Report of the city of Somerville 1903, Part 12

Author: Somerville (Mass.)
Publication date: 1903
Publisher: Somerville, Mass.
Number of Pages: 492


USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Somerville > Report of the city of Somerville 1903 > Part 12


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The loss of time resulting from "excessive heat or cold or severe storms" demands consideration. The ringing of the storm signal is the most perplexing and difficult duty the superintend- ent has to perform. On the one hand the danger of exposure of children to the inclemency of the weather, and on the other the loss to school work send the balances up or down. I am gov- erned in the discharge of this duty by weather conditions at the hour appointed for striking the signal. If mistakes are made they come from inability to see far into the future. In the "good, old days," and even now in very many localities, storm signals were and are unknown. Children were accustomed to face the elements and inured to exposure. The signal is doubtless rung on some days when nearly all pupils in the grammar schools could attend without endangering health. There are many days when the signal is not struck on which the superintendent's tele-


161


SCHOOL DEPARTMENT.


phone is kept in active operation by disappointed inquirers as to schools' keeping, some of whom do not hesitate to reprimand him for neglect of duty.


It is doubtful whether the loss of a day on account of the annual meeting of the Middlesex County Teachers' Association is justified by the advantages resulting. The expression of opinion by the board that this convention should be held on a Saturday made no impression upon the association. This day may very properly be saved to the schools.


As to the extension of vacations, a day and a half may well be taken before and after Thanksgiving, and a half-day before Christmas. All other extensions are avoidable.


Schools began this year on the fourteenth of September. Six hundred pupils did not enter until the twenty-first and many delayed their return until October. It is probable that it would be difficult to fix a date for the fall opening of schools on which all pupils would begin work. The schools of Boston and Cam- bridge begin on a Wednesday. This gives three days in the week for the distribution of books and supplies and the organiza- tion of classes, and enables pupils to get down to solid work on the following Monday. This day for beginning the fall term seems an excellent one, and no substantial argument suggests itself against its adoption by us.


I venture to raise the inquiry whether it is not possible for us to lengthen the school year practically two weeks by extend- ing the afternoon session a half hour during the five months of longest daylight. Children are now in school on the average 871 hours, less than a tenth of the year. If those exercises which less severely tax the strength of the pupils should engage the closing hour of the session no strain would be imposed that the normal child would be unable to bear. The suggestion is worthy of consideration.


In this connection it may be well to remark that the schools passed through the "coal famine" without the loss of a day on account of scarcity of fuel, thanks to the energy and foresight of Mayor Glines. One or two schools were fre- quently dismissed during the winter on account of cold rooms caused by janitors' neglect. The month of June was cold and sunless and fires were necessary for health and comfort. This abnormal condition of the weather, however, was not anticipated, and so the boilers in many of the buildings were dismantled and no heat was available. Several of the schools lost from three to ten sessions on this account.


School Attendance. Every teacher keeps two enrollment lists ; one, for state officers, records the name of every pupil who has attended a school in this city for any length of time during the year, provided he has attended no other school in the state. The other list records the names of those pupils who have at- tended no other school in Somerville during the year. Accord-


162


ANNUAL REPORTS.


ing to this latter list, 13,475 pupils have been enrolled in the city during 1903.


Not all of these pupils have been connected with the schools at one time. According to the rules of the state department of education a pupil's membership is terminated (1) by death ; (2) by removal; (3) by withdrawal with no intention of returning ; and (4) by ten consecutive days' absence from whatever cause. Excluding from the enrollment lists names dropped for any of these reasons, we reach the average membership of the schools, which for 1903 is 10,719, an increase for the year of 317. This average membership is important because it furnishes the basis for estimating the per capita cost of instruction.


The average attendance of the schools is determined by tak- ing into account all absences from whatever cause during the period of membership. It shows the number of pupils who are in school on the average every day of the school year. The aver- age attendance for 1903 is 10,056, an increase over last year of 326. The average attendance is 93.9 per cent. of the average membership, showing a loss of 6.1 per cent. occasioned by ill- ness or other causes in most cases providential or unavoidable. The state recognizes the importance of regular attendance of children of the compulsory school age by providing for the prosecution and punishment by fine of any parent or guardian who keeps a child under his charge out of school more than five days within any six months. There have been infractions of this law in Somerville, but no prosecutions. Many children are kept out of school at the opening of the year, or are withdrawn near the close, and now and then a parent is found indifferent to the interests of his child who allows his absence for trifling reasons. As has been said before, the school year is very short. Every absence necessarily affects the progress of the child. The best results are obtained when every pupil is present every day from start to finish.


During the year there have been 3,428 cases of tardiness, which shows one instance of being behind time out of 1,013 chances of being prompt. As compared with other cities, and indeed with our own past records, this number is not large. Nevertheless, the responsibility for tardiness rests upon parents generally, and much of it is avoidable. Teachers use all legiti- mate means to secure regularity of attendance, and sometimes in their zeal bring influences to bear that are not wholly warranted.


In 1903 there have been 1,969 instances of parents request- ing the dismissal of their children from school before the close of the session, one case in 1,764 opportunities.


In these days of pressure every moment of the school days should yield its full value. Some schools waste or misuse ten minutes daily. This is the loss of a week per year. In some buildings the majority of pupils will be found at their desks and at work fifteen minutes before the hour. They gain two weeks


163


SCHOOL DEPARTMENT.


of time annually in this way, besides being freed from exposure to the frequently pernicious influences of the playground.


In the ideal school every moment is utilized. The teacher comes early ; her own preparation of the day's lessons has been previously made; every exercise has been planned ; ink, paper, pencils, books,-everything is in its place ready for methodical distribution ; promptly on time the doors are opened and pupils are seated and begin work, the blackboard furnishing ample directions ; with the stroke of the clock school is opened ; each exercise begins and ends at the appointed time, and has a well- designed object in view; the transition from one line of business to another is quickly and noiselessly made; there is no delay, no dawdling, no hurry. The silent influence of such a school for good is incalculable. Why should it be exceptional save that it requires energy, system, life, tact, ability in the teacher?


On the fifteenth of December, the number of pupils in the schools was as follows :-


In the Latin school


406


In the English school.


751


In the elementary schools.


10,000


In the kindergartens.


200


A total of. 11,357


Adding to this number the 1,708 pupils in private schools, we have 13,065 school children in the city.


Teachers. There are now 299 teachers regularly employed in the city, twenty-five men and 274 women. This does not in- clude forty-four at present at work in evening schools, nor seven third assistants temporarily engaged. There were 369 names on the November pay-roll, including substitutes.


During 1903, twenty-one teachers have resigned. Three of them, Misses Blood, Damon, and Wilder, relinquished teaching altogether after a long and faithful service of twenty-one, twenty- four and twenty-nine years, respectively. Two left us on ac- count of ill-health. Three others accepted positions at larger salaries, while the somewhat unusual number of thirteen resigned to be married. Excluding the three teachers mentioned, the average term of service of the remaining eighteen was only four years. Among the teachers who left us during the year were some of the very best in our corps, teachers whose service has been especially profitable not only in their influence and success within their own schoolrooms, but also in the stimulus their ex- ample gave to others. Such teachers it is difficult to replace.


Twenty-six teachers have been elected during the year, either to fill vacancies or for newly-established schools. In their selection, our long-established custom of securing the best teachers to be found for our maximum salary has been followed. Only thus can our losses be made good and our standards main- tained. With two exceptions, these new teachers have had a


164


ANNUAL REPORTS.


long and successful experience, and were ranked among the very best in the places they left. What I said in my report for 1894 concerning teachers every year's experience since then has most emphatically confirmed, and I repeat it here :-


How to secure and retain the best teachers is the perpetual and per- plexing problem upon whose solution depends the success of all our efforts in education. The teacher is the heart and soul of the school. Upon her depend its life and power. In exact proportion as the teacher lacks high moral character, the power of personal influence, re- fined taste and manners, good scholarship, and thorough professional training, the school fails to accomplish its purpose. Given these quali- ties, and the highest success is certain, irrespective of material surround- ings. We can get along with poor or crowded buildings, with meagre or ill-adapted appliances, with enriched or impoverished courses of study, but good teachers are indispensable.


It is interesting to note that of our present corps of 306 teachers, only eighty-four were in service ten years ago. During the last decade 294 teachers have been chosen and elected, 173 have resigned, and three have died. Of those that have resigned, twenty-three have retired from teaching for rest or other employ- ment. Ill-health has caused sixteen resignations. Marriage has taken off seventy-four, while seventy have been drawn away by the attraction of larger salaries. Of the latter class, Boston has taken eighteen, the normal schools, eleven, Brookline, eight, Newton, four, and twenty-eight have gone to fill more attractive positions as principals or teachers elsewhere in New England. We have retained the services of five teachers now in the high schools by a slight increase of salaries, but the expected retention of teachers in competition with other cities by the general increase made three years ago has not been realized. We have lost the same relative numbers since the increase as before. These facts are given not only as information, but to show that in the future we may expect to lose about seven per cent. of our teaching force annually, four-fifths of whom will be drawn away in nearly equal numbers by the attractions of wedded life or larger incomes.


Latin School. This school now has a membership of 406, as against 370 a year ago. It is divided as follows :-


1903.


1902.


Change.


Freshman


121


125


-1


Sophomore


106


97


+9


Junior


95


88


+7


Senior


84


60


+24


Allusion has already been made to the addition of two reci- tation rooms and to the consequent employment of two additional teachers, making the number now in the school thirteen, and giv- ing an average of thirty-one pupils to a teacher, including the head master, who conducts recitations on ten of the twenty-five weekly periods. One of these new teachers is a graduate of the Somerville high school, with college training at Radcliffe and Dartmouth, and six years' high school experience at Concord,


165


SCHOOL DEPARTMENT.


N. H. The other is a Wellesley graduate of long and successful experience in the Dedham high school.


Any attempt here to set forth anew the limitations and needs of this school and the advantages of a lengthened course would be stale and unprofitable. The growth of the school only em- phasizes the demand for suitable accommodations, and the early solution of a perplexing but important problem will secure facili- ties for making its work most effective.


The school graduated a class of forty-six in June. Thirty- six of the senior class are now pursuing advanced courses of in- struction.


TABLE SHOWING LOSSES OF CLASSES IN LATIN HIGH SCHOOL EACH YEAR SINCE 1896.


MEMBERSHIP.


Class of 1899.


Class of 1900.


Class of 1901.


Class of 1902.


Class of 1903.


Class of 1904.


Class of 1905.


Class of 1906.


Class of 1907.


December 15, 1st year


79


89


77


64


103 93


111 97


125


121


2nd


66


* Gain.


Number of students in the different departments in the Latin high school since September :-


English


414


Latin


414


History


219


French


115


Mathematics


414


German


163


Science


65


Greek


103


English School. The present membership of this school is 751, as against 778


one year ago. The classes number as follows :-


1903.


1902.


Change.


Freshman


252


250


+2


Sophomore


190


214


-24


Junior


180


147


+33


Senior


112


151


-39 -


Special


17


16


+1


. .


.6


57


53


65


64 62 56


49 60 46


88


95


. .


..


. ..


Graduates


...


Loss per cent. 1st year


66


2nd


66


3rd


66


3.5


10.4


13.8 37.0


5.2 12.3 3.1 9.7 27.3


26 5 4.3* 22.4* 23.3* 28.1


...


...


Total


...


...


.. .


...


..


66


66


4th


9.5


15.2 15.0 7.0


10.1 20.0


73


47


106


..


3rd


63


57


64


4th


84


9.7 5.4


12.6


15.2


6.0


2.1


4.5


...


..


39.2


48


56


55


67


67


80


There are thirty-one teachers, exclusive of the head master and secretary. The average number of pupils to a teacher is 24.2. The head master meets all pupils for one period a week, but otherwise has no regular class work. The secretary does no teaching, being constantly occupied with other duties. The number of regular teachers is one less than last year, the place of


166


ANNUAL REPORTS.


Mr. Leonard, away on leave of absence for a year, not having yet been filled.


There were 135 in the graduating class, of whom twenty-four are now pursuing advanced courses in other institutions.


Nothing has been done during the year to relieve the con- gested conditions which have so long handicapped this school and rendered the accomplishment of its best work extremely diffi- cult, if not impossible. Two-thirds of all our high school stu- dents, deprived of farther educational advantages, depend upon this school to complete their academic training. They enter upon the activities of business life when they graduate. Their equip- ment should be the best we can furnish. It is excellent in many respects even now, but a wider range of subjects and an exten- sion of courses would much improve it. But it is needless to en- large on a question already often fully discussed. Each year doubtless brings us nearer the attainment of ideal conditions in our high schools, but delays, while they may save money, entail losses of opportunity that are remediless.


One new teacher has been added to the corps to fill the va- cancy caused by the resignation of Miss Seaver, Nina A. Cum- mings, the first graduate of the school to occupy such a position.


The following tables show the number pursuing each subject of the curriculum since September, and the annual losses of va- rious classes :-


English


784


Mechanical drawing 218


History


677


Freehand drawing


381


Mathematics


554


Commercial


159


Science


556


Stenography


295


Latin


107


Elocution


774


French


273


Manual training


160


German


137


TABLE SHOWING LOSSES OF CLASSES IN ENGLISH HIGH SCHOOL EACH YEAR SINCE ITS ORGANIZATION.


MEMBERSHIP.


Class of 1899.


Class of 1900.


Class of 1901.


Class of 1902.


Class of 1903.


Class of 1904.


Class of 1905.


Class of 1906.


Class of 1907.


December 15, 1st year


192


228


211


217


299


246


261


250


252


2nd **


149


163


153


162


221


178


214


190


...


121


119


125


135


178


147


180


60


4th


16


98


97


108 96


108


135


..


..


...


.. .


Loss per cent.


1st year


22.4


24.1


27.5


25.3 16.6


26.0 19.5


27.2 17.4


18.0 15.9


24.0


66


3rd


66


19.0


18.5


13.6


11.1


13.2


23.8


. .


66


4th 66


12.2


14.4


11.1


10.0


10.6


Total


55.2


63.6


54.5


50.2


..


. ..


120


151


112


. . .


...


86


83


Graduates


66


2nd


18.7


27.0


18.0


. .


Grammar and Primary Schools. The membership of these schools December 15 was 10,000. In the table which follows, the distribution of the number among the grades is shown. To indi-


3rd “


167


SCHOOL DEPARTMENT.


cate changes, the percentage of distribution in all the grades, in- cluding the high schools, as recorded ten years ago, is also given :-


DISTRIBUTION OF PUPILS IN GRADES.


Percentage.


1903.


1894.


1903.


1894.


Change.


Grade 1


1,651


1,384


14.8


18.1


-3.3


66


2


1,349


984


12.1


12.9


-0.8


3


1,270


847 .


11.4


11.1


++-0.3


66


4


1,182


834


10.6


10.9


-0.3


66


5


1,155


824


10.3


10.8


-0.5


66


6


1,134


668


10.1


8.8


+1.3


7


964


590


8.6


7.7


+0.9


66


8


751


458


6.7


6.0


+0.7


66


9


544


398


4.9


5.2


-0.3


66


10


373


261


3.4


3.4


66


11


296


177


2.7


2.2


+0.5


66


12


275


130


2.5


1.7


+0.8


66


13


213


94


1.9


1.2


+0.7


Total


11,157


7,649


It will be seen from these figures that there are relatively fewer children in the five lower grades, while the number in the sixth, seventh and eighth grades has increased. There are fewer in the ninth grade, the number in the freshman class in the high school is proportionately exactly the same, and there has been a relative increase in the three upper classes of the high schools. It is encouraging, then, to notice that pupils are passing more quickly through the lower grades, and are remaining in larger numbers in the higher grades of the grammar and high schools.


The grammar schools graduated 484, of whom 354, or seventy-three per cent., entered the high schools, 112 going to the Latin and 242 to the English.


The numbers in the class as it has passed through the grades are as follows :-


Loss.


December, 1897, fourth grade.


964


December, 1898, fifth grade.


950


14


December, 1899, sixth grade.


860


90


December, 1900, seventh grade.


756


104


December, 1901, eighth grade


616


140


December, 1902, ninth grade.


513


103


June, 1903, graduates.


484


29


.


.


.


.


.


·


.


·


+


·


.


.


.


It will be observed that more than one-third of the class dropped out between the sixth and ninth grades. This ratio of loss has been so often observed that it may be confidently ex- pected that one-half of every fourth grade will leave school shortly after passing the compulsory school age.


There has been no increase in the number of grammar school graduates for three years, a fact which shows either that larger numbers are leaving school for business, or that the standard for passing from one to another of the higher grades is growing more rigid, The number of employment certificates issued to


168


ANNUAL REPORTS.


children fourteen or fifteen years of age for the last five years is as follows :-


1899 162


1900 171


1901 176


1902


205


1903 243


· The increase is disproportionate to changes in population. Possibly the labor laws are more strictly enforced. Whatever influence this factor may have in diminishing the number of grammar school graduates, a study of the promotion table found elsewhere will show that thirty per cent. of the seventh-grade pupils and twenty-eight per cent. of those of the eighth grade were either promoted conditionally or held back altogether in June of this year. This number seems unduly large. Pupils be- come discouraged under these conditions, and probably many drop out of school who would otherwise remain.


In connection with the expediency of the half-time plan in the lowest grade, I find that only twenty-one and one-half per cent. of first-grade children on full time were left behind to repeat the year, as against twenty-nine per cent. of the half-time children, a difference of seven and one-half per cent. in favor of the all-day session. In the second grade the same difference is noticeable, although not quite as marked, seventeen per cent. of the children on half-time the previous year being held back, as against eleven per cent. of full-time children. These facts indicate a distinct loss by the half-time plan, and weigh in favor of giving all chil- dren a full school day.


As showing the changes in membership that are constantly occurring, the following facts are interesting :-


Number entering from schools outside the city. 1,348


66 first grade. 1,171


66 that were graduated.


665


66 that left school to go to work. 243


66 that left school by removal from the city. 1,223


66 of transfers from one school to another in the city, 2,194


Kindergartens. Four kindergartens have been maintained during the year in the Hanscom, Bennett, Baxter and Glines schools. The cost of instruction has been $3,927, and of sup- plies, $98.93. The per capita cost, based on the average member- ship, has been $21.08.


There is an urgent demand for kindergartens in other parts of the city by people who recognize their advantages. It seems better, however, to forego these advantages, rather than to de- prive older primary children of full-time sessions. A fifth kinder- garten will doubtless be opened in the Bingham school when completed, and the system will be extended to all parts of the city whenever suitable accommodations for all are provided.


The following table shows facts in detail :-


169


SCHOOL DEPARTMENT.


Hanscom.


Bennett.


Baxter.


Glines.


Total.


Enrollment


103


101


97


101


402


Average membership


48


50


45


48


19


Average attendance


44


39


38


41


162


Per cent. attendance


91.3


78.0


83.8


86.4


84.7


Age


4-8


4-7


4-9


4-7


4-8


Evening Schools. In the elementary schools the season of 1902-1903, extending from October to April, was, on the whole, the most satisfactory in our experience. Seven hundred forty-one students from fourteen to sixty years of age attended a portion of the time. Only 251 of them, or thirty-four per cent., attended all the time. This was only a slight increase in regularity, as compared with the previous season. This com- paratively small attendance shows the crowning difficulty that the evening schools present. We have thus far found no way of re- taining all the pupils who enter. Irresolute of purpose, they are drawn away, many of them quite early in the season, by other and to them stronger attractions. The attendance by months is as follows :-


October, 384


December,


223


February, 176


November, 320


January,


206 March, 123


The Prescott and Bell schools were kept ninety-six sessions, and the Highland and Forster seventy-seven sessions each. The latter two schools were closed the last of February, owing to the smallness of the numbers in attendance. The cost of these schools was a trifle less than last year, being $0.279 per pupil per evening, or about fourteen cents an hour for each pupil in attend- ance. The cost per pupil per hour in the elementary day schools is about three cents.


In the evening drawing school 178 different students were enrolled, seventy-eight, or forty-four per cent., of whom attended on each of the forty-seven sessions. The attendance by months was :-


October, 109


November, 92


January, December,


61


February, 65


71


March, 68


Although the number of pupils in February was forty-four less on the average than in October, the same number of teachers was employed. The forty-eight pupils that began in October and dropped out before the end of December received practically no profit whatever from the expensive instruction that was given them, and should have been excluded altogether. Some means should be devised, if possible, to secure continuous attendance from those who enter.


170


ANNUAL REPORTS.


Owing to the relatively small attendance, the cost of the school was considerably in excess of the previous year, averaging $0.363 per pupil per evening, or eighteen cents per hour, three times as much as the hourly cost of a pupil in the high schools, which is six cents.


The total cost of evening schools was $7,188.07.


The success of evening schools is largely dependent upon the character of the teaching force. We have been very fortunate in securing experienced, enthusiastic, sympathetic instructors. The old impression that any sort of teacher will do for an evening school is fast being dispelled. Students that remain throughout the course bear hearty witness to the advantages of the evening school. More than the usual number of certificates and diplomas were granted at the close of the term.


During the winter six illustrated lectures were given to even- ing school students in English Hall. The room was crowded with attentive and delighted audiences, readings and music add- ing to the interest. No hundred dollars that the city spends yields a more profitable return. The list is as follows :-




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