USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Plainville > Plainville, Massachusetts annual reports 1934-1941 > Part 42
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Franklin, Jesse W., Sr .- Broad Street Chauffeur
Henrich, Christian F .- Spring Street Merchant
Horton, Osmond E .- Melcher Street Refiner
King, Frank-South Street Farmer
McAfee, Edward-West Bacon Street Jeweler
McQuade, Joseph F .- Cottage Street Chauffeur
Morse, Harvey C .- Maple Street . Architectural Draftsman
Nerney, Raymond N .- East Bacon Street Jeweler
Rhodes, R. Percy-Bugbee Street Jeweler
Smith, Leon E .- South Street Meat Cutter
Telford, Clarence F .- Pleasant Street Toolmaker
ARTHUR W. WASHBURN,
Town Clerk
33
ANNUAL REPORT
Annual Report
of the
SCHOOL COMMITTEE
of
Plainville, Massachusetts
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APRIL
FOR
Year Ending December 31, 1939
1673
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34
ANNUAL REPORT
School Officials
SCHOOL COMMITTEE
HENRY S. TAMBLYN, Chairman Term expires 1940 Telephone North Attleboro 1112-W
SIDNEY A. MADDOCKS, Secretary Term expires 1942 Telephone North Attleboro 372
FRANK O. CORBIN Term expires 1941 Telephone North Attleboro 1146-W
Meeting of the School Committee is held in the office, Town Hall Building, on the third Wednesday of each month.
Union Superintendent of Schools, Norton and Plainville
LAURENCE G. NOURSE Residence Telephone, Norton 66 School Telephone, North Attleboro 385-R
The Superintendent may be reached at the office in the Town Hall Building every Tuesday, and other days by appointment.
Authorized to Issue Work Certificates
HARRY L. DIXON Telephone North Attleboro 830
School Physician DR. H. IRVING BIXBY Telephone North Attleboro 374
School Nurse MRS. RUAH M. HARRIS Telephone North Attleboro 1115-W
Attendance Officer
ELMER C. PEASE
35
ANNUAL REPORT
SCHOOL CALENDAR 1939-1940
Elementary and High Schools:
First term opens September 6, 1939. First term closes December 22, 1939. Second term opens January 2, 1940. Second term closes February 16, 1940. Third term opens February 26, 1940. Third term closes April 18, 1940. Fourth term opens April 29, 1940. Fourth term closes:
Elementary Schools-June 14, 1940. High School-June 21, 1940.
Graduation Dates :
Grammar School-June 12, 1940. High School-June 21, 1940.
Holidays for all Schools:
October 12, 1939. October 27, 1939. November 11, 1939. November 30-December 1, 1939. January 1, 1940. February 22, 1940. April 19, 1940. May 30 and 31, 1940.
School Sessions :
High School: Regular session, 8 to 1:30; extra session, 1:30 to 3:30. Grammar School: 9 to 12 and 1 to 3. Primary School: 9 to 11:45 and 1 to 3.
No School Signals:
7:30 A.M .- Three double blasts on fire alarm system signifies no school for all pupils for the day.
7:45 A.M .- Same signal signifies no school for primary school pupils.
36
ANNUAL REPORT
11:45 A.M .- Same signal signifies no school in the afternon and all pupils will stay in school one hour longer than the usual morning session and then be dismissed for the day.
Plainville NO SCHOOL signals are broadcast over radio station WEAN-7:00 A.M. to 7:30 A.M. and 7:45, and 8:15 A.M.
REPORT OF THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE
To the Citizens of the Town of Plainville:
We feel that our schools have had another successful year.
During the year four of our teaching staff, Miss Katharine I. Howard, Miss Gertrude V. French, Miss Janette Smith and Miss Isabel A. Grant, have left us and Miss Madeline E. Bartell, Miss Beatrice V. Trulson, Miss Stella Malkasian and Mr. Herbert A. Jerauld were elected to fill the vacancies. We are well pleased with their work.
You will note that the budget for 1940, as submitted with this report, shows ordinary current running expenses only. An amount for repairs will be asked for but it is impossible to prepare figures in time to present with this report. Last year we asked for $500.00 for necessary repairs to the High School Building, but the Finance Committee deemed it advisable to postpone all pos- sible repairs until 1940 and, in order to cooperate with them we reduced our figure to $200.00, this amount being spent for two new doors, chimney flashings, down-spouts, dry wells and repairs of masonry foundations. A much larger appropriation will be necessary this year to prevent deterioration to town property.
The new toilet system, voted by the town last year, is at the time this report is being written, being installed and this com- mittee feels that the money available has been used to the best possible advantage.
There are, however, three important points that, due to the limited funds available for the use of the committee, should be brought to your attention.
37
ANNUAL REPORT
(1) There is a strong possibility that it may be found necessary to make changes in the heating system to supply ample heat for the new toilets. We cannot tell until the system has been in use for some time in severe weather.
(2) We feel that it is essential that hot water be available for use in washing hands and faces. The present system does not provide for this.
(3) We consider it dangerous from a health viewpoint to allow our youth to play basket-ball without the opportunity of using showers after playing. While these were included in the original plans, it was necessary to leave them out in order to keep within the appropriation.
We hope all these will be given the attention they deserve.
The Superintendent and the entire teaching staff have co- operated to the limit with the committee to maintain the high standard of our schools and we wish to express our appreciation.
The organization of the first high school in Plainville took place in 1890. The fiftieth anniversary of this event will be celebrated next June, 1940. Mr. Frank O. Corbin of our committee was a member of the first class. He will represent the School Committee to work with the Alumni Association in their observance of this historical occasion. We urge the hearty co- operation of the alumni and citizens.
We hope you will study carefully the following financial statements and Superintendent's report.
Money Available for Schools in 1939
Appropriation
$26,300.00
Interest on Town School Fund
18.29
Refund on Town Hall Lights
109.00
$26,427.29
Expenses
General Expenses:
School Committee
$ 120.00
Superintendent's Salary
1,600.00
Expenses
196.80
38
ANNUAL REPORT
Expenses of Instruction :
Salaries, High and Elementary
15,408.40
Books and Supplies, High and Elementary
1,598.11
Operation of School Plant:
Janitor
1,664.00
Fuel
1,197.33
Miscellaneous
652.27
Maintenance
333.69
Health
456.28
Transportation
2,675.00
Tuition
150.96
New Equipment
168.46
Special Repairs, High School Building
200.50
Total
$26,421.80
Balance
5.49
The Town received from the State on Account of Schools:
1939
1938
General School Fund, Part I
$2,130.00
$1,867.50
General School Fund, Part II
3,455.39
3,286.01
For Superintendent
773.32
776.11
For High School
1,042.86
1,042.86
$7,401.57
1939
$6,972.48 1938
From the Town of Wrentham for Tuition
$230.68
$240.16
From the Town of Foxboro for Tuition
34.76
From Tuition of State Wards
86.97
108.21
From Tuition of Jewelry School Pupils
127.50
111.18
Total
$7,881.48
$7,432.03
Total Expenditures
$26,427.29
$26,212.35
Receipts from outside sources
7,801.48
7,432.03
Expenditure by Town of Plainville $18,625.81
$18,780.32
PLAINVILLE SCHOOL COMMITTEE BUDGET 1940
Budget 1940
Expended 1939
Expended 1937
Expended 1935
Expended 1930
School Committee
$ 120.00
$ 120.00
$ 120.00
$ 120.00
Superintendent's Salary
1,600.00
1,600.00
1,599.96
1,599.96
$ 1,600.00
Expenses
190.00
196.80
196.74
160.37
134.35
Teachers' Salaries
15,745.00
15,408.40
15,395.05
15,939.18
15,811.86
Books and Supplies
1,600.00
1,598.11
1,724.17
2,005.84
1,694.86
Operation of School Plant:
Janitor
1,664.00
1,664.00
1,664.00
1,696.00
1,528.00
Fuel
1,211.00
1,197.33
1,184.51
1,218.47
1,491.16
Miscellaneous
480.00
652.27
554.90
482.59
379.22
Maintenance
320.00
333.69
671.14
610.83
710.04
Health
445.00
456.28
444.01
420.97
439.63
Transportation
2,675.00
2,675.00
2,675.00
2,675.00
2,690.00
New Equipment
250.00
168.46
395.58
370.19
296.84
Tuition
150.00
150.96
311.64
Special Repairs to High School Building
200.50
.
SIDNEY A. MADDOCKS, Secretary
FRANK O. CORBIN
$26,450.00
$26,421.80
$26,936.70
$27,299.40
$26,775.96
Respectfully submitted,
HENRY S. TAMBLYN, Chairman
1111
1080
il
!
40
ANNUAL REPORT
REPORT OF THE SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS
I have the honor of submitting to you my sixteenth annual report as Superintendent of Schools and the thirty-fourth in the series of reports.
The Testing Program
The results of various tests given throughout the schools have been incorporated in these reports in the past. The same plans have been continued and in many cases enlarged during the past year. In addition to the weekly tests in spelling in all elementary grades the superintendent has given four gen- eral spelling tests. The program of instruction in mental arithmetic has been continued in all schools with tests by the superintendent four times in the school year. The general results have been interesting and worthwhile. In the regular course of study in arithmetic, progress charts of each pupil's progress have been kept and a final examination given in the middle of the year and at the end of the year. The parent and the child can tell at all times his standing in this very im- portant subject. In reading an intensive study, using the Shank Reading Tests, was carried on in the high school, gram- mar school, and primary school. The results of the study were analyzed carefully and resulted in several new plans. The following tabulation of these tests gives the record for each room, grade 3 through the high school in May, 1939.
Plainville Median Score Standard
Per Cent. Plainville was above standard
Grade III
33
28.9
14 %
Grade IV
37
39.8
7 %
below
Grade V
55
51.2
7 %
Primary School Average was 5% above the standard
Grade VI
63
62.0
2 %
Grade VII
59
50.7
17 %
Grade. VIII
61.5
58.2
6 %
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ANNUAL REPORT
Grammar School Average was 8% above the standard
Freshman
67.5
63.7
6 %
Sophomore
68
61.2
11 %
Junior
88
65.5
34 %
Senior
70.5
70.2
High School Average was 13% above the standard Plainville Town Average was 9% above the standard
Informal and remedial reading tests were used in several elementary classrooms. Several standardized tests were used in French and Latin classes to check the ordinary reports on pupil progress. As in the past, monthly typewriting results have been gathered and posted. The superintendent has given dictation tests in Stenography II classes each month showing a comparison of the progress in the two high schools. This is in addition to the usual tests in this department.
Professional Study
During the past year an even larger number of teachers than usual have taken professional courses at evening school classes, Saturday courses, and summer school courses. In addition there have been means for continuing the study of our job of teaching within our own school system. The principal of each building has during the past year taken increased leadership in the study of the particular problems of their own school in their own teachers' meetings. Much effort has been used in the past year to give increased responsibility and authority to the position of principal in the elementary schools as well as in the high school. The superintendent has called meetings of principals for a study of the general problems of the whole school system and to make unified approach to many common activities. Such a procedure is sure to bring tangible results. The plan of holding general teachers' meet- ings for all teachers and principals in both Norton and Plain- ville has been continued. Through a study of our teaching problems, through reports of conferences and conventions at- tended by the superintendent or by the principals, and through lectures by outside educational leaders a valuable inspira- tional program has been carried on. The latest meeting in this series is one at which Professor Evan Collins of the Harvard
42
ANNUAL REPORT
Graduate School of Education will speak to the teachers early in January, 1940. He will speak on "Challenges to Us as Teachers."
Forum
Last year the start of the forum or panel discussion plan to take the place of debating was announced. The results have justified this change. The plan is being continued and improved this year. The public forum is given in cooperation with the Parent-Teacher Association in each town. The topic for the January, 1940, forum is "Can We Depend Upon Youth to Follow the American Way?" Surely no more important topic can be found. To have young people thinking on their own civic responsibility is of practical value to society and of vital interest to themselves. This topic is a challenge to them now. It concerns their present activities and so interests them more than impersonal study of civil problems of the distant past or of some future time in their lives-which seems to youth a long way off. After preliminary study of the question for the forum in each high school an evening for a meeting of the students who are to participate and of the teachers who are guiding the plan is arranged. To quote the report of the last meeting by Mr. Dixon: "Previous to the first public meeting of the two panels all of the participants and the faculty representatives met for a 'covered-dish supper.' After the meal we spent an hour and a half discussing details of the coming discussion and final plans, arrived at by cooperative action, were agreed upon then. This sociable approach to the public performance gave each student a chance to know the others and to make them all feel at ease and friendly. This spirit prevailed all during the Panel Discussion and when it was over there was a total absence of the ill-feeling which had prevailed after the debates." More lasting and constructive results are evident from this forum plan than from any plan used in the past-the debates or public speaking contests.
Youth Survey
The Massachusetts Department of Education is conduct- ing a state-wide study of the problems of youth. A representa- tive group of 12,000 young people have been asked to cooperate in making this study. The purpose is to discover means for assisting youth in Massachusetts. The survey covers (1) gen- eral information about each youth; (2) educational activities-
43
ANNUAL REPORT
a survey of his public school progress and all advanced edu- cational study whether in higher educational institutions or vocational education of full time study or part time while in employment; (3) employment status-a record of all types of employment since leaving school (48 employment certificates were issued locally in 1939 in contrast to 30 in 1938); (4) home life; (5) personal and recreational interests. Twenty- two young people in Plainville have been assigned by the State Department to your superintendent for study in connec- tion with this survey. Local efforts of similar nature for specific purposes are also being carried on. £ Much of the guidance work of Mr. Dixon and the High School teachers is carried on under a similar plan and objective. The world- wide, the national and the local youth problems make the many current activities in this field of vital importance.
Advantages Inherent in a Small School Situation
At the last National Meeting of the American Association of School Administrators many of the meetings, reports, and conferences were centered on a study of schools in small communities. It was felt that too much had been said in the past on the value of big systems. Nine out of ten schools and fifty-five per cent. of the teachers in the United States are in communities of less than twenty-five hundred inhabitants. Consequently the vast majority of school systems in the country are small and are similar to ours. An analysis of these schools has brought out many advantages inherent in such systems, advantages which have been often overlooked in our praise of bigness. A summary of these conferences with some examples of their application to our own community follows:
(1) Opportunity for intimate acquaintanceship among pupils, parents, and teachers which if recognized may lead to a more effective cooperation in the fullfilment of the joint responsibilities of school and home in promoting all-round growth of boys and girls. In the small community, teachers can more easily come to understand the pupils as a whole and the community in which he lives. The pupil-teacher relation- ships are more intimate because teachers have contact with their pupils daily, not only in one class but in several. The teachers have an opportunity to know the ability and interests of the pupil, also his family, his out-of-school life, and the agencies that make up community life. Here the teacher lives
44
ANNUAL REPORT
in the neighborhood. She takes part in the same community activities in which the child and parent engage. Everyone is known in a personal way. By knowing first hand the family, background, surroundings, and home and community life of the child, it is easier to guide and direct learning. Our teachers make contacts with the home in the interest of pupil progress. These contacts can be more frequent, less formal and more intimate than is possible in the city school system. Our pupil accounting plan is a record of the teacher's experi- ence both in class instruction and in her efforts in the class- room, the playground and the community to advance the all- round growth of the child. This function can be far more effectively carried out in the small town than in the average city school system.
(2) There is posibility of a prolonged period of contact between pupils and teacher which, if provided, will furnish an advantage of facilitating continuous directed growth. Teachers not only have their pupils in many classes each school day, year after year, but also in extra-curriculum and community activities. In small communities, pupils can often be under the personal influence and direction of a teacher or group of teachers for several years, and sometimes throughout the entire educational period. In our schools nearly all pupils have the same teacher for all subjects for two years and for certain subjects three or four years in both elementary schools and the high school. The teachers' meetings and conferences furnish opportunity to compare experiences-means for ef- fective pupil progress-on a very personal basis as in our schools each teacher will have had direct contact with the pupil whose progress is being studied and so can offer practical help.
(3) The total learning environment can be more readily capitalized in a small community. A closeness of the school to the whole community makes it easy to correlate the class- room activities with learning. The school can more easily join with the rest of the community in providing suitable educational experience where organizations are small and closely knit. In the small town there is a better opportunity, therefore, for pupils to grow up seeing the community as a whole and identifying themselves with it. Primary pupils be- gin early to explore our community. Grammar school and high school classes have some opportunities to study their own environment in history and civic classes, in business prac-
45
ANNUAL REPORT
tices, and in guidance study. Our schools need to carry this function further and for this purpose would welcome co- operative help from local business and civic organizations.
(4) Frequent opportunity for group action of the entire school can lead to self-relization and to the development of desirable social traits. There are many more opportunities in the school of the small community for the average and less capable students to participate in a wide range of experi- ences both within and without the classroom. Unusual ability is not necessary in order to receive recognition. Often talents are discovered and the slow, backward student brought out by giving him a chance to take the leading role in some activity. With more opportunity to understand the children, their home life, and their surroundings, teachers are better able to guide and individualize the instruction that aids in self-realization on the part of each pupil. Pupils are not only given more opportunity to participate in athletics, extra-class- room activities, class exercises, and community life, but they are called upon more often to assume leadership and respon- sibility in things that count not only in school but in the life of the community. Furthermore, small school systems give a greater opportunity for the mixing of pupils of different ages in the same classroom and on the same playground. The re- ports of the principals of all three schols this year show many examples of this situation and excellent pupil response to it.
(5) The school in the small community provides greater opportunity for democracy in administration and supervision. The superintendent and teachers can plan together and there is that frequent personal contact which prevents misunder- standing and promotes a highly effective democratic relation- ship. Being closer to the teachers, pupils, and the people of the community, the superintendent can devote more time to each individual concerned and avoid group technics which are necessary in large systems. By using the individual approach, pupil growth in service can more readily be achieved and each individual's abilities can be utilized. There is greater oppor- tunity to participate in improving the courses of study, the curriculum, the organization, and the system as a whole. The teacher in the small community is a person of consequence and prestige and does not lose his identity as he does in a large organization. The large number of teachers going from our schools to positions with larger salaries in the larger suburban towns always report that they miss the intimate friendly con-
46
ANNUAL REPORT
tacts with school, officials, other teachers, and parents. The feeling of personal accomplishment is often changed to the clog-in-the-machine feeling.
THE HIGH SCHOOL Mr. Harry L. Dixon, Principal
Scholium
"The Scholium is still affording a needed medium for student self-expression although it does not claim the attention of enough students to make it a financial success. Many students who have official connections with the publication are quite serious and industrious in their efforts to make it a success. The last issue was a definite improvement from the standpoint of the material making up the main part of the paper. The credit for this improvement should go to both William Perreault, editor-in-chief, and Mr. Herbert A. Jerauld, faculty advisor. If with this as a starting point we may make gradual improvement from issue to issue we may soon point with considerable pride to our accomplishment along the line.
Guidance
"While we cannot claim to be doing much which is gen- erally considered to be Guidance we of course have for years done a great deal of informal counseling of our students. This is one of the possibilities in an organization as small as ours where we know the students well and see them so intimately as we do. This phase of Guidance interests Mr. Jerauld as he has been doing quite a bit of it with the Seniors and Sopho- mores. He has mainly stressed questions which concerned their vocational interests. Since he is constantly attempting to get them to give better expression to their ideas he is able by this kind of approach to offer them interesting topics on which to write and speak. This again is a fine example of the correlative work which may be done by a teacher who has sufficient background and a consciousness of the value and need for breaking down the dividing barriers between fields of school work.
47
ANNUAL REPORT
French Club
"Miss Malkasian has organized the most active French Club we have ever had. The progress for such a group must be planned by someone with imagination and understanding of the moods of the adolescent student. In Miss Malkasian we have such a teacher and I feel she is accomplishing real results with this club. Such activities as the following have been included in meetings to date: Singing of French songs, appre- ciative study of the significant historical facts about the famous palace at Versailles, Christmas customs in France. To a very large extent the conversation in these meetings is car- ried on in French thereby giving added training for one of the most desirable yet difficult of outcomes of language study.
Social Studies Program
"Mr. Jerauld has brought to us many stimulating ideas pertaining to his particular combination of studies and how they should be handled. He is wise enough to know that these ideas must be introduced gradually and that they will have to be altered to suit actual conditions as they are and as they change as time goes on. He has started with the Seniors in Problems of Democracy and has introduced the 'Laboratory' idea to correlate the work of their English and Social Studies Courses. Much excellent work has been accom- plished to date and there is every reason to anticipate con- tinued success for his plans.
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