USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Somerville > Report of the city of Somerville 1915 > Part 7
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I am unwilling to close this paragraph without saying a word of appreciation of the greater number of our teachers who are not included in the groups upon which comment has
106
ANNUAL REPORTS.
already been made. Fortunately they have been content to remain in the service of our schools. Their skill, experience and fidelity give character to the schools and make them the admirable places for the nurture of children which they are. Teachers live their lives in the public view and perform their difficult duties in the range of constant scrutiny. It is theirs to help the weak, direct the strong, restrain the unruly, and at all times to point the way wherein the youth should walk. even though to their young and inexperienced minds other paths are for the time more alluring. These duties are not easy to perform nor such as are sure to bring in all cases the cordial response which their discharge merits. Wise parents experience this truth in dealing with their own children. That our teachers have met these demands in a noble spirit and to the general satisfaction of parents is my firm belief.
Work of the Schools.
In my last report I gave detailed account of the work of the elementary and high schools. Since there have been no new undertakings in these during the year, excepting the in- troduction of physical training, which I have already dis- cussed, it would be needless repetition to go into similar de- tails here. Suffice it to say that the elementary and high schools are doing their work efficiently in their familiar fields, as shown by attendance, facts of promotion, persistence of membership through the grades, and by such other criteria as are commonly employed to measure the efficiency of schools .- Certain other new phases of the general undertak- ing should be considered specifically, however, both because of their newness and of their relation to the development of education in the public schools.
Vocational Training.
This deserves special notice if for no other reason than that it is the dominating note in present day discussions of education in this country.
Massachusetts state laws define vocational education as follows: "Vocational education shall mean any education the controlling purpose of which is to fit for profitable em- ployment." The two vocational schools conducted in co- operation with the State Board of Education are schools of this type. These schools have passed through the experi- mental stage and are conducting their work with well-de- fined aims and with processes and means suited to the at- tainment of those aims. The limit of their expansion, how- ever, has been reached in their present quarters. Until ad- ditional room for their use is provided they cannot grow
107
ŚCHOÓŁ DEPARTMENT.
either in extent of their offerings or in the number of pupils they can accommodate.
Girls' Vocational School.
Instead of graduating girls from this school last June twenty girls were placed in industrial occupations for which they had been trained. If these girls show that they have ac- quired enough skill and habits of application to prove sat- isfactory in the positions secured for them, they will receive diplomas of graduation from the school next June.
Boys' Vocational School.
This year ten graduates were assisted to find places by the school. Their record compared with that of last year's class is shown below :-
Class
Number of Graduates
Placed in Industry
Weekly Earning Capacity
1914
13
1915
11
10 8
$6.00 8.65
It is the practice of the school to keep in touch as far as possible with several manufacturing concerns of Somerville, Cambridge and Boston which employ young men, and to bring to the pupils in the school the benefit of the knowledge so obtained. Boys are told of the different kinds of industries, what they offer to the boys, and what they require. Boys are trained according to their several bents to fit the jobs which they wish to secure. It has been discovered by the principal in his investigations, that there is a tendency on the part of employers to hesitate to employ boys only sixteen years of age. They prefer to take those who are eighteen years of age. This tendency presents a very important condition for the consideration of all those who are interested in the training of the youth for industry, or who are concerned about the condition of boys and girls who leave school at an early age. More and more it is becoming evident that the demand for practical school training for boys and girls will necessitate the study of local industrial conditions and what must be offered the youth in order to fit him to meet such conditions. Liberal education has for a long time held the highest place in the estimation of the community. Until the advocates of a practical education, so called, can create a wide-spread sentiment favorable to such an education, it will continue to be the case that the youth will start on a course directed towards a liberal education, whether or not there exists for him a chance of pursuing it to a successful con- clusion.
Commercial Course.
The number of pupils taking this course is second only to that of the Preparatory Course. As already stated, more
108
ANNUAL REPORTS.
are graduated from this course than go to higher institutions. If, after leaving school, they go into clerical situations for which their training fits them, then the course has been for them of a vocational nature. It is doubtless true that most pupils enter the Commercial Course for the sake of being fitted to earn a living. It now is a pertinent question whether the Commercial should not be made a Vocational Course in the meaning given to that term by the law just quoted. To do this it would be necessary to group academic subjects in this course in such manner as to contribute directly to the end in view. Specific vocational subjects would be given a larger part in the course. The opportunities open to High School graduates in business would be investigated and the pupils would be trained to fit them. These and other steps would be the natural sequence of a determination to make this course vocational. At present the course may be described as tending towards a vocational goal by academic means. No disturbing change in our school would be neces- sary in order to effect the purpose here proposed. For sev- eral years alterations in methods and curriculum have tended in this direction. With the conviction established that the Commercial Course ought to be truly vocational, definiteness would be given to future action and ways and means could be found for making the transition gradually and without strain upon administrative or financial resources.
Vocational Guidance.
In the School Reports for 1913 and 1914 were printed the results of questionnaires given to High School pupils for the purpose of finding out from their replies what view they held of their High School work and its relation to their life plans. These replies were classified, grouped and used as the grounds for recommendations for the better advising of pupils con- cerning their school work and their opportunities in the world after leaving school. That these reports had value is shown by the fact that requests for copies of these School Reports came from various parts of the country. Another evidence is found in the fact that a committee of High School teachers was formed for the special purpose of promoting interest in this matter and of devising a feasible scheme for furnishing vocational advice to High School pupils. Last June this committee submitted a formal report to the Super- intendent of Schools, which in time was considered by the sub-committee of the Board upon Textbooks and Courses of Study. While that committee took no formal action on the plan, it directed the Superintendent to confer further with the teachers with the purpose of aiding the movement as much as possible. Consequently, meetings of teachers have been held and other measures have been taken to make a be-
109
SCHOOL DEPARTMENT.
ginning of the work. Among the recommendations of the committee of teachers are two which can only be effected with the sanction and support of the School Committee. These are :-
1. To make an inquiry among the graduates of the High School for the purpose of getting data concerning their his- tories since leaving school, with special reference to work and wages. The cost of such an inquiry would be merely for postage and printing and might properly be met from School Committee funds.
2. (a) The appointment of a competent person to give his whole time in school to this interest, or
(b) The designating of two teachers, one a man, the other a woman, to give half their school time to the work.
With these two provisions, it is believed an important service can be rendered High School pupils in helping them to shape their undertakings with reference to the work they want to do after leaving school.
What I have said in the earlier part of this report about the lack of information on the part of the school about what happens to pupils after they leave it and the ignorance and lack of purpose of pupils as shown in their applications for working certificates, is all the argument I want to submit now in support of this movement.
The Forster Intermediate School.
Last June the first year of conducting an Intermediate School at the Forster School was completed. There is now an opportunity to measure certain results and to estimate certain tendencies. The immediate aims sought in this un- dertaking were stated in my report last year as follows :-
"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."
Upon the question of whether or not these aims were realized, the best evidence now available is the testimony of the master of the school, Joseph A. Ewart, who, at my re- quest, has written the following statement :- -
"In my report a year ago, attention was directed to the institution in the Forster School of what is commonly called an Intermediate or Junior High School and certain aims sought in this undertaking were pointed out.
"Each pupil chooses his own course, four being offered. If after a fair trial it becomes evident that a mistake has heen made, a new adjustment is possible after a confer-
1
110
ANNUAL REPORTS.
ence of the parent, the pupil and the principal. Compara- tively few such re-adjustments have been necessary, but where made, the subsequent success of the pupil, in many cases being striking, has proved the wisdom of the change. No pupil has left school because of a mistaken choice of course. It is doubtful if the same result would have followed this dis- covery if made after entering the High School.
"The new work has brought out talents not suspected under the former course of study and the resulting increase of interest on the part of the pupils is re-acting favorably upon their other work. The commercial studies and the manual arts especially are contributing to an improved gen- eral efficiency.
"About four hundred different pupils have been in these grades in the past year and a half. Apart from those grad- uated, twenty-five have left school. Of this number twenty- one have moved away and home conditions compelled one to go to work. This leaves but three, or less than one per cent., whom the school has failed to hold. The fact that these are the grades in which usually occurs the largest loss of pupils, makes this evidence the more convincing of the increased in- terest of the children themselves.
"While maintaining efficiency in the usual subjects, many have made such progress in Latin or in bookkeeping and typewriting that advanced standing has been given them on entering the High School. The cooking has been of the most practical character, the early part of the fall, for instance, being devoted to the making of preserves. The Print Shop is satisfactorily doing a large and increasing amount of the printing of the School Department. In car- pentry, in addition to the ordinary manual training work, the practical side is given emphasis, as, for instance, the making of bookcases for the classrooms, sewing tables for the Domestic Science room, a make-up table for the Print Shop, umbrella racks for the corridors, and a large filing cabinet for the office. The boys also laid the hard pine floor of the new carpenter shop in the Annex, about twenty-six hundred square feet.
"The introduction of certain characteristics of the High School, such as departmental teaching and personal responsi- bility for study hours, has already made the transition to that school much easier for many pupils.
"The work is attracting much attention elsewhere, as evidenced by numerous letters of inquiry as well as by an increasing number of visitors representing other school systems.
"With the introduction of the method of promoting by
111
SCHOOL DEPARTMENT.
subjects rather than by grades, still further recognition can be given to individual differences in aptitudes of pupils.
"I take pleasure in commending the excellent spirit of co-operation shown by teachers, parents and pupils, which is so largely responsible for the success that has attended the development of the new undertaking."
My judgment based upon frequent inspections of this enterprise is that My. Ewart's statements are all justified by the facts of the case and are free from any exaggerations. Schoolmen of rank have visited the Forster School during the last year to study this undertaking and they have been unanimous in commending the work for its sincerity, spirit and successful adaptation of processes to aims.
The significance of the Intermediate School is found in the fact that it is an experiment in reorganizing elementary education, being a modification of the so-called "six-and- six" plan, which can be described as the "six-two-and-four" plan. Because of the widespread discussion of the need of reorganizing elementary education so as to improve in- struction for children over twelve years of age, the work at the Forster School has attracted the attention of schoolmen of the eastern part of the state. It is pioneer work in a movement bound to continue.
In the last report of the Board of Education, Commis- sioner Snedden discusses at length the topic, "The Reorgani- zation of Elementary Education for Older Children," from which I quote the following paragraph :-
"A third plan of reorganization, and one which is prob- ably best adapted to conditions in Massachusetts, consists of a six years' program for the Elementary School, the program of four years for the High School remaining as at present as regards the entering age and qualifications of pupils, while a new form of school, to be known as the Intermediate School, the courses in which shall require for completion two or three years' time, according to the qualifications of various groups of pupils, is proposed. Courses in the Intermediate School are intended for pupils who have finished the work of the first six grades, and also for pupils of less attainment who have nevertheless passed the age of twelve."
Dr. Snedden's discussion is too long to be quoted ade- quately here, but it should be read by all who are interested in the development of public schools.
Playgrounds.
Summer playgrounds were conducted during July and August by the School Committee in co-operation with the Somerville Playgrounds Association. An appropriation of $1,700 was made by the city, a decrease from last year of
.
112
ANNUAL REPORTS.
$300. The season opened on July 7 with twenty-six paid supervisors in charge of the following grounds :-
Boys' Grounds.
Girls' Grounds.
Broadway
Broadway
City Field
Hodgkins
Joy Street
Kent Street
Kent Street
Perry
Lincoln Park
Bennett
Bingham
Bell 1
Since there was little more money to use than was needed to pay instructors, no permanent equipment could be supplied to any of the grounds. Play material and hand work for the girls were furnished in satisfactory amount. Morning and afternoon sessions were conducted on all the grounds and at the Bennett an evening session was held for working girls and mothers. Eight men and sixteen women instructors were employed and a General Director was in charge who was aided by a woman Assistant Director. The instructors were in the most part local young men and women who had prepared themselves for this work either by specific training or by experience in former years. The season ended on August 20, chiefly because the money was spent by that time. In every way the work was successful. If anybody doubts the value of supervised playgrounds among their number can- not be reckoned the children who patronize them and for whose benefit they are conducted.
The evening session at the Bennett clearly defined an un- mistakable social need. Civic prosperity and security de- pend in the last analysis upon social conditions. The chil- dren who attended the playgrounds and the young women and mothers who spent a pleasant evening at the Bennett Playground after the wearisome labor of summer days were all of them, consciously or unconsciously, influenced in the direction of good citizenship by the experiences and associa- tions there enjoyed. So far as the children are concerned, at least, this is a matter of importance to the School Com- mittee justifying its mention in its report.
Elementary Schools.
During the year a six-room addition to the Cutler School was built and opened for use in September. Four rooms were immediately occupied for classes while the remaining two, being separated only by folding doors, have been used as an assembly room. This addition will be sufficient for that district for another year, but probably no longer. Ad- joining the Prescott School on land bought for that purpose . a new building has been started and it is now nearing com- pletion. When that is ready part-time classes in the neigh-
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SCHOOL DEPARTMENT.
boring schools will be put on full time. For the present, these additions are sufficient for the elementary schools. Here and there crowding of a grade or two exists, but the pressure is not such as to warrant a demand for new con- struction.
Secondary Schools.
The three secondary schools are full. There are in the High School now 1,997 pupils; after the mid-year promotion there will be more than 2,100. The buildings do not furnish room enough for the proper conduct of all the activities which are there undertaken. This statement applies with special force to all the subjects conducted upon laboratory methods. There is no gymnasium or other rooms sufficient for physical instruction. In other ways the lack of more room seriously hinders the work of the school. This condition will grow worse until relief is provided, as there is every reason to expect High School attendance to increase steadily in the future as it has in the past. From 9.5 per cent. of the aver- age membership of all schools in 1894 High School member- ship increased to 18.1 per cent. of the average membership of all schools in 1914. To an unusual extent Somerville pupils stay in school long enough to get one or two years of secondary training.
The buildings housing the Boys' Vocational and the Girls' Vocational Schools are used to their fullest capacity. These hopeful undertakings can be no more developed until additional room is provided.
The need for additional accommodations is in the field of secondary education. It can be met by a single building de- voted to vocational education, including commercial work, or by another High School in the western part of the city and a Vocational School in the central part of the city.
Needs of the Schools.
In the preceding pages I have indicated needs in the dis- cussion of the various topics of this report. These may be summarized as follows :-
1. More complete information concerning the lot of children who leave school either as graduates or without graduating.
2. Provision for greater flexibility in the course of in- struction for upper grammar grades whereby pupils may have a wider range of opportunity for development according to varying needs and capacities.
3. The extension of physical training to the High School.
4. The placing of commercial training in the High School upon a vocational basis.
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ANNUAL REPORTS.
5. The provision of a system of vocational direction for High School pupils.
6. The provision of adequate accommodations for the Vocational and High Schools, by the erection of one or two new school buildings.
Conclusion.
I wish to acknowledge my indebtedness to the School Committee for the constant encouragement and assistance which they have given me during the year. In all ways within their power the committee has striven to advance the interests of the schools. The work of the Superintendent has been made pleasant by reason of these conditions. While neither the School Committee nor the Superintendent can feel that all has been done which they have wanted to do, they can nevertheless be conscious of the fact that they have made as satisfactory use as possible of the means at their disposal. Judged by the opportunities afforded by the means provided the accomplishments of the year have been good, and the Committee may feel that they have discharged their duty in a manner creditable to themselves and to the city, and bene- ficial to the pupils of the schools.
Respectfully submitted, CHARLES S. CLARK, Superintendent of Schools.
December 27, 1915.
STATEMENT CONCERNING THE HIGH SCHOOL.
Somerville High School has an enrollment December, 1915, of 2,114 and a teaching force of 76. It is a school for both girls and boys, and has four courses,-the preparatory, general, commercial and manual arts.
The Preparatory Course fits for Harvard, Radcliffe, Massa- chusetts Institute of Technology, Dartmouth, all colleges represented by the New England College Entrance Certifi- cate Board, i. e. Tufts, Brown, Wellesley, Smith, Amherst, Williams, Boston University, Mount Holyoke, Massachusetts Agricultural College, etc., and all State Normal Schools. The college course has an enrollment of 801, distributed by classes as follows :-
Graduate students
13
Class of 1916-A or IVb Class
33
1916-B or IVa Class 127
1917-A or IIIb Class 49
1917-B or IIIa Class 125
1918-A or Ilb Class 66
1918-B or Ila Class 143
1919-A or Ib Class 67
1919-B or Ia Class 178
Pupils were sent from this course in September, 1915, to the following higher institutions :-
Boston College.
3
Boston University
3
Dartmouth
7
Harvard
3
Harvard Dental
1
Holy Cross ..
1
Jackson
4
Massachusetts Agricultural
6
Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
9
Mt. Holyoke.
2
Normal Schools
20
Radcliffe
5
Simmons
4
Smith
2
Tufts
10
Tufts Dental.
1
Total
81
The present senior classes are preparing for the follow- ing institutions :-
3
Boston University
5
Bowdoin
1
Dartmouth
6
Georgetown
1
Holy Cross
1
Jackson
3
Harvard
13
Massachusetts Agricultural.
.
.
.
3
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
12
Mt. Holyoke,
2
.
.
·
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
. ..
.
.
Boston College
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ANNUAL REPORTS.
Normal Schools
15
Norwich University
1
Radcliffe
11
Simmons
7
Smith
2
Syracuse
1
Tufts
18
Wellesley
3
Wheaton
1
Yale
1
Pupils entering any of the above institutions excepting Harvard, Radcliffe, Yale and Massachusetts Institute of Tech- nology, are received without examination on the certificate of the school. This certificate may be obtained by any pupils who have done "B" or good work. Harvard, Radcliffe, and the Institute admit pupils on the examination plan only. Ex- aminations for these colleges are often taken by pupils whose work in high school was not of high enough grade to warrant a certificate for any other institution. Failure on the part of such pupils to pass their examinations should not be counted against the school. Pupils recommended by the school as worthy to take college entrance examinations succeed almost without exception. The following table is of interest :-
Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Preliminary examinations :-
Number of pupils taking examinations 10
Number of pupils accepted .. 10
Number of pupils passing in all subjects 8
Final examinations :-
Number of pupils taking examinations. 11
Number of pupils admitted .. 11
Number of pupils admitted without conditions 8
Harvard and Radcliffe.
Preliminary examinations :-
Number of pupils taking examinations
4
Number accepted .. 4
Final examinations :-
Number taking examinations and recommended by the school.
7
Number admitted ..
7
Number taking examinations and not recommended by the school. 1
Number failing 1
The General Course gives a wide selection of subjects and is intended for pupils who wish a broad education. This course includes 175 pupils distributed by classes as follows :- Class of 1916-A or IVb Class 8
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