USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Chelmsford > Town annual report of Chelmsford 1923 > Part 7
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ARTICLE 19. To see if the Town will vote to authorize the Selectmen to contract with the Lowell Electric Light Corporation at the then pre- vailing price per light for the following additional lights, and will raise and appropriate sufficient money to meet the expense thereof, viz: Two lights on Ripley Street; one light on Middlesex Street, opposite the Post Office at North Chelmsford ; one light on the road to J. B. Phillips' residence, off the Robbin Hill Road; one light on Littleton Street, near the Railroad Station at Chelmsford Centre ; one light on Chelmsford Street, near the Adams Crossing; one light on Warren Avenue; three lights on Maple Road; two lights on Chestnut Hill Road; five lights on Pine Hill Road; twelve lights on Billerica Street; one light at corner of Woodbine and Wildwood Streets ; one light at corner of Woodbine and Fern Streets; one light at corner of Woodbine Street and Westlands Avenue; one light at corner of Dalton Road and Juniper Street; one light at corner of Dalton Road, Wildwood and Chelmsford Streets; one light at corner of Sylvan Avenue and Subway Extension; one light at corner of Subway Extension and Subway Avenue; one light at easterly end of Woodbine Street near the Mooney property ; four lights on the Brick Kiln Road ; or act in relation thereto.
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ARTICLE 20. To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate the sum of Three Thousand Dollars, or what other sum, to meet the expense of two special policemen, one at Chelmsford Centre and one at North Chelmsford, to be appointed by the Board of Selectmen; or act in relation thereto.
ARTICLE 21. To see if the Town will vote to authorize the Board of Select- men to appoint two regular police officers for patrol duty in the North Village during twenty-four hours of each day during the year, and will raise and appropriate a sufficient sum for that purpose; or act in relation thereto.
ARTICLE 22. To hear the report of the committee appointed at the annual Town meeting held Feb. 12, 1923, to consider and report as to the advisability of applying to the Legislature for a special act authoriz- ing limited town meetings, so called, and the election of town meeting members in Chelmsford, along the lines provided in Chapter 36 of the Acts of 1921 relating to the Town of Brookline, and to see what action. if any, the Town will take relative to the same; or act in relation thereto.
ARTICLE 23. To see if the Town will accept and allow an extension of Bridge Street as laid out by the Selectmen on Jan. 15, 1924, and shown by their report duly filed in the office of the Town Clerk; or act in relation thereto.
ARTICLE 24. To see if the Town will accept and allow Seneca Avenue as laid out by the Selectmen on Jan. 15, 1924, and shown by their report duly filed in the office of the Town Clerk; or act in relation thereto.
ARTICLE 25. To see if the Town will accept and allow Moore Street as laid out by the Selectmen on Jan. 15, 1924, and shown by their report duly filed in the office of the Town Clerk; or act in relation thereto.
ARTICLE 26. To see what action the Town will take relative to insuring public buildings against loss by fire, and in the event of affirmative action, to raise and appropriate a sufficient sum of money for the same; or act in relation thereto.
ARTICLE 27. To see if the Town will vote to authorize the Selectmen to purchase five beacons, so called, as part of the highway equipment, and will raise and appropriate a sufficient sum of money to meet the expense of the same; or act in relation thereto.
ARTICLE 28. To see if the Town will vote to divide Precinct One into three precincts pursuant to the written recommendations of the Selectmen duly filed in the office of the Town Clerk at least seven days before this meeting ; or act in relation thereto.
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ARTICLE 29. To see if the Town will vote to increase the number of the Finance Committee from five to six, one to be appointed by the Selectmen from each precinct ; or act in relation thereto.
ARTICLE 30. To see if the Town will vote to oil Warren Avenue, and will raise and appropriate a sufficient sum of money to meet the expense of the same; or act in relation thereto.
ARTICLE 31. To see if the Town will vote to pay William H. Shattuck One Hundred Dollars ($100) or any and what other sum, to cover damages to water pipe in the Boston Road; or act in relation thereto.
ARTICLE 32. To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate a suffi- cient sum with which to pay one-half the expense of constructing a cement sidewalk on the easterly side of Middlesex Street for a dis- tance of about four hundred and eighty-six feet northerly of the premises of Dr. Varney ; or act in relation thereto.
ARTICLE 33. To see what action the Town will take, if any, in relation to establishing a permanent office in the Chelmsford Centre Town Hall for the Town Treasurer and Collector of Taxes, and increasing the salary of said office, and raise and appropriate a sum sufficient for the purposes ; or act in relation thereto.
ARTICLE 34. To see if the Town will appoint a committee to have charge of suitably marking historic spots within the town, and raise and appropriate therefor the sum of Two Hundred and Fifty Dollars ($250), or any and what other sum ; or act in relation thereto.
ARTICLE 35. To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate the sum of Two Thousand Dollars ($2,000) or any and what other sum, for the purpose of installing and improving the fire alarm system and equipment of the Town; or act in relation thereto.
ARTICLE 36. To see if the Town will vote to appoint a committee to inves- tigate and report their recommendations to purchase land for addi- tional fire house sites ; or act in relation thereto.
ARTICLE 37. To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate the sum of Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000) or any and what other sum, to be used at the discretion of the School Committee for the purchase of a truck for transporting school children ; or act in relation thereto.
ARTICLE 38. To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate the sum of Two Thousand Dollars ($2,000) and borrow the further sum of Eight Thousand Dollars ($8,000), making a total of Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000) with which to make necessary alterations at the East Chelmsford School House, so called, in order to provide two rooms in addition to those authorized at a special meeting held on July 2, 1923, so that four more rooms will be provided at a cost, including the appropriation of Twenty Thousand Dollars ($20,000) at said special meeting of July 2, of Thirty Thousand Dollars ($30,000), such rooms to be used for school purposes ; or act in relation thereto.
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ARTICLE 39. To see if the Town will vote to accept the provisions of General Laws, Chapter 94, Section 120, relative to annual license fees for slaughter houses; or act in relation thereto.
ARTICLE 40. To see what action, if any, the Town will take relative to instructing the Selectmen to appear in opposition to the annexation of any part or parts of the town of Chelmsford to the City of Lowell ; or act in relation thereto.
ARTICLE 41. To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate any. and, if any, what sum of money to continue the grading of Sprague Avenue to Brick Kiln Road, a distance of about three hundred feet ; or act in relation thereto.
ARTICLE 42. To see if the Town will raise any, and, if any, what sum of money to cover the expense of collecting and disposing of rubbish other than ashes at the Centre Village and North Chelmsford, or any and what other parts of the town; or act in relation thereto.
ARTICLE 43. To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate a sum of money sufficient to meet the expense of clearing the bed of Beaver Brook at Chelmsford Centre; or act in relation thereto.
AND YOU ARE DIRECTED to serve this Warrant by posting attested copies thereof at the Post Offices in the Centre of the town, South Chelmsford, North Chelmsford, and West Chelmsford, and at the School House, East Chelmsford, seven days at least before the time appointed for holding the first meeting aforesaid.
HEREOF FAIL NOT. and make return of this Warrant, with your doings thereon, to the Town Clerk, at the time and place of holding the first meeting aforesaid.
Given under our hands this twenty-second day of January, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and twenty-four.
GEORGE RIGBY, WILLIAM E. BELLEVILLE, GEORGE W. DAY,
Selectmen of Chelmsford.
A true copy, Attest : FRED I. VINAL, Constable of the Town of Chelmsford.
ANNUAL REPORT
OF THE
SCHOOL COMMITTEE
AND THE
SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS
OF CHELMSFORD, MASS.
For the School Year Ending December 31, 1923
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SCHOOL CALENDAR FOR ALL SCHOOLS
1924-25
WINTER TERM-Jan. 2. 1924 to Mar. 21, 1924-12 weeks.
SPRING TERM-Mar. 31, 1924 to June 20, 1924-12 weeks. FALL TERM-Sept. 2, 1924 to Dec. 19, 1924-16 weeks. WINTER TERM-Dec. 29, 1924 to Mar. 20, 1925-12 weeks.
SCHOOL HOLIDAYS
January 1. February 22, April 19, May 30, October 12, Thanksgiving day and the day following.
NO SCHOOL SIGNALS
Bells ring at 7.15 for no session of all schools for day.
Bells ring at 11.30 for one session of grade schools, closing at 1 P. M.
After new fire whistle is installed
Two blasts, repeated. at 7.15. no session, all schools, for day.
Two blasts, repeated, at 11.15, one session for grades closing at 1 P. M.
SCHOOL COMMITTEE
Charles H. Ellis, Chairman. Term expires 1924
Herbert Waterhouse. . Term expires 1925
Frank Lupien, Secretary. . Term expires 1926
ADDRESSES OF COMMITTEE
Rev. Charles H. Ellis, Residence. Chelmsford Centre. . . Tel. Lowell 5861-W Herbert Waterhouse, Residence, No. Chelmsford. Tel. Lowell 4995-R
Frank Lupien, Residence, West Chelmsford. Tel. Lowell 2852-M
Executive Officers Charles H. Walker, Superintendent Office, High School, Chelmsford Centre Residence. Westford Road, Chelmsford Centre. Tel. Lowell 3444-J
Miss Mary A. Sheehan, School Nurse
Residence, Chelmsford Centre. Tel. Lowell 2997-M
Arthur G. Scoboria, School Physician
Residence, Chelmsford Centre. Tel. Lowell 4767-W
Fred Varney, School Physician
Residence, No. Chelmsford.
Charles L. Petrie, Attendance Officer
Residence, Chelmsford Centre. .Tel. Lowell 6113-M
Edward Fallon, Attendance Officer Residence, No. Chelmsford.
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Report of School Committee
Your Committee herewith presents its report for the year ending December 31, 1923.
Early in the year, Mr. Roscoe G. Frame, who served faithfully as the Superintendent of Schools for about one and one-half years, resigned. We were without the services of a superintendent for a month, but the fine spirit of co-operation on the part of all in the service of the schools, enabled us to pass through that period without any apparent reduction in efficiency. So that when the new superintendent, Mr. Charles H. Walker, took over the work in April, he found every part in good running order.
We consider that we have been very fortunate the past year, in the fact that there have been few changes in the teaching force. When a corps is working well together and securing good results, on general principles, the least shake-up that comes the better. As a whole, we think the town is fortunate in the personnel of the teachers in the schools. And as the conditions will show, we have no reason to be ashamed of the status held in the educational. sphere. All are working harmoniously to make our schools the best possible under the circumstances.
The question of expense to produce the desired results must ever be considered. While the past year has been a fortunate one relative to the changes in the teaching force, a committee constantly faces the possibility of having that force weakened by the taking of some of the best by other towns or cities that can offer better inducements. The committee would like to see the standard of the teachers' salaries raised a little, and to this end would offer a suggestion. By the report of the treasurer you will notice that something over $9,000 has been received from the State, in reimburse. ment on the basis of the salaries paid the teachers, and for the education of the State wards in the town. Might not a large portion of this refund be used to enable the committee to raise the maximum for the faithful and efficient teachers ?
It is the purpose of the committee to put the buildings in as good con- dition as possible with a fair outlay. This past summer the High School was attended to, and the results, from paint and varnish applied, are very satisfactory. The citizen will enjoy a visit to this school, either during the busy hours when it is in session or while the pupils are away. . Come and see it yourself. A good beginning has been made towards a reference library in the High School. The children may thus have supplementary reading convenient for their various courses. And as additions are made from time to time, the efficiency in these different branches may be increased.
We hope the citizens will see it clear to give adequate support to put the building at East Chelmsford in suitable condition to meet the situation in that section of the town.
At the grade school at the Centre, the walls and ceilings in the dif- ferent rooms have been touched up a little to give a pleasanter appearance and make them a little more attractive. But the committee does not think it wise to expend the money that would be necessary to put the building
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in first-class condition. And we hope the citizens will soon take the proper measures to furnish the children in the grades in this section of the town more favorable conditions under which to pursue their studies for good citizenship and to get ready for their work in the world.
Thanking all for the cordial support given to furnish the children of Chelmsford good school facilities, and assured of the loyalty of all to make the schools the best possible, we are
Respectfully yours, CHARLES H. ELLIS HERBERT WATERHOUSE FRANK J. LUPIEN
Report of the Superintendent
To the School Committee of Chelmsford :
I am pleased to submit my first annual report as Superintendent of Schools. I also transmit to you the report of the Principal of the High School, the several reports of the other supervisory officers, together with the tabulation of the customary School Statistics, all of which deserve your thoughtful consideration.
Since beginning my service with you nine months ago I have been much impressed with the excellences of your school system, which evidence wise and careful supervision for a period of years. I can only offer the highest commendation of the wise planning and executing in relation to the educa- tional progress of the pupils of your town. It remains for me merely to "fall in line" with the forward-looking supervisors and teachers in their advance to new achievements and if possible to offer some suggestions for the progressive development of the school system.
The ideals and objectives of education are very well established in the minds of those most concerned with the training of the youth of our land. It may be well to call your attention to these objectives by quoting from a National Education Association Commission as to the purpose of education in a democracy, as follows: "So to organize society that each member may develop his personality primarily through activities designed for the well- being of his fellow-members and of society as a whole. Education in a democracy, both within and without the school, should develop in each indi- vidual the knowledge, interests, ideals, habits and powers, whereby he will find his place and use that place to shape both himself and society toward ever nobler ends."
EDUCATIONAL AIMS
1. HEALTH. Without first consideration to the health of the individual - to be trained, there can be no complete educational program. It gives me much pleasure to report that our health program as organized and approved by you has been put into effect so far as possible at this time in a most commendable manner. The employment of school physicians and a full time school nurse to reveal present defects and "to follow up" in the use of
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remedial measures has done much to improve the health of our boys and girls.
I wish especially to call your attention to the reports of the School Physicians and Nurse and to the Health Supervision Summary, which are appended and reveal a startling number of defects. When it is brought to our mind that many of the worst forms of illness are a direct result of such a common defect as carious teeth, it must cause us much concern to know that so few of our children have received the benefits of dental aid. The following defects, poor vision and hearing, adenoids, hypertrophied tonsils, enlarged glands, to say nothing of malnutrition are particularly harmful to the physical and educational growth of our boys and girls. The "follow-up work" of our nurse has resulted in many individual cures and her instruction in the class rooms in personal and community hygiene must tend greatly toward the forming of right habits and sanitation. A very evident need is the establishment of a dental clinic here, since Chelmsford is one of the few progressive towns that has not provided this as an aid in its health program.
Unfortunately we have no organized department of physical education by means of which much preventive and remedial work might be accomplished. Our teachers and nurse are doing what they can to improve the posture, alertness and healthful demeanor of our pupils, but it is impossible for them to do all that might be done if we had a trained physical director. The Parent-Teachers' Association at the Centre, which was organized last spring, is doing much for the physical welfare and indirectly the educational welfare of those pupils at the Centre School who are obliged to bring a lunch from home for the noon hour. These lunches brought from home are supplemented by a cup of hot cocoa, soup, chowder or some other digestible substance, thus furnishing each child warm, nourishing food, which improves him as a pupil in the afternoon session and in some cases may help in overcoming mal- nutrition. It would be a fine thing if the noon lunch could be organized in a similar way by the teachers, with the aid of interested parents in several of our other elementary schools, where many pupils are compelled to bring their lunch. In several of our elementary schools we are providing for mid- session milk feeding, but at this time we have no figures from the medical examination or from the systematic weighing of the children which reveal with what success we are meeting the problem of malnutrition in our schools. Sometime later in the year or at least by the time of our next annual report we hope to be able to show the beneficial results obtained by this preventive measure. We are highly appreciative of the co-operation the Centre Parent-Teachers' Association, and several of the churches of the town have given us in this work. We trust many more parents in the future will give attention to any defects of their children which they may learn of as a result of the medical examination, for surely the physical welfare of our children should be the first care of every thoughtful parent.
2. FUNDAMENTALS. The second objective of our educational aims is to give to our boys and girls what educators today call "the sharpened tools of an education," i. e., certain skills in the fundamental subjects or a mastery of the 3 R's : "Reading, Riting, Rithmetic," and other subjects as spelling, geography, history, etc., which have been added to all school curricula in somewhat recent years. The printed course of study which the Committee adopted last summer we find is a great aid to the teachers in
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centering our attention upon this objective and in unifying our work in all the grades. By teachers' meetings and conferences we are now able to pursue a well-defined curriculum and we believe pupils in the future may be transferred from school to school without detriment.
Because of recent investigations of a diagnostic character the work of the classroom is being subjected to comparison with standardized scales or measures which give a more accurate criterion for judging the work of a pupil or grades than could possibly result from the opinion of the teacher or superintendent. The use of these scales or standardized tests is of much help in the better grouping of those pupils, whose achievements seem to indicate that they should work together. It is desirable that we give general intelligence tests to all the pupils of our schools as soon as possible in order to corroborate or supplement the above measurements and teachers' judgments, and we plan to do this in the near future.
Standard achievement tests in the fundamental subjects, Reading, Writing, Spelling, Composition and the four fundamentals of Arithmetic were administered in nearly all the grade rooms last spring and in general the average scores resulting compare favorably with standard scores. We believe these proved very helpful to the teachers as well as very interesting, in that the results indicated where more or less stress was needed in their teaching in the different subjects tested.
3. VOCATIONS. Another educational aim which we believe should re- ceive our attention is to provide some training in several different fields of learning in order that we might more intelligently do something in the line of pre-vocational guidance for our boys and girls. From a study of the "Age and Grade Distribution Table," which is appended, it appears that we have a much larger per cent. of "overage" pupils in our upper grades than "underage" pupils, particularly in those grades after the fifth or sixth. Furthermore the reverse of this condition is found in the case of the High School. This would indicate that many of our "overage" pupils find little of real interest to them in school pursuing the same fundamental subjects for so many years and so drop out discouraged and disheartened.
In order to overcome this great pupil mortality the work for our upper grades and for the first year or two of the High School should be reorganized so as to provide our boys and girls the chance to learn something of the opportunities and privileges of the various vocations about our community, which require trained youth. They should have the opportunity to explore or "try out" in several fields of knowledge, particularly in the wide field of Practical Arts. At present we give no training to our girls in Domestic Arts, and yet the majority of them are sooner or later going to become home-makers for the rest of their lives. We are giving our boys no special training by which they may learn whether they can become skilled of hand, and yet probably the majority of them will very soon be forced to enter some one of the many trades. Is this not the chief reason why so many girls and boys merely become "drifters," first in one kind of a job and then in a short time in another kind? Do we not owe it to our pupils to give them some experience in the Practical Arts subjects : cooking, sewing, printing, applied drawing and general shop work? Surely we cannot expect to run them all through the "same hole of the skimmer," and is there any reason why we cannot afford to do as much for our boys and girls as many
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other progressive communities are doing for theirs? The boys and girls of Chelmsford are worthy of all the town can give them in the way of educa- tional opportunities. Every citizen, whether he has children or not, should be interested in the better education of our boys and girls, for in twenty years the affairs of the town will be in their hands. Having had some experience in these "explorational" subjects, they will have had a much broader education, and will be in a much better position to select that occupation in life that appeals most to their interests and abilities.
4. HOME. To improve the child's home life is a fourth objective in education. It is surely a large part of the work of the teacher to inculcate high ideals in the minds of the boys and girls with relation to their membership in an American home. Every child, no matter how old he may be, is able to do something to make a brighter and happier home. His contribution may be industrial, literary or artistic. Every boy and girl should be imbued with the idea of useful service and should be trained to co-operate with the other members of the family in the performance of those tasks which may come within the range of his ability. With proper co-operation between the home and the school, good reading habits may be developed and the beginning of an excellent home library may be started. If the best current magazines, fiction, biographies, etc., are found lying on the home table they will do much to keep our children off the street and to develop in them a real love for good literature. The home further provides the opportunity of the development of the artistic side of the child through vocal or instrumental study or the study of decorative art. We are laying the foundation for such home interests in the grades through the study of Music and Art, and in the High School in addition to the above, by means of several different clubs in which the pupils are interested. If every child should have a definite assigned hour for home study of some sort, with supervision on the part of the parent, we could more nearly attain this objective than is now possible. School credit should be allowed for this home work.
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