USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Somerville > Report of the city of Somerville 1872 > Part 5
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9. ADDRESS by J. H. Davis, Esq.
10. POEM, by E. R. Morse, Esq.
11. ADDRESS, by Henry F. Spencer, Esq.
12. MUSIC, . by the Somerville Musical Associations.
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FIRST HIGH SCHOOL HOUSE.
The following items gathered from the School Records and Reports, may interest some of our citizens.
The corner-stone of the building was laid in Septem- ber, 1851.
BUILDING COMMITTEE.
Rev. A. R. Pope, Chairman of the School Committee.
Isaac F. Shepard, Secretary 66 66 66
Hon. George O. Brastow.
The building was dedicated, April 29, 1852.
ORDER OF EXERCISES.
1. Singing .- Original Hymn, by I. F. Shepard.
2. Surrender of the keys by the Building Committee.
3. Remarks of Hon. Luther V. Bell, M. D., former member of the School Committee.
4. Prayer of Dedication, by Rev. J. T. Sargent.
5. Singing by scholars of the Grammar Schools.
6. Address by I. F. Shepard, Esq.
7. Singing by the scholars.
8. Benediction.
The school was organized, May 3, 1852, and sixty-one pupils were connected with it the first term.
Eight hundred and fifty-three pupils were admitted to the school during the twenty years it occupied the build- ing.
The last session of the school was held, February 23, 1872, at which time it contained one hundred and fifty pupils.
TEACHERS OF THE HIGH SCHOOL AND THEIR TERM OF SERVICE.
PRINCIPALS.
Assistants.
From.
To.
ROBERT BICKFORD .
Elizabeth C. Babcock .
1852.
December, 1853.
Charlotte Gardner
December, 1853 .
June,
1854.
Rebecca F. Ames
1853 .
December, 1854.
LEONARD WALKER
M. A. Merriam
August,
1854 . ·
1856.
Agnes Gillis .
September, 1856 .
August,
1858.
SAMUEL J. PIKE .
Lucy A. Dudley .
1856 . .
1858.
Sarah C. Cushman
February, 1857.
1858.
Lydia A. Pearce
September, 1857 .
August,
1858 .
1859.
ISAAC N. BEALS
George C. Bracket.
1858
April, August,
1867.
Harriet iet E. Reed.
April,
1860
1867.
Harriet E. Guild
May,
1860
66 1861.
Elizabeth S. Owen
September, 1861 .
June,
1862.
Sarah L. Graves
1865
GEORGE L. BAXTER , ,
Susan R. Osgood
August, 66
1867 .
Mary E. Davis .
66
1867
February, 1868 .
·
September, 1869 .
·
WALTER F. MARSTON, Sub-Master . .
October,
1871
1860.
HENRY H., BABCOCK .
יי
1859
·
·
1867 .
February, 1868.
Sarah W. Fox . Annette E. Long .
May 3, 1852 .
March, 1854.
September, 1856.
March, 1854
December, 1854 .
1856.
1857.
93
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ADDITIONAL SCHOOL ACCOMMODATIONS.
The demand for additional school accommodations in Prospect Hill and Prescott districts is urgent.
All the school-rooms in both districts are occupied, with the exception of one room in the Webster school- house.
One hundred and fifty pupils in Prospect Hill district are occupying halls rented for the purpose.
From seventy to eighty pupils were in attendance in the Brastow primary school, and in each of the two pri- mary schools in the Prescott school-house during the summer and autumn.
To relieve the Prescott school, all the rooms in the Edgerly school-house have been occupied. Hence there remains no spare room in that building for the accommo- dation of the rapidly increasing population in its imme- diate neighborhood.
In both of these districts a large number of dwellings are in process of construction ; others are completed and ready for use. All of these will, doubtless, be occupied in the coming spring and summer.
It will be seen by referring to our summary, that in December there were nineteen hundred and twenty pu- pils belonging to the schools in these two districts, and only two Grammar Masters, while in the schools of the remaining three districts there were only ten hundred and twenty-seven pupils and three Grammar Masters.
It seems desirable that these two districts should be divided into three; that two grammar-school buildings, each of the size of the Prescott school-house, should be constructed ; and that an additional grammar school should be established.
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Should such an arrangement be deemed expedient, the matter of locating becomes important.
When the present Prospect Hill school-house was lo- cated there were but few dwellings upon the territory bounded by Highland Avenue, Walnut, Milk, and School streets. That territory is now occupied by a compara- tively dense population. The new school building for Prospect Hill district should be located with a view to the accommodation of pupils residing in that section, as well as of those located west and south of Milk street, and upon the southern declivity of Prospect Hill.
Following the line of Summer, Bow, Washington, and Myrtle streets, the grammar-school building for Prospect Hill district should be located at a point about one-third of the distance from the Morse school-house to the Prescott school-house ; and the grammar-school building for the new district should be located about half way between the Prescott school-house and the building which may be erected in Prospect Hill district.
In the construction of these buildings provision should be made for future wants. If the experience of the past is to be repeated, a population will soon centre about the points designated, sufficient to fill two buildings, each of the size of the Prescott school-house.
The following items may be interesting in this con- nection, and may serve to raise the inquiry, Is the ratio of male to female teachers in our schools as large as it should be to secure the greatest efficiency ?
April 23, 1842, Wm. E. Graves, the first Grammar Master in Somer- ville, was elected Principal of the Prospect Hill grammar school :- Salary, $600.
Whole number of pupils in the town at that date was 293.
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1n 1843, a small building with one room was constructed on the corner of Broadway and Franklin street, for the accommodation of the East Village and Winter Hill. April 12, 1844, a grammar school was established in that building, called the Lower Winter Hill gram- mar school, and George Swan was elected Principal :- Salary, $30 per month.
Whole number of pupils in town at that time was 308.
The name of this school was changed to Prescott grammar school, January 8, 1847.
The Franklin school-house was completed in the autumn of 1846. October 12, Wm. E. Graves was transferred from Prospect Hill grammar school to Franklin grammar school.
The first Forster school-house was completed early in the year 1855. February 22d of that year, John Jameson was elected Principal of Forster grammar school : - Salary, $700.
Whole number of pupils in town at that date was 1,045.
The Lincoln school-house was dedicated March 23, 1867. Jan. 1, 1867, Horace P. Makechnie was elected Principal of Lincoln gram- mar school : - Salary,$1,000.
Whole number of pupils in town at that date was 2,123.
In 1842 there was one Grammar Master to 293 pupils.
1844
66
154
66
1846
66
66
"
160
66
1855
66
66
66
261
66
1867
66
424
66
1872
66
66
625
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RULES AND REGULATIONS OF THE BOARD.
Within the year, the Rules and Regulations of the School Committee, and the Course of Study for the sev- eral grades of the schools have been carefully revised and printed in pamphlet form.
It is the wish of the Committee that not only each school, but every family in the city should be fur- nished with a copy. Copies can be obtained on applica- tion to the Superintendent, or any member of the School Committee.
SCHOOL YEAR.
The school year has been reduced from forty-two to forty weeks: commencing on the first Monday in Sep- tember and closing about the first of July.
This change seemed to be demanded by the general wish of the community, as indicated by the small attend- ance for several years, during the weeks the schools were continued in July.
EXHIBITIONS.
In order that each member of the Committee might attend all of the annual exhibitions of the schools, they were so arranged that no two occurred at the same time. To accomplish this we were obliged to have exhibitions every session of the schools from the 27th day of June last, to the 12th day of July, inclusive.
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It is the prevailing opinion of the teachers, and also of the Committee, that the time spent in a school after its exhibition is of little value.
We would suggest that the exhibitions of the schools in the several districts take place, under the direction of the Sub-Committees, at the same time, and as near the close of the school year as possible; and that all the schools in each district close with the exhibition of the grammar school.
MUSIC.
Music, under the direction of an accomplished teacher, has been pursued during the past year in the same man- ner as in several preceding years. A lesson of one hour each week has been given in each of the grammar-school buildings and in the High School.
When this mode of giving instruction in music to the schools was adopted, it was probably the best that could have been devised. But the schools have multiplied greatly since that time, and a radical change in the pres- ent mode is demanded in order that each separate class in the several departments may receive such instruction, and such only, as is adapted to the capacity and advance- ment of the pupils composing it.
We solicit an early consideration of the matter by the Committee on Music.
EVENING DRAWING SCHOOL.
To meet the requirements of the law of the State making it the duty of School Committees to furnish in-
99
struction in Mechanical or Industrial Drawing to persons over fifteen years of age, a school was organized under the direction of Lucus Baker, Esq., early in January last.
The school was held in the school-room of the old High School House, in January and February, and in the Exhibition Hall of the new High School House, in March and April.
Whole number in attendance, 55
Average attendance, 45
Number of school sessions, 23
A school for the same purpose and under the same teacher is in progress at the present time.
Whole number in attendance, 62
IRREGULAR ATTENDANCE.
The most discouraging feature of our schools is the irregular attendance of many of the pupils composing them.
That this is an evil of sufficient magnitude to excite unpleasant apprehension and arouse us to strenuous ef- forts to diminish it will be apparent from a careful study of our "exhibit" on page 15, and a comparison of this with our "summary" showing the whole number of pupils nominally belonging to the schools.
Teachers can do much towards reducing the evil by rendering the schools more interesting and attractive; but it is to parents we must look, mainly, for its correc- tion and cure: and we most earnestly solicit their con- sideration and persistent co-operation in the matter.
We apprehend that the evil has its origin, in part, in
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what we regard a false impression, namely, -"That chil- dren are overtasked in their studies, and subjected to undue confinement in the school-room."
That this is true in some cases there can be no doubt.
During our connection with the schools of Somerville, we have known a few pupils, of superior endowments and of great promise, who have been permanently, and, in a few instances, fatally injured by too close confine- ment and too continuous and severe mental labor. But we have found, upon investigation, that, in every instance of this character, the sufferer had been laboring beyond the stated requirements of the School Committee, or had been promoted prematurely and forced to pursue studies beyond his comprehension.
A few pupils have attempted to pursue the studies of the "Classical Course" and also of the "Regular Course," in the High School, at the same time, -a task which should never be undertaken. He who attempts it must do it at his peril.
With injurious, and sometimes fatal consequences, a few ambitious pupils, with nervous temperaments and fra- gile constitutions, urged on by equally ambitious parents and teachers, have engaged in intellectual efforts beyond their years or their mental and physical endurance. But these were exceptional cases.
We have watched, with much solicitude, the effect of our prescribed school work upon pupils in the different departments, and our conviction is, that no pupil of or- dinary health and intellectual capacity, with correct hab- its, and who is free from other mental labor, will be injured by attending constantly and faithfully upon the duties of the schools, and in complying strictly with all of their requirements.
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A little consideration will convince us that the time allotted to the schools is not excessive.
Forty weeks constitute our school year. To the twelve weeks of vacations we may add another week for the stated holidays, which reduces the school year to only three-fourths of the civil year. There are five sessions a week of five hours each, in the High School, and ten ses- sions a week averaging two and three-fourths hours each in the grammar and primary schools. These sessions are divided by recesses and general school exercises, so that the time devoted to actual mental effort in school, by pupils in constant, punctual attendance will not ex- ceed four hours a day for five days in each of the thirty-nine weeks of school time.
Neither is the work required of pupils who are regu- lar in their attendance, excessive, or such as to produce injurious results.
Much care and thought have been bestowed upon " the preparation of a "Course of Study" that would be adapted to the average capacity of our pupils. But the studies have been arranged and apportioned with the expectation that pupils will be regular in their attend- ance and faithful in the performance of their school work.
When scholars are irregular in their attendance, one or more of several unpleasant consequences follow. Either they must overwork during the time they are in attendance, or their education will be superficial ; or they must be transferred, from time to time, to a lower class-whereby the time for completing the course of study will be prolonged; or what is still more probable, they will become discouraged, lose their interest in the school, and leave it prematurely.
Immeasurable mischief comes to any school by the
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irregularity of a portion of its members who must ever hang as an incubus upon it,-impairing its efficiency and retarding the progress of those who are regular in at- tendance, and faithful in their work.
We have no moral right to squander our own time, much less can we innocently prevent the most profitable use of it by others.
PROMOTIONS.
Every person, at all conversant with the matter, real- izes the extreme difficulty of measuring correctly the capacity of pupils, of adapting instruction judiciously, and of making a right apportionment of mental labor, in quality and amount, to the various and ever-varying ca- pacities of scholars in the different stages of their school course.
Public schools must, of necessity, be graded schools. " Pupils with every diversity of natural endowment, vary- ing in temperament, organization, ambition, habits of thought and study, and physical endurance, must be grouped into classes.
To all pupils in each class the same lessons must be assigned, and they must all receive substantially the same instruction. A discriminating and ingenious teacher, it is true, will adapt his instruction to the extreme as well as to the mean capacity of all the members of the class ; but in his assignment of lessons he must be governed by his estimate of their average ability. Every lesson, there- fore, which is adapted to the average scholar will over- task the abilities of some members of the class, and be insufficient for others.
103
The disparity which must necessarily exist in the abil- ities and attainments of different members of every class at the beginning of the year, will increase as time advan- ces, and at the end of the year will be greater than should ever exist between members of the same class. But this disparity is found in nearly every class at the close of each school year when promotions are made and the classes are arranged for the succeeding year.
To make promotions under such circumstances, to deal justly with every pupil, and give satisfaction to all, is a task not easily performed.
A reasonable degree of uniformity can be maintained only by individual promotions from one extreme of the class, and by transferring pupils to a lower class from the other extreme. In our " Course of Study," limits, as defi- nite as is practicable, have been prescribed for each class, and the amount of work to be performed distinctly as- signed.
How much, has been decided by the Committee. How well, will depend mainly upon the industry of the pupils, and the faithfulness and skill of the teachers. The har- vest from fields of equal fertility is usually commensurate with the excellency of tillage.
Seventy per cent in scholarship is the requirement for promotion from one class to another in the Grammar Schools, and for admission to the High School.
Ninety per cent in scholarship is about the average of the best scholars in the several classes. But 70 is nearly 78 per cent of 90; therefore our requirement is that the scholarship of the lowest in rank in any class, shall be to that of the highest in rank as 78 to 100; thus allowing a range of 22 per cent between the extremes of the same class.
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To obviate the liability to injustice resulting from pro- motions based upon a single examination at the close of the year, the Committee adopted the following rules :
Pupils in each of the several Grammar schools shall be examined at the end of each month upon the various studies pursued since the commencement of the school year, by means of questions carefully prepared by the teacher and approved by the Principal and Super- intendent.
A record of the examinations shall be kept by the teachers ; and those pupils - in all the classes except the first- whose average rank in scholarship for the year has been seventy per cent, will be entitled to promotion.
Applicants will be admitted to the High School when their rank in scholarship, as indicated by the average of their monthly examinations and the usual annual examination, is seventy per cent.
The requirements of these rules impose much extra labor upon the teachers; but, with scarcely an exception, they have conformed to them with great cheerfulness, and with an enthusiasm even, which is gratifying in a high degree.
The advantages claimed for this mode of examinations and promotions are briefly as follows : -
The questions for the monthly examinations, being examined and approved by the Principals of the gram- mar schools, uniformity is secured in a given district ; and being examined by the Superintendent also, a good degree of uniformity can be maintained throughout the city, thereby securing justice to pupils in all sections.
Promotions being based upon the average of the monthly examinations, the chances of pupils for promo- tion are multiplied, and the liability to failure from the contingencies of a single examination is obviated.
Parents are informed at the end of each month of the
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rank of their children and of the probabilities of their promotion at the end of the year.
Faithful pupils are encouraged and stimulated, and the indolent are roused to greater activity.
Frequent reviews are secured, and all the subjects passed over within the year, come under observation at the end of each month.
The minds of pupils are relieved from the anxiety and uncomfortable forebodings incident to the uncertainty of a single annual examination.
Promotion by an annual examination is often too high a premium upon verbal memory. Every educator under- stands that the mere possession of facts is not always a criterion of development, or of a pupil's ability to cope successfully with the studies in advance. By frequent examinations of subjects but recently passed over, the industrious pupil with imperfect memory is placed more upon an equality with a pupil less industrious but with a more retentive memory.
DISCIPLINE.
The matter of discipline - the proper maintenance of which is so essential to the harmony and prosperity of the schools - demands our consideration.
Proper government is indispensable to the efficiency of any school. How to secure it in the best manner is a vital question.
That certain schools can be well managed by some teachers without recourse to corporal punishment, is a fact within our knowledge, Whether all schools could
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be so conducted by any teacher is doubtful. That they are not by the average of teachers is sure.
We have usually accompanied our commendations of the excellent order which characterizes most of our schools, with the statement: "It is secured mainly by mild measures."
During the past year, teachers have made a record of all cases of corporal punishment in their respective schools ; and by corporal punishment is understood “ the · infliction of physical pain."
The number of cases reported may not be regarded a large one, when we take into account the whole number of pupils, and all the varied and unfavorable circum- stances under which many of them are being reared ; but we could wish it had been smaller.
The record is interesting, and suggestive of several important lessons.
In three schools there was no case of punishment reported. One teacher reports one case only ; one, three only ; one, seven ; one, eight; one, nine; two, ten each.
Of the whole number of cases reported, eight per cent only were in twenty schools; fifty per cent were in thir- teen schools, and forty-two per cent were in the remain- ing twenty-six schools.
If we represent the average number of punishments to each pupil in the first and second classes of the gram- mar schools by .3, then .9 will represent the number in the third and fourth classes, and 1.3 the number in the fifth and sixth classes, and 1.2 the number in the Primary Schools.
From this record we learn that some of our schools have been most successfully managed without recourse to corporal punishment; and that other, and more diffi-
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cult schools, have been as well conducted without resort- ing to punishment except in rare and extreme cases.
It is but just to say, however, that while the teachers of those schools where little or no punishment is em- ployed, are among our best teachers, it is also true that the schools they teach are our best schools, being made up largely of pupils whose home influences and previous training in lower schools have been most conducive to the result secured.
We may not conclude that these teachers would succeed equally well in all schools, with the same kind of discipline. Neither may we infer that their schools are so tractable that teachers with less ability and skill would meet with similar success in their attempts to control them.
The teacher and the school are the components to be considered in arriving at just conclusions.
There would be great injustice in requiring of teachers, in schools of every grade, equal results by similar means. But, other things being the same, we do award the high- est commendations to those teachers who secure good order, and cheerful, prompt obedience by moral means.
It is interesting to notice the rapid decrease in the number of cases of corporal punishment from the lower to the higher grades in the grammar schools. This di- minution is satisfactorily accounted for by the following reasons : - The upper classes are all under the care of teachers of long experience. Self-respect, sense of pro- priety, and pride of reputation increase as pupils advance. Obedience and orderly deportment are largely the result of habit: when, therefore, pupils have been well trained at home and in the lower schools, the habits they form render it easy for them to conform to school require- ments.
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We can find no satisfactory reason why the per cent of punishments should be less in the primary schools than in the fifth and sixth classes of the grammar schools ; especially, as nearly all the teachers who have had but little experience are in the primary schools. The inqui- ry is suggested, " Is not an improvement practicable ?"
In nothing do teachers differ more widely than in their ability to govern. Hence it is, that we find such a marked difference in the amount of corporal punishment in schools of the same grade and similar in character.
Many persons are largely endowed by nature with qualities that enable them to control with ease; but gen- erally, the art of governing is an acquired art, and is the result of long and observant practice.
The teacher who would govern well must possess, in the first place, ample literary qualifications, and a charac- ter above reproach. He must have a self-consciousness that he is equal to the task before him; and it must be apparent to the quick perceptions of his pupils that he is " master of the situation."
He must possess perfect self-control. "He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city."
He must be in full sympathy with his pupils, and their highest good must be his constant and controling motive. His requirements must be reasonable and uniform. What he censures on some occasions, should not be permitted at other times. He must govern in accordance with fixed principles, and not according to his ever varying moods.
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