USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Lincoln > Town Report on Lincoln 1930-1934 > Part 4
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Meanwhile, in this 21 years, educational methods have progressed very fast and, with a recognition of the fact that
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the child at the age of adolescence has varying needs and tendencies that need to be encouraged, taken advantage of, or corrected, as the case may be, new methods have been developed. Among these is the Junior High idea which aims to give the child enough latitude to gradually develop his individual traits in a way that will help him along further and faster on his educational path and also help him to find himself, and develop his possibilities. It aims to provide a gradual effective and natural transition period between the elementary schools and the more specialized High School, giving the pupil a chance to get a general insight of many things. This Junior High idea has been adopted in Lincoln and is definitely in the line of progress. It is now well be- yond the experimental stage and its results have and do justify its continuance. However, it is obvious that the Committee, Superintendents, and teachers who have been in- trusted with carrying out this plan have been seriously hand- icapped by not having the physical equipment in the Centre School to properly do so. Different School Committees and Superintendents have at various times called to the attention of the Town the lack of these essentials. Your Committee desires to re-emphasize the importance of providing these facilities if our schools are to compare favorably with the modern progressive standards of other towns. Great credit is due those in charge of our schools that the quality of the offering to the pupils has been kept up under existing con- ditions.
Particularly to be noted is the inadequacy of facilities for both indoor and outdoor physical education. Today this not only stresses physical development and hygiene but develops such attributes as cooperation, control of the emotions, fair play, loyalty, quick thinking, etc. As Prof. Dudley, our con- sultant, has remarked in his report :- "classroom preaching about these qualities is no substitute for their actual de- velopment."
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Every critical visitor to our schools notices at once that no- where in our school buildings is a place where the whole school can be gathered in one room. This makes it impossible to take advantage of the educational value of dramatics, many lectures, movies, entertainments, etc. Very recently a lecturer who had a message for the whole school was forced to repeat his talk three times before all the pupils could be ยท reached. In order to accomplish this it was necessary to crowd three grades at a time into the largest classroom on the second floor of the Centre School. As this room has only one door used as both entrance and exit, the aversion to using it for such purposes can be readily understood. An Assembly Hall has been recognized as a need practically from the day the school was built.
In 1917 Mr. Benner, then Superintendent, says in his an- nual report : "We are a disunited school unit, and the chief reason is that we have no place to assemble as a school. We badly are in need of an Assembly Hall."
In 1918 Mr. Morss, Superintendent, says in his report : "We have no place to assemble our school."
In 1924 Mr. Love, Superintendent, says : "If the Town wants to go forward, a building program to improve the Junior High School must be considered and an auditorium, a gymnasium, a library, a laboratory for general science and adequate recitation room provided."
In 1922 a committee similar to the present one was ap- pointed by the Town that consisted of Messrs. Peck, Tarbell, Doherty, Todd, and Dee, and Mrs. Farrar, and in their re- port state that "if an addition to the Centre School were to be authorized, proper provision should be made for a gen- eral assembly room."
Our committee must add their testimony to those of the past and stress their belief that the need of an assembly room is even greater now than then.
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Departmental teaching, supervised study, and reference work, all essentials in the Junior High plan, have suffered from the lack of needed equipment. No room is set aside for study ; studying must therefore be done in a room where another class is reciting. The reference and library room in the present school consists of a table and two chairs in the second floor corridor and is entirely insufficient. At the age of adolescence it is important that the child be shown and be duly impressed with the proper ways of finding facts for himself by thinking problems thru in a logical way aided by the use of books. This need should be remedied.
Science is today taught not only by text books but by observing things as they actually take place before the eyes. Every modern Junior High school today has laboratory facilities that, while not pretentious or expensive, usually include an aquarium, a plant box, an experiment table, and a cabinet for exhibits. In our Junior High School no such equipment is available.
As to the practical arts, a modern course for boys now includes much more than the wood-work of the old manual- training days and facilities are necessary to allow a boy who has a good idea to carry it thru from the drawing to the finished article. Our present equipment provides for but little more than this "manual training" of early days.
Practical arts for girls also includes today not only cook- ing and sewing but also home management, decoration, etc. The equipment varies much but is not usually expensive. Our present equipment consists of the stoves and cooking utensils in the basement and one solitary sewing machine in the sixth grade room.
Because of the fact that but few of the children have op- portunity to go home to lunch, it is necessary for most of them to carry food to school which they must now eat in the classrooms. The facilities for preparing hot food, which many of the children need, are too limited. The present
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arrangement is one that is severely condemned by both educators and hygienists; it has been noted by previous superintendents in their reports and is a situation that we believe should now be relieved.
From the viewpoint of the child who has reached the Junior High age we find there are many things missing which he finds his cousins in neighboring communities have to stimulate them in their work. The result seems to be that neither child nor parent have the pride in our school system that should prevail. The child is dissatisfied and fails to get the inspiration due him and the parent recognizing the fail- ure blames the school, or the teacher, or the superintendent, little realizing that he, himself, has been at fault in not pro- viding the surroundings necessary to stimulate the desired reactions.
The South School, as we have already pointed out, is a wooden building of an age that makes it increasingly a bur- den to keep in repair. To make only those repairs which would make it safe and healthy for those using it would require approximately $1500. This building was closed for a considerable period and its reopening in 1921 was consid- ered only as a temporary measure until increased facilities were available at the Centre School (See School Rept. 1921). Three years later the then Superintendent, Mr. Love, in his report says: "As it stands now, the present South Building is wasteful." Some of the shortcomings of this building are so obvious that hardly a glance at them is necessary to be convinced of their seriousness. Although only a two-room schoolhouse it requires two heaters. Much of the time there is water in the cellar. The toilets are of the open type and in the open cellar, necessitating a considerable effort to keep them in a clean and sanitary condition. There is no suitable room for the teachers. From the point of view of fire pro- tection, the building can only be tolerated on the excuse that the class rooms are on one floor and there are two exits.
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Since artificial lighting is missing, the children are handi- capped on cloudy days.
There are to be sure, advantages which this school pos- sesses : such as the segregation of the first two grades and the separate playfield for them, and its nearness to one of the more populous areas of the Town. But the committee does not believe these are sufficient to warrant continuing indefinitely the use of this building. The possession of the property by the Town is contingent upon its use for school purposes and if the Town continues to grow it might be used as a site for a future new school serving that portion of the Town although the lot is smaller than is recommended today for school purposes.
While, strictly speaking, it was not within the province of this committee to go into other than the housing needs of our school system, we feel that there is one need that should be brought to the attention of the Town; namely, the em- ployment of another teacher whose principal duties would be supervision of physical education and who probably might take some Junior High subject.
It was necessary, therefore, for your committee to attempt to find some arrangement that will remedy these conditions at reasonable cost. Any plan adopted should be farseeing enough to take into consideration the needs of the Town for several years to come. The unanimous opinion seems to be that the Town will increase in population. One has only to witness the rapidity with which neighboring towns and cities have increased in population to see what the possibilities are right here in Lincoln. Lexington, for instance, with a 47% increase in population in 10 years has found it necessary to launch a school building program to cover the next three years. Wellesley, also 17 miles from Boston, has increased 50% and is trying to catch up in housing her school popula- tion. As nearly as we can ascertain, our probable growth in school population in the next ten years, if we continue to
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grow only as we have in the past ten, will be 25.6% or in other words ; where our total school enrollment in all grades (1 to 12) was 274 in 1929, we at least can expect 345 in 1939. It is for this number at least that we should make our plans. These figures seem all the more conservative if we consider that in the past 6 years only, there have been 69 new dwel- lings added to the taxable property in town.
Still another phase to be considered in planning for the future of our school system is our present and probable fu- ture financial position. While our committee does not pre- tend to qualify as experts in such matters, there are several facts which are apparent to us all: (1) Our Town is prac- tically out of debt at the present time. (2) Our tax rate has been kept low. (3) There is in prospect, except for school needs, no call for any large expenditures. (4) For ten years past the average yearly increase in taxable property has been about $90,000 and this seems likely to continue. When our present situation is contrasted with the situation that existed when the money was borrowed to build the present Centre School, our condition seems a very favorable one; then we had a bonded debt of $85,500 for our Water system, which now has been very nearly liquidated. Furthermore our highway building program is sufficiently complete so that no large outlay should be necessary for new construction for some time. Incidentally, to get the proper perspective as to where schools should come in our plans for the future the comparison of the total amounts spent in Lincoln in the past ten years for both Highways and Schools is important ; they are :- for Highways, $386,964.94; for School, $309,- 498.85. The inference would seem to be that the condition of the Town is such that next in order is a reasonable outlay to improve our school system.
What are the solutions to the problem that have been pro- posed or suggested and what are the relative merits and demerits of each?
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Plan 1. Suggests (a) adding to the Centre School so as to accommodate all of the first 9 grades in one building and furnishing an assembly hall-gym- nasium, or (b) adding to furnish only those things needed in the Junior High Program and repairing South School.
Plan 2. Suggests discontinuing grade 9 in the Centre School and sending it to either Concord or Wal- tham ; repairing the South School and then con- tinuing as in the past.
Plan 3. Suggests building a new unit near present Centre School to be used as a Junior High School; to discontinue the South School and to move grades 1 and 2 in to the present Centre School.
Plan 1. This idea of an addition to the present Centre School Building to provide either the needed accommoda- tions for the grades already there, i.e., assembly-gymnasium, lunch room ; classroom for Grade 9; or its alternative of pro- viding these same necessities and also additional class rooms to look after grades 1 and 2, so that the South School might be closed, was gone into fully by the Committee. As the plan seemed at first a logical one, we even went so far as to allow the firm of architects who planned the original build- ing to draw sketches showing the way in which an addition of sufficient size could be made; and we also consulted an- other architect, experienced in school planning for his opinion of the possibilities in this respect. The unanimous opinion of the Committee and of the architects as well as of our consultant, Prof. Dudley, was that such an addition would be impractical :- (1) it would create a building, the size and appearance of which would be entirely out of place in our Town even though architecturally it might be made to conform ; (2) it would result in much lost space such as un- usually long corridors ; (3) it would result in tearing out much of the present school with the expense in the end
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equaling if not exceeding that of a new unit. The only economy of such a plan would be a very small one, through the smaller amount of fuel perhaps required, and the only advantage in the conduct of the school would be that of hav- ing all the children under one roof. The Committee has gone into this plan quite thoroughly and cannot advise it.
Considering next Plan 2: That of sending the Grade 9 out of Town to school. As we have mentioned previously, it has the advantage of continuing the segregation of the first two grades in a separate building with a separate play- ground. The cost is small compared with the construction and maintenance cost of a new building. This would also eliminate the necessity of using the small room in the Centre school as a classroom and leave it available as a library or conference room. Because of difficulties in adjusting the curriculum for the first two years of the Junior High, grades 7 and 8, with those of two different schools, Waltham and Concord, a choice could probably not be given. 17 of 34 Junior High divisions in Waltham have more than the recommended number of 35 pupils and so we question if Waltham would entertain the suggestion of additional Junior High students. If the Junior High program was to be fol- lowed in grades 7 and 8, the services of the teacher used as a "home room" teacher by Grade 9 would still have to be con- tinued and her salary of $1700 would still be an annual charge. There would be an extra tuition cost to the Town of $125 each pupil per year or a minimum of $2500. The tend- ency probably would be a reversion to the old grammar school idea which would be a decided step backward. More of our children would probably leave school before com- pleting the 9th grade. The conditions at the South School must be remedied at a minimum expenditure of $1500. No provisions would be made for future growth. Grades 7 and 8 would still be deprived of those things essential to carry- ing out the more modern Junior High program. There
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would be no lunch room provision and there would be no room large enough to assemble the whole school. Children of ages 13 or 14 would be sent out of Town, a procedure, the wisdom of which might be questioned by parents, even though our evasion of the responsibility were justified in other ways. Professor Dudley unreservedly disagrees with this plan of eliminating Grade 9.
Plan 3. Suggests a logical solution of our problems of the present time and offers also the probability that for several years to come the problems that now vex us will not reoccur. It proposes that we build a modern school to house Grades 7, 8, and 9 and to include in it those necessities required to conduct a Junior High School according to modern educa- tional standards. It can well be built near the present Centre School, made architecturally to conform to it and also to the setting. It may properly include the necessary class rooms, a library-study, a combination assembly room and gymna- sium, facilities for science teaching, and practical arts, and conveniences for serving lunches.
The proximity of this building to the Centre School would allow its fullest use at little inconveniences by all of the grades. It would furthermore be planned in a way that will allow of future reasonable addition to care for growth of the school population beyond the scope of the initial plans. In turn the present 9th grade room and two other class rooms vacated in the Centre School could be used by grades 1 and 2 and the South School closed. This consolidation would allow for some simplification of the transportation problem by separating the older and younger children. Somewhat longer hours for the Junior High pupils would make room for the fuller curriculum while shorter hours for the younger children would satisfy one justified criticism of the present arrangement. With proper equipment a new school of this sort used in conjunction with the present Centre School, which has been put in excellent condition during the past
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year, should properly care for the ordinary physical needs of our educational system for 10 to 15 years, assuming the Town has only the steady natural growth in population that can rightly be expected. With our natural endowments and a modern progressively conceived educational system, our Town needs to take second place to none as the ideal place to live in and raise our children.
In planning this new school building the future of the Senior High pupils should be considered seriously. It seems to your Committee that when the number of Senior High pupils for whom the Town must pay tuition becomes large enough to make it more economical to conduct its own Senior High School, the proper arrangement will be a six-year High School, i.e. a High School to include grades 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12. This is becoming the accepted system where the num- ber of pupils is not large and will be a feasible solution of our Senior High school problem when it occurs, which time may not be very distant. The yearly cost of High School pupils' tuition in Concord and Waltham is nearly $6,000 and the cost of their transportation is an additional $2,250. The number of pupils need not be very much larger before the financial economy of conducting our own High school will be obvious as the present charges for this service would be sufficient, even now, to provide the necessary teachers. Pro- fessor Dudley has recognized also this as the ultimate solu- tion of our Senior High School problem and while he does not recommend it at present, he specifically states that he does not believe we would make a mistake if we proceeded with a six-year school at once. He has also outlined for us a six-year High School curriculum that would be reasonably complete and that would compare favorably with the offer- ings in Concord and Waltham.
Because of the relatively small number of pupils con- cerned, your Committee does not believe that a six-year High School should be established now but they do believe that in
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planning a new Junior High School at this time, provisions should be made to allow for sufficient enlargement in the future to make of it a satisfactory six-year High School if the needs indicate such. This can easily be done as the gymnasium-assembly, practical arts rooms, science labora- tory, lunch room and library are all essentials that would be utilized in either type school and the required addition for the larger school would consist only of a few class rooms.
In order to ascertain the probable cost of erecting a build- ing sufficient for our needs as contemplated by the accept- ance of this last-mentioned plan, your committee has re- quested a reputable firm of architects, who are actively en- gaged in such work, to study the suggestions of Professor Dudley as to the details of such a building and to give us an estimated cost. They have done so, and it is their opinion that $75,000 is sufficient to erect a completely equipped building. The estimate contemplates the construction of brick building with exterior trim of wood and with a pitched roof covered with slate. It would contain two classrooms 23 feet x 291/2 feet, a science room 23 feet x 32 feet (to be used as a regular classroom), a library-study 23 feet x 291/2 feet, a practical arts room for boys 23 feet x 45 feet, a prac- tical arts room for girls 23 feet x 45 feet, a conference room 23 feet x 11 feet, a gymnasium-assembly room 40 feet x 66 feet, a lunch room, and small rooms to be used as Health room, Teachers' room, or Principal's office. The interior de- tail would be carried out in accordance with the best school building construction, the corridors and stairways to be fireproof throughout, the class-room floors to be of slow burning wood construction, all plastering to be on metal lath, and the wood trim to be of hard pine. The heating, lighting, and plumbing would be complete and in accord- ance with the best practices. There would be toilets located on each floor. This estimate includes the usual finish grad- ing but would not of course include relocating the ball-field.
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As to equipment, all but expensive lunch room, laboratory, or practical arts equipment has been included.
The usual method of financing construction of this kind is by borrowing and repaying each year for a period of fif- teen to twenty years a certain portion of the debt. This was the procedure followed when the Centre School was erected and the Town had no difficulty in meeting its obligations. The constantly increasing valuation of the Town very soon minimized any effect the added expense seemed to have on the tax rate. At the present yearly rate of increase in the Town's real estate valuation it is safe to assume that this fact would again be so if the Town saw fit to borrow for construction.
The question of the availability for use of the fund be- queathed to the Town for school purposes by the late Hon- orable Charles Sumner Smith has been raised and your Com- mittee has attempted to ascertain Mr. Smith's intents and wishes in this respect. Therefore, we include herewith the words of the bequest as it occurs in his will and also a letter from Mr. Sumner Smith giving us his interpretation of his father's ideas :-
Bequest to Town under Will of Charles Sumner Smith
"I give to the Town of Lincoln, fifty thousand dollars, toward the building of a new school house on or in connec- tion with land heretofore given by me to the Town. Said building shall provide accommodations for a High School, and I suggest that it be called The Charles Sumner Smith School and Playground. Until such school be built, I direct that the fund be held and invested in trust and that the in- come be added to the principal."
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October 24, 1930.
Members of Special School House Committee Lincoln, Massachusetts
At the request of your Committee, asking me to give my ideas on my father's plan as to how and when the Town should use his bequest for a High School Building, I re- spectfully submit to you the following opinion resulting from many and various talks of my father.
He knew that the Town would need a High School some- time, and when he thought of a new building he thought in terms of $100,000. He also knew that his bequest would reach that amount in about 15 years after it became avail- able, consequently, considering the average past and prob- able future growth of Lincoln, he believed that he was giv- ing the Town a legacy sufficient for a suitable High School when the latter should be considered a practical necessity. And when he thought of a High School he did not confuse the term with Junior High.
SUMNER SMITH.
Three members of your Committee firmly believe that the present facilities of the Lincoln schools are inadequate for the present needs as well as for the needs of the next ten years; that the financial condition of the Town is such that we can at this time well afford to improve them; and that the logical program is to proceed with Plan 3, after the details have been presented by a Building Committee.
They believe the proper procedure for the Town at this time is to elect such a Building Committee with authority to proceed to obtain plans and estimates of buildings to con- form to Plan 3 and to further prepare in a graphic and con- cise manner the costs to the Town of this plan; and to pre- sent such in the Town report or by special report in such a
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