USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Lincoln > Town Report on Lincoln 1930-1934 > Part 5
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way that the Town may be prepared to act on the same and to make the necessary appropriation for construction of the building.
They further suggest that the Town now appropriate $800 to be used by the Committee in procuring the necessary plans and estimates and in presenting their report.
The Committee gratefully acknowledges its indebtedness to Professor L. Leland Dudley of the Graduate School of Education of Harvard University, to Mr. Carl Shrader of the State Dept. of Education, to the firms of J. William Beal Sons, and to Parker, Thomas & Rice, and to Mr. Carl Hol- loran, Superintendent of Schools, and all others who have cooperated with them in their efforts.
Signed, ANTHONY J. DOHERTY MRS. GUILBERT S. WINCHELL ROLAND C. MacKENZIE
The following members of your committee, though un- willing to subscribe to all of the statements in the foregoing report, nevertheless believe that the description of the pres- ent condition of the Lincoln schools and the argument for a Junior High School should be fully and fairly presented to the voters of the town. They believe that if the Town de- cides to build at this time it should build a Junior High School, so designed that a Senior High School unit can be added later when the need arises.
They do not believe, however, that the time has come for the establishment of a Junior High School in a separate building when there are only seventy pupils to enjoy the advantages of such a building. In their opinion the present equipment, though not of the most modern type, will suffice for the needs of the town for several years to come. When
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the growth of the School population warrants it, a building for a six-year high school can be erected, incorporating the improvements outlined in the above report,-a building whose cost would be more nearly warranted by the larger number of pupils it would serve.
Plan 3, so called,-the erection of a Junior High Building at this time,-involves the scrapping of the investment in the South School, a minimum construction cost of $75,000, and an increase in maintenance cost of approximately $4,000 per annum. Plan 2,-the retention of the South School and the elimination of the ninth grade,-involves the outlay of a minimum of $1,500 in repairs to the South School, and an increase in high school tuition cost of perhaps $2,500 yearly.
The undersigned members of the committee favor Plan 2 as simpler, much less costly, and of equal value to the pupils of the schools. It must also be borne in mind that the Smith legacy, if allowed to accumulate, should in the course of a few years be sufficient to defray a large part, if not the whole, of the cost of the entire six-year high-school plant.
Respectfully submitted,
E. RUSSELL DAVIS EDITH B. FARRAR HARRY M. CONDIT, JR. CHESTER G. PECK
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REPORT OF A SURVEY OF THE BUILDING REQUIREMENTS OF THE LINCOLN, MASSACHUSETTS, PUBLIC SCHOOLS
L. Leland Dudley
Cambridge, Massachusetts September 12, 1930
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REPORT OF A SURVEY OF THE BUILDING RE- QUIREMENTS OF THE LINCOLN, MASSACHU- SETTS, PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
The purpose of this report is to determine whether there is need for new or additional school accommodations in Lin- coln, and if so, what should be the nature of these and where should they be located. Obsolescence of schools for the purpose for which they were built may be caused by three different factors. First, due to the growth of the school population they may become too small, a defect which fre- quently can be remedied by an addition to the original plant. Or schools may become out-of-date because they do not pro- vide proper facilities for a modern education. Frequently the nature of the building is such that, although there is suf- ficient room and the building is in good repair, the arrange- ment, kinds of rooms, lighting, and equipment, for example, are ill-adapted to a modern program of education. Often in such schools one finds certain desirable services or activities omitted entirely or housed under conditions so crude as to affect the quality of the work or service. Lastly, a building may wear out or depreciate to such an extent as to make its continued use a questionable economy. Usually all three of these factors are at work. Let us examine the two schools of Lincoln from these three angles.
The South School is a two-classroom wooden building, erected over thirty-five years ago, housing grades one and two. It is not overcrowded. The rooms are large, fairly well lighted by natural light considering the fact that it is used by the lower grades. The toilet facilities are not mod- ern, are located in a rather dark and deep basement, and be- cause of their location and construction are kept in a sani- tary condition with difficulty. Though the building is heated by two heating plants, a hot-air furnace and a steam boiler, the entry rooms and cloak rooms are often cold in winter.
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The building contains no teachers' toilet but does have a makeshift room used as a rest room and emergency room. Storage space for books and supplies is inadequate. A very serious criticism of the building is the lack of artificial light- ing in the classrooms.
The school is in need of repairs. Water stands in the cellar after most rains, a condition which could probably be reme- died with considerable outlay. The building needs painting both inside and out. The roof will need reshingling within a short time. To make the needed repairs to the building, to install electric lights and a teachers' toilet will undoubtedly cost in excess of $4000. In view of the fact that the building will still be old in design and facilities when these improve- ments are completed, a serious question arises as to the ad- visability of putting so great an amount into the plant.
Two considerations offset this conclusion. The town has recently gone to considerable expense,-approximately $790 -to fence the school lot which contains about two acres of land. Moreover, possession of this piece of land by the Town is contingent upon its being used for educational purposes. Apparently the lot is fairly well located to serve the south part of the Town when growth demands additional schools in the future, though it is too early to predict this with any certainty. For a large central school of the future the lot at the South School is too small, an area of more than twice its size being desirable.
Before disposing of the problem presented by the South School, let us see what the problem is at the Center School.
The Center School is a modern school of good construc- tion and in excellent repair. It houses grades three to nine for which six regular classrooms and a narrow, poorly- lighted room are provided. In addition to these the school contains two basement rooms, used one for practical arts for boys and one for sewing and cooking for girls. Satisfactory toilet facilities are located in the basement. There are also a
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teachers' rest room, the superintendent's office, and a storage closet on the first floor.
The school is not overcrowded. Many classes could care for more pupils without crowding or without injury to the instruction given. It is rather because of the lack of certain facilities needed in a modern program of education that the plant is defective and indeed obsolete.
Probably the most striking defect in the school plant is the total absence of any indoor play or physical education facilities and assembly room. While one classroom on the second floor, somewhat larger than the others, now serves as an assembly room, its use for such purposes is quite im- practical and at best only a make-shift. It is too small, and facilities for any sort of dramatic work are entirely lacking.
The need for an indoor play space, however, is more ur- gent than that for an assembly room. Though the outdoor facilities are fair, there are many days during the school year when outdoor play is not possible. If the physical education work is to consist of anything more than calisthenics, a space for conducting this work is imperative. Modern education stresses physical development ; it also recognizes the anpar- alleled possibilities of developing right attitudes, coopera- tion, control of the emotions, fair play, and many other vir- tues through physical education. Classroom preaching about these qualities is no substitute for their actual develop- ment. For this reason a strong program of physical educa- tion is now recognized as a fundamental in modern schools. To accomplish this aim of education successfully adequate facilities for this work are needed. In Lincoln no indoor play room is available for the children of the upper grades.
In addition to an assembly hall and a play room, the Center School alsò lacks facilities for serving hot lunches to pupils. In schools where so many children bring their lunches a light and attractive room where children can eat together and where warm dishes may be prepared and served is highly
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desirable. The present practice of having children eat their lunches in the classrooms is to be condemned on all grounds. Certainly the number of children who will benefit from the provision of a lunch room is sufficiently great, and is likely to be for many years, to warrant making better-than-average provisions for school lunches.
Though not entirely lacking, the facilities for practical arts for boys and cooking and sewing for girls are far too small and meagre in equipment. This type of work in grades six to nine has changed profoundly within the last few years. In the better schools it is no longer confined to woodworking for boys and cooking and sewing for girls. For boys the work should be organized largely on the general shop basis, the carrying out of a project often leading into sheet metal, elec- trical, or simple metal work. The general utility value of this type of work far exceeds the traditional woodworking course, which it includes and goes beyond. General home repair-soldering, repairing furniture, repairing electrical devices, etc., should be features of the work. The planning of projects, involving simple mechanical drawing, furnishes a thought-provoking content. The present room is inade- quate in size for this type of course. The natural lighting, moreover, is not the best. If this type of work is changed, as it should be, greater space and a greater variety of equip- ment must be provided.
The practical arts work for girls should also be something more than mere sewing and cooking. The whole range of home activities is now included in this work-home decora- tion, sanitation, furnishing, management, for example. The equipment for such work need not be elaborate nor expen- sive, but ample room should be provided to serve for mul- tiple uses. The present equipment for cooking is out of date, and facilities for other phases of home economics, now taught in grade-six room, consist merely of one old sewing machine.
The Center School contains no separate room for library
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or study purposes, though it does possess a fairly good col- lection of books. A school housing grades seven, eight, and nine should make better provision for study and references than are at present found in Lincoln. The importance of this work, in view of the changed methods in education, war- rants the provision of a library-study hall.
The facilities for the teaching of science are very poor. At present these classes are conducted, when necessary, in the cooking-sewing room. Although good results are being se- cured under present conditions, it would be highly desirable to have a classroom, somewhat larger than the ordinary classroom, fitted with a demonstration table, a show case, a growing table, and an aquarium. Such equipment would add interest and reality to the subject. The room could, of course, be used as a regular classroom.
There is also an obvious need for a health room. This room would be used for physical examinations of children, by the school nurse, and as an emergency room. The teach- ers' room is at present used for this purpose, but this ar- rangement is satisfactory neither for the teachers nor for the nurse.
To sum up, the Center School is a good building. It is not overcrowded, but was built to house a program of educa- tion considered adequate fifteen or twenty years ago, a pro- gram which is not now being followed in Lincoln schools. It lacks an assembly hall, a play room or gymnasium, a library, and a health room. The provisions for practical arts for both boys and girls are so small as to restrict the kind of instruction than can be offered therein. There are no special provisions for the teaching of general science. A lunch room is needed.
The solution to this problem is obvious. Since most of these deficiencies in the building affect chiefly the upper grades, it is clear that if they are to be provided, they should be erected as a separate building adjacent to the present
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school. Were the existing building so constructed that an addition could be economically made thereto, this method would be preferable to a separate building, because certain facilities would then be accessible to all pupils. The plan of the school is such, however, that to add to it would probably produce a freakish building, would increase greatly the amount of space which could not be effectively used, would result in certain makeshift and odd-sized or poorly lighted rooms, and would possibly be more expensive, due to the alterations and necessary destruction of certain parts and walls of the building, than to build an entirely separate plant. In general, additions, unless they are planned for when the building is erected, are unsightly and usually not entirely satisfactory. The logical procedure in the case of Lincoln with its beautiful town center is to erect a separate plant adjacent to and, in a style of architecture, in keeping with the existing school. This plan would be far more satisfac- tory, might even be less costly, and would avoid the ugliness of an addition to a school not conceived with this possibility in mind. The new unit, of course, should be originally planned for future addition, thus avoiding in the future, the situation which has arisen now.
The idea of a separate unit to house these elements of the school is not a new one. Numerous cities and towns house single schools in more than one building. It is true that small separate units increase somewhat the costs of opera- tion (fuel and janitors' salaries) and maintenance (repairs) but not to an excessive extent. If facilities in the new unit are used by children in the present school, the children will have to pass out of doors. Since the new unit should com- pletely house grades seven to nine, the necessity for pass- ing between buildings would be reduced to a minimum. After all, this is no great disadvantage.
Providing a new unit is built, what grades should be housed therein? Is a six-year high school (grades seven to
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twelve) feasible? Should the ninth grade be eliminated and pupils sent to Waltham or Concord for this year of school- ing?
The organization of a six-year high school does not seem to me to be feasible for Lincoln at the present time. The following table is an analysis of the program which could be offered in the six-year high school. It is based on six fifty- minute periods per day.
Program for Six-Year High School
Periods
Subject
Grades
per week
English
7-12
7, 8, 9-10, 11-12 each 5 20
Social Science
7-12
7, 8, 9-10, 11-12 ; 5 in 7 18
and 7; 4 in upper
Mathematics
7-12
7,8,9-10, 11-12 each 5 20
Science
8-12
3 in 8; 4 in 9; 6 in 10-11 ; 6 in 12
19
Latin
9-12
5 in 3 yrs. 15
French
9-12
5 in 3 yrs. 15
Commerce
8-12
2 in 8; 5 in 9-10; 12
5 in 11-12
Art
7-12
7, 8, 9 one each ; 10
10-12 5 or more
Music
7-12
6
P. A. Boys
7-12
7,8, 9-8; 10-12 5 13
P. A. Girls
7,8, 9-8; 10-12 5
13
Phys. Educ.
7-12
1 period per day
12
B and G separate
It contains all the elements of a good high-school program, regardless of the size of the school. In accordance with best practice, it offers opportunities for children with differing abilities and interests to "major" or specialize in various fields-college preparatory, commerce, art, music, science,
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or practical arts. The offering of this program would re- quire a minimum of seven teachers, who would need to be selected carefully to teach various combinations of subjects. This compares with the equivalent of three and one-fifth full- time teachers at present employed in the upper three grades. It should be noted here, however, that the junior high school is now understaffed. More effective utilization of children's time, as well as greater specialization in subjects and greater emphasis on certain subjects for certain pupils, could be se- cured by the addition of another teacher. The figure seven, therefore, compares with four or a little more in the present school, since seven teachers in a six-year high school could do as effective work as four in the present junior high school grades.
This program would be the same as that offered in the Waltham and Concord high schools with the following ex- ceptions : Waltham offers two years of German, three of Spanish, one of Astronomy and Geology, and several com- mercial subjects not feasible in Lincoln. Concord offers a richer course in practical arts, both for girls and for boys, than could economically be offered in Lincoln. No strictly vocational course could be offered. Moreover, in a seven- teacher six-year high school in Lincoln not all subjects could be offered each year. One year, for instance, geometry could be offered, the next year algebra, and likewise for other sub- jects. This, however, is no great disadvantage, since the in- struction should be largely on an individual basis which is itself an advantage over the class recitation methods used in the larger schools. The organization of special sections for college preparatory students would not be feasible. Reli- ance would have to be placed upon individual work with the teacher for the extra or different work needed by these pupils. It is fair to say that the program which could be offered would be not inferior to the program now offered in Waltham and Concord. The problem of getting competent teachers
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to teach various combinations of subjects would be a trouble- some though not impossible one. With an excellent staff results might be as good or better than under present ar- rangements.
The total number in a six-year high school would be but little over a hundred. The distribution of pupils in grades seven to twelve inclusive this fall and last fall are given in the table below :
Number of Pupils Enrolled in Grades Seven to Twelve
Grade
Oct. 1, 1929
Sept. 8, 1930
7
36
23
8
18
33
9
17
13
10
9
15
11
14
9
12
13
14
Total
107
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With so few pupils the high school would be a small high school, as these schools go in this section of the country. The pupils would not secure the broadening influences com- ing from contact with other pupils and larger groups. On the other hand, some children who do not go on to high school in Waltham or Concord might continue if they could attend in Lincoln. A comparison of the lower grade enroll- ments with the high school grade enrollments shows that somewhere about forty or fifty per cent of the children leave Lincoln schools before completing high school. Just how · much a six-year high school in Lincoln would do to correct this, it is impossible to say, but undoubtedly the distance of high-school facilities from their homes is one factor bearing upon this early elimination from school.
From a financial point of view a good six-year high school would be somewhat more costly than the present arrange-
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ment. In 1929 high school transportation cost $2,252.70, high school tuition $5,978.43, making a total of $8,231.13. The state reimbursement on account of high school trans- portation was $2,033.04. The net cost of high school to Lincoln was therefore $6,198.09.
Under a six-year high school plan the cost of three addi- tional teachers,* at $2,000 each, would be $6,000. The state reimbursement would not exceed $600. The cost of trans- portation would be extra, with no state reimbursement. There would also be the costs of maintenance, operation, capital, and interest occasioned by the larger building needed. The total cost of high school education under this plan would probably approach $8,500 to $9,000, making the plan cost from $1,300 to $1,800 more than the present plan.
It is obvious, however, that as Lincoln grows it will not be long before the balance will be in the opposite direction. With a population of 1,042 in 1920, of 1,306 in 1925, and of 1,497 in 1930 it is certain that before many years the town may be large enough to support a six-year high school. How soon this growth will materialize depends largely upon eco- nomic conditions, good roads, the breaking up of large es- tates, and the activities of real estate men. The lesson to be drawn is that any school built now should be so planned that additions to it are practical, beautiful, and inexpensive in the not-too-distant future.
To sum up, it does not seem wise to recommend at this time a six-year high school for Lincoln. The number of children is too small. There is distinct value to Lincoln children in attending the larger schools of Waltham and Concord because of the broader contacts and acquaintances they make. The cost of a local six-year high school, while not excessive, is greater than under the present plan. It should be added, however, that the Town would not make
* Three is taken as the number of extra teachers needed for the six-year high school because the town needs one more teacher in any case.
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a mistake should it decide to proceed with a six-year school at once.
The question has been raised as to advisability of dis- continuing the ninth grade in the local schools. One of the arguments advanced is that the educational training af- forded in the Waltham and Concord schools would be superior in scope and variety to that provided locally. The program in the Lincoln ninth grade is satisfactory in scope with the exception of opportunities now offered in practical arts. With the addition of another teacher and with needed facilities provided in a new building, the offering for grade nine will be as broad as is desirable. Were the school ten times its present size there is no subject which should be offered in grade nine that does not now appear. Small classes will permit of very effective work. That this is a fact at present is attested by the good records of those who enter grade ten in Waltham and Concord.
If grade nine is discontinued, there is strong likelihood of the offering in grades seven and eight returning to that of the traditional eight-year elementary school. This would be very unfortunate. Certainly there is but scant possibility of the town's providing the facilities listed if the ninth grade is removed. Yet these things-the assembly room, play room, larger and better equipped practical arts shops, li- brary, etc .- are needed by the seventh and eighth grades as well as by the ninth. If these facilities are furnished as is suggested, there is every possibility of the offering in Lincoln being superior to that in Waltham and Concord. The num- bers in the junior-high-school grades, 65-73 pupils, is suffi- cient to provide a good program on a fairly economical basis. Little saving would result by eliminating the ninth grade as the cost of tuition would offset the instructional cost in Lincoln. Much may be said also in favor of keeping children of this age in local schools, even though that school is a consolidated school to which the pupils must be trans-
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ported. It does not seem wise, therefore, to recommend the elimination of the ninth grade at Lincoln.
There remains now only the discussion of the proposed new building and of the disposition of the South School. The logical plan to follow appears to be to build, adjacent to the present building a new school unit to house grades seven, eight and nine. This move would free three class- rooms in the Center School in two of which the two classes in the South School could be placed. The South School should not be given up entirely as a school site, but should be held if possible as a site for a future elementary school.
The new junior high school should be so constructed that additions can readily be made thereto, as it is probable that in the future it will need to be used as a six-year high school or at least as a part of a much larger junior high school. Its location next to the tract set aside for a playground is ideal. No other location should be considered. The initial building should contain the following units :
2 Classrooms 23 ft. x 291/2 ft. x 12 ft. Science Room 23 ft. x 32 ft. x 12 ft.
(To be used as a regular classroom) Library-Study 23 ft. x 291/2 ft. x 12 ft.
Practical Arts Room (Boys) 23 ft. x 45 ft.
Practical Arts Room (Girls) 23 ft. x 45 ft.
Conference Room 23 ft. x 11 ft.
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