USA > Massachusetts > Bristol County > Attleboro > Reports of town officers of the town of Attleborough 1903 > Part 9
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ANNUAL REPORT.
To the Parent :-
The teachers, seeking to do all they can for their pupils, both in advancing them in their studies and in looking after their health, will be glad to receive answers to the questions on the other side of this sheet. In no case will this information reach the knowledge of fellow pupils or persons not connected with the schools.
This request is prompted not by curiosity but by sympathy, and if you will grant it cheerfully and fully, the teacher will be able to watch over the welfare of your child with greater success than any one could who is kept in ignorance of these things.
It is better not to confer with the child when prepar- ing the answers. If possible, return this Report within a week whether it is filled out or not. I shall be glad to talk with you about your child on any day at the close of school.
Respectfully yours,
Teacher.
Inquiries are made concerning the following matters :
(1) the child's general health, (2) his defects of eye- sight or hearing, (3) his pronounced likes and dislikes, (4) his home reading habits, (5) his occupations out of school, (6) his home study habits, (7) the parent's estimate of the severity of school requirements, (8) the parent's recommendations to the teacher.
The responses were prompt, full, and cordial, show- ing that the hereditary notion that pupil and teacher are necessarily antagonistic is yielding to the more elevated conceptions of the present day. I almost never receive an unreasonable complaint about a teacher, and very few of any kind.
In order to induce parents to get acquainted with the regular school work, they were especially invited to
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visit the schools during the week of March 16. The pupils wrote and delivered the invitations. As the school time was not devoted to declamations and other special performances for the entertainment of the guests, the 786 visitors who responded must have carried away a fairly correct impression of the every-day work of the schools.
High School.
Through the indomitable energy and perseverance of the Chairman of the School Committee, the High School extension of six rooms was built during the spring and summer. The interior arrangements are so much better than they were before, that the school is now better organized than it has ever been. A finished building is seldom beyond criticism, and this one is no exception, yet considering the money and time at the disposal of the Committee, the results are very gratifying. A full account of the present accommodations will be found in the Principal's report.
The school itself is a credit to the town. During the four years of the present principal's administration, 1899 to 1903, twenty-six of the seventy-six graduates entered college, eight entered normal schools, and three entered other schools, showing that practically half after gradu- ating continued their studies in higher institutions. It is no longer necessary to send children to Providence to fit them for college or for business life. Our commercial ·department is well equipped, and all of its graduates who so desire, have good office positions.
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Sanford Street House.
The central building was erected in 1874. The School Committee then said of it :-
"It marks an era in the architecture of the town. For situation, and beauty, and adaptation to the purposes for which it was erected, it seems well-nigh perfect."- Report 1875.
The Committee's words were true. This is one of the best buildings owned by the town. Except for the conversion of the hall on the third story into two school rooms, and the introduction of a few modern desks, the interior has not been changed since it was built twenty- eight years ago. But it is imperative that it should be brought up to the present hygienic standards in the matter of light, ventilation, heat, desks, and blackboards, to say nothing of renovating the walls and ceilings. The Committee has been conscious of this need for a long time but so many new houses had to be built, that no repairs could be made here beyond those actually neces- sary to preserve the building from the weather.
Principals and Special Teachers.
The town has been fortunate during the past year in having strong teachers in the most responsible positions. The constant improvement of the High School is a matter of common knowledge. Judged by the attendance, scholarship, discipline, and healthy spirit, the school is now passing through the most prosperous period of its history, a record upon which we congratulate the Prin-
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cipal and those who have aided him. The two large ele- mentary schools, the Sanford Street and Richardson, are pervaded by an earnest harmonious spirit, the teachers in each being loyal to their principal and their school. The Musical Director is a growing man, who is not only putting the school singing on a sound musical basis, but is exerting a strong influence on the musical life of the town. The drawing department changed hands in Sep- tember but none of its previous excellence has been lost. The present incumbent gives promise of being one of the ablest we have ever had.
On June 1, 1903, Mr. Parker was made Truant Officer for the entire town and voluntarily gave up his other school duties to devote his entire attention to this office. He has shown excellent judgment in the discharge of his duties, and has greatly improved this important part of the service.
In view of these facts the following reports merit your close attention.
There is no report on the Physical Training because the important office of Director was abolished last June, much to the regret of all who were aware of its useful- ness.
REPORT OF THE PRINCIPAL OF THE HIGH SCHOOL.
Mr. Wm. P. Kelly, Superintendent of Schools :--
The first question which interested parties usually ask about a school is, "how large is the school this year ?" So an answer to this question seems to be an appropriate
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beginning for this, my fifth annual report. The fall term statistics show an average membership of one hundred and ninety-two. The corresponding figures for last year and the year before were one hundred and sixty-nine, and one hundred and forty-one, respectively.
Some changes have been made in the course of study. A two year's course in German has been added and the courses in bookkeeping. stenography and typewriting now cover two years each, instead of one. These changes in the course, and the increased number of pupils made necessary a larger teaching force, so the opening of the fall term found eight teachers employed.
As the most important event in the recent history of the High School was the enlargement of the old build- ing during the last summer vacation, perhaps a brief description of the enlarged building will not be out of place here.
The only change in the old part of the building was made on the second floor, where, instead of the door, a wide arch now connects the library with the main room. The room below the library, lately used as a recitation room, is now the Principal's office. In this old part are seated the Freshman and Sophomore clases on the first and second floors respectively.
A wide corridor with stairways at each end runs through the building from north to south, separating the new part from the old.
The addition is a six-room structure, three stories in height, with a high, well lighted basement in which are
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cloak rooms and the heating and ventilating plant for the new part.
On the first floor are the Junior class-room and the commercial room. A temporary partition with large windows divides this room, enabling the typewriting- class to work under the teacher's supervision, but confin- ing the noise of the machines to their part of the room .. Here are ten typewriters of the latest model. In the main part of the room are some twenty handsome and convenient office desks where the classes in arithmetic, bookkeeping, and stenography do their work.
The second floor is like the first, with a class-room for the Seniors and a room at present used for drawing. Both the Senior and Junior class-rooms contain forty- eight desks of an adjustable pattern.
The third floor is divided into commodious chemical and physical laboratories, with dark room, store rooms, ventilating hood, and cabinets for apparatus. Here are excellent tables for pupils' experimental work in chem- istry and physics, and also seating arrangements for lecture and recitation work.
The new rooms are heated and ventilated by two powerful hot air furnaces, aided by an auxiliary steam boiler which heats the corridors also.
An electric program clock has been installed. This master clock controls eight smaller clocks placed in the various rooms and rings the bells for (hanging classes, insuring uniformity of time throughout the building, and
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a regularity and exactness in the handling of classes which could be obtained in no other way.
Our new rooms, already attractive, will be made much more so when some good pictures and casts can be placed on the walls.
To Major Everett S. Horton we are indebted for a framed reproduction of the Magna Charta received dur- ing the year ; and to the Richardson School Fund, for a number of reference books.
Respectfully,
WILBUR D. GILPATRIC.
REPORT OF THE PRINCIPAL OF THE SANFORD STREET SCHOOL.
Mr. William P. Kelly, Superintendent of Schools :-
I submit the following report as to the conditions and needs of the Sanford Street School.
I am glad to report that the school is in much better condition than it was last year. Very few scholars are reported to the Principal for discipline, and cases of corporal punishment are gratifyingly rare. I say grati- fyingly, because I believe the teacher who can keep a room in good order without resorting to corporal punish- ment, is, other things being equal, better than the one who cannot. Still there are in all schools certain scholars to whom nothing seems to appeal so strongly as physical suffering and the sense of shame connected with it, and for them, as a measure of last resort, corporal punishment is reserved.
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The most important change of the year, apart from those taking place among the teachers, is the dropping of the ninth grade. Pupils who now fail of promotion to the High School, spend as much of another year as is necessary in repeating the work of the eighth grade. Whatever time remains, if any, after this is completed, is to be spent on work directly preparatory to High School work, such as elementary algebra and geometry connected with arithmetic, English grammar with especial reference to the study of Latin, more reading from American authors, and more work in composition.
The only other change to be mentioned is the return to the old-fashioned out-door recess. This change was welcomed alike by teachers and scholars. While the recess brings with it troubles of its own, such as rough play, annoyance of young children by the older ones, etc .- difficulties which can be overcome only by the careful supervision of the playground by the teacher -yet the benefits derived from it seem to me sufficiently great to more than compensate for the accompanying evils.
Under the auspices of the Civic Improvement League, the grammar school was given an opportunity to attend an illustrated talk on "The Children's Part in Public Improvements," by Prof. E. G. Routzahn of Chi- cago. The scholars listened with a good deal of interest and have begun enthusiastically to put some of the ideas into practice by continuing to improve the appear- ance of the school yard. Two plots for shrubbery have
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ANNUAL REPORT.
already been prepared by the boys, and plans for further improvement will be carried out in the spring.
As a result of the art exhibit held in Dercmber several pictures named in the Appendix have been pur- chased. The school has also been enriched by the Winged Victory of Samothrace, presented by the class of 1903. I wish to express the thanks of the school to Mr. J. L. Sweet for his generous gift to the school of Willard's "Spirit of '76." The scholars will certainly catch from this picture something of that patriotic spirit which prompted the donor in making the gift.
For the past year considerable attention has been given to fire drills. We average in good weather two fire drills a month. At the stroke of the gong the pupils pass out quickly, orderly, quietly, with or without their wraps according to the signal, and form a line in the yard. Although no attempt has ever been made for a record, it has frequently happened when the pupils descend by the regular stairways that every one of the five hundred and more children has been in his place in the yard in one and a half minutes. Considering the number of scholars, I regard this as highly satisfactory. If we use the fire escape at the back of the middle build- ing it takes considerably longer for the last scholar to come down.
In closing, I wish to express my thanks to the Superintendent for his helpful advice and counsel, and to the teachers for the kindly manner in which they
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have received my suggestions and for the sympathetic. spirit in which they have carried out my ideas.
Respectfully,
LEWIS A. FALES.
REPORT OF THE PRINCIPAL OF THE
RICHARDSON SCHOOL.
Mr. William P. Kelly, Superintedent of Schools :-
It has been our aim during the year to strengthen the bond of sympathy existing between the parents and ourselves. With this thought in mind, a very large per cent. of the homes represented in our school, have been visited by the teachers. It has also been our pleasure to meet over two hundred of the parents in our various rooms. We trust that the parents will continue to show their interest in the children's work by visiting the school, by keeping themselves informed in regard to methods of instruction and discipline, and by consulting the teachers and Principals about individuals.
Convinced that the most satisfactory results can be obtained only when our demands upon the child are in proportion to his mental ability, we are laboring to place each pupil in the grade best adapted to his needs. This. requires the closest watchfulness on the part of the teacher and frequent re-grading. It is a source of regret that parents seem so anxious to place their children in school at the earliest possible age. Many of the pupils in our first grade at present have minds developed suffi-
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ciently for kindergarten work only. Such pupils are not able to retain the subject matter taught, if indeed they grasp it at all.
We all believe that the child is uplifted who lives from day to day in the atmosphere of the Beautiful and True as expressed by certain works of Art. It is our desire to place before the eyes of our pupils copies of the best productions which Art has given us. Early in the year an exhibit of pictures was placed in our corridor by the Tilden-Thurber Company of Providence. Owing to the interest of the children, the warm support of their friends, and the tireless efforts of the teachers, a sum of nearly $200.00 was realized. This, with a smaller amount obtained from the Turner Art Exhibit of recent date, was sufficient to place in our building ten pictures and a piece of sculpture. The finest of these is a hand-colored photograph of Alma Tadema's "Reading Homer" and a very large copy of Thayer's Caritas.
A gift of nearly sixty books from the Richardson Fund. which we gratefully acknowledge, has made it possible for us to delight our classes with many good things in literature which would otherwise be withheld. The school is also glad to thank its friend, Mr. E. D. Guild, for a photograph of the Memorial Monument recently erected at Andersonville, Georgia, by the State of Massachusetts.
When we consider the teacher, we touch the heart of the school. Before reaping the greatest success, she must have mastered the art of teaching and be able to
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control easily, effectively and without friction, while at. the same time there must be a rare degree of devotion and zeal for the work. The value of such service cannot be adequately estimated but it is for such an ideal that we are striving. I should do the teachers associated with me an injustice if I failed to remind the Committee and the community, in which it is my privilege to serve, that to a large degree such service is being rendered.
I wish to thank you for your counsel, given cheer- fully at all times, and the Committee for their loyal support.
Respectfully submitted. MARY H. MCARDLE.
REPORT OF THE SUPERVISOR OF MUSIC.
Mr. William P. Kelly, Superintendent of Schools :-
Good tone and intelligent thinking, the principal elements of good public school singing, have been emphasized during the past year, and the results are proving a source of great enjoyment to teachers and pupils alike.
Ear training by means of systematic dictation has been introduced in the first four grades. The training of the ear leads to more genuine appreciation of musical effect and as the pupil learns musical notation, he gains the power to write simple melodies sung or played by the teacher. It has been found that those who learn to listen and write become the most accurate readers, and invariably develop their memory for musical thoughts.
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In the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth grades this work is developed into melody writing. This idea of inventing melodies is proving most attractive, and is giving increased familiarity with music symbols. It has also solved the problem of individual singing, for I find that the pupils take unusual interest in their own com- positions, and are often eager to sing them.
This is only the beginning of individual recitaion in music. Just how far this can be carried with the short time given to music is one of the problems before us. Until educators see a real educational value in music we must confine ourselves to getting the masses to sing, and to make them love it. If the school can create a musical atmosphere in the town and a musical environ- ment in the home, it is laying the foundations for greater things in the future.
To have every song finally rendered in an artistic manner should be the aim of every class. To this end I recommended last year that a small portable organ be purchased. This would give the desired accompaniment to the song and would prove of inestimable value in my work. The organs which were kindly loaned us are in use in only one room of the building and cannot con- veniently be moved. With one portable organ in the Richardson School eight classes would have the enjoy- ment of a finished performance when now only one has that privilege.
The work of the High School chorus last year cul- minated in a performance at Commencement of the
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Cantata of "Ruth" by A. R. Gaul. It is a noteworthy fact that the entire work was rendered without the assistance of any outside talent. The High School is continuing chorus work and sight reading this year, and is now studying "The Building of The Ship" a cantata by A. Lahee.
In my last report I spoke of the action of Harvard University putting music among the elective studies for admission to college, making it count four points out of twenty-six, and rank- ing it as a substitute for any of the branches in mathematics, languages, etc. This has had the effect of unifying the work of the directors of public school music throughout the country and has done much to strengthen the conviction that Americans, inasmuch as they are developing genius and inventive power in all the arts, should receive from the hands of the educational institutions that training in music that must be the fundamental knowledge of all who are to make the profession of music their life-work. This action is a notice to all who approach the subject of music in the elementary schools that it is more than a mere recreation or pleasant diversion, and that it must consist of some- thing more than mere song singing. It announces so clearly that all will understand it, that music in school is for study, that it is a means of mental and ethical development, and that as such it ranks with any study in the course.
A committee consisting of the prominent directors
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of music in Boston and vicinity is now arranging a course of study for High Schools, which it is hoped will meet the requirements of the University. It is expected that the report of this committee will be issued in a few weeks.
Before closing this report it might be of interest to know that we have organized a High School orchestra which meets once a week for the study of orchestral music. It assists occasionally at the regular music lesson to the great pleasure and benefit of the whole school.
Respectfully, JOHN LAING GIBB.
REPORT OF THE SUPERVISOR OF DRAWING.
Mr. William P. Kelly. Superintendent of Schools :-
The fall work in drawing was begun by studying fruits, grasses, sprays of leaves, and plants, using as mediums brush and ink, water colors, lead and colored pencils. (Figs. 8 and 9.)
In the lower grades much work in blackboard draw- ing and in paper cutting of fruit, animal, and vegetable forms was given: in the grammar grades particular emphasis was placed on the arrangement of plant forms within given spaces carrying out the principles of variety, unity, and harmony. From the plant forms studied, sheets of units were made which were afterward used for motives in surface designs. (Fig. 2.)
During the months of October and November the
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study of color was taken up and the pupils were carefully drilled in the recognition and application of standards, tints, shades, hues, and color harmonies. This subject was also taken up in connection with the Christmas work.
Particular attention was given in the Grammar grades to landscape composition, not with the expecta- tion of making landscape painters, but to give the boys and girls a knowledge of the principles of good pictorial composition-space relations, centre of interest, grouping of objects, etc. (Fig. 5.) An application of the pupils' knowledge of this subject was made later when original Thanksgiving stories were written, illustrated, dedicated, and bound within covers designed and colored by the pupils. This work was beneficial as it required careful thought and execution on the part of the pupils. It was taken up with great enthusiasm by the boys and girls because they felt they were going to achieve something useful by their efforts, "That is the best motive in all education-the joy of achievement." The benefit derived from the landscape composition work was realized during the exhibition of pictures by the Turner Company, when the boys and girls were seen standing in groups discussing the merits of the pictures basing their judgment upon their knowledge of pictorial composition gained in the school-room.
The illustration of familiar fables, stories, and verses was taken up in the primary grades. Some of the sub- jects chosen were Little Red Ridinghood, Silverhair and
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the Three Bears, Little Boy Blue, The Old Man and The Pot of Gold, Pilgrims Going to Church, The Mayflower, The Wise Men and the Camels. These were illustrated by paper cutting, brush and ink, and color work. This work was valuable not only because it trained the imagination but because it helped the children to express their ideas better in terms of form and color. (Figs. 3, 4, 6, and IO.)
Much emphasis was placed on constructive work during December and January. In the lower grades. spectacle wipers, book marks, penwipers, match scratch- ers, needle books, stamp books, boxes of various shapes, blotters, and paper shaving books were made.
In the fourth and fifth grades jewel boxes, napkin rings, picture frames, little tubs, and mats, were made from raffia, while boxes, broom holders and wall pockets were made from heavy paper.
The pupils of the grammar grades made designs for escutcheons, match scratchers, hinges, pencil sharpeners. They also made working drawings of the type solids, sleds, and bird houses. Many of the objects named above have been made from wood, the pupils cutting and sawing them out at home.
In this department of work particularly I have en- deavored to train the pupils in attentive listening, careful interpretation, and neat manipulation. This subject of design is a most important factor of art education since its aim is to combine the useful and the beautiful, or to make the common-place things beautiful through the:
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recognition of the principles of beauty. We are no longer satisfied with the inconsistent, ugly, dishonest things that pleased our ancestors; the demand is growing for simpler things which are more beautiful, and things which are honest and true. Manufacturers and trades- , men necessarily respond to the demands of the people and with the higher ideals of a more discerning gener- ation, better work will be done, better work paid for, and better things made and sold.
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