USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Merrimac > Town Annual Report of the Officers of the Town of Merrimac 1929 > Part 4
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5
In Public Service Enterprises, then, we have a depart- ment of the town which would normally draw $26,821.63 less than the schools in any one year, actually drawing $3,894.43 more. Among other departments drawing more than their proportionate part according to the state's average were the following: Cemeteries, 220 per cent .; General Government, 148 per cent .; Charities, 135 per cent. Among departments drawing less than their share were: Schools, 84 per cent .; Library, 48.7 per cent .; Police and Fire, 42 per cent. ; Health and Sani- tation, 33.5 per cent .; Recreations, 4.1 per cent. Here should also be placed: Payment of Debts, 86 per cent. ; Payment of Interest, 18.3 per cent.
SCHOOL REIMBURSEMENTS
In 1929 the state reimbursed the Town of Merrimac $6,113.40 on account of its schools. Dog tax and one other local reimbursement came to $135.76, making a total of $6,249.16 received from other sources than gen- eral taxation. The total school expenditure was $29,960.67, so $23,711.51 for schools came out of local taxation.
In 1930 the estimated receipt from the state on ac- count of schools is $7,012.75. If the 1930 census es- tablishes that there are less than 500 families or house-
95
TOWN REPORT
holders in town, as Mr. Clifford R. Howe says, the town will be entitled to an additional reimbursement of $1,250, called the High School Grant. This would make the total estimated reimbursement $8,262.75, provided the 1930 census figures are available in time to validate the claim. At any rate, after the claim is established it will be good for five successive years, that is, until the next census. A reimbursement of $8,262.75 applied to an appropriation of $29,825.00 would leave only $21,562.25 out of local taxation, i.e., $2,149.26 less than that in 1929. Even if the census figures are not received in time for the High School Grant, an appropriation of $29,825.00 would leave an estimated $22,812.25 out of taxation, i.e., $899.26 less than that in 1929.
The state system of reimbursement on account of schools is a complicated one; it depends upon many fac- tors such as the town's valuation, the amount the town raises for schools, the items for which the money is spent, the membership and attendance in the schools, and even the distances that pupils have to be transportated. A little is claimed here, and a little there, through blanks from the superintendent's office. In toto it may amount to a considerable sum. The reimbursements are made at different times of the year from different sources, such as income taxes, special funds, etc. Citizens who read the figures are often misled by the fact that school reim- bursements and reimbursements to other departments of the town from the same source, such as the income tax, are added and sent as one check. Sometimes only the superintendent's office is notified by the state as to what portion of a given check which has been sent to the town treasurer comes from a school claim.
Not only are different items on a school budget re- imbursed at different rates, but the rates for the same item may vary according to an intricate scheme. The highest rates of reimbursement, generally speaking, are
96
TOWN REPORT
for salaries of teachers, for tuition, and for transporta- tion.
Herewith is a table prepared for the Merrimac voter. It shows what happened to the school dollar appropriat- ed in March, 1929, by the town of Merrimac. Following the reimbursement, the expenditures out of taxation are listed in the order of their cost to the town.
WHAT HAPPENED TO THE SCHOOL DOLLAR APPROPRIATED BY THE TOWN OF MERRIMAC IN 1929
Reimbursed : .208567
Expended, out of taxation, as follows:
(1) Elem. and Jr. High teachers' salaries .25 7977
(2) High School teachers' salaries . 180674
(3) Transportation .075554
(4) Fuel .037653
(5) Janitors' salaries
.037495
(6) Maintenance
:036922
(7) Elementary and Jr. High books .023665
(8) Supervisors' salaries .020875
(9) Elementary and Jr. High supplies
.019037
(10) High School books
.016856
(11) High School supplies
.016680
(12) New Equipment
.015975
(13) Janitors' supplies, cleaning, etc.
.015236
(14) Supt. of Schools, salary
.010705
(15) Health
.009746
(16) Secretary's salary
.006422
(17) Traveling expenses and office supplies
.005887
(18) Law enforcement .003306
(19) Unclassified .000389
(20) School committee expenses .000379
97
TOWN REPORT
SCHOOL CALENDAR
It is customary today to make the annual school re- port a sort of brief annual catalogue of the schools. To this end this report contains a school calendar, as well as a directory of the school staff. The calendar should be good up to the time the 1930 report is due.
It will be noted that all schools in the fall of 1930 open on the same day. September 3 is rather early for' the elementary grades, but it enables these younger pup- ils to have two weeks at Christmas time, including New Years, and still get in the thirty-eight weeks of school. This year it was necessary to start before New Year's in order to get in the 38 weeks and still have the Washing- ton's birthday and Easter vacations of a week each. A neighboring city which kept the schools closed during New Year's week will omit the Washington's birthday vacation to make up for it. This makes a rather long run for children. On the other hand, one week is too short a vacation at Christmas time for the younger pupils. The calendar beginning September, 1930, makes up for a long sixteen weeks run in the fall by a two weeks' vaca- tion for the younger children. The high school and jun- ior high school pupils, to get the necessary 40 weeks, must start on December 29, and run a week later in June.
SUPERINTENDENCY UNION No. 59
Merrimac belongs to Massachusetts School Superin- tendency Union No. 59, including also the towns of New- bury, Salisbury, and West Newbury. During the past year the teachers of this union have met regularly with the superintendent, to face common problems. An early spring meeting in 1930 will be held in Merrimac.
On October 28, at a union meeting held at Spalding School, Salisbury, Mr. Stanley R. Oldham, Secretary of
98
TOWN REPORT
the Massachusetts Federation of Teachers, and editor of Common Ground, was a guest. Following the business portion of the meeting he was a speaker. Plans were laid for the formation of a teachers' association of this district. These plans matured at a union meeting at the Byfield School, Newbury, on December 10. Among officers of the association, Mrs. Wilma B. Kingsbury, Principal of Centre School, was elected vice-president. The associ- ation is joining hands with the Massachusetts Federation of Teachers. It plans to hold its meetings around in the different schools of the district, following the regular business meetings of the teachers with the superintendent.
Regular meetings of the staff of the district, compris- ing a population of approximately seven thousand, a net average membership above twelve hundred, and a valu- ation well over ten millions, makes each town in respect to its schools, part of a working system of considerable size. Plans are underway for the organization of units for the study of special problems. It is hoped that each teach- er in the district may draw from the most able teacher in her field, and that outside help may also be brought in.
ACHIEVEMENT TESTS
Already educational surveys have been made for the purpose of comparing achievement among the elemen- tary schools in the district, and especially for comparing our norms with those obtained from country-wide sur- veys. In absence of a director of tests and measurements this has been done through the superintendent's office, with the assistance of the teaching staff. It is the hope of the teachers, of the principals, of the superintendent, and of the school committee to raise the norms of achieve- ment in Merrimac. Naturally a wholesale raising is a slow and difficult process, since the median is the middle measure, with as many above it as below it.
99
TOWN REPORT
The real advantage of achievement tests is individual diagnosis. A parent or a teacher may easily overestimate or underestimate the accomplishment of a child or of a class. Not until we have compared what the child or the' class can do with what other children or classes have done under similar conditions do we know the situation well. enough to cope with it intelligently.
In the spring of 1930 achievement tests are also planned for the high school.
HEALTH
Mere school achievement is far from all. It is im- portant, but there are other matters of still greater im- portance, such as the formation of habits of health, physi- cal and mental, and the formation of traits of personality which face life squarely and face it whole. The concept of school as an institution limited to the 3 R's belongs to the age of the one-horse chaise.
On the Wednesday following spring vacation, Merri- mac joined the rest of the district, and in fact the entire state, in the celebration of a May Health Day.
During the year a series of health readers was added from grade three up through the junior high school. In the earlier years these readers present the work in the form of interesting stories. It is hoped that these modern readers may help to build up a lasting health conscious- ness. A knowledge of the principles of health is sterile unless it ties itself up with conviction and desire that ex- press themselves in action.
During the year tuberculosis clinics and clinics for re- tarded children have been carried on in conjunction with the state. Plans are also underway for clinics for crippled children, including those that have had infantile paralysis.
100
TOWN REPORT
During the latter part of October the school work was interrupted by a mild epidemic of scarlet fever. After a consultation held with the local board of health and Dr. Wilson W. Knowlton of Lynn, representing the State Board of Health, the school committee decided to re- open. Experience has shown that under the controlled conditions of school attendance when all infected cases are promptly excluded, an epidemic spreads less rapidly than when children play and visit as under the ordinary conditions of vacation.
At the end of 1929 Mrs. Jean Badashaw, Public Health Nurse, sent to the office of the superintendent of schools the following data concerning her school work under the direction of the school physician, Dr. F. E. Sweetsir :
Number of home visits
137
Number of school visits
336
Number of pupils enrolled
427
Number of pupils examined by doctor
(nurse assisting)
June
403
Sept.
316
Oct.
96
Number of pupils given full inspection
427
Number of pupils with defects
New defects
Correction
Teeth
124
76
Throat
23
2
Vision
38
13
Number of pupils who have had contagious diseases
Scarlet Fever
33
Mumps
32
Chicken Pox
14
101
TOWN REPORT
At present Merrimac has no school dentist, so parents carry the full responsibility of seeing that their children have hygienic mouths.
PHYSICAL TRAINING
It is to be regretted that Merrimac has no instructor in physical education for the public schools. With no adequate playgrounds, and with expenditure for recrea- tion which is about one-twentieth the normal amount, and for health about one-third, the addition of a physi- cal instructor would be a move in the right direction. Such an instructor could probably be obtained for one or two days a week, as in Salisbury, but apparatus would also have to be bought and this would mean added ap- propriation or an active and benevolent Community Playground Association, as in West Newbury.
MUSIC
Under Mr. Douglas A. Porell, now with Merrimac for the fourth year, the quality of singing in the schools is showing a steady gain. In the high school the New As- sembly Songs and Choruses, a 1929 book, was added as soon as published. A Glee Club of forty girls has been formed and a concert is planned for February. In the junior high school the singing is the best, says Mr. Porell, that it has been since he has worked there. A set of Foresman's Book of Songs has been added. In the Centre School Mrs. Kingsbury and Mr. Porell are plan- ning an operetta to be given in March.
A feature in music has been appreciation, made prac- tical by the addition of records from the Music Education Series.
ART
In art as in music a feature of the work has been ap- preciation. Not all pupils can become artists, but most
102
TOWN REPORT
pupils can learn to appreciate art as an important type of creative expression. If a course in art has given to pupils some appreciation of beauty of form and color as shown by the concepts of the masters, as well as in the world around about, it has fulfilled one of its most important missions in a public school.
Of course the development of some technique is also important, particularly with those who show skill. In the spring Miss Kelley presented an exhibit of pupils' work which was enjoyed by the parents who came. To a sim- ilar exhibit in the spring of 1930, still more parents are invited to come to see for themselves.
TEACHERS
In the high school there were two changes in the teaching staff for September. Miss Harriot G. Cazneau of Montpelier, Vermont, a graduate of Tufts College in the class of 1929, was elected to the position in English left vacant by Miss E. Evelyn Kellett. Miss Arlene H. Gow of Bridgewater, Massachusetts, a graduate of the Chandler Normal School, 1929, was elected to the position in the commercial department left vacant by Miss Luella M. Cook.
In the junior high school on Prospect street Mrs. Pearl C. VanHouten of Amesbury, a graduate of West- field Normal School with several added courses in educa- tion to her credit, and a teacher of 23 years experience, seven of which had been in Merrimac, was elected princi- pal upon the resignation of Mr. Chester G. Wickett. As Mrs. Van Houten's assistant, Miss Ethel M. Lawrie of Lawrence was elected. Miss Lawrie is a graduate, 1929, of the three-year course in Salem Normal School, with practice teaching in the schools of Reading and Salem.
In the Centre School Mrs. Grace E. Sawyer was chos- en for the position in the fourth grade left vacant by the
103
TOWN REPORT
resignation of Mrs. Jane Liberty Packard, and Miss Sarah L. Carpenter of Franconia, New Hampshire, a graduate of the Plymouth (N. H.) Normal School, 1927, and a teacher of two years' experience at Kensington, New Hampshire, is now teaching in the fifth grade in the posi- tion left vacant by Mrs. Grace E. Sawyer who replaced Mrs. Packard.
In the Merrimacport school Miss Dorothy Noddin of Beverly, a graduate, 1929, of the Salem Normal School, is now teaching in the fourth and fifth grades, a position temporarily filled from the time the room upstairs was opened until the end of the school year in June by Miss Margaret C. Geary of Leominster.
TWENTY-PAYMENT PLAN
At a joint meeting on September 23 of the selectmen, school committee, town accountant, and superintendent, a twenty-payment plan was agreed upon for all teachers, janitors, and bus drivers who are on contract calling for a yearly salary. Weekly reckoning has been dispensed with; the yearly salary is divided into twenty equal parts, two of which are due each month from September to June, inclusive. The staff is on pay from September 1 to June 30, unless earlier terminated. It is also on duty during this whole period, except when specifically ex- cused for vacation or other reason.
HIGH SCHOOL
The Merrimac High School, like other small high schools of its type, is suffering under the constant changes in its staff. Even its state approval, which implies the High School Grant of $1,250 a year provided the figures of the coming census are favorable, is threatened by this constant upheaval. Part of the situation is fundamentally a financial one. The present market price of a beginning
104
TOWN REPORT
high school assistant is $1,200, and a successful high school assistant can command a raise of a hundred dol- lars a year for the first two or three years. She can ob- tain it elsewhere without much trouble if the town where she is teaching does not or can not give it to her. The market price, therefore, of a successful high school teacher of two or three years' experience (and few teachers attain their stature for two or three years) is around $1,500. The present scale in Merrimac is $1,100 for a beginner, and little to no increase over this figure is allowed later by the present budget for the teacher whom we wish to retain. It is interesting to note in this connection that one of our new high school assistants received a written offer of $1,370 only a few hours after she had accepted our position of $1,100. With high ethical spirit she came to us, taking the $270 loss, and she has been very suc- cessful. But it is difficult and unsatisfactory to depend upon doing regular business below the market scale.
A high school report by Mr. Mackay will be found following this report.
JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL
The school at Prospect street is doing excellent work under the principalship of Mrs. Van Houten with the able assistance of Miss Lawrie. The following books and equipment have been added among others, and are receiving their full measure of attention:
New Red Horn-Ashbaugh Spelling Book
Dr. Freeman's Zaner-Bloser Handwriting Manuals Moseley's Trees, Stars, and Birds; a book of science in the junior high
Andress Health Books
Health and Good Citizenship Science and the Way to Health Foresman's Book of Songs
105
TOWN REPORT
Set of Compton's Encyclopaedia
16-inch Rand-McNally Political Globe
2 Atlases
Set Atwood Regional-Political Maps (late in 1928)
CENTRE SCHOOL
The pressing need in Merrimac is for a new Centre School building and grounds. At this point I wish that every voter would pause and read again my report of 1928. Those who wondered while reading the first part of this present report why I presented statistics under School and Town Costs, and then recommended to the committee that no greater regular school appropriation be asked for in 1930, will find their answer here: 'It was to leave the way open in 1930 for an appropriation for securing a school site. It is time to make a start.
If there is any citizen, or anybody anywhere, who is philanthropically inclined, and who wonders where he can dispose of his estate in a manner to administer best to the public good, I commend to his attention a Memor- ial School for Merrimac. It would be difficult to con- ceive of a monument that would be more fitting to the spirit of philanthropy. During the year certain faint hopes in this direction were intercepted by a death before they had matured.
In spite of unfavorable conditions of housing, the Centre School is struggling bravely, under the direction of the principal towards the goal of better achievement and better citizenship. At Mrs. Kingsbury's request I herewith include the following code or acrostic used by teachers and pupils :
106
TOWN REPORT
The Centre School is proud of me
when I am and when I am
Courteous
Sincere
Excelling
Careful
Neat
Happy
True
Obliging
Ready
Obedient, and
Endeavoring
Lawful
During the year the following books, among others, have been added:
New Red Horn-Ashbaugh Spelling Books, Grades 1, 2, 4, 5, 6
Pennell-Cusack Children's Own Readers, Grade 1 La Rue Readers
The Fun Book, grade 1
Under the Story Tree, grade 2
In Animal Land, grade 2
Merry Animal Tales, grade 4
Story of American Pioneers, grade 4
Objective Drills in Arithmetic
Andress Health Series
The Sunshine School, grade 3
A Journey to Healthland, grade 4
The Boys and Girls of Wake-Up Town, grade 5 Health and Success, grade 6
16-inch Rand McNally Political Globe
Set Atwood Regional-Political Maps, with removable mountings.
TRANSPORTATION
The present use of a touring car for transporting pup- ils to Centre School is unsatisfactory; a bus of adequate size should be substituted.
107
TOWN REPORT
MERRIMACPORT SCHOOL
A happy, uncongested atmosphere pervades the semi- rural school at Merrimacport. Downstairs with Mrs. Mae Ethel Davis are grades 1, 2 and 3; upstairs with Miss Dorothy Noddin are grades 4 and 5. During the year equipment has been added paralleling that of the Centre School of which this school forms an administrative part.
The Merrimacport school is the only Merrimac school which is not equipped with electric lights. These, and in- side toilets, especially the latter, would be well added, if funds allowed.
PARENT DAY
September 2, 1930, has been designated Parent Day. This is the day before the regular opening of all schools. It is also the day when beginning students register,- freshmen in the high school, first graders in the elemen- tary schools, and pupils just entering with transfer cards from other schools. On Parent Day all teachers report at their desks at the regular opening time of school. Par- ents are invited to come on this day to get any informa- tion which they may desire and to discuss difficulties of any sort. First graders stay only long enough to get reg- istered and to meet their teachers; freshmen in the high school stay until their principal has given instructions suitable for the starting of their work on the' next day. Any pupil may also report on Parent Day for asking quesions, discussing difficulties, or meeting a new teacher.
REPORT CARDS
The report cards which have been used since the opening of school in September have had printed on back of them the system of marking and promotion which is in use in the schools. Every other month all children
108
TOWN REPORT
from the first grade up carry some sort of report to their parents. It is better that the parents know early how a child is doing. In case he is doing poorly the teacher should be consulted; it is possible that something can be done about it if started in time.
PATRONS
Among local organizations that have shown a friendly and even solicitous interest in our schools, the Grange and the Parent Teachers Association should be mentioned. On September 25 these organizations combined and gave a reception to the whole school staff. It is highly fitting that the Patrons of Husbandry, who stand for the best in rural life, should be patrons of the institution of human husbandry, the most vital of all. . And as for the Parent Teachers Association, that great organization which has grown from 200,000 members in 1920 to 1,382,741 in 1929, its educational work is recognized to be of such import that schools of education such as Columbia, Uni- versity of Chicago, and George Washington University, now give courses for leadership in it. The Merrimac P. T. A. is showing signs of coming to its own; I commend it to parents and citizens.
Among patrons of the wider activities of the school, the Red Cross should be mentioned. This, in other towns of the district, is at the present time doing excel- lent work in supplementing school health funds in a quiet way for worthy cases. The Merrimac branch, Dr. Sweet- sir informs me, supplied about $200 year before last for carrying on clinic work.
At present there is plenty to do for the schools both in moral backing and in material support. Let's all be patrons of the Merrimac schools, whether we belong to an organization or not. We're all needed, and it's big and worth-while. Let's go.
Respectfully submitted,
JOHN C. PAGE, Ed. D., Supt.
109
TOWN REPORT
REPORT OF HIGH SCHOOL PRINCIPAL
Doctor J. C. Page, Superintendent of Schools and Mem- bers of the School Board.
Gentlemen:
I submit herewith my second annual report of the Merrimac High School.
I pay tribute to the passing on, early in the school year of Clifford Hoyt, a student loved both by teachers and by students. He passed on but memory of him still lingers.
Following is data in connection with the fall term of the school year 1929-30:
Enrollment
Courses Chosen
General
Coll. Prep.
Scien. Prep.
Normal
Commercial
Total Boys
Total Girls
Seniors
Boys
1
2
0
3
8
14
Girls
2
0
1
2
0
5
Juniors
Boys
5
3
0
0
5
13
Girls
3
0
2
0
2
7
Sophomores
"Boys
2
3
0
0
4
9
Girls
0
6
3
0
1
10
Freshmen
Boys
2
5
0
1
15
23
Girls
2
6
3
0
5
16
17
25
9
6
40
59
38
Total enrollment
97
110
TOWN REPORT
It is worthy of note that the girls out number the boys nearly two to one. I cannot account for this as far as my experience in the Merrimac High School is concerned, for although four or five boys have left high school since September 1928, several because their families moved away, this would not explain the much larger number of girls. It is noticeable, however, that the freshmen and the sophomores are more evenly divided in that respect.
Since many of the boys are particularly interested in the scientific vocations, a definite outlined course, the Scientific Preparatory, was added last year to the courses of study. This enables those students so interested, to elect a course adequately preparing them, while at the same time it suggests a particular field of endeavor early in their high school career. Of the class of 1929, four boys are at present taking engineering study at Northeast- ern University.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.