USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Somerville > Report of the city of Somerville 1950 > Part 8
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It is universally recognized that a well established ath- letic program for high schools constitutes an important part of the educational program, because of its ability in promoting
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and developing certain qualities and characteristics of those who participate in sports. The School Committee is extremely encouraged and hails with enthusiasm the prospect of the speedy building of the stadium in hopes that the Somerville High School football team of 1951 may play its schedule on the new field next fall.
Early in the year the General Court passed a bill authoriz- ing the expenditure of money by the County Commissioners for the drawing of plans for a new court house to replace the building now located on Walnut Street. The Commissioners arranged a public hearing for the purpose of discussing the site on Central Hill between the High School Gymnasium and the Public Library for the use of this court house. Those in favor of the site appearing at the hearing were, in every case, lawyers, but it was evident that even the lawyers were not unanimously in favor of the site, for several were present at the hearing and failed to record their approval. The residents of the vicinity, representatives of the Somerville Historical So- ciety, and five elected members of the School Committee and the Superintendent appeared in opposition. As yet no definite site has been chosen, or at least none has been announced. The following resolution expressing the attitude of the School Committee was adopted and sent to the County Commis- sioners:
WHEREAS, A bill has been considered favorably by the Legis- lature for an appropriation of funds for plans for a new courthouse for Somerville to replace the one now located on Walnut Street, and
WHEREAS, There seems to be considerable interest on the part of some citizens to have this building erected on Central Hill between the Library and the High School, and
WHEREAS, The increased birth rates indicate a very definite in- crease in school enrollment in the very near future with the possible necessity of an extension of the present high school plant, and
WHEREAS, The erection of a courthouse in this area would be an invasion of an educational area now occupied by buildings with a common purpose, and
WHEREAS, Somerville is one of the most densely populated areas in the United States, it would seem very unwise to convert to other purposes a choice piece of land which affords re- laxation in pleasant weather for adults and children, there- fore be it
RESOLVED: That the School Committee express its vigorous dis- approval of the use of this piece of land for any purpose other than educational and be it further
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RESOLVED: That a copy of these resolutions be spread upon the records of this meeting and that copies be sent to the Mayor, the Board of Aldermen, the City Engineer, the County Commissioners, and the local court officials.
Lest the reader is beginning to think that the preceding pages give the impression that the School Committee has dur- ing 1950 given consideration only to matters which concern physical facilities for carrying on the educative process, with- out any thought of consideration of the instructional phase of the program, there follows a brief summary of other activities considered and processed with the expenditure not only of money, but of time and energy.
1. Established two new classes at the Cutler School and one new class at the Hodgkins School on account of what were considered to be overcrowded conditions.
2. Established a new special class in the Morse School to care for a group of children in the vicinity of the Morse district.
3. Authorized experimental work in conjunction with the Harvard Graduate School of Education on a project seeking to teach French and Spanish to beginners through a system of direct method similar to the method used in teaching Basic English to non-English speaking persons.
4. Authorized follow-up work on the Remedial Read- ing program conducted during the summer of 1949 in Som- erville under the auspices of and by students from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
5. Took the necessary action to comply with the require- ments of Chapter 206 of the Acts of 1950 of the Gen- eral Court, which placed all vocational teachers with three years or more of service in vocational teaching on tenure.
6. Amended Section 114 of the Rules and Regulations of the Somerville School Committee by returning to the former practice of limiting cadetships to residents of Somerville.
7. Authorized the loan of our Supervisor of Americaniza- tion, to participate in a program for the New York State De- partment of Education, which sought to improve the organiza- tion of and the in-service training of, the teaching personnel of the Adult Education Program of New York State.
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8. Took the necessary steps to comply with the provisions of Chapters 417 and 658 of the Acts of 1950 of the General Court, which require new procedures in the handling of the finances of athletics and the lunch programs respectively.
9. Passed resolutions upon the services of many persons, former teachers and former school committee members, who resigned, retired, or passed on after long periods of loyal and devoted service to the education and general welfare of the children of the community.
10. Gave public recognition in the form of a resolution to the success, spirit, and sportsmanship of the High School Basketball team, which, captained by Ronald Perry and coached by James Sullivan and Walter Perry, won the Greater Boston and Eastern Massachusetts Championships, but was de- feated in the final game of the New England Championship tournament.
11. Expressed serious disapproval to the Boston and Maine's proposal to place automatic gates at the Park Street crossing on the Fitchburg division, because of the possible haz- ards and dangers to the school children.
12. Directed the Superintendent to express disapproval of the resolution adopted by the American Association of School Administrators at its Atlantic City Convention in endorsement of Federal Aid for Education with restrictions against aid for private schools.
13. Took action to solicit the support of the United States Senators of this state in opposing HR6000 in the Senate. This bill would have placed school teachers and all municipal em- ployees under the provisions of the Social Security Act.
14. Granted the usual annual requests for the voluntary participation of the school children in the drives of the Infan- tile Paralysis Foundation program, the United Community Ser- vice, the Cancer Fund, the Jimmy Fund, and the Salvation Army.
15. Gave serious consideration to the problems involved in the scarcity of trained elementary school teachers, the neces- sity of employing married women who had training as elemen- tary school teachers, and the policies which should be formu- lated with respect to such employment and the salaries therefor.
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16. Made request by direct orders for 300 chairs for the auditorium of the Northeastern Junior High School and 300 for the auditorium of the Vocational School, and for necessary fencing for various school yards.
17. Gave long and serious thought and deliberation to the requests of the various levels of employees for adjustments of the salary schedules, so that whatever revisions were deemed justifiable and possible could be provided for in the budget for 1951.
At the November meeting of the School Committee, it was voted to revise the salary schedule by adding $200 to the salary of each member of the instructional force and $100 to that of each member of the Civil Service force. With respect to this matter, it is pertinent that attention be called to the terrific shrinking of the dollar in recent years. Compared to the dollar of 1935-1939 of 100 cents value, the present dollar, which not only the school committee employee but all other employees receive, is approximately 59 cents. It can readily be seen that from this fact alone teachers who in 1939 re- ceived $2000 would, in order to maintain the same standard of living today and hold the same purchasing power from their income, need a salary of $3390.
It is very well known that although the School Commit- tees since 1939 have provided increases in salary for their em- ployees in amounts which it was felt could be afforded from available revenues received by the City, the teachers have not received increases necessary to maintain the 1939 scale of liv- ing. Is it possible to rectify this situation, and if so-how?
It seems impossible to pay practically all the expenses of the municipality from revenue received from real estate taxes alone; hence, it is obvious that new sources of revenue, in ad- dition to real estate taxes, must be obtained. Such sources might be found through (1) increased State Aid for Education, (2) Federal Aid for Education, but in some different form from the bill now pending in Congress, or (3) the use of previously unused sources of local taxation and the possible savings which might result from a survey and re-evaluation of governmental expense.
It might be pertinent in this regard to suggest that there be a re-reading of the report of a survey made several years ago with reference to the tax structure of Somerville.
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The preceding pages show the manner in which the School Committee has devoted its time and energy during the year 1950 to the fulfillment of its obligations as the policy- making and legislative body of the public school system.
CHANGES, IMPROVEMENTS, AND PROGRESS
The following pages will be devoted to a brief discussion of the manner in which the administrators and the supervisory and instructional force have exerted their efforts in perform- ing their tasks in accordance with the plans and policies formu- lated by the School Committee.
HIGH SCHOOL
Course of Study
The mid-century class of the Somerville High School was the first class to function for three years under the curriculum revisions which were put into effect in September 1947. This class which graduated in June 1950, served as a testing ground for the new curriculum. The major purpose of the curriculum revision was to provide a better integrated program for the pu- pils in each of the three major courses, Preparatory, General, and Commercial. In order to accomplish this aim, the number of required subjects in each course was increased. The elec- tives in each course were limited and were correlated with the main purposes of each course.
The parents and pupils have been reminded constantly that the major benefits of the High School career can be de- rived by remaining in one course for the three years. This has been accomplished through the cooperation of the principals of the junior high schools and their staffs, who have conscien- tiously tried to guide the pupils into the proper course by in- sisting that the pupils realize that the exploratory character of the junior high school program cannot be carried over into the senior high school. Consequently, the practice of moving from one course to another without sufficient reason has been greatly curtailed.
The additional requirements in each course and the de- gree of rigidity in the structure of each course have achieved a larger degree of continuity in the educational program of each pupil. For the most part, seniors take advanced courses in each field, or courses which, because of their difficulty or complexity, are adapted to their added maturity.
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It is quite evident that pupils in the High school accept the fact that they must expect subjects of increasing difficulty as they progress from one class to another, and they no longer hope to "get by" and reach graduation by the device of taking a majority of "easy" subjects, which is the usual practice wher- ever electivism is unrestrained. Parents are acquainted with this policy, and as a result public confidence in the High School has been increased.
Now that the requirements of higher standards of achievement have been accepted by parents and pupils, the Curriculum Committee will develop the Curriculum in such a way that the major educational and vocational needs of the pupils will be recognized in the course of study. At the same time, the content of each subject will be reviewed in order to make the proper adaptations to the needs of particular groups.
Failures and Make-up
Concomitant with the study of curriculum requirements has been a consideration of standards of achievement and the failure on the part of pupils to meet these standards. One method of meeting this difficulty would be to make the stand- ards of achievement so flexible that no pupils would fail. This does not appear to be a realistic approach to the problem of life adjustment and seems to offer inadequate training to cope with the problems of earning a living.
Since September of 1947, the High School has main- tained complete statistics on failures by subjects, and by classes. These statistics have revealed that particular areas seem to produce a larger number of failures than should be expected. The problem then is referred to the department or departments involved. Department meetings discuss the prob- lem and seek a solution. Sometimes it is a question of the teaching methods or techniques used in presenting the subject matter to the pupils; sometimes it resolves itself into a ques- tion of proper emphasis; sometimes it involves the rearrange- ment of the order in which the material is presented. In this way, several of the trouble areas have been removed.
The causes of failure have also caused concern. As was noted last year, a special report was inaugurated which re- corded the failure, listed the chief causes of failure, and helped to analyze the reasons for the pupil's not satisfactorily meeting the High School requirements. These reports have been of great assistance in conferences with parents.
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Another aspect of the approach to the problem of failures is the consideration of methods of preventing failures. Every department presents each quarter a special review of the quar- ter's work during the sixth or after-school period. This enables a pupil who has been absent or who has fallen behind the class for other reasons, to be brought up to date with the rest of the class. By expending an extra effort a pupil is frequently able to meet the subject requirements and prevent his failure.
It has been recognized for a long time that many failures are due to reading difficulties. During the winter and spring of 1950, an experienced teacher, studying at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, was given permission to work with a small group of sophomores who were in need of reme- dial attention in reading. In September 1950, a group of sophomores with reading difficulties was assigned to a parti- cular English division which will accomplish the regular as- signments of the English Course of Study for Grade X and at the same time concentrate on the problem of remedial reading. The pupils for this division were selected on the basis of rec- ommendation by the junior high schools, both public and paro- chial, and by the English teachers in the High School who were asked to watch for reading difficulties among the incoming sophomores.
To the problem of failures is attached the problem of mak- ing up failing grades. The make-up system was therefore analyzed. Accordingly in the Spring of 1950, the Curriculum Committee inaugurated a new policy of make-up to be effec- tive in September of 1950. Instead of repeating the work of the quarter which had been failed, the pupil is now asked to concentrate on improving his work in the subsequent quarter to such a degree that the failing mark will be offset by a sub- stantial passing mark. Since the work of any quarter (after the first) would include the work of previous quarters, each teacher provides a review of the previous quarter's work in the sixth or after-school period. This opportunity is available to failing pupils and to those pupils who are close to the fail- ing point.
This plan is considered to be based on sound educational psychology, since the pupil is encouraged to greater effort toward an attainable goal. Under the previous policy, many pupils became discouraged very early in the school year and made no further effort during the rest of the term. It is in- tended to compare carefully the two policies and when suf- ficient statistical information is acquired, it is believed that the present plan will produce the better results.
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Cooperation of Local Business
It is an axiom of educational policy in a democratic society that the public at large should be encouraged to participate in planning and assisting the educational program of the com- munity. Generally, increased public interest serves to improve the school situation. It is realized that a great deal remains to be accomplished in this area, but it is pleasing to see that plans which we have been making for the past three or four years have come to fruition during 1950 in three distinct, but re- lated fields.
When the course in Retail Distribution was introduced three years ago, the regulations of the State Department of Education required that an advisory committee of local mer- chants be established. While this requirement was met at that time, this committee really began to function during 1950. The Advisory Committee on Distributive Education for Somerville was called together in the High School Cafeteria on Monday, April 10, 1950. The purposes and functions of the Committee were outlined by the Superintendent of Schools, the Headmaster of the High School, and the State Coordinator of Distributive Education. The merchants who formed the committee showed a great interest in the work, and acknowl- edged the assistance that the course in Distributive Education was giving to them.
The increased activity of this committee has resulted in (1) the development of plans to equip the Distributive Educa- tion room in such a manner that it will present a realistic re- tail situation, in which the pupils may receive more practical training and experience, and (2) the willingness of the retail merchants to talk in the classroom on practical aspects of re- tail work, coordinated with the development of the course con- tent. Such subjects as "Operating Costs", "Stock Control", "Store Layout", and "Display Techniques" have been dis- cussed. The volume of questions following each of these talks is indicative of their practical value to the students, and of their increased interest in this valuable training.
A year ago a course in Business Management was intro- duced for seniors in the General Course in order to provide them with a practical preparation for occupational efficiency. As a result of plans which have been under way for a year, and following discussions between the Head of the General Course and the officers of the Somerville Chamber of Com- merce, a schedule of practical talks by leaders in business and
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industry has been put into operation. Whenever it is prac- tical, the talk is followed by a visit to a local business or indus- trial center that illustrates the points of the discussion. Those talks already given have been marked by a high degree of en- thusiasm on the part of both businessmen and pupils.
In still a third way, the cooperation of local businessmen has been invited. The Head of the Commercial Course sent messages to three hundred local businessmen selected from the lists of the Somerville Chamber of Commerce. These mes- sages called to their attention the fact that the High School was equipped to supply them with full-time or part-time em- ployees who could be recommended either for excellence in skills where such was required or for excellent character traits where no specific skill was needed. The response has been very gratifying. While it should be noted that currently the situation favors the person seeking employment, it is hoped to build a confidence in the recommendations of the High School among local business and industrial leaders against the time when jobs may be scarce.
Pre-Driving Course
As was anticipated in the report of last year, the dual con- trol car purchased, registered, and insured by the Somerville Kiwanis Club was presented to the High School at an assembly in the early days of January in the presence of the Registrar of Motor Vehicles for the Commonwealth. Due to the limited time available and the requirement of thirty hours behind the wheel, it was necessary to confine the opportunity to sixty- three seniors. It is quite encouraging to note that only three failed to pass the written test of the Registry and three failed to obtain their driving license by test. For the school year be- ginning in September, 234 seniors and 230 juniors applied for driver-training, but again it became necessary to limit the en- rollees to 120, the maximum number which can be accom- modated during the school week.
Through the Civil Defense Program, preparations are being made for any emergency. In case of war, the Army's system of motorized transportation is the backbone of the whole military system. Military leaders estimate that one out of every four soldiers will be operating motorized equipment. Since no machine is better than its operator, the Defense pro- gram will without doubt demand that as many boys of High School age as possible be qualified as licensed operators. It therefore behooves the school curriculum to provide for in-
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struction in driving to as many boys and even girls as possible in the interest of Civil Defense, as well as for ordinary safety traffic conditions. This, of course, will mean that increased equipment and instructors will be required.
Foreign Languages
In accordance with the authorization granted by the Schoo! Committee for experimental work, in conjunction with the Harvard Graduate School of Education, on a project seeking to teach French and Spanish to beginners by a method similar to that used to teach Basic English to persons from non-English speaking countries, classes have been started in the High School and in the three junior high schools in French. Film strip projectors, record players, and the textbooks, "French Self Taught with Pictures" have been provided by the School Committee, while Harvard College has loaned the necessary mimeographed lesson sheets, the records, and film strips for use in this work.
The text contains seven hundred of the most widely used French words, introduced in a sequence that develops key syntax patterns. All class work is conducted in French, the method is very interesting, and seems to be achieving results, but it is too early to judge its success or practicability.
JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOLS
The unique purposes of the junior high school may be stated briefly, as follows:
1. To carry forward the general education begun in the kindergarten and elementary school as far as individual inter- ests and capacities will permit.
2. To help each pupil to discover and begin the develop- ment of those special interests and aptitudes which will lead him to a satisfying way of life-individually, socially, voca- tionally.
The change from the elementary school to the junior high school has always meant a period of readjustment, causing some confusion in the minds of the young children and affect- ing their work. The change from one teacher in the sixth grade to several in the seventh is rather abrupt for most child- ren. In Somerville, however, the pupil environment in the seventh grade is as close to the sixth grade as a department-
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alized system will allow. It is the practice to introduce pupils gradually to departmentalized teaching as they progress through the junior high school. Results to date have been satisfactory.
Enrollments in the three junior high schools are at the lowest point in many years. This is due in large part to the extremely low birth rates for the 30's. This situation makes possible smaller classes and more individual attention and guidance by the teachers.
The program of audio-visual education is growing, and the motion picture is now more commonly used than any other visual aid. All schools are equipped with modern 16 m. m. sound machines. For the most part the films used during the past year have been rented and the cost of rental and trans- portation has been paid by the administration office. During the past year modern fan-cooled filmstrip projectors were pur- chased for two junior high schools, and the three junior high schools were provided with tape recording devices.
In 1947 a program was initiated whereby the social studies classes in each junior high school would receive new map and globe equipment to satisfy the needs as indicated by a com- mittee of teachers. The project was completed during the last school year at a total cost of several thousands of dollars.
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