USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Somerville > Report of the city of Somerville 1898 > Part 17
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Of the teachers that resigned in 1898 the three longest in service taught in Somerville an average of 28 years. The average term of service of the remaining 15 was 4 years.
It is interesting to note that of the 92 teachers in the city who have resigned during the last five years, the period of ser- vice of fifteen is about 18 years, while seventy-seven served the city only 3 years and 4 months on the average. This furnishes some data by which future changes may be estimated.
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SCHOOL DEPARTMENT.
We may expect to lose 100 teachers during the next five years.
Twenty-four new teachers have been employed during the year. In the selection of these teachers the question of fit- ness to fill a specific position has been the only one considered. The one thing that gives our schools the reputation which they justly bear is the discrimination which has always been exercised in the choice of teachers. Unstinted time and pains have been spent in this direction under the conviction that in this way only can our losses be made good and our standards maintained. Good health, professional training, successful experience, high moral character, have been considered pre- requisites for employment. Strongly recommended teachers have been visited in their schools and judgments formed from actual observation. Probably five teachers are observed in this way for each one employed. It is gratifying to know that unfor- tunate selections are very rare. It would be possible but far from desirable to select our teachers from among those who make personal application for places. This class is a large one and made up chiefly of the unemployed who are found to be without experience or training, to be weak in some directions, to have failed in previous attempts to teach, to be in ill-health, to be desirous of temporary employment to tide over an exigency, or to be undesirable for one of a half dozen other reasons. Our city and its schools are to be congratulated on the almost utter absence of an element that has brought weak- ness and mediocrity to the schools of some other cities, namely, the demand of short-sighted and not unselfish partisans who seek employment for themselves or their friends on the ground, not of fitness or merit, but solely on the plea of resi- dence or consanguinity. The citizens of Somerville, both in official station and in private life, demand for our schools the best teachers to be had, irrespective of personal or local considerations.
330
ANNUAL REPORTS.
KINDERGARTENS.
The attendance at the five kindergartens supported by the city is shown to be as follows : -
Hanscom.
Jackson.
Prospect Hill.
Glines.
Hodgkins.
Total.
Enrollment
108
92
88
102
103
493
Average Membership .
46
43
42
41
50
222
Average Attendance -
41
33
35
34
42
185
Per cent. Attendance
90.1
77.8
83
82.3
84.8
83.3
Age .
4-4
4-5
4-9
4-4
4-7
4y. 6mo.
There has been expended on kindergartens the sum of $4,953, and the per capita cost has been $22.31.
At the present time, out of 1,677 children in the first grade of our primary schools, there are only 117 who have enjoyed at least one year of kindergarten training, less than seven per cent. of the whole number. These children are chiefly found in those schools in which the kindergartens are kept. A single year of kindergarten training is better much than none, but it is only those children who have had the complete course of two years that fully show its value in the rapidity and ease with which primary work is done. Such children may be expected to complete the three years assigned to primary work in at least two years. 1
It was a disappointment to the residents of the Spring Hill district that enlarged school accommodations provided no room for a kindergarten in their vicinity. Is it not a just cause of complaint that all sections of the city are not equally favored
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SCHOOL DEPARTMENT.
in this respect ? If the system is valuable for some children, why not for all ? The extension of the kindergarten to include all sections of the city, and the making of the course compulsory involves a large expenditure, but one that equality of rights and privileges and the best good of the schools will imperatively require sooner or later. The other horn of the dilemma is the abandonment of the kindergarten altogether.
EVENING SCHOOLS.
There has been little change in the character of our evening schools. Two of them continued their sessions to the first of March with small numbers of earnest students. The drawing school closed its season of 48 sessions with an exhi- bition that showed satisfactory progress and attainment.
This school reopened in October, with smaller numbers than usual, but under conditions that excluded all not absolutely entitled to its privileges. An outline of study for both the mechanical and free-hand departments was adopted by the committee in charge, restricting the course to three years in the mechanical department and to two years in the free-hand department and providing for diplomas to follow successful examinations showing the satisfactory completion of courses.
The elementary evening schools practically repeat the experience of so many former years, - large numbers of well- intentioned but weak-willed students entering, but dropping out after brief or irregular attendance until but few more than one fourth remain. To this comparatively small number, the schools bring profit, and in some cases marked and rapid advancement. At the Bell, the four upper rooms have been well lighted and have been utilized in such a way as to permit some degree of classification and class instruction. This has resulted in an increase of interest and value. If it were
332
ANNUAL REPORTS.
possible to centralize our elementary schools, this system of small classes could be extended and great gain made in other directions, not the least of which would be a conspicuous decrease in expense. The entire enrollment in the drawing school for the season of 1897 and 1898 was 185, the average attendance was 53.5 per cent. of this number, or 99. The aggregate cost was $1,739.39, or $17.57 for each pupil. In the elementary evening schools, 542 registered and 139 were present on the average every night. The cost was $1,879.15, or $9.30 per pupil.
THE PUBLIC LIBRARY AND THE SCHOOLS.
The sudden death at the beginning of the year of the Libra- rian of the Public Library, Mr. Hayes, who had done so much to place the best books within easy reach of all grades of pupils in the schools, and thus to foster in them a taste for good read- ing, made no change in the relations existing between these two great educational forces. His successor, Mr. Foss, gladly took up the good work, and has carried it on with enthusiasm. New books in large numbers have been purchased for children, others adapted for use in schools have been added at teachers' suggestions, libraries of from 20 to 50 volumes have been placed in some school buildings to be read at home under the direction and responsibility of teachers, books have been distributed and collected at the large school buildings, and library privileges have been extended to all teachers and to the pupils of the high schools.
The English High School, especially, is under great obliga- tion to the Library for the facilities which have been offered to its students. Constant use is made of the books in the work of the school, and in this way thousands of volumes have been added to the circulation of the library.
Every year's experience proves the value of this close artic- ulation between the schools and the library. Some acquaintance
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SCHOOL DEPARTMENT.
with books and authors has been given, good books are no longer rare visitors in many homes, an appetite for good reading has been created, and the gates of knowledge, opening constantly wider and wider, are revealing the riches of the world's literature to the young.
True, some additional burdens have been laid upon teachers in this connection, but the great majority of the teachers of Somerville have at heart all the interests of their pupils, whether more or less directly connected with school life, and are ready at all times to give advice and guidance and help.
During the year 19,528 volumes have been circulated through the schools. Thirteen schools have had the advantage of special libraries in their buildings for longer or shorter periods.
PHYSICAL TRAINING.
For at least eight years the Ling system of free gymnastics has been taught in our schools. The exercises have rarely progressed beyond the first half of the series in the authorized course. They have an undoubted value, although they do not bring much mental relaxation, for the mind must be tense and alert if the required standard of execution is reached. They afford a change of posture, an exercise of the muscles, some physical development, in a few cases possibly an improvement of health. It is, however, an open question whether our present graduates show marked superiority of physique or health as compared with their predecessors. The exercises should, however, by all means be extended rather than limited or abandoned.
But do we not use the term "physical training" in alto- gether too narrow a sense. In these days the claim is made that the whole child is sent to school. Not only are all his faculties to be wisely trained and developed, but his physical comfort and well-being are to be maintained and promoted.
334
ANNUAL REPORTS.
This demand is recognized in modern school architecture,- ventilation must be perfect, light must be ample, furniture must be constructed on hygienic principles and suitably adjusted to size and growth, all sanitary features must be scientifically correct. It is recognized also in the pains taken to prevent the spread of contagious diseases through the schools.
While it savors too much of paternalism for the authorities to assume full charge of the health of school children, there are certain respects in which their progress in school,-to say nothing of their wise hygienic development in the formation of habits, in the regulation of diet, and in matters of dress and hours of sleep,-demands attention to physical conditions and immediate, perhaps radical, treatment. In every class are found a certain percentage of so-called dull children, cases of apparent arrested development. Examinations and tests have over and over again shown that these children are generally afflicted with some defect of sight or of hearing, or with some organic weakness or deficiency in other directions, which medical skill could easily remove. In the city of Brooklyn alone, a recent systematic examination revealed the fact that 50,000 of its school children have defective sight and need to wear glasses. The proportion is quite as large in other cities and towns.
Should not the physical training prescribed by school authorities include whatever may aid or retard the educational progress of school children? Should there not be some temporary or permanent school official thoroughly conversant with every phase of school hygiene and clothed with authority to promote any reform in school life that may appear to be wise ? Teachers need to be trained in the best system of school gymnastics, and to have their attention frequently directed to matters of hygiene which, in their engrossment in
335
SCHOOL DEPARTMENT.
other duties, they are liable to neglect. The sight and hearing of pupils should be scientifically examined, and suitable pre- scriptions or advice given to parents. The earliest symptoms of contagious disease should be detected, and the danger removed. The ventilation, temperature, and sanitation of schoolrooms and buildings should be frequently looked after. Children with abnormal physical or mental development should receive especial attention. Authoritative advice regarding diet, sleep, recreation, home study, might be given. Along these and kindred lines of work a competent person could find constant occupation, and render extremely valuable service.
Allied closely to the physical welfare of children in school is the matter of suitable facilities for play and open-air exercise. To provide these is in no sense the duty of school authorities, yet what body of men can be more interested in whatever pertains to the welfare of children than a School Board, or more capable of giving sound advice concerning it ? Our city has taken a wise and generous step in providing the beginnings of two public parks or pleasure grounds. But they do not provide exactly what is needed. There should be public play- grounds for the exclusive use of children, provided with swings and simple gymnastic apparatus, croquet and tennis courts and sand heaps, and readily accessible to even young children. The city already owns several parcels of land that could be fitted up, as suggested, at slight expense. The Franklin school lot, the old Lincoln school lot on Elm street, a portion of the city farm, the Glen street lot, the Harvard school lot, are already available. Other pieces of land can and should be bought in other localities, before they are otherwise occupied, and some provision for playgrounds other than the public streets, free from keep-off-the-grass signs, and fitted up somewhat like the Charlesbank grounds, should be made at an early day. It must be remembered that half of our children spend the long
336
ANNUAL REPORTS.
weeks of summer at home, and greatly need these means of recreation.
Along the same line is the necessity for public bathing facilities for boys and girls, - a necessity already acknowledged, and too patent to need discussion here.
By no means remotely connected with the subject of physi- cal training is that of school athletics. It is one in which high- school students, teachers, parents, committee-men, and the public are to a greater or less degree interested. This has become so important a school interest that the students of many of the high schools in this vicinity, in conjunction with teachers, have formed an association for the regulation of athletic con- tests. Extracts from the Rules of the Association are printed below for the information of parents and others interested. It will be seen that only students who maintain a satisfactory scholastic standing are allowed to participate in games, and that other restrictions are made to prevent abuses. As far as our schools are concerned, while great interest has been shown and praiseworthy achievements made, it is believed that there has been little neglect of school work, that injurious excesses have not been indulged in, that all contests have been marked by manly and sportsmanlike conduct, and that the financial affairs of the clubs have been so managed as to reflect no dis- credit on the schools whose names they bear. When the reverse of these conditions becomes apparent, it will be the duty of school authorities to intervene in the interests of sound educa- tion and good morals.
The following is taken from the Constitution of the Inter- scholastic Football Association : -
The following shall be the rules of eligibility : -
SECTION 1. No one shall be allowed to represent any school in any game of the Interscholastic Football Association, unless he is and intends to be throughout the school year, a bona fide member of his school, taking a full year's work of at least twelve hours per week.
-
337
SCHOOL DEPARTMENT.
SEC. 2. No student on probation or conditioned in his studies can take part in any game. A student who is dropped for neglect of his studies into a lower class shall be debarred from taking part in any game until the end of the next academic year, or until he has made up the deficiencies which stand in the way of his restoration to his original class.
The Executive Committee does not see its way to require a physical examination of players by a physician before they are allowed to play, but it strongly recommends that the masters should take some action so that boys who are in poor physical condition should not be allowed to play.
PENMANSHIP.
For many years no question has aroused greater interest or led to warmer discussion both within and outside of official cir- cles than this, "Shall the schools of Somerville teach slant or vertical writing." The story of the Natural Movement system of slant writing in our schools may be briefly told. It was introduced five years ago with hearty unanimity. It has been faithfully taught by teachers and for the most of the time under skilled supervision. It has resulted in giving the two upper grades a handwriting, rapid, fairly legible, easily produced. By concentrating attention chiefly on speed and movement instead of form, it has left pupils who drop out of school in the inter- mediate grades without the ability to write as well as they should. It has interfered with the regular written school work in grades below the seventh, and thus prevented the accomplish- ment of all that was desirable in other studies.
The proposition to supplant it by some system of vertical writing met with strenuous opposition. After the fullest con- sideration, however, it was voted by the smallest majority pos- sible in a board of fourteen members to introduce vertical writing into the six lower grades of the elementary schools. Two systems were selected, the choice of either to be at the option of district committees. No copy-books were to be used,
338
ANNUAL REPORTS.
and the question of the employment of a supervisor of penman- ship, which had been in abeyance, was decided in the affirm- ative.
It is to be regretted that a change so radical and important could not have been made with greater heartiness and una- nimity, and the new work be begun under circumstances more favorable to success. Nevertheless, the teachers of the grades affected prepared themselves during the vacation to teach the new system, and entered with their usual enthusiasm upon the task at the beginning of the fall term. Their efforts were directed and seconded by the supervisor, who had before him the difficut problem of teaching three systems of penmanship, diverse in form and methods, with no other aid than the black- board.
When all the unfavorable conditions are taken into account, the results attained at the end of fifteen weeks are very grati- fying. As far as form and legibility go, the writing of all grades is superior to that of the same grades in June last. From their experience thus far, of the 158 teachers in the six lower grades, 140 prefer vertical writing for school purposes, 15 like the slant better, 1 is undecided, and 2 would prefer a modi- fied slant.
The general opinion is that children learn the vertical hand more easily and more quickly ; that naturally poor writers write it better ; that it is much more legible and convenient for the reader ; and that its use leads to greater care, fewer errors, and more neatness and precision in all written school work. The writing thus far is slow, as may be expected until forms are learned, and as all hand-work of children must necessarily be when thought and pains are exercised. What speed may be attained by practice after habits are formed, the future will :show.
339
SCHOOL DEPARTMENT.
Whatever system of penmanship is taught in our schools, no obstacles should be put in the way of securing the best results. On the contrary, every aid which experience and reason have shown to be valuable should be used. The object to be secured is a legible, easy, rapid, and, if possible, graceful handwriting. The one means now lacking that will most greatly contribute to this result is copy-books, to bring the form of letters under the child's eye for imitation. This is especially needful when letter-forms are absolutely new and unfamiliar. At present the blackboard furnishes the copy. Seen only at an acute angle or by turning the head to the rear or side, letters appear fore- shortened or distorted. Children with defective vision are help- less, and for those with normal sight the constant change of focus and the attempt to see what is distant and indistinct is both tiresome and injurious. Then, too, while the great majority of teachers have acquired the requisite skill to set copies worthy of imitation by their pupils, there are some who have yet to learn the art. The best results in writing will not be seen until pupils are provided with copy-books of some sort.
DRAWING.
Under the enthusiastic direction of the drawing supervisor the work of the schools in this branch has been prosecuted with interest and success.
The use of brush and water colors for a portion of the year has awakened a fresh interest, and has proved a valuable means of training. In addition to form, the wide variety of color, in its shades and tints, is to be closely studied and reproduced. Flower and plant forms and other natural objects are represented with great fidelity. Taste and the appreciation of the beautiful are developed in a way impossible when only the pencil is used. Even primary children working with colored crayon surprise us by their skill.
340
ANNUAL REPORTS.
And yet the chief object of drawing instruction in schools, to train the child to recognize and appreciate the beautiful in nature and art so that his emotions and aspirations shall be kindled, cannot be accomplished by crude attempts on his part to produce the beautiful. There must be a training of the judgment and the taste by the study of nature itself and of the great masterpieces which bring nature and art to us from distant times and lands.
The recognition of this truth is leading to a new phase of the work,- the study of pictures. While this is the golden age of art reproduction, the chief difficulty that teachers encounter is that of placing in the hands or before the eyes of children suitable pictures in proper form. The demand, however, is fast creating a supply, the expense of which is inconsiderable, and should be borne as all other needful school expenses are, by the city rather than by the child.
The following from Superintendent Balliet of Springfield bears strongly upon the question : -
Another false conception of art education now prevalent in public schools is that the main object is to have children produce something beautiful. This is important, but it is immensely more important that children be trained to appreciate what they see. This can be accomplished more effectively by having them study photographs which are good reproductions of great works of art, such as paintings, sculpture or casts, and architecture. This truth is just coming to be recognized. The movement to decorate schoolrooms with such works of art meets the need of the schools only in small part, since what is really needed is a collection of such reproductions in each school, selected solely with a view to class instruction.
Children's literary taste is developed not by having them write compositions, but by having them read the great masterpieces of literature. The teaching of drawing alone does little more to develop the art-sense in children than the teaching of composition
341
SCHOOL DEPARTMENT.
does to develop literary taste. Every child should be trained to write good English, as a means of expressing his thought; in like manner he should be trained to draw with sufficient facility to express himself in the language of drawing. This has been aptly called "graphic drawing." In both cases there should be an effort made to have this training in expression lead up to the beautiful in art. Art training in schools should not depend on this alone, but should be followed by actual study of works of art. The creative power of the mind must be trained, but this can be done in more than one line of school work.
APPORTIONMENT OF SCHOOL TIME.
We occasionally hear it suggested that the elementary schools are overburdened with a multiplicity of studies and that time is spent on the less important at the expense of the more important. To answer the criticism, the following table has been prepared. It is based on the present time schedule to which teachers are expected rigidly to adhere. It tells how many minutes out of every 100 in the nine years of our lower grades, are spent upon each subject in the course. The language studies,-together with arithmetic and writing, have been grouped under the time-honored caption "the three R's." It will be seen that, taking the grades through, five eighths of our school time is spent upon these. About three tenths of it is spent upon the subordinate studies of the course, while opening and closing exercises and relaxation consume the remaining twelfth. In examining the table it must be remembered that the measurement is of neces- sity made in teachers' time. The grouping of pupils must be taken into account. For example, in the first grade there are ordinarily five groups in number-work daily, giving less than four minutes of teaching to each child. In grammar grades, spelling, geography, and history are home studies and so
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