USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Lincoln > Town Report on Lincoln 1951-1955 > Part 10
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In the early part of the year a great deal of effort on the part of the School Committee had to do with the problem of addi- tional classrooms. In this connection meetings were held with the Lincoln School Association, with Mr. John Marshall of the State School Building Assistance Commission, and later with our own School Building Committee. In one instance it was necessary to appear before the Committee on Appropriations at the State House to further our cause. Thanks to the co- operation of all we are glad to report that the addition to the school building is under way. It is hoped that we may be able to occupy it, in part at least, by next September. In the meantime the north basement room at the Center School, which was the old shop, has been renovated. This with the small library room on the second floor of the same building provided two additional rooms last fall. All classrooms were comfort- ably filled when school opened in September. Next fall, how-
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ever, the incoming kindergarten class will have 63 children according to the present count.
During the year the School Committee attended meetings with the Committees of Wayland, Weston, and Sudbury to discuss prospects for a Regional High School. This is think- ing into the future, and all discussion was non-committal. Such meetings keep us posted, however, on current thinking about this problem as the bulge in school enrollment approaches the secondary school level.
Members of the Committee, with the Superintendent, attended several meetings of the New England School Develop- ment Council, of which we are a member, and the Massachu- setts Area II School Committees. Discussions at these gather- ings of school administrators were helpful and stimulating. In some ways they were comforting, too, in that they showed almost all communities struggling with the same problems now confronting us here in Lincoln.
As for the 1952 Budget, it is not surprising that the trend continues upward. We are glad to report, however, that the increase is not as great as that of last year. Two new items over which we have limited control, Instruction and Tuition, account for 84% of the Budget increase. In 1952 there will be three additional teachers to carry out our program. As for Tuition, at Concord it has advanced moderately, at Weston considerably.
In conclusion, may we stress that our program is a good one but not an extravagant one. Extra dollars are being spent for good teaching, the crux of any educational endeavor. Our salaries are not out of line, however, with those paid by the better schools in nearby towns. Additional facilities under construction at the present time place our school plant on a most favorable comparative basis with the new and improved school facilities of our neighbors. The School Budget is rela- tively large, necessarily but not unduly so. A sound school program is our first concern and this we are endeavoring to achieve with due adherence to prudent fiscal policies.
Respectfully submitted,
MALCOLM L. DONALDSON, Chairman, Lincoln School Committee.
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REPORT OF THE SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS
It is a pleasure to submit my fourth annual report for the Lincoln Public Schools, it being the sixty-first in the series of superintendents' annual reports.
Personnel
Several changes in teaching personnel during the past year were the result of resignations, revision and expansion of the school program.
After the holidays, Mrs. Aldrich resigned to assume family responsibilities and for the same reason Mrs. Hathaway left at the close of the school year. In the former instance we were most fortunate, at that time of year, in securing the services of Mrs. Flagg, a teacher of many successful years of experience. Mrs. Hathaway's grade three position was taken by Mrs. Robitaille. Miss Lyke left in March and we were again most fortunate in finding a very satisfactory replacement in Miss Zartarian. Later in the year, Mrs. Gunther, who was finish- ing out the year at a special job, left us when it became evident that there would be a reorganization in program that would no longer require her services. Miss Van Houten resigned during the summer when, after her marriage, her husband was trans- ferred to Connecticut. Mrs. Warren replaced her in the Kindergarten. Mrs. Heffron and Mrs. Harvey left, at the close of the school year, after their husbands had completed their graduate pursuits at Harvard. They were replaced by Mrs. D. Booth and Miss Gavel. Mrs. Kahn and Mr. Outten also left at the close of the school year on their decisions to make their training and experiences available to private schools. Their positions were taken by Mrs. Weaver and Mr. Johnson. Miss Wilson was appointed to a second grade when Miss John- son was given the assignment in teaching reading to the entire second grade. Mr. Berger was an addition to a constantly growing staff.
This rounds out changes in personnel during the fiscal year 1951, with one exception. Mr. Maher resigned as custodian
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at Center School to return to the Town Highway Department. We were fortunate, indeed, to find a young man of considerable energy and a citizen of the Town to assume these responsibili- ties at Center School, Mr. Anthony Ciraso.
Enrollment
The rapidly increasing enrollment is an old song bearing a certain degree of triteness but much truth. With the comple- tion of the additional classrooms and the combined auditorium- gymnasium (auditasium to coin a new term) the Town can take considerable pleasure in the prospect of having its school facilities designated as "adequate" for the next near decade.
With no complicating formulae, and allowing a room or so at Center for indoor physical activities, enrollment predictions borne out by actual fact to date will readily disclose that the school population will be comfortably housed until the six hundred mark is reached.
Even this will require some reorganizing of schedules since a school population of that size denotes a need for more than two sessions or sections of Kindergarten not to mention other large classes which must follow. Let us not forget that 1952 is the year of the "great migration," when over sixty children are expected to enroll in the Kindergarten.
Enrollment figures by age, grade and sex are shown later on in this report.
School Organization
Several changes, effected during the year 1951, have tended to produce an harmonious environment at Center School. Not the least of these were the appointments of an administrative assistant and a clerk-receptionist to this building. Solidarity has improved from an organizational viewpoint and communi- cations, both within the schools and within the community, have improved tremendously.
Early in the school year it was recognized that our Grade I children were likely to be somewhat handicapped in their basic reading program due to large classes. It was midyear before
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an experienced primary teacher could be found and the grade further divided. The results did not appear too satisfactory.
In the fall, it was sought to solve the problem of an unusually large Grade II and to improve the reading program at the same time. Consequently the grade was divided into two large homerooms. Departing from the usual plan, the teaching of reading was centered with one teacher and the homeroom teachers carried out the remainder of the usual grade work. While a teacher under these circumstances could not get to know the children individually as well as she would like, never- theless, greater emphasis on pupils' reading needs could be met with greater facility and greater intensity. This has proved true. Testing will not be done for some weeks, but it is the general consensus of opinion that the results will bear out our present contention that there has been decided improvement.
In connection with the Grade II reading program, reading is getting emphasis in other areas. The dismissal of Grade I pupils twice weekly, has served the physical needs of the major- ity of those children. Also this plan has made it possible for Grade I teachers to give special attention, twice weekly, to those few who have need for special help due to absence or in- adequate readiness adjustment.
At the various upper levels, particularly needy pupils are receiving remediation and development in basic reading skills and spelling. Reference to some of this work is made else- where in this report. Suffice it to say at this point that the program readily bears out the need referred to when a utility teacher was requested at Town Meeting two years ago. It is interesting to note that the remediation and guidance phases of the program are being emphasized. The use of the utility teacher as a substitute teacher has become highly minimized. It is hoped that the remediation needs may also diminish and the guidance and evaluative processes in this plan will receive due emphasis.
Other aspects of the program are reported elsewhere by those specifically charged with their responsibilities.
In order to carry on with the current program developed on existing policies it will be necessary to appoint three additional
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teachers in 1952. These have been provided for in the 1952 Budget.
Your schools are in a more enviable position generally than they have been in many years. Program offerings have been expanded, class size has been brought to acceptable standards, so-called extra curricular activities have been incorporated into the regular program. Hobbies, extensive after school sports and musical opportunities are merely indicative of the progress being made. Closer and more frequent parent-teacher-com- munity contacts are developing. There has been improve- ment in transportation services, maintenance is receiving the attention of long term planning, plans designed to improve the physical and mental health of the school population are unfold- ing and even the budget, accounting and record keeping proc- esses bear signs of improvements designed to make them more useful. Though these changes have been through a slow evo- lutionary process they are arriving at the stage of fruition and 1952 should make them even more apparent.
The achievements of the past year are the results of the com- bined efforts, over several years, of community assistance, indi- vidually and severally, the results of long and tedious hours by the staff, especially the efforts of the present staff, and those in whose hands is placed the responsibility of the local educa- tional program.
I wish to thank friends of the school, teachers, custodians, bus operators, the school nurse and the office staff for the cheer - ful assumption of responsibilities assigned them. It is a pleas- ure also to express my appreciation to the members of the School Committee for their friendly help, guidance and co- operation throughout the year.
Respectfully submitted,
ANDREW J. MANGES, Superintendent of Schools.
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Art
To the Superintendent of Schools:
The following report covers the art program for grades one through eight from March 15, 1951 to December 31, 1951.
The objectives in this art program are basically the same for all grades, although the degree of importance is varied. Through various methods the following have been encouraged :
1. Expression - opportunities for self-expression to develop imagination and observation essential in enlarging and enriching educational horizons - desire to look further into art materials.
2. Proper use and care of tools.
3. Sound critical judgment as common meeting ground in individual and group work. The individual is helped to understand, enjoy and appreciate materials, organization and meaning of his work and the work of others.
4. Art in relation to the individual and society.
Throughout the primary grades we have encouraged the children to express themselves freely. In order that freedom of expression can always be maintained, there are no rigid or mechanical rules. Individual help is given as the need arises, but again expression of their ideas and figuring out their own problems are brought out by thought provoking questions.
We have attempted to stimulate the children to be as imagi- native as possible by various means. In individual work opportunity for self-expression was enhanced by recounting everyday incidents, reading stories or poems and listening to music. Murals and decorating the room for the holidays or seasons of the year were worthwhile projects for group partici- pation. Media, such as crayon, chalk, posterpaint, clay, con- struction paper and fingerpaint, were used to give each child experiences in working with different materials and opportuni- ties for releasing emotional reactions.
In this area too, we encourage the beginning of constructive criticism through the evaluation of others' work, for as early as the second grade, some children become aware of realistic prob-
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lems and are apt to discourage a classmate by some remark such as, "That doesn't look like a horse." By emphasizing such factors as (1) are we making our story or design fit the paper, (2) are we using the right colors and values for our pic- ture, and (3) are we using and taking care of our materials properly, the children are forgetting petty remarks involv- ing realism.
The problem of expression is relatively negligible in the primary grades, for the children are usually imaginative, free in their actions and find great delight in manipulating mater- ials. But in the fourth and fifth grades, as the children be- come more conscious and critical of their own and the efforts of others, expression becomes a bit more inhibited and individ- ual help is necessary. Keeping drawings large and filling the paper receive much emphasis at this level. We have en- couraged the free handling of art materials in order to help the child forget detail and concentrate on what he is trying to ex- press. Motivation is enhanced by using advanced materials such as pastel, frescole and watercolor.
In the sixth grade concentration was centered on being more imaginative, more observant and working cooperatively as a group. I found group participation poor, for each individual is unable to see his work in relation to the whole. By introduc- ing such projects involving murals, panoramas and room deco- ration this situation has been offset partially.
More emphasis was also made on the proper use of materials and factual knowledge. The desire for expression was en- couraged in addition to relating experiences and reading stories by the introduction of folding problems and working with melted crayon.
The seventh graders have been concentrating their efforts in design in order to have an understanding of the importance of design in everyday living, to develop a sense of balance, har- mony, aesthetic values in design. to develop imagination in de- signing, to develop their powers of observation and to be more discriminating. Each pupil was encouraged to develop his imagination and sense of design through various problems with construction paper, three dimensional work, and the use of string. Many of the projects we have done have shown worth-
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while results in ridding the children of inhibitions bearing on their capacities for artistic expression.
Opportunities for self-expression have also been provided, but usually such free choice of subject matter results in the students doing the same subject repeatedly. This is especially true in the upper grades. Activities in the eighth grade em- phasized color, composition and design involving murals, post- ers and drawings with watercolor, crayon, pencil, pastel and construction paper. Here the problem of being imaginative appears most acute and class instruction, of necessity, becomes increasingly individual.
Lengthening the period for art instruction, at most grade levels this year, has been extremely advantageous to teacher and class. It is hoped that this plan of scheduling may be spread to include the entire art program next year.
Among the numerous projects completed it must be noted that the "stained-glass windows" project of the fifth grade has commanded the most attention and elicited the highest com- mendations from visitors, parents and passersby. Excellent work is being done at all levels, not all of which can be as well exhibited as the "stained-glass windows." This may be attested to by those who have seen the numerous classroom murals, paper sculpturing and autumn scenes and the story of Columbus painted on the vast glazed areas of the main foyer.
Respectfully submitted,
Supervisor of Art.
Remediation and Guidance
To the Superintendent of Schools:
The ultimate goal of a tests and measurements program is to provide the school with data sufficiently comprehensive and objective to give a picture of the strengths and weaknesses of the student body and thus guide the improvement of its pro- gram. To this end the California Progressive Achievement tests, which are designed to measure the extent of pupil mastery in the fundamentals, were administered to the total school pop- ulation during the last two weeks of May, 1951. For the most
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part the students' achievement harmonized with available measures of their abilities. Figures show that three-fifths of the student body attained a percentile rank above 70 and four- fifths of them scored above the 50 percentile or median rank. It is of interest also to note that only 212% of the students fell below the 15 percentile mark whereas 17% achieved the 90 per- centile rank or higher. Approximately the same standard' of achievement was shown in the social studies and science areas from tests given to grades VI-VIII.
An adequate judgment concerning the reliability and validity of a measuring device in a particular area. can be formed by comparing the data accumulated from many tests. Therefore, it will be a part of the testing program to retest Grades III and VI, using other well standardized mental maturity tests, the Kuhlman-Anderson and Otis Quick-Scoring, in order to have the best possible basis for predicting educational success.
Those students, sixteen in all, whose test results showed they were not doing work commensurate with their capacity are being given remedial help in reading and spelling. They meet in three separate groups for one full period each day. Re- cently, another small group of five first graders has been formed which meets for an hour and a half each afternoon.
During the fall, two groups, each comprised of fifteen pupils, met a half hour daily to do concentrated work in spelling. Tests given in December showed an average gain of 1.3 years per pupil for the thirteen weeks' work with these groups.
It is recommended that the Progressive Tests which we are now using be supplemented in grades IV-VI with Gates Read- ing Tests and in grades VII and VIII with the Cooperative Reading Tests as our present battery is primarily diagnostic and does not give the speed of comprehension.
Respectfully submitted,
Remediation and Guidance Director.
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TOWN OF LINCOLN
Music
To the Superintendent of Schools:
Our aim in the music department is to encourage every child to participate in a wide variety of worthwhile musical activities and to develop the skills necessary for such participation. Those who saw the performance of The Mikado in April wit- nessed some of the enthusiasm we are trying to generate. Every student in the sixth, seventh and eighth grades had a hand in its organization, and with a double cast and two per- formances over fifty children had singing roles. The assis- tance, too, of members of the faculty and the wholehearted contributions of members of the community were especially gratifying. This was truly a cooperative venture for the Town of Lincoln. Even as the final curtain was being drawn the children were laying plans for the next year's production. This they hope will employ the talents of even more people - students and parents.
The May Festival this spring was more satisfying than the 1950 Festival had been. On the ball field at the New School each class - kindergarten through the eighth grade - per- formed a favorite folk dance. Then parents and children, probably five hundred voices, joined in singing familiar folk songs. This was our first attempt at real community singing. Its success indicated the desirability of having many more school-town song-fests. What fun it is for the kindergarten child to realize that the songs he loves best his older brother and his parents are singing, too!
There were many opportunities for individual classes to entertain their schoolmates and parents with a demonstration of the work they had been doing. One of the best was the fourth grade's outdoor performance of Robin Hood. The children enjoyed this and are already planning similar activi- ties for next year.
Special programs for United Nations Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas were natural developments of our regular work. These holidays offer great possibilities for special work in music, but we have always been handicapped by lack of adequate facilities. We hope that with the completion of the new audi-
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torium such class and school programs will become even more valuable.
To develop musical skills and sensitivity in our music classes, the program for each grade was essentially built around the broad, interdependent areas of singing, rhythms, theory, and appreciation. Each class acquired a large repertoire of suit- able folk songs, some of which were familiar to all classes. This gave us a common ground for all-school sings. Material for rhythms and folk dances was taken from these songs or from good piano and recorded music. Aspects of musical theory and reading skills were considered in each class as the need arose. Through singing, performing, listening to others perform, and listening to carefully selected recordings we tried to develop desirable musical understanding. An effort was made whenever possible to correlate the work of each class. The eighth grade, for example, were interested in the types of people that made America. Our work in music and social studies developed into an unusual pageant for the Commence- ment program.
October saw the beginning of a much needed instrumental program. Tonettes were introduced to the third grade. Pri- vate and group lessons in piano, violin, flute, clarinet, recorder, trumpet, trombone and drum were offered at reasonable cost to children in grades four through eight. The children pro- vided their own instruments, a few being loaned by the school and members of the community. In December 67% of the students in the upper grades were studying some instrument either at home or in the school program. We were surprised and very much pleased with the enthusiasm with which the Town greeted the new program. We are trying to encourage group and individual music-making in our homes and school, and we hope that 1952 will see a notable expansion of instru- mental music in Lincoln. The school should have its own band, or orchestra and smaller ensemble groups. It is planned that these will be organized in 1952.
Respectfully submitted,
Supervisor of Music.
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TOWN OF LINCOLN
Physical Education and Sports
To the Superintendent of Schools:
Although confined in scope due to temporary limited facili- ties, a well rounded program of physical education activities was provided for the students of the Lincoln Public Schools. The program was based upon recognition of individual differ- ences, was wide in range and was adapted to meet the needs and interests of the students. The activities engaged in were based upon seasonal sports with equal use of facilities for boys and girls. Tennis, football, soccer, basketball, kickball, tumbling, softball, baseball, newcombe, badminton and volley- ball were just a few of the sports enjoyed by all. Each child had an opportunity to lead according to his merit and follow according to his willingness. It can honestly be stated that no child had "spectatoritis."
The sixth grade boys and girls met for two forty-five minute periods each week. In this younger group the basic fundamen- tals of kickball, soccer, basketball, tumbling and softball were taught and opportunities to practice the same were carried over into our intra-mural program. Individual and team sports were played with emphasis placed upon courtesy, fair play and good sportsmanship as desirable outcomes. Tennis and golf were begun. They should have more attention dur- ing the coming year.
The seventh and eighth grade boys met twice a week and participated in a varied program which included softball, foot- ball, basketball, tumbling, wrestling, boxing, dancing and base- ball. At this level a more thorough knowledge of the game, rules and strategy was taught. The development of intelligent leadership and wise followership among the players were desir- able outcomes. Our after-school sports program gave the boys a chance to practice the various skills acquired during the physical education program.
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