USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Somerville > Report of the city of Somerville 1911 > Part 13
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All expenditures from the city fund were made by the Superintendent of Schools acting as secretary for the School Committee, and an itemized account thereof is given in the ap- pendix.
The conduct of the playgrounds this season was much in advance in efficiency of that of last year, as it should have been. It not only produced good results during the summer, but it laid down principles to be followed hereafter, and it gathered and recorded experiences which will be of the utmost value another year. As this work has been in a sense pioneer work,
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I deem it of sufficient interest to the public to justify printing a rather full report of the plans and activities of the play- grounds, which has been prepared at my request by the di- rectors.
As a closing remark on this topic, -I wish to record my belief that this enterprise was worth the effort and money ex- pended upon it. As play has always in the history of the human race been the forerunner of work, it may be that sum- mer playgrounds will prove to be but the forerunner of a summer work or education which will afford better occupation for children forced to stay in the city than weeks filled only with idleness and temptations to mischief.
Dental Dispensary. The work of the dental dispensary has been carried on during the year at the Proctor School with the continued co-operation of the dentists of Somerville. Through its ministrations 225 children have found relief from dental troubles or have had treatment which otherwise they could not have secured. Twenty-seven dentists were in attendance during the year, and five young ladies volunteered to take charge of the administrative work connected with the conduct of the dispensary. Great credit is due all of these workers for the service which they have rendered to the children. It is fair to them to say, however, that they render this service appreciat- ing that it covers only a small part of the work which ought to be done. The work of the dispensary has been supplemented this fall by talks given in the classrooms of the elementary schools by the women members of the School Committee. As a result of these talks, teachers have been supported in their efforts to inculcate care of the teeth, and the purchase and use of tooth brushes by the pupils have been greatly stimulated.
While the services of the dental dispensary are free to children who cannot afford even a small fee, it was thought to be the best policy to have a nominal charge for each kind of work undertaken. As a result of this policy, there has just been added to the equipment a dental engine and several appli- ances which will be paid for from the funds accumulated from the fees. While it is in no sense an aim of the dispensary to make money, it is worth mentioning that it has been self-sup- porting in all particulars other than service and equipment.
Truancy. As will be seen by consulting the statistics re- lating to truancy which form a part of this report, the work of the truant officer has been prosecuted with vigor. Whether it is due to increased vigor on his part, or whether it is due to the conditions themselves, the fact appears that a larger amount of truancy is shown for 1911 than appeared last year. Two hundred and fifty-two were truants for the first time this year, over 100 more than were reported last year. The num-
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ber of girls, also, who were truants is larger this year than was the case last year. These facts suggest the need of a more effective control of truancy than we are now able to have. One active truant officer for a city as large as the city of Somer- ville is a very small provision. In view of the increase in the number of truants and of the increase in the number of girls who are truants, I think it would be well to have as an assistant to the truant officer a woman, whose duty it would be to follow up cases of truancy and absenteeism among girls and small children, especially. Such a woman could act, also, as a home visitor to investigate cases of absence due to neglect or indif- ference. She could render valuable service in visiting the homes to follow up the treatment of children who were ex- cluded because of certain minor contagious diseases. It is by no means an untried experiment to have a woman as a truant officer, nor is it a new proposition to have performed by a woman home visitation and follow-up work. I think a woman having the needed qualifications could render valuable service to the schools in the prevention and reduction of unnecessary absence.
Work of the Schools. The educational doctrine which is being most insistently urged at the present time is that the schools must find each individual pupil, discover his needs, and provide for them. No longer is education in the mass deemed sufficient. Differences in capacity, in aims, in health, in prob- able duration of school attendance must all be taken into ac- count, and the activities of the schools modified in consequence of them. Vocational education, retardation and acceleration, classes for exceptional children, open-air classes, and differen- tiation of courses in the elementary schools after the sixth or seventh grades are all phases of this general doctrine, but are the phases which are now receiving the most emphasis. Along with the discussion upon these questions there is heard the ever-present criticism that the schools are attempting too much and that they are teaching nothing well enough. Each of these propositions contains truth, and, taken separately, commands attention, but as a basis for a plan of action for the schools it is necessary to consider them in their relation one to another, and to seek so to progress as to hold all the good which has al- ready been attained, and to add to that whatever will give greater efficiency to the work of the schools.
Certain movements have been under way in our schools during the year which have close relation to the educational doctrine under consideration. Twice within this period pro- motions have occurred at half-yearly intervals. As a result of these semi-annual promotions, a process of re-grading has been commenced which has had the immediate effect of helping
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some to a better place in the scheme of grading, and which will give as time goes on such flexibility to the grading as to make it possible more generally to advance pupils according to their individual characteristics. Two special classes have been in operation, an atypical and an ungraded class. Both of these have proven valuable. More classes of each kind are desirable. Two industrial schools have been in operation, and have added to the opportunities for individual preference. The work in drawing in the elementary schools has been re-planned and vitalized, and a beginning has been made in domestic science. An advance· has been made in the contribution which an out- door recess may give to the health and happiness of school children, and the interest in their physical welfare has been stimulated. In these ways the process of differentiation has been going on, adapting the school work more closely to indi- vidual needs. But the bulk of the school activity, however, has been the teaching in the elementary schools of the so-called essentials, and in the high schools in the giving of thorough in- struction in the various courses which are there offered. The character of our teachers and the spirit of our schools have in- sured all along the line insistence upon those rules of personal behavior whose observance promotes morality, health, and good conduct as members of the school organization and as young citizens. So as the year draws to a close the review shows sound progress, with the educational forces in a condi- tion strong enough to make the advances which ought to be made.
Course of Study. The courses of study in use in the ele- mentary schools have been divided to correspond to the semester plan, but neither the content nor the amount of re- quirement has been altered materially. As the experience of the year has disclosed some needs of readjustment, and as sev- eral of the courses would be improved by reorganization, further revision should be made. In the high school there is opportunity for making new curricula for one or more of the courses, so that they shall present groups of studies better adapted to the needs of many pupils than the present courses are.
Changes of Teachers. The service lost nineteen teachers during the year, two by death and seventeen for various rea- sons. Of the latter, seven were married, four secured posi- tions offering larger salaries, and six left either to enter other occupations or to devote their time to leisure and study. There remain with us, however, many who have long been in the service of the city. Of these, there are those who are the peers of any who have left to secure better salaries elsewhere. Their remaining in our schools is much to the advantage of the
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schools, and not at all an indication that the best teachers are all leaving us. Those who remain deserve at least this recog- nition of their ability and devotion to the schools of our city.
The most significant change in the corps of teachers was occasioned by the resignation of George L. Baxter, who had been head master of a Somerville high school for more than forty years. His decision to surrender the position he had so long held came as a shock of surprise. It was followed by such a demonstration of appreciation and friendship from teachers, School Committee, and citizens as would have turned the head of a lesser man. Constrained, however, to accept his resignation, the School Committee paid him such tribute as it could to express its appreciation of his worth as a man and a teacher. In his going from the schools an influence was with- drawn such as it will be difficult to duplicate. Modest and unassuming, but sympathetic and able, George L. Baxter was a teacher of the very highest type. Long may he live to be an example to our youth and a friend to all of us !
During the past year death has taken from their posts of duty two of the teachers. Mrs. Emma B. Jones, for many years a teacher in the primary grades, was stricken with illness in the early spring, and passed away on May 27, 1911. A faithful and kind-hearted teacher, she had been a benefactor to many children during the years of her service. Miss Annie E. McCarty, after an illness lasting only two days, was called from this life on November 15, 1911. For nine years she had been principal of the Clark Bennett School, and before that time had been for a number of years principal of the Jackson School. During her long period of service Miss McCarty was a con- scientious worker, and exercised a powerful influence in the neighborhood where her school work lay. Her service to the pupils was rendered not only in the work of her school, but also in her deeds of kindness and good will performed outside of school and as the outworking of a compassionate regard for those in need. She did much to make the Clark Bennett School an agency for the betterment of social conditions in its vicinity. Her memory will long be held in respect by all those who knew her.
Teachers' Salaries. The salaries of teachers are the larg- est element in the cost of the maintenance of our schools, as they are in the schools of other communities. They represent the chief inducement which a community holds out to attract men and women to the service of its children. They also are the measure of the reward which the community gives to those who are working in its schools. As a magnet or as a reward, the sufficiency of a salary for a teacher is measurable by the same standards as are applicable to other lines of work. In the distribution of workers among wage-earning vocations a
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process of classification goes on whereby there enter each vo- cation persons who are willing to meet the exactions of the calling for the sake of the pay which it offers. Hence an occu- pation which has difficult requirements must compete on even terms of payment with other occupations making equal de- mands, or else suffer the loss of the kind of workers which it ought to have and be content with that which it can get. In the latter event, the service would inevitably be inferior. A commercial business could not survive on such a basis as this. By the same token a non-competitive enterprise would fail to serve its legitimate aim if it worked on such a basis.
Now in a large sense teaching is not a competitive busi- ness. In this business meaning of the term competition is not conducive to the best in teaching. Being largely a spiritual office, teaching should be performed by one whose soul is not exasperated by too close attention to the commercial aspects of his vocation. But the calling of a teacher sets up such high qualifications for those to attain who would enter it, and pre- scribes limitations so inviolable upon them when once they enter, that the pay for teaching must be equal to that given in business to the same qualities, if teaching is to continue to at- tract men and women of the right quality and attainments. What kind of a person does society want in the teacher's place? The law used to say that the teacher stood in loco parentis, in the same relation to the child as his parent, inferen- tially, equal to his parent. But this wise maxim did not cover ground enough. Society thought well enough of the teacher to let him stand in the place of thirty, forty, or even fifty parents, not to say double that number of them. Such a definition of the status of a teacher would certainly seem to fix beyond dis- pute the contention that the highest qualities of heart and mind are needed in the person of the teacher. Modern conditions have added to the common law maxim. To-day the teacher must stand in the place of very wise parents. Society at the present time is turning to the schools to remedy many of the ills which beset it and to prevent many which it fears. This new attitude on the part of society places new responsibilities on the teacher, for the schools can never do more than the teachers are able to give in response to the demands made upon them. Therefore, it is plainly necessary to attract to the service of the schools workers who can do what the schools are called upon to accomplish. The main inducement to attract such persons into the vocation of teaching will be, in the future, salaries which will enable them to meet the demands of life under modern conditions of increased cost of living. And those salaries will be larger than those paid by most communi- ties at the present day. Such being the appearance of the matter as it relates to attracting persons into the vocation of
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teaching in the future, the conclusion is just as valid that teach- ers already in the service are entitled to a just reward for the work which they are doing. Our elementary teachers have shown that their pay has made a very small advance over a long period of years, and they are asking that they be given more. They are entitled to, and I am sure they will receive, a sympathetic hearing. As the city cannot afford to reduce the quality of the service which it exacts for the benefit of its chil- dren, it should reward as well as it can those who do the work which it requires. That this has always been the purpose of the city cannot be questioned, in view of all the facts in the case. That an increase of pay must soon be made if the city is to live up to this purpose in the future, as it has in the past, is equally certain. Therefore, I hope that provision can be made in the near future to reward and encourage the elemen- tary teachers by adding to the salary which has become too small either to be a measure of the value of the service which good teaching renders the city or to be a sufficient earning to safeguard them from anxiety or want.
Conclusion. This review of the work of the year is neces- sarily incomplete, inasmuch as a full and sympathetic account of all that has been done and planned by School Committee and school workers would make an account too long for the proper limits of this report.
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The work of the year has been arduous for the School Committee, as new problems of a difficult nature and of far- reaching importance have been considered and decided. The teachers, also, have had to adjust themselves to conditions somewhat altered, as the result of changes which the School Committee inaugurated. Their response has been prompt and loyal. They have rendered whole-hearted service, and have made a success of that which the Committee has planned. It is very gratifying and it is a reason for just pride that these difficult undertakings have been accomplished efficiently and with entire harmony of feeling. His Honor, the Mayor, the Board of Aldermen, and the various city officials, also, have co-operated in the fullest manner with the school department, with an earnest desire to promote in every way possible the efficiency of the schools.
As recommendations for adoption I bring together here, in closing, the needs of the schools which I have discussed in this report. They are :-
Additional accommodations for the high school.
More windows in several school buildings.
More artificial lighting in rooms insufficiently lighted. Increase in the pay of elementary teachers.
Purchase of parcels of land to increase playgrounds of several schools.
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Proper surfacing of the yards of several schools.
Further revision of the courses of study in high and elementary schools.
Extension of special classes in elementary schools.
Extension of the manual arts course in the high school.
Extension of the work in domestic science in the high school.
Employment of a woman as assistant to the truant officer and as school visitor.
To the members of the School Committee I give sincere acknowledgment and thanks for their active interest in the work of the schools, and for their unfailing assistance and sup- port in all of the work of the year ..
Respectfully submitted,
CHARLES S. CLARK,
Superintendent of Schools.
December 22, 1911.
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At the meeting of the School Board held May 29, 1911, the following notice was given :-
The Superintendent of Schools announced the death on Saturday, May 27, of Mrs. Emma B. Jones, teacher of the first grade, Hanscom School.
At the meeting of the School Board held December 22, 1911, the following resolution was adopted :-
Resolved: That in the death of Miss Annie E. McCarty, we, the School Board of Somerville, suffer the loss of a faithful teacher ; one who for many years continued in service as a teacher in the Prospect Hill School, principal of the Jackson School, and principal of the Clark Bennett School since that school was opened. Miss McCarty took a deep interest in her school work, and was a constant adviser and friend in the many families represented in her school. She was esteemed and loved by us all and by the many people who were blessed by her ministrations and her unfailing good cheer.
Resolved : That the deep sympathy of this Board be ex- tended to her family.
Resolved: That these resolutions be made part of the records of this Board, and a copy thereof be sent to the family of the deceased.
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SOMERVILLE TEACHERS' ASSOCIATION.
OFFICERS, 1911-1912.
President, George I. Bowden. Vice-President, Elizabeth M. Collins. Secretary-Treasurer, Irene Vincent. Executive Committee :-
Superintendent Charles S. Clark, ex-officio.
Roy W. Hatch, High School. Mary Henleigh Brown, Industrial School for Girls.
Natalie A. Smith, High School.
Elizabeth M. Warren, Prescott. M. Edna Merrill, Forster. E. Minor Morse, Industrial School Elizabeth J. O'Neil, Bingham. for Boys. Katherine Pike, Carr.
Mattie L. Littlefield, Hanscom.
Nellie F. Eaton, Bennett.
M. Edith Callahan, Knapp.
Mary E. Mullin, Perry.
Mary G. Blackwell, Baxter.
Daisy W. Cushman, Cummings.
Blanche G. North, Pope.
Ella H. Bucknam, Bell.
Luanna B. DeCatur, Hodgkins. May E. Small, Lowe.
The meetings held under the auspices of this association in the year 1911 were as follows :-
February 9-Meyer Bloomfield, director of the Boston Vocation Bu- reau. Subject: "The Vocational Guidance of Youth."
March 16-Will Carleton, author and reader. Social evening.
May 11-Edwin Cortlandt Bolles, Ph.D., D. D., LL.D., professor of English and American History in Tufts College. Subject: "The Ideal Teacher."
October 11-Foy Spencer Baldwin, Ph.D., R. P. D., professor of po- litical economy and social science in Boston University. Subject: "The War of Educational Ideals."
December 13-Ernst Hermann, director of physical education in the public schools of Cambridge, Mass. Subject: "The Growing Im- portance of Motor Education."
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Alice W. Cunningham, Edgerly. Louise V. Richardson, Glines.
Grace S. Russell, Morse. Ardelle Abbott, Burns. Abigail P. Hazelton, Durell.
L. Margaret Potter, Proctor. Annie G. Smith, Brown.
Frank W. Seabury, Highland.
Annie H. Hall, Lincoln.
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SOMERVILLE TEACHERS' CLUB.
OFFICERS, 1911-1912.
President, Miss Grace E. W. Sprague.
Vice-Presidents, Miss A. Marion Merrill.
Miss Lucia Alger.
Recording Secretary, Miss Blanche L. Paine.
Corresponding Secretary, Miss Mary S. Richardson.
Treasurer, Miss Elizabeth M. Warren.
OBJECT.
The object shall be to secure a close union among the women teachers in Somerville; to promote the spirit of mutual helpfulness; to advance professional interests; to create a deeper sense of the dignity of the profession; to unite the inter- ests of home and school.
PROGRAMME.
January 10-Reading of Henry Arthur Jones's play, "The Liars," Pro- fessor Thomas Crosby, Brown University.
January 24-Guest night. Mrs. Charlton Black, reader. February 14-Eugene Field evening. Rev. and Mrs. Ernest C. Herrick. February 20-Chafing-dish supper. Natalie A. Smith, chairman.
March 14-Musicale. "Opera and the Work-a-Day World," Henry L. Gideon.
April 11-Lecture, "Reminiscences of Old Concord and Some of Its Noted People," Mrs. Sarah Hosmer Lunt.
April 21-A play, "Esmeralda," by the club members.
May 9-Annual meeting.
October 10-Musicale. Reception to officers.
November 14-Reading, "Polly of the Circus," Ivaloo Pearl Eddy. December 12-Dramatics. "A Musical Bouquet," presented by mem-
bers of the club and their friends, under the direction of M. Katherine Davis.
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ANNUAL REPORTS.
STATEMENT CONCERNING THE SOMERVILLE INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL FOR GIRLS.
On October 16 the Somerville Industrial School for Girls opened at 41 Atherton street, with an enrollment of forty-four girls, coming from both the grammar and high schools of the city, and from near-by towns.
The school occupies a roomy, well-lighted building, and has an equipment necessary for efficient trade instruction in dressmaking and millinery. This consists of specially-made cutting and sewing tables, sewing machines, including one power machine, and electric pressing irons. A Thermal gas heater supplies all the hot water needed, and paper towels and soapators are used throughout the building.
The aim of the school is to give girls between the ages of fourteen and twenty-five as thorough training as possible in the trades of dressmaking and millinery, fitting them for positions above that of the apprentice, and by supplementary training in English, arithmetic, and salesmanship making their advance- ment more certain; to give them, besides, cooking and household management, and to make them in all ways more capable wage-earners. Later, drawing, as it relates to the practical trade problems, will be introduced. There will also be studies in textiles, industrial history, and economics, and for those girls who seek a fuller knowledge of cooking and serving additional training will be given along the lines of domestic science.
Each trade course covers a period of two years. Attend- ance is required five days of the week from 8.45 to 4.30, with a noon recess. As nearly as possible shop conditions prevail, and the product of the school is furnished by custom work. A trade standard is required, and those failing to reach that are urged to find other work, that work being found for them by the school whenever circumstances so warrant. Investigation is now being made as to possible opportunities for the girls to earn something while still at school, and for those who are not able to profit by the instruction offered, as it is felt that every girl coming to the school should have the benefit of counsel and aid.
Both the departments are under the instruction of experi- enced trade women. In dressmaking the girl becomes a skilful sewer while making custom underwear, children's wear, shirt- waists, embroidered and fancy waists, cotton and silk dresses, and evening gowns.
By the millinery instruction the girl becomes a maker. She is taught to make wire and buckram frames, to sew straw, make straw and velvet hats, bands, bows, and trimmings.
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