USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Milford > Town Annual Report of the Officers of the Town of Milford, Massachusetts 1934 > Part 8
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 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15
It might be well to point out the considerable sav- ing to the Town of Milford by the acceptance of the new courses by the state. It has not been necessary to employ an additional teacher, and by adapting our courses to the state requirements, the state will bear half of the expense involved, including the salaries of two teachers, which had before been borne entirely by the town. Lest the last statement might be misinter- preted as an argument for cutting the school appropri- ation by the amount saved, I can only point out that the state's share is paid directly into the Town Treas- ury and not into the school department.
23
Looking ahead, I should like to call attention to the possibilities of homogeneous grouping in the Stacy School. This has been impossible while every class- room was overcrowded, but the construction of the new High School may provide a few extra rooms for the use of Stacy classes.
While classes are composed of pupils of widely vary- ing abilities, the interests of no group will be com- pletely served. If classes could be arranged accord- ing to the age, ability, and future educational goals of the members, it would be possible to adapt the work of the grade to the capacity of the class. Pupils of exceptional ability could progress as fast as they were able instead of having their progress limited by the ability of the average member. Likewise, those pu- pils who cannot meet the pace of the present average class would benefit if placed in a class where it would not be necessary to meet the competition of the superi- or group .- Report of Principal John L. Davoren.
F. E. R. A.
The F. E. R. A. classes opened with the new year (January 15, 1934), and closed June 21, 1934. A course in commercial subjects,-English, Arithmetic, Bookkeepng, Stenography and Typewriting-in two sections, beginners and advanced, was offered. The only available place was the High School, and, for obvious reasons, the sessions had to be in the evening. The work started with 226 students. The attendance held up fairly well until the spring, when the project felt the competition of outside attractions. The at- tendance gradually fell off, not altogether to the dis- advantage of the work, as the classes were too large at first. The classes were continued through the spring months and a goodly number with a serious objective found the work interesting and profitable. The project was brought to a close June 21, 1934.
The writer takes this opportunity to recognize the
24
earnestness and cooperation shown by the young peo- ple in charge of these classes.
GIRLS' CONTINUATION SCHOOL
The report of Miss Beatrice Fleming, of ths unit, follows :-
The enrollment in the Girls' Continuation School, at. the opening of the fall term, numbered nineteen girls. between the ages of 14 and 16 years. This number increased to 22 the second week and steadily there- after, until we had an enrollment of 31 girls, a larger number than at the same time one year ago.
The interest, especially in the Household Arts sub- jects, continues as usual.
The girls made some useful and inexpensive gifts at Christmas-time and were happy to present them to their parents or friends.
SPECIAL CLASSES
This year, for the first time, we have approximately correct grading, having an over-age group, with Miss MacLachlan, at the Park Portable, a junior group in the Plains Primary School, in charge of Miss Realini, and a mixed group, in the High School Portable, in charge of Miss O'Neill.
These groups are, to quite an extent, neighborhood groups, and good work is being done.
PHYSICAL TRAINING
The report of the Physical Director follows :-
Complete sets of exercises were drawn up at the start of the 1934 school year, so that each teacher in the grade schools now has sixteen or more series of exercises, all selected with a view toward gradual increase of difficulty in execution.
Each grade now has a banner representing the best. performance of the week in that particular grade. The competition is very keen, and the resulting inter- est extremely gratifying to the physical department.
25
It is planned to form a posture club directly after New Year's of 1935. A button, signifying execellence in posture, will be awarded to each pupil as he attains the specified points of good posture. The aim is to stimulate and maintain a sense of good posture among the students.
..
The 1934 baseball team was typical of Milford teams, winning thirteen and losing but two of its fif- teen games. Milford and Lawrence were regarded as chief contenders for the mythical state title. Inci- dently, this season was the last for the spectacular efforts of that widely famous High School battery, Kenney and Comolli, and their services will be sorely missed next year.
The 1934 football season was one marked by fair . success and many injuries. Facing a top-heavy sched- ule with Natick, Brockton, Norwood, Framingham and Attleboro, in a row, the light Milford boys conducted themselves in a manner worthy of any fair-minded sportsman's praise. The final tally found Milford win- ning three, tying one, and losing four.
MUSIC
In our Primary grades, the spirit of play and the imaginative, world of little children are delightfully and vividly expressed through music. We try to arcuse and satisfy their desire for rhythmic expres- sion; all our songs are in simple, swinging rhythms singing of exercises are taught and developed as the suitable to the age of the child .. Note- reading and child advances. Thus by means of beautful songs and exercises he gradually learns to love the best in music, and his character is correspondingly influenced. We try to have our classes sing with a pure and beautiful tone quality; one that is clear, mellow, sweet and agreeable, resonant and full, and yet produced with- cut straining the delicate vocal organs.
In the Intermediate grades, two and three part
26
singing are taken At Christmas time many of the rooms had little plays, using the Christmas carols, which were excellently sung. The enthusiastic re- sponse well pays for the constant drill and practice.
A departure from previous years has been made in the Junior High School. Music is more or less an elec- tive subject and those children who are adapted to vocal work and who wish to improve their singing are receiving the benefit of special group training. This course is open to all students.
In the Senior High School the students have studied the works of the great musical composers. So much interest has been shown that a special glee club has been formed from the Senior class, which rendered a delightful program of carols at Christmas time. In addition to the vocal work, the course in Theory and Harmony has been continued.
On May 11, a musical festival was held in the Town Hall by the graded schools. The development of the child's voice from the first grade through the eighth was demonstrated by a series of songs appropriately chosen for the occasion. I cannot thank the teachers and Miss Condon sufficiently for their cooperation in this endeavor. The receipts realized from this musi- cal will be added to the Music Fund already estab- lished by my previous concert and will be used as a nucleus for a permanent scholarship, to be awarded to a worthy student with definite plans for a musical career.
I wish at this time to thank the Superintendent and the Committee for their many kindnesses to me.
-- Report of Miss Helena F. Swift, Supervisor.
ART
The report of Miss Dorcas Whipple follows :-
With the splendid cooperation and enthusiastic help of the teachers in the Stacy School and the strict re- gard for neatness and technique in fundamentals in
1
27
the lower grades the art work for the past year has reached a high grade of excellence. The work thus judged is not from a few pupils of acknowledged abil- ity but from an average group of ordinary students.
Art training in the public schools is not to produce artists at the expense of the average pupil but to help the greatest number of pupils to appreciate art, wheth- er it be found in a beautiful sunset, the good propor- tions of a building or in a famous painting. As it is greatly through doing that we learn, the lessons are planned to give the student confidence to draw simple objects correctly, to express his thoughts by sketch- ing, to do neat construction work, learn correct let- tering forms (mistakes so often observed in the un- trained person), to choose good pictures, to use good color combinations in dress and in the home. Lessons are also closely correlated with the other subjects; Music, History, Geography, and Arithmetic as well as table etiquette and world events, for through sight are these things impressed more strongly upon our minds.
Although more than the number given here started the mechanical drawing course 48 boys of the 8th grade completed the course in June. These boys then knew whether or not they wished to continue this type of study in High School. Those who did elect it were thus able to do a higher grade of work and were more advanced than the average freshman student.
Christmas projects were most successful and I wish to thank the merchants of the town who helped the pupils gather together material for this work, our problem being to utilize materials that would other- wise be thrown away.
Art work in High School continued with the usual curriculum. Good work was done in pencil technique designing, landscapes in pastel, charcoal sketching, object drawing, modelling and casting.
Seven seniors competed for the honor of designing
28
the cover fortthe graduation program. All seven cov- ers were excellent in design and workmanship.
The report of the Assitant Art Supervisor, Miss Margaret V. Condon, follows :-
The world would be a dull place without art and the contributions of artists. The development of good taste and the appreciation of the artistic can not be started too early with the child, therefore it is an important part of the training in the elementary grades.
Through our art lessons we aim to instill an intelli- gent idea of color harmony, symmetry and simplicity. The rudimentary lessons are simple enough to be un- derstood by all children and those showing talent are given more advanced work. The children have pro- duced some remarkable results in illustrating, creative designs, nature studies, and colored paper projects.
The decorations in the class rooms are mostly the work of the children and every holiday brings forth its own colorful display. For Christmas the boys and girls not only decorated the school rooms but also made useful gifts, including wall pockets, pen-wipers, sachet cases, and calendars.
The teachers of the Special Class may well be proud of both the handicraft and the drawings pro- duced by the pupils. There has been a marked im- provement in both effort and satisfactory results.
CO-OPERATING ACTIVITIES THRIFT TEACHING
Thanks to the tireless activities of the Milford Sav- ings Bank and the splendid cooperation of the teach- ers, the children in the public schools obtained hon- orable mention in the Savings Bank Association Bul- letin-85% of the children were savers-and saved $10,517.38, an increase of $1,956.01 over the record of a year ago.
29
MOTHERCRAFT
In the opinion of the writer, few, if any subjects are, in proportion to the time spent, as important and significant as Mothercraft.
The report of Mrs. Mary H. Sherburne, Instructor, follows :-
Classes in Mothercraft have been held each Mon- day afternoon in the Sewing room, from January to April and from October to December, with an aver- age attendance of 62 pupils.
At the May exercises in Town Hall, diplomas were awarded to 72 girls who had passed their tests in class work, and a text book was awarded as a third prize to Augusta Copper, for her essay. The prize was giv- en by the Mothercraft Department of the State Fed- eration of Women's Clubs. Four essays were submitted by the Stacy School class to the examining board of the State Department in Mothercraft, Mrs. C. H. Alder, Amherst, Mass., Chairman.
Your Instructor feels very grateful to Mr. Caswell and Mr. Davoren, for their hearty cooperation, and hopes that a room in the new building will be set apart for the Mothercraft work, as at present, it is conduct- ed under very difficult conditions.
MILFORD 4-H CLUB WORK IN 1934
Three hundred twenty-five (325) articles were ex- hibited at the 4-H Club exhibit, May 25, by 90 girls of the homecraft, sewing and cooking clubs. Among these girls were first, second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth-year members Five girls received their national club pins.
Thirty-five articles were exhibited by nine boys of the handicraft club.
-(Account of Mrs. Elmer Rose, Town Director) .
30
MILFORD TEACHERS' ASSOCIATION Officers
President-Frank C. Berry
Vice-President-Marion B. Greeley
Secretary-Harold M. Moran
Treasurer-Catherine W. Curtin
Chairman of the Executive Committee-Mary H. McDermott
Chairman of the Social Committee-Rita FitzPat- rick.
The above officers were unanimously reelected for a second term and conducted meetings once a month throughout the school year.
In June, Miss Alice Ames, former principal of the Chapin Street School, retired from the service and was presented with a purse of money from the Associa- tion.
The Association noted with regret the passing of Mabel Agnes Kenney, one of its most loyal supporters. A set of resolutions was drafted, framed, and sub- mitted to her family. (See Page 3.)
On January 16, a most enjoyable banquet was held in the Assembly Hall and was attended by 100 teach- ers, invited guests and friends. Mr. Harry E. Gardner of the State Department of Education gave the main address of the evening.
Respectfully submitted,
HAROLD M. MORAN, Secretary.
1
REPORT OF THE SUPERVISOR OF ATTENDANCE Month of January, 1934, to the Month of January, 1935.
Month
Calls on account of
Reason for Absence
Superintendent
Prin. High School
Prin. Stacy School
Grade
Special
Total
Truancy
Illu oss
Carelessness of
Parents
Truants on Street
Lackof Clothing
Left School to work
Left Town
Excusable
Over 16 years old
Habitual School
Court Cases
Disposition
Jan.
14
9
22
12
45
88
44
5
2
15
4
2
88
Feb.
7
5
8
10
20
43
19
5
1
3
7
1
7
43
Mar.
12
3
26
2
29
60
6
21
3
2
6
1
12
5
4
60
Apr.
11
16
22
5
1
44
10
10
1
1
2
7
12
1
44
May
12
12
58
21
8
99
13
24
6
1
2
3
47
2
1
99
June
1
7
9
7
23
7
3
2
6
4
1
23
Sept.
23
25
48
11
14
98
3
13
1
3
20
12
37
9
98
Oct.
10
7
34
7
24
72
19
21
5
5
6
11
4
1
72
Nov.
8
3
15
12
18
48
8
15
8
1
1
2
15
48
Dec.
5
4
5
12
21
4
5
2
1
8
1
21
Totals
103
84
245
89
178
596
68
175
36
1
25
49
15
163
34
26
4
596
Called at Superintendent's office nearly every day when sebools were in session. .
Superintendent's calls All others, as aboye
596
RAPHAEL MARINO, Supervisor of Attendance Milford, Mass, December 31, 1934,
Visits at schools 62
Total
699
Parental neglect-1 case filed, 1 case fined $20, sentence suspended 6 months, with probation.
31
Truancy-Pleaded guilty. Placed on probation for 6 months.
Truancy-Pleaded guilty. Committed to Oakdale.
103
Offender
Total
7
32
REPAIRS SPECIAL
Completion of Modernization of Fountain Street School
The yard has been graded and a cement walk laid from the street to the entrance at the Fountain Street School.
The Braggville School Modernized
The Braggville School has been modernized, exact duplicate of the Fountain Street, as described in the 1933 report, including a cement walk from the front fence well up to the entrance, and electric lights and clock. The building has been shingled and painted outside and re-decorated and equipped with canvas type shades inside.
CARPENTRY
Plains School
New maple floors in the school rooms and halls, and new stair treads in the Plains Annex. Thomas Kel- lett. $360.52.
A new front door and transoms at this school. John C. Ripley.
Plains Primary
The roof of the front entrance unit and all porch roofs over doors have been shingled, roof jets re-built and all doors repaired and repainted. (E.R.A.) Spruce Street School
Jet at the Spruce Street School thoroughly repaired. (C.W.A .- E.R.A.)
ELECTRICAL WORK
Braggville School
Building wired for electricity and equipped with lights and electric clock. (C.W.A.)
33
Plains Grammar and Annex
Building wired for electricity and equipped with lights and electric clock. (C.W.A.)
Stacy School
Bell and clock systems put on transformer system. P. A. Ruggere, $246.33.
PAINTING
Plains District
The three schools re-decorated inside. (C.W.A.) South School
Three rooms re-decorated. J. W. Munyon, $245.00. Stacy School
Room 14 and boys' lower hall re-decorated. E. F. Porter, $102.00.
High School
Basements re-decorated. (C.W.A .- E.R.A.) Spruce Street
School rooms, hallways, stairways, and basement completely re-decorated. (E.R.A.)
PLUMBING AND HEATING
Plains Primary
New bubbler drinking fountains and toilet bowls in- stalled. (C.W.A .- E.R.A.)
Plains Grammar
New toilet bowls installed. (C.W.A .- E.R.A.)
MASONRY
Stacy School
Cement sidewalks in front of the building, in the front and yard to side entrances, and granite steps and walls in front and on east end of lawn. (Under way). (E.R.A.)
(This project ties into the system of walks and ap- proaches to the new High School addition as planned).
34
Stacy School
Coping, pointed, north side and west end. (C.W.A .- E.R.A.)
SHADES
High School Portable, No. 1
Translucent canvas shades. Milford Furniture Com- pany, $24.00.
South School
Translucent canvas shades. Milford Furniture Com- pany, $105.75.
MISCELLANEOUS
Park School
New steel fence. John C. Ripley, $165.00.
Plains Annex
Section of capped board fence on Corbett line, length of building, with short lengths returning to cor- ners of the building. J. C. Ripley.
Board fence from end of chain link fence at east end of Plains Primary School, along rear of Lumenti lot to farther corner repaired.
SPECIAL SEATING
Claflin School
Upper two rooms re-seated with single pedestal hy- gienic chair-desk units. Kenney Bros. & Wolkins, $630.00.
Second grade room equipped with steel and wood movable desk-chair units. G. E. Stimpson Company, Worcester, $238.00.
George E. Stacy School
The use of Room 14 as a sewing room has been re- sumed. The room has been re-decorated and equipped with new tables of good quality and correct design, and steel-and-wood posture-chairs. Teacher's table and pupils' wood-and-steel posture chairs. G. E. Stimpson, Worcester, $120.80.
35
RECOMMENDATIONS
1. HEALTH :
Better heat, by the introduction of oil burners as fast as may be.
2. SAFETY :
Improvement in janitor service (See 4 (a) below).
3. EDUCATIONAL :
a. Complete the adoption and introduction of the new geographies (long overdue) .
b. End platoons-re-erect the High School port- ables in the Oliver Street yard.
4. VOCATIONAL :
a. Extend the vocational classes.
b. Modify certain High School courses in the inter- est of these pupils.
5. IMPROVEMENT OF THE PLANT (P.W.A. AND E.R.A. PROJECTS) :
Boys' Conveniences at the Plains Primary School Condemned.
The boys' place in the older part of the Plains Primary building was recently condemned by the Building Inspector for this district. This condition must be corrected without delay. I recommend that this be requested as a Public Works project. Cost estimates have been secured.
a. Unit heating plants (with oil burners) .
1. High School, Stacy, Spruce Street, Park.
2. Plains district.
3. Oliver Street, South, Chapin Street.
b. Since the Park, Park Portable and Chapin Street schools are to be used as polling places, they should be wired and electrically equipped.
c. Grading :-
1. Plains School grounds.
2. Spruce Street School grounds. (Begun).
3. West Street School grounds.
36
d. Painting projects :-
Stacy School (re-decorate inside and trim out- side) ;
Old High School (re-decorate inside and trim. outside) ;
Park School (re-decorate inside and paint one coat outside) ;
Park Portable (re-decorate inside) ;
Claflin School to be decorated inside,-(already under way).
All school buildings and other public buildings. should carry sufficient fire insurance. An insurance: survey of school buildings is now being made.
In conclusion, I congratulate you gentlemen, the. children in your care and the teachers of the upper grades on the happy consummation of your efforts through the years to secure an adequate High School; and I felicitate you, all the teachers and all the children, that a by-product of the storm and stress of the recent years has been the protection, improve- ment and beautifying of so large a proportion of school buildings and grounds.
-
Again, as ever, I thank you for your consideration, and my fellow workers for their cooperation.
Respectfully submitted,
ALMORIN O. CASWELL, Superintendent of Schools ..
Milford, Mass., January 24, 1935.
Report of the School Physicians.
Milford, Mass.
To the School Committee of Milford :-
We present the following tables summarizing the results of our examination of the pupils in all the schools.
RESULTS OF SCHOOL INSPECTION, 1934
Primary Department-Number of Pupils, 1,075
No. having no notable defects 399=37%
No. having slight defects 417
No. having serious defects 259=24%
No. having mouth or teeth defects 518
No. having nose or throat defects 2.77
No. having miscellaneous defects 67
Grammar Department-Number of Pupils, 992
No. having no notable defects. 521=53%
No. having slight defects 2.92.
No. having serious defects 179-18%
No. having mouth or teeth defects 337
No. having nose or throat defects 179
No. having miscellaneous defects 10
High School Department-Number of Pupils, 679
No. having no notable defects 455=67%
No. having slight defects 132
No. having serious defects 92=14%
No. having mouth or teeth defects 149
No. having nose or throat defects 57
No. having miscellaneous defects 23
Whole School Departtment-Number of Pupils, 2,746
No. having no notable defects 1,375=50 %
No. having slight defects 641
38
No. having serious defects 530=19%
No. having mouth or teeth defects 1,004
No. having nose or throat defects 513
No. having miscellaneous defects 100
According to the figures submitted above, it would appear that our school-children are in excellent condi- tion, 50% normal. That is an unusual percentage, eight percent improvement over last year, and very gratifying.
An interesting feature is the improvement in the school population as the higher grades are ap- proached. Glaring defects are rare among the High School pupils, where the serious cases reach only 14% . In the Grammar grades, serious defects appear in 18 % of the pupils; and in the Primary Department the per- centage having serious defects mounts to 24% .
There is ample opportunity for variation in com- piling statistics of this nature, and what is classified as "serious defect" by the examiner frequently might be overlooked or considered unimportant by the par- ent or given a lower rating by another examiner. It is obvious, therefore, that comparison of these figures with those of other communities is of little value ; how- ever, we believe that comparison with our own figures of previous years shows conclusively that the average physical condition is higher as a result of school in- spection and its emphasis upon correctable defects. Even though moral and mental advancement do not depend entirely upon the removal of physical handi- caps, we are still of the opinion that there is some- thing in the old idea of "mens sana in corpore sano".
.
JOHN M. FRENCH, M.D., JOHN V. GALLAGHER, M.D., School Physicians.
Report of the School Nurse.
In addition to my regular duties as School Nurse, much time has been spent with Clinics.
In March, the Mental Clinic from the Wrentham State School visited here. Sixty-four new histories were taken of children who were retarded in their school work. These were given special pychiatric tests by Dr. Alice Patterson, with the object of plac- ing them in their proper classroom or special class.
From May 9 to June 12, the Chadwick Clinic for the prevention of tuberculosis was held. Dr. Charles Gill of the State Department of Public Health, previ- ous to the clinic, explained to the teachers and stu- dents, in the High School, the purpose of the Chad- wick Clinc. During the clinic 2,069 children were giv- en the tuberculin test, or in other words, 63% of the High School and 76% of the grade school pupils took the test. Of these 704 pupils reacted and were X-Rayed. Physical examinations were given to 114 children in the presence of their parents. Fourteen hundred and forty-three negative X-Ray reports were sent to the homes as soon as they were received. Re- ports of the physical examinations were also sent to the parents.
The above clinic was the most successful one ever held here, being the first Chadwick Clinic in which every child was given the opportunity to attend. Ap- preciation was expressed by the State Department of Health for the assistance given by the local Board of Health, and School Department.
In July and August nine girls who were examined at the Chadwick Clinic spent four weeks at the Sterl- ing Health Camp, which is supported by the Southern
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.