USA > Massachusetts > Bristol County > Attleboro > Reports of town officers of the town of Attleborough 1929 > Part 12
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General Control
School Committee
$ 4,655.83
Superintendence
6,766.78
Instruction
261,524.06
Operating School Plant.
35,817.51
Maintaining School Plant
11,831.13
Auxiliary Agencies
14,080.71
Miscellaneous
5,412.02
Evening School
2,328.55
Vacation School.
738.21
Continuation School
9,906.66
Balance
$353,061.46 $ 364.77
SPECIAL APPROPRIATIONS Expenses to N. E. A. Convention
Appropriation
$ 125.00
Expenditure
Lewis A. Fales
90.88
Balance
34.12
High School Repairs
Appropriation
$ 12,500.00
Expenditures
Alberthaw Company
100.00
Lull Estate. .
195.00
Western Waterproofing Company.
11,200.00
11,495.00
Balance
$ 1,005.00
151
ANNUAL REPORT
New School Building at Hebronville
Appropriation
$150,000.00
Expenditures
Sun Publishing Company . 9.30
Times Publishing Company . 10.50
19.80
Balance
$149,980.20
Report of the Superintendent of Schools
To the School Committee of Attleboro:
I submit herewith my twenty-fifth annual report, it being the forty-fifth in the series of Superintendents' Reports. The attendance statistics are for the school year from September, 1928 to June, 1929. The financial report is for the fiscal year ending December 31, 1929.
STATISTICS 1-Population
Population, Census 1920.
19,731
Population, Estimated.
25,256
II-School Census, October 1929
Number of children between the ages of 5 and 7.
871
Number of children between the ages of 7 and 14.
2,805
Number of children between the ages of 14 and 16.
756
4,432
III- Attendance, September 1928 to June 1929
Total number of different pupils enrolled
4 164
Average daily membership
.3,873
Average daily attendance
3,612
Per cent of attendance.
93
Table showing the average membership and per cent of attendance for the last ten years:
Average Membership
Year
ance
1919-1920
3,234
272
92
1920-1921
3,499
265
94
1921-1922
3,623
124
94
1922-1923
3,544
Loss
-79
95
1923-1924
3,692
148
94
1924-1925.
3,782
90
95
1925-1926.
3,791
9
94
1926-1927
3,860
69
95
1927-1928.
.3,877
17
95
1928-1929.
3,873
Loss
-4
93
Gain in ten years-911
Gain Over Previous
Per Cent of Attend-
152
ANNUAL REPORT
Attendance for the Fall Term-1929
Average
Membership
September
3,928
October 3,961
November
3,950
December
3,918
SCHOOL BUILDINGS
Number of School Buildings. 26
Number of Class Rooms ( High 25; Grades 103) 128
Number of Rooms in Use 125
TEACHERS
Number of Teachers and Supervisors, Dec., 1929 157
Number of Teachers in High School.
33
Number of Teachers in Grades I-VIII.
108
Number of Teachers in Kindergartens.
4
Number of Special Teachers
&
Number of Teachers in Continuation School
4
COST OF INSTRUCTION
Valuation of Attleboro, 1929 $24,514,105.00
Expended for Support of Schools, excluding Evening, Vacation
and Continuation Schools. 340,088.04
Average Membership of Day Schools, September 1928 to June 1929 3,873
Expended per pupil based on average membership $87.81
Cost of books and supplies per pupil- 2.89
HIGH SCHOOL
Total amount expended for High School, including High School share of general expense. $ 81,640.36
Average membership of High School, 1928-1929 679
Cost per pupil. $120.24
Cost of books and supplies per pupil.
4.23
ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS
Grades I-VIII
Expended for Elementary Schools $258,447.68
Average membership, 1928-1929. 3,194
Cost per pupil. $80.92
Cost of books and supplies per pupil 2.60
SCHOOL HOUSING
One of the most important recommendations in my report of last year, a new school building for Hebronville, is being carried out, and a new nine-room building with assembly hall and gymnasium will be ready for occupancy some time next fall. The erection of this building will give the pupils of Hebronville educational advantages of which they have long been deprived, and with a school environment in which teachers and pupils alike can take pride, better work in all lines will be accomplished. The tone of the whole community will be raised by the erection of this new building.
153
ANNUAL REPORT
Attention should now be given to the needs of the Washington School, as sug- gested in my report of last year. The Washington School building of four rooms was opened February 8, 1900 with an attendance in the three rooms occupied of 94. An addition of four rooms was opened in the fall of 1920. A portable school building was placed on the lot in 1923 and another in 1925. The following figures, as given in last year's report show the growth of this school:
October Enrollment
1909
142
1916.
159
1923
332
1910
139
1917
154
1924
365
1911
150
1918.
159
1925
380
1912
154
1919.
190
*1926.
3-49
1913
151
1920.
231
*1927
353
1914
147
1921
264
*1928
363
1915
146
1922.
269
*1929
371
*Grade VII and VIII to Lincoln.
The enrollment this month, December 1929, is 372. The sixth grade has an enrollment of 46, one fifth grade room, 44 and one fourth grade room, 41. These numbers are too large for efficient work and the classes should be reduced. Every year pupils are transferred to the Lincoln School from grades five and six but it is not possible to transfer enough to relieve the situation. Pupils in the two por- tables are obliged to go to the main building for drinking water and to use the toilets. This section is growing and will continue to grow. I recommend the erection of a new building adjoining the present building, the new building to contain six or eight rooms, an assembly hall and a gymnasium.
The Lincoln School was opened in September 1926. Grades 5, 6, 7, and 8 are in this building, and six rooms are in use. The sixth grade has an enrollment of 43, and the two seventh grade rooms 41 and 42 respectively. The two eighth grade rooms have small enrollments, only 23 each, but there are too many pupils for one room, especially for the eighth grade. The fifth grade enrolls 29. Two rooms should be opened at once in this school, one to relieve grade six, and the other as an ungraded room for retarded pupils for the Lincoln and Washington Schools. The education of the children demands that the sixth grade be divided, and the law requires the opening of the room for the pupils three or more years retarded. There are 42 such pupils in these two schools. Request for an ap- propriation for this ungraded room was made in 1928, but the appropriation was not made. Provision for these two teachers should be made in the budget this vear.
In the center of the city there is congestion in spots. Some grades are crowded while others have plenty of chance to grow. At the High School the enrollment for December is 678 which is 15 less than last year. I do not an- ticipate any more pupils next September than were enrolled last September.
The seventh grades in the Bliss, Sanford and Richardson schools enroll from 40 to 45 pupils at present. Pupils from Briggs Corner, Farmers and Dodgeville schools enter these schools in the seventh grade and keep the numbers large. There are six seventh grade rooms in the three large schools mentioned. If these six rooms were in one building, an additional room would relieve all six, and give about 36 pupils to a room.
The first and second grades at the Richardson and Carpenter Street Schools have been rather large this fall and the first grades have enrollments of 37 and 38 now. I recommend that the vacant room at the Richardson School be equipped with furniture so that these first and second grades may be relieved.
At the Farmers School one room has an enrollment of 41, but the other two rooms are 35 and 29 respectively. With the development of the section near this school, it may be necessary in the near future to provide additional accommoda- tions, but the situation is not urgent at present.
154
ANNUAL REPORT
The suggestion has been made that a new building be erected to replace the three buildings at Sanford Street and that the new building should be large enough to take care of a junior high school. I should be very glad to see a new building on this site. The Academy building used for the Superintendent's Office and for a second grade was built in 1842. It has long been inadequate as an office for the school department and is not satisfactory for the second grade on account of the fact that the toilets for the pupils are in the large building. The Middle Building so-called, has six rooms, is three stories high, and was erected in 1874 for the High School, East. It now houses grades I, III, IV and V. The Grammar Building was erected in 1888 to accommodate all the grammar school pupils of the center of the town. It has four rooms and is now occupied by grades VI and VII.
The enrollment in these three buildings, 11 rooms, is about 350 pupils. The first six grades numbering 265 pupils now occupy 9 rooms. A new building for these grades should have at least 10 rooms, with an assembly hall and gym- nasium. The erection of such a building would give the center of the city the kind of building it deserves to have.
Should this new building also contain a junior high school to care for all pupils in grades VII and VIII in the center of the city and the freshman class of the High School? The freshman class now numbers 243 pupils, the eighth grades in the Bank Street and Bliss Schools, 233, and the seventh grades in all the schools but the Lincoln School, 296. These pupils combined in one school would give an enrollment of 772, nearly one hundred larger than the present enrollment of the High School. They would require a building larger than the present high school building. This number added to the number of pupils in grades I to VI at Sanford Street would give an enrollment of over 1000 pupils. The question has been raised as to whether it would be desirable to have this number of pupils in one school so near the business section of the city. Several years ago I thought a junior high school should be located on this lot. It is by far the most convenient- ly located of any of the various lots considered. The increasing dangers from automobile traffic, however, and the probable growth of the business part of the city make me seriously doubt the advisability of locating so large a school on this lot. Like the High School it should be away from the center and if possible have a large playground near. Such a lot is not easy to find in Attleboro. Various lots have been proposed but no agreement has been reached concerning them.
Thus the proposal to erect a new building at Sanford Street raises the question of a junior high school and both projects must be carefully considered before a final decision can be reached.
It is a good sign that parents are dissatisfied with some of the old school buildings. The Attleboro school report for 1873 contains this statement: "If No. 8 (district) is satisfied with its schoolhouse, it takes little to satisfy it." We still have some very old buildings that should be replaced with modern structures, the Bank Street School building being one of the worst. So many new buildings have been needed to care for the growth of the city that it has not been possible to replace some of the older buildings. The time seems to be coming when serious attention should be given to new buildings in the center of the city.
EDUCATIONAL PROGRESS
Two of the old time subjects are being emphasized this year, reading and penmanship.
Continuing the work in reading that was begun in January, 1928, when Miss ('aroline J. Trommer of Boston Teachers' College gave a course of six lessons in reading methods to more than fifty Attleboro teachers, we have paid particular attention to that subject. New basal readers have been placed in the primary grades, new supplementary oral and silent readers have been placed in the in- termediate grades, and new literature readers in grades VII and VIII.
Since September, Public School Achievement Tests in Reading have been given in grades V, VI, VII and VIII; Williams Primary Tests in grades III and IV, and Gates Silent Reading Tests in grade II. The scores from all these tests except those given grade II, have all been tabulated by rooms and grades, and
155
ANNUAL REPORT
the results placed in the hands of each teacher of the grades tested. In all the grades tabulated, except grade IV, the Attleboro schools equaled or exceeded the standard set for the grade.
There are, however, in every class some pupils who are quite above the stan- dard for the class. There are also some who are far below the standard. The classes grade all the way from very good readers to very poor readers. The problem for the teacher is to give each pupil the kind of instruction that will meet his particular need. Following another instructive address by Miss Trommer in November, 1929 pupils in all schools, except grades VII and VIII doing depart- mental work, have been divided into two groups according to their ability in reading, and reading matter suited to each group is being supplied. Pupils who are much below the standard are being given the Gates Silent Reading Tests, A, B, C, and D, to determine just what their reading difficulties are. In some rooms three groups are being formed in an attempt to reach, so far as possible, the individual needs of each child.
As a result of this survey and the effort now being made by the teachers, I expect to see a great improvement in reading in all schools. Certainly no subject is more important. Many failures in history, geography and even arithmetic, I believe, can be explained by the pupils' inability to read intelligently the text provided.
In penmanship we use the Palmer Method, which consists of a series of penmanship drills for each grade from the first grade through the High School. Each grade has a definite standard set up by the Palmer Company, and upon the completion of a stated number of drills, and their acceptance by the Company, an award of a button, pin or certificate is made. For grades I to VIII we have set as our goal this year the attaining of the award for each grade by at least 50% of the class. Some rooms will do much better than that. Next year the goal should be the gaining of awards by at least 75% of the class. In the High School pupils who take penmanship are expected to secure a High School Certificate in order to pass the course. A large number of awards has already been made by the Palmer Company since September. The awards for the year 1928-1929 are as follows:
Summary of Penmanship Awards for Year September, 1928-June, 1929
Grade I
Grade II
25 Drills
30 Drills
Progress Pin
Student's
& Certificate
High School · Certificate
Total
High.
65
Bank Street.
4
0
10
23
0
37
Bliss.
16
62
63
30
19
8
0
198
Carpenter Street.
5
20
0
0
0)
0
0
25
Dodgeville.
0
13
15
13
0)
0
41
Farmers.
0
0)
12
0)
0
0)
0
12
Hebronville
18
25
20
28
18
2
0
111
Lincoln ..
0
0)
18
14
12
15
()
59
Pleasant Street.
0)
()
5
0
0
0
0)
5
Richardson.
()
()
117
55
58
19
0)
249
Sanford Street
()
0)
101
61
5
1
=
168
South Attleboro
0)
0
1.
0
0)
0
()
1
Tiffany
()
0)
32
33
27
6
0)
98
Washington
0
0)
61
39
21
0
()
121
Total
39
107
448
283
190
99
24
1190
1927-1928
25
70
426
289
256
126
20
1212
14
37
22
-6
-66
-27
4
-22
School
0) 0 · - Silver Star Button
0 0 Bo- Gold Star Button
- Button
8 0 0 Button
7
156
ANNUAL REPORT
VISUAL EDUCATION
The schools are making larger use of visual helps to education than ever before. Practically all of the larger schools are provided with stereoptic ns for showing slides, and stereoscopes and stereographs are available for all schools.
There are also four Acme motion picture projectors in various schools. An up-to-date set of six hundred slides and sterographs was supplied by the Trus- tees of the Richardson School Fund in February. These slides and stereographs are being used almost constantly as a help in teaching geography and history. Suggestions have also been made for using some slides in connection with the teaching of reading in the lower grades.
Through the favor of the Trustees of the Richardson School Fund the seventh and eighth grades are having the Chronicles of American Photodramas again this vear for the third time. These pictures show the history of the country from its discovery by Columbus up to the Civil War. Their use is being extended all over the country. On account of the cost only the larger places have as yet been able to afford them. Thanks to the Trustees of the Richardson School Fund pupils in the Attleboro schools are able to have the benefit of these pictures and are greatly profited by them.
WHY PUPILS LEAVE HIGH SCHOOL
For several years the School Committee has been disturbed by the large number of pupils leaving High School. For two years a letter was sent from the Superintendent's Office to each pupil who left seeking to learn the reason, whether it was for financial reasons, inability to do the work on account of poor prepara- tion, or lack of interest in what the High School had to offer. Few replies were received to these inquiries and little was accomplished. During the school year 1928-1929 the High School lost nearly one hundred pupils. In September, nearly as many more, who had registered for the High School in May, did not enroll. October 7, I presented to the Committee the following report:
Since schools closed in June I have made a very careful study of the records of all the pupils leaving High School last year, looking up their records in the elemen- tary schools and comparing them with their records in the Bigh School. I have made a detailed study of the records of twenty-one sophomores who left sometime during the year. Some were in school only a few days; others were there nearly three-fourths of the year. I believe an analysis of the records of the other classes would lead to the same conclusions that I have reached in my study of these twenty-one sophomores.
Of the twenty-one who left, one moved, one was in ill health, eight gave no reason, and eleven went to work. Some of these may have gone to work because their help was needed at home. I have no data on this point and no way of getting any. Pupils do not always like to give that as their reason for leaving school.
The scholarship record, however, of these pupils may throw some light on their reasons for leaving school. The last year in the grammar school these twenty-one pupils rated in scholarship as follows: Excellent-1; Good-9; Fair-11. Excellent means 90-100; Good, 80-90; Fair, 70-80. The passing mark is 70. This shows that eleven of the twenty-one were promoted to the High School on marks averaging from 70 to 80. In other words they were pupils of only moderate ability, but yet were capable of doing the work required in the grammar school for graduation and for entrance to High School.
In High School these pupils showed the same standard of scholarship as in the grammar school. Two were taking the Technical Course; the others were taking the Commercial, Domestic Arts or General Courses, in which the subjects are English, Civics, Elementary Science, Arithmetic, Penmanship, Spelling, Cooking, Drawing and Manual Training. That only two of these pupils were taking the Technical Course, which is about the same as College Course, may be accounted for by the fact that unless a pupil in the grammar school shows unusual ability,
157
ANNUAL REPORT
he is advised by the principal of the grammar school not to take the College or Technical Course. The marks which the twenty-one received at the end of the freshman year were as follows: A's-5; B's-24; C's-17; D's-48; E's-23. The explanation of these marks as printed on the report cards is:
A-Superior work of a quality warranting certification.
B-Good work
C-Fair Work-entitling the pupil to proceed in that subject.
D -- Passable-indicates that it is inadvisable for the pupil to continue the subject. E-Failure
When numerical equivalents are given these letters, as is often necessary in determining class standing, etc., the values are as follows:
A-92-100 B-85-91 C-78-84 D-70-77 E-Below 70
In the elementary grades the passing mark is 70. In the High School, if a pupil receives a mark between 70 to 77, he is given diploma credits but cannot proceed in the subject. This means that the standard of promotion in the High School is 78% as compared with 70% in the grades.
The Manual for High Schools, issued by the State Department of Educatiom, suggests the same letters for a marking system with the same interpretation in use here, but with different numerical value.
The pamphlet recommends that
A-90-100-Superior work
B-80-89-Good work.
of a quality warranting certification
C-70-79-Fair work-entitling the pupil to proceed in that subject
D-60-69-Passable-inadvisable for pupil to continue subject E-below 60-Failure
I have secured report cards from a large number of Massachusetts High Schools. I have examined 45 of these. Of the 45 examined, 16 use letters but give no numerical values. It may be assumed that each letter represents 10 points and that the passing mark is 70. Thirteen have 70 as a passing mark, 10 have 65, 4 have 60, one has 67 and one has a system similar to ours with a mark of 75 necessary for a pupil to continue the subject. Of the schools examined, none requires a mark of 78 for the pupil to proceed in the subject.
Under the present system of marking in our High School, when a pupil receives a D as a final mark he cannot continue the subject but must take some other subject, or repeat the year's work and get a C.
Such a pupil must either change his course or do extra work by repeating a subject already taken. The requirement for graduation is 80 diploma credits. A pupil should earn 20 credits a year. If he fails to do that, if he fails in one subject, he can graduate only by doing enough extra work some year to offset the loss of credits by the failure. Usually these pupils do not have the ability to do extra work; by persistent effort they may be able to do the required work, but nothing extra. Being obliged to change their course if they get a D, and seeing no hope of graduation if they get an E, they become discouraged and leave school.
Many first-year pupils at the High School get a bad start. Parents and the grammar school teachers to whom the pupils go for help, know how badly such help is needed. The pupils do not know the High School teachers well enough to go to them for help the first month of school. A little help at the right time would save many a pupil for the school. A system of advisers by which each freshman could meet a teacher interested in his welfare and anxious to help him,
158
ANNUAL REPORT
who would not wait for the pupils to come to him, but would go to them and early establish friendly relations with them, would help the school in many ways, and make the first year in High School more profitable for the pupils. I believe the teachers are ready to help the pupls who come to thein. More good could be accomplished by having the teachers go to the pupils, find out how they are getting along in school and help them as needed.
It is difficult to persuade a pupil to stay in school after he has made up his mind to leave. If he likes the school and is passing in his work, he is likely to stay. I have tried, without success, to get pupils to return to school after they have made up their minds to leave, checked in their books and have come to the office for an employment certificate. If pupils like school, they are not likely to leave. Probably very few leave for financial reasons.
I recommend that numerical values be given to the letters used in the mark- ing system at the High School, conforming to the system used in the elementary schools, and that advisers be appointed to confer once a month with each member of the freshman class.
Carrying out the recommendations made in this report, and conforming to the Rule of the Committee that "pupils shall be promoted from one grade to the next higher, in all grades above the fourth, including the High School upon an average of 70 percent", numerical values have been given to the letters used in the High School marking system and advisers have been appointed for each member of the freshman class. The values given the letters follow closely the system in use in the elementary schools and are as follows:
A-90-100 Superior work
B-80-89 Good work College certificate grade
C-70-79 Passing-Credit for graduation, but not certification.
D-65-69 Not passing, conditioned-Half credit.
E-Failure
A pupil receiving D in a continuing subject may take the subject the follow- ing year on ten week's trial. If he receives a D for the first quarter, he must drop the subject. If he receives a C or a higher mark for the year, he will receive full credit for the previous year's work.
A pupil receiving a D in any subject may obtain full credit by passing a make-up examination in September.
A great deal of confusion and misunderstanding followed the introduction of this new system. When once the marks are understood, however, I believe all will be better satisfied and fewer pupils will leave school. Everywhere attempts are being made to make the High School more democratic, to keep pupils in school longer and to make the curriculum meet the needs of the pupils instead of making the pupils fit the school. The next step should be a careful study of the High School curricula to determine whether or not any changes can be made that will make the High School more attractive to a larger number of pupils. Accord- ing to the Boston Survey Committee curriculum changes must constantly be made if education is to be progressive.
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