USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Somerville > Report of the city of Somerville 1951 > Part 7
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School buildings should be flexible, adaptable, and ex- pansible, and they must be safe and comfortable. The site must be adequate in size to allow for the best orientation of the building, for service features such as walks, drives, and parking areas, and most of all play spaces and outdoor educa- tional areas. A national standard for elementary school sites requires that an area of five acres be used as a base, and one acre added for each hundred pupils in enrollment. The plant must be economical in operation, as well as mere first cost. No community, no matter how financially able, can afford to build or operate anything but an efficient school plant.
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Each school building should be located and constructed only after statistics and investigation have ensured that the school will be needed in the location selected during the life of the building, and that neither industrial encroachment, housing blight, nor any other adverse influence will decimate the pupil potential in that area over the foreseeable future.
National standards indicate that one half mile is the maximum distance an elementary school child should be ex- pected to walk to school. Schools, therefore, should be be- tween three quarters of a mile and a mile apart. If schools are too close together, more buildings than necessary will be provided, which will require higher personnel and maintenance costs.
Other pertinent factors which must be considered in a school building program are: (1) the grade organization, (2) the present elementary school buildings, (3) school building capacities versus enrollment, (4) availability of elementary school sites, (5) the fiscal ability of the city, and (6) the charac- teristics of the community.
The topic numbered 6 requires a study of the community through questions such as (a) What kind of a city is Somer- ville? (b) Does an itinerant or stable population reside here? (c) What growth and expansion is taking place? (d) How much and what part of the area of the community is noncontributory to our problem in the sense that no housing exists? (e) What plans for the development of the city are being followed by other municipal agencies? and (f) What are the traffic prob- lems that have a bearing on school districting?
The third chapter in the report answers these questions under the heading, "Somerville as a Community".
The traffic problem in Somerville is one of the most serious in the country. The area of Somerville is but 4.22 square miles, approximately four miles long and slightly over a mile in width, and yet there are seven major traffic arteries running the length of the city and cross traffic arteries cut the city the other way at least every quarter mile. Automobile, truck, and bus traffic on these streets is terrific, even the least traveled arteries carrying over 1,000 vehicles a day, while others carry loads up to that of the McGrath Highway or Northern Ar- tery of approximately 57,000 vehicles a day, and that load in- creases on occasion, like Labor Day, to 80,000 per day. When it is realized that a traffic count of 1,000 per day means more
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than one vehicle per minute passes a given point during the daytime hours, and a 50,000 count means that a vehicle is passing a given point on that highway every second of the daytime hours, it is a certainty that sending elementary school. children across such hazards to school should definitely be avoided, and even where alert police protection and traffic lights are provided, it is still a dangerous situation. To locate a school building without considering the traffic problem would be shortsighted and disastrous.
The study of the size of the population is not only in- teresting but important to the school problem. For a number of years it has been known that Somerville is the most densely populated city in the country, and yet a study of the population. indicates that the maximum was reached in 1930 at 103,908, and because of the recently increasing birth rate and decreas- ing death rate the population in 1950 should have reached 111,000, but instead the U. S. census shows 102,254. This indicates a loss of 9,000 persons who appear to have moved to other communities. A definite pattern usually develops when a city grows up in a limited area. The growth is gradual and slow at first, then grows very rapidly, then slows down to a rate of no increase followed by a slow decline. Somerville follows this pattern and it is predicted that our population for the next ten years will level at about 100,000, and then during the following ten years will drop to about 90,000 where it probably will remain for many years. One of the reasons for this prediction is that Somerville, one of the most com- pletely built up cities in Massachusetts, has practically no room for new housing. Even apartment buildings can hardly increase the population. By the same reasoning, it would be difficult to redevelop for increased industry in Somerville.
The summation of these brief statements points clearly to the necessity for an evaluation of not only its school situa- tion, not just its housing, not alone its industries nor its transportation, but rather all of these and others appraised together. Lack of planning attention to these elements has been driving our city into a decline, slowly but surely. A con- centrated effort to start improving matters under competent leadership will halt this decline. A city-wide program em- bracing not only the schools, but such other phases as zoning, traffic and parking, recreation, industry, urban redevelopment, shopping areas, and neighborhood units, will do much to im- prove Somerville as a community in which to live, to go to school, or to do business.
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Having set forth the peculiar conditions and character- istics of Somerville which must be considered in view of any solutions to be suggested for the schools, the next necessary information should concern present school enrollments and projection of known conditions, such as birth rate and migra- tion, on future enrollment. Three factors predominate in the consideration of the future of school enrollment, namely, (a) the number of births, (b) the number of people who move into or out of the community, and (c) the number of children living within the city who do not attend the public schools but find other means of education.
(a) During the postwar period there was a tre- mendous increase in the number of births through- out the country. Rare is the community which is not facing a school building problem as a direct result of this huge increase in the number of chil- dren. Somerville has not been an exception to the national trend, for births to residents of Somerville have been increasing since the low point of 1220 in 1933, as indicated by the following table:
1930-1677
1931-1428
1932-1342
1940-1755 1941-1833 1942-2092
1933-1220 1943-2124 1944-1867
1934-1233
1935-1630 1945-1865
1936-1658 1946-2461
1937-1636 1947-2548
1939-1656
1938-1719 1948-2452 1949-2121
The peak year for births nationally and for Som- erville was in 1947. The rapid decline from the 1947 high which was predicted has just not hap- pened. The present expectation is that the peak enrollments in the elementary grades will take place around 1956 when the largest crop of postwar babies are all in school.
(b) Somerville is declining in total population. The decline is not happening in those age-groups in which the greatest number of births occur; nor do we anticipate an increase in grade enrollments due to movement of persons into the community. How- ever should the downward trend of total population continue, as it probably will unless conditions
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change, we may expect it to result in an eventual de- cline in total elementary school enrollments. This is not a clear possibility at the moment as there is no evidence that large amounts of low-cost housing will be available within the metropolitan area in the near future, this being the condition which would permit emigration from Somerville on a large scale.
(c) Approximately 60% of the children born of Somerville parents enter the public school kindergar- tens, and an additional 6% enter the first grade the following year. Therefore, it can be expected that 66% of the recorded births will attend the public elementary schools.
The parochial schools show a constant first grade attendance of about 500 pupils, which figure for projection of enrollment has been increased by 100 on account of the newly established school on Mys- tic Avenue.
A table in the survey report comparing the number of births by years from 1930 to 1950 shows a steady increase from the low of 1220 in 1933 to a high of 2548 in 1947. On the basis of previous factors discussed, the table indicates the enrollments by grades up to and including 1955. The total number of students decreased gradually from 9189 in 1936 to 7824 in 1949. The projection of known facts indicates that the enrollment in the public elementary schools will in- crease yearly to 9222 in the school year 1955, after which a slight yearly decrease is predicted.
A study of these enrollments by school attendance areas shows that each area has not been responsible for a constant percentage of the total pupils enrolled. It was necessary, therefore, to make tabulations of numbers by grades and location. For this purpose fifty-two subdistricts of the geo- graphic area of the city were studied.
A table showing the summary of the census results by subdistricts and grades is now available, and it is from this table that the numbers indicating the size and necessary accommodations for proposed recommended buildings have been found.
Section V of the report of the survey is devoted to an objective evaluation of the individual buildings used for
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ANNUAL REPORTS
elementary school instruction. Twenty-four buildings are in use, nineten separate entities, two buildings (the Folsom and Forster units) which are known as the Forster School occupy the same site at Sycamore Street and Evergreen Avenue, the Prescott and Southworth buildings, known as the Prescott School, are on a common site at Pearl and Myrtle Streets, and the Edgerly School, which occupies a portion of the Vocational School building on Cross Street.
In order to weigh its worth objectively, each building and each facility thereof was examined and appraised from two correlated viewpoints. One method of appraisal involved the use of the McLeary Rating Sheets for Evaluating School Buildings, which have earned considerable recognition and acceptance among school plant specialists.
The site, the building design, and structure, the service systems, the regular and special classrooms, and special activ- ity rooms related to pupil use, service, or administration are carefully subdivided into essential characteristics and set forth in terms of compliance with the accepted standards. Under the headings mentioned, one hundred forty distinct items are considered, most of which have several subtopics to be scored. A numerical system of assigning "credits" for conformity to standards and "penalties" for noncompliance is inherent in the McLeary instrument. The yardstick of 1000 points for a theoretically perfect school building, compared with the total scores on the rating sheets, gives an objective indication of the building's value.
A rating of 900 to 1000 means an excellent building, 700 to 900 represents quite satisfactory, 600 to 700 indicates a less satisfactory school, 500 to 600 is borderline, 400 to 500 is generally poor, and less than 400 means that the unit should be abandoned as soon as practicable. A building with score above 475 may be considered as a nucleus of the future school plant and should be rehabilitated and maintained.
In accordance with this rating plan, it is indicated that
(1) The following with ratings under 400 should be abandoned as soon as practicable: Bingham, Cholerton, Durell, Forster, Glines, Morse, and Prescott.
(2) The following rate generally poor (400-500): Baxter, Bennett, Brown, Burns, Carr, Cutler, Fol-
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som, Hanscom, Hodgkins, Knapp, Lowe, Perry, Proctor, and Southworth.
(3) The Cummings, Edgerly, and Grimmons (500- 600) are the best, but rated only as borderline.
The second viewpoint from which the buildings were ap- praised was that of noting other pertinent details in a descrip- tive manner. From this dual focus upon each building was derived (1) information to aid in the determination of the future status of the building in the long-range plan, and (2) the immediate steps which should be taken to make the school educationally useful, comfortable, and safe.
A brief summary of the evaluation of the twenty-four units shows the following common features:
Structurally the buildings have been fairly well main- tained, considering their age, but educationally these same buildings are not satisfactory. All of the buildings are two and three story structures, and in some cases the ground floors are far above the street or grade level (as many as 33 steps in one case), creating stair climbing and a safety problem. Today's trend is toward single-story elementary buildings, often with direct egress to the outdoors from each classroom.
Twenty-one of the buildings are of wood frame construc- tion with brick exterior walls. One, having the same features, differs only by having concrete corridors. Two are of fireproof construction with brick walls, concrete floors and corridors, and metal staircases.
The classrooms are large in the oldest buildings, a little smaller in more recent buildings, generally bilaterally lighted, which ordinarily would be good if it were not for the wide mul- lions between windows, high window sills, and 12 to 16 foot studding. Such conditions help to contribute to the conclusion of poor lighting. Against today's standards of 30 to 35 foot candles of comfortable light from either natural or artificial sources, measurements in the twenty-four buildings showed one half to three foot candles in some cases, which even with the type of artificial light now provided were raised only by four to five foot candles. In addition to the poor sources of light, excessively light-absorptive surfaces within the class- room, such as dark woodwork, furniture, and floors, too much blackboard and low reflectance points drink up much of the
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ANNUAL REPORTS
available light. Eyestrain and nervous strain both result from such conditions.
The sanitary facilities were not given good ratings, and attention was called to the lack of special rooms for art, music, industrial arts, libraries, gymnasia, auditoriums, or all-purpose rooms.
Safety, service, and structural aspects of the school buildings were given very favorable reports, as were also the heating plants, many of which have recently been equipped with oil burners.
The next section, numbered 6, makes a recapitulation of the important factors of the preceding sections and offers recommendations for an underlying policy of organization, and provisions for grades above the fourth. It seems advisable to quote herewith verbatim a portion of this section in order that the bearing of the stated conditions on the ultimate school plant or "blueprint" of the future school plant may be under- stood clearly.
1. Somerville has about 26,000 people per square mile, and is undoubtedly the most congested city in the United States. In such a city there are practically no open spaces for future school sites, to say nothing of places for children to play with safety.
2. Somerville is crisscrossed by some of the most heavily traveled streets in the Commonwealth. As a matter of fact, at least eleven streets are so heavily traveled that children below the fifth grade should not be required to cross them in going to and from school. In designing the fu- ture school plant, these streets should become boundary lines between primary schools housing the children in the grades below the fifth.
3. Elementary school buildings in Somerville are old, nonfireproof, three and four story struc- tures. They rate very low on a scientifically established rating scale for school buildings which are described in Section V above. They should either be replaced on present sites or dis- continued and the sites cleared of buildings and used as neighborhood playgrounds for small
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SCHOOL DEPARTMENT
children. This will supply in part the crying need for some safe places for children to play.
There are only five elementary school build- ings which are too recently built to be con- demned and will therefore need to be retained in the future school plant. They are: Cummings erected in 1932; Cutler, 1912; Edgerly, 1935; Grimmons, 1930; and Southworth, 1916. Since it will require several years to realize the ulti- mate school plant, many buildings now in use will of necessity be in commission for several years, even though they are unsatisfactory edu- cationally and do not house children with com- plete safety.
4. School sites are wholly inadequate. Not one of them approaches five acres which is regarded as a minimum, and is not considered a large site for elementary schools. Somerville's terrific pop- ulation congestion, even on the city blocks in which the schools are located, precludes as far as we can see the addition of enough land to make practical school grounds for buildings, and for adequate playgrounds for children through Grade 6. If schools are designed to be neighbor- hood primary schools through Grade 4, smaller buildings as well as smaller grounds may prove adequate.
Therefore, in locating the schools in the fu- ture plant, it will be necessary to do three things:
(a) Use the present sites in the future school plant, wherever they are prop- erly located.
(b) Add enough land so as to provide for building expansion and for play- grounds.
(c) Establish a policy of small neighbor- hood schools for the lower grades.
In order that the best results may be secured, it is recommended that the future plant be de- signed to provide neighborhood primary schools
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ANNUAL REPORTS
for children in the kindergarten through Grade 4. There are two good reasons for this recom- mendation. One is that these schools can be lo- cated so that few children will need to cross dangerous streets to attend school; and second, primary children can get along with smaller playgrounds. Thus, two objectives are achieved, namely, the safety of the younger children in going to and from school and economy for the taxpayer by reducing the need far large play- grounds.
Map 8 entitled Future Primary School Plant presents the ultimate plan proposed for the younger children in Somerville. It will be no- ticed that all future primary schools are located on present sites except in two instances. One is on the new housing development off Mystic Avenue. A new school on this site should re- place the Glines School, which should be razed and the grounds used as a neighborhood play- ground. The other is a new school located in the western end of the city in the vicinity of Ster- ling Street and Alewife Brook Parkway. It will obviate the necessity of enlarging the Cutler School, and will give the small children in this area safe access to their own school.
In carrying out this plan such buildings as Prescott, Forster, Glines, Proctor, Cholerton, Carr, Knapp, Burns, and possibly others would be ultimately eliminated. Furthermore, if this plan is followed, many of the errors of the past will not occur in the future.
The above program for children from the Kin- dergarten through Grade 4, leaves the problem of Grades 5 and 6. To more adequately provide for them, it is recommended that Somerville adopt the plan of two high schools for Grades 9 through 12, and intermediate or upper elemen- tary area schools for children in Grades 5, 6, 7 and 8. This would require the erection of a high school in the western part of Somerville, and converting the three junior high schools into area schools for four grades. Three such schools would not cover the city, particularly the central
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SCHOOL DEPARTMENT
part. A fourth area school should, therefore, be built on as central a site as can be acquired. The number of acres should be sufficient to provide for the building and playground facilities for 1100 youngsters.
It may be necessary to depart in certain in- stances from the general plan of neighborhood primary schools, and intermediate area schools. In the section of the city east of McGrath High- way, it may be wise to provide an area school through Grade 6 on the Hanscom site. Likewise in the district north of Broadway, it may be ad- visable to provide for all children through Grade 8 in the new area school off Mystic Avenue (near Mount Vernon Avenue and Meacham Street). Grimmons would be retained. Further- more, it is educationally and psychologically sound to house the primary children from the immediate neighborhood in the area school buildings, provided there is adequate room for them in the building and on the playground. Therefore, the present junior high school build- ings should house the primary children in the neighborhood, as well as the upper grade chil- dren in the larger area.
The suggested plan of the consultants provides that there should be in the ultimate school plant fifteen buildings used exclusively as neighborhood schools housing the pupils of kindergarten through grade four, one housing children of kindergarten through grade six, three present junior high school buildings which would accommodate children from the kindergarten through grade eight, two new intermediate or area schools for grades five through eight, and two high schools for the students of grades nine through twelve.
It must be apparent that the survey recommends that Somerville change from its 6-3-3 organization to a 4-4-4 grade grouping. While the 6-3-3 plan has proved satisfactory up to this point, there is nothing sacred about this arrangement. To those who may be concerned about what may seem to be aban- donment of the junior high concept, it must be pointed out that the educational opportunities afforded by the junior high school are NOT to be abandoned. Rather they may, if the survey recommendations are accepted, be extended to include the fifth and sixth grade children so that they may benefit
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ANNUAL REPORTS
from the shops, auditoriums, gymnasia, and home-making activities which may become an integral part of the program of these children. The proposed organization must not be con- strued to be a reactionary movement back to the old 8-4 plan, but it is intended to be an improvement in yielding educational returns to Somerville. The most promising quality of the proposed plan is its flexibility. If carried to completion, it would be possible with a minimum of rearrangement to adopt any other desirable plan or even to reinstitute the 6-3-3 plan in improved form. Such no doubt may be desirable when the children, now causing the major difficulties which result in the planning for the lower grades, reach the high school level. Sight must not be lost of the fact that between 1960 and 1975 the same children who were born between 1941 and 1944 will themselves be married and bearing children, so an increase in the number of births is expected during that period.
The consultants reconcile the suggested plan by conclud- ing as follows: "It seems quite plain to us, after studying all the facts of school enrollment, buildings, sites, traffic, growth, and trends, that the above blueprint is the sensible, logical, and economical plan to follow in the future school plant de- velopment program. This seems evident regardless of whether new buildings are to be built, old ones abandoned, replaced, or rehabilitated. If the plan is adopted and followed, the city will not make the serious error of spending large sums on buildings which should be eliminated from the ultimate plant, regardless of whether or not the site is suitable. Furthermore we believe the ultimate plant as planned will be more economical to oper- ate, and more effective educationally than any plant that 'just grows' without plan."
The remainder of the report of the survey develops the suggested plan of action to accomplish the development of a modern, adequate, and suitable elementary school plant. The time element, explained in minute detail, covers a period of twenty years. A time table is provided as a suggestion for the completion of the plan. It is indicated that because of the ex- treme importance of the earlier part of the program, after the recommendations for the first six years, the remainder of the long-term plan may be slowed down, but not to the degree that the completed program will exceed thirty years.
The degree to which the retardation of the latter part of the building program is allowable should be determined by the Rehabilitation Program, which must maintain that portion of the school plant which is to be a part of the ultimate plant or
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