USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Somerville > Report of the city of Somerville 1914 > Part 13
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SCHOOL DEPARTMENT.
when they leave school. To meet these needs it is urged that after the sixth grade varied experiences should be provided by means of parallel courses which would offer elements of business and industrial work as well as the elements of higher scholarship; and that these courses should be continued beyond the elementary stage so that pupils might secure thereby a preparation for self-support if they must leave at sixteen years of age. These views have been urged with increasing insistence for the last half-dozen years and are now becoming effective in school organizations all over the country. But while there is a growing acceptance of these principles, there is no uni- formity in the methods used to give them effect. Two general plans, however, give ground for all the variations. One is to provide differentiations in the upper grades of a grammar school; the other is to segregate the upper grammar grades and provide for them in one or more buildings devoted solely to their use. The latter dis- position, especially when the first year of the High School is added to it, is frequently called the Junior High School.
Each plan has its peculiar advantages. The first plan has the advantage of nearness to the homes of the pupils who attend the school; of a favorable reaction on the iower grades of the same school; and of increasing in- terest of parents in the work of the school as a whole. Its disadvantages are the probability of inadequate space and equipment. The second plan has the advantage of superior organization and equipment due to dealing with a large number of pupils in one unit. It has also the advantage of economy in that less equipment is needed for a given number gathered in one building than would be 1 equired for the same number provided for in different build- ings. Its disadvantage is in its remoteness from the homes of the pupils who attend it.
We have already at the Forster School made a begin- ning under the local plan. Several communities in this state have gathered the highest grammar grade in one building for other reasons than for making there a junior high school.
I have brought these conditions to your attention at this time because they are all related. If we are about to provide more accommodations, where shall they be made and how shall they best serve the needs of this com- munity for the next generation? It seems to me that we are now at a point where action may be wise or unwise, according as it helps or hinders preparation for the needs which lie before us.
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ANNUAL REPORTS.
Work of the Schools. The elementary schools have continued during the last year the steady, faithful and efficient work which they have been accustomed to give through many years. As no changes were made in the curriculum or in the conditions governing their work teachers had the advantage of doing that with which they had become familiar through practice. The promo- tion sheets showed a movement of pupils through the grades which is in keeping with the performance of the best schools. A large group of pupils were sent to the High School. In the High School the pupils are sustaining themselves well as compared with the record of previous years and the pupils promoted from the clementary schools compare favorably with those received from other schools. There are many ways of judging schools, some of which are devised apparently to dis- credit them and others to give prominence to the method itself, but in the long run the best test of the things which our elementary schools have been attempting are those which I have given. Some things our elementary schools have not attempted because no adequate provision therefor was available, but this is no cause for withholding com- mendation for the accomplishments which they have made. Equally to be commended in the elementary schools is the spirit which pervades them. Friendliness, sympathy, and helpfulness abound. The schools are pleasant places for the children. As an evidence of this fact it is interesting to know that principals and teachers have done much to provide additional advantages for their pupils by raising money through entertainments and other means. Pic- tures, books, music machines, projecting lanterns, play apparatus, and other accessories have been added to the resources of the schools through the interest and energy ยท of teachers and have given their powerful contributions to the influences tending to promote the growth of best ideals among the pupils.
The High School completed last June its first year of work under normal conditions. When the present or- ganization was effected it was necessary on account of the lack of room to have overlapping sessions for sections of the school. But the year ended last June was spent in a plant large enough to permit all pupils to attend the same session and to give to every teacher a home room. Consequently there was more comfort and satisfaction in doing the work both for teachers and pupils. During the year the work of the several large programme units was more clearly defined and intensified. Wherever possible
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improvement was made. The school as the conservator of the interests of all the high school youth of the city has a heavy responsibility. This it is trying to meet as well as it can with the facilities at its command. Its undertakings are grouped under these general heads: pre- paratory, commercial, general, and manual arts. The order observed in giving these names shows the importance of these courses due to the number of pupils engaged in each. Last June the enrollment of the school was divided among these courses as follows: preparatory, 932; commercial, 808; general, 250; and manual arts, 75. Of the graduates last year the distribution was as follows: preparatory, 135 commercial, 102; general, 36.
The preparatory course, the largest group in the school, has for its aim fitting pupils for colleges, normal schools, and other higher institutions of learning. Its curriculum is determined for it in a large measure by the requirements of these higher institutions. Grouping of studies and methods of instruction to meet the require- ments of the higher institutions are somewhat under the control of the school. In this work during the last year there has been keen interest and much has been done to improve the organization of the preparatory work of the school. The records of the school show in comparison with other years that in the number of pupils taking and passing examinations, going to college upon certificates, and sustaining themselves after entering the colleges, the school is maintaining its highest standards.
The commercial course affords the opportunity desired by many pupils. It is sought undoubtedly by them as the direct route to a job. This work is vocational in nature and must stand or fall according to its efficiency in vocational results. Its chief vocational fields at pres- ent are bookkeeping, stenography, and typewriting. As- sociated with these fields are others of academic work intended to increase knowledge and develop power of ap- plication and concentration. In the four-year course the aim is to train a competent bookkeeper, stenographer, or typewriter operator. These studies are also available in combinations prescribed in the course of study for pupils who will spend only two years in the High School. It is the aim of this shorter course to give those who take it such studies and training as will be useful to them in getting and filling the places in shops, stores, and offices which are open to youth of their age. In pursuance of this aim it ought to be and doubtless will become possible to permit ambitious pupils who must leave school as early
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ANNUAL REPORTS.
as possible to intensify on some one of these vocational lines by spending a longer day in the school.
Another plan under contemplation this year which will be tried during the second semester is to give all the members of the graduating class some experience in actual office work as a part of their school training. In these and other ways the commercial course is being con- ducted to meet the demands of the day. We should look forward to the time when other elements of business can be introduced so as to give more opportunities for pre- paring for business work.
The general course is designed for those pupils who do not either by inclination or nature early determine the direction of their lifework but who wish to prolong the period of self-discovery and while doing so to pursue a literary course in a scholarly and appreciative manner. For such pupils this course offers an attraction. Not bound by the requirements of colleges, free to select and organize studies to meet its aims, this course has a singular opportunity to develop love of learning, appreciation of literature through sympathetic and not too hurried or formal study of its masterpieces, and knowledge of civic and social obligations through study of real and ideal community living. While it may not be possible to justify this course by setting up a vocational target for its aim, satisfaction can be found in the reflection that many men and women have not decided their life work before leaving the High School and that the training which it gives will be a good preparation for making a choice when the time comes and a good foundation for the selected specialty when it is chosen.
The manual arts course is designed for pupils who are disposed to do things with their hands and who think and learn best in connection with the concrete. For such pupils a group of studies has been arranged giving boys mechanical and freehand drawing, two years of woodwork and one year of metal, with academic work. Girls have free- hand drawing, cooking and dressmaking. This course is comparatively new for girls and has not had facilities for extensive work. Also there is not a sufficient provision for third and fourth-year work for boys. For these rea- sons, in part, this course is numerically weak. Neverthe- less, in spirit and performance it is second to none in the school. Within its limitations this course is fully up to the most advanced standards.
Vocational Schools. The Girls' Vocational School has continued to furnish a type of education fitted to the
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needs of many girls. Under the classification made by the State Board of Education the school is known as a Household Arts vocational school. Its aim is to train young women in the specific efficiencies which combine to make a good housekeeper or housewife. Cooking, buy- ing, management of domestic accounts, dressmaking, mil- linery, and related bookwork form the principal parts of the curriculum. The girls spend one-half of the school time in doing and the other half in study and recitations. This course of training has proven stimulating and ef- fective and under its influence pupils have developed in strength of character and self-confidence to a most satis- factory degree. Since girls must look forward to an in- terval between school and marriage during which they must be self-supporting, a secondary aim of the school is so to train them in hand work that they may have skill in some one of the occupations which will be of immediate service in self-support when the pupil leaves school. Last June seventeen girls were graduated. Their accom- plishments were entirely satisfactory to their friends and gratifying to all who have had any part or interest in the management of the school. This school has now been in operation three years. It has passed the experimental stage and has acquired a body of theory and practice which gives it real prominence and importance among schools of its type in this state. Its growth is now checked by limita- tions of space. Its home is crowded in every part. It is surprising that teachers and pupils have done so well under these conditions. If this school could be moved. to commodious accommodations its work could be broadened and enriched, more pupils would be entered in its classes and the cost per capita would be materially reduced. Under such circumstances the building now oc- cupied could be used as a home school in connection with the Carr Elementary School. I regard the development of this vocational school as of first importance among our educational enterprises. There are many girls in this com- munity between fourteen and sixteen or seventeen years of age who neither want nor are fitted to spend all their time at books. They want and need a training which centers around those ideas which are the heritage of the women of our race. Such girls should have every en- couragement in wanting these things to the end that they may have the benefit of their praiseworthy inclinations and also to the end that the number of girls who want such training may be increased,
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ANNUAL REPORTS.
I commend to your immediate attention the merits and needs of this school.
Boys' Vocational School. This school is now in better condition than at any other period of its four years of existence. Two new instructors having been added this fall to the shop work side of the school the size of classes in the shops has been lowered to the standard approved by the State Board of Education. From this time on the boys will have abundant opportunity for con- structive work both in the shop and upon miscellaneous jobs of a commercial nature. Extensive alterations and improvements in the building are now being made by the boys and there is a long list of orders awaiting them when this job is finished. The prospects of the school are most encouraging, but it needs more room.
The aim of the school is to give to boys of fourteen years of age such a training in machine shop work, cabinet making, and carpentry as will enable them to get em- ployment as apprentices in the lines upon which they have entered. It would be well to add another year of training in all of the trades represented as soon as more room can be secured. The graduates last June numbered eleven. I want to record here an appreciation of the merit of the work performed by the first principal of the school, E. Minor Morse, who resigned last June, to go into other work. Mr. Morse organized the school, in a time when there were no other established schools to copy. His work was wholly creative, whole-hearted and self-sacrificing to an unusual degree. Its value is attested by the fact that his successor is proceeding on lines already established. Un- der the management of the new principal, Harry L. Jones, whatever of good has been wrought will be conserved and new efficiencies will be added.
This school is a place where genuine training is given boys. It is not a disciplinary institution in any other sense than that which applies to other schools in our system. The shop work is of a commercial order, its instructors are all experienced workmen and men of strong personality and influence. Since boys may enter this school when four- teen years of age, without reference to their grade in the regular schools, it follows that some who are low in grade work are members of the school. The experience of the school has been that such boys take a new interest in their books after entering this school, become anxious to get the related studies and learn faster than before. Not a few of them go to evening schools also, still further showing an interest to make up the deficiencies of their
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SCHOOL DEPARTMENT.
attainments in book learning which they have in this school been caused to realize. Moreover, there is notice- able in this school a growth of self-reliance and power to do, which is also evident in the Girls' Vocational School. It is an admirable quality, one which will be of value when the boys leave school. I cannot help thinking that this school work should be offered to boys on such terms as to make it appeal to them as strongly as do the courses in the High School. There are many boys whose upward path must be trodden through scenes of con- structive undertakings. That is their way of growth, their approach to worthy rewards. This school combines the elements of work and study in such a manner as to provide the discipline of mind and hand most favorable for them. That more boys may have this training is de- sirable. To bring this about additional accommodations will be needed. The earlier such provisions can be made the better it will be for the school.
I have now shown that our three undertakings in secondary education, the High School, the Girls' Vocational School, and the Boys' Vocational School, all need more room. This state of affairs need not be regarded as three problems demanding three separate answers. One solution for all of them can be found in one adequate new building. The interests of secondary education in this city will re- quire new accommodations in the immediate future.
An Intermediate School. Since September there has been conducted in the Forster School a programme of studies which represents a departure from our practice in elementary schools. This undertaking is a provision for differentiated courses above the sixth grade, a measure which was fully discussed in my last annual report. After careful consideration the school committee at a meeting held on June 15th adopted this idea by passing the fol- lowing order :
Ordered: That the programme of studies in the 7th, 8th and 9th grades of the Forster School be arranged so as to offer next Sep- tember to the pupils of that school differentiated courses as fol- lows : preparatory, commercial, manual arts and grammar school, all of which courses shall devote approximately two-thirds of the time to the regular studies of the curriculum and one-third to the differentiated courses.
The Forster School was a favorable place for making this experiment, because of the fact that the plant con- sists of two buildings, the smaller of which could be de- voted wholly to these new courses. It was decided to devote the smaller building to this purpose and to start
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ANNUAL REPORTS.
the classes in the new courses when school opened in September. As a preliminary measure the superintendent of schools caused the following circulars to be sent to the parents of pupils in the grades above the sixth.
FORSTER SCHOOL INTERMEDIATE COURSES SOMERVILLE, MASS.
191
Name
Grade
I desire to take the studies of the course at the beginning of the next term.
(pupil)
Approved, -(parent)
FORSTER SCHOOL INTERMEDIATE COURSES SOMERVILLE, MASS.
June, 1914
Next September the School Committee will make a new ar- rangement of studies for the grades above the sixth at the Forster School. Under this arrangement about two-thirds of the school time will be given to the usual school studies, but the remaining one-third will be devoted to special subjects. These special sub- jects will be grouped in connection with the regular studies so as to make four distinct courses : Preparatory, Commercial, Manual Arts, and Grammar School. These courses will be made up as shown below :-
PREPARATORY COURSE-24 Hours per Week.
10 hours to Literature, Composition, Spelling, Penmanship, Mathematics, Geography and History.
4 hours to Physical Training, Music, Recesses and Open- ing Exercises.
5 hours to Latin or a Modern Language.
5 hours to Drawing. Designing, Printing, Woodworking, and Repairing. (Household Arts for Girls.)
COMMERCIAL COURSE. 24 Hours per Week.
10 hours to Literature, Composition, Spelling, Penmanship, Mathematics, Geography, and History.
4 hours to Physical Training, Music, Recesses, and Opening Exercises.
2 hours to Drawing, Designing, Printing, Woodworking, and Repairing. (Household Arts for Girls).
8 hours to Typewriting, Bookkeeping. Business Arithmetic, and Related Design. MANUAL ARTS FOR BOYS-24 Hours per Week.
10 hours to Literature, Composition, Spelling, Penmanship, Mathematics, Geography and History.
4 hours to Physical Training, Music, Recesses, and Open- ing Exercises.
2 hours to Drawing and Designing.
8 hours to Printing, Woodworking, and Repairing,
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SCHOOL DEPARTMENT.
HOUSEHOLD ARTS COURSE FOR GIRLS-24 Hours per Week.
Same as Manual Arts Course for Boys with the substitu- tion of Household Arts for Woodworking, Printing, and Repairing.
GRAMMAR SCHOOL COURSE-24 Hours per Week. Same as present work.
The successful completion of any of these courses will earn a grammar school diploma and admission to the High School. Each course will fit one in the High School but a pupil may select in the High School a course different from the one he pursued in the Intermediate School.
In order to aid the school authorities to establish these courses next September, parents whose children will be in any grade above the sixth in the Forster School are requested to decide which course they wish their children to take, and to fill the Choice Card and return it without delay to Joseph A. Ewart, Mas- ter of the Forster School.
Care will be taken in administering this plan to see that a pu- pil is properly placed if his first choice of course proves mistaken.
CHARLES S. CLARK, Superintendent of Schools.
Before the close of school in June the principal of the Forster School, Joseph A. Ewart, had received replies from all of the parents expressing their preferences for their children. The distribution of pupils among the courses was as follows: Preparatory, 115; commercial, 104; household arts, 23; and manual arts, 19. The regular studies were grouped in such a way as to give a few subjects to each teacher and to permit conducting the school on the departmental plan. A specialist was pro- vided for each of the following: typewriting, drawing, Latin, household arts, including cooking and sewing, and manual arts. By reason of changes in the teaching corps, such as resignations, transfers, etc., these special teachers were employed in place of regular teachers and the whole cost of instruction in the new enterprise was no greater than that of the old. Certain immediate aims are sought in this undertaking. The first and most obvious is to provide opportunity for each pupil to pursue studies most suited to his temperament, tastes, and purposes. Second, to give greater intensity to school work through interest aroused by selection. Third, to provide at an early period an opportunity for experimentation whereby the individual can test himself and find his aptitudes. Changes can be made at this period with less loss to the individual than would result later on.
As the choice of courses was made by pupils late in the last school year without much preparation therefor, it was to be expected that some mistakes would be made
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ANNUAL REPORTS.
which would be shown by demands to change courses. Very few requests have been made and it has been the policy to discourage them. But at the end of the first semester a full opportunity to change will be given. Under these circumstances there is no reason for any pupil to become misplaced.
It should be understood that the offerings of the pres- ent curriculum are not as complete as will be the case when the plan has been in operation a longer time. It is too early to speak dogmatically about results. However, certain appearances are of interest and worthy of note. Among them are these: The work in English, arithmetic, grammar and other regular studies is progressing favor- ably, stimulated by the departmental organization of teach- ing. Typewriting and related business work makes a strong appeal to the interest of the children. The teacher of Latin, who is also a teacher of that subject in the High School, expresses satisfaction with the work her classes are doing. She expects that a year's work in this school will equal a half-year's work in the High School. The household arts department was delayed in starting because it had to wait until the boys could build the cooking tables. But, during the latter part of November these tables were ready and the girls began to cook. To them belongs the distinction of being. the first class in cooking in the ele- mentary schools of this city.
The manual arts boys have been busy from the be- ginning. Starting with an equipment of tools they have made benches, tables, racks, etc., for their own rooms and built the two large tables for the cooking room on which the gas stoves are set. In addition to this they have set up seven type racks and distributed therein thirty-four cases of type and have done considerable printing. These boys want to stay after school to work either at the press or upon some bit of constructive work. For some of them this is a change little short of wonderful.
The equipment so far provided for this work is as follows: For the manual training department :-
A shop set of tools consisting of eight hammers, twenty saws, twenty planes, twelve try-squares, twelve gauges, twelve mallets, four bit braces, twelve hand screws, bench vise, mitre box, chisels, and various small tools.
For the printing department: One Chandler & Price 10x15-inch press, one Oswego lever paper cutter, nineteen cases body type, twelve cases heading and heavy face type, three cases italic type, furniture, type racks, etc.
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