USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Ipswich > Town annual report of Ipswich 1914 > Part 8
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12 per cent. are averaged or behind their class. This per cent. is one of the two serious weaknesses of our school system. It furnishes a problem of the greatest importance.
The diagram on the following page shows the grades suf- fering most heavily.
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IPSWICH SCHOOL REPORT.
CHART SHOWING THE LARGE PROPOR- TION OF STUDENTS IN GRADES 4, 5.6. 7, 4 8 WHO ARE MAKING 100
SLOW PROGRESS.
85
75
Grades
Total Over Number Aged
8
81- 14
7
86- 12
50
50
6
1- 74-17
5
103_18
4 85_22
25
Dark portions show proportion 8. 7.
6.10
5.
4.
of pupils over aged for their grade.
The Causes for this Over-Age .are:
1, The large number of double grades in the Elementary Schools) A Teacher who has two grades or about twenty clas- ses a day cannot give individual attention when it is needed. This evil is gradually being overcome.
2. Crowded classes and far too many teaching periods a week in the High School probably accounts for much of the over-age in the High School.
3. Other causes which are beyond our control.
This large percentage of over-age pupils is a distinct weak- ness of no mean importance. Because it can be largely over- come by change within our power, I recommend:
IPSWICH SCHOOL REPORT. 39
1. That in the schools within the Town proper there be no double grades next year.
2. That no classes have more than 40 pupils per Teacher in the Elementary Schools.
3. That the proportion of Teacher to pupil be, in the High School, one to twenty-five. This means one additional Teacher in the Elementary Schools, and two additional in the High School.
Summary of Important Facts and What They Mean.
Recommendations on:
A. Buildings. We should seriously consider the question of economical management in regard to four old buildings or one new one.
B. Teaching Force. There is an urgent need for two ad- ditional High School and one Elementary School Teachers.
C. Our cost of maintenance is low except as to repairs. Here it is excessively high. This is due to the necessity of tap- ping worn-out shoes.
D. Salaries. We must choose between the present cost of teaching, which results in a changing, unstable teaching force, or a higher cost of instruction, with consequently more and bet- ter service.
Cost per High School pupil of average Massachusetts town $65. Cost per High School pupil in Ipswich 30.
Ipswich is therefore 54 per cent. below the average, or $35.
Our High School is over-crowded, poorly equipped, under- ยท taught. Are we willing to thus handicap our High School students?
.
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IPSWICH SCHOOL REPORT.
E. In view of the large percentage of over-age pupils, I propose that we remove the cause of this evil. Hence I recom- mend that we have no double grades, and three more teachers, next year.
Section III.
III. Principal Changes and Improvements.
As one looks over the legislative and administrative work of the School Department, he will be strongly impressed with the number of distinct improvements made. This has been a year of extraordinary activity, and there are many notable events to record. Among them are;
A. Repairs.
B. Non-English School.
C. Credit for Manual Training.
D. New School Committee Rules.
E. Simplified Record System.
F. Minimum Requirements for Teachers.
G. New School House.
H. Meetings of Woman's Club.
A. Repairs.
This year has been one of definite accomplishment in re- gard to the improvement of school facilities. Our repair bill is high, Our buildings are not equal to the work that modern education demands. Under the circumstances, the work of the Repairing Committee has yielded increased efficiency to the schools. Following is their Report. It deserves a careful read- ing.
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IPSWICH SCHOOL REPORT.
Report of the Repair Committee.
The Committee on Repairs having general charge of build- ings and grounds submits the following report:
New outside steps were built at the Cogswell School.
The outhouses at the Dennison School were worn out and. beyond repair. Instead of rebuilding, the Committee installed sanitary plumbing and toilet conveniences in the school build- ing. This necessitated the construction of a proper cesspool. The school room floors were painted and some minor changes made in the interest of efficiency in the work and the comfort of the children.
A few minor repairs were made at the Burley, the Warren Street and the Winthrop Schools. The fence in the rear of the Winthrop building was rebuilt by the Committee and the own- ers of adjoining land. The fence between the Manning and the Winthrop Schools was removed and the lumber used in the construction of the fence before mentioned. The poison ivy growing in the rear of the Manning grounds was dug up and its roots killed,
At the Manning building the toilets were partly reconstruc- ted and painted. 'A new firepot was put into one of the fur- naces. New desks and chairs were provided for one school room, and new tops to the desks in the other three rooms. It was imperative that these repairs and changes be made at this time. An office was also provided for the Principal by taking one of the small rooms which had heretofore been used for storage purposes. .
There are many other repairs and changes needed in the buildings.
At the Wainwright School the walls within were painted and the easterly side of the roof shingled. Telephones were in- stalled in the Manning, Winthrop and Burley buildings, and ex- tra facilities provided at the Superintendent's office.
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IPSWICH SCHOOL REPORT.
A new portable two-room building, authorized by a special town meeting, was erected and equipped and is now in use.
Fire extinguishers have been provided for all the school buildings.
New blackboards have been provided for the Manning and other schools to replace old ones which were worn out.
Bankings have been placed around the Portable and Do- mestic Science buildings. It is expected that they will keep the buildings more comfortable, and at the same time be the means of saving fuel.
Other changes and repairs are badly needed, especially at the Manning building. Among them are a new heating plant which will adequately heat the building including the hall on the third floor, so that it can be used at all times. The Chem- ical Laboratory should have a new ceiling, new laboratory ta- bles and apparatus should be provided, and proper water con- nections made so that all the members of a class can work to advantage.
The walls and ceilings of the corridors, halls and school rooms, should be so renovated and repaired that they will at least present a decent appearance.
There are other things that need to be done, but those above mentioned your Committee regard as absolutely neces- sary.
Respectfully submitted,
GEORGE E. MACARTHUR GEORGE W. TOZER
Committee on Repairs
December 1, 1914.
.
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IPSWICH SCHOOL REPORT.
Since the foregoing was written a new metal ceiling has been installed in the Chemical Laboratory and is also being in- stalled in the basement of the High School ..: This is a part of the somewhat extensive repairs and changes that were ordered by the State Police to be made.
In addition to this as a part of the aforesaid order, hand- rails have been installed in the Warren Street and the Payne school houses. Also a fire escape is to be placed on the War- ren Street school house.
Submitted by
GEORGE E. MACARTHUR GEORGE W. TOZER
December 16, 1914.
B. Non-English School:
Another advance in administration has been the establish- ment of a non-English speaking primary grade. The reasons for this departure were published in the Chronicle and Salem News of September 16, 1914. The presence of a large number of pupils who could not speak English rendered slow progress in class instruction inevitable; slow progress to the non-English speaking pupils because much of the work was not understood by them; equally slow progress to the English speaking pupils who already understood spoken English. The new arrange- ment alone makes possible the proper advancement of both types of pupils. The non-English speaking class was seriously handicapped tor seven weeks by lack of proper school equip- ment. Since their removal to the new school house satisfactory work has been going on. If next fall there. are forty pupils in the first and second grades who do not speak and understand English, I recommend the continuance of this policy.
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IPSWICH SCHOOL REPORT.
C. Credit for Manual Training:
A distinct advance has been made in Manual Training and Domestic Science. Hitherto, work in these courses has been offered, but no credit toward the diploma was granted. The Committee felt that practical work of this nature was quite the equal educationally of the other studies. Consequently this year credit has been granted to those doing satisfactory work, and the work here put on the same basis as any High School study. This is only a beginning of what ought to be done tow- ard providing work of a practical nature for our High School pupils. In my opinion the time has come for a substantial in- crease in the work of these departments. Such an extension weuld properly increase the interest of many pupils in their school work and go far toward the solution of several great problems of the schools.
D. New School Committee Rooms:
Up to this summer we had been working according to a body of rules published many years ago. It was evident that it would be well to revise extensively these rules. Consequent'y in July the Committee and Superintendent went to work on new rules. Our policy was to borrow all the brains we could. An exhaustive study was made of the best practice on this matter throughout the country. Late in July the new rules were adopt- ed and printed. They may be had on application at the School Committee rooms. They have proven so far admirably fit. But one re-statement has been made, and at present to 'my knowl- edge no others are contemplated. The one re-statement is in Section 34 relating to age of entrance. It now reads: "A child who shall attain the age of six before the end of the current school year is eligible to admission."
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IPSWICH SCHOOL REPORT.
E. Simplified Record System:
A new system of keeping the educational statistics has been adopted. This was to meet a distinct need in administration. Although much time has been spent in keeping records, the methods in use were such that much real good did not come . from them. On this our experience was the same as many other school systems. Our present system requires the minimum of work in keeping and yields the maximum of significant data. It is substantially the same system which was adopted by the Na- tional Education Association after much study. We were fortu- nate in the purchase of the system, its cost being exceedingly nominal.
F. Minimum Requirements for Teachers:
Until recently we have had no satifactory minimum require- ments for Teachers. Obviously a workable minimum standard would raise the dignity of our teaching force. Hence, the Com- mittee adopted the following minimum requirements for new candidates for regular teaching positions: "A diploma from a State Norm 1 School, or in rare instances the equivalent in train- ing and successful experience." A'though one-third of our teaching force has been elected since July, 1914, in all but one instance this requirement has been fully met by the teachers. The vacancy at the Candlewood School was filled by a young lady not meeting these requirements. For several reasons it was impossible to comply with the requirements in this in- stance.
G. New School House:
Crowded conditions in our Primary Schools made neces- sary the purchase of a two-room Portable school house. This was put near the Winthrop School and is now holding about
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IPSWICH SCHOOL REPORT.
seventy pupils. The building is giving good service. The per capita cost of this building was low. When we have a new large building for schools, this building will prove an excellent home for the Manual Training or Domestic Science branch. It would be of use to the Department for many years. The estab- lishment of two single first grades and one second grade should be a source of much satisfaction to the Committee and to the Town. Up to this year the children of the first and second grades had only half-time instruction. One Teacher had two
grades and gave half her time to each grade. When the new school was ready for occupancy we saw an opportunity to re- duce this evil of the double grades. Now 140 first and second grade pupils have twice as much instruction as previously,
Teaching cost has remained stationary. The teaching time to these grades has been doubled. This practice should be ex- tended. Next year the arrangement of classes can be such that we will have practically no double grades. The number of Teachers will not have to be increased because of this, and the amount of instruction in each grade will be doubled. I believe this change to be in line of sound advancement, and I recom- mend it.
H. Meetings of Woman's Club:
May I take this opportunity to thank the Woman's Club for providing public meetings on educational topics. At the writing of this report, Mr. William Orr, Department Commissioner of Education for the State of Massachusetts, has spoken here on "What the Community and School Owe to Each Other." Those who heard him must at least have had suggested to them the ad- visability of an increased school activity even if it be purchased by the increased appropriation for Public Education.
Summary of Principal Changes and Improvements.
This year has been one of extraordinary activity. .
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IPSWICH SCHOOL REPORT.
Improvements in Adminstration:
(a.) Establishment of non-English Speaking School.
(b.) Credit Given for Manual. Training and Domestic Science in High School.
(c.) Definite Minimum Standards for New Teachers.
(d.) Simplified Record System.
(e.) Doubling instruction of 140 pupils with no increase in cost for this reason. Partial abolishment of the double grades.
Improvements in Equipment and Buildings:
(a.) The repairing and renovating of schools.
(b.) New School House.
Section IV.
IV. Criticisms and Recommendations.
A. Candlewood School should be closed.
B. Janitor Service.
C. Consolidation of Seventh and Eighth Grades.
D. Text Books.
E. Evening Schools.
F. Holding Efficient Teachers.
G. Extension of Manual Training and Domestic Science.
H. High School: More Teachers, more Courses and better Equipment needed.
I. Increase in the Appropriation.
It is possible that a stranger in a community may see evi- dent weaknesses and possibilities for improvement more clearly
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than he would after familiarity with the situation had in a meas- ure dulled his vision. It is therefore fitting that I at this time make some fairly far-reaching criticisms and offer some recom- mendations, hoping to help in the laying of broad and deep foundations for the future. What is said from the standpoint of one who believes that the children of Ipswich are her chief as- sets. Hence, the Public Schools are the Town's chief industry. If this is false then several of the recommendations are worth- less.
A. I recommend the immediate closing of the Candlewood School. I criticize its continuance on two grounds:
1. Pupils attending so small a school fail to obtain some of the most valued influences of education.
2. So small a school is unjustifiably expensive.
There are now four grades being taught in this school. Con- sequently forty lessons a day should be heard. The school day is about 300 minutes. This means a child in the third grade gets about eight minutes a day instruction in Arithmetic or Read ing. A child in a larger school gets four times as much actual instruction.
The school is so small that the children's school life must be excessively narrow. Much of the value of education is the daily competing with, playing with, rubbing up against, one's fellows. There is no competition, no stimulus to win, and but li't'e chance to know many other children. At the Candlewood School this handicap can not be measured in inches or weighed in pounds. It would be impossible to persuade one who can see only in inches and feel in pounds that this is unfortunate. For my own part I feel guilty of injustice in supervising a school which I know can do only a poor thing by its pupils. Let the teaching be as skillful as it may and the parents cooperate in
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IPSWICH SCHOOL REPORT.
every way possible, yet education at the Candlewood School will never equal or begin to equal education in a large school.
The Candlewood School is unjustifiably expensive. At present there are eight children in school. Expenses are cut to the lowest minimum. And yet, we find that it costs $40.00 to educate a child at the Candlewood School, and it costs $14.00 in the Winthrop or Cogswell.
Teaching Costs, November 8, 1914.
Dennison School.
Teachers 2 Total Salaries $1010.00
Pupils 86 Per Capita Cost 11.74
Payne School
Teachers 4 Total Salaries $1530.00
Pupils 108 Per Capita Cost 14.17
Warren Street School.
Teachers 2 Total Salaries $1020.00
Pupils 68 Per Capita Cost 15.00
4
Winthrop School.
Teachers 4 Total Salaries $2220.00
Pupils 169 Per Capita Cost 13.13
Burley School.
Teachers 4 Total Salaries $2230.00
Pupils 134 Per Capita Cost 13.20
Wainwright School.
Teachers 1 Total Salaries $510.00
Pupils 34 Per Capita Cost 14.70
Candlewood School.
Teachers 1 Total Salaries $320.00
Pupils 8 Per Capita Cost 40.00
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IPSWICH SCHOOL REPORT.
Cogswell School.
Teachers 2 Total Salaries $1030.00
Pupils 75 Per Capita Cost 13.87
Linebrook School.
Teachers 1
Total Salaries $400.00
Pupils 17 Per Capita Cost 23.52
Portable School.
Teachers 2 Total Salaries $950.00
Pupils ' 72 Per Capita Cost 13.19
The expense of the several schools is pictured on the fol- lowing page.
THE TEACHING COST FOR EACH PUPIL IN EACH ELEMENTARY SCHOOL IN IPSWICH, WHICH SHOWS THE EXCESSIVE COST OF THE CANDLEWOOD SCHOOL.
Candlewood
$10
$ 20
30
.
Linebrook Warren St.
Wainwright
Payne Cogswell Burley
Portable
Winthrop
Dennison
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IPSWICH SCHOOL REPORT.
B. I criticize the present Janitor service to the extent that there is now no standard practice. I recommend the discontin- uance of part-time janitors at both the Winthrop and High Schools, and the providing of a full-time man on these build- ings.
1. Our Janitor service is weak and probably will continue to be so long as caring for a school is an "odd job" for a busy man.
Our seven buildings in Town require the continuance of this "odd job" practice in all but one instance. When the time comes that we have a new building. our janitor bill will be cut. I wish to note that many of the janitors have the proper atti- tude toward their work. Though a partial change in personnel may be advisable next year, on the whole I consider our janitor service satisfactory.
I offer two recommendations:
A. That we give explicit directions to our janitors as to the care of buildings. We should have a defi ite standard practice in working order by next September.
B. That we require one man to give his full time to the janitor work of the Winthrop School and the High School and to other work about the school properties. We are now pay- ing $72.50 a month for janitor service for this group of build- ings and at least $400.00 a year for carpenter work. For much less a man could be hired to do all the jani'or work of these buildings and give his summers and spare time in the winter to repairing the other buildings. Moreover, a full-time janitor can do many important things that a part-time man cannot be re- quired to do. If the proper man be selected, he can have no mean influence on the boys and help out in many emergencies
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IPSWICH SCHOOL REPORT.
for which there is now no provision. The cost of such a man would be materially less and his service materially more than the present arrangement. If you adopt this plan and in conse- quence we save less than $300.00 for equal service, I will have shown poor judgment in this recommendation.
Consolidation of 7th and 8th Grades.
I criticize the present arrangement of the 7th and 8th grades and recommend their consolidation. At present we have in these grades four teachers. They are doing efficient work but under unnecessary handicaps. Each teacher prepares a lesson in History, Arithmetic, Literature, and so on. The following scheme is the best educational practice and entirely feasible for our schools:
All the seventh and eighth grade pupils should be put into one building and some departmenta' wor begun. Each grade should have a "home" teacher to whom the pupils are to be responsible. All the history work should be handled by one te wher; all the arithmetic by another, and so on. If a teacher has two subjects to keep up in, to prepare work for, to be trained in, instead of having to be responsible for best methods and proper subject matter in seven or eight different studies, we are going to get better teaching. We would receive better teaching for other reasons. Because a teacher is by gift or knack a good arithmetic teacher, it does not follow she is a good history teacher. Teaching by subject instead of grade would mean that we would command the services of a teacher along the lines she is strongest in and not those in which she is weak- est Better teaching will mean abler and better trained child- ren, and that is what we are after. Moreover, the school would be running on a basis approaching the methods of the High School. At present we have in the eighth grade the same meth- ods as in the primary schools. Under the old plan we are
-
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IPSWICH SCHOOL REPORT.
treating them like children which they used to be; under the new plan, like young men and women which they are going to be. The old plan has a downward pull, the new an upward trend. At present the change of method between the eighth grade and those in the High School are so radically different that it takes a child a considerable time to find and adjust him- self in High School. Under the new method this "shock" of change of method would be eradicated. We would have a gradual change of method. Where this scheme is being tried it has resulted in better work all along the line. We have a right to expect the same result here. There are other important cor- siderations which make this change advisable. I will mention only one of them. If the 7th and 8th grades occupied one building a man Principal would be a justifiable expense. I have pointed out previously that the boys In these grades need the masculine influence of a man. The problem of discipline would also be simplified if this be done. Here again the argument cannot be stated in dollars and cents. But there are other con- siderations in schooling youth. On the whole matter the Agent of the State Board wrote as follows:
Boston, Mass., December 24, 1914.
Mr. Frederic B. Knight,
Superintendent of Schools, Ipswich, Massachusetts.
My Dear Mr. Knight :-
Permit me to acknowledge your favor of December 7th relative to the consolidation of the seventh and eighth grades in your schools. My absence from the office is responsible for delay in answering your communication. I trust, however, that I am not too late in my reply to give you some facts that will serve your purpose.
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IPSWICH SCHOOL REPORT.
As regards arguments for intermediate schools, permit me to state that the chief arguments are as follows:
1. It will facilitate the development of courses in manual training and domestic science for seventh and eighth grade and high school pupils. This work may be better organized by having the intermediate school closely connected with the high school work.
2. In the intermediate school it will be possible to secure more male teachers than are now employed in the upper grades and it is desirable to have the boys especially between the ages of twelve and fourteen come under the supervision and control of a man teacher.
3. Boys and girls of intermediate school age require differ- ent treatment and different methods of instruction than do chil- dren in the lower grades and the departmantal work, which is a part of the intermediate school plan, tends toward meeting the needs of the children in this particular.
4. In the intermediate school a greater variety of courses may be offered and children, who under present organization leave school between the seventh and eighth grades and the high school, will be given courses which they desire and which will tend towards keeping them in school during a longer pe- riod of time.
There are many other advantages to be gained by the or- ganization of an intermediate school, and I should be pleased to discuss any phase of the question that seems to you requires elaboration.
Sincerely yours,
J. G. WADSWORTH.
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IPSWICH SCHOOL REPORT.
I trust that my recommendation of the consolidation of the 7th and 8th grades will receive your serious consideration.
D. Text-Books.
I wish to criticize the present provision of text-books both as to condition, number and quality of the books. I recommend the purchase of 19 sets of single grade readers, 3 sets of arith- metics and 2 sets of histories for the Elementary Schools.
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