USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > Duxbury > Town annual report for the town of Duxbury for the year ending 1890-1899 > Part 43
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Attest :
(Signed)
H. E. SMITH, Clerk Board of Trustees.
There have been some changes in the text books for the past year. The American Word Book takes the place of Harrington's speller, and the Natural Geography is used in- stead of Barnes's Geography. The change was made with- out a great expense to the town, as the old spellers and geographies were nearly worn out, thus necessitating the purchase of a large number of new books, even if we had not made a change at this time.
We have continued paying the tuition of the children of the High School to the town of Pembroke for the past year, thereby saving quite an expense to the town, and also giving the children the benefit of a successful and experienced teacher.
At the last annual meeting the Committee on Consolida- tion of Schools asked for further time. As Mr. Thomas H.
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H. Knight had resigned, Mr. Herbert E. Walker was ap- pointed in his place. Later Mr. Laurence Bradford sent in his resignation leaving a committee of six, consisting of H. E. Walker, Wendell Phillips, Thaddeus Chandler and the School Committee to consider the matter. The committee organized by choosing Herbert E. Walker, chairman, and William J. Alden, Jr., secretary. At the time of writing this report no conclusions have been arrived at which would be definite enough to present to the citizens of the town.
The latest law in regard to taking the school census reads as follows :-
"The School Committee of all towns and cities shall an- nually ascertain and record the names, ages and such other information as may be designated by the State Board of Education, of all persons between five and fifteen years of age. The first census under the provision of this section shall be taken in 1899." Heretofore it has been customary for the Selectmen to attend to that duty in connection with their duties as assessors, but under the new law it must be taken by the School Committee in the month of September. Messrs. Barstow and Alden were appointed to take the school census.
The amount received by them, instead of being entered in the town report as a separate charge, has been added to the amount received by them for visiting schools, etc., thereby making the amount for service somewhat larger than usual.
We feel that in some cases the teachers have not the sup- port of the parents that they should have. This is absolutely necessary in order to get the best results. Visit'our schools, note the work being done, become acquainted with the new methods introduced by our teachers, who are trying to in- terest and instruct our children. Interest yourselves in our schools and thus help the teachers and children, and our schools will be better for your assistance.
In conclusion we would thank the citizens of the town for their readiness to vote the sums of money necessaryto carry on the school work successfully. It will be our aim in the future, as it has been in the past, to expend judiciously the money entrusted to our care, and to use our best endeavors for the improvement of our public school system.
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Appended to this report will be found the reports of the Principal of Partridge Academy and the Superintendent of Schools.
The committee would make the following recommenda- tions for the ensuing year :
Support of schools, $4,000 00
School incidentals, 800 00
Repair of school-houses, 400 00
Salary of Superintendent,
250 00
NATHAN T. SOULE,
WILLIAM J. ALDEN, JR., HENRY BARSTOW, School Committee of Duxbury.
SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT.
To the School Committee.
I hereby submit to you my annual report, which is the fifth since the beginning of my term of office.
I have not deemed it necessary this year to publish an en- tire list of attendance statistics, as was done last year.
The chief purpose of such statistics was to show to par- ents just what sort of records their children were making, that, if they were good, they might endeavor to keep them so, and if poor, that they might, if so disposed, take steps to make them better.
The first list which I wish to make in this report contains the names, three in number, of those who have been perfect in their attendance for the whole year, as follows : Ina F. Arnold. Ella W. Hodgdon.
Myra C. Shepard.
The second of these three pupils, Ella W. Hodgdon, not having been absent, tardy nor excused for a period of two years, heads the records with one that is enviable.
Myra C. Shepard is second, with only one day of absence in two years, with no tardiness and no excusals to her credit.
Ina F. Arnold stands third with one day of absence, one case of tardiness and no excusals.
I hope this list may be much longer another year.
The second list is one containing the names of those who have been perfect in attendance for one term at the Academy and Grammar School.
There are two from the academy in this class.
Lena M. Chesley.
Mary E. Delano.
From the Grammar School-
Walter R. Amesbury.
Alice E. DeWolf.
Lizzie A. Hastings.
Raymond F. Campbell. Walter E. S. Frazar. LeRoy M. Peterson. Olive L. Wadsworth.
The third list contains the names of all who have obtained an average attendance of ninety-eight per cent. for the entire
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year, except those whose names have been included in the first or second list, and is as follows :-
Bernice Arnold.
Margaret Lincoln.
Leonard A. Baker.
Cora E. Bates.
Stanley S. Bates. George Bliss.
Grace Bliss.
John H. Bonney.
Samuel C. Bonney.
Louise R. Boomer.
Ralph A. Cushing.
Frances Dreghorn.
Bessie P. Fish.
Carl Freeman.
Bert Glass.
Corrinna Glass.
Beulah H. Winsor.
Mabel Glass.
Ethel M. Winsor. Ada R. Josselyn.
Gertrude Glover.
Gordon Meserve. Alton W. Peterson. Ethel B. Peterson. Paul C. Peterson. Percy L. Peterson. Chipman J. Rich. Harold A. Sampson. Gertrude O. Sinnott. Jessie M. Sinnott. Charity R. Stearns. Susie Tanımett. Catherine Wadsworth. Christopher Wadsworth.
Maude G. Hunt.
The attendance for the last year, in some schools, as well as in many pupils, has shown a decided improvement over that of last year, due very largely, I believe, to the efforts of the teachers.
Parents, of course, have the greatest influence in com- pelling the attendance of their children upon school, when it comes to that. But teachers have the greatest influence in creating a desire in their pupils to improve what opportuni- ties there may be in regular attendance. And right here is where many teachers fail.
Other things being equal, those children whose interest in school is at a low ebb, are the very children upon whom the most pressure should be brought to bear, and to whom the inducements. the advantages and the allurements of an edu- cation must be presented in the clearest and most attractive light.
The other class, those whom interest in school work is keen, may be let alone so far as this feature of the teacher's work is concerned.
The schools referred to above as having improved in at- tendance have done so because the teachers have been alive to these facts.
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Truancy, so far as it has come to my knowledge, has been reduced to almost nothing. The few cases which have occurred are such as could hardly be otherwise than expected among so large a number of children.
But with this class the teachers are laboring faithfully. If the parents of some pupils would look a little closer to the welfare of their children there would be less absenteeism, and of the consequent loss of interest in school work.
With this class of pupils lies the greatest work of the teachers. Her success in a greater or less degree must be measured by the results of her work with those whose in- terest requires constant stimulating.
"You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink," is a truth which may well be applied to the teach- ing of children.
A teachable frame of mind must first be produced before satisfactory work can be done.
Let teachers once persuade their pupils that school is the pleasantest and most profitable place in which to spend their time, then attendance will take care of itself.
Grading of the Schools.
A great deal of criticism has been indulged in during the last two or three years relating to the grading of our schools.
Some say that the present system is like a machine through which the children must pass, the effort being made throughout the whole school course to produce the same results with each individual pupil.
Perhaps the system is a machine and that its whole pur- pose is to produce one and the same thing in each pupil. If so, then that one thing is a moderate amount of education, such as life for centuries back has determined to be necessary for the well being of all.
If good clay, loam and sand be passed through a brick press, the fact that one comes out a serviceable brick which will withstand the storms of generations without losing its form, the second with an imprint which a few drops of water will totally obliterate, while the third will come out a use- less heap of dirt, with nothing to indicate the process through which it has passed, is no fault of the press. Neither is it the fault of the system of grading in our schools that all the pupils are not able to attain the same degree of proficiency.
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The difference in the pupils themselves makes this result in- evitable.
While the aim underlying and behind all our school work is the building up of a good character, the specific work which each pupil is required to perform is what educators the world over have regarded necessary for all, as the foundation of a life, universally helpful and particularly use- ful to the individual.
The work of the schools for the past year has, I believe, taken some steps in advance over that of preceding years. Perhaps in no branch is more improvement manifest than in reading. I believe that in general the teachers have made earnest efforts to raise the standard of excellence in this study. The results have been very gratifying, because in many ways this subject is the most difficult in which to ob- tain even a moderate degree of perfection.
It has been evident in the last year that teachers have entered into this part of their work more earnestly than ever before.
They have realized that the aims of reading were first to secure a mastery of words; second, to develop the power of extracting thought from the printed page; third, to develop the power of reading aloud in such a manner as to express the exact thought of the author to those who listen; and fourth, that which in many ways is the most important of all, to stimulate an interest in reading and assist in the formation of the reading habit.
Too much credit cannot be given the teachers for the amount of good reading, outside of regular school work, they have secured from their pupils.
The libraries of the schools have been read and re-read, while the public library has been extensively drawn upon to meet the demands which have been created and encouraged by the teachers in their pupils.
But within the school, and as a part of the regular school work, the improvement is especially marked. The reading in the primary grades has always, as a rule, been excellent, so that in these grades the improvement is not so marked as in the grammar grades. where because children seem to manifest greater diffidence it is more difficult to secure good work.
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The mastery of the words, the interpretation and, lastly, the expression of thought, has always shown careful direc- tion on the part of the teachers, and thorough preparation on the part of the pupils.
The belief that the work will go on in the good way it is now started leads me to believe that the opinion enter- tained by many, that better readers were produced under the methods of fifty years ago than are produced now, may be entirely reversed.
The general adoption of the Metcalf Series in language has done much to strengthen and unify the work in this line.
Excellent work has been done by the teachers in develop- ing the power in their pupils to express themselves on paper. This seems more marked in the primary grades than in the grammar. Not that the grammar teachers have been less faithful, but because the ability to do anything exceptionally well would stand out more prominently in a very young pupil than in one who is older, and of whom we naturally ex- pect more.
I have in my possession letters from a complete second grade, in one school, thirteen in all, every one of which is not only written legibly and neatly, but with very few errors, and all showing a good degree of originality.
These letters were shown to one of Boston's most suc- cessful teachers of the second grade. This teacher has fifty- six pupils, all of that grade.
She examined the letters very carefully and remarked : "I could not get thirteen of such letters from the whole fifty- six in my room."
This coming as it did and from the source it did, ought to recommend somewhat the merits of our own schools.
With all due respects to those of other communities I wish to say that I have carefully watched our schools, and com- pared the work done in them, by critically studying those pupils who have come to us from other towns and cities, and have found that, with one or two exceptions, these pupils have not been able to maintain a creditable standing, grade for grade, in our schools. This might appear conceited and due to a vivid imagination, were it not for the fact that many of our pupils when they have gone to other towns, have not only maintained a creditable standing in grades
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where our discharge cards placed them, but have in a short time received double promotion.
In general, the language work including grammar, con- position and penmanship of pupils from the larger centers of population, has excelled the work of our pupils. But in arithmetic, geography and history, we are doing fully as good, if not better work than they.
Such indications, therefore, of improverent in the lan- guage and reading as have been noted, lead me to believe that these, too, will before long, take their place in efficiency, alongside of the other fundamental subjects, in which our pupils seem to excel.
In the subject of arithmetic, effort is made from the very first, to make it as practical as possible.
There is a popular idea that this, with its allied subject of book-keeping, is the one fundamental study, and the only one absolutely necessary. To use an old expression, if a boy can "figure" or "cipher" well, he possesses all the knowl- edge that is absolutely necessary to enable him to take his place as an average intellectual being, according to this idea.
To suppose that the ability to "figure" is the whole aim of teaching arithmetic is to perceive only a small part of its utility. Its purpose is two-fold. Aside from the useful knowledge it may give, it must cultivate exact reasoning and mechanical operation.
Special effort has been made therefore to combine practi- cal every-day work with exact reasoning and accurate opera- tion. The teachers have in all their work required these elements in their pupils, with the added qualification that all written work must be neat. in order to be acceptable.
One element of the work, I believe, deserves special men- tion. There is a growing feeling among school workers, that not enough emphasis has, in the past few years, been placed upon so called mental arithmetic. But in our schools this feature has been given its proper time and place in the regular work. Its effects are evident. Of course, some teachers have made a better showing in this than others, from the fact that they have gone about it more systematical- ly, and followed it up more persistently.
The rapidity with which the minds of pupils can be train- ed to make mathematical calculations, is surprising, and I
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have no doubt that in a visit to some of our schools, this feature of the work would amaze some of our citizens who pride themselves on their own ability to perform mental operations rapidly.
Geography has been made more interesting than ever by the methods of instruction now being used by the teachers. As it is now most successfully taught, geography, to the pu- pils, is not a collection of dry facts, but a real living subject.
A study, as it is, of the earth as the home of man, it has been made to enlist not only the interest, but the enthusiasm of the pupils, by the manner in which the teachers have con- ducted their recitations.
In some schools the pupils have become thoroughly ac- quainted with the surface and drainage, the animal and vegetable life, and the political and social life of the different countries studied, by a system of imaginary journeys to those countries.
As an illustration of how well this method fixes the points in mind, perhaps a sample question taken from one of the last examinations may not be amiss. It is this: What peculiarities are there in the animal and vegetable life of Australia ? While there is nothing vital in possessing or not possessing the knowledge included in the correct answer to this question, still a correct answer would indicate some- thing regarding the thoroughness of the instruction.
Ninety-seven per cent. of the pupils taking the test made in effect, this reply : Many of the animals carry their young in pouches. Many of the trees shed their bark instead of their leaves. Many of the flowers are odorless.
These answers may or may not tell much. But the high standing of the pupils in this study leads me to feel that teachers and pupils alike, are alive to the pleasure and profit there is in it.
Taught as it has been, much knowledge of history has also of necessity been acquired. The advantage of this sort of correlation lies in the fact that the pupils are entirely uncon- scious of it.
The history as suggested above has followed hand in hand with the work in geography.
The work done in grades, one to six inclusive, is almost wholly of a supplementary nature, and is closely correlated
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not only with the geography, but also with the language and reading.
The large amount of written work required of the pupils in these grades is made to count in language, writing and spelling.
No attempt is made to introduce any regular text book into the work of these grades in the belief that knowledge coming from a great variety of sources would tend to hold the interest of the pupils to a greater extent.
The definite work of the seventh year, in history, is practi- cally to cover the period from the time of Columbus to the end of the Revolutionary War, while that of the eighth is to begin at that point and bring the work up to the present time.
The old idea, judging from old text books, that the teach- ing of history was concerned only with a rehearsal of the incidents of war, and other national and international diffi- culties, has been partially supplanted by a more rational idea that school history should also deal largely with the growth of social, civil and religious institutions.
Today we try to leave out as much as possible of the de- tails of the blood and carnage of war, which cannot, under the best of teaching, increase in any pupil the love of the true, the beautiful, and the good, and deal only with causes and effects, and with a few of the most important and vital events which led to that war resulting as it did.
Pupils have been taught in this subject, to fix the most important events thoroughly in their minds, and around these to cluster as many as possible of contemporaneous events, having an historical, literary, or social value.
In this way, by the association of one event with others, pupils retain with little or no effort, knowledge which tends to round out and build up a strong character.
In concluding my report, I wish to express the hope that the committee chosen two years ago, regarding new school accommodations, will report something in the line of pro- gress, and that its report will be favorably acted upon. There is an urgent need of a new building. Why not take a progressive step and have one school where we now have five ?
Let us advance with the age.
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I desire to thank the committee for the cordial support and hearty co-operation which they have accorded me in the past year, and the teachers for the manner in which they have carried out all my plans, and aided me in my work. Respectfully submitted. EDGAR LINCOLN WILLARD, Superintendent of Schools.
January 1, 1900.
TRUANT OFFICER'S REPORT.
Whole number of cases investigated, 9
Negligence of parents,
6
Actual number of truants, 3
Respectfully submitted. EDGAR LINCOLN WILLARD.
January 1, 1900.
Truant Officer.
PARTRIDGE ACADEMY.
To the School Committee of Duxbury.
GENTLEMEN :- Following the custom of several years, a report of Partridge Academy for the year 1899 is respect- fully submitted.
At the beginning it may be well to explain the names given to the different classes in the academy. The lowest class is called the grammar class, because the pupils take the work of the highest class of a grammar school in a well or- ganized system of public schools. The second, third, and fourth year classes are called respectively the junior, middle, and senior classes, the same names having been in use when the course in the Academy was three years, instead of four,
as at present. The subjects studied in the junior, middle, and senior classes are those generally taken in the high schools of the state. It will be seen from the above state- ment that while the Academy has a four years' course like most high schools, but three years are given to high school studies. Those pupils who have completed the course and return for a fifth year are called ex-seniors, a name that has also been handed down. As there is a considerable pro- portion of each graduating class who thus remain in the school, it seems very desirable that the course for all should include four years of high school work, instead of three. If the pupils completed the grammar school studies before en- tering the Academy, the four years of the course could be given to high school work. The same result could also be obtained by making the course in the Academy five years,- one year of grammar school, and four of high school work. The latter plan would make it necessary to employ another teacher for a part of the time at least.
With the opening of the fall term, some minor changes in the programme of studies were made. Instead of hav- ing both algebra and arithmetic in the junior year, it was decided to have the pupils take algebra; business arithmetic to be taken later in the course in connection with book-keep-
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ing. While this was an experiment, it is hoped that in fu- ture arithmetic may be completed at the end of the gram- mar year, with the exception noted above. In order to give more time to chemistry and physics, the teaching of these subjects alternate years has been begun. Doubtless there are some objections to this plan, but there are also de- cided advantages in it.
The changes in text-books made in the other schools of the town were also made in the grammar class, but few changes have been made in the books of the three higher classes, although later editions have been substituted in some instances.
Early in the fall term drawing was introduced with Miss Harriet J. Ford, lately of the Lowell School of Design, as teacher. Considering the short time that the pupils have had instruction in this subject, the work has been very creditable. It is hoped that drawing, as taught in the best schools of the state, may continue to be one of the subjects taught in the school.
From my experience in the promotion of hundreds of pupils in the public schools, I am convinced that it is no kindness to any pupil to assign him work for whose success- ful accomplishment he has not had sufficient preparation, to say nothing of the effect upon the school, and, therefore, in making the promotions at the end of the school year in June, it was the aim to place each pupil where it seemed best for him to be, assuming that he was to remain in the school.
While the per cent. of attendance for 1899 is no higher than for the preceding year, the attendance during the latter part of the year was much better than for the corresponding months in 1898.
The appearance of the school room has been much im- proved by tinting the walls, and it is hoped that the remain- ing rooms of the building may be renovated, and the grounds put in better condition before the end of another year.
In closing this brief report, I wish to acknowledge the help and sympathy of the School Committee and Superin- tendant of Schools during the year past.
HERBERT E. WALKER.
·
SCHOOL STATISTICS, 1899.
Districts .
SCHOOLS.
TEACHERS.
POST OFFICE ADDRESS.
Number Enrolled*
of Age .
Number Under 5 Years
14 Years of Age . . .
Number Between 8 and
Number Over 15 Years
Average Membership . .
Average Attendance
Per cent. of Attendance .
Per cent. of Attendance
High
( Partridge Academy
Herbert E. Walker . Hannah D. Symmes
Millbrook
49
0
2
29
44.
39.7
90.2
90.8
Grammar
Nathan T. Soule .
Duxbury .
27
0
19
2
25.4
24.1
94.8
95.5
1
Village
Florence A. Chaffin
Duxbury .
38
0
27
0
25.5
23.9
93.7
95.8
Duxbury .
33
0
25
2
25.6
23.8
92.9
90.2
2
South Duxbury
Charlotte A. Tower Nellie F. Randall
Kingston .
24
0
16
0
15.3
12.8
83.6
88.6
4
Tarkiln .
Ida M. Raymond
Kingston .
25
1
14
1
19.
17.5
92.1
92.4
5
Ashdod
Ellen W. Downey
·
.
Kingston .
16
0
11
1
12.7
11.2
88.2
86.7
6
North Duxbury
Susie S. Boylston
North Duxbury
23
1
20
0
15.9
13.6
85.5
89.8
7
Millbrook
Elizabeth B. Wadsworth
Duxbury .
35
2
28
0
24.7
21.4
86.6
65.3
8
Point .
Lola W. Randall
North Duxbury
38
0
24
0
30.7
26.5
86.3
92.4
308
4
186
35
239.
214.
89.5
90.7
* Figures in this column show the number of pupils enrolled that have not previously attended any other school in town,
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4
2005 057
1898.
.
·
.
South Duxbury
3
Island Creek
.
·
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