USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Wayland > Official reports of the town of Wayland 1921-1922 > Part 4
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10.95
Malcolm Ide, Restitution
2.50
Boston City Wards
9.75
State, Vocational Re-imbursement
4.16
Mrs. Curtiss. Natick Tuition
25.00. $29,843.82
Overdraft
$1,627.51
:1
School Physician
Town Grant $75.00 $75.00
Dr. W. H. Sylvester
Improvement Cochituate School Grounds Receipts
Town Grant $500.00
Expenditures
Framingham Construction and Supply Co. $460.00 W. C. Neale 49.10 $509.10
Overdraft $9.10
Painting, Repairing, Lighting Fund Receipts
Town Grant $1,500.00 $1,500.00
Expenditures
Reynolds and Ryder $1,009.93
The Fiske Corporation 201.45
Framingham Construction and Supply Co. 317.58 $1.528.96
Overdraft 28.96
Report of Cochituate School Lighting Funds Receipts
Class Gifts, Richard Ames, Treas. $95.00
Candy Sales and Money Solicited by Mr. Clarke 79.03
Entertainment
102.94 $276.97
Expenditures
Cost of Installing Fixtures The Fiske Corporation $236.43
Balance
$40.54
Receipts
Balance Donation Fund
$40.54 8.00
$48.54
Expenditures
Graduation Expenses Accompanist $10.00
72
Dance Instruction and Costumer 10.00 Costuming Rentals and Materials 18.00 $38.00
Check to Dental Clinic
Balance $10.54 $10.54
.
REPORT OF SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS
To the Wayland School Committee :
Gentlemen :
Herewith is submitted the twenty-fifth annual report of the Superintendent of Schools.
During the past fiscal year which this report covers cer- tain innovations have been made in school administration which are worthy of note; some of the newer educational ven- tures have been tested; a new law has become operative.
General Acts, Chapter 277. Section 1.
"The school committee of each city and town shall, within one year after the passage of this act, and annually thereafter, ascertain, under regulations prescribed by the Board of Edu- cation and the director of the commission on mental diseases, the number of children three years or more retarded in mental development who are in attendance upon the public schools of its city or town, or who are of school age and reside there- in."
Section 2
"At the beginning of the school year of 1920, the school committee of each city and town in which there are ten or more school children three years or more so retarded shall establish, special classes to give such children instruction adapted to their mental attainments, under regulations pre- scribed by the Board of Education."
The commission created by the act herein quoted is at work. This District is the second territory to take up this study under the direction of the Commission. The work has been completed in Wayland with the exception of the report of the examining Commission. Until the report and recom- mendations of the Commission shall have been received and carefully considered no further action can be taken.
24
Governor Channing Cox refers to this law in his recent inaugural address as follows-"The establishment of school clinics ........ whereby school children three or more years backward are examined, represent an extraordinary achieve- ment, there being no known similar provision anywhere in the world."
The purpose of the school clinic is clear. It may be well to review some of the outstanding features that we may bet- ter appreciate those things which it is hoped may be accom- plished.
The first purpose of the study is to determine if possible if there are physical or mental ailments causing the slow pro- gress that may be treated and cured. Of equal importance is the finding out the type of mind a child has. If the retard- ation is caused by a misfit as to courses recommendations will be made to the school officials and parents as to the type of educational work the child should pursue. Every child can- not be an all round student. Many are limited to certain lines of endeavor. The clinic should determine the proper courses that should be pursued by individuals who are capable but limited to certain fields of endeavor.
If retardation is caused through mental deficiencies so great that work with normal children cannot be profitably pursued segregation will be feasible and possible. The nor- mal children as well as the subnormal children will be material- ly benefitted thereby.
Another legislative Act that affects Wayland materially although indirectly is the raising of the minimum salary of teachers throughout the State if towns are to share in the dis- tribution of the General School Fund.
The salary schedule adopted by you, after much delibera- tion and study, and made effective with the beginning of the current school year, may seem high to those who have not in- vestigated the salary question thoroughly or to those who are still comparing salary schedules of today with those of several years ago. The following quotation from a letter received under date of Dec. 29, 1921, from the State Department bears upon this subject-"Of more than 19,000 teachers in Mass- achusetts, about 1600 were receiving less than $1,000 salary January 1, 1921. As a result of the February and March
meetings of the year now closing, this number was doubtless considerably reduced. This is the most recent information available." Such a condition throughout the State and dupli- cated largely in other New England States explains the needs of the action taken by the Wayland Committee in establishing the present salaray schedule.
If Wayland is to maintain a staff of teachers with exper- ience, strength of character, skilled in the art of handling many children with varying natures, coming from homes largely of refinement and ambition, a lower salary schedule cannot be considered. My experience in town these many years leads me to believe that beginne)'s cannot measure up to the needs of Wayland Schools or to the aspirations of most of the par- ents for their childen.
I am pleased to report to you herein as I have often done during the current year to you verbally that Wayland has in all probability never employed heretofore a corps of teachers so highly skilled in the arts of educational endeavor and en- dowed with a higher conception of the great task that is theirs. We should sincerely hope the action of the Town at the forth- coming meeting will give hearty approval of your action by lending financial support to a continuance of your policy in regard to employing teachers of educational proportions, ap- proaching the community ideals.
The Parent-Teacher Associations and the Public Health Committee have been wholesomely and vigorously active in the interests of the boys and girls of Wayland. Unless some report be made as to the work of these organizations and com- mittees elsewhere it seems fitting to devote some space to their activities and plans in this report.
The Wayland Parent-Teacher Association gave the child- ren of the Town an afternoon with the Health Clown and our Dr. Hadley in the interest of better health and clean mouths. A victrola and several records have been presented the school. The lunch room was financed to the close of the last school year when it was taken over by the School Committee. Doors for the booths in the toilets have been given and installed. Basket balls, footballs, football equipment, and some indoor games have been provided. Money to purchase pictures for Art Appreciation and for the starting of a school library has been voted. We had the rare privilege of listening to a de-
76
bate, subject, The Smith-Towner Bill, by Dr. Holmes, Dean off the Department of Education, Harvard University, and our Mrs. Henderson. The Sargent School of Physical Edu- cation gave the students an exemplification of their work. Mr. l'ayson Smith, Commissioner of Education, gave his audience an interesting and profitable evening. Weight and height scales have been presented to the town.
This fall a supper and dance was given for the purpose of raising funds to offer a scholarship to the Senior Class. This proved a social and financial success. Three Hundred Four Dollars was realized clear of all expenses. Two Hun- dred Fifty Dollars have been set aside for the scolarship to be awarded in June. The remaining Fifty-four Dollars have been invested toward another scholarship. All funds have been invested and the accrued interest will be added to the fund remaining over for another year.
The purpose of offering this scholarship is not so much to assist an individual to a year's work at some higher instiu- tion as to stimulate better effort on the part of students in the high school. If the standard of scholarship is not raised in the school, if the ideals of good school work in the school are not elevated to a higher plane, if the attitude toward edu- cational advantages offered by the town are not more highly appreciated by the students the main issues for which the ef- tort is being made will have been lost. We believe the cause worthy of trial and have faith in the results, in fact there are already signs of better effort.
The Christmas party at the Town Hall was a very en- joyable occasion for the children and the older ones there assembled. The singing of Carols was spirited and effective. The hall was decorated attractively. The gifts for the child- ren were gratefully received. Santa Claus in the person of Mr. John Molloy and his attendant, Roger Mills, offered no end of merriment for the children. The Cochituate children and the Wayland Center children are especially grateful to Mr. Molloy, Master Mills, and Mrs. Loring who furnished the Santa Claus costume, for their part in giving all a merry time. Those who assisted the officers of , the Association and the officials no doubt feel well repaid for their efforts.
The Cochituate Parent-Teacher Association has had sev- eral quiet but profitable meetings during the year. A very
large sum for a community of this size to raise by food sales was realized from a function to raise money to support the Dental Clinic. Recently another sale has been held for the purpose of raising money to purchase scales for the school. The scales have been purchased and installed.
The Public Health Committee directed the raising of funds and the expenditure of same for two purposes, assisted by the Parent-Teacher Associations.
A nurse was employed a full year to work in the schools and town. The action of the town in voting recently to em- ploy a nurse full time rather than as now required by law for school service only with other towns is a compliment to the good work of Mrs. McNeil and to the foresight of the Public Health Committee in taking up the question of a community nurse with the Red Cross before the law was framed obliging towns to perform this duty to the school children.
The Public Health Committee, supported by the Parent- Teacher Associations, raised money and borrowed money that the Middlesex County Farm Bureau Travelling Dental Clinic might be given a trial in Wayland.
As a parent I am very grateful to those who have been active in the aforementioned enterprises and activities for the betterment of our school service and for the benefit of our children. I am confident that all who have children in the schools unite with me in expressing true gratitude from hearts warm with the goodfellowship of service freely given for the good of all.
THE DENTAL CLINIC
For some weeks two dentists from the Middlesex County Farm Bureau worked in the two schools last year toward the close of the schools. I think we should examine the record of work with care. It is as follows :
Number of Patients
Wayland 55
Cochituate 108
Number of Treatments
Wayland 50
Cochituate 21
78
Number of Fillings
Wayland
267
Cochituate
436
Number of Extractions
Wayland 93
Cochituate 19%
Number of Cleainings
Wayland 55
Cochituate 108
One hundred sixty-three children were treated in the two schools. All had their teeth cleaned. 121 were given treat- ments. 103 cavities were filled and 289 teeth extracted.
The cost for all the work is $820.51: Wayland $309.89 : Cochituate $510.62. The average cost in Wayland is $6.07: Cochituate $4.68. There are $282.65 unpaid in Cochituate and $65.85 in Wayland. Highest expenditure $26.34; lowest $.66.
All bills have been paid by the Public Health Committee through Red Cross Funds and by gifts and solicited funds.
As a parent I am pleased with the work done by the den- tists on my children and am perfectly satisfied with the cost.
Whatever our opinions as to this particular venture I believe we can heartily agree that clean mouths are as essential to health as are clean faces and hands; that good teeth are as essential to good appearance as a clean face and orderly cloth- ing. Those who are in sympathy with the movement for clean and healthy teeth as a health movement will I am confident agree with me in the view that the care of the teeth is very easily neglected and postponed by older people when looking after their own interests and much more easily neglected and put off by busy parents in caring for their children.
How shall children receive dental service in towns like Wayland and towns more isolated is a question worthy of careful consideration.
The dental clinic should perform the service more con- veniently for parents in Wayland and less expensively as well. A dental clinic in the school should take away much of the dread attached to the dental office in those children who are
79
nervous and difficult to manage in this respect. A clinic in the school makes it possible to care for some children whose par- ents cannot bear the full cost.
It the method of providing dental service in Wayland for the children as tested out does not seem desirable is there some other way of performing this needed service?
Some towns furnish a room and hire a dentist to do the work by the hour as needed. This service is paid for by the town, a charge being made for all work but so low that all can bear the cost. Other towns charge a yearly dental in- surance and meet the cost in excess thereof thraigh taxa- tion or benevolence.
I feel confident that a town so progressive education- ally as Wayland in the matter of teachers salaries and general school facilities will find a satisfactory solution to this advanc- ed and highly desirable educational work.
During the year an extensive school survey, accompanied by mental measurements, was made by the Department of Education. Harvard University. The study of the Report has been highly interesting to all the teachers and to myself. We are finding it helpful in substantiating our estimates of indi- viduals in school. I am confident that parents whose children are making slow progress in school will find the record of their child helpful to them.
Arrangements have been made for two school surveys the current year. We are grateful for the opportunity given and those in prospect for comparing the work of our schools with the work of many children in other school systems.
With so many new and varied activities in the schools in one year or a little over it would be a wonder if there were not some errors made, if some projects did not turn out as well as we thought, or if there were not some misunderstand- ings.
The school of today is a new school, difficult to under- stand in many ways, complicated, and varied. School life must deal with many activities heretofore not necessary or in any way attached to school work, plus activities now known to have been essential to the vigor and efficiency of men and women all the time but only recently recognized as such.
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I have been very much interested and gratified by the com- ments made by visitors to your schools from out of town. The State Commission examining backward children com- mented very favorably on your buildings, their condition and location, the luncheon service and quality of food served at the Center, the high grade of children attending the schools, the physical condition of the children, the advance work that is being done for health and vigor and the general fine spirit among teachers and pupils. It must be gratifying to towns- people to know that Wayland is accredited as a progressive town educationally.
We should be remiss in our expressions of appreciation if the Teachers' Lodge were not called to mind in this report. The home life there is a great help to your teachers. The project has been watched with much interest in other towns. It was my duty and privilege to present the facts in relation to this home for teachers at the State Meeting of Superintendents at Framingham last May.
Until this project is self sustaining we shall be beholden to certain individuals for oversight and contributions each year.
The high school day consists of seven forty minute Ferieds approximately.
This means thirty-five forty minute periods per week for study and recitation. One of these periods is quite generally devoted to music. The students generally have twenty recita- tion periods per week. This means that students have only fourteen forty minute study periods to prepare twenty assign- ments for recitation. A student, it is very evident, needs Icms study regularly at a regular time for two hours. An arbitrary length of time is misleading for some may need less and others more. The point to be made is that boys and girls in high schools need regular study hours at home for the pur- pose of practice along lines suggested by the assignment and for the purpose of reviewing and considering the explanations of principles in previous recitations as well as the very helpful attempts to reach sane conclusions in fields untouched by the class room.
There seems little to hope for if students do not try to help themselves by study and toil, browsing in magazines and among the shelves of our library. Good hard work for a reasonable number of hours weekly will cure a good many of the failures in high school. College entrance is often denied
81
where there is ability because there has not been study. Fail- ure in offices and in other lines of employment are sure to fol- low indifferent school habits.
So exacting and extensive have become the college en- trance requirements that no little consideration has been given in large schools to the need of more maturity in students if they are to be met successfully and the college work thereafte. prosecuted satisfactorily. There is a tendency to make the College Preparatory Course cover a period of five years in- stead of four. This is worthy of consideration and should be remembered in estimating the work of your school if tried by the failures to enter college through the examination system.
I rcommend that manual training and sewing be again established in the schools.
In view of the increased number of children in the Cochituate District and the decrease in school population in the Center District I am pleased to recommend for your con- sideration the abolishment of the Sub-primary work in the Cochituate School and the making of the entrance age at both schools five years and six months instead of five years eight months as at present. I think this will unify the work in the two schools and be more satisfactory to all concerned.
It is a pleasure to note that Frederick Hammond has won the Middlesex County Pig Club Championship this year.
One of the most enjoyable occasions of the year was the evening session of the Cochituate School, held that parents and Citizens might see the school in operation. Many of the visi- tors had not previously seen the inside of our high grade build- ing. The Wayland building is not wholly lighted so that an evening session is not possible in that district.
Your attention is cordially directed to the reports of your School Physician, your Director of the lunch room and cook- ery classs, your Nurse, and your High School Principal.
I am, as ever, truly grateful to you for your vigorous sup- port at all times, to the teachers for their professional aggres- sion, to the boys and girls for their fine stirit, and to the citi- zens and parents for the many words of h fulness during my term of service.
Respectfully submitted
FRANK H. BENEDICT
82
REPORT OF THE HIGH SCHOOL PRINCIPAL
Mr. Frank H. Benedict,
Cochituate, Mass.
Dear Mr. Benedict :
I herewith submit to you my fourth annual report as Prin- cipal of the Wayland High School.
Maximum enrollment for the school to date
68
Present enrollment, boys 21, girls 39, total
Enrollment by classes
Boys
Girls
Total
Freshmen
8
18
26
Sophomores
8
2
15
Juniors
6
6
12
Seniors
5
8
13
Enrollment by courses
College Course Science Commercial
Freshman
14
()
12
Sophomore
1
9
Junior
1
1
.1
Senior
1
2
Distribution of students to subjects
Freshmen
English I
26
Latin
14
Science I
25
Arithmetic I
12
Penmanship I
11
Algebra I
26
Cooking I
18
Drawing, girls
18
Drawing, boys
S
Typewriting III
1
83
Sophomores
English II
15
Latin II
5
Science I
Penmanship II
10
Bookkeeping Il
Ceometry II
14
French II
10
Algebra I
1
French III
1
Juniors
English III
12
Latin III
French III
8
Physics
U. S. History
12
Typewriting III.
1
Bookkeeping III
4
Stenography III
4
English II
1
Geometry II
1
Seniors
English IV
12
Latin III
Physics
4
U. S. History
13
French IV
9
Stenography IV
7
Bockkeeping III
1
Latin I
1
French II
1
The subjects listed above have been assigned to teachers as follows :
Miss MacNamara
English I, English II, English III, English IV, and U. S. History.
.
Bookkeeping II
Commercial Law
Typewriting IV
S-1
Miss Gifford
Latin I, Latin II, Latin III, French II, French III, and French IV.
Miss Merrithew
Stenography III, Stenography IV, Bookkeeping II, Book- keeping iil, Typewriting III, Typewriting IV, Penman- ship I, Penmanship II, and Commercial Law.
Miss Allison Cooking.
Mrs. Sayward
Boy's Drawing, Girl's Drawing.
Mr. Allen
Algebra I, Geometry II, Science I, Arithmetic I, and Physics.
Miss Boland
Music to all students.
I wish to mention to you, that I consider that the students are causing the school to have a better spirit than in the past years for which I have written reports. It is true that much improvement can take place in the future but I consider the gain thus far worthy of mention. It is worth while to call your attention to the sportsmanlike conduct of our boys in athletics under the direction of Mr. Robert Stearns. The boys played clean, hard football and were able to win many games from schools of much larger enrollment than that of Wayland High School. With the close of the football work the spirit has not been forgotten and I am hoping that it will grow to be the proper Wayland Spirit.
We are working also for better scholarship in the school. The teachers are pressing the students for more and better work, and are meeting with some resistance in their efforts. I wish that the parents could be made to understand that a high school student cannot expect to do all of his work in school ; that most students require from one to two hours of work cut of school in order to do the daily work outlined by the teachers. Parents who do not provide this time and also in- sist that it be used for study are not doing their full part in aiding the school.
Sincerely yours, DAVID J. ALLEN.
Wayland, Mass., January 6, 1922.
85
REPORT OF SCHOOL PHYSICIAN
F. H. Benedict, Supt. of schools of Wayland :
Sir:
I have the honor herewith to give you my report as school physician for the year 1921.
The schools this year are in good condition, as I have al- ways found them, and I am sure they are getting better year by year. this speaking well for the administration of superin- tendent and teachers.
The buildings are well kept up. well ventilated and in a sanitary condition. The janitors I have always found faith- ful, keeping the rooms clean, well heated and ventilated. I have found the teachers always interested in keeping the chil- dren well and watching for the possible presence of any con- tagious disease that might arise. We have had no epidemic to contend with this year. and very little sickness of any kind among the children. A few cases of impetigo, that trouble- some, contagious skin disease, have kept a few children out of school for some time.
The school nurse has proved to be very useful in many ways, making many visits to the families that the school physician could not make.
I have noted great improvement in the teeth of the chil- dren as the result of the work of the dentists last season. To chow improvement in this respect I am comparing two of the intermediate grades with last year.
Wayland 1920.
Number examined 53. 44 have decayed teeth. 1921
Number examined 55. 19 have decayed teeth.
Percentage having decayed teeth for 1920, 62% ; 1921, 34%
SÚ
Cochituate 1920.
Number examined 61. 48 have decayed teeth.
1921
Number examined 62. 29 have decayed teeth.
Percentage having diseased teeth in 1920, 19 %
Percentage having decayed teeth in 1921, 42%
This is a great improvement, but parents must remember "that eternal vigilance is the price of safety." Children of this age ought to visit the dentist at least twice a year, as the primary teeth are soft and break down easily. If all could see, as I do, how much the children develop when this source of ill health and facial deformity is removed; how much brighter and more intelligent are their faces, and recognize the improved growth and weight and increased capacity for study- ing no parent could regret the small amount of money spent, and only would be sorry that we can not have these dentists every year. Some of us will live to see a law passed that every town must appropriate money for a school dentist who will give the most of his time to work among the school chil- dren.
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