USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Milford > Town Annual Report of the Officers of the Town of Milford, Massachusetts 1901-1904 > Part 5
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888
66
66
66
14 and 15
110
66
" 15 and 16
88
66
"
over 16
89
Total enrolment
1663
66
between 5 and 15 .
1473
Average membership in all the schools
1471.6
attendance «
66
1391.4
Per cent of attendance
94.5
Number of half days' absence in all the schools
26,237
cases of tardiness 66 66 66
1989
66
dismissal
66
.
1317
66
corporal punishment
94
66
66 truancy . ·
43
Visits by the superintendent
467
66 . committee
50
by others
2088
The total enrolment in all the schools for the year ending in June, 1901, was 1663. This shows an increase of 54 over the previous year. The average daily attendance was 1391, an increase of 32 pupils. The census report as taken last Sep- tember shows an increase for the year, of 53 children between the ages of 5 and 15 years. The following shows the result of the census report for three consecutive years :-
Total number of children in town between 5 and 15 years,
September, 1899
1474
September, 1900
1688
September, 1901
1741
The attendance for three consecutive years is given below for comparison :-
1899. 1900.
1901.
Total enrolment between 5 and 15 years
1,322
1,418
1,473
Average membership in all the schools
1,334.5 1,429.7
1,47,1.6
attendance .
1,260.1 1,358.9 1,391.4
Per cent of attendance
93.9 95 94.5
·
.
·
14
Number of half days' absence
25,655 22,744 26,237 ·
" cases of tardiness
1,442 1,625 1,989
" " " " dismissal
· 1,387 1,353 1,317
The truant officer's report is as follows :-
Number of cases reported by teachers and superintendent
53
66 found to be truancy
24
66
sickness
11
66
66
due to careless parents 12
66
66
lack of proper clothing 6
Truants returned from street
11
Visits to schools
8
Respectfully submitted,
C. H. WATERS,
Truant Officer.
REPAIRS AND IMPROVEMENTS.
During the year improvements have been made at four of the school buildings.
The Braggville building received a coat of paint upon the exterior. The Chapin street and Purchase Primary buildings were kalsomined and painted upon the interior. In the latter building a new floor was laid and single desks have replaced the old and much worn double desks. At the Park building, the Smead furnaces, after being in use about ten years, were so nearly worn out that extensive and costly repairs were necessary. In view of this and the fact that they had never given perfect satisfaction, it was thought best to replace them with new furnaces of a different make. After considering plans and specifications from several different concerns, the committee finally awarded the contract to Smith & Anthony of Boston, and their furnaces were installed during the Christ- mas vacation. While we have had neither sufficient time nor very severe weather to test the efficiency of these furnaces, we believe they will prove satisfactory. I recommend that double windows be provided for the northwest half of this building, and that it be further improved by laying a cement
I5
floor over the entire basement and thoroughly pointing the cellar wall.
The custom of doing something each year along the line of permanent improvements, has done much toward bettering not only the sanitary conditions, but the general appearance of many of the school buildings. Six years ago only two buildings in town had single desks for the pupils, now only five schoolrooms are without them. Kalsomine, paint, varnish, new floors and new furniture have done much to brighten and make more attractive many a schoolroom which before was decidedly gloomy and dingy. In many of the rooms, pictures contributed largely by the teachers and pupils, have added much to the cheerful and homelike appearance, thus greatly improving the artistic environments for both.
New out-buildings at both the Plains and Claflin schools are much needed improvements. At the former the present out-building is in a deplorable condition, while at the latter it is far from satisfactory, besides being much too near the school.
Sanitary conditions at their best are none too good, and this matter should certainly receive attention during the summer vacation, and earlier if possible.
SCHOOL ACCOMMODATIONS.
In previous reports this subject has been treated some- what at length until it may seem already exhausted, but the demand is more urgent than ever, and I shall fail in my duty if I do not again call your attention to it.
At a special Town meeting held last July, a committee, con- sisting of George S. Whitney, M. F. Green, G.M. Greene, Wendell Williams, V. N. Ryan, L. E. Heath, and Benjamin T. Clancy, was appointed to act in conjunction with the school board in con- sidering this matter, and to report at a future Town meeting. After the opening of schools in September a meeting of the joint committee was called to consider the congested condition of the schools and to suggest immediate relief, but so many members were absent that nothing was done save to organize,
16
and at the time of writing this report nothing further has been accomplished.
Practically the same conditions exist now as did last year. At the Plains school over 80 children came into the first grade in September. These had to be cared for by one teacher, in a room with only 56 seats. An effort was made to secure another room, but a suitable one could not be found in that vicinity. Then we found ourselves obliged, either to divide the class into two divisions, allowing one to attend in the morning and the other in the afternoon, or to let about twenty pupils sit upon the platform in the rear of the room. Of these alternatives we chose the latter, because of a feeling that the non-English-speaking pupils would gain more by being in school both morning and afternoon.
The condition at the West Street school was not unlike that at the Plains, there being in one room 60 seats and 71 pu- pils in two grades under one teacher.
At the South school the accommodations for the eighth and ninth-grade pupils were inadequate, and as many of them as could be, consistently, were sent to corresponding grades at the Park, but this did not give sufficient relief. We then were forced to transfer the fifth-grade pupils north of Hollis and Water streets to the Spruce Street school, and form dou- ble grades in every room at the South school.
A careful investigation of the situation cannot fail to con- vince the most conservative of the need of increased accom- modations in these two sections of the town. The most diffi- cult, and possibly the most important things to decide are: First, of what shall the increased accommodations consist; second, just where shall they be located in order to best accommodate the greatest number of pupils, not only immed i- ately, but ten or fifteen years hence.
The following table indicates the number of pupils in each grade in the various buildings, the number in each grade in town, the number in each building, and the total number in all the buildings :--
I7
NUMBER OF PUPILS IN EACH GRADE IN SEPT., 1901.
SCHOOL.
NO.OF ROOMS
IN BUILDING.
1
II.
III.
IV.
V.
VI.
VII.
VIII.
IX.
SOPHOMORE.
JUNIOR.
SENIOR.
TOTAL.
High,
36
33|26 21
116
Park,
4
39
53
46 40
178
South,
4
29
34
49
47 19
178
Plains,
6
83
42
38
41
17
23
13
11|13
281
Claflin,
6
57
43
53
35
41|
33
14
276
Spruce St.,
4
46
50
18
32
40
186
Chapin St.,
3
45
43
30
23
141
West St.,
2
42
29
25
22
118
Purchase Gram.,
1
11
0
5
2 1
22
Purchase Prim.,
1
5
8
4
8
25
Hoboken,
1
22
9
31
Fountain St.,
1
7
8
2
6
23
Silver Hill,
1
2
3
1
3
3
2
14
Bear Hill,
1
6
4
2
4
2
1
19
Braggville,
1
10
7
9
8
34
Total,
325 246 182 182 141 134 135 108 73 36 33 26 21 1642
DISTRICT BOUNDARIES.
Owing to a somewhat crowded condition in certain parts of the town, it is almost impossible to adhere to any fixed boundary lines between the schools. The school population is so changeable that sometimes the overflow is in one grade and sometimes in another. It frequently happens that the pupils of a certain grade have to be sent from very near the school which they have usually attended, to another quite a distance in the opposite direction. This is objectionable to the pupils, while the parents are frequently quite indignant because their children have been transferred, and almost refuse to send them. It is often very difficult to convince them that they are not being ill-treated, and that their children are getting all the privileges that circumstances will allow. Some parents seem to think that their children are selected for personal reasons and sent to another school, rather than the one which they have been accustomed to attend, when in reality if they would look at the matter from an impartial standpoint, they could easily see that the change was imperative, and that children
FRESHMAN.
18
are often benefited by the same. With suitable schoolroom accommodation much if not all of this would be avoided, but the rather unfortunate location of some of the school build- ings makes the problem somewhat difficult.
EVENING SCHOOL.
An act of 1898, Sec. 5, Chapter 496, of the public statutes, required all towns of 10,000 or more inhabitants to establish and maintain an evening school for the instruction of persons over fourteen years of age. .
Milford having passed that limit, an appropriation of $500 was made at the annual meeting in March for the support of such a school. At the regular meeting of the school board, in November, it was decided to hold the evening school in the High school building, using, as far as possible, rooms not occu- pied by the day school pupils. A registration having previ- ously been held, it was estimated that at least five teachers would be necessary to manage and instruct those who might wish to attend, and Mr. John E. Swift, Mr. N. P. Sipprelle, Miss A. S. McDermott, Miss L. E. Gilfoyle, and Miss Kate Tully were elected. The salary was fixed at $2 for male teachers and $1.25 for female teachers.
The school opened November 18th with 98 pupils. New pupils appeared on successive nights until another teacher was found necessary, and Miss Katherine Gilmore was added to the force. With the aid of the registration blanks previously filled out, we were able to classify the pupils and get them at work the first night. Five different classes were formed, each doing a different grade of work, that is, in a different stage of progress. The work ranged from that of the lowest primary to High school work.
By far the largest class was that for those who could neither read nor write English. We had two divisions of these from the first, and their numbers steadily increased until a third division was necessary. These, of course, had to do work similar to that done in the two lowest primary grades in the day school, only more limited in range, as we have confined it to reading, writing, and the use of English.
19
The next higher class, composed mostly of Swedes and Italians, has made excellent progress, largely in the funda- mentals of arithmetic, including simple work in fractions, and corresponding work in language and reading.
A third class has done some good work in fractions, denominate numbers and percentage, history and geography correlated with reading, penmanship, simple business forms, etc.
There have been two classes in bookkeeping, one begin- ning and the other advanced, both of which have also taken drill work in arithmetic and language. These two classes in- clude pupils who have been well along in the grammar schools and some who have been through, or nearly through, the High school.
There was some demand for mechanical drawing, also shorthand and typewriting, but in view of the small appropri- ation it was thought best to limit the work to the more ele- mentary subjects.
Before the opening of the evening school some were in- clined to be skeptical as to the real need or value of such a school, feeling that it would not be largely attended because of a lack of appreciation, and the services of a policeman would be needed to keep order. That the school has been appreciat- ed is shown by the attendance, and certainly those who have availed themselves (after working all day) of the opportunity for study and improvement, deserve much credit for their ex- cellent deportment and evident desire to learn. Only a single case of discipline in the whole school has come to my notice, and that was a young man who was inclined to be lazy, and saucy to the lady teachers, but after being told very decidedly that he must conduct himself in a gentlemanly manner or leave the school, he chose the former, and since has given no trouble.
The practical value of a well-conducted evening school is beyond question, and in my estimation, money spent for good evening schools is quite as well spent as that for the . day schools,
20
I recommend that freehand and mechanical drawing be added to the course another year, that the term begin earlier, and the appropriation for evening schools be increased to $700.
STATISTICS OF THE EVENING SCHOOL.
Length of term
12 weeks
Number of nights per week .
.
3
Enrollment, boys 179, girls 13, total
192
Average 'number belonging .
106.8
Average attendance .
91.1
Per cent of attendance
84.3
Cost of teaching and care
$395.75
Cost of fuel and lights (approximately)
$90.00
Cost of supplies (approximately)
$52.00
Americans
74
Italians
89
Swedes
9
French
.
5
Nova Scotians
3
Other nationalities
12
.
THE HIGH SCHOOL.
After the burning of the Pearl Street church, on the fourth of last February, the school occupied Grand Army Hall until the close of the school year in June, but now, after being twice burned out of home, and after two years of struggling under exceedingly difficult and trying conditions, the school is well settled in its new building on School street. At the open- ing of schools in September the books and supplies belonging to the school were moved to the new building, which was then practically completed, but without furniture or laboratory equipment, because of failure on the part of dealers to furnish the same as they agreed. The school was opened, however, on time, temporary seats being provided for the pupils for about three weeks, but it was November before the laboratories were ready for use.
A very old saying that "patient waiters are no losers" has come true in regard to the High school building, for we can
2 I
now say with considerable pride that we have a building in- ferior to none in any town of the approximate size and valua- tion of Milford. It is modern in every respect, and one of which every citizen of Milford may well feel proud. As a whole it is admirably planned and convenient for school pur- poses. The laboratories especially are models of neatness and arrangement, affording excellent facilities for individual work in the sciences. A cut of the building and floor plans will be. found in connection with this report.
So far as the building is concerned there is little more to be desired, but a working library of reference books, maps, charts, globes, and more physical apparatus, should be supplied as soon as possible. With these additions the school will be equipped to do better work than ever before in its history.
Concerning the decoration of the rooms of this building I speak more at length in another place.
The course of study for the High school should be revised before the beginning of the next school year, the Commercial course being lengthened to four years, and the other courses being strengthened, at the same time giving greater freedom in the choice of electives. Then with the addition of one more teacher the school would be second to none in this vicinity, and I believe it would attract a sufficient number of tuition pupils to nearly pay the extra teacher, besides giving our own pupils additional advantages.
The school is unfortunate in having such frequent changes in its teacher of commercial subjects. One teacher no more than becomes familiar with the work in its details, and thor- oughly acquainted with the pupils and their individual needs, before another has to be initiated. This is detrimental not only to the best interests of that particular department, but to the welfare of the whole school. As I have urged in a previ- ous report, sufficient salary should be attached to this position to secure and retain a strong and influential teacher.
The High school of today is not the High school of 35 or 40 years ago. Then it was possible to graduate from college at 17 or 18 years of age; now the requirements for admission
22
to college have increased so amazingly that only the very brightest pupils can prepare themselves to enter at that age. Formerly the bulk of the preparation was in Latin and Greek, with some knowledge of mathematics; now the colleges de- mand Latin and sometimes Greek, English, including a knowl- edge of English and American authors and their literature, proficiency in French or German, mathematics, history, art, and science,-in amount sufficient almost to stagger the gradu- ate of 50 years ago. The large classes of former years can no longer be handled successfully. Now they must be divided in order to give opportunity for individual work, and to allow the brighter pupils a chance to push on more rapidly. This of course necessitates a larger teaching force.
During the past two years there has been much discus- sion at educational gatherings relative to the High school and its relation to the grammar school and the college. There seems to be a feeling that the demands of the college are somewhat severe, and that the High school and its patrons are entitled to more consideration. A good High school should prepare for any of the colleges, but this should not be its chief aim. Only a small percentage of its graduates enter college, therefore its function would seem to be more truly that of a finishing school rather than that of a preparatory school, and as such it should have a well-rounded course of its own. The High school exists for the benefit of boys and girls who need help, and often encouragement. It is for the many and not the few, and has rightly been called "The people's college." It is for the mentally slow as well as for those of a keener in- tellect. The fact that pupils are dull should not exclude them from school. They need help, and the High school is the place for them to get it. A few years hence many of them will be found among our most worthy citizens. This, how- ever, is no plea for laziness, for which there is no excuse. It should not be tolerated, either in school or out.
But the most important element in education cannot be tested by examinations, nor measured by percentages. It does not matter so much what is taught as how it is taught and by whom. It is interest, self-control, respect for the rights of
23
others, love of work, and inspiration that count. Facts are soon forgotten, but impressions are stamped indelibly upon the memory. True education includes the proper culture of the intellect, the correct development of the physical powers, ,suitable training for citizenship, and the building of moral character-the supreme end.
The progress and needs of the school are set forth in the principal's report, to which your attention is called.
1 ATERNOON SESSION.
In a High school of any size there are always more or less pupils who are deficient in their studies, from one cause or another. It may be from absence caused by illness, or otherwise; it may be from negligent or careless work; it may be from an inclination to waste time during the morning session, or from failure in some other way. But whatever may be the cause, I am inclined to think that an afternoon session for such pupils would be the best remedy. Some teacher or teachers should be at the building every afternoon, and delinquent pupils be required to return at about 2.30 for an hour and a half.
I am told that, in places where this plan is in vogue, pu- pils often return voluntarily for study and assistance, and that it has proved to be a valuable means of improvement of school work, besides being a great favor to those who would other- wise fall behind or be obliged to pay for private instruction.
I recommend this to you for careful consideration.
THE SILVER HILL SCHOOL.
The number of pupils in this school seems to vary from ten to fourteen, and to include nearly all the grades below the High school. It is impossible for one teacher to do justice to so many different grades, besides, the pupils lose the stimula- ting influence of competition met with in larger grades.
At present there are fourteen pupils in this school, but the permanency of residence of several of them is doubtful. Two of the older boys, now in the eighth grade, are losing much by not coming to the centre schools this year, a fact which may cost them an extra year to fit for the High school.
24
It is now costing about $54 per month to maintain this school. The pupils could be brought into town and returned to their homes in a good comfortable conveyance for about $32 per month, thus making a saving to the Town of more than $20 each month, besides giving the children much better ad- vantages than they can possibly get under present conditions.
CLERICAL ROUTINE.
In a Town the size of Milford the routine work pertaining to the office of the school department consumes at the minimum a large amount of time, how much but few people are aware. Formerly it was customary for some member of the committee to serve as secretary with little or no pay, but long since the work so increased in volume that this could not be expected; besides most persons suitable to serve on the committee are generally too busy to be bothered with such clerical and ex- ecutive service. Their function is legislative rather than ad- ministrative, hence the details must be left with employees of the department.
There is certainly a limit to the ability of one person to per- form efficiently the duties of secretary, purchasing agent, su- perintendent and general manager. Milford is too large a Town for one man to serve properly in all these different capacities without some clerical assistance.
During the last two and one half years many things have happened and conditions existed to make unusual demands upon the executive head of the school department. Two High school fires and the necessity of three times re-establishing the school, together with the office routine connected therewith, has interfered materially with the work of supervision which should now be made up as far as possible. I believe it would be for the best interests of the schools to employ someone for at least a part of the time to assist in the office routine.
This could be done at a very moderate expense, and would tend to broaden the scope of the superintendent, by allowing him more time to attend to the details of supervision, to visit other schools, and to keep closer in touch with educational matters.
25
In these days of hustle and hurry every convenience for the accurate and speedy transaction of business is necessary. Business men everywhere consider the telephone no longer a convenience, but a necessity. The element of time certainly enters into the prompt and efficient administration, and the office of the school department should no longer be without such a time-saving device. In many places the important school buildings are connected with the superintendent's office by telephone, thus bringing them into almost immediate commu- nication, and often saving the necessity of the superintendent making a special trip to a school, or of a teacher or pupil to the office.
I recommend that the committee consider the above, and at least allow a telephone to be put into their office.
SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS.
The following items are respectfully recommended for your consideration :-
That a cement floor be laid over the entire basement at the Park school building, and that the cellar wall be thoroughly pointed.
That new out-buildings be built for the Plains and Claflin schools.
That additional school accommodations be provided in the northeast and south parts of the Town.
That the allowance for evening schools be increased to $700, that mechanical drawing be added to the course, and that the school begin early in October another year. .
That the commercial course be lengthened to four years, and that another teacher be employed in the High school for at least a part of the time.
That the High school be provided with a reference library, maps, charts, etc.
That your board adopt a set of rules and regulations for the school department.
That the Silver Hill school be closed, and the pupils be brought into Town in a first-class manner.
26
CONCLUSION.
It is not always easy to measure with exactness the amount of school work accomplished in a given time, neither can we be sure of its quality, but we do feel confident that earnest efforts have been made on the part of all to secure as good results as possible under the circumstances.
The work has progressed on practically the same lines as last year. A few things have been broadened and strength- ened, but no radical changes made.
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