USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Somerville > Report of the city of Somerville 1897 > Part 14
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The crowded condition of the schools in the Spring Hill district is deplorable, and admirably illustrates the necessity of providing in season for inevitable needs. The demand for a . schoolhouse on Beech street has been emphasized for several years. It was not, however, until July of the current year that
306
ANNUAL REPORTS.
the work of supplying the demand was actually begun. A build- ing of fourteen rooms is now in process of erection, and will be ready for occupancy September, 1898, just one year behind time. To make way for this new building, the old Beech-street school- house was demolished, its removal being found impracticable. No rooms outside of schoolhouses being found available, as the best thing to be done, it was decided to make certain classrooms do duty for eight hours a day. Accordingly, in September, eight classes in the Franklin, four in the Morse, and two in the Burns were placed on four-hour time, one-half the number occupying the classrooms from 8 o'clock to 12, and the other half using them from 12 to 4. At the present time 525 pupils are attending in this way. The classes have been made as small as possible, thirty-seven being the average number, and in the lower grades each teacher has spent five hours in teaching, serving as an assist- ant one hour while not engaged in charge of her own room. In this way the nominal loss of twenty per cent. of the time has been reduced to a minimum. Of course, some inconvenience has been felt, the dinner hour has been deranged, but, on the whole, the situation has been gracefully accepted by those affected.
If the sessions of these classes could be held on six days of the week instead of five, there would be no loss of time as com- pared with the regular school hours. If the prejudices regard- ing the Saturday holiday are not too strong, it may be advisable to try the plan of six sessions a week, beginning February 1st.
At its opening the new Beech-street School will receive 300 pupils from the Franklin, 75 from the Durell, 200 from the Morse, and a few from the Cummings and Bell, which, with a kinder- garten, will fill its fourteen rooms. The organization and char- acter of the new school will be considered farther along in this report.
There are now 375 pupils more in Somerville schools than there were a year ago. We must expect at least a similar increase during 1898. It is thus apparent that the two new schoolhouses recommended, the one on Calvin street and the other on Fred- erick avenue, will be needed as soon as they can be completed.
TABLE SHOWING NUMBER OF PUPILS PURSUING DIFFERENT STUDIES, DECEMBER, 1897.
LATIN HIGH.
ENGLISH HIGH.
STUDIES PURSUED.
No. in Grade.
No. in Grade.
10
11
12
13
Total.
10
11
12
13
Total.
Algebra
88
·
.
63
151
204
12
10
226
Biology
. .
.
·
. .
38
8
5
8
59
Bookkeeping .
.
.
.
.
. .
.
.
38
8
5
8
59
Botany
.
..
. .
.
. .
. .
22
16
38
Commercial Arithmetic
. .
..
..
. .
. .
. .
17
7
24
Commercial Law
. .
.
. .
.
. .
.
. .
.
. .
.
Drawing .
. .
..
.
.
. .
211
160
121
80
592
Elocution
89
67
63
63
209
160
90
80
539
English
211
163
121
80
595
Ethics
1
15
5
63
84
52
53
41
20
166
French
148
10
10
168
25
25
30
80
13
30_
15
12
70
33
116
. .
·
.
:
Greek
472
History
88
67
63
63
281
66
42
17
8
133
Latin Manual Training
..
. .
..
. .
. .
..
·
62
39
16
5
122
Mechanical Drawing
4
Normal Arithmetic
35
. .
31
3
8
42
Physics
8
Physical Geography
120
77
197
Physiology
47
47
94
Stenography
:
:
..
.
. .
33
44
77
Typewriting
.
·
.
. .
. .
:
. .
:
. .
130
:
. .
67
63
..
German .
. .
43
40
63
. .
151
179
123
97
73
95
62
30
3
· ·
. .
·
. .
:
·
·
. .
·
.
·
.
·
. .
. .
.
·
·
. .
4
. .
.
.
35
. .
8
. .
.
307
SCHOOL DEPARTMENT.
6 0
272
211
29
26
·
27
15
42
Chemistry
282
Geometry
. .
88
..
. .
308
ANNUAL REPORTS.
THE HIGH SCHOOLS.
The membership of the Latin High School has been 266 during the year. At the present time it numbers 282, an increase of fifteen over last year. It graduated a class of fifty-one, thirty- six of whom have entered higher institutions of learning. It received eighty-seven pupils in September, all but ten of whom were graduates of the grammar schools. There has been but one change in the corps of instructors, Miss Goldthwaite, after an efficient service of four years, being succeeded by Miss Witham, Smith, '92, who came to us from the Fitchburg High School. Under the direction of its devoted principal, who has entered upon his thirtieth year of service, ably seconded by eight faithful assist- ants, the Latin School continues to maintain its high standing among the foremost fitting schools in the State.
The membership of the English School has been 544 for the year. It now numbers 595, an increase of twenty-three since December, 1896. It graduated seventy pupils, and received an entering class of 248, of whom 196 came from our grammar schools.
A year ago the writer hazarded an opinion that this school would number 625 pupils in September, 1897. The estimate was. based on the gains and losses of the preceding year. An unex- pected percentage, however, dropped out of the first and second classes, making the number at the beginning of the new school year but little more than 600. To accommodate the expected increase, the rooms occupied by the Superintendent of Schools were converted into a schoolroom accommodating fifty-five pupils. That official was provided with permanent and commodious quar- ters in the City Hall Annex, where the business of the School De- partment of the city can be conducted under the most favorable conditions. Another important improvement in the school build- ing was the doubling of the capacity of the library room, accom- plished by the removal of the partition separating it from an adjoining recitation room. When suitably furnished the value of this important department of the school will be largely increased.
309
SCHOOL DEPARTMENT.
The present seating capacity of the building is 604. It is difficult to calculate the size of the school another year, but if we use the gains and losses of last year as data, we may safely predict a membership of 615 pupils in September, 1898. The probabili- ties are that the number will be somewhat greater. If this esti- mate is approximately correct, the school may be accommodated, with a little crowding, in its present quarters. Within two or three years at the outside, however, the school will have become too large for the building as at present arranged. Indeed, even now, some of its departments are cramped for room and ill- accommodated. It must be remembered that the original plan of the building did not include quarters for a manual training department, which, as now located, cannot be extended to cover full courses. The drawing-room is not large enough, while no room at all is available for work in domestic science, a subject whose importance demands an actual, as well as a theoretical, place in the curriculum of the school. The sooner, therefore, the required accommodations are provided, by the addition of one or more northerly wings to the building, the sooner the school will attain its highest efficiency. This enlargement is inevitable in the near future, and should be duly considered among the financial problems demanding an early solution.
The total cost of maintaining the High schools the past year has been $45,374.30, $36,191.25 of which has been paid for instruction and supervision, $4,006.99 for supplies, and $5,176.06 for schoolhouse care. The total per capita cost has been $56.02: $54.54 in the Latin School, and $56.74 in the English.
While this seems a large sum to devote to High School maintenance, it is believed that it has been judiciously and eco- nomically expended. It must be remembered that the number of pupils is exceptionally large as compared with our population, and that the facilities afforded and the character of the instruc- tion furnished are unsurpassed. It has been necessary to spend considerable sums in equipping the school with laboratory appli- . ances, with text-books for additional pupils, and for reference books for the library. While this equipment is not complete, outlays in this direction will be less in future. The growth of
310
ANNUAL REPORTS.
the English School has demanded the employment of an addi- tional teacher during the year, but even now the number of pupils assigned to one instructor is larger than in similar schools else- where. Should the ratio of teachers to pupils be increased to correspond to that of Cambridge, for example, three or four additional teachers, at an annual expense of $3,000, would be necessary. The new teachers employed are Clara A. Johnson, a graduate of the Somerville High School and Boston University, '92, who came to us from the Gloucester High School, and Laura A. Davis, from the Arlington High School. One of these ladies takes the place of Miss Bailey, who is abroad on leave of absence for a year.
The character and standing of our High schools may well be a source of satisfaction and pride to our citizens. Their reputa- tion is established. They are often visited by educational experts and highly commended. Students of pedagogy are sent to study their methods and courses. Their graduates take high rank in whatever pursuit they engage. Their aim is not merely scholastic attainment, but the development of high purpose and strong character. Their popularity and power are largely due to the enthusiasm and character of the instructors : for whenever we trace educational results to their true and ulti- mate source we get a fresh illustration of the time-worn maxim, "As is the teacher, so is the school." The wisest economy secures the best.
The present condition of the English School and its methods and aims, with something of its brief history, are fully set forth in the accompanying report of its head master, to whose fidelity and skill the success of the school is largely attributable.
EVENING SCHOOLS.
Evening schools, as conducted in Somerville, while not ab- solute failures, yield but little profit for the outlay of $3,000 an- nually made. Four elementary evening schools were opened on . the first Monday of October in the Prescott, Bell, Forster, and Highland schoolhouses. In these schools about 430 pupils were
311
SCHOOL DEPARTMENT.
registered. Of this number, at the end of four weeks, 192 had disappeared, leaving 238 in attendance. At the end of the second four weeks all but 200 had dropped out, leaving but 150 in at- tendance. The Forster and Highland schools were closed dur- ing the first week of December, the attendance being too small to justify their continuance.
There are three classes of persons who register in our even- ing schools. The first, and by far the largest class, are boys un- der eighteen years of age, the most of whom have left the day school on reaching the age of fourteen. They are without paren- tal restraint, unambitious, some of them reckless, but all of them much in need of what the evening school could do for them. Some join the school with good intentions, but the majority with no expectation of remaining long, unless the conditions favor their idea of a good time.
The second class of attendants, most of whom are older, enter the school with some desire of self-improvement. They re- main longer, but, wearied with their daily toil and weak of pur- pose, are easily discouraged and soon fall out of the ranks.
The third, and smaller class, are mainly men and women over twenty years of age, who are either learning the very rudi- ments or else are in training for some special line of work. These are constant in their attendance, continue to the end of the term, and are the only persons whom the evening schools materially benefit.
The instruction is of necessity mainly individual in charac- ter, classification being well-nigh impossible. In this way a single teacher can attend to but few pupils. We are obliged to furnish teachers for the maximum number of pupils, and to provide principals, janitors, light, and heat for four buildings, while one would suffice.
We are compelled by State enactment to furnish elementary evening school instruction for at least fifty evenings each year. Some arrangement should be made by which more satisfac- tory results can be obtained. The following suggestions are offered :-
312
ANNUAL REPORTS.
First, consolidate all the evening schools in the city in one centrally-located building, well lighted, and with seats adapted to adults.
Second, take longer time for registration, and admit only those who give evidence of being in earnest.
Third, prepare a regular course of study, and grant some certificate at the end of the course to show that a satisfactory standard of attainment has been reached.
Fourth, classify pupils as carefully as possible, giving to a single teacher only as many as can be successfully taught.
Fifth, provide competent and efficient teachers. The teacher in an evening school, where so much is to be done in so short a time, and where the students need encouragement, sym- pathy, and personal interest, as well as the best instruction, should be some one besides a person without experience, tact, or adapta- bility to the work.
A single school of this character could be supported at much less expense, and would be far more profitable in its results.
In addition to our evening elementary schools, the State re- quires us to provide instruction in industrial or mechanical draw- ing for persons over fifteen years of age. In compliance with this law, we have for several years maintained an evening drawing school in the Latin building. The original design of the law ap- pears to have been to provide instruction for young men engaged in mechanical pursuits. A broader application of the term in- dustrial drawing has led to the formation of classes in freehand drawing as applied to the arts or crafts.
In the mechanical department of the school a three years' course is followed, including elementary, architectural, and machine drawing. In the so-called freehand department no definite course has been laid out. Not only should this be done if the school is to be continued in its present form, but a definite schedule of salaries should be fixed, and a certificate or diploma granted to those who satisfactorily complete the course. During the month of November the school numbered 154 pupils, eighty- five of whom were men in the mechanical class, and twenty-six
313
SCHOOL DEPARTMENT.
men and forty-three women in the freehand class. Seven teachers are employed, and the expense is $33 an evening.
The attendance is regular, the interest well maintained, and the results reasonably satisfactory. It is an open question whether attendance upon this school should not be limited to those who have some specific industrial occupation in view, ex- cluding all lines of work that do not contribute directly to their benefit.
TEACHERS.
There are 249 teachers in the employ of the city at the pres- ent time, twenty-two men and 227 women. Thirty-one of these, eleven men and twenty women, are in the High schools. There are seven special teachers, and the remainder, nine men and 211 women, are in primary and grammar schools. Fourteen teachers have resigned during the year, and thirty-one have been perma- nently employed. Of those who have resigned their positions, eight have been called to more lucrative service elsewhere, one has left teaching on account of ill-health, and the remaining five have exchanged the delights of the schoolroom for the cares and perplexities of domestic life. With two exceptions, these teachers completed the school year, thus minimizing the disad- vantage of the change, and conforming to the somewhat famous order of the Board, which occasioned considerable comment at the time of its passage. The resignation of these teachers was a positive loss, and among them were several who had rendered long and especially valuable service to the city. It will not be thought invidious to refer to the following: Frederick W. Shat- tuck, for seven years the genial and efficient principal of the Bell School, accepted a position of sub-master in Boston; Sarah E. Pratt, for twenty years a model teacher in the Prescott School, was drafted into the service of the Normal School at Bridgewater, the third contribution we have made to that institution within a year ; Miss Alice A. Bachelor accepted a position in Boston after nine- teen years of faithful service in the Forster School. The average term of service of the remaining ten was four and one-half years.
314
ANNUAL REPORTS.
Of the teachers employed during the year in permanent or temporary positions, eighteen are residents of Somerville, four were called from service in Athol, three from Gardner, two each from Plymouth, N. H., Portland, Cambridge, Everett, and Stoneham, and one each from Pawtucket, North Attleboro, Hyde Park, Nashua, Quincy, Grafton, Keene, Scranton, Pa., Arling- ton, Gloucester, Fitchburg, Malden, and Lynn. It will be seen that in the selection of new teachers a wide range of territory is. covered, and that our own city has contributed a due proportion. Many other cities and towns have been visited in the quest for teachers who will maintain the standard of our schools. It is. believed that the selection from the hundreds of candidates who have been recommended or visited has proved judicious, when measured by the character of the service rendered.
From among the large number of gentlemen considered for the mastership of the Bell School, after careful deliberation, the Committee selected Harlan P. Knight, of the Linden School, Malden. Mr. Knight assumed the duties of the position at the beginning of the school year in September.
To show at once the frequency of changes, as well as the stability of the teacher's tenure of office, it may be remarked that of our present corps of teachers 140 have been elected within five years, 45 have served the city from five to ten years, 18 from ten to fifteen years, 14 from fifteen to twenty years, 11 from twenty to twenty-five years, 9 from twenty-five to thirty years, and 3 for more than thirty years, one having been a teacher in our schools. for thirty-eight years.
THE TRAINING SCHOOL.
This school occupied the Beech-street building until the end of June. It then contained the first and second grades, un- der the charge of the principal and three normal school graduates in training. In September the school was transferred to the Franklin building and placed on four-hour time. It now con- tains the three primary grades taught by four teachers in train- ing, under the direction of the principal, the former receiving
315
SCHOOL DEPARTMENT.
$200 each, and the latter $750 a year, the entire cost being less than if regular teachers were employed. The instruction and the results obtained are not surpassed in any of our schools. Two of the teachers who were in training last year were elected to permanent positions in September, and are doing satisfactory work.
The completion of the new Beech-street schoolhouse, which will be occupied by all grades from the kindergarten to the ninth class, affords an opportunity for the extension of the training school to any desirable limit.
If a training school cannot provide us with teachers fully equal in all respects to those obtainable by other means, there is no good reason for its existence. We are continually losing teachers, but we cannot afford to replace them by those of inferior quality. The schools, the children, the future, the public, all demand the best teachers to be found, irrespective of locality. Those who are to leave an indelible impression upon our children and youth must be women of irreproachable charac- ter, gentle, refined, cultured, full of love and sympathy for child- hood, with lofty ideals, and a full appreciation of the dignity and opportunities of their calling. We want teachers with good health, with its accompanying vigor, endurance, sunshine, and capacity for hard work. In these days of expanded courses and high standards a broad and thorough academic education is es- sential. This must be supplemented by the best ·professional training. Besides all these, there must be the test of theory and the development of power to control and to instruct, which come only from practice and experience in the schoolroom.
Of course, the province of a training school is not to impart scholastic education. This our High schools furnish. Neither can it do the no less important work of furnishing professional training. This must be obtained in the normal schools, which the State has liberally provided and equipped with the best instructors and facilities for education and training in the principles underlying all good teaching, in the most approved methods of presenting the subjects to be taught, in psychology as applied to mind growth and development, in the history of
316
ANNUAL REPORTS.
education, in the field of professional literature, and in the cul- tivation of the spirit and aims that should animate the teacher.
The province of the training school is to take these gradu- ates of high schools or colleges, and of normal schools, full of knowledge, and theory, and enthusiasm, and self-confidence, and bring them face to face with the many-sided problems of actual experience. Here for a year or more, under the wise, and kindly, and critical guidance of experts in the art of teaching, they study children; they apply and correct their theories; they learn to plan, to control, to interest, to excite to self-activity ; they are gradually thrown upon their own resources, and get a just esti- mate of the task they have undertaken, and of their own attain- ments and limitations; the secrets of education are gradually revealed to then; their mistakes, and infelicities of manner are pointed out and corrected; they acquire a knowledge of local conditions and requirements, and become thoroughly conversant with the obligations and opportunities of a teacher. Nor is this all. If they have inherent and irremediable defects, or for any reason are incompetent or ill-adapted to the work of teaching, they can be advised to seek some other employment, and thus themselves and the schools be saved from failure and misfortune.
Judging from the experience of Cambridge, where a train- ing school of the kind indicated has been successfully conducted for several years, there would be no lack of candidates for teachers in training. In addition to normal graduates resident in their own city, there is generally a long waiting list of women in other cities and towns in New England from which the best may be chosen. Comparatively few of the graduates of our High schools enter normal schools. There are at the present time eleven at Salem and Bridgewater, three or four of whom are to be graduated this year. The majority of young women graduated from our High schools who have a desire to teach, and the assumed natural qualifications therefor, enter college, and, attracted by the larger salaries, seek high-school work. Normal training should supplement even college courses. The broadest possible education is desirable in teachers of every grade, from kindergarten to university. Nor is the day far distant when this
317
SCHOOL DEPARTMENT.
desideratum will be emphasized by the equalization of all salaries in elementary and secondary schools.
It will probably not be expedient for us at the outset to extend the training school features in the new Beech-street build- ing beyond the four lower grades. As to its ultimate limitations we may be guided by experience and by the demands of the sit- uation. Rules should be formulated for the management of the school at an early day.
THE SCHOOLS AND THE PUBLIC LIBRARY.
The last two reports of your Superintendent have dealt at some length and with some emphasis on the extreme value and importance of cultivating a love for good reading in the minds of the pupils in our schools. We recur to the subject not simply to reiterate what has been said, but to remark that our schools are making gratifying progress in this direction. In the revis- ion of the Course of Study, the attempt was made to suggest cer- tain lines of work which, if persisted in, will greatly aid in im- planting a love for that which is best in literature, which will, if properly fostered, spring up and bear fruit an hundred-fold. Classic selections were suggested for pupils of each grade to commit to memory. A few choice books were named from which teachers can occasionally read to their classes; and a list was prepared for each grade of ten books of a kind designed to mould the taste and direct the choices along right lines. The change that has come about during the last few years in the quan- tity and quality of school reading, by which the single class-reader is supplanted or supplemented by a dozen others containing the choicest selections from literature, science, travel, history, and biography is a recognition of school needs. These, however excellent and influential they may be, are for school use chiefly. The child is in school about one-tenth of his time only. The formative influences that are making or marring him are largely outside of the school. If the school is to reach and control his activities at home,-certainly in most cases a very desirable thing,-it must do it through the agency of books. To aid in
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