USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Norwood > Norwood annual report 1963-1964 > Part 21
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To complete the Science picture - a new course in Advanced Biology is in prospect beginning next September for students with particular in- terests and aptitudes in that field.
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Other Curricular Innovations
Curricular innovation in the recent past has by no means been limited to Mathematics and Science. Indeed in every department of the school similar changes are in progress. Four other areas are mentioned briefly below.
English: In line with the recommendations of the National Council of Teachers of English, increased emphasis in all English classes is being placed on written composition. English teachers have four regular classes daily plus a daily conference period. During this conference period stu- dents return to their English teachers from all other scheduled assign- ments by appointment and in rotation for 10-15 minute individual, special help session on composition. Teachers and pupils report these conferences to be of exceptional worth. Another innovation in English - a special after-school, credit-carrying seminar on "Utopian Societies in Literature" is being offered now for the second year for a limited number of superior Senior English students - with excellent results.
Reading: This year for the first time division enrollment in Required Freshman Study Skills has been limited to a maximum of 18 students, and for the first time divisions in Developmental Reading have been re- stricted to upper classmen who read well but who need to learn the special techniques for even greater reading speed. Remedial Reading, of course, is for the decreasing numbers who reach high school with serious reading defects. For these young people individual or very small group instruction is this year available. With our two full-time Reading Spec- alists, the reading center is contributing significantly to the overall school effort.
Industrial Arts: During the year just past, for the first time we have been able to offer an advanced course in Industrial Arts. Also for the first time we have been able to schedule beginners in Mechanical Drawing exclusively to First-year classes in that subject. These modifications facil- itate particularized instruction and more rapid advancement. We reported last year the start of a new course in Electronics I. Last September in addition a course in Offset Printing was offered for the first time. Both of these new offerings appear to be meeting definite pupil needs. They will continue.
Business: Last September a new course - Business Machines and Filing - was added to our Business Department. For this instruction a wide variety of modern business machines has been made available. Our Business Department Chairman reports in part: "With this latest addition (i.e., Business Machines and Filing) we are now able to offer a well rounded and strong series of business courses both for the terminal student and for those planning to continue their formal education." It is also interesting to note that including those taking the subject for personal use, as many as 530 pupils in the school are on some basis this year under- taking the formal study of typewriting. This is a new high in typewriting enrollment.
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Some Notable Aspects Beyond the Curriculum
Many new and significant learning experiences in today's school if related at all are related but indirectly to the formal classroom. Some of the more notable aspects of this area beyond the curriculum are indicated.
Citizenship Week - Last spring at the request of the Student Council a five-day period was specially designated as Citizenship Week. A short tinie allowance was given each day during the week for small-group, student-led consideration of such matters as teenage ethics, school attire, care of public property, school loyalty, etc. This unique and idealistic venture appeared to be of considerable value. It will be continued.
Senior Prom - Last year for the first time the annual Senior Prom, top event on the School's Social Calendar, was presented off campus - a singular departure from traditional practice. On this occasion the Prom and the sumptuous midnight repast which followed it took place at the beautiful Sidney Hill Country Club under the immediate supervision of Miss Katherine Ryan, Dean of Girls at the School and Senior Class Social Director. The evening which ended for all at 2:30 A.M. was a complete success - a credit to the class and to the school.
Harvard Prize Book . - D. A. R. Medal - The Harvard Prize Book is yearly awarded to "that Junior boy who in the judgment of his classmates and teachers is the best all around boy in his class." At our final awards assembly last June the Harvard Prize Book was awarded to Thomas E. Clifford. The Daughters of the American Revolution Good Citizenship Medal is presented to "that Senior girl who in the judgement of her teachers is the best school citizen in her class." Winner of this award for the year just past was Nancy J. Breen. Faculty choices for both of these awards was excellent but understandably extremely difficult.
College Information Night - Last November twenty-first, the four full-time Guidance Counselors at the school sponsored and presented as panelists our second annual college information night. This program is designed to acquaint parents - particularly parents of Juniors - with all phases of college selection and college application; also to suggest to parents how they may best help students make intelligent decisions in these important areas. Some 300 parents attended college information night. Many interesting questions were asked and answered. The program is of significant value.
Chefs' Club - Interest in Home Economics at the school is this year at an all time high. Amazing work is being done by the girls in both clothing and foods divisions. Newly formed last October and meeting in the Home Economics Department during the X period on Fridays is an all boys, fully aproned, no-nonsense, twenty-member Chefs' Club. It is a happy and worthwhile experience.
Foreign Exchange - Last September through the good offices of the American Field Service, Miss Anneka Ehrnst of Sweden became foreign- exchange-student-for-the-year at Norwood High. In the reciprocal phase
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of the program, Perry-Lynn Moffitt, presently a senior at Norwood High School, spent last summer as an exchange student in Sweden.
We are grateful to the Norwood Foreign Exchange Committee and to its President, Mr. Paul L. Gallagher. Without the dedicated support of this committee - financial and otherwise - the Foreign Exchange Program in Norwood could not function.
Senior Class President - For the election of Class Officers each year official municipal voting booths are set up in the school, and municipal voting procedures are simulated in every possible particular. In connection with class elections it may be of interest to note that last October for the first time in the history of the school, the Senior Class elected a girl as its President. Miss Helen Abdallah won the coveted honor in a spirited campaign. Miss Abdallah is having a successful administration.
United Nations Trip - In the fall, forty of our Social Science students with teachers visited the United Nations in New York. On this occasion, Norwood High School representatives had the opportunity to see and hear the United Nations assembly in session and to meet and question the Yugo- Slavian delegation. It was a memorable and worthwhile experience.
Literary Awards - Again during the year just past both the Hilltopper and Tiot, literary publications at the school, were accorded highest ratings by the New England Scholastic Press Association. We congratulate the many students concerned with these productions.
National Merit Awards - Victor Lapuszynski of the Senior Class re- ceived the happy news in October that he had been selected as a semi- finalist for a National Merit Scholarship Award. Also at that time ten other members of the class (the largest number thus far) were named to receive letters of commendation for their performance in the Scholar- ship Qualifying Tests. These ten students are: Elizabeth Anderson, Suzanne M. Barrett, William M. Bazzy, Steven H. Bowen, Anne E. Drew, J. Scott Lennox, Paul J. Loughlin, Judith A. Lydon, Ralph A. Nixon, and Frances A. Wisgirda. All thus honored are eligible for special scholarship con- sideration by leading colleges throughout the country. We congratulate them.
Sing We Now of Christmas - Friday evening, December twentieth, in another first approximately 100 students representing the Concert Band, the Concert Choir, and the Choralaires, three of the musical organizations of the School, presented in the Lincoln D. Lynch auditorium "Sing We Now of Christmas"-a program of beautiful Christmas carols.
College Admission
Seventy-five per cent of last year's Senior Class went on to post-high school training - about one-half of these to four-year colleges. Every graduate of the class of 1963 who did satisfactory college preparatory work in high school and who applied for college was successful in college admission - usually to the college of his or her first choice and not in- frequently with substantial scholarship help. Every year graduates of the school who have gone to college are granted degrees by leading colleges and universities all over the United States.
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Low Drop-Out Rate
At the other end of the scale we would mention again the remarkable holding power of the school. For the year just past the school drop-out rate as computed by the formula of the Massachusetts State Department of Education was less than 21/2 percent. This figure is all the more note- worthy since as a matter of policy we retain no student in school member- ship whose behavior and achievement evidence the wish to be elsewhere.
A Review of Purpose - Evaluation
By definition it is the goal of the public comprehensive High School to provide individually challenging yet different learning experiences for all the children of all the people. Unfortunately there is no single reliable yardstick of appraisal for the performance of the school.
However, we submit that there is in this report ample cumulative evidence to indicate excellent and perhaps even superior progress towards stated goals. It has been another happy year.
Unfinished Business
No account of the educational progress of a school could possibly be complete which did not recognize the all-important role which the class- room teacher plays in modern education. Over the years Norwood has been more than fortunate in its teachers. Yet here as elsewhere citizens should realize that a superior teacher in every classroom is an absolute necessity if the almost unbounded benefits of education are fully to accrue to society. This in our judgment is education's greatest need and, educa- tionwise, society's greatest challenge.
As usual this report will close with the names of those seniors who received special honors at the graduation exercises last June and with a copy of the program followed on that occasion.
CHARLES A. HAYDEN, Principal Norwood High School
GRADUATION HONOR AWARDS
Lane Medal Awards
Nancy J. Breen
Maryanne Dias
Jeanne E. McAuliffe
Joan A. Connolly Kathleen M. Donahue
Donna L. Daley
Mary A. Hucksam
Kathleen C. Naughton
Berwick English Prize Donna L. Daley
Teachers' Club Scholarship
Jeanne E. McAuliffe
J. E. Margolis Scholarship Mary A. Hucksam
Junior Chamber of Commerce Scholarship Nancy J. Breen
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Norwood P.T.A. Council Scholarship Francis W. Brissette
Norwood Woman's Club Scholarship Donna L. Daley
Parents Music Association Scholarship Spencer E. Sacco
Norwood Mothers' Club Scholarships
Michael F. DiMarzo Barbara A. Cronin
Norwood Women's Community Committee Awards Beauty Culture-Emily M. Jarosz Food Service Program-Barbara A. Curran Norwood Italian Social Club Scholarship Michael F. DiMarzo
Fraternal Order of Eages, Ladies' Auxiliary #1822 Scholarship Joan A. Connolly
Norwood Kiwanis Club Scholarship Karen A. Kelley High School Scholarship Awards
Joan M. Deasy Louise Chapman
Susan P. Schofield Carol A. DiCicco Mary A. Connors
Sandra A. Smith
Norwood Mothers' Club Home Economics Award Ruth E. Davis
Norwood Women's Community Committee Foreign Language Awards Latin-Nancy J. Breen French-Mary A. Hucksam Science Awards
Donna L. Daley
Henry T. Peterson
REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR OF THE HENRY O. PEABODY SCHOOL
It is with pleasure that I present my first annual report as Director of the Henry O. Peabody School.
The foresight of the benefactor of the Henry O. Peabody School antici- pated by over twenty years the present and ever changing need for prep- aration in wage earning occupations with that training adapted to the needs and capabilities of students and related to the varying and increas- ing demands and needs of industry and service occupations. Evidence of the wisdom of and need for this type of training has been recognized by the United States Congress in two bills passed - The Manpower, Develop- ment and Training Act and The Vocational Education Bill.
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Continuing the aims as established over twenty years ago, the curricu- lum as a whole and the courses of study for each trade are being reevalu- ated, with the teachers and the Advisory Committees, to meet the needs of the students and the requirements of the specific trade.
There is capacity enrollment for existing facilities at the Henry O. Peabody School. This year there are students representing twenty-nine surrounding towns, with a total enrollment of 163.
The Beauty Culture, Dressmaking and Food Service Programs are offered in the Junior and Senior year of High School as a two year pro- gram on the undergraduate level. Required academic subjects are included in the program and trade requirements are met. The students earn their high school diploma while learning one of the trades. Beauty Culture, Busi- ness, Dressmaking, Food Service and Practical Nursing are offered on a postgraduate level.
Beauty Culture continues high in popularity. Therefore, enrollment is carefully considered in light of the needs of the trade and through the com- bined efforts of guidance personnel's well oriented referrals and screening of candidates at the Henry O. Peabody School, those candidates who show greatest potential are selected for admission. Resulting from thorough training and the fine performance records of past graduates in the industry, placement in Beauty Culture continues at a high level.
Emphasis in Dressmaking has been in line with current trends and em- ployment experiences of recent dressmaking students. All but four power stitching machines have been eliminated and the additional space gained has been devoted to increased work areas for textiles, fabric study and art work related to dressmaking thus broadening the school experiences of- fered our students.
Through guidance contacts and satisfied employers word has spread of our Food Service Program which is offered to capable and interested boys and girls. A foods classroom, adjacent to the foods laboratories, has been provided to facilitate the correlation of the theory of foods instruc- tin in conjunction with the facilities for the practical application of said instruction.
Entries in the New England Hotel & Restaurant Show offer competi- tive opportunities for the Commercial Foods Department. This year, Mr. George Cole our Chef Instructor, was awarded first prize in individual competition for Chefs - Class J. for his entry, a bust of the Benefactor of our School - Henry O. Peabody - carved in tallow. The students entry was awarded the Special School Award Trophy.
Two graduates of the Foods Program are presently enrolled in the Foods Management Program at Stockbridge School, University of Massa- chusetts. The other graduates have been advantageously placed in their trade.
The Business Program continues on a postgraduate level - offering Accelerated or Advanced courses in secretarial training, and a course in
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Business Machines. Calls for placement from businesses throughout the area far exceed the number of trainees. These are excellent training op- portunities for interested girls.
The fifteen month Practical Nurse Program continues to enroll two classes a year - one in September and one in February. Its continued ex- cellence is attributable to the quality of our staff at the Henry O. Peabody School, and the cooperation of the administration and staff of the Norwood Hospital. We appreciate the excellent relationship with the Norwood Hos- pital. It is truly gratifying to be associated with such fine personnel.
Graduate's placement includes Hospitals, Doctors' Offices, Industry, Visiting Nurse Association, Nursing Homes and Home Nursing.
Our school staff too has been faced with the problem of change through retirement and resignation to accept position elsewhere. However, we have been fortunate in obtaining very able replacements.
Throughout the year, groups and individuals interested in learning more about the school and its program have been encouraged to visit and observe. The largest groups came on the group Guidance Day Tours held for one week in the spring. We had approximately two hundred and eighty interested students accompanied by Guidance Instructors. Twenty-four towns were represented.
We were privileged to entertain several groups during the year includ- ing the Regional Vocational Study Group, the Retired Teachers of Nor- folk County, The South Shore Women's Guidance Group, and the School Committee and Board of Trustees of the Henry O. Peabody School.
We appreciate the continuing and expanding relationship with Nor- wood High School and the cooperation extended.
Through work with teachers and advisory committees we will contin- ually evaluate our programs in light of the needs of industry to be ever alert to programs that will meet the needs of the students and the com- munity. We will continue to study these and the additional facilities they will require for it is our feeling that there are many existing wage earn- ing opportunities that should be met by the Henry O. Peabody School but which cannot be initiated within the existing facilities.
I thank the staff of the Henry O. Peabody School for their cooperation and good will during this my first year. I wish also to express my sincere thanks for the leadership, cooperation and understanding of Dr. Philip O. Coakley, Superintendent of Schools. My association with Dr. Coakley, the Administrators, the School Committee of the Norwood Public Schools and Trustees of the Henry O. Peabody School have made this year a rewarding experience.
ANNE E. DONOVAN
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REPORT OF THE PRINCIPAL OF THE JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL
Increasing enrollment will soon be a matter of serious concern. Next September we shall have more than 735 pupils in grades seven and eight. In the following year the number will increase to nearly 800, and a year later to 895. Four years from September, we shall enroll 932 pupils, and in the following year there will be 961 in the two grades which constitute Norwood Junior High School. These figures represent only those who are now attending our public school system. Continued growth of the town would indicate that the number of publis will increase proportionately.
The pressure for adequate space was relieved by the transfer of our en- tire ninth grade to the expanded Norwood Senior High School. Since then, reduction of class size, advocated by educators and parents throughout the nation, has been a factor in improving the quality of education. Classes have averaged slightly below thirty pupils. We hope to retain this ad- vantage, which is shared by the better junior high schools of our area.
Many meetings of our professional staff have been held during the year. At weekly meetings teachers were concerned with methods and materials, as well as the necessity for change within the curriculum. They also participated in committees, working under the direction of our superin- tendent of schools, with elementary and senior high school faculty mem- bers to refine or revise current practices .
Recommendations of the study group which reviewed our science cur- riculum have been incorporated in a new course of study. Our three years of general science will now be covered in the two years of grades seven and eight, and a new text has been adopted for this revised course.
Our new laboratory has been completed and is now in use, enabling each pupil to conduct experiments for one class period during each week of the school year. A series of experiments for the laboratory has been pre- pared by our science teachers under the direction of Mr. John Twombly. While advanced work is always a challenge to the capable student, our laboratory is especially helpful to the less gifted pupil who needs more concrete materials to stimulate his interest in science.
Our French program has again been revised for the current school year. Three classes in grade seven and three classes in grade eight have French instruction for a period of forty-five minutes each day. They use the modern materials which are the basis of our aural-oral program, and this is a continuation of the instruction which begins in the third grade of our elementary schools. After completion of the French course in grade six, pupils are selected for the program in grades seven and eight. Those who continue their study of French must fulfill the requirements of the course in addition to the four major subjects which are in the curriculum for all students.
Our mathematics program is also under constant review. All the teachers in that department have enrolled in the course in Modern Mathematics provided by our superintendent and school committee, and
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conducted at the Norwood Junior High School by Professor Fitzgerald of Boston University. Each year we strive to offer newer concepts and mate- rials so that each pupil may develop his mathematical abilities at a rate best suited to him. Our reference library has been expanded in this area, while our visual aids reach every pupil. Our team-teaching in mathematics has been expanded and our club activity offers enrichment beyond the classroom.
Two more areas have been changed to some extent. A study committee, in which our staff has been active, has led to the adoption of a new report card. Two seventh grade classes are engaged in a pilot study of English grammar through the newer concepts of linguistics, an inductive method of study which is designed for greater understanding. The end results of this course will be similar to the formal procedure of English grammar.
Our guidance and testing programs continue as an essential part of our curriculum. Results in both areas indicate that we are meeting the needs of our pupils and that progress in studies is satisfactory.
Our school committee and our superintendent of schools have been most helpful in meeting the challenge of quality education in our schools. There remains, however, a need for further improvement of our building. The chairs in the balcony of our auditorium need considerable renovation or replacement with more comfortable seating. Much painting of the in- terior and the exterior of our school is an immediate necessity. Parking, due in part to the proximity of the Norwood Hospital, is a constant prob- lem which could be alleviated by suitably preparing the area adjoining the building on the Hoyle Street side.
I wish to thank you, Dr. Coakley, and the members of the Norwood School Committee for cooperation in all matters which pertain to the edu- cation of our pupils.
JOHN J. CORCORAN Principal
REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR OF MUSIC
The year 1963 proved to be a year of further expansion within the De- partment of Music of the Norwood Public Schools.
At the Senior High School, the Band increased from twenty-five (25) to forty (40) members. The Senior High School also boasted of two active choral organizations, the Choralaires and the Concert Choir, consisting of sixty-five (65) and forty (40) members respectively. The regular course of general music offered to Freshmen was supplemented by an elective course in music appreciation for upper classmen interested in continuing their in- struction in music.
At the Junior High School, 1963 saw the revitalization of the Junior High Band and the Boys' Glee Club. The Girls' Glee Club continued the fine work they have accomplished in the past. The physical plant of the Junior
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High remained the site of Instrumental Music Lessons which were ex- panded this year to three days a week after regular school hours. Instruc- tion was again offered on wind and percussion instruments by a staff of eight (8) expert instructors. Wednesday afternoons at the Junior High found the Intermediate and Beginners Bands from Norwood's Elementary Schools meeting for their weekly rehearsals.
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