USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Chelmsford > Town annual report of Chelmsford 1878 > Part 2
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1 78
N. J. Duncan, labor on chimney, North Chelmsford
10 00
59 07
$477 75
Appropriation $500 00
Unexpended.
22 25
STATE AID.
Paid State Aid from March 1, 1877, to Feb. 28, 1878.
Received from State, for one year to Jan. 1, 1877
Due from State to Jan. 1, 1878 .... $468 00 Due from State for Jan. and Feb .. . 77 00
$466 00
$506 27
$30 65
127 00
70 15
39 16
6 00
23
MISCELLANEOUS EXPENSES.
Paid G. A. Parkhurst, record book. $ 6 00
M. D. Byam, survey and plan of ceme- tery at South Chelmsford. 10 25
A. H. Sheldon, labor at cemetery, North Chelmsford . 4 00
Levi Lamphere, care and repairs, Town Hall, Centre. 7 35
Stone, Huse & Co., tax book and check lists
22 50
H. B. Pierce, register of voters. 80
J. B. Emerson, stationery and postage. . 5 89
L. H. Sargent, printing blanks. 1 75
George E. Emerson, one guide board ... 1 25
J. B. Emerson, repairing fence, Centre Common . 5 10
J. C. Butterfield, rent of armory, seven months
26 67 $91 56
Appropriation $150 00
Unexpended. 58 44
COLLECTION AND ABATEMENT OF TAXES.
Paid J. A. Bartlett, abatements on list 1877, $ 90 13
J. A. Bartlett, collecting $13,949.86 tax, 1877, and $109.42 interest on the same-$14,059.28 - at 1} per cent. 175 74 $265 87 Appropriation $300 00 Unexpended. 34 13
TOWN OFFICERS AND COMMITTEES.
Paid George A. Parkhurst, services as Town Clerk
$50 10
George A. Parkhurst, expenses as Town Clerk . 10 00
E. H. Warren, services and expenses as Treasurer
60 00
60 00
Ziba Gay, services as Assessor.
15 50
J. B. Emerson, services as Assessor
45 00
J. B. Emerson, expenses as Assessor.
18 00
J. J. Hoyt, services as Assessor 67 50
E. P. Bean, services as Assessor
8 00
154 00
J. B. Emerson, services as Selectman . . . 78 00
J. B. Emerson, expenses as Selectman. .
12 00
Ziba Gay, services as Selectman
57 00
Amount carried forward. $147 00
$
$ 60 10
24
Amount brought forward $147 00
Paid Ziba Gay, expenses as Selectman
19 00
J. J. Hoyt, services as Selectman. 63 00
J. J. Hoyt, expenses as Selectman.
17 40
William Manning, services as Selectman,
20 00
E. P. Bean, services as Selectman. ..... Charles Proctor, reporting eight deaths. A. H. Sheldon, reporting ten deaths .... Dawson Pollard, reporting three deaths. James P. Emerson, services as constable, H. S. Perham and D. P. Byam, services as appraisers .
18 00
284 40
2 00
2 50
75
5 25
22 00
22 00
6 00
6 00
$591 75
Appropriation
$800 00
Unexpended
208 25
25
AGGREGATE OF APPROPRIATIONS, RECEIPTS AND EXPENDITURES.
ACCOUNTS.
Appropria- tions and Receipts.
Expendi- tures.
Excess.
Deficiency.
Collection and abatement of taxes for previous years, .
502 13
502 13
Expenses of previous years, ..
172 10
172 10
Public Schools, appropriation,.
5500 00
Bal. from School fund,
195 05
Dog tax,
228 78
Care,.
210 75
Fuel, .
432 34
118 24
School apparatus, from School fund,
12 27
12 27
School-house repairs, appropriat'n,
150 00
245 17
95 17
School supplies, appropriation, ....
100 00
80 87
19 13
School supervision, appropriation, . School books, .
300 00
296 72
3 28
235 85
235 85
Highway repairs, appropriation, ... Support of poor, appropriation, . ..
3000 00
2921 01
78 99
Proceeds of farm, ....
982 63
2850 36
632 27
750 00
691 34
58 66
1500 00
1387 82
112 18
300 00
249 53
50 47
500 00
477 75
22 25
100 00
100 00
506 27
466 00
40 27
150 00
10 00
1 50
91 56
69 94
For use of hall at Centre, . Coll'n and abate'nt of taxes, (1877) Town officers and committees, app. Errors in orders, received,
300 00
265 87
34 13
800 00
591 75
208 25
4 15
4 15
17,890 65
17,347 84
1,548 06
1,005 25
Balance,
542 81
542 81
$17,890 65 $17,890 65 $1,548 06 $1,548 06
Appropriations,
$15,950 00
Amount of orders, .....
$17,347 84
Receipts,
1,940 65
Balance unexpended, ... 542 81
$17,890 65
$17,890 65 .
J. B. EMERSON, ZIBA GAY, J. J. HOYT, WM. MANNING, E. P. BEAN,
Selectmen.
Highway teams and tools, appro'n, School-house No. 7, appropriation, School furniture, No. 3, approp'on, . Repairs of public buildings, appr'n. Culvert at So. Chelmsford, appr'n, . State aid, received from State, ..... Miscellaneous Expenses, appr'n, ... For lots at W. C. cemetery,
2500 00
Teaching,
5162 50
AUDITORS' REPORT.
The committee chosen to audit the accounts of the town officers, have attended to that duty, for the year ending February 28, 1878, and find them correctly cast and with proper vouchers.
We find that the amount of orders drawn and vouched for by the Selectmen, for the financial year ending at date, is ..... $17,347 84
And that the amount of orders outstanding at date of last settlement, was 524 99
$17,872 83
And that the amount paid by the Treasurer in the year ending at date, is. . .
$17,808 43
And that the amount of orders outstanding at date, is. 64 40
17,872 83
We find further, that there is due the town, from J. A. Bartlett, Collector of Taxes, 1877, for taxes $2,283 75
from J. A. Bartlett, interest on taxes, 1877.
57 00
from State, for State aid.
545 00
from State, for armory rent .
90 00
from book agency, books and cash on hand
312 40
from Treasurer, cash on hand 1,146 94
$4,435 09
And that the town is indebted, for the Kim- ball fund .
$100 00
for estimated liabilities
125 00
for estimated abatements on list of 1877.
100 00
for outstanding orders
64 40
389 40
Assets over liabilities $4,045 69
LUTHER H. SARGENT, ISRAEL PUTNAM, GEORGE A. BYAM,
February 28, 1878.
Auditors.
ANNUAL REPORT
OF THE
SCHOOL COMMITTEE
OF THE
TOWN OF CHELMSFORD,
TOGETHER WITH THE
REPORT OF THE SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS,
FOR
1877-78.
LOWELL, MASS .: STONE, HUSE & CO., BOOK PRINTERS, NO. 130 CENTRAL STREET. 1878.
COMMITTEE'S REPORT.
In conformity to law and custom, your committee here- with submit to the members of this town their annual report.
It is the sense of our body that the schools are in a prosperous condition, and are certainly much better sup- plied with books than they were one year ago.
It was thought that the introduction of the Harper's Geographies and Swinton's Grammar, also published by them, would ultimately prove a great advantage to the schools, as they both greatly simplify the methods of teach- ing those branches, and are practical, common-sense books, and are certainly model books. The cost of their introduc- tion to the town was $235.85.
For the details concerning the several schools, we refer you to the Superintendent's Report which follows.
Desiring to simplify the report, we have adopted the old number by which each school district was known prior to abolishing the district system.
There are now thirteen schools in town, numbered from 1 to 9, respectively .*
When we entered upon our duties, one year ago, it was found that several of the school-houses required considerable outlay for repairs, particularly the one at the north (No. 8). There have therefore been expended $192.50.
*Middlesex was No. 9; hereafter West Chelmsford school will be known as No. 9, instead of No. 10.
4
Particular attention is called to the financial table at the close of this report, which contains items of value and importance.
Particular attention is called to the extraordinary num- ber of absences in schools (see table), for the year just closed, which amount to 12,667.
We can cite one case of punctual attendance worthy of record and emulation. Rainey Sargent, of North School, No. 8, has not been absent.or tardy from the first day she entered school, in 1873, up to the present year, when she had the measles ; a period of five years. We trust that parents will, the next year, greatly reduce the 12,667.
The town appropriated at last annual meeting, for schools, the sum of $5,500 00
Also, for Repairs, 150 00
For Supplies, . 100 00
Received for Dog tax .
228 78
Received as State Aid,.
207 32
School-house supervision
300 00
Total available funds for the year,. $6,486 10 -
The entire cost of educating all the children for the past year, 1877-78, was
6,349 23
Unexpended funds
$136 87
Reference to the accompanying table will show that repairs were made at a cost of $192 50 Appropriated for same, as above,. 150 00
Exceeded appropriation by 42 50
Supplies purchased cost.
$177 09
Appropriated, as above, .
100 00
Exceeded appropriation by .
77 09
Exceeded these appropriations by .
$119 59
The cost of teaching the schools in 1876-77, was, as by last report .. $5242 00
The cost for 1877-78, was (see table,) 5071 61
A reduction the past year of 170 39
5
Cost of Fuel in 1876-77, was, by report, . $438 93 Cost of Fuel in 1877-78, was (see table,) 433 33
A reduction the past year of.
5 60
Cost for Care of School-houses in 1877-78,
was. .
$238 85
Cost for Care of School-houses in 1876-77, was.
212 10
An increase the past year of. 26 75
Making a total reduction in the running expenses of the schools, in the year just closed, of $149.24.
The average attendance for all the schools was 367.37; the entire cost of educating them was $6,349.23, making an average cost to each child for the past year, of $17.28.
Examining the table for 1877-78, and comparing it care- fully with the table for 1876-77, it appears that five of the thirteen schools reduced their absences in the aggregate from the number in the same schools the previous year 2,036, while the remaining eight schools increased their aggregate to the amount of 2,875, the difference being an increase of 839. To NUMBER FIVE belongs the credit of making the largest relative reduction, viz: 411 out of 485, or more than 84 per cent. Had every school in town done as well, the aggregate would have been reduced to 1,892 instead of standing as it does, 12,667. Next in rank to NUMBER FIVE stands NUMBER NINE, both grammar and primary divisions, which reduced their aggre- gate 1,466 out of 3,000, or nearly 50 per cent. In NUMBER SEVEN there was a reduction of 100 out of 418, or nearly 25 per cent. In four schools, where there was an aggregate increase of 2,478, an unusual amount of sickness, making it necessary or advisable to close three of them for several weeks, accounts for the disproportionate increase, in a great measure. These schools were NUMBER ONE PRIMARY, which was depleted during the fall term in consequence of the
6
prevalence of scarlet fever in the neighborhood ; and the three schools in NUMBER EIGHT, where the measles prevailed during the winter term to such an extent as to make it advis- able to close both the intermediate and the primary for several weeks. For the increase in NUMBER SIX of 338, being more than 52 per cent., there appears to be no satisfactory reason to assign.
Very respectfully yours,
CHAS. W. FLINT, J. R. FLETCHER, B. J. SPAULDING, A. H. PARK,
L. M. DUTTON,
H. H. EMERSON,
GEO. F. DYAR,
CHAS. SWEETSER,
By GEO. F. DYAR, Secretary.
J. C. BUTTERFIELD,
Committee.
SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT.
TO THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE :
Gentlemen :- In compliance with your order I submit this, my Second Annual Report.
The past year has been one, during which there has been exhibited in several of the schools, in a remarkable degree, the fruit of previous labor, augmented by thorough work during this period. In the highly important but hith- erto much neglected exercises of composition, declamation and recitation, with select reading, there has been very marked progress in all. The work has been taken up in earnest, even in the primary schools, and the result of the experiment in the latter proves conclusively that the time to begin this work is as soon as the child is capable of com- mitting a short and suitable selection to memory perfectly, or of using the pen or pencil in writing words correctly. The exercise of constructing simple sentences, and after- wards of writing short descriptive and narrative composi- tions, is one of the very best to enable the pupil to become familiar with the correct use, the spelling and definition of words in common use, besides helping to form a habit of clear and forcible expression. In most of the schools there has been very satisfactory improvement in singing and drawing, and in a few these are now a very attractive fea- ture. The work in nearly all has been characterized by sharper mental discipline and more self-reliance on the part
8
of the scholars than hitherto, which is very gratifying. Very few of our teachers during the past year have done the thinking for their scholars, or in other words, put words in their mouth at recitation, thus depriving them of the most valuable exercise of the school, the opportunity to think, and the necessity for careful, accurate, systematic study.
SUPERVISION.
In no department of the public service is there greater need of constant, vigilant supervision than in the conduct of the schools.
Even with the most skilful and experienced teachers, if we would look for the most satisfactory return for the time and money expended in the work of education, it is necessary that time and thought be given to the work, in order that the best methods may be introduced into the schools, and that the training which the pupils receive shall be of the greatest practical value, viewed not only in the light of the actual duties of life in a more advanced period, but also as regards thorough and judicious mental disci- pline. It is of the utmost importance that a uniform sys- tem be pursued in all the schools, as far as practicable. This can only be done through the aid of faithful super- vision. Many teachers seem to forget that rules, regula- tions and orders, except such as emanate from themselves, mean anything; while others sometimes fail in judgment and a due appreciation of the wants and surroundings of their scholars.
Thorough knowledge in reading, writing and the prin- ciples of arithmetic, with the correct spelling, definition and use of words, is the foundation of all education to be derived from the schools and is an acquisition which every person needs and which every child who enters our schools should receive. In general, during the past year, the work
9
has been very satisfactorily performed in these most impor- tant branches. The work which has been done most im- perfectly, in most of the schools, is in writing. Very few of the teachers have seemed to think it of any consequence what attitude the pupil assumed when engaged in this ex- ercise, or that anything was to be done more than to attend to the distribution and collection of the writing books in due order. Very seldom have I found any evidence that the teacher has taken the pen in hand to write a word or form a single letter, and I am of the opinion that we have less proper and efficient instruction in this branch in our schools, as a general rule, now, than we did twenty-five or fifty years ago. I have sometimes found the time allot- ted to this exercise not more than fifteen or twenty min- utes, two or three days in the week only ; thus allowing, at most, not more than eleven hours in a term of as many weeks.
THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD.
Superintendent Small, of Salem, uses the following language :- " The education of the next generation is our responsibility, it will be our most enduring monument, and our pride should be to make it noble and praiseworthy so long as it shall endure."
The child has a right to the best preparation for the world in which he is placed ; he can claim it, and it belongs to him as truly as if he could enforce his right at the point of the bayonet. He is entitled to comfortable and health- conducive school-houses ; to the best teachers and enough of them ; to good discipline and wholesome restraint, with- out petty tyranny ; to instruction, which comes fresh from an active fountain of thought, which is presented to him only so fast as he is able to receive it, and which he quaffs eagerly because he has a relish for it.
2
10
The rules of the school should be for the sake of the scholar and not for the sake of any system of discipline. With all deference to the teacher's individuality, I hold that no restraint should be imposed upon a child on the sole ground that it is the teacher's pleasure. It must be shown to be imposed for the benefit of one or of all. The child's rights being protected, the teacher's are to be assured. Engaging to instruct a given class in certain prescribed branches for a definite portion of time, the teacher is re- sponsible for doing that work in the best way, or for doing such part of it as may be possible, but always in the best way. The government of the children, in the best way for them in all time, is also his duty. The State further re- quires that the principles of morality and virtue shall be in- culcated, and this may be done by example to some extent, as well as by precept.
TEACHERS.
There is no more responsible trust than the selection of teachers for the public schools, none where the public servant should so forget everything but duty to the young. Neither personal friendship, sympathy, the prejudice of the community, false ideas of economy, nor any other motive should ever be allowed to affect the decision. In no calling is there such imperative need of natural fitness and love for the work as that of the teacher. If we would have our schools keep pace with the spirit of the age we must secure the services of teachers of thorough culture and professional preparation for their vocation. We look with pity and con- tempt upon the person who presumes to practise in the medical profession whose only preparation has been the reading of professional books, or attendance upon a pre- scribed course of lectures ; but are often ready to commit the training of our children and youth for all the grave re-
11
sponsibility of life, into the hands of those who make no pretension to anything like a suitable preparation for their work.
Other essential requisites in the qualification of the teacher are, love of children ; moral rectitude and personal integrity of character ; a sense of responsibility to those under their charge ; and last, but not least, on the other hand, first of all, a knowledge of human nature, in general, and of child nature in particular. Superintendent Small, whom I have before quoted, says under this head :- " The teacher is a laborer worthy of his hire. The law of supply and demand will determine his pay, provided that just dis- crimination is exercised with regard to the supply ; but an experienced and successful teacher can not compete with an inferior one in the rate of wages. The longer the period of faithful service, the stronger should the hold upon the pub- lic appreciation become."
SCHOOL DISCIPLINE.
The first and most essential step in education and the acquisition of knowledge, and a preparation for any valuable work in life, is to gain the power of fixing the attention, closely and continuously, upon the one given subject of thought. It therefore becomes of the utmost importance to secure every possible help to this end, in school at all times. This creates the demand for perfect order and system in all the exercises of the school. We are all crea- tures of habit, and it is highly important that the young, form correct habits which will be truly helpful in all the work of life.
The discipline of the school, while it must necessarily be strict, should never be made unnecessarily irksome to the scholars, especially to those of tender years. Whatever exercise is introduced into the school, it should be performed
12
with alacrity and precision, and no time should be allowed to run to waste. It were far better that scholars should be allowed an additional five minutes for recess than that they should sit in idleness for half that time, or move carelessly and sluggishly in any exercise. Young pupils should not be required to maintain, rigidly, any one position for any considerable length of time, but should have change and variety of exercise and position enough to render school life a pleasure, and not a weariness and punishment. While there are cases which seem to demand corporal punishment, it should be resorted to as seldom as possible, and always with the most calm and careful discrimination as to the age of the pupil, and the nature of the offence for which it is to be administered, and the circumstances of the case. It should always be distinctly understood that all the rules and regulations of the school have, for their sole end, the best good of all the scholars, and in furtherance of this ob- ject the teacher's order, for the time being, is the supreme law, to be promptly obeyed, and that the rights of teacher and scholar will be sacredly guarded by those on whom de- volves the supervision of the school.
DUTY OF PARENTS.
The neglect of the parents to make frequent visits to the school during each term withdraws from the teacher most valuable support and encouragement.
Parents should feel that the teacher is a friend who is called upon to act the part of an assistant in the most im- portant parental work-that of the proper education and discipline of their children-and that it is one of their highest and most sacred duties to do all in their power to render the situation of this assistant as pleasant as possible, and the work of the school of the greatest benefit to their children. The stronger the sympathy between parents and
13
teacher, and the more fully they understand each other, the better will be the work of the school. Where the teacher is regarded more as a member of the family by every parent, than as a stranger, there is very little liability to misunderstand- ing, which almost invariably leads to fault-finding and not unfrequently to bitter animosity, which has a fatal effect upon the progress of the child. Some excellent teachers commit a grave error in holding themselves aloof from the parents and thus have themselves to thank for the preju- dice, jealousy, coldness or indifference which often assail them. It is a very pleasant duty to note an improvement in this respect during the past year. The school-registers show a largely increased number of visitors, amounting in one case to nearly sixty in a single term. There has been also a much greater interest manifested in the closing ex- amination of the several schools.
SCHOOL-HOUSES.
During the year the last representative of the time- honored "little red school-house" in town, where have been educated three generations in lineal descent, has been sup- planted by a neat and commodious structure of modern architecture, and this, with furnishing the house at South Chelmsford, with the latest improved desks and chairs, places all the schools in town, with the exception of those at North Chelmsford in pleasant and desirable quarters. The school-houses throughout the town have presented a neat, tidy appearance within and without, and they have been kept free from injury, in a remarkable and praiseworthy degree. The schools in Number Eight are seriously incom- moded, and an enlargement of the house is an absolute necessity to the progress of the schools, and yet more as regards the health of the scholars. In the primary school during one term there were sixty-three different scholars in
14
a room only large enough at most for thirty, and much smaller than any other school-room in town which is occupied by the latter number. In the upper school the assistant teacher is obliged to sit with classes numbering twenty or more scholars in a room with no proper means of ventilation and not large enough for the proper accommoda- tion of more than half that number.
The following are the names of scholars who were neither absent nor tardy during the three terms of the year, in the several schools :
No. 1, HIGH .- Mary Emerson (1).
No. 1, PRIMARY .- Mary A. Sullivan (1).
No. 2, PRIMARY .- Ellen M. Driscoll, Katie A. Driscoll, Minnie Driscoll, Bridget Driscoll, Luella Davis, Susie M. Davis, Mary L. Parker, Louise M. Reed (8).
No. 3, PRIMARY .- Edgar B. Lapham, Willie E. Lapham, Howard L. Park, Charlie E. Park (4).
No. 4, PRIMARY .- Stella R. Garland (1).
No. 5, PRIMARY .- Alice E. Ward (1).
No. 7, PRIMARY .- Sarah L. Spalding (1).
No. 8, HIGII .- Lizzie J. Draper, Ella G. Flint, L. Grace Lumbert (3).
No. 9, GRAMMAR .- Katie Russell, Fannie Russell(2).
Names of scholars who were neither absent nor tardy during two terms :
No. 1, HIGH SCHOOL .- Harry Emerson, John Howard, Walter Park, Walter Emerson, Albert Putney, Charles Wilson (6).
No. 1, PRIMARY .- Annie R. Howard, Lilla D. Phelps, David Howard (3). No. 2, PRIMARY .- Ara A. Davis, Mabel Emerson, Perris W. Hunt, Carrie Keafe, George A. Davis, Willie H. Driscoll, Eddie Fowle. (7)
No. 3, PRIMARY .- Lottie Battles, Nora Battles, Philip R. Park (3).
No. 4, PRIMARY .- Lizzie P. Garland, Annie Livingston, Edna Sweetser, Ernest A. Garland (4).
No. 5, PRIMARY .- Celia P. Battles, Arthur W. Battles (2).
No. 7. PRIMARY-Nellie G. Spalding (1).
No. 8, HIGH .- Ada M. Sheldon, James E. McCabe (2).
NO. 8, INTERMEDIATE .- Beth Phillips, Charlie Keith, Bertie Sprague (3).
No. 9, GRAMMAR .- Belle Parkhurst, Viola Parkhurst (2).
No. 9, PRIMARY .- Maria Agnew, Lizzie Donlow, Lizzie Mclaughlin (3).
Names of scholars who were neither absent nor tardy during one term :
No. 1, HIGH SCHOOL .- Katie Robinson, Clara Upham, Flora Adams, Lora Bickford, Ella Sweetser, Alvina Sweetser, Fanny Hill, Lizzie DeLara, Lottie Perliam, Carrie Spofford, Mary Greene, Fred Hazen, James Higgins, Frank Putney, James Richardson, Clarence Hill, Frank Marshall, Frank Putney (18).
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