USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Somerville > Report of the city of Somerville 1924 > Part 9
USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Somerville > Report of the city of Somerville 1924 > Part 9
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Note-The member first named is chairman. District I .- Fitzpatrick, Hayes, Bradley. PRESCOTT, HANSCOM. BENNETT
District II. - Muldoon, Bradley, Fitzpatrick. KNAPP, PERRY, BAXTER
District III. - Boyer, Codding, Muldoon. POPE, CUMMINGS
District IV. - Coveney, Whittaker, Codding.
EDGERLY, GLINES
District V. - Miss Turner, Stoodley, Coveney. FORSTER, BINGHAM
District VI. - Chapman, Turner, Stoodley. CARR, MORSE, PROCTOR, DURELL, BURNS, BROWN
District VII. - Cholerton, Shaw, Chapman. HIGHLAND, CUTLER, LINCOLN, LOWE
High Schools -Chapman, Stoodley, Hayes, Bradley. Codding, Whit- taker, Shaw.
School Accommodations - Cholerton, Bradley, Fitzpatrick, Boyer, Miss Coveney, Miss Turner, Turner, Mayor Webster, President Hodgdon.
Teachers - Miss Turner, Chapman. Fitzpatrick, Muldoon, Codding, Miss Coveney, Cholerton.
Finance - Stoodley, Fitzpatrick, Muldoon, Codding, Miss Coveney, Chapman, Cholerton, Mayor Webster, President Hodgdon.
Text-Books and Courses of Study - Muldoon, Chapman, Hayes, Cod- ding, Miss Coveney, Miss Turner, Shaw.
Industrial Education - Boyer, Muldoon, Hayes, Whittaker, Miss Turner, Turner, Cholerton.
Health, Physical Training and Athletics - Fitzpatrick, Boyer, Brad- ley, Whittaker, Stoodley, Turner, Shaw.
Rules and Regulations - Turner, Hayes, Bradley, Boyer, Whittaker, Stoodley, Shaw.
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ANNUAL REPORTS
REPORT OF THE SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS
TO THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE:
Herewith I submit the Annual Report of the Superin- tendent of Schools for the year now closing, which becomes the fifty-third in the series of such reports made by the School Committee.
MEMBERSHIP
The membership of all the schools has increased during the present year. In this month of December, the number of pupils in the day schools, exclusive of the Continuation Schools, is 14,853. a gain of 189 over the number in attendance at the same time last year. This increase is in accord with the steady growth of the last few years.
It is interesting and significant to notice the distribution of this growth. Of this increase, 121 are in the High School. 37 in the JJunior High Schools, 21 in the Elementary Schools, and 10 in the Vocational School for Boys. The same report shows a membership of 2115 in the High School with a Senior Class of 534 pupils. This class will probably graduate a larger number of pupils than the class of 1924, which up to that time was the largest graduating class in the history of the school with the exception of the class of 1922. As that was a double class, resulting from the elimination of the ninth year from the Grammar School, it does not count in the general trend of High School growth. The fact that stands out is that there has been a slow but steady increase in the membership of the High School for the last few years. Examining the re- ports from the Junior High Schools, we find that there is a growth of 37 since last year. While this is relatively a small number, it indicates a persisteney in the tendency of growth in the Junior High Schools as well as in the Senior High School. Under the conditions now existing. this tendency is likely to continue a few years, but with any considerable increase in the population of the city, the tendency will pro- duce larger results and will be shown in increased numbers in both the Junior and Senior High Schools.
WORK OF THE SCHOOLS
It is generally conceded that education is a fundamental of good government. In a democracy where all political power is derived from the people through the means of uni-
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SCHOOL DEPARTMENT.
versal suffrage the nature of the government, even its per- petuity. is dependent upon the qualifications which the electorate possess for exercising the function of voting and for supporting the institutions of the social order resulting there- from. These qualifications are determined by various agencies but of them all the one which the State makes compulsory upon all the youth is Education. Compulsory education is the means by which the State seeks to make of the boys and girls of today the intelligent and sound voting citizenry of tomorrow. This being the accepted fact, it follows that edu- rational undertakings must be organized and conducted in such a manner and to such an extent as to produce the results expected of it. Conversely, failure to provide the organiza- tion and means essential to the accomplishment of these aims must be followed to greater or less extent by a loss in results.
What is expected of education today? Apparently much more than is provided for. Health, character and civic responsibility, knowledge, ability and willingness to do use- ful work, capacity to make worthy use of leisure, are all defi- nitely laid upon the schools today as aims to be accomplished in the interest alike of the individual and of society. These aims involve many subdivisions of efforts, making a complex whole. But for each individual in every stage of the educa- tional process these are aims constantly to be sought.
Some of these aims were in a simpler state of society largely the tasks of homes. But rapid changes in living have in the last few years made necessary the transfer of these duties from the homes to the schools. Evidence of this fact abounds in current discussions. A tendency is shown to lay the present ills of society to failure of the schools. A more profitable and helpful course would be found in making in- quiry to ascertain whether society has properly equipped the schools for the tasks which it lays upon them.
The school plants of former days are not adequate for present-day needs. They were provided when knowledge was the chief goal sought in the schools. A seat for every pupil in well ventilated and lighted schoolrooms along with books and simple apparatus was sufficient for the needs of the times. More varied undertakings demand more varied provisions. Assembly rooms, varied laboratories and shops, especially equipped commercial rooms, music, art, community, clinic. exercise rooms and playgrounds, equipment for visual, physi- cal, and industrial education, these are some of the additional provisions indicated by the present-day demands upon the schools.
It should be borne in mind that the schools do not create these demands. The state of society, the great undertaking
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ANNUAL REPORTS
of training children to be the supports of organized society, create them. The schools but respond to the demands to the extent that they are given the means for doing so.
This transition from the simpler to a more complex organ- ization is of necessity accompanied by request for things which can only be furnished by appropriations of larger sums of money. Thus it happens that "the schools are always asking for more money."
Our schools are organized to meet the needs of the day. The recent additions to the Junior High School plants have done much to bring them up to a state of preparedness for meeting the requirements of the times. The Elementary Schools are in most parts of the city better off than ever be- fore. But the High School is seriously handicapped by lack of sufficient rooms, by the entire absence of provisions for some of the activities essential to the conduct of the educational program of a great present-day high school, and by the inferior organization of some of its work due to building limitations. The Boys' Vocational School provides an opportunity of great value to many boys. While its offerings are now limited to three kinds of industrial work, other lines can be added when- ever the demand for them justifies such a course.
In all of these main divisions of the day schools the School Committee has organized the educational work so as to accom- plish the objectives of the new education as far as the facilities at its command will permit. The city has made generous provi- sion in recent years to help this work. But until the education- al means are adequate to the educational needs the School Committee should not stop making representations of needs nor the city stop providing for them to the extent to which the citizens want their schools to maintain efficiency.
Among the newer objectives for which public opinion demands that the public schools shall assume responsibility are preparation for citizenship, inculcation of thrift, and promotion of health. What is being done in the schools in relation to each of these aims is shown in the following out- lines.
Cities
The general aim of the teaching of Civies is to give a pupil knowledge concerning the government and the laws under which he lives and by training to prepare him to discharge the duties imposed upon him by law. Knowledge is provided by instruction ; training, the application of knowledge to con- duct, is the more difficult thing to give as it involves provid- ing experiences for the pupil by means of which he may be- come habituated in right reactions to civic duties. Such ex- periences the routine relations of the classroom do not provide.
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SCHOOL DEPARTMENT.
Other activities must be employed in which the pupil takes a part corresponding to that which will devolve upon him when he leaves school. By means of such training conduct is motivated by right ideals and by doing the pupil is pre- pared to assume his share of civic responsibilities. Therefore training and instruction are component parts of the work in Civics throughout the whole school period. During the first six grades a systematic course of instruction is followed in which the elements of home, school and local government are taught. Training is given by cultivating habits of obedience to authority and cooperation in school relations through such school experiences as the teacher can make serve the purpose. Formal instruction in U. S. History, Civics, and the Consti- tution of the United States is given in the Junior and Senior High Schools, while the effort to provide training is greatly increased. Student participation in school affairs through the instrumentality of student councils and traffic squads is an outstanding feature of these schools. By these means pu- pils are given a chance to make laws for their own government in certain situations and to subject themselves to the enforce- ment of these laws by their own representatives. These measures are working well and will be extended as experience dictates and facilities will permit.
Dental Dispensary
A new dental dispensary was opened in the Knapp School at the beginning of the present school year fully pro- vided with the most modern dental furniture and appliances. This new equipment was purchased and given to the schools by the Somerville Chapter of the American Red Cross which has promised in addition to this gift to maintain the dispen- sary and to pay for the services of a dentist. Superior ac- commodations for the dispensary were made through Mayor Webster's interest in the project. By his order two rooms on the ground floor of the Knapp School, hitherto used for stor- age purposes only, were during the summer vacation made over to meet the needs of the dispensary. Extensive carpen- ter, plumbing, steam fitting and painting work was done before the equipment was installed. When finished the dis- pensary consisted of a pleasant reception room and operating room both furnished with everything needed to make the enter- prise successful. For this addition to the resources of the schools credit is due to Francis A. Ryan, Chairman of the Somerville Chapter of American Red Cross, who not only made the offer on behalf of the Red Cross but also spent a good deal of time in studying the question of school dental dispensaries and in selecting and securing suitable equip- ment for the proposed new one in Somerville.
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ANNUAL REPORTS
Service in the new dispensary, like that at the dental dispensary in the Proctor School, is furnished during the fore- noon of every school day. One half of the schools sends pupils to the Knapp dispensary. the other half to the Proctor. Benefits from dental treatment to school pupils have thus been doubled by the opening of this new dispensary. This result is gratifying because it increases the efficiency of the work of the schools in a field wherein the City of Somerville was a pioneer, the dental dispensary at the Proctor opened in 1910, being one of the first to be established in connection with public schools by any community in the state.
Thrift
The objective world in which the child of today lives is one of prodigal spending. Allurements for personal indul- gences which cost money strike him on every side. Among all . these evidences of the prevalence of the disposition to spend money freely without regard for the future, few indeed and feeble are efforts made to cultivate in him a power of self- restraint which will enable him to withstand present tempta- tions for the sake of future security and prosperity. There has, however, been sufficient publie recognition of the dangers of the present situation to impose the demand upon the public schools to include the inenleation of the habit of thrift among its objectives. Om schools have for a number of years been doing a quiet but useful work in teaching saving. Recently in response to the urgeney of the needs these efforts have been increased with the result that the present school bank system has attained results which compare favorably with the ac- complishments of public schools anywhere. Not content with the extent to which present conditions of teaching thrift can produce efficiency, the School Committee has during the pres- ent year studied various plans for improvement. To extend instruction in thrift so as to train every pupil in the right use of his economic resources requires additions to our present ways and means for handling the subject. The best plan to adopt for this purpose is what the School Committee is now concerning itself to find.
Health
A yearly physical examination of the pupils has been under consideration of the Standing Committee on Health. Physical Training. and Athletics during the year. Such an examination is required by law and the Department of Educa- tion has provided forms for keeping a emmulative record of the examinations of each pupil. The purposes of the examina- tions are to discover any defects likely to interfere with school work. to furnish information by means of which the health
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SCHOOL DEPARTMENT.
of pupils may be safeguarded and improved, and to furnish data for comparisons of the pupil's development from year to year. While the Committee has approved in principle the making of these examinations yearly, it has not yet been able to conduct them because of lack of means. As a small sum would be sufficient to provide the things needed for this work. a beginning should be made during the coming year.
Safety Education
Preservation of life has become a new talk of the schools. The alarming increase in accidents and fatalities due to dangers incident to present day conditions has become a mat- ter of local, state. and national concern. Everywhere meas- ures to promote the safety of life are being adopted. In ac- cordance with this wide-spread feeling the Somerville Safety Council was formed early in the year to combat the dangers which abound in our streets and to promote among all classes of people a sense of cantion which would serve as a .protection from these dangers. Among the first of its acts was a request for the schools to train pupils to avoid these risks and to aid in the campaign for safety. In response to this request a campaign of safety education was immediately begun in the schools by authority of the School Committee. Before the close of the school year in JJune all the pupils in the city had been reached by lectures and moving pictures given by repre- sentatives of the Massachusetts Safety Council. Junior Safe- ty Councils have been formed in many schools and constant effort is being made to train pupils to look out for the dangers which threaten them in the streets and elsewhere. Particu- larly has an effort been made to keep them from playing in the streets. In this matter as in some of the other educational attempts the aim has been to get pupils to cooperate among themselves in the work of promoting habits of care and avoid- ance of danger. This work is well under way and will be- come more effective as it becomes better organized.
ACCOMMODATIONS
In Jannary of this year the new Junior High School building on Marshall street was completed and it was occupied for the first time on March 3. 1924. The building was form- ally dedicated to school uses in a meeting held on the evening of May 14, 1924. The program for this meeting was in charge of Mayor John M. Webster and the Committee on Public Property of the Board of Aldermen under whose care the building had been constructed. This meeting marked the successful accomplishment of one of the most important build- ing projects ever undertaken by the City. It is the largest
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ANNUAL REPORTS
school building ever planned for and built in Somerville. It is of first-class construction and is beautiful within and with- out. It was planned to contain the maximum of educational features with a minimum of waste space. Put in another way, the building gives the largest educational service in variety of activities provided for and in the number of pupils accommodated which could be obtained from its cubage. After being put to the test of occupancy for nearly a year, the building has fully justified all of the hopes which careful planning had in view. Unstinted praise has been bestowed upon it by the numerous visitors who have come from far and near to inspect the building and to see the school. It is an outstanding example of the wise use of public money in ac- complishing a large educational project with economy and efficiency.
Several important changes in the use of school buildings have followed the opening of this new building. The build- ings formerly occupied by the Northern and Eastern Junior High Schools were made available for other purposes. The Prescott and Southworth buildings were filled by classes trans- ferred from the Edgerly and Glines Schools. Three rooms in the Edgerly School are used now for elementary classes but it is proposed to abandon them for elementary school pur- poses at the close of the present school year. As the result of these changes consequent upon the use of the new school building, the elementary school organization formerly housed in the Edgerly School has now a much better home. While it is one of the older buildings, the rooms of the Prescott School are large and pleasant. The building is substantially constructed. The Southworth building is new and has a room which can be used as an assembly hall. The two buildings are connected and are easily operated as a unit. By the trans- fer to this group of buildings the Edgerly School organization has secured more and better rooms, has a location quieter and more removed from the dangerous traffic of Cross Street, and has the advantage of an assembly room, a workshop, and a kitchen. Eight rooms in the Forster School are now occupied by elementary classes and a part of the Folsom School build- ing is used by the Continuation School which was transferred to it from the High School in September.
High School
Attention should now be given to plans for improving high school conditions. The present accommodations are in- adequate both in respect to the number of pupils and in respect to proper provisions for the activities of the school. More rooms of various kinds are needed.
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SCHOOL DEPARTMENT.
An exercise room or gymnasium large enough to provide suitable indoor play space for boys and girls is a conspicuous need. For years the School Committee has been urging this necessity upon the attention of the public. The reasons for making this request now are more pressing than ever before. The two thousand boys and girls of the High School are eager to have an indoor place where they can conduct their physical exercises and sports. Consideration for the physical develop- ment of these youth as well as for their enjoyment of athletics makes the providing of a gymnasium for the High School in the near future a measure of civic duty. At present the High School plant is the result of building at various times additions sufficient only for the minimum need of the time. The structure as a whole is so diverse in its parts as to be lacking in the unity of plan which would characterize a new building. Therefore further additions to include the desired features should be made only after a careful examination of the whole plant and a determination as to the best way of making changes and additions necessary to bring the facilities up to modern standards.
Southern Junior High School
Although this plant was enlarged in 1923 the additions then made were not deemed to be sufficient to provide all the additional accommodations needed for that school. Unlike the Western and Northeastern Junior High Schools the South- ern has no large assembly room. Such a room and additional classrooms should be provided for this school in the near future.
Boys' Vocational School
During the past year the Somerville Chamber of Com- merce has petitioned the School Committee for an enlargement of the activities of this school. Such enlargement cannot be made without additional space for the school. Whether such space should be secured by additions to the present building or by taking the Edgerly School for this work is a matter which should be carefully considered.
Further Provisions for Physical Education
It is conceded that health is one of the first objectives of education. For growing youth physical evercises and play are nature's means of promoting physical development and maintaining bodily health. The importance of this subject is recognized in the laws of the State which now make physical education a required subject in school programs. The schools are prepared to furnish instruction in this subject but to do so to an adequate extent they must have the necessary means.
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ANNUAL REPORTS
What is needed now is additional space indoors and outdoors where free exercises and play may be conducted under the di- rection of the schools. Such indoor free exercise rooms should be provided in the near future for the three junior high schools as well as for the high school. As we are situated, adequate outdoor play space cannot be had in proximity to the High School or to the Southern or Northeastern Junior High Schools. But fortunately this defect can measurably be remedied by improvements at Dilboy Field which would make that large area a positive force in the city's educational work. A house located on this field, containing suitable and adequate provision of lockers, showers, and dressing rooms, would make effective for our youth, as well as for citizens generally, what is now chiefly a potential asset. Probably of all the things indicated in this report as being needed for the welfare of the youth, the building of such a field house would furnish immediately the most benefit to the largest number. for the smallest outlay of money.
TEACHERS
Changes in the teaching corps have been no more than usual but have been enough to cause considerable loss, tem- porarily, at least, to teaching efficiency and to create a diffi- cult problem for the administration. There are two sources of supply for filling vacancies. The first is the group of Som- erville graduates of State Normal schools or colleges who have served the probationary year provided by the Rules and Regu- lations of the School Committee. The second is the field of experienced teachers who will leave their positions to come to Somerville. The cadet group is limited to twelve persons in any one year. This group is too small to fill all the vacan- cies and it does not contain a sufficient range of qualifications to provide candidates for all kinds of teaching positions. Al- though cadets must spend one year teaching in our schools under supervision before they can be appointed, they are at the time of beginning work as regular teachers relatively in- experienced. While it is good policy for a school system to train in service some of its own young teachers who have had an approved professional education, it should not attempt to do this work for a larger number than its supervisory force can adequately manage. Our practice is safe and sound for our present conditions but it would be unwise to try to do much more under them. Since this is so, it becomes neces- sary therefore to fill many vacancies with teachers taken from other communities. Our exactions of qualifications are se- vere. The standards of our schools are high. Our patrons want the best. Successful teachers are diligently sought for
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SCHOOL DEPARTMENT.
the vacancies in our schools, but the disparity which at one time existed between the salaries of our schools and those of the schools of other communities has generally disappeared and with it the inducement for successful teachers to change to come to ns. This condition is making the securing of new teachers increasingly difficult. Successful teachers of two or three years' experience generally are receiving a hundred dollars more than our salary schedule allows for those years, even in places where the obtainable maximum is lower than ours. Teachers are prone to prefer a larger sum in hand to a smaller one, even though in the latter case a higher ultimate maximum is assured.
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