-34 1934-35 1935-36 1936-37 1937-38
Senior High. .
31
31
31
31
31
30
29
Junior High .
31
28
28
28
27
27
27
Elementary . .
57
53
53
53
53
53
53
Specials. . ..
23
20
20
20
20
20
20
Total
142
132
132
182
131
130
129
115
Table II. Enrollment for Ten-Year Period
Year
Elementary Junior High Senior High
Total
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
1936-1937
1238
689
691
2618
% of increase, 10 year period .
45.78
% of decrease, 10 year period .
39.13
17.58
21.71
Table III. Anticipated Receipts, 1938
Anticipated 1937
Received 1937
Anticipated 1938
Tuition :
State Wards
$ 300
$ 666.56
$ 650
City of Boston Wards.
800
716.35
700
Day School
1,300
486.68
500
Vocational Schools.
800
469.19
500
State Reimbursement:
Regular Teachers' Salaries
26,500
26,146.75
26,000
Americanization aries .
Teachers' Sal-
1,300
1,269.00
1,300
Manual Arts
250
247.11
250
Rentals.
500
1,050.50
1,000
Telephone
20
18.60
20
Miscellaneous-Repairs, sale and
breakage of supplies, textbooks,
padlocks, etc.
100
135.62
150
Lunch Counter Operation.
8,800
8,103.44
8,800
Totals
$40,670
$39,309.80
$39,870
-
Community Service-Budget
The School Committee is called upon, from time to time, to offer school facilities for the promotion of community enterprises which, though technically not a part of the Town's educational program, are worthwhile.
116
Reference was made in pages 9 and 10 of last year's report to these many activities which are supported in large part from School Depart- ment expenditure.
Your Committee, believing in the permanent worth of a program which contemplates a more ideal community has, in the past, encouraged support for, and maintenance of, those community service projects for which the School Department is in a favorable position to offer its facilities.
Like everything else, such support calls for an expenditure of School Department funds. This additional expenditure is, of necessity, bound to be reflected in the per capita cost of instruction, which must, as a result, be higher than it should normally be.
Townspeople, generally, will be interested in the fact that, of the many services made available, and the many rooms and halls used by the general public for such community purposes as have been mentioned heretofore, the Junior High School gymnasium has been in greatest demand. It has been used, this past year, on 160 occasions for other than school func- tions.
Fire Alarms
Occasionally, word comes to us that, as a result of fire, panic or both, an awful tragedy might have been avoided if adequate precautions were taken to overcome fire hazards. Your Committee has, for some time, considered the danger to school children, as a result of our failure to in- stall an up-to-date fire alarm system in each of our school buildings.
Joint conferences with Fire Department and School Department officials have been arranged to determine the need for separate school fire alarms.
The School Committee feels that this inatter should be brought to the attention of the people of the Town. It is, therefore, requesting that an Article be inserted in the Annual Town Meeting Warrant and recommends favorable action upon it. .
A system whereby each school can be equipped with a separate alarm which will be controlled both from within and outside each building may be installed at an estimated cost of $2,882.
School Maintenance Cost Increase
The School Department must report an unusually heavy maintenance expenditure for the year 1937. The thirty-two year old boiler of the Winslow School was condemned and its replacement cost $1,346.
Our School Department truck, which was nine years old, had to bc replaced at a cost of $468.80.
The ceiling of the West School was a menace to the safety of children and a new ceiling was installed at a cost of $135.00. Two power lawn mowers had to be replaced and the cost of these was $558.00.
The reader, having in mind the fact that normal wear and tear upon buildings and equipment requires a regular outlay of money, will readily see that these unusual expenses will explain why it was necessary to spend
117
more money upon the maintenance of our program than under ordinary conditions.
Industrial Education
There are several boys enrolled in special trade courses at the Boston Trade School, both in day and evening divisions. These young men, who are pursuing the study of an industrial trade, require a different type of training than we are able to offer in our comprehensive type High School.
It is interesting to note that such courses are usually much more expen- sive than the ordinary high school course. Tuition rates at the Boston Trade Schools for Boys and for Girls are $230 and $220 per year, respec- tively. Evening division tuition is at the rate of fifteen cents per hour.
By requirement of the State law, a town must pay the tuition of such of its boys and girls as may be qualified to enter and who wish to take advantage of courses offered at the Trade Schools. Because of the un- usually large number of boys who attend the Boston Trade School, our tuition costs for such have increased from $1,498.40 for 1936 to $1,807.27 for the year 1937.
CHRISTINE L. PROBERT, Chairman, JOSEPHINE A. CHANDLER, JOHN J. CONLEY, THOMAS A. KERR, DENNIS P. O'LEARY, EDWARD H. THOMPSON.
118
REPORT OF THE SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS
Herewith, I submit my second annual report as Superintendent of Schools.
In my report last year, there was presented an outlined personal phil- osophy of education and there seems no need for its repetition. I would like, however, in this report, to present a point of view which supplements and, to a certain extent, implements the aforementioned idiology.
Education is life and cannot be separated from it and life today, with its swiftly changing currents, which we seem powerless to direct, exacts heavy tribute from the individual's resourcefulness. One who refuses to recognize the fact and who fails to adjust his own mnodes of living to the fact of social change must either withdraw from the life about him or protest against it in futile ways. The way of one's living is much more important than the life itself, and when people are young, it is time to develop in them the power and insight necessary for the direction of their own lives. Unafraid, they must accept the evolution of the social order and be ready to use their personal resources to further it along generously.
We want children to read, write and think along specifically scholarly lines. However important these skills may be, we must insist that more necessary is the development of this central intelligence and self-direction. This is an act of educational faith which will not submit to statistical measurements, and is not easily explained or planned. We must think of the child as a whole child in a total situation. One aspect of his being a totality is his inembership in the school. So, for his sake and for the sake of the school, we must strike a proper balance between freedom and discipline. While we demand a certain amount of conformity, we must at the same time provide for his growth.
As his own personal stability releases his resourcefulness, so does the mutual acceptance of the idea of order allow for the developinent of mind and character.
The atmosphere of the classroom should create an opportunity to know children. We can learn much more about them moving about naturally, than if they were behaving like automatoms. Moreover, children can best learn the arts of self-direction if they have an opportunity to practice it under guidance and in a variety of activities. At times they work alone at their desks in silence on individual tasks which have been as- signed. At other times they may meet in groups for the purpose of dis- cussing ideas, plans or problems which call for cooperation and counsel.
Children find themselves living in a world which is complex and which makes specific demands upon them. For this reason they must early develop the idea of obedience. We must not exploit this obedience by making casual or inconsistent demands upon it. We must, however, create an unquestioned pattern of daily routine which will give the child a measure of security and repose and a clear understanding of the part
119
he is expected to play. Realizing this we cannot expect the child to make too many or too difficult choices or decisions, but to see to it that those which they do make are within their powers at each stage of their growth.
In such a situation where through affection, respect and mutual trust the child is treated as a person, the teacher sees the child as a growing personality, valid at each stage of his growth. The teacher cannot look upon the child as a miniature grown-up. He may not then expect of a five year old child the behavior of a seven year old, nor will he impose upon him the same sort of school regime. He must plan their school life accordingly with a fair balance of freer and exacting activities, of longer or briefer attention, of conformity and individual range of training in
mental habits and experience in social living. He will realize that in a rationally developed program, boys and girls of fifteen are ready for sus- tained enterprises and thought involving a kind of intellectual discipline very different from that which is asked of younger children. They may also be given more personal freedom and can assume for themselves and toward each, other responsibility which one could not expect of younger boys and girls.
The man or woman who respects children as persons and likes to be with them finds it easy to form with them the kind of acquaintance which permits the sharing of fun and of interests, the contagion of ideals, and, at the same time, the clear exercise of authority and guidance where it is needed. Upon such a companionship rests the kind of discipline which has in it no pomp, no empty formalist or artificial school spirit, but which emphasizes well focussed daily life, responsibility and consideration of others.
Herewith I shall present, briefly, an account of several things which we have been doing in the School Department this year (and not described in the reports of Supervisors, Principals or others), to the end that our school program may be made more adequate in the light of the educational demands placed upon it.
Individualization of Instruction
During the first half of this school year, arrangements were made with the Harvard-Boston University Extension Service to have Professor Donald D. Durrell, of Boston University, offer to our teachers a course in Remedial Reading and Individualization of Instruction. This course, attended by eighty-three teachers (most of them Norwood teachers), mnet on Monday afternoons for sixteen consecutive weeks in the Norwood Junior High School.
' As its title would indicate, the course provided our teachers an op- portunity to learn the most up-to-date and progressive methods and procedures in meeting the problems arising out of the individual needs, interests and abilities of pupils in the school situation.
120
By reason of the fact that reading is a fundamentally basic skill in the life of the school child, it is no more than to be expected that primary em- phasis was placed upon the development of a reading teaching technique.
The fact that the teachers were so interested and attentive to the prob- lems which arose and recognition of the challenge presented by them, leaves no doubt in my mind that our schools will benefit much as a result of our study.
Composition
This past year, in an attempt to improve the quality of oral and written composition, principals in each of our school buildings arranged a schedule whereby each pupil in each school would make a direct and focal attack upon sentence structure. It is felt that any composition is strong or weak according to the quality of the sentences of which it is constructed.
Sometimes it seems that direct attention to a specific problem like this, wherein results can be easily measured, and where the progress of the individual may be easily noted, will produce definitely good results.
Professional Library
Miss Jane A Hewitt, our Town librarian, has kindly consented to set .
apart for the use of teachers, several shelves upon which may be placed teachers' private and professional reading materials, which may be made use of for general circulation. Such cooperation as this makes possible a general improvement in the professional attitude of teachers because it makes it easy for them to secure from a convenient place, professional books which are generally recommended for their help and value in the study of specific school problems.
Visual Education
Under the direction of Mr. William J. Wynaught, we have organized a Visual Education Department in our schools which is satisfying a long felt need. We have purchased considerable equipment, such as motion picture and opaque projectors, screens, stillfilms and slides, so that the teaching of some materials may be made more effective.
In each of our buildings we now have rooms which may be darkened for the purpose of presenting illustrated material, which enriches the course content with which the pupil must concern himself.
It has been demonstrated beyond question that abstract ideas may fre- quently be grasped more readily by all pupils, particularly by those who are slow readers, when the lessons are so taught.
A regular schedule of film and slide showings in all of our schools and for most of our classes makes possible the visual presentation of such topics as teachers may deem worthy of presentation.
Pre-Primary Grades
After considerable study last year, I suggested that it might be well to establish a pre-primary program for children entering our school systemn. It seems to me that we might consider the possibility of admitting children
121
who reach the age of five years in September and offering them a pre- primary program of instruction in order to prepare them for the routine work of the school for much of which many entering first graders are now not ready.
It is my opinion that the recommendations which I made in this con- nection upon page 17 of last year's Annual Report are still worthy of serious consideration.
Elementary Social Science Program
We have, this year, completed the introduction of an entirely new Social Science program for the first six grades which dovetails nicely with the program already at work in the Junior High School. It is well articu- lated, as it develops progressively the study of man and his changing society and lays the groundwork for a truer understanding of man's place in the world in which he lives. Teachers, pupils and parents, generally, have accepted this new program with much satisfaction and interest.
Elementary Natural Science Program
It is a generally accepted fact that most failures in the elementary schools fall to the lot of boys. This may, in part, be due to faulty curricu- lum construction.
One reliable authority has said that such failures can often be traced to the fact that there is less in the elementary school program to appeal to the boy than may be found to interest the girl.
It is equally true that a well-rounded educational program must con- template the broadening of intellectual horizons in the fields of Natural Science, as well as in the fields of Languages, Mathematics, Social Science and the Arts.
Several of our teachers are busy in the selection of a series of elementary Natural Science books, which will satisfy this requirement. It is very difficult to determine which of several editions of elementary science texts is best adapted to our specific needs. The matter requires much thought and study because course outlines in this field are relatively new in the elementary program, and it will be several months before we can make the best selection.
Department of Child Guidance
The Massachusetts Mental Hygiene Society has, since September, sponsored a project in the Norwood schools under the leadership of Dr. Henry B. Elkind, its Medical Director.
In my report to the School Committee last year, I announced the projec- tion of this integrated health study, and briefly stated the philosophical and educational bases upon which it is premised.
The health project is in no sense an experiment. Rather, it is an attempt upon the part of specialists to demonstrate the practicability of certain procedures which have already been proved to be worthwhile. In edu-
122
cation, we must concern ourselves with the needs of the individual to the end that he may better adjust himself to the school situation. There are so many things which impinge upon and determine the effectiveness of his school environment. They affect, directly and indirectly, the progress of his development and the unification of his personality and must, for these reasons, be taken into account in the educative process.
We learn that many of our children show evidences of fatigue, mal- nutrition and physical handicaps-the result of defective primary senses of sight, hearing and speech. We cannot hope to expect the normal progressive development of the child except that steps be taken to remedy or improve these deficiencies.
Emotional stresses and strains also play an important part in the ease with which the child fits into the school program. Obviously the so- called temperamental child, the irritable child or, for that matter, any child who is unstable emotionally must be aided in overcoming his de- ficiency if he is to adjust easily to the demands of his school, home and social environment.
All behavior is symptomatic and evidence of the manner in which a child thinks or feels. We must direct our attention to correction of emo- tional and social maladjustment. The day does not pass when we do not meet these situations and I believe that our school system is to receive much benefit from the expert advice and counsel of Dr. Elkind and his excellent staff of specialists and advisers.
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.