USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Chelmsford > Town annual report of Chelmsford 1910 > Part 6
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838
604
888
806
44
26
13
48 12
9 6
13,949
597
12 888
165 25
1.030.
17,004.
2,488.
14,515.
21,80
25 53
1.54
.98
43.7
220
7
8 17
Monson
4,344
1,776,218
651
482
762
66
.93
35
29
6
42 89
9-3
65.50 345.
2,30S.
31,357.
814
30,543
34.55
35.47
2.61
.39
30.1
36
157
5.41
Needham
4,284
25
820
57
914
884
93
54
30
51
9.9
18 392
8 11
10,815
250.
1.272.
15,500.
2,151.
13,350.
14.05
16 32
1.84
24 2
328
75
6.46
Provincetown
4.362
2,066,450
20
853
591
99.
950
.94
37
24
55
18
6
46.99
9.1
10,693
340.
340
1,132.
15,788.
1,608
14.180.
21.04
23.42
1.68
.50
27.1
238
39
Randolph
4.034
2,006,300
16
721
549
716
674
95
821
93
50
26
13
53 63
9-10
16,405
1.875
12
2,406.
27,595.
155.
27,441.
33.42
33.61
2 93
2.28
35 8
41
11
6.54
Walpole
4,003
4,179,651
21
835
588
791
533
620
575
.96
30
20
7
45.68
8-16
10,049
2,071.
12.50
1,184.
17,499
2,943.
14,556.
25.31
30 43
2 06
3.60
37.
153
16
7.67
Warren
4,625,672
830
664
894
815
95
38
31
17
54.45
9-6
17.271
100.
200
2,108
24.908.
265.
24,643.
30.24
30.56
2.58
.12
26
80
165
5.33
North Andover
865
496,920
139
98
138
13
.92
6
1
3
41.20
8-12
2.765
1,974.
6.
308
6,135.
2,711.
3 424.
26.14
46 83
2 35
15.07
139
52
6 89
Ashby.
613 300
80
62
72
73
.92
6
.89
7
41.33
8-16
1.342
3.
102.
3,235.
1,427.
1,808.
20.31
36 35
1.14
34 19
1.78
1 75
35.3
78
68
6 59
Dracut
3,537
2,297.999
16
636
481
536
500
.93
26
17
14
46.23
9 6
11,223
875
50.
892
17.093.
1.944
3.173.
1,645.
1,528.
20.93
43 47
1.31
15.75
32.7
245
181
5 12
Dunstable
412
298,642
82
64
78
73
00
3
3
2
40.73
8-18
1.219
1.150.
690
11,753
203
11.550.
35.43
36 05
2.11
3 48
32 7
30
293
3.74
2,253
3,089,963
312
229
342
326
30
14
3
48.44
8-19
7 636
1.135
15.
8 19
5,167
1.381.
3,785
995
87.
209.
5,995.
2,951.
3,044.
23 06
45 42
1.58
7.5
26.6
198
246
4 41
North Reading
903
676,639
156
112
148
.93
11
4
3
20
7
9-2
9.571
908.
175.
729
15,132.
1.658
13.474.
21.52
24.17
1.16
1.45
33.6
228
106
6 00
Shirley
1,692
1,098,277
319
236
322
281
.91
16
9
5
46.08
9-7
4.342
1,528.
100.
401.
7,760.
2,176.
5 585.
19.87
27.62
.42
5.43
26.1
259
184
1,772
1,152,294
9
279
209
320
281
.93
17
11
8-17
5.110
1,448.
605.
9,094.
1,862.
7,232.
25.74
32.36
2.15
5.15
28.8
144
89
6.28
Townsend
768
524.680
144
100
143
121
.91
4
9
44.
9 12
2,826
1,565.
26.
168.
5,404.
2.103.
3,301
27.28
44 66
1.38
12 93
42 8
126
87
6.29
Tyngsboro
2,413
1,752,449
16
435
346
467
.89
44
15
9
46.12
9-10
8,461
1,257.
6.
593.
12,970.
1,733.
11,236.
28.16
32 51
1.48
3 15
37.2
106
78
6.41
.
and truant service
public schools
sources than local taxation
expended for support of public
Amount expended for each child in the average membership of the public schools
-by the-
-for-
Per cent part that the local tax for school
Rank according to the amount expended
Rank according to proportion of taxable
schools for the school year 1908-1909
schools for each thousand dollars of
tax for school support
year
average membership
schools
public schools
from Normal Schools
teachers
schools have been kept open
during the year
Chelmsford (1896-1897).
$2,176,655
3,984
(1905)
3,036,025
4.254
4,088,385
5,692,885
35 23
35.61
2.07
.36
21.3
32
237
4.46
280.
312.50
2,856
41,382.
295.
11
16
43 46
44 66
93
1,679
575
144
3,024.
1,185
1.839
25.19
41 42
1.97
7.87
20.9
155
323
2 98
Burlington
523
441,445
97
69
97
89
2
1.237.
96.
Groton
1,219
1,032,080
205
151
243
218
93
16
9
6
47.
8-19
Pepperell
3.268
2,238,994
18
590
488
710
626
.92
37
42.90
5
399
1
5 and 15 years of age
7 and 14 years of age
the public schools during the school
and other contribu-
schools
tions
10
6 33
33.
91
91
6.26
Littleton
640.
8,610
2.147.
6.462.
29.64
39 49
2 93
13.90
19.3
252
273
4.10
Carlisle
1,896,849
15
4.300
4,614
24
5
588
3
15,149.
30 30
7
132
43 77
5 09
Westford
5.655,547
23
.92
913
42.8
2
51.10
30
Chelmsford (1908-1909)
$7,217
The f degree of during a comparati group of Chelmsfor Attention (I). increased the gain 1908-1909
(2). supplies increase
(3).
supplies doing all
(4). salaries, the incre (5). each ch other 35 1896-189
(6)
the pub Fairhav Ought j
(7) port is ( favorab of the amount sand dc
123
(8). Though our expense for transportation is heavy, $1,061, we are more fortunate than Barnstable, Fairhaven, Walpole, or Warren.
(9). Note the increase from 8 to 18 of the number of teachers who are Normal School graduates.
RULES AND REGULATIONS
The following rules and regulations governing medical inspection, janitor service, and truant officers were formally adopted by your School Committee on February 28, 1910. The hearty co operation of school physicians, janitors, truant officers, school committee, teachers, pupils, parents and su- perintendent is necessary to the successful enforcement of these, that they become more of a handy guide directing ser- vice than a system of local sohool laws.
Rules to Govern Medical Inspection
I. The medical inspectors shall visit all schools in their respective districts during the first two months of each school year for the purpose of giving a general examination to pupils and teachers. They shall be subject to the call of the school authorities on any occasion demanding special atten- tion, but calls of necessity shall not include pediculeosis (nits and lice). Other visits shall be made at the discretion of the school physicians.
II. The medical inspectors shall make examination of all school children referred to them by the school officials or principals or teachers, and such further examination of school buildings as in their judgment may seem necessary. They shall file with the superintendent, for reference to the school committee, all recommendations for better conditions of heat- ing, lighting, ventilation and sanitation.
III. Children showing signs of any of the following specific infectious diseases should be sent to their homes im- mediately after the medical inspector's affirming diagnosis,
124
and shall not be permitted to return to school excepting they bring certificate from board of health showing release from quarantine and disinfection of the premises: Small pox, scarlet fever, measles, chicken pox, tuberculosis, diphtheria, influenza, tonsilitis, whooping cough, mumps, scabies, tra- choma, impetigo, and acute conjunctivitis.
IV. Pupils afflicted with pediculosis, ringworm or acute coryza are, upon request of the teacher, to be exam- ined by the school physician, unless the teacher is sure of her diagnosis, in which case she will act unassisted. If a a doubtful preliminary diagnosis is verified by the medical inspector, the subject is to be temporarily suspended, accom- panied by the physician's signed statement, giving diagnosis and advice to parents. Such pupils shall be instructed by the teacher or principal to report at school after two days; if found to be under treatment, they shall be allowed to attend, but if there has been a failure to begin treatment or the pupil continues to stay away, the case shall be immediately reported to the superintendent of schools by telephone or letter or in person.
V. Under no circumstances shall a school physician, as such, treat any disease or require pupils to be sent to his home or office. The parents shall be urged to consult their family physician in all cases.
VI. If any infectious disease of the nose or throat is sus- pected, a culture shall be taken and the tubes sent to the Board of Health for examination. If culture examination is not done by the Board of Health of the town but, instead, by outside parties, the school department shall bear the expense of the same.
VII. The examination of eyesight and hearing shall be made by the teacher in attendance, in accordance with Chapter 502 of the Acts of 1906, and if found defective, the teacher or master shall notify the parent or guardian of such defect. If the teacher is uncertain of her diagnosis, the subject shall be referred to the school physician for further examination.
125
VIII. The town physician shall, if desired, vaccinate all pupils applying for admittance to the public schools whose parents cannot afford the services of a physician.
IX. The results or findings consequent upon the school physician's respective visits shall be immediately made known to the principal, who shall, in turn, present a report to the superintendent on the occasion of his next visit.
Rules Governing Janitors
Janitors of the public schools shall be under the general charge of the superintendent of schools. They shall be, how- ever, under the immediate direction of the school principals, who are hereby held responsible for the enforcement of the following rules, and who are required to report in writing to the superintendent any neglect of duty or willful violation of the rules :
Janitors shall have charge of the buildings, premises and all pertaining thereto, throughout the entire year, and shall exercise careful foresight to keep them in proper order.
They shall display the school flag on every day when the weather is suitable and on every legal holiday.
They shall wind and regulate the clocks and, under the direction of the superintendent, shall have them repaired when necessary.
Janitors shall instruct the teachers how to regulate the heating and ventilating apparatus, and shall report to the principals any waste of heat or other failure to use the appar- atus properly.
They shall sweep all floors and stairways and dust all sur- faces where dust collects, including the chalk trays, at least twice a week, and at the proper time so as to least incon- venience the teachers.
They shall clean the windows twice-in April and August -and the woodwork once each year; keep the floors of all the rooms and closets, the corridors and stairs clean, washing
125
them as miten as may be necessary to secure this result, and to tag them as may be required.
Janitors shall keep the rooms at an even temperature from the opening to the close of the session. not below 65 deg. or abure TO deg . and visit the rooms often enough to maintain this temperature. Under ordinary circumstances the cold air boxes must be kept wide open for the admission of outside air: in case of very high winds, it may be necessary to partly close the slides or dampers. but this is to be regarded as ex- · Ceptional and must not be practiced habitually.
The formaces or stores are not to be left while the drafts are wide open.
They shall keep the basements clean and tidy: the ashes well screened and the screenings burned if the ashes contain any amount of unbarsed coal; the furnaces, boilers. stoves. and general heating apparatus in proper order: and exercise economy in the consumption of obal.
They shall remove ashes from the buildings and tend to their disposal.
The yards, walks and sanitaries shall be examined daily, kep: clean and in good order. Any improper use of them shall be reported to the principal.
The sidewalks and paths must be kept clear of snow, and when onated with ice. they must be covered with sand so as to effectually prevent slipping.
Janitors shall report to the superintendent all needed major repairs. bu: make themselves all necessary and desir- able small repairs and improvements. the town furnishing proper material.
They shall open the building at the proper time and lock the doors at the close of each session and lock all first floor windows; ventilate the rooms thoroughly before and after school, and be responsible for all damages resulting from care- less neglect on their part.
127
They shall have proper care and oversight of the pupils during the noon half-hour lunch period and shall promptly . report to the principal instances of misconduct during said time
They shall render such assistance to the teachers as may properly be expected ; be ever watchful to prevent fires and, so far as possible, have fire extinguishers within easy reach ; and arrange with the principal for at least three definite half- hour periods when he may be found in the school building during each day's sessions of school.
They shall hold themselves in readiness to do whatever is required of them by the School Committee.
Janitors shall abstain from smoking and the use of profane language in or about the school buildings and from intoxicat- ing liquor.
Rules Governing Truant Officers
It shall be the duty of the truant officer to keep himself carefully informed upon the statutes of the Commonwealth in regard to school attendance and truancy, and to enforce their requirements.
It shall be his duty to investigate fully each case of sup- posed truancy, and exert all possible influence with parents and guardians to secure the regular attendance of their children.
Truant officers shall make arrangements with the prin- cipals for the prompt receiving of notices of truancy, and it shall be their duty to report in person to the principal, not later than 11.30 a. m. of the day following, the findings in the case.
They shall report every ascertained case of illegal em- ployment by factory, workshop or mercantile establishment to the superintendent of schools.
128
They shall keep an accurate record of all known violations of the laws regarding school attendance and employment of minors, giving the names, ages and residences of the children concerned therein. They shall make, in writing, monthly and annual reports of their doings.
They shall assist the principals and teachers in enforcing school regulations concerning contagious and infectious dis- eases.
In compliance with Section 12 of the Revised Laws, " The School Committee shall appoint and fix the compensation of truant officers, but such officers shall not receive fees for their services."
MEDICAL INSPECTION
The lack of power or inclination of parents to remedy defects made known by the medical examination of the school physicians lessens the ultimate value of their services. The follow-up work by teachers and school physicians should receive more attention. In many cases there has been found a willingness, even eagerness. of parents to do all in their power to remove defects that handicap their children. Con- sidering the fact that philanthropy has placed skilled hospital service within the easy reach of even the poorest, there seems to be a very poor excuse for failing to correct the defects that are made known through the school physician's notice. Still the majority of parents receive the information in a mechanical sort of way, think about it for a little while, then allow the vital matter which influences the physical, mental, or moral development of their offspring to fall into the background, where it remains till the next notice, a year later, arrives.
In view of the fact that Chelmsford pays its school physicians more generously than the majority of places of like school population, and receives in return a more searching and painstaking yearly examination of each pupil enrolled, ought not parents to more fully realize the benefits to be derived from hearty co-operation, and actively seek to have every defect remedied?
129
During the fall term of 1909, Dr. F. E. Varney, in his examination of the pupils in the North and West schools, found the following conditions :
Pupils not vaccinated
172
Pupils having bad teeth
135
Pedulosis 20
Impetigo
4
Enlarged tonsils
55
Adenoids
14
Enlargement neck glands.
7
Defective speech 2
Mental defects 4
Scabies
8
General debility
6
Anaemia
4
Dr. A. G. Scoboria, having in charge the other six schools of the town, presented the following report of diseases observed during the past year:
Acne. . .
1
Anterior poliomyelita
2
Adenoids.
18
Enlarged tonsils
26
Nasal obstruction
2
Enlarged glands
2
Arthritis
1
Blepharitis
1
Talipes
1
Deaf
2
Chronic chorea
1
Cyanosis
2
Inpetigo contagiosa
1
Strabismus
1
Mental deficiency
1
Rhinitis
1
130
Conjunctivitis 2 Diphtheria 1
A great number of cases of measles.
Several cases of nits.
Mr. George H. Martin wrote in a little pamphlet entitled, "A Lesson from Medical Inspection of Schools," under date of March, 1909, the following :
"When by school inspection it is discovered that of more than 400,000 children examined in the schools of Massachusetts, 81.000 are defective in vision and 22,000 in hearing; when it is stated on reliable authority that 90 per cent of the school children of Germany have defective teeth, and examination shows that the same proportion in American towns; when 137 cases of adenoids are reported for a single city ; when whole schools are infected with head-lice; we get much new light on school problems, on the subject of backward children, and perhaps of delinquent children.
"In addition to all the other forces making for a better understanding of health conditions, it is the imperative and immediate duty of the schools of all grades to broaden and make more vital their teaching of physiology and hygiene. The instruction needs to be simple, direct and sympathetic, absolutely free from technical anatomy and technical physi- ology (at least in the primary and intermediate grades). To instruction should be added insistence upon practice, for the end sought is the early formation of right habits. The result of the right sort of teaching will not be found in answers to questions, but in clean hands, faces, teeth, bodies and clothes, in clear eyes and a responsive brain, in a frame erect and elastic, with all the signs of an abundant supply of good red blood. The teaching will also show itself in the luncheons the children bring and in the way they spend their pennies. We hear much about 'essentials' in school education. A sound body kept sound by right living is the essential which underlies and conditions all the rest."
131
SIGHT AND HEARING TESTS
As an aid to teachers and for the sake of uniformity in results, the sight and hearing tests were all made by the Super- intendent. Incidental to the real object of the examinations, an excellent opportunity was afforded for coming into personal contact with each individual pupil. One little realizes how different are the personalities of 900 children, how wonder- fully dissimilar are they in quickness of response, attention, and in doing what they are told the first time, until he under- takes such a task.
The following are the results or findings :
Number Enrolled
Defective Vision
Defective Hearing
Parents Notified
Center
251
45
19
47
North
385
43
23
46
West
83
11
6
15
East
61
5
1
2
South
42
8
0
8
Golden Cove
36
2
2
3
South Row
33
9
1
10
North Row
17
0
2
1
Totals
908
123
54
132
About 25 per cent of the defects have already been attended to by seeking competent medical advice and actually having something done for the good of the child. Parents are to be commended for their co-operation in this matter. Of course the 75 per cent of cases that have not yet been treated is larger than the 25 per cent that have; but if the tests had saved but one from being crippled for life by attacking the trouble in time, that one would have well been worth the time and energy expended for the good of the children. There are several parents who purpose to tend to the matter brought to their attention, so that ultimately probably 30 per cent, three out of ten, of the defects will have been treated.
TEACHERS, FEBRUARY 28, 1910
SCHOOL
GRADES
TEACHERS
WHERE EDUCATED
BEGAN WORK
CENTER
High . ..
...
E. E. Harris ...
Harvard College .
Sept. 1909 Jan. 1910
Florence L. Flewelling Marion E. Chase. .
Wellesley College ...
Radcliffe College.
Sept. 1905
Susan S. McFarlin.
Framingham Normal .. Lowell Normal. .
Sept. 1906
Flora W. Campbell
Bridgewater Normal ..
Sept. 1908
I ..
Grace C. Litchfield .
Plymouth Normal, N. H ... Froebel Normal Kindergar- ten, Providence R. I. .
Sept. 1896
132
NORTH
High and IX.
W. B. Pierce, A. B ...
Bates College ..
Sept. 1908
Mary W Cross, A. B ..
Bates College ..
Sept. 1908
Irena W. Crawford, A. B.
Tufts College
Sept. 1907
VII and VIII.
Gertrude A. Jones . Ella A. Hutchinson
Framingham Normal.
Sept. 1905
V .
May D. Sleeper
North Chelmsford High. .
March 1907 Sept. 1907
III.
Lowell Normal .
Sept. 1905
III .
Gorham Normal, Me ..
Sept. 1907
II
Margaret C. Gookin.
Lowell Normal.
Jan. 1907
I.
Lowell Normal.
Sept. 1905
I Asst
Catherine E. McDermott M. Grace McCue .
Lowell Normal. .
Sept. 1909
High and IX. . VII and VIII. VI and VII ... IV and V. .. II and III.
Ena G. Macnutt . . ..
Eva M. Godfrey ..
Salem Normal . .
April 1889
VI ..
IV
Katherine L. Shea . Katherine M. Quinn. Mary K. Prince
Lowell Normal. .
April 1879
Sept. 1908
WEST
VII - IX
IV - V.
Bertha H. Long. .. . . Agnes Naylor ( 3 months' leave of absence). . Henrietta Drake Julia E. Fernald
Salem Normal .
April 1896
North Chelmsford High .. April 1880 Framingham Normal ... Jan. 1910 Sept. 1909 Danvers High School . .. ..
EAST
V - VIII ..
Laura B. Desmarais.
St. Ann's Academy, Marl- boro, Mass ..
Sept. 1909
I - IV
Hannah H. Sleeper
North Chelmsford High. .
Dec. 1908
SOUTH
V - VIII
Maybelle C. Dame
Radcliffe College Lowell Normal.
Sept. 1907
GOLDEN COVE
I - IV
Gertrude B. McQuade.
Lowell Normal
Sept. 1907
SOUTH ROW
I - IV
Ivy E. Kew
Lowell Normal.
Nov. 1909
NORTH ROW.
I, IV, V
Eliza Spaulding .
Lowell Normal.
Sept. 1908
SUPERVISOR OF MUSIC ....
Mary B. Raynes.
School of Methods ..
Sept. 1902
SUPERVISOR OF DRAWING.
Bertha G. Bartlett
Normal Art School ..
Sept. 1907
SUPT. OF SCHOOLS.
A. P. Briggs.
Brown University ..
Aug. 1909
IV - V Sub ... I . III
I - IV
Emma M. Graham.
Jan. 1910
133
[134
SALARIES OF CHELMSFORD TEACHERS, INCLUDING SPECIALS-FEB. 28, 1910
ANNUAL
WEEKLY
NUMBER RECEIVING
Number of weeks for which salary is paid
$1,000 00
$25 00
2
40
600 00
15 00
1
40
560 00
14 00
1
40
532 00
14 00
4
38
513 00
13 50
3
38
520 00
13 00
1
40
494 00
13 00
3
38
500 00.
12 50
1
40
475 00
12 50
2
38
456 00
12 00
2
38
437 00
11 50
2
38
444 00
11 00
1
40
418 00
11 00
4
38
380 00
10 00
3
38
361 00
9 50
1
38
304 00
8 00
1
38
135
REPAIRS IN ONE=ROOM BUILDINGS
In October all the slate boards were taken from the abandoned South Chelmford school building. Their excellent condition made the placing of them in the North Row. South Row, and Golden Cove schools seem advisable. Their use in those buildings makes working on the blackboards a pleasure. The blackened plaster walls formerly used were difficult to write on and the writing was difficult to read because of its irregularity and indistinctness.
The double desks in the South Row building were replaced by single desks which had for some time been stored in the attic of the Center School. To scrape them down. shellac, and varnish cost about fifty cents per desk. 'The increase comfort, up-to-date appearance, and general convenience of the room since the installation of the better furniture are very marked.
New curtains at Golden Cove and the oiling of the floor ; window boards at North and South Row and a flag-pole on the latter school are other improvements that were much needed.
CROWDED CONDITIONS AT NORTH
An employee of the inspection department of the District Police made an examination of the North school buildings on February 18. The requirements of the department call for a supply of at least 30 cubic feet of air per minute for each scholar accommodated in the rooms. The supplies to the four rooms in the old building were respectively 16, 16, 20, 20, and to the four rooms in the newer building 8.4, 23, 11, 17.
The inspector's report upon other conditions reads favor- ably, excepting the following note under the heading " Re- marks":
·. N. W. room on first floor, primary grade, has a class membership of 67 and extra seats are provided when needed. The corridors on each floor are used for class rooms and a recitation room about 25 x 12 feet is used by about 10 pupils ; no ventilation in either."
-
136
It is evident that something should be done to increase the supply of fresh air and also to remedy the lack of ventila- tion in corridors and class-rooms.
The rapid increase in school population of the North village demands that some action be taken to increase the room accommodations. From the present enrollment it seems highly probable that with three pupils leaving the High School and ninth grade room as graduates and a possible twelve entering from grade eight, more room must be provided, for the high school room cannot seat fifty pupils. Apparently the best way to meet the difficulty is to seat the possible forty-five pupils that will constitute grades eight and nine in a new room of the annex we ought to have. The instruction of the ninth grade could still be shared by the high school teachers as at present, the occupancy of the new room being mainly for study as far as the ninth grade is concerned.
If of the sixty-seven children at present enrolled in the first grade fifty are promoted to grade two, that number, which seems a conservative estimate. would be too large for one teacher to handle successfully. Something should be provided to meet that probable contingency. Here again we need more room, for two teachers cannot be as profitably employed in handling the groups of one class as in each having a class of her own.
The room in the town hall at present occupied by pupils of grade four, has done very well as a make-shift. The isolation, ventilation, lighting, and size of the room make it unsuitable for permanent occupancy. The writer recommends that it be abandoned in favor of a room in the proposed addition.
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