USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Somerville > Report of the city of Somerville 1897 > Part 13
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42
Somerville has no public interests surpassing in importance those of her schools, whether regarded from the point of view of the childless tax-payer jealous of every expenditure for educa- tional purposes, or from that of the public-spirited citizen anxious that the children of our city should receive the best we can give toward making them intelligent and virtuous men and women. It behooves every good citizen, whether in official station or in private life, to be watchful and to do what he can to promote these important interests, and, avoiding parsimony on the one hand and prodigality on the other, to lend his influence to secure for our schools everything that modern methods and appliances can furnish, even at cost of some personal sacrifice. It is the object of this report to contribute to this end by giving to the public all possible information concerning our
294
ANNUAL REPORTS.
schools, for the support of which such liberal appropraitions have been made. The more important facts relative to the schools are succinctly presented in the following
SUMMARY OF STATISTICS, 1896 AND 1897.
Population of Somerville .
1896. 54,400
56,000
School population, May 1
8,885
9,113
Children attending school in December .
10,113
10,464
Attending private
schools
in
December
1,410
1,386
Attending public
schools
in
8,703
9,078
Attending High
schools in
December
840
877
Attending grammar and pri- mary schools in December.
7,863
8,201
Entire enrollment for year
10,582
11,293
Average number belonging
8,077
8,589
Average number attending
7,663
8,144
Per cent. of daily attendance
94.9
94.8
Number of school buildings
25
25
Valuation of school property
$911,800 00
$953,800 00
Number of classrooms
192
197
Number of teachers in December
225
249
Salaries of teachers
$157,051 21
$175,514 92
Salaries of officers
4,500 00
4,706 71
Cost of books and supplies
17,601 28
14,815 49
Cost of water and light
1,469 00
1,920 32
Cost of janitors' services
14,160 00
16,250 61
Cost of fuel
9,962 00
10,064 67
Total cost of day and evening schools
204,743 10
223,272 72
Cost for each pupil in average membership .
25 35
26 00
·
.
·
·
·
1897.
December
295
SCHOOL DEPARTMENT.
Cost for each high school pupil
$62 25
$56 02
Cost for each grammar and pri- mary pupil
21 57
22 87
Amount paid for new school buildings
61,016 04
46,620 92
Cost of repairs and permanent improvements
33,240 42
20,506 77
Entire expenditures for school purposes
all
298,999 56
290,400 41
Expended by School Board
179,152 49
195,037 12
Expended by City Government
119,847 07
95,363 29
Valuation of city
49,013,050 00
50,173,775 00
Per cent. of valuation spent to maintain schools
0.418
0.444
Per cent. of valuation spent for all school purposes .
0.644
0.579
Somerville has nearly a million dollars invested in school property. This consists at the present time of twenty-five build- ings, two of which are devoted to high school purposes. Of the remainder, ten are large and commodious structures, containing in the aggregate 121 classrooms for grammar and primary pupils. One building of eight rooms, two of six, eight of four, one of two, and one of a single room, all mainly devoted to pri- mary classes, complete the number.
Suitably to heat and ventilate these buildings, to provide water for sanitary purposes, to furnish light, and to pay the salaries of their custodians, has cost the city this year $28,235.60, an amount equal to $3.29 for each child.
These buildings have been occupied during the year by 11,293 different pupils, 8,589 of whom have been members of the schools throughout the year. The difference of 2,704 pupils be- tween the entire enrollment and the membership of the year shows the extent of our floating school population, children who either come into the city, stay a few months, and then remove elsewhere, or attend school but a portion of the year.
296
ANNUAL REPORTS.
The average daily attendance of the schools for the year is 8,144, -- 94.8 per cent. of what it would have been had there been no absences. The schools have been in session 370 half days, so that there have been in the aggregate 2,848,764 half days of at- tendance, on 2,486 of which a child has come late to school, show- ing the ratio of tardiness to have been nine in every 10,000.
To supply the pupils in the schools with text-books, sta- tionery, and other appliances for the conduct of their work has required an expenditure of $14,815.49, or $1.73 per capita.
For the instruction of these children there have been em- ployed from 230 teachers in January to 249 teachers at the present time. To pay the salaries of these teachers, together with those of Superintendent, clerk, and truant officers, has required the sum of $180,221.63, or $20.98 for each child in average membership. This makes the aggregate outlay of the city for the maintenance of its schools $223,272.72, or $26.00 per capita ; the corresponding outlay for 1896 was $25.35 per capita. The increase of $0.65 is accounted for in the following table showing the
PER CAPITA COST OF MAINTAINING SCHOOLS, 1896 AND 1897.
High Schools.
Grammar and Primary Schools.
All Schools.
AMOUNT PAID FOR
1897.
1896.
De- crease.
1897.
1896.
In- crease.
1897.
1896.
In- crease.
Instruction
and
Supervision .
$44 68
$45 02
$0 34
$18 52
$17 44
$1 08
$20 98
$20 00
$0 98
Text-Books and
Supplies
· ·
4 95
9 51
4 56
1 39
1 43
*0 04
1 73
2 18
*0 45
Schoolhouse penses
Ex-
6 39
7 72
1 33
2 96
2 70
0 26
3 29
3 17
0 12
Totals .
$56 02
$62 25
$6 23
$22 87
$21 57
$1 30
$26 00
$25 35
$0 65
·
· .
*Decrease.
Reference to this table will show that there has been a decrease in the per capita cost of the High schools of $6.23. The cost of supplies has been less by $4.56, the expenditures of last year being largely for the equipment of the English School. The cost of heating has been lessened $1.33, due chiefly to a reduction in the amount of coal used. The decrease of $0.34 in the cost
297
SCHOOL DEPARTMENT.
of instruction is owing to an increase in membership without a corresponding increase in the number of teachers employed.
In the grammar and primary schools the cost of supplies has been $0.04 less per pupil, while $0.25 more has been expended in the care of the schoolhouses than in 1896. The instruction of each pupil in the grammar and primary schools has cost $1.08 more than last year. Of this amount $0.22 may be charged to increase of salaries. The larger expenditure for evening schools accounts for $0.08 additional. The unusual outlay in the Spring Hill district in the attempt to make a four-hours' session equiva- lent to one of five hours has been $0.07 per pupil. The remain- ing increment of $0.71 results from the transfer of pupils to new buildings from those that have for some time been overcrowded. This means fewer pupils in a building and smaller classes, a con- dition for which we have long been striving, and one that will secure results which will be found to justify the larger expendi- ture.
There is a strong drift among educators towards individual instruction, by means of which each child may be ministered unto according to capacity and needs. In our primary grades, according to our present schedule of time-allotment, after taking out what is spent for opening and closing exercises and recesses, 255 minutes remain for the eight subjects of study, to which more or less attention is given. This, with a class of fifty, gives the teacher five minutes daily for each pupil. To be sure, much is done in class exercises, but how meagre at the best is the time given to each child, especially when we remember that, in the low- est grades at least, the children are almost helpless, as far as school work goes. When these same children reach the High School, and have become in a measure mature and self-helpful, we reverse the conditions and give each teacher less than thirty pupils. In the kindergarten we employ a second teacher when the number exceeds thirty. Is it not strange that primary teachers, to say nothing of teachers of higher grades, have so long been asked to struggle on with more than fifty hungry minds and souls to feed? No wonder the inconsiderate complain that more is not done. The real wonder is that we accomplish so much. Given fully
.
·
298
ANNUAL REPORTS.
qualified teachers with only twenty-five children to teach, and we- hazard the statement that the work that now requires nine years would be better done in six years, or seven. Shortened school life lies in the direction of smaller classes, rather than the introduc- tion of high school studies into grammar grades.
COST OF SCHOOLS.
It is a well-known fact, to which public attention is being constantly called, that Somerville is a city with comparatively few residents having large holdings of personal property, so that the. burden of taxation falls chiefly upon the owners of real estate. The large majority of our people have been drawn to our city by: its easy accessibility to Boston, and by the conviction that they. will here find a home in a community where healthful moral influences prevail, and where their children may enjoy superior- educational advantages. In this way we have a school popula- tion disproportionately large when considered in connection with our financial resources. From twenty-five to thirty per cent. of our annual tax levy is spent in the maintenance of schools. At first thought, this may seem an undue proportion, but it must be- remembered that in every municipality in the Commonwealth ex- penditures for the support of schools exceed by far any other item in the list. Indeed, recent inquiries reveal the fact that nearly half the cities of the State spend for school purposes a larger percent -. age of the amount raised by taxation than does Somerville.
It cannot be denied that our schools now cost somewhat more, relatively, than in the past. The reason of this increase is. obvious to those conversant with the facts. The general. awakening of interest in all matters pertaining to education and: the resultant extension of courses of study, the demand for better teaching and for smaller classes, and the enlargement and devel- opment of high schools lead naturally to this result.
To be more specific, we may remark that to heat, ventilate,. and care for a modern school building requires an outlay greatly- in excess of that formerly needed. The per capita cost of caring for schoolhouses in Somerville in 1896 was sixty-six per cent ..
299
SCHOOL DEPARTMENT.
more than it was in 1885. The care of the Bennett School cost this year $366, as against $635 paid for the Durell School, build- ings of the same capacity, but types of the old and the new.
Again, thirteen years ago parents provided text-books, stationery, and whatever other appliances their children needed for school use. Since then the city has relieved them of this burden, and now everything that the pupil needs is furnished at public expense, the annual outlay therefor being in the vicinity of $15,000.
We are now paying for our evening schools more than three times as much as was paid in 1886. The advantages accruing from this outlay will be discussed in another part of this report.
Another element of increased cost is found in the employ- ment of special instructors in music, sewing, drawing, penman- ship, and kindergartens, enforced by the demands of modern methods and the introduction of new subjects into the curriculum.
The last, but probably the most important factor in the increased expenditure, is found in the popularity and changed character of our High School. The membership has doubled and the per capita cost increased one-half within ten years. The introduction of manual training, made compulsory by State enact- ment, and the addition of fully-equipped scientific departments, business courses, and a wide range of elective studies have not only attracted large numbers of pupils, but have also added materially to the expense. It may be remarked that there has been no increase in the per capita rate of teachers' salaries in the primary and grammar schools for many years. Indeed, it is less to-day than it was in 1875.
What has been said concerning the increased cost of the schools is by way of information, and not of apology. Can the expenses of the schools be decreased without impairing their effi- ciency, is always a pertinent inquiry, and one to which official attention may frequently be directed.
There are four distincts lines of school expenditure, two under control of the City Council and two under that of the School Board. Can greater economy be practiced in any one of them? Obviously, our school buildings should be kept in
300
ANNUAL REPORTS.
thorough repair as a matter of thrift. It is false economy to erect cheap, unsubstantial buildings merely to tide over a finan- cial exigency. A larger outlay to secure the erection of better and more durable structures would result in the annual saving of large sums now spent to keep the cheaper buildings in repair. We have learned by recent experience that nothing is saved by using any but the best systems of heating, ventilation, and sanita- tion. Under existing circumstances, however, it seems impossi- ble to avoid the annual expense incurred by changes, renewals, and repairs in school buildings.
Secondly, it is very doubtful whether anything can be saved in the expense of caring for our schoolhouses. The janitors are not overpaid. Although in many buildings the cost of heating seems excessive, it is rendered unavoidable by the character of the heating and ventilating systems employed. No money seems to be wasted in this direction.
Thirdly, it is believed that due economy is practiced in the purchase and care of text-books and supplies. The former are carefully used frequently inspected, and rebound or replaced only when it is absolutely necessary. Paper, pens, pencils, blank books, drawing materials, etc., are bought in competition among dealers at lowest bids and used with rigid economy.
Fourthly, by far the largest outlay for schools is in the direction of teachers' salaries. If money is to be saved here, it must be done, either by lessening the number of teachers or re- ducing their pay. At the present time the number of pupils assigned to a single room in the city is forty-six, some having a larger and others a smaller number, according to the demands of locality or classification. As has been already said, it is the unani- mous opinion of experts that the best results will be obtained only when teachers are given smaller classes. If the attempt were made to get along with fewer teachers, it could be done only at the expense of thoroughness of instruction and efficiency of school work. The tendency of the times is towards individual and away from class instruction. This means fewer pupils to a teacher, an increase, rather than a decrease, in the number of instructors.
301
SCHOOL DEPARTMENT.
As has been previously noted, Somerville is paying the women teaching its primary and grammar schools less to-day than it did twenty-five years ago. When we consider the present standard of requirements, the special preparation demanded, the variety of subjects taught, the time and strength expended, we cannot resist the conclusion that these teachers should be paid fully as much as at any former time. The demand for good teachers and the competition among cities for their services were never greater.
It is a constant struggle to retain or to replace our best teachers. We must either compete in price with other munici- palities or content ourselves with other than the best. Advance, rather than reduction, in the salaries of the grammar and primary teachers is necessary, if we would maintain the present standing of our schools.
Incidental allusion has previously been made to one respect in which our school system differs from that of many other cities. Instead of massing our grammar grades in large buildings of sixteen or eighteen rooms, under the charge of a master, and dis- tributing our primary grades among smaller buildings, as is done in Cambridge, for example, it is our custom to put primary and grammar children into the same building,-one-third of the seats in our ten large grammar schoolhouses being occupied, at the present time, by primary classes. This involves the employment of a larger number of masters and a corresponding increase in expenses. Where Somerville paid $2.46 in grammar masters' salaries in 1896 for each grammar and primary child in the city, Cambridge paid $1.81, Lowell $1.61, Lawrence $1.45, New Bed- ford $1.35, and Lynn $1.03. Only a partial remedy can now be applied. As suggested in an earlier report, as rapidly as possible we should use our large buildings exclusively for grammar schools and our new schoolhouses should be for primary pur- poses only. We have large buildings enough for many years.
Everything possible should be done in the way of economy and retrenchment, but it would be suicidal policy to lower the standard or character of our schools simply to save money or
302
ANNUAL REPORTS.
to make our city less attractive to those who seek a residence here. The citizens of Somerville will never begrudge what they are called upon to pay for schools, provided a full equivalent is rendered for every dollar expended. To do this is the earnest effort of every one having official connection with the schools.
SCHOOL ACCOMMODATIONS, PRESENT AND FUTURE.
The increased accommodations in Ward One, for which the School Board had been asking for several years, were voted by the City Council early in 1896. A six-room primary building was located and erected on Webster street at the corner of Rush. It was fully occupied in September of the current year. The cost of the building was as follows :-
Land, 12,756 square feet .
$10,200 00
Cost of construction (contract)
23,000 00
Heating, furniture, etc. 8,832 19
Total
$42,032 19
In its architecture within and without and in its adaptability to school use, this building is probably the best in the city. The architect, Thomas M. Sargent, of Somerville, has kindly fur- nished the following description of the building, plans of which will be found on subsequent pages :-
"The Webster-street schoolhouse is constructed of red brick, with Indiana limestone (light in color), and granite trimmings, and copper and galvanized iron cornice and belts, painted to match the limestone trimmings. The cornice and trimmings are enriched by egg and dart mouldings and dentils. It is of the Italian renaissance style of architecture.
"In shape, the building is like a right angle, fronting on two streets, ninety-two feet on Webster street and seventy-six feet on Rush street. The yard accommodations are in the rear. There is a three-arch entrance with a vestibule on Webster street, and a single arch entrance with a vestibule on Rush street, under which
303
SCHOOL DEPARTMENT.
is the outside entrance to the wardroom and basement. On the first floor are three schoolrooms, each 28 feet x 30 feet, a teachers' . room 12 feet x 14 feet, a toilet room, and a hallway for each of the main entrances. There also is another entrance and exit to the rear, or yard. Connected with each schoolroom in the building are a book closet and a teacher's closet.
"The arrangement in the second story is practically the same as in the first, the principal's room corresponding with the teachers' room on the lower floor. The basement has a ward- room, girls' and boys' toilet apartments connected with separate . staircases, boiler room, fan room, workshop, etc. The building has fire-proof paper between floors, open wardrobes in the hall- ways, direct and indirect heating, fan ventilation, slate black- boards, beaded sheathing in halls and schoolrooms, and a flag- staff. The finish is of selected elm, and the walls of all rooms and hallways are tinted with water color to harmonize with the rest of the finish."
Through the generosity of the gentleman for whom the school was named, the walls of the hallways and schoolrooms are adorned with appropriate pictures, which constantly teach to the pupils lessons of patriotism or duty, and appeal to the love of what is beautiful and elevating.
On the unanimous recommendation of the School Board, the City Council in October, 1896, voted to name the new school the Sanford Hanscom School, after a gentleman who has been for twenty-five years prominently identified with our educational and civic interests.
"Dr. Sanford Hanscom, son of James and Mary (Frost) Hanscom, was born in Albion, Me., January 28, 1841. He was prepared for college at the Waterville (Me.) Classical Institute, and entered Colby University in 1863, but left college in his sophomore year to enter the Union Army. His Alma Mater, however, in 1885 conferred upon him the degree of A. M. He was first lieutenant of the Eighth Unassigned Company of Maine Volunteers, which, when ready for service, was assigned to the Eleventh Maine Infantry, then in the Twenty-fourth
304
ANNUAL REPORTS.
Army Corps, Army of the James. Soon after this assignment he was commissioned adjutant of the regiment. It was in active service around Richmond and Petersburg in the spring of 1865, . until the surrender of those cities. Its last engagement was at Appomattox Court-house the morning of the day of General Lee's surrender. In 1868 Dr. Hanscom was graduated from the Harvard Medical School, and in the spring of 1869 commenced practice in Somerville, where he has since resided. He is now serving his seventeenth year on the Somerville School Board, and has served six years as Trustee of the Public Library. For a period of twelve years he has been State medical examiner for the Royal Arcanum in Massachusetts, which position he resigned in July, 1896, to accept the office of medical examiner-in-chief of the same order. He is a member of the Massachusetts Medical Society, and belongs to the Grand Army of the Republic and the Massachusetts Commandery of the military order of the Loyal Legion, and is a member of Soley Lodge, A. F. A. M. He was married October 26, 1874, to Miss Beulah A. Hill, daughter of Cyrus and Cynthia (Moure) Hill. They have one daughter, Aline Louisa Hanscom."
The completion of the Hanscom School relieves the conges- tion in the East Somerville district, and seems to furnish ample accommodations for that locality .for several years.
In the Prospect Hill district all the regular schoolrooms are occupied. In the Bell and Knapp schools the most of the classes are too large. Besides, in each of these buildings the wardroom, never designed for school use, and in every way un- suitable, is occupied by a first-grade class. If the recommenda- tion of last year had been carried out, and a six-room building erected at the corner of Calvin and Dimick streets, much needed relief would have been furnished. This recommendation is urgently renewed at the present time, with the hope that by the prompt and energetic action of the City Council a building will be begun early in the year and be ready for occupancy by September, 1898.
In the Winter Hill district the newly-enlarged Glines School is already completely filled, even the wardroom, which serves.
305
SCHOOL DEPARTMENT.
school purposes fairly well, having been called into requisition. In the Forster School the lower grades are crowded. In both these schools half-time conditions must prevail when first-grade pupils are admitted in April. It is probable that the Forster School may be somewhat relieved by the transfer of children to the Morse School on the completion of the new Beech-street building. There is ample room in the Bingham School even for the April contingent.
In the West Somerville district, where the largest increase of the year is found, all the available space is occupied. The lower grades in the Highland School are crowded, an assistant being now employed. Here and at the Hodgkins half-time conditions are inevitable in April next. The Burns School is much overcrowded, as has been the case for a number of years. There is at the present time an average of sixty-one pupils to a room, the fourth and fifth grades being on four-hour time, and an assistant being employed in the lowest grade.
To relieve the Burns and Highland schools, and to provide for the immediate future, a six-room building should at once be erected on Frederick avenue, midway between Highland avenue and Broadway, and Elm and Cedar streets. A schoolhouse in this locality would close the Cedar-street School, which is, at present, the most costly school in the city. The building has done faithful service since the first school in Somerville was opened in it in 1842. It should have been closed years ago.
As an alternative to a building on Frederick avenue, the enlargement of the Burns schoolhouse by the addition of four rooms, is suggested. The argument in favor of this is solely financial in character. In opposition to this alternative all that has been said against eight-room buildings holds; besides, the northerly part of the section to be provided for will not be nearly so well accommodated.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.