USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Randolph > Randolph town reports 1875-1890 > Part 30
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60 00
1 swing drag, .
50 00
1 pair of wheels with pole,
50 00
4 harnesses,
50 00
1 double harness,
50 00
1 two-horse sled with shafts and pole,
50 00
1 stump and rock extractor and hook, 4 draft chains,
10 00
1 grindstone,
10 00
3 ploughs,
25 00
1 wheelbarrow,
3 00
7 hay and manure forks,
5 00
1 cultivator,
7 00
4 shovels, 1 spade, .
3 00
1 iron bar and 1 pick,
2 50
3 hoes, ·
1 00
3 rakes, .
75
2 scythes and snaths,
2 00
1 sawhorse,
.
75
.
30 00
34
7 hens,
$6 00
5 lbs. of tea,
2 00
25 lbs. of rice,
1 75
5 pounds of tobacco,
2 00
1 churn, ·
2 00
25 bushels of potatoes,
·
25 00
18 pounds of soap, .
1 17
25 gallons of molasses,
12 50
3 pounds of sugar, .
30
1 peck of beans,
75
Crackers, ·
2 50
Tripe,
1 00
Carpenter tools,
5 00
42 barrels of flour, .
36 00
5 pounds of chocolate,
1 65
18 iron bedsteads, .
100 00
20 colored blankets,
15 00
22 white blankets,
20 00
13 bedspreads,
8 00
10 comforters,
10 00
12 feather-beds,
75 00
17 under-beds,
25 00
49 sheets, ·
29 00
41 pillow-cases,
15 00
36 feather pillows,
12 00
22 towels,
3 00
4 table-cloths,
.
3 00
6 wooden trunks,
3 00
3 dining-tables,
12 00
5 light-stands,
.
3 00
60 chairs,
30 00
Ash-barrels, sifter, hod and shovel, . ·
.
4 00
6
1
1
1 3
1
1
1
1
1
6 f
Co
C
.
.
35
Cooking-stove and furniture,
$55 00
6 flatirons,
.
2 25
1 hammer, .
·
75
1 steelyards,
1 50
1 woodsaw,
1 25
1 clothes-wringer, ·
5 00
3 hammers and 33 drills,
45 00
1 fire-extinguisher, .
40 00
1 ice-chest, ·
12 00
Crockery ware,
40 00
Wooden ware,
20 00
Tin ware,
12 00
6 cords of wood,
24 00
1 clock, .
4 00
1 road-scraper,
25 00
2 tons of coal,
16 00
300 pounds of pork,
45 00
1 washing-machine,
8 00
60 pounds of lard, .
9 00
9 lamps,
4 00
32 flour barrels,
3 20
125 pounds of ham,
17 50
25 yards of cotton cloth,
2 00
8 yards of flannel,
1 35
$2392 43
ESTIMATE OF EXPENSES FOR 1883.
The following estimate of expenses for the ensuing year is presented for the consideration of the town : -
For schools (see report of School Committee), " repairs, furniture and incidental expenses, . $8,300 00
36
For General town expenses, items :
miscellaneous, .
$2,000
almshouse,
2,500
poor, ·
4,500
military aid,
1,000
$10,000 00
Highways,
2,500 00
ce Union street widening, .
2,500 00
" Fire department (see report of Engineers), 2,000 00
ce Town debt, .
.
7,000 00
Total,
$32,300 00
GUIDE-POSTS.
Guide-posts erected and maintained by the town need repainting, and the Selectmen recommend a special appro- priation for the same.
(See Public Statutes, chapter 53.)
Respectfully submitted, JOHN T. FLOOD, ROYAL T. MANN, JOHN B. THAYER, Selectmen of Randolph.
ANNUAL REPORT
OF THE
SCHOOL COMMITTEE
OF THE
TOWN OF RANDOLPH.
1882-83.
REPORT OF SCHOOL COMMITTEE.
In accordance with the requirements of the law the School Committee hereby make and submit their Annual Report, as follows : -
The primary and grammar schools of the town have been in session thirty-eight weeks, exclusive of vacations, making the school year covered by this report, and which closed on the 9th of March, current.
At the close of the first term of the year it became apparent that the two schools - Primary and Sub-Grammar -that had heretofore been maintained in the Town Hill District, No. 6, could conveniently be united in one room, and under the charge of one teacher. This change was effected, and Miss Sarah V. Wilde, who for several years had been the teacher of the Sub-Grammar Department, per- forming her duties with marked fidelity and general accept- ance to the patrons of the school, tendered her resignation, not being inclined to teach an ungraded school. Miss Emma H. King was placed in charge of consolidated school, and has administered its affairs with the success and satis- faction anticipated, for the last two terms of the year.
At the same time the four divisions of the Prescott Primary School, employing as many teachers, were reduced to three, and have been carried on the rest of the year by three teachers, with no diminution of interest or progress on the part of the pupils.
By these consolidations the corps of teachers, in the primary and grammar departments of the schools, has been
40
reduced from seventeen to fifteen, and none of the teachers have been overburdened by excessive numbers or work.
With these exceptions the schools have been operated on the same basis and under the instruction of the same teachers as the previous year, with a single exception. During the summer vacation Miss Minnie M. Babbitt, on account of impaired health, tendered her resignation of the position of teacher in the North Primary District. Miss Carrie L. Wilkins, a graduate of the Stetson High School, was chosen to fill the vacancy, and she is earnest in her efforts to maintain the former high standard of the school.
There have been enrolled six hundred and ninety children, as in attendance upon the schools some part of the year. From this number an average attendance of only five hund- red and two has been maintained, and the teachers' registers show only eleven cases of perfect attendance through the year, as follows : Maggie L. Reilly, Minnie A. McCarthy, Nellie F. McCarthy, Harry E. Tileston, Weston L. Mann, Patrick F. Clark, Charles E. Clark, Esther M. Towns, Sarah E. Stetson, Elmer B. Paine and Nellie Pope - these not having been absent a single session.
By these figures a large average absenteeism is developed, more than a hundred each session of the schools. Add to these those of schoolable age who have not attended at all, and consequently are not registered at any of the schools, and there is presented a formidable array of non-attendance and absenteeism, which, if continued, cannot fail to prove detrimental to the schools and hurtful to the individuals thus bereft of their privileges.
The Committee respectfully and earnestly submit that this showing in regard of attendance is not creditable to the town, which has not been illiberal or niggardly in appropriations
41
for school purposes, or praiseworthy to those who thus de- prive their children of the means of a common school educa- tion so amply provided for all; but on the contrary, it demonstrates a neglect of or indifference to the true welfare of their children, in too many cases, to be passed without remark of earnest expostulation and pointed appeal that this serious drawback to the widest usefulness of the schools be overcome. It is not enough that a part only of the children, though a very large part, receive the benefit of the common schools. They are established and maintained for and thrown open to all. Their privileges - instruction and dis- ciplinary training - become the inheritance of every child in the community, not to be abridged in its enjoyment dur- ing the school age by caprice or indifference, whether of the child or of those who control him.
The hope is confidently entertained that a common school system, supported at public expense, bestowing its favors and blessings upon all, irrespective of station or circum- stance, may receive a fuller recognition as a potent means to the advancement and prosperity of a community, placing a people, through the accession of oncoming generations of greater culture, upon a higher and broader plane of employ- ment, of usefulness and of happiness.
The children who have attended school with regularity in any of the grades have made commendable progress in their school work, and hold an advanced position as compared with the same classes a year ago. More intelligent methods in the presentation of subjects and in conducting recitations by continued use, in connection with multiplied recourse to object or objective teaching, wherein the fertility of brain and ingenuity of the teacher are displayed to the best advan- tage and with telling effect, have given to the labors of the
42
average teacher increased efficiency in awakening to greater activity the mental powers of the pupils, and, consequently, attaining more useful and satisfactory results.
The work of the schools, though not in every case all that is desired, is nevertheless better than in the past, and of inestimable benefit to the faithful recipient ; but to meet the demands of the times, the changed condition of industries, enterprises and living, there comes up a claim that it must be better still, or rather that it shall furnish the training and development of ability that will enable the adult to step into independent, active life with the means of earning a living where competition is so extensive and sharp.
Whatever, in the way of improvement in the far-reaching art of teaching, that has, by demonstration, sustained its claim, Committee and teachers alike have welcomed, and in- corporated into their work as circumstance and condition have afforded opportunity. All educational problems are not yet solved, at least to the satisfaction of all. The more theories there are in regard of means and methods, the greater the diversity of opinion concerning their practice.
But there is substantial unanimity in sentiment among educators, of the necessity of securing, through the training of the schools, a more practical education, so far as it goes, that shall prepare the youth of to-day to fully respond to the increasing calls to new fields of activity in industrial and artistic labors which the development of the industries of the country demands. That the schools of this town may contribute to this result and project into the active arena of the competitions of the age, her quota of mental force and skill, let them still maintain a prominent place in the regards and interests of the people, with an all-engrossing determina-
43
tion that nothing but the sternest necessity shall interfere with the fullest attendance of the children through the whole school period.
SUPPLEMENTARY READING.
During the year more extended courses in supplementary reading have been planned and earnestly entered upon. These courses, as their designation implies, are to supplement the ordinary exercises in reading from the prescribed readers, and embrace selections calculated to impart knowledge of a more technical character, such as geography, history of the United States, and branches of natural history, as of plants and animals. First, their object is to secure to the pupils the ability to read at sight by practice in sight reading. Secondly, as all the members of a given class or of the school at the time are concerned in the exercise, either as readers or listeners, the means are afforded to the listeners for training the faculty of comprehending, through the medium of the ear, the subject of written discourse when pronounced by another and to discipline the memory to retain knowl- edge thus acquired. It is contemplated, as no unimportant feature of the plan, that all the class, readers and listeners, shall, through close attention, be able to give in response to the teacher's call the subject matter of the selection read, its particular statements, the truths developed, and the mean- ings of unfamiliar terms ; and at times to reproduce in writ- ten form the selection under consideration, or any portion of it that the teacher may designate, using such language as they can command of their own, rather than trying to retain from memory the precise language of the text.
Thus three important points in the process of education are gained, or strengthened at the least, by this system of
44
training : the ability to read at sight, a very useful as well as pleasure-giving accomplishment; the ability to comprehend through the medium of the ear, as distinguished from the ability to comprehend through the medium of the eye, and the acquisition of useful knowledge. And then might be added the means of increasing the vocabularies of the pupils and of accomplishing something serviceable in the direction of fluent and correct use of language.
SCHOOL LIBRARY.
In this connection the Committee deem it no departure from their proper sphere of remark to present a few reflec- tions upon the subject of reading in general, as a means of information or of amusement.
The sources of original information, travel, exploration, discovery and experiment with natural elements are not available to any considerable portion of the human family. Most people who would obtain knowledge of the outward world are of necessity driven to books as the source, the records of what others have found out by travels, explora- tions, investigations and experiments. In the domain of history, for instance, the resort to written statement is im- perative, for beyond what is written in this line little, if any- thing, can be known. As all who would know or possess knowledge cannot become original inquirers and thus obtain knowledge at first hands, recourse must be had to books, while it cannot be denied that the most accurate, abiding and useful knowledge is that obtained through observation and experiment rather than by study of what another has committed to the printed page of his own knowledge, con- victions and reflections. So the art of printing is often placed highest in the line of beneficent inventions among
45
men. The multiplication of books in the last half century is wellnigh boundless. There is little cause now for the ejacu- lation, "Oh that mine adversary had written a book, " for " of making of books there is " certainly "no end " yet, and through the creation of libraries, public and private, and the distribution of reading matter among the people in a general way, almost any dearth other than that of books might be anticipated. At this time, when newspapers, magazines, periodicals and quarterlies, and books of more permanent character, come dropping from press and bindery thick as falling leaves in autumn, it is demanded by the requirements of society and a proper discharge of life's duties, that reading be general. Once the problem was, how to get books ; now it is how to select and read only that which is helpful and elevating, whether read for information or entertainment. No one who duly appreciates the influence one's reading exerts upon him for good or evil, who values stability and fixedness of character and purpose, can afford to pursue a course of desultory, fragmentary reading. There must be, first, a purpose, then a plan to secure the purpose, embrac- ing the proper works or books to be read.
These remarks apply to the youth of the town, many of whom are found in the High School and the advanced classes of the Grammar Schools, with more force, it may be, than to the adult portion of the reading community ; at all events, it is for them that the Committee are chiefly and specially concerned ; for them that they propose a plan for a better use of the valuable opportunities of the Turner Free Library as a means of education.
The School Committee have for some time felt that the benefits of this excellent institution to the young, as an edu- cational force, have not been utilized as they might easily be,
46
through the adoption of some plan looking towards assist- ance in the selection of the works or books to be read in connection with school work. The teachers have often re- ferred to the great help it would be to their more advanced pupils and to themselves in their capacity as teachers, to have the means of recommending courses of reading auxiliary to the work in school, and have expressed their approval of the proposition, which the School Committee will at no dis- tant day submit to the consideration of the Trustees of the Turner Free Library for the establishment of a branch, to be designated the "School Department " of the Library - se- lected from its well-stored alcoves, and made up of approved works bearing directly upon the studies of the High School and the first classes of the Grammar Schools.
Should such a measure be adopted the Committee confi- dently appeal to the parents and guardians of the children for co-operation in carrying it into effect, and thus securing to the young the best results from their reading.
DRAWING.
The subject of drawing has received a good share of at- tention in its place among the required studies in the public schools. Its importance in the education of youth is gaining recognition to an extent that warrants the conclusion that ere v long it will hold rank with any of the branches taught in the common schools. The subject is no longer held as an ac- complishment which only the favored few can afford to pos- sess, neither is it held as something to be practised only by those endowed with that subtile essence called genius. In the common schools, it is true, nothing is attempted in the realm of "high art," only what is denominated industrial drawing, extending to free-hand drawing. Even this prac-
47
tice leads the pupils up to designing, and in many cases already with pleasing results in originality and execution. Those who, through this culture of eye and hand, become trained to design or skilled to execute, go out into the world as with an added faculty to do and achieve in securing an independent livelihood. As the teaching of drawing to all children in the State - now enforced by positive statute - is intended to fit them to do more and better for themselves in after life, as well as to respond to the demand for greater skill and better work in industrial pursuits, it should receive a cordial welcome and a prominent place in the studies of the schools, both common and high. In the coming year it is hoped more may be done in this valuable branch than in the year just closed.
The schools of the town have fully maintained their pre- vious good standing, and offer inviting facilities to all the youth for an education ample to constitute them indepen- dent, self-supporting men and women in the world's strug- gles and conflicts, and when the common school course is extended by the facilities presented by the Stetson High, there would seem to be criminal neglect somewhere if illit- eracy shows its baleful presence in the rising generation.
It affords the Committee pleasure to extend congratula- tions to the citizens of the town that through the increased appropriation of last year for the support of the High School, the Trustees have been able to secure what they have felt was much needed in the equipment of the school - a laboratory. One of good proportions has been fitted up in the former bank-room, and supplied with apparatus, chemicals and specimens to the extent the means at hand would allow, thus adding greatly to the educational forces of the institution.
48
Now what is the duty of parents and guardians of chil- dren ? To see to it that they are not deprived of or allowed to be indifferent to their precious opportunities.
The financial statement herewith following shows the ag- gregate cost of the schools, and, in detail, the manner in which the appropriation and other receipts for the support of schools have been applied, exhibiting an unexpended balance therefrom of over $1000. While it has been the ever-present aim of the Committee to administer the sacred and most important trust committed to them by their fellow-citizens, under the laws of the Commonwealth, at an expense not in excess of funds available, they have pursued no miserly course, or withheld expenditure when the successful opera- tion of the schools would have been retarded thereby.
The Committee respectfully recommend to the town to raise and appropriate, for the support of the public schools, the following sums : -
For teaching,
$6575 00
fuel,
375 00
care of rooms,
450 00
repairs, .
500 00
general and incidental expenses,
400 00
Total, $8300 00
In regard of the amount recommended for repairs it may be remarked that the Prescott School House needs painting outside and to be renovated inside, and the yard must be graded to meet the level of the surface around the reservoir so as not to longer trench upon private rights by the unre- strained flow of water from the premises. Further, the gen- tleman who has rented the use of his well and pump to the town for several years, declines this use any longer than is
49
necessary for the Committee to make other arrangements. They deem it sound judgment and true economy to sink a well for the proper accommodation of the two schools, the Prescott Grammar and Primary, with something over two hundred pupils.
50
STATEMENT OF ATTENDANCE, 1882-83.
SCHOOLS.
TEACHERS.
Whole No. belonging.
Average whole number
belonging.
* Average attendance.
Percentage of attend-
Number over 15 years. | Number under 5 years.
|Number not absent
during the year.
Prescott Grammar. Thomas II. West.
48
39
37 93.4 12
Sarah E. Shankland.
48
41
34 83.0
Isabelle G. Driscoll.
51
46
41 89.1
Kate E. Sheridan.
45
42
40 93.0
Prescott Primary.
Mary A. Molloy.
40
37
35,95.0
Mary E. Wren.
43
32
27 84.0
Kittie R. Molloy.
63
48
41|85.5
North Grammar.
Joseph Belcher. Alice A. Smith.
44
38
34 90.0
North Primary.
Emma D. Stetson.
45
40
35 89.0
2
2
Carrie L. Wilkins.
41
30
23 77.0
No. 1. Ungraded.
Minnie W. Corliss.
41
30
22 73.0
1
.6 3. 66
Helen P. Henry.
41
34
30 88.0
5
I
Sara C. Belcher.
32
27
24 89.0
1
6
6.
Emma H. King.
36
30
28
93.0
1
1
690 572 506
Ave.
18,8 11
87.8
* Average attendance computed on average number belonging.
1
72
58
55 95.3
5
5
ance.
51
TRUANT OFFICERS' REPORT.
To the School Committee of Randolph :
Gentlemen, - In accordance with the by-laws of the town under which we received our appointment, we beg to report that we have visited the schools from time to time, and have seen the parents or children when names have been reported by the teacher. We find but few habitual, but many occa- sional, absentees. We are again compelled to blame the parents for this carelessness, as it is beyond the control of the officers. We have not any cases of truancy to report, where we have felt it necessary to proceed to the extremity of the law.
GALEN HOLLIS, THOMAS FARRELL, Truant Officers.
EXPENDITURES FOR SCHOOLS -1882-83.
FOR TEACHING.
Paid Thomas H. West, 1 year, $1000 00
Joseph Belcher, 1 year, . 832 90
Sarah E. Shankland, 38 weeks, 450 08 .
Alice A. Smith, 38 weeks, 375 06
Sara C. Belcher, 38 weeks,
362 90
Ellen P. Henry, 38 weeks,
362 90
Isabelle G. Driscoll, 38 weeks,
359 86
Mary A. Molloy, 38 weeks,
349 98
Kittie E. Sheridan, 38 weeks,
349 98
Emma H. King, 38 weeks,
322 50
Emma D. Stetson, 38 weeks,
304 00
Mary E. Wren, 38 weeks,
304 00
52
Paid Minnie W. Corliss, 38 weeks, . $304 00
Kittie R. Molloy, 38 weeks,
285 00
Sarah V. Wilde, 13 weeks,
111 15
Carrie L. Wilkins, 25 weeks,
187 50
Mary D. Dooley, 13 weeks,
78 00
M. Lizzie Stanley, 9 weeks, 67 50
Minnie M. Babbitt, 4 weeks,
30 00
Total,
$6437 31
FUEL.
Paid R. W. Turner & Co., for coal,
$336 25
Edwin M. Mann, for wood,
22 50
John Wales, for wood,
4 50
sundry persons for shavings and preparing wood, .
20 13
Total,
$383 38
CARE OF ROOMS.
Paid Margaret Riley,
$229 58
Galen Hollis,
75 00
Mary Feeney, .
18 33
Mrs. Lewis T. Stetson,
28 35
Herbert C. Wilbur, .
15 00
Sarah V. Wilde,
16 00
John T. Wales,
7 00
Mrs. William Shields,
6 00
Emma H. King,
.
16 00
Thomas O'Holloran,
1 00
Total,
$412 26
.
53
FOR FURNITURE AND REPAIRS OF SCHOOL-HOUSES AND INCIDENTAL EXPENSES.
Paid William Ware & Co., for books, $193 54
Boston School Supply Co., for books, 134 52
Winslow Alden, for labor and material, 63 50
Ivison, Blakeman, Taylor & Co., mdse., 60 48
E. B. Bridgman, for mdse., 96 44
Charles A. Wales, for labor and material, 55 57
Lee & Shepard, for books, 42 01
Thomas H. West, for labor on books, 50 00
Thompson and Brown & Co., for mdse.,
36 80
John B. Thayer, for labor and material, 27 93
Claflin & Brown, for mdse., 30 20
Knight, Adams & Co., for books, 31 67
Blacker & Shepard, for mdse., .
22 53
L. Prang & Co., for books, 22 83
Ginn & Heath, for books, . 17 28
J. A. Swasey, for mdse., . 17 50
Morrison M. Alden, for labor and material, 35 14
D. B. White & Co., for mdse., 20 64 .
Thomas Farrell, truant officer, . 25 00
Galen Hollis, truant officer, 2 years, . 30 00
A. G. Whitcomb, for mdse., · 18 00
Charles E. Pratt, for taking census, . 20 00
A. J. Gove, for expressage,
21 25
Colin Boyd, for care of room, 12 00
Cowperthwait & Co., for mdse., 15 22
Harper Bros., for mdse., . 13 40
James E. Nash, for repairs, 10 40
Nathaniel Noyes, for repairs, 6 62
John F. Bowditch, for mdse.,
5 25
54
Paid Patrick Feeney, use of well, $6 00
Bernard Wren, for removing snow, 7 00
Wales Bros., for labor and material, . 8 00
Daniel H. Huxford, for printing,
4 50
N. Rosenfeld, for mdse., 4 11
Joseph Belcher, for tuning piano and sundry bills, 3 50
George H. Smith, for mdse.,
4 05
Richard Stevens, for labor, 4 00
John Carter & Co., for mdse., 3 60
Lawrence Hayes, for use of well, 3 00
Deborah M. Jones, for use of well,
3 00
Charles Prescott, for mdse., .
2 48
Richard Stevens, for carriage hire,
2 00
Herbert L. Wilbur, for mdse., .
.
38
Mrs. Lewis T. Stetson, for mdse., 25
Galen Hollis, for labor and key,
2 25
Total, .
$1193 84
Included in the above is cash refunded to the
Town Treasurer, for books sold,
$334 68
Stock of books on hand,
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