USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Somerville > Report of the city of Somerville 1914 > Part 12
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If properly placed it could furnish needed additional room and retire one or the other of these buildings. In this way the conditions in this section of the city can best be met.
The Morse School, a twelve-room building, has four classes of fifty or more pupils and makes use of all its class-rooms. Nearby is the Burns School, an eight-room building, having a seating capacity of 388 and an actual membership of 399 pupils. Not far away is the Brown School, a ten-room building, having 487 seats and 460 pupils. Half-time classes have been avoided in the Morse and Burns Schools by employing assistant teachers who teach groups of pupils in hallways and other odd places,
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From the Brown School pupils who live nearer that build- ing have been sent away to the Highland and Lowe Schools, against the wishes of their parents. Half-time classes in the lower grades of one or more of these build- ings will doubtless be the best way to deal with the situa- tion at the beginning of the next semester.
In the section west of Davis Square the conditions are such as to demand careful consideration. The new Cutler School has twelve class-rooms, 559 sittings, and 327 pupils ; 25 of the 32 vacant sittings are in the three highest classes. The remaining nine rooms are now full. At the Hodgkins the ten classes below the eighth grade have forty or more pupils, a number sufficient for any teacher. Three of the four classes in the Lincoln School have forty or more pupils. Clarendon Hill and contiguous territory are the scenes of a great building activity from which an increase in the number of children to go to school is inevitable. From this view of the situation it is evident that there will be overcrowding in these schools by the time a new school year comes around. It is desirable that plans be made immediately to provide for this condition. In the Bingham, Carr and Forster Schools, while some of the classes are of normal size or less, every room is occupied and some of the classes are over-crowded and are finding relief by occupying halls and such other spots as are available.
Generally over-crowding occurs in grades below the seventh, where it is more important that teaching con- ditions be favorable. Very large classes in first and second grades are especially to be deplored. The chief cause of large classes in our schools is the fact that class-rooms are not available for extra classes where they could be created by dividing ones overlarge. Such being the case, until more rooms are provided the only other way by which improvement can be secured is through change in the manner of using those we have. Since at present our custom is to give a single class, large or small, ex- clusive use of a class-room, any change would mean divid- ing the use of a class-room between two or more classes.
The methods employed to this end are half-time classes, whereby one class uses a room in the morning and another in the afternoon, or the alternating plan whereby two schools use the facilities of a school plant in such a way as to increase its carrying capacity.
The half-time plan has been used occasionally in our schools under stress of necessity, but has never been
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popular with parents. The alternating plan has never been used here and is practically strange to the administration of schools in the East. As this plan has been recently the subject of two reports made to the school committee by the superintendent you are acquainted with it and have given it your approval. For the sake of completing this discussion I quote here these two reports :-
Somerville, Mass., November 16, 1914.
To the School Committee :-
On September 28, 1914, the School Committee gave the Super- intendent a leave of absence and directed him to visit schools in other states to see what is being done to provide vocational training, and to learn what means are being employed to adapt existing school plants to the increased demands put upon them by changes in school activities and by marked growth in school attendance. In compliance with this order the Superintendent planned a trip to a number of cities in the central states where conditions in the schools were such as to give evidence upon the points of inquiry.
He left Somerville on Saturday. Oc- tober 24, and returned on Friday, November 6, having in the in- terval visited schools in New Castle, Pa .; Cincinnati, Ohio; Gary, Indiana; Washington, D. C .; New York City, and Franklin Fur- nace, N. J.
In discussing the results of these visits clearness will be pro- moted by disregarding the order of visits and combining im- pressions under general heads. The points of inquiry-What pro- vision is being made for vocational education, and what adapta -ยท tion of school plans is being made to meet growing demands, will be considered in the order stated.
I. Provision for vocational training. The Cincinnati Idea. Cincinnati inaugurated the co-operative form of industrial educa- tion. In this plan the industries and occupations of the commun- ity aid or co-operate by giving part-time employment to pupils who spend the remaining part in school. The opportunity to do practical work is by this plan provided by business establishments, while the opportunity to pursue related studies is furnished by the schools. Pupils are under control of school authorities who take care that the shop work is suited to the needs of pupils. Closely related to this plan is the work of the Continuation Schools which give part-time instruction to persons who already are at work. The advantages of these forms of industrial edu- cation are that the worker gains shop experience under commer- cial conditions, and that the community does not have to provide the equipment which is needed to carry on the various kinds of productive enterprises into which pupils go. While these are the forms of vocational training which are commonly regarded as forming the Cincinnati idea, the city maintains manual training and industrial centres in connection with the elementary and high schools.
The Gary Idea. Unlike Cincinnati, Gary is a small city hav- ing no traditions. Although it has now more than forty thou- sand inhabitants, it has not attained its tenth birthday. In eight years it has progressed from the condition of a stretch of barren sand to that of a handsome city built upon a generous plan and
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having broad and well constructed streets. Like the rest of the city the school system has been created within a decade, un- hampered by the out-grown school facilities which abound in older communities but helped by the wisdom which has been derived from the educational experiences of the past. To meet tlie school needs of a rapidly increasing population of diverse nationalities was the problem. Its solution is indicated by pres- ent conditions and by the ideals towards which the system is working.
The Gary idea of a school plant is a playground, garden, workshop, social center, library and traditional school combined under the same management. All of these provisions are found in its latest school buildings. In them all the grades from the kindergarten to the end of the high school are found. Opportun- ity for vocational training is provided in shops where regular workmen are employed the year round in equipping and re- pairing the school plants of the city, the boys working with them. In this way are carried on in the schools such trades as car- pentry, cabinet making, painting, engineering, printing, sheet metal working, plumbing. electrical working, machine working, foundry working, etc. For girls are the occupations associated with domestic science and domestic art. These opportunities are open. in varying degrees, to pupils from the intermediate grades through the high school. Co-operative arrangements exist by means of which some pupils get vocational experience in the in- dustries of the city during vacations.
In the main the Gary idea of vocational education is to pro- vide in the school such a variety of opportunity as will enable pupils by changing from one kind of work to another, to find their aptitudes and to select the work which they wish to fol- low
Unlike the co-operative plan, the Gary plan places upon the schools the cost of equipping plants for vocational education.
Meeting the Cost. The school authorities of Gary assert that the cost of building construction, operation and maintenance, and the cost of instruction is less under the plan now in effect in its largest buildings than would be the cost for an equal number of pupils educated under the old methods of organizing school work and using school accommodations.
Careful analyses of cost exhibited by the school department as well as independent ones made by the United State Bureau of Education support these claims. Among the factors which de- termine this result are the following :-
1. The erection of a number of large unit plants rather than a greater number of smaller buildings.
2. The conducting of special activities in parts of the plant which are less expensive than the regular class-rooms.
3. Making vocational activities self-supporting by giving them school business to do, which would otherwise create addi- tional charge upon the city.
4. Doubling the carrying capacity of the school plant by a method whereby two schools use the plant at one time. This end is accomplished by providing regular classrooms and shops, laboratories for special activities, and play spaces. While one school is using the regular classrooms the other school is using the special rooms. By alternating through the day each school has the use of regular and special facilities for a full school day By means of this method it is possible to accommodate in a school
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and all the rooms, both regular and special, are constantly in use. double the number of pupils that are provided for by the usual method. It is necessary, however, to have places for the special activities, in order to put this method into effect. Space for these is supplied in parts of the buildings which are frequently put to so valueless a use as to be practically waste places. To cite one illustration in Gary the use of the Jefferson School Building may be taken. This building was remodelled to adapt it to the alternating method. The attic was turned into a gymnasium. The large basement which had not been used at all, was fitted up for special activities. A few class-rooms were adapted to other special uses, lockers were provided and set up where they would not be in the way. Equipment was installed on the playground. In 1908, this was a ten-room school building accommodating 400 pupils. It now has 800 pupils. The changes which were made in the building were accomplished at comparatively little expense. The economy effected by this double use of a school plant is one of the most striking features of the school system. While the alternating method did not originate in Gary, its application there is so essentially a fundamental policy of the school system that it has attracted a great deal of attention and other communities are beginning to ask whether the same idea may not be applied in their own affairs to the saving of public money and the improve- ment of their school systems.
II. Adaptation of school plants. Application of the Gary plan to other communities. It is easy to see how a new building can be constructed so as to make possible the economic and edu- cational advantages which inhere in the Gary plan. But it is an- other matter to see how a community may apply it to existing school plants. However, the question has been answered in a bulletin published this year by the United States Bureau of Edu- cation as follows: "It is clear that any system if operated un- der the new programme could. by alteration of buildings. greatly increase the school accommodations. Or, if a city already has class-rooms enough to care for all the pupils, with a desk for each, it could by the adoption of the new plan, dispose of some of its school sites and buildings, the less desirable ones, of course, for enough, perhaps, to remodel and equip many of the remaining school facilities for use when operated under the new plan. . Thus reorganized, these centres become fitted . for the wealth of opportunities afforded by the Emerson plant not so well suited as a plant originally designed for such opportunities perhaps, but nevertheless well adapted to these ends. The econ- omies entailed in the cities of the country in this manner would probably aggregate millions of dollars."
The Superintendent visited three cities for the purpose of observing the application there of the ideas herein discussed.
New York City. The Board of Education of this city has just secured as special advisors, Dean Snyder of the University of Cincinnati, the father of the "Cincinnati idea," and Superintendent Wirt. the author of the "Gary Idea." These men will be paid each a salary of $10,000 a year, and will devote one week in four to the interests of the New York schools. Their special work will be to promote in New York City the kinds of vocational work for which each is noted. Already beginnings have been made. This fall in several of the elementary schools prevoca- tional courses have been provided for seventh and eighth grade pupils, Regular class-rooms have been taken for shops and the
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double plan of using the plant has been put into effect. At Pub- lic School No. 95, ten class-rooms have been taken for shops, leav- ing fifty regular class-rooms. These accommodate one hundred classes. The shops are for sheet metal, machines, electric wiring, plumbing, printing, mechanical drawing and wood working. With the exception of wood working the shops are all new this fall. Additional time has been given to gymnasium work. A corresponding condition was observed in Public School No. 64. At the Public School No. 62 there were 2,500 sittings; 500 of these were taken out to make room for pre-vocational work and the double plan was put into effect. Three thousand pupils are accom- modated in 2,000 seats.
It has been decided to introduce this pre-vocational training in six elementary schools and to organize them on the plan of alternate use of class-rooms, shops, auditoriums and playgrounds. In six other schools will be given instruction for skilled occupa- tions, and in them will be introduced the co-operative system.
New Castle, Pa., and Franklin Furnace, N J. Lest. however, conclusions founded on the experiences of a great city might be incapable of just application to a smaller and less resourceful place, visits were made to two communities where it was known that corresponding steps had been taken. The School Committee of New Castle invited Superintendent Wirt to examine their plant and to advise them concerning the possibility of adapting their school buildings to the double plan. As a result of this conference three buildings were remodeled and are now being conducted upon this plan. In this case the special activities were provided mainly by supervised play and the usual manual training and cooking rooms, no attempt having been made to provide pre- vocational training. The changes have resulted in general satis- faction, as they obviated the necessity of providing new build- ings, and furnished a more acceptable school programme.
Franklin Furnace had but one school building which was too small for the needs of the community. The School Committee sent its Superintendent and a member of the School Committee to Gary. After their return it was decided to take three of the eight rooms for special activities and to organize the classes on the alternating basis. As a result more pupils are accommodated in the school and the programme has been enriched by the intro- duction of manual training, cooking, sewing, supervised play, and a variety of hand work for young children.
Conclusions. The movement for vocational education is spreading rapidly. Its aim is to provide more opportunity for youth to find and place themselves. Varying provisions for giv- ing this training exist because conditions are dissimilar in differ- ent communities. Somerville being mainly a residential city can- not provide adequate vocational education by means of the co- operative method. Like Gary, it must give this training within its school system. The beginnings which it has already made are well planned and suited to the needs of the community.
The plan of double use of the school plant is applicable to Somerville. It can be employed here as effectively as elsewhere. While the schools of Gary have large playgrounds, that of the Froebel School being five acres in extent, the success of the plan is not dependent upon that feature. A playground is a necessary part of the plan, but it need not be a large one.
At the present time there is overcrowding in several widely separated school districts in this city. A single new building
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could not give relief to all the places where crowding exists. The application of this method in the near future to several buildings would give immediate relief. Before the opening of another school year additional room must be provided or more schools will be put on half-time.
To meet these conditions to the best advantage, I recommend that the School Committee carefully consider the advisability of employing the alternating use plan as a means of providing suffi- cient accommodations.
Respectfully submitted, CHARLES S. CLARK, Superintendent.
Somerville, December 16, 1914. To the School Committee :-
On account of the crowded condition of many of our school- houses it is now evident that provision must soon be made in various parts of the city to furnish more room. These needs can- not be met by action taken only in one part of the city. Addi- tional accommodations are needed in several districts. How shall they be provided?
The School Committee, having decided to consider the al- ternating scheme of school organization, requested the Superin- tendent to report how the plan might be used with advantage in the Somerville Schools. To comply with this request the follow- ing statement is submitted.
What is the two-unit plan of school organization? Briefly, it is a method designed and employed to increase the number of pupils which a building can accommodate, a device to make a school plant yield its maximum service in carrying capacity. It is essentially a matter of programme making. It necessitates dividing pupils into two groups which shall alternate in the use of regular classrooms and special provisions. If the special pro- visions are adequate, the carrying capacity of a building may by this plan be increased 100 per cent. Less adequate special pro- visions will produce an increase varying as the conditions vary. In the Gary plan it is claimed that 100 per cent. increase is made possible. For example: The Jefferson School is a nine-room building having an auditorium seating 240 and an attic which has been floored for a playroom. One of the nine rooms is used for a kindergarten. There are now accommodated in the remaining eight classrooms sixteen classes of forty children each, grades one to seven. Next year there will be twenty classes for grade children. The additional capacity will be secured by using a basement room for cooking. This result of the alternating method is secured by conducting special activities in the auditorium and play spaces, which engage the attention of a number of pupils equal to the number engaged at the same time in classrooms, shops and laboratories. The auditorium and play spaces inside and outside of the building are essential to this plan. A longer school day is also desirable. The alternating method as used in Gary is only a device of economy whereby is made possible a rich programme of educational activities, which it is not perti- nent here to discuss. The points to be kept in mind are that place must be provided for the special activities which alternate with the regular studies; that such places may be found in parts of building not commonly used to increase the carrying capacity of the plant; and that the activities to be conducted in these
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places may be taken from the curriculum. An illustration of this statement is found in the Sewickley, Pa., plan, which is reported by the United States Bureau of Education under date of Novem- ber 16, 1914. In this place it was desired to add supervised play and industrial work to the curriculum without adding materially to the cost of instruction. A programme was arranged whereby regular classroom work alternated with manual training, domestic science, music, drawing, supervised play, and physical training. Whether the motive in adopting the alternating plan is to prac- tise economy in providing needed school accommodations or to provide a way for adding desired features to the school cur- riculum, it is necessary to have places where the special activities can be conducted. A new building planned for the purpose can carry double the number of pupils accommodated under the single unit plan in a building of the same size. Some buildings can with comparatively little cost be adapted to the same plan. Others cannot use it to advantage.
In Somerville the use of the plan would be governed by the conditions under consideration. The curriculum of the schools provides material for all the special activities required in an alter- nating programme. In several localities where there is over- crowding, this plan can be used with resultant increase in ac- commodations if necessary changes are made in the buildings to adapt them to this purpose. At the Hodgkins, Hanscom, Brown, and Forster such changes would produce beneficial results. Here I will only discuss the situation in the first two buildings.
The Hodgkins is a twelve-room building having an attic which can be converted into a hall and spaces for small laboratories. In the basement re-arrangements could be made to provide play rooms and work shops. There is a large playground with various kinds of apparatus. With the alterations which can be made three hundred and fifty more pupils could easily be accommo- dated under the alternating programme. This condition would make it unnecessary to continue the Lincoln School and would thereby save the cost of care, heat, and light at that building. The alteration could undoubtedly be made during summer vaca- tion so that the benefits might accrue in the fall.
The case of the Hanscom School is quite different. The East Somerville schools are full. Neither the Prescott nor the Edgerly is fit for use under the alternating plan. A modern schoolhouse could be built in that region to be operated with a duplicated programme. But until this can be done other measures must be taken. The Hanscom has ten regular classrooms, with two rooms in the basement. These are now used as classrooms, but are not well adapted to that purpose. There is a large attic which has only one stairway. Building another stairway and providing light would make this attic a desirable place for physi- cal training work. With these changes the alternating plan might be put into effect in that building at the beginning of the next semester, thereby providing immediate and needed relief for the. schools of that part of the city. Such a step would not hinder the erection of a new schoolhouse, but it would provide relief pending the execution of that project.
The Forster and the Brown offer equal opportunities for the operation of this plan and present equally cogent reasons for its adoption.
By way of summary it may be stated (a) that this plan offers a means of greatly increasing the school accommodations of the
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city at an immediate outlay much less than that caused by any other course which would give equal result; (b) that the opera- tion of this plan would year by year save the overhead charges incident to other provisions of additional accommodations; and (c). that it necessitates no educational innovations but provides opportunities for doing better some of the things which are now being done.
Respectfully submitted, CHARLES S. CLARK, Superintendent.
Passing to a consideration of the accommodations for secondary schools we see there a full use of all available space and a need for more. Every room in the High School is in use and there is a demand for more, even to provide stations for class recitations. The laboratories are insufficient for so large a school and there are neither gymnasiums nor exercise rooms of any kind. Both voca- tional schools are using every available space in their buildings and are halted in their development because of lack of room in which to expand.
While this review of the situation in respect to ac- commodations leads to the conclusion that the schools have outgrown their houses, there is comfort to be found in the fact that no unwise step has yet been taken, and that an opportunity awaits to do the thing that will bring the largest measure of advantage to the schools of this city. What is the right thing to do, with a forward look of fifteen or twenty years? To answer the question one must consider the tendencies of the times regarding the school organization. It is safe to say that there is a strong and growing opinion that the organization of the schools which has been in use generally for years is not satisfactorily adjusted to the needs of pupils between twelve and sixteen years of age. This is the period gen- erally spent in the last two years in the grammar schools and the first two in the High School. "It is contended that during the last two years in the grammar grades there should be given the pupils things to do which are representative of the general activities of the world toward which they now for the first time are conscious of moving. Dawning maturity demands a chance to en- gage in works of mature life. Study of books alone does not suffice for this period. The desire to leave school is born then and grows to be satisfied in many cases when the pupil reaches fourteen years of age. It is con- tended, moreover, that pupils who will stay in school only until the age of sixteen should have opportunities for training designed to fit them to do something useful
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