USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Somerville > Report of the city of Somerville 1911 > Part 11
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Fire Department account, amount appro- priated
50,000 00
Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Metro- politan Water Assessment Maintenance Water Buildings; amount ap- · propriated 700 00
115,094 29
· amount transferred .
106 33
$224,824 00
6,000 00
1,980 00
13,000 00
APPENDIX TO TREASURER AND COLLECTOR'S REPORT. 151
APPROVAL OF TREASURER'S REPORT.
In Committee on Finance, February 26, 1912. To the Board of Aldermen of the City of Somerville :-
Gentlemen: The committee on finance, to which was referred the report of the city treasurer and collector of taxes for the year 1911, reports recommending that it be printed in the annual reports of the year 1911, and that the report of the expert accountant who made the examination of the books and accounts of the city treasurer be accepted as the report of this committee.
(Signed) JOSEPH O. KNOX, Chairman Committee on Finance.
REPORT OF THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE.
School Committee Rooms, December 22, 1911.
Ordered, that the annual report of the Superintendent be adopted as the annual report of the Board of School Com- mittee, it being understood that such adoption does not commit the Board to the opinions or recommendations made therein; that it be incorporated in the reports of the City Officers; and that 1,000 copies be printed separately.
-
CHARLES S. CLARK, Secretary of School Board.
PLAY FESTIVAL FOR GIRLS, CENTRAL HILL PARK, AUGUST 23, 1911 City Hall Annex and Office of Superintendent of Schools in Background
SCHOOL COMMITTEE, 1911.
HENRY H. FOLSOM, .
Chairman
GEORGE C. MAHONEY,
Vice-Chairman
Members.
EX-OFFICIIS.
Term Expires January
CHARLES A. BURNS, Mayor, 27 Thurston street 1912
RALPH M. SMITH, Pres. Board of Aldermen, 80 Bay State avenue
1912
WARD ONE.
MRS. MARY G. WHITING
61 Mt. Vernon street 1912
EMORY F. CHAFFEE
109 Pearl street 1913
WARD TWO.
DANIEL H. BRADLEY
19 Concord avenue 1912
THOMAS M. CLANCY
52 Springfield street 1913
WARD THREE.
GEORGE E. WHITAKER
75 Walnut street 1912
ALBERT C. ASHTON
33 Columbus avenue 1913
WARD FOUR.
CHARLES A. KIRKPATRICK
27 Sewall street 1912
GEORGE W. FOSTER
7 Evergreen avenue 1913
WARD FIVE.
HENRY H. FOLSOM
103 Central street 1912
J. WALTER SANBORN
183 Central street 1913
WARD SIX.
44 Cherry street 1912
170 Summer street 1913
WARD SEVEN.
97 College avenue 1912
MRS. LILLA H. TAINTER
46 Chester street 1913
Superintendent of Schools. CHARLES S. CLARK.
Office: City Hall Annex, Highland avenue. Residence: 82 Munroe street.
The Superintendent's office will be open on school days from 8 to 5; Saturdays, 8 to 10. His office hours are from 4 to 5 on school days, and 8 to 9 on Saturdays.
Office telephone, 314; house telephone, 12.
Superintendent's office force :- Justin W. Lovett, 13 Hudson street. Mary A. Clark, 42 Highland avenue. Mildred A. Merrill, 26 Cambria street.
FREDERICK A. P. FISKE
MRS. MARY R. BREWER
GEORGE C. MAHONEY
STANDING COMMITTEES, 1911.
Note .- The member first named is chairman.
High Schools .- Sanborn, Mahoney, Clancy, Ashton, Foster, Fiske, Mrs. Whiting.
District I .- Mrs. Whiting, Chaffee, Foster. PRESCOTT, HANSCOM, DAVIS, BENNETT.
District II .- Bradley, Clancy, Chaffee. KNAPP, PERRY, BAXTER.
District III .- Whitaker, Ashton, Mrs. Whiting. POPE, BELL, CUMMINGS.
District IV .- Kirkpatrick, Foster, Sanborn. EDGERLY, GLINES.
District V .- Folsom, Sanborn, Kirkpatrick. FORSTER, BINGHAM.
. District VI .- Fiske, Mrs. Brewer, Folsom. CARR, MORSE, PROCTOR, DURELL, BURNS, BROWN.
District VII .- Dr. Mahoney, Mrs. Tainter, Fiske. HIGHLAND, HODGKINS, LINCOLN, LOWE.
Additional School Accommodations .- Mahoney, Clancy, Fiske, Chaffee, Folsom, Foster, Ashton, Burns, Smith.
Evening Schools .- Fiske, Mrs. Tainter, Chaffee.
Finance .- Folsom, Bradley, Whitaker, Burns, Smith.
Industrial Education .- Foster, Sanborn, Kirkpatrick, Mrs. Whiting, Ashton.
Medical Inspection .- Mrs. Brewer, Mahoney, Mrs. Whiting. Music .- Ashton, Bradley, Folsom.
Private Schools .- Clancy, Mrs. Brewer, Kirkpatrick.
Repairs of School Buildings .- Mrs. Tainter, Foster, Mrs. Brewer.
Rules and Regulations .- Bradley, Fiske, Mahoney.
Salaries .- Kirkpatrick, Whitaker, Clancy.
Supplies .- Chaffee, Sanborn, Whitaker.
Text-Books and Courses of Study .- Whitaker, Chaffee, Bradley, Kirk- patrick, Folsom, Mrs. Tainter, Mrs. Brewer.
Vacation Schools and Playgrounds .- Mrs. Whiting, Mrs. Tainter, Fiske.
REPORT OF THE SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS.
To the School Committee of Somerville :-
Herewith I submit to you the report of the condition of the schools for the year 1911 which by your rules and regula- tions the Superintendent is required to make. Presuming that it may be your pleasure to again follow the custom of recent years by adopting this report as the annual report of the Board of School Committee, I have treated some topics with consid- erable detail, in order that the citizens of Somerville may have full information concerning them. The usual statistical matter is presented in tabular form, showing the facts concerning at- tendance and cost, and a few subjects are treated in special statements which are placed in the second part of the report. In accordance with the natural order, comment will first be made upon
School Attendance. According to the United States cen- sus, the population of Somerville in 1910 was 77,236. It is estimated that the population is now 78,000, an increase in round numbers of 700. The entire enrollment in the public schools for the year 1910 was 14,481. The entire enrollment for 1911 is 14,301, a decrease of 180. The average number be- longing in 1910 was 12,131. In 1911 it is 11,871, a decrease of 260. In 1910 a fair comparison between the entire enrollment of that year and that of the preceding year could not be made because of the fact that in 1910 children five years old were for the first time denied admission to the first grade, but the com- parison between the entire enrollment for 1911 and that of 1910 can be made on an even basis, and plainly shows a loss of nearly 200 pupils. This corresponds with the loss in the same time in the average membership.
The membership of the schools for December, 1911, is as follows :-
Whole membership 11,923
Membership in the high school. 1,781
elementary schools 9,837
66
kindergartens 217
66
vocational schools 88
Three hundred and forty-three teachers are now employed. Three hundred and thirty-nine were employed last year. Sixty-two are now employed in the high school, 264 in the ele- mentary schools, 7 in the kindergartens, and 10 in the voca- tional schools.
The decrease in the membership of the schools has led to the giving up of three classes, two in Ward Six and one in Ward Five.
156
ANNUAL REPORTS.
The distribution of children over the city is such as to produce variations in the numbers attending the classes which are provided in the several elementary schools. As a conse- quence, some classes are too large and others too small. It is generally recognized that the size of the class which one must teach has much to do with the efficiency of the work of the class. Some cities establish as the standard maximum to be assigned to one teacher forty-two pupils, and some others even a smaller number. Our rules provide that an assistant may be employed whenever a class has more than fifty pupils, thereby permitting a maximum of fifty pupils to one teacher. Besides having a direct relation to the efficiency of the instruc- tion given by the schools, the number of pupils assigned to each teacher has a direct relation to the number of teachers to be employed and to the cost of instruction. The following statement shows how our elementary schools now correspond in organization to these two standards of measurement. Ten thousand one hundred and sixty-six pupils are organized into 234 classes in grades 1 to 9, inclusive, making an average of 43.3 to a teacher. If this average were the actual fact, the condition would be one very favorable to the interests of both pupils and teachers, and one not unduly unfavorable from the standpoint of economy. As things stand, however, these are the conditions :-
23 classes have over 50 pupils. 90
between 45 and 50 pupils.
63 66
40 and 45 66
36 66
66
35 and 40
14
66
66 30 and 35 66
8
66 less than 30.
The unevenness in the sizes of the classes which is shown in this statement is to be regretted, but it is difficult to prevent it without sending children away from the schools which they would, from neighborhood reasons, desire to attend, to others. more remote. This unevenness in the sizes of classes is one of the consequences of having many small schools at short dis- tances from one another. Of course, there is one compensa- tion to the objection just stated. The small classes resulting from this condition are beneficial both to the teacher and to the pupils.
Several classrooms in different parts of the city are vacant and available now for special uses.
School Census. The school census taken this fall has shown an increase over last year in the number of children in the city between five and fifteen years of age. This fact is in contrast to the decrease in the entire enrollment of the schools, and the explanation of the apparent discrepancy can be found in the circumstance that the school census was more efficiently
15"
SCHOOL DEPARTMENT.
taken this fall than ever before, and has probably reported some children who were omitted in previous reports. It is probable, moreover, that there has been a greater increase among children of five years of age during the year than of children of the ages found in the school records. These sup- positions seem adequate to reconcile the conclusions of the two kinds of enumeration, and to indicate that a larger enrollment of pupils may be expected next year.
According to the school census, there has been an increase in the number of pupils from five to fifteen years of age in Wards One, Four, Six, and Seven. In Ward Seven there has been an increase of 499. The other wards show slight losses.
Schoolhouses. The ordinary repairs which are necessary to the preservation of the schoolhouses have been made during the year, and in the main they are in good condition. They are well supplied with modern, adjustable furniture, and have been well heated during cold weather. Most of them have . modern and effective systems of ventilation.
Following a request of this committee, the Board of Al- dermen last year made a specific appropriation for the purpose of increasing the window areas in a number of school buildings where the light was below the standard for schoolhouses. As a result, twelve new windows were added to the Prescott Schoolhouse during the summer vacation, and an improvement in the lighting of that building which has long been needed was thereby made. But the other buildings for which more windows were asked still remain unimproved. Their deficiency in lighting is very manifest, and should be remedied without delay. It is difficult to regard any other school condition as more important than lighting. Poor ventilation, insufficient heat, or unsuitable furniture are adverse conditions which can be combated by a teacher who has to endure them, but against insufficient light she has no remedy except, indeed, to stop working, or to go on at the expense of that most valued of all the human senses, sight. Believing that there should be win- dows enough in all our school buildings to give sufficient light in all the classrooms, I think the School Committee should ask the Board of Aldermen for another grant of money to com- plete the work already begun. Additional artificial lighting is urgently needed in a number of buildings as a measure of re- lief until more windows can be provided.
The playground at the Hodgkins School has been graded and surrounded by an iron fence, and is now, with its play equipment, fast becoming a model. Steps are being taken to increase the playground at the Clark Bennett School, where more space is greatly needed. The yard at the Lowe School has been resurfaced and has been put into good condition.
158
ANNUAL REPORTS.
The playgrounds at several other buildings are now, as they have been for years, in excellent shape, while still others are sadly in need of repair. Additional space is needed at several schools. At the Carr School more room to play is needed, and land in the vicinity is available for that purpose. This statement applies, also, to several other schools. As the schoolhouses are to be used for many years, it is a good policy to get additional land for these schools as soon as possible. The additions made to school grounds in the last few years have already proven blessings to the children. By adding each year a piece of available land to one or more school grounds, we should soon reach a time when there would be enough play space for the pupils at all of our schools.
During the year a school building has been added to the list and another has been begun. On the property adjacent to the Carr School, the large double house fronting on Atherton street has been completely remodeled and adapted to the use of a vocational school for girls. It is three stories in height, and has seventeen rooms devoted to the various uses which the work of the school necessitates. The building was ready for occupancy on October 14, and on October 16 it was opened as a trade school for girls.
The building which is now being erected on Powder House boulevard is designed for an elementary school. It will contain fourteen classrooms, besides offices, rooms for teachers' use and for other general purposes. The architect, Walter T. Littlefield, Commissioner of Public Buildings, has furnished the following description of this new structure :- -
"The new S. Newton Cutler School building, which was begun in September of this year, and located on Powder House boulevard, near Curtis street, is being constructed with satis- factory progress, and will be completed in time for the opening of schools in September, 1912.
"This building is to be of brick and stone, and when com- pleted will contain fourteen full-size classrooms and the neces- sary coat-room accommodations adjoining each of these class- rooms.
"The building is to consist of three stories and a basement. All of the rooms are to be lighted by the modern system known as one-sided lighting. Each room will be equipped with the latest design of schoolroom ventilation. It is proposed, also, to equip this building with a system of vacuum cleaning. The building is now being constructed as the beginning of a com- prehensive plan which, when eventually completed, will provide a building of twenty-four classrooms, and a large assembly hall with a seating capacity of at least 1,200. Sufficient land has been purchased by the city to provide for this extension, and still allow a very liberal space for playground purposes, The
SOMERVILLE INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL FOR GIRLS 41 Atherton Street
159
SCHOOL DEPARTMENT.
section of the building now in process of construction is to face on Powder-house boulevard, and is to be located at a distance of thirty feet from the northeasterly side of the boulevard."
Cost of the Schools. Last January the Board of Alder- men gave $326,000 for the salaries of school teachers and for the contingent expenses of the schools for the year 1911. The School Board had asked for $348,259. It did not seem prob- able then that the expenses of school maintenance for the year could be kept within the amount appropriated, but at the close of the year there is a balance of over $1,700 in the salaries ac- count, and the appropriation for contingent expenses has not been overdrawn. Several causes have contributed to make this result possible. In the account for salaries several changes in administration were made which resulted in saving, and changes in attendance of pupils, due in part to mov- ing from one section to another, have made it possible to close several classes and save the salaries of several teachers. The effect of these economies has been sufficient to defray the sala- ries of the new vocational school for girls and to have a balance to the credit of salaries. The expenditures made from the con- tingent account are shown in detail in a statement to be found in the appendix of this report. This fund has been handled with great care, competitive bids having been secured on large orders and small orders having been placed where lowest terms could be secured, with due regard for quality and reliability of service.
In the search for means of curtailing expenses there is little hope that important savings can be made, either in the cost of supplies or in the salaries paid to teachers. It is pos- sible, however, to make changes in the organization of the schools from time to time which will result in reducing the total cost of their maintenance without reducing their effi- ciency. Several such changes have already been made and others can be made. Among the latter is the elimination of the ninth grade, which has already been determined.
High School. When the position of head master of the Latin High School became vacant at the end of the last school year, there arose the question whether there was reason for conducting the work of the two high schools longer under separate managements. This question involved many impor- tant considerations affecting the general policy of high school development, and these were all given their due weight by the Committee before it reached a conclusion. So important was this whole discussion, both in respect to the policies considered and the conclusions reached, that it seems desirable to state here the main propositions examined and the decision reached upon each,
160
ANNUAL REPORTS.
Administration. As a matter of administration, it would promote efficiency and economy to unify the control of two schools placed as these were so near together as to make of them one student body. Centralization of direction would se- cure the greatest results from the administrative forces of the two schools, and would reduce waste of effort through need- less duplication or from varying methods operating in the same field of action. Hence from this point of view it seemed wise to combine the two schools.
Educational Policy. But several phases of educational sig- nificance demanded attention. Would uniting impair the work of either school? Would the tendency be to develop a school of indeterminate character, a large school lacking distinctive in- dividuality? Would the interests of the city be best served by a general high school or by high schools of special types?
Since 1895 the Latin School had given instruction solely in academic subjects, and had fitted pupils for college, normal schools, and other higher institutions of learning. During the same time the English School had taught English and commer- cial studies, manual training and drawing, the sciences and modern languages, and had fitted pupils for colleges, normal schools, and other higher institutions of learning. The Latin School was a high school of special type; the English was a general high school, including in its curriculum college pre- paratory work. By a combination of the two schools there would result a general high school, with a large college pre- paratory course as one of its features. Given the same em- phasis and curriculum as before, the work of the college pre- paratory course should be as successful as was that done under a separate name and management. On the other hand, the work which the English School was organized to carry on would be continued in the new school, as its curriculum would be affected as a result of the union of the two schools only by the enlargement of one of its courses. Therefore it did not appear that the elements of the two schools were so incon- gruous as to make either suffer by uniting with the other.
High schools of special types exist for the purpose of giv- ing intensive direction and instruction in the courses which the schools offer. So, also, a general high school is able to give intensive direction and instruction in the courses for which it has proper facilities and competent teachers. To get this re- sult, however, the several courses of a general high school ought to be so differentiated and developed as to have a vitality comparable to that of a separate school of the same type. This diversity of courses can be provided if the necessary plans for doing so are made and followed. Again, 1,800 pupils occupy- ing contiguous buildings should be at least as efficiently man- aged by a given number of instructors responsive to a single
161
SCHOOL DEPARTMENT.
head as they would be by the same number of instructors under two directors. The efficiency of a school is not determined by its size, but by the spirit which animates it, by the character of its instructors and the sufficiency of the number of them, by the equipment of the school and the facilities which it has for doing the work which it undertakes, and by the adequacy and completeness of the plant which the school occupies. When all these conditions are favorable, the school will be efficient, be it large or small.
It seemed from this survey of the situation that a general high school offering all the courses of the Latin and English High Schools would better serve the interests of the com- munity than would the continuance of the separate schools, but another question remained to be answered: Would the inter- ests of the city be better served by the establishment of another high school of a type different from that of either the Latin or the English High School, as, for instance, a high school of manual arts, sometimes called a technical high school, or a high school of commerce, sometimes called a business high school. Such institutions are found in many cities, and perform an im- portant work, dividing the high school attendance with the schools of other types, and affording a training along the lines of their specialty. On one or the other of these grounds their justification as a separate institution must rest. The need of more room for our high school pupils has been most urgent, but such additional accommodations could be given in connec- tion with the present group of buildings, as well as by a sepa- rate institution of a new type. Whether, then, Somerville needs another high school, such as a commercial high school or a manual training high school, was the question remaining to be determined. In view of the experience of the English High School, and in view of the fact that industrial schools for both sexes have already been established, it seemed certain that the commercial and manual training, as well as other spe- cial subjects, could be developed sufficiently as courses of a general high school, and at much less expense than would be entailed by the creation and maintenance of separate high schools for any of them. This survey of the situation then led to the conclusion that for Somerville a general high school em- bracing all the courses which the community might demand should be established and maintained with the highest degree of efficiency which the resources of the school would make pos- sible. The School Committee accordingly instituted a new school by the union of the two, and gave it the name of the Somerville High School.
So much having been done, it then became necessary to determine what courses the high school should offer and what steps should be taken to make effective the instruction in those
162
ANNUAL REPORTS.
courses. It seemed wise to take the elements already existing in the two schools as the component parts of courses which the school would first develop. It was decided to group the sub- jects of the curriculum in such a way as to make these courses as effective and distinctive as would be the case were they maintained in separate high schools. It was recognized, also, that a school as large as the new school would present prob- lems of its own, the chief of which would be to bring each indi- vidual of the membership of the school into close personal and sympathetic relationship with the work of the school. It was determined, therefore, for both of these reasons, so to organize the forces of the faculty as to provide both for the thorough disciplining of the school and for the effective bringing to every pupil the particular service which the school ought to render to his needs. To meet this aim, a plan of organizing the faculty was adopted by the Board, and has been in operation since the first of September. This plan is intended to secure sufficient differentiation of courses, to provide thorough supervision of the instruction of all the courses taught in the school, to en- courage educational initiative among the members of the fac- ulty, to provide a means for bringing every pupil into close relationship with the life of the school, thereby minimizing the danger of his being lost in the crowd of a large school, and to provide sufficient and competent leadership both in the educa- tional and administrative interests of the school. This plan has only begun to show its effect. It is believed that it provides a means of far-reaching benefit to the future life of the school. Concerning the effectiveness of the plan, both for the present and the future, I am glad to give the opinion of the head master of the school, John A. Avery, who was active in making and recommending it for adoption :-
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