USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Chelmsford > Town annual report of Chelmsford 1931 > Part 9
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Mayme G. Trefry, III-IV, Sept., 1921. Truro Normal.
(Mrs.) Marion S. Adams, I-II, Jan., 1928, Lowell Normal.
Helen R. Stanley, Assistant, Sept., 1931, Perry Kindergarten Normal.
SUPERVISOR
Charlotte L. Hyde, Music, Oct., 1927, Lowell Normal.
TRANSPORTATION
George W. Marinel, North Chelmsford.
JANITORS
High School. C. O. Robbins. Chelmsford Center. McFarlin, Otis Brown, South Chelmsford. East, Bernard MeLaughlin, East Chelmsford. Highland Avenue, Edward Fallon. North Chelmsford. Princeton Street, John Mattson, North Chelmsford. Quessy, John Boutilier, West Chelmsford. South, E. Dyer Harris, South Chelmsford. South Row, Mrs. Hildur Smith, Chelmsford Center. Westlands, Charles Stearns, Chelmsford Center.
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REPORT OF THE SCHOOL COMMITEE-1931
To the Citizens of the Town of Chelmsford:
We herewith submit the report of the School Committee for the year 1931.
Without doubt the most important problem which the School Committee had to solve during the past year has been the housing of the High School students. When it is considered that the present high school building was designed and built to comfortably accom- modate 225 pupils, and that since the opening of the school in Septem- ber up to 347 have been cared for, it can readily be seen that the task has been no light one.
The lunch room equipment was removed, new school room furni- ture bought and installed, a new teacher secured, and the former lunch room became a classroom. New desks and chairs were also bought and placed in room 10, which had been previously used as a study room, as well as an assembly room of a sort.
The lunch room was established in the basement of the McFarlin School, a new gas range was purchased by the committee, and a new gas refrigerator was given by the Center Parent-Teacher Association, for which the school department extends thanks.
The basement of the McFarlin School is also used as an assembly hall for the High School, and for athletic work. Shower baths have been installed in this building for the use of athletic teams. A walk was put in from the rear door of the High School to the basement door of the McFarlin School, making it safer for the transfer of pupils from one building to the other, especially in the winter months. While this is not an ideal arrangement, it is the best that could be done under the circumstances, and seems to work as well as could be ex- pected.
One new room was furnished in the McFarlin School and a teacher engaged to take care of the extra pupils in grades V and VI.
The contract for the transportation of pupils expires at the end of this school year. We feel that considering the increase in the num- ber of pupils carried since the present contract was signed in the summer of 1929, the service has been very good. We have found the contractor at all times willing to co-operate with the School Depart- ment.
When the new transportation contract is made, the fact of the increase in the number of pupils carried, as well as the establishment of at least one new route, must be taken into consideration. The new route will be necessary if the crowded conditions in the Westlands School reaches the point that one grade, or any considerable number
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of pupils, will have to be transferred to the McFarlin School. This will no doubt also necessitate the opening of another room in this school and the employment of an additional teacher.
The work of the Parent-Teacher Associations throughout the town during the past year has been appreciated by the School Com- mittee. Their co-operation and helpful suggestions have been thank- fully received.
The teaching staff has maintained on the whole a high standard of efficiency, which we trust has met with the approval of the parents of our young charges.
Having in mind the necessity for economy where it could be practiced without detriment to the school system, your committee deemed it wise to suspend the position of supervisor of physical edu- cation, which cost $1800 a year. It was also voted to make the fol- lowing changes in the schedule of salaries for teachers in the various schools of the town. The minimum salary for grade school teachers. that is, the salary at which new teachers for the grade schools are hired, was changed from $900 to $850. The maximum salary for grade school teachers who are not now receiving more than $1200 was fixed at $1200. The minimum salary for men principals of four-room grade schools was fixed at $1300, and the maximum for such principals at $1500. The minimum salary for women teachers in the high school was fixed at $1100, and the maximum for women teachers, except the vice-principal, was fixed at $1500. This schedule directly affected the salaries of only a few teachers for this year. One teacher in the High School was reduced from $1700 to $1500, two grade teachers did not receive increases of $50 which they would otherwise have re- ceived, one grammar school principal and one High School teacher did not receive raises of $100.
Owing to the increase in school attendance it was necessary to hire an additional teacher in the High School, one new teacher in the grade schools, as well as an additional building assistant for the remaining months of 1931. Do not lose sight of the fact that all these additions to our teaching force are an absolute necessity, and will have to be carried through the full ten months of 1932.
The work of the janitors has been very satisfactory. The small repairs done by them during the summer vacation as well as through- out the year have saved the tax payers a considerable number of dollars.
The High School athletic teams have performed in a very satis- factory manner during the year under the direction of the head coach and his assistant. The girls' teams have also shown enthusiasm and progress under the two women teachers in charge. We feel that these teachers are to be commended for the efforts put into this work.
This report would be incomplete without a word of appreciation for the guiding mind of the school system, Mr. George S. Wright,
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our able superintendent of schools. We feel that under his efficient administration the School Department of Chelmsford holds a place second to none of its class in the state.
We recommend that the citizens read carefully the report of the superintendent of schools, that they may become conversant with the expenditures of the past year, and thereby be better able to judge of the financial needs of the year to come.
It is the wish of your committee to give you, the tax payers of Chelmsford, an efficient and economical administration of your schools.
Respectfully submitted,
JOHN A. McADAMS, EDWARD B. RUSSELL, JAMES P. CASSIDY,
School Committee.
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REPORT OF SUPERINTENDENT
To the School Committee:
In submitting my fourth annual report, the 58th in the series, I wish first of all to call attention to the fact that it is written to give the public information regarding their schools. An attempt is made each year to explain somewhat thoroughly one or two features of the system, rather than to dwell lightly on every possible phase.
The report of 1928 emphasized the superlative importance of the classroom teacher. All that was said then remains true. The teacher is the all important factor in determining the worth of schools. The . better qualified the teacher in native ability, in training, in sympathy, in insight into child nature, in personality, in experience, the better the school will be. No consideration of residence, of unemployment, of sympathy with an applicant for this reason or that, should ever stand in the way of filling each position which becomes vacant with the most promising candidate who is available at the salary paid. By far the most important duty of school committees and super- intendents is choosing new teachers.
The grading and promotion of pupils was discussed in the same report. This presents a problem in which oftentimes the opinions of teachers and superintendent are in conflict with the desires of parents. Children by native endowment differ just as much in their ability to do school work as they do in strength, or weight, or height, and it is just as impossible to increase their ability to do school tasks well as it it would be to change their physical characteristics. Our aim is to place each pupil in the grade in which he will profit most. The majority will make a grade each year. A few may be able to go faster, or, better, to do extra work. A few others need to go slower. Solely for their own good a few in each grade need to repeat. This, if they have applied themselves, is not at all their fault; they are not in any sense of the word failures; but they do need to make better preparation before going on. No greater harm can be done a child in school than to send him on into a grade for which he clearly is not prepared. To use a specific illustration, a first grade child who can- not read simple primers with understanding and enjoyment will be injured if he is sent into 2nd grade to compete with children who do have that ability. The tasks they can do and which are required in that grade are beyond him. He is being asked to do the impossible. The same reasoning applies to promotion from a 4th grade to 5th of a child who is weak in multiplication tables and who cannot use long division. He cannot by any possibility do 5th grade work. In a num- ber of cases during the last three years children who have been re- peating have found a satisfaction in their work, a joy of accomplish- ment, which they could not possibly have had while they were at- tempting work beyond their powers. There is a natural disappoint-
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ment for both child and parents when he cannot go on with his group, but the next year, the pupil finds himself able to do the work and to enjoy doing it, he is happier than before. I wish to commend heartily the parents who accept the advice of teachers and superintendent in the matter of non-promotion as professional in nature, and not per- sonal. We are striving always for the good of the child, even if our action does bring grief for a time.
The report of 1929 included a study of teachers' salaries, point- ing out the relation between salaries and efficiency in teaching. "Higher salaries should mean better educated, better trained, more progressive teachers; and such teachers mean better schools." Sala- ries in Chelmsford were found to be low, and this fact is confirmed by a recent state report entitled: Salaries of Teachers in the Public Day Schools of Massachusetts. Of the 83 towns above 5000 in popu- lation, Chelmsford is 58th in population, 76th in average salary paid women elementary teachers, 72nd in average salary of High School men, and 67th in average salary of High School women. Put in an- other form, although there are 25 towns smaller than Chelmsford in this group, only seven pay less to women elementary teachers, 11 pay less to men in High School, and 16 to women. Our salaries are below average for towns of our class.
The report of 1929 recommended that a special committee be ap- pointed to examine into crowded conditions in certain buildings and to make a study of school organization. Such a committee was ap- pointed and made a preliminary report last year, and in May recom- mended that an addition be built onto the High School. On the recom- mendation of the Finance Committee, taking into account the poor industrial conditions, action was postponed to a more favorable time. A careful reading of the final report of this committee, found on page 143, will convince anyone that they have made a very real contribu- tion to school development in Chelmsford. Whenever the time for building does come, and the growth of the school from year to year indicates it cannot be long delayed, the data collected by the special committee will be of value.
Last year's report was devoted almost wholly to a detailed study of school finances. Such a report may well be made at about five-year intervals, with an explanation during the intervening years of any ex- traordinary expenditures. With one exception the items for 1931 ran very close to those of 1930. The cost of lights, water, and power has over-run for several years the customary estimate of $1300, and since September we have had a new expense under that heading. The State Department of Public Health condemned the water in the East Chelmsford School for drinking purposes and it has been necessary to furnish bottled water, as has been done at South Row for two years. The cost of this service for a school year will run between $250 and $300.
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The School Committee secured an independent analysis of the water from the East Chelmsford well, and also had a test made to determine whether the contamination comes from the school sewer system. The analysis fully confirmed the report that the water is not fit for domestic use, and the chemist, Mr. Howard D. Smith of Lowell, reports that probably the contamination reaches the water of the well, which is 80 feet deep, by an indirect route from the dry well taking the flow from the septic tank. The reports of the various analyses and Mr. Smith's report are on file in the office of the Superintendent and may be seen by anyone who is interested. Since the question of a public water supply in that part of Chelmsford is under discussion, it would seem best to await action by the Town before seeking another supply on the school land, the purity of which would be doubtful.
As stated last year, the Town is paying for repairs and improve- ments on the school buildings less than one per cent of their ap- praised value. School buildings are subjected to hard usage. It would be false economy to allow needed repairs to go for any length of time. In 1931 the largest items of expense were: Caulking windows at the High School, $135; work on the well house and pump at Quessy, $235; coal carburetor at High School, making it possible to burn buckwheat coal, $580; improvement in the Highland Ave. coal pit, $58; repairs to heating plants in several buildings, $420; plumbing repairs, all buildings, $235; paint, varnish, floor oil, etc., used by janitors, $225; improvements on school grounds, largely at the West- lands, $140; replacing of typewriters, $275, and of furniture, $210; new window shades at South Chelmsford, $82; repairs to electric motors and wiring, $212; carpenter and mason work with material, all buildings, $508; walk between the High School and McFarlin, to- gether with cost of filling in a depression below the McFarlin School, $193; gas stove, sink, etc., for the lunch room, $190.
Few changes have been made in teachers since the last report. In March Miss Large resigned, and at the end of the year Miss Reis, Miss Harris, Mrs. Nystrom, and Miss Bailey. Miss Mary McEnaney was transferred from South Row and Miss Greene from South Chelms- ford to fill the vacancies in the 1st and the 2nd grades at McFarlin School. Gladys G. Mooney was elected to the 1st and 2nd grade posi- tion at East Chelmsford and Mildred G. Perry to the 3rd and 4th; Mary H. Ryan, building assistant and substitute last year, to the 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade position at South Chelmsford; Gladys Har- rington at South Row; Viola Mellen to the 5th and 6th grades at Highland Ave .; and for the new position at McFarlin School, 5th and 6th grades, Louise Cummings. These are all graduates of Lowell Normal School, and except Miss Perry, had had two or more years of ex- perience. Helen R. Stanley, a graduate of Perry Kindergarten Train- ing School and Alice P. McEnaney of Lowell Normal were given posi- tions as building assistants at the Westlands and Highland Ave.
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Just as the Fall term was about to begin Miss Donahoe was elected to a position in Lowell High School. Mildred K. Libby, a graduate of Wheaton, was elected to this position, and Mildred L. Wells, a graduate of Boston University, to the new position in the High School.
During the fall term we had cadet teachers from Lowell Normal working with Miss McTeague at Princeton St., Miss Mooney at East Chelmsford, and Miss Cummings at the McFarlin School. Miss Hyde has girls from the 4th year class in music at the Normal School as assistants in the High School. We are receiving valuable service from these young women without expense to the town, while they are gaining experience. in our schools.
In order to effect needed economies it was decided in June to suspend the department of physical education, which had been in existence four years. Mr. LaFountain, supervisor of the department, secured a similar position in Edgartown. Mr. Knightly was appointed head coach for the athletic teams in the High School, with Mr. Bud- nick as assistant, and later Miss Libby and Miss Wells were given charge of the girls' teams. More students are participating in sports as members of school or class teams than ever before, and this is the real measure of the value of athletics in a school. The aim is to give physical training through games to the largest possible number of students, rather than to win games with other schools by emphasizing the training of a limited number. When the time comes for restoring the physical education department it would be well to leave the coach- ing of the High School teams with members of the faculty as at present.
The number of teachers who attended summer schools was not so large as in the previous year. Mr. Forrest and Mr. Hilyard were at Bates, and Mrs. Brown at Columbia. Mrs. Pereira attended the summer session at Hyannis for teachers of adult evening classes. Miss McCarthy, Miss Dunigan, Miss Walter, and Mr. Rikkola are tak- ing university extension courses in Boston, and others are taking courses in Lowell.
The table on page 182 shows the enrollment by grades and build- ings on October 1, and also the growth of the schools during the last ten years. The increase over the enrollment of 1930 was 85, 40 in the High School and 45 in the grades. This exceeded the estimates made last June. The providing of an additional classroom in the High School by moving the lunch room to the McFarlin School and the equipping of an additional room in the latter school were wise moves. It IS impossible in January to make any positive statement as to promo- tions in June and enrollment the next September, but it does not seem probable that there can be such an increase another year. New houses are being built in the Westlands, however, and any slight increase in the membership of that school will make it imperative to transfer pupils to the Center. For a time last fall every seat was taken in the
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5th and 6th grade room at the Westlands, loose chair desks occupied every available foot of floor space, and two pupils were seated at the teacher's desk. Another room in the McFarlin School should be furn- ished next summer in preparation for the time when pupils must be brought there from the Westlands. At present pupils living on the portion of Golden Cove Road near Lowell Road and on New Fletcher St., attend the Westlands School. It would be well to consider chang- ing the division lines so that all living on Golden Cove Road and the streets running off that road would be required to attend the Mc- Farlin School.
Valuable service is rendered to many of the boys and girls of Chelmsford through organizations not directly connected with the school system, but worthy of our support in every possible way which does not conflict with school activities. Among these are the various scout organizations and the 4-H clubs, some of which use school build- ings for their meetings. I am glad to incorporate in my report the following statement by Miss Elizabeth F. Hopkins, Assistant County Club Agent, which shows the 4-H activities of last year and the present club organization.
In boys' and girls' 4-H Club work 171 were enrolled, in the cloth- ing, garden, canning and food clubs. In addition, 64 boys were en- rolled at the Training School in North Chelmsford.
Those serving as local leaders were Mrs. R. P. Kidder, Mrs. Welch, and Adam Zabierek, of Chelmsford Center; Mrs. Ernest Ferron, Mrs. Joshua Machon, and John Cassidy, of North Chelmsford; Mrs. Lucia Norton, Westlands; Mrs. Ralph Bickford and Eric Petersen, of West Chelmsford; Mrs. E. Dyer Harris, South Chelmsford.
The Wide-Awake Clothing Club of Chelmsford Center, under the leadership of Mrs. Kidder, won a blue ribbon for putting on the best stunt at the Lowell 4-H Rally, in competition with 20 clubs.
Julia Koulas won second prize in the Middlesex North Garden Contest, and was candidate for the State Championship in gardening.
The following were awarded the two-day trip to Amherst; Esther Kidder and Phyllis Welch, Chelmsford Center; Isabel Hamilton, North Chelmsford; Ralph House, South Chelmsford; John Reed, West Chelmsford.
This year the following clubs have organized and are in progress: North Chelmsford-Three clothing clubs under the leadership of Mrs. Ernest Ferron and Mrs. Joshua Machon, assisted by Mrs. D. Sullivan.
Chelmsford Center-A clothing club under the direction of Mrs. R. P. Kidder, and Mrs. E. T. Burbeck; a handicraft club led by Mr. E. Eriksen.
Westlands-A clothing club led by Mrs. Vivian Jackson; and a handicraft club under the leadership of Mr. M. D. Johnson.
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East Chelmsford-A clothing club led by Mrs. Ralph Finch; and a food club under the direction of Mrs. Robert Barris. Mr. Albert Johnson is leading a handicraft club.
West Chelmsford-A clothing club under the direction of Miss Bertha Brown; and a handicraft club led by Mr. John Rikkola.
South Chelmsford-A clothing club led by Mrs. E. Dyer Harris; and a handicraft club led by Mr. W. D. Fish.
A study is being made of the various problems connected with the transportation of pupils, including the bus routes, mileage, loads carried, distances pupils must walk, etc. This is being done with two objects in view; the improving of service under the present con- tract and the securing of data on which a new contract will be made. Conditions in different towns vary so widely that no valid comparison of service or cost is possible. Beyond the general statement that transportation must be furnished if a pupil lives over two miles from school, the law leaves the regulation of the matter to the towns. Gen- erally speaking, towns establish a lower limit of distance for the younger children than for High School students, and a lower limit for heavily travelled thoroughfares than for side roads. The number of pupils transported is increasing. In 1928 it was 454; in 1929, 480; in 1930, 535; and this year it is 549.
Adult evening classes were maintained to the middle of April and were re-opened the first week in November. Miss Jantzen and Mrs. McPherson have the two rooms at Princeton St. and Mrs. Gladys H. Pereira the group at East Chelmsford. Present membership in the three classes is 34. The cost, aside from the heating and lighting of the rooms, is $22 a week, of which the state returns one-half.
The most serious defect in the Chelmsford School system, in my opinion, is the narrowness of the courses offered in the High School. The school has more than doubled in size since the two high schools in town were combined in the present building, and the growth dur- ing the last five years has been more than 50 per cent. But in spite of this increase there has been almost no change in the curriculum. We have an excellent college preparatory course and an equally good commercial one. Students who are not definitely in one of these two courses are enrolled as general students, but an examination of the list of subjects taken by these latter would reveal that very little is offered them except subjects from the other courses.
A generation ago such a High School curriculum was the ac- cepted thing. A boy or girl who was not interested in what was of- fered simply left school to work on the farm, in the kitchen, or in the shop. He was free to take what the school offered or to leave. The college course, and the students preparing for college, dominated the school to a much greater extent than is now the case. Times have changed. Public opinion as written into school law in Massachusetts requires the boy or girl to stay in school to the age of 14, and, unless
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he finds work and secures the proper certificate, to the age of 16, and public opinion demands the enforcement of this law. While this is undoubtedly one cause for the growth of high schools, it is not the principal one. Almost without exception parents living in enlightened American communities desire to have their boys and girls stay in school till they have entered High School, and if possible till they graduate. To use a common phrase, the American people are sold on High School education, and this alone explains the fact that build- ings which ten or fifteen years ago seemed adequate for an indefinite period are now outgrown. Chelmsford is not alone in needing a larger building for its High School; it is the rule everywhere. It would be a sad commentary on the prosperity and intelligence of the town if such were not the case.
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