USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Ipswich > Town annual report of Ipswich 1924 > Part 7
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Especially do we hope the interest manifest by all during the past year will be kept up and be increased, for it is by team work that the best may be gained. We are all working for the same end; namely the good of the schools. For it is through the school chiefly that the spirit of the town is kept up. Let us all work for this end, that Ipswich may be proud of its schools, and let us set up and maintain a standard that will be
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well worthy of us to the extent of our purse without overdoing.
During the year 1924, the following has been done to the school property:
WAINWRIGHT SCHOOL
Boys toilet repaired.
DENNISON SCHOOL.
Walls and ceiling of upper classroom washed and painted. New fire escape built, 1924-1925.
COGSWELL SCHOOL.
New sanitary system installed. Additional room and cess- pool built to accommodate same. Walls and ceilings in both class-rooms washed and painted. Desks resurfaced.
PAYNE GROUP.
New sanitary system installed. Rooms altered to accommo- date same. Cesspool built. One chimney on each building re- topped. Walls and ceilings in three classrooms washed and painted.
BURLEY SCHOOL.
Grounds graded. Trees planted. (See Supt. Report.) Abut- ment built to secure better drainage. Furnished and opened additional room in basement to provide for increased enrollment in fifth grade in this neighborhood. Desks resurfaced. Shrub- bery planted.
WINTHROP SCHOOL.
Grounds resurfaced about entrances. Fifteen feet new brickwork added to chimney. Repaired outside entire building necessary for painting. Painted entire building, two coats, out-
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side. Constructed new dressing room and built new entrance from outside for various athletic activities. Changed doors for "safety first." Provided new window shades for some of the rooms.
MANNING BUILDING
Repaired building outside necessary for painting. Painted entire building, two coats, outside. Built new entrance platform of concrete in front vestibule. Relaid new floor in three class- rooms, corridors, anterooms and recitation rooms. Placed new treads and risers in main stairway where necessary. Raised and relaid new floors in rear vestibule and adjusted doors to meet conditions. Provided new partition in drawing room. Provided new screens for stage and for exhibiting drawings. Installed new slate blackboards in three large classrooms. Provided and in- stalled eighty new chair desks for new classroom in the assembly hall on third floor. Provided and installed large new cabinet in the office of the Superintendent to facilitate the filing of various papers.
Your committee would be pleased to have you visit the va- rious schools, to see what has been done, especially to the Cogs- well and the Payne Schools. As more must be done to both these schools and to other buildings, by visiting them you would learn!first-hand their condition, and be able to act more under- standingly as occasion may require.
Your committee will now point out to you what should be done to the various buildings and grounds in 1925.
WAINWRIGHT SCHOOL.
Building should be shingled. Outbuilding should be put into good shape and new sanitary system installed. Rear exit should be made and outbuilding connected with main building. Walls and ceiling should be washed and painted throughout.
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DENNISON SCHOOL.
New sanitary system should be installed as in the Cogswell school, thus eliminating a bad fire hazard, saving in water bills and in heating. Walls and ceiling in down stairs classroom should be washed and painted. Window shades are necessary for both classrooms. The heating plant is entirely inadequate for heating both classrooms to the extent that the efficiency of the school work is greatly impaired. This should be remedied before another fall. Slate blackboards are needed badly, but we can get by with the old ones for another year.
WARREN STREET SCHOOL.
If this school is to be continued much needs doing to it. Our recommendation, however, does not provide for the contin- uance of this school.
COGSWELL SCHOOL.
This school building must be shingled as soon as possible. Slight repairs and painting should be done to both entrances, both upstairs and down. Doors should be repaired, and new thresh- holds put in.
PAYNE GROUP.
The larger building must be shingled as soon as possible. The roof has been patched and re-patched. Its no use to do over ceilings and have your roofs leaking. Many new window sashes should be put in, and others reglazed. Storm windows should be provided for the Linebrook Street side. This would make the rooms far more pleasant and comfortable in severe weather, and cause a saving on your coal bills. Desks should be resurfaced and several chairs repaired. A little painting is necessary to both buildings both inside and outside.
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BURLEY SCHOOL.
Boundary lines of this school grounds should be definitely established, thus removing all controversy with abutters.
WINTHROP SCHOOL.
A set of new grates for the boilers should always be on hand in event the old ones should give out. New grates cannot be secured in less that two weeks time, so you see both your school buildings, the Winthrop and the Manning, would be cold in case of a break-down to the grates, with none to take their place short of two weeks. Window shades should be provided in rooms not already supplied. Desks should be resurfaced, and many chairs and settees repaired. Electric lights should be installed in some rooms. Walls and ceilings should be washed throughout entire building.
LINEBROOK SCHOOL.
Windows should be reglazed. Floor relaid. Two electric lights installed.
MANNING BUILDING.
A storm porch should be provided to the entrance to base- ment, immediately to the left of the main entrance steps. Various turnings for the balustrades of the stairways should be provided, and other minor carpentry work to stairways as a "safety first' measure should be done. Your floors in the assembly hall are in very bad condition after fifty years use. and so also are your ceilings, caused by leaks in roof which should be fixed. Ceilings in basement and laboratory should be painted. Expert advice from a plumbing engineer is required relative to the return water pipe in the heating of this building. A new fence should be
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provided along the line of your property and the Manning Street abutters.
The repairs mentioned above are those that your commit- tee, after careful investigation, would advise you to have done during 1925.
There are many other things that we could tell you about, which we will not at this time, for they are not so urgently need- ed as the things we have brought to your attention. We feel that you wish your school buildings and grounds to be in good shape, wholesome, sanitary and comfortable at least, and we know you will gladly provide for the same.
Your committee is ever willing to undertake anything you wish. We will gladly fulfill our obligations to you in our best manner. It is quite necessary, however, that we know your mind, that we may fulfill our part. We trust you will make clear to us your desires.
Budget for 1925.
General Control
$ 5375 00
Teachers Salaries
60000 00
Evening School
250 00
Text Books & Supplies
6000 00
Tuition
500 00
Transportation
3450 00
Support of Truants
175 00
Janitors
4000 00
Fuel
3500 00
Light
500 00
Buildings & Grounds
6000 00
Furniture & Furnishings
2000 00
Diplomas & Graduation
150 00
Insurance
1309 00
.
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Athletics Miscellaneous
500 00
200 00
Total 93909 00
Respectfully submitted,
RALPH W. BURNHAM, Chairman DR. GEORGE E. MacARTHUR CHARLES L. LOVELL FRANCIS C. WADE
JOSEPH W. ROSS
HENRY S. BOWEN
School Committee of Ipswich.
SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT.
To the School Committee of Ipswich, Mass., Gentlemen:
The twenty-third annual report coming from the office of the superintendent of schools, and the ninth from the present incumbent, is herewith submitted for your consideration. At the last meeting of your committee, when the length of the annual report was under discussion, the consensus of opinion seemed to be in accord with the general practice of the day of making the same as short as possible.
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The reasons governing such action may be summarized as follows:
1. The financial statement, which will be given in full, al- ways claims the largest share of attention.
2. The cost of printing will be considerably reduced.
3. The needs and progress of our schools may be learned at first hand by frequent visits by the parents and others inter- ested. Seeing is believing. No written or verbal report by any school official can begin to compare in actual value with the knowledge gained by personal inspection. The best things in a school cannot be described-they must be sensed.
4. The requirements of the law will be just as fully satisfied with a shorter report as with a more extended one.
5. Nobody reads it.
Number five will give you some idea of the overflowing zeal (?) with which the superintendent uudertakes the task. Hence, we shall discuss a few specific matters in a very genera way and leave many others, of which you have been fully in- formed, to be presented by your committee that we may have in clear cold type something that will indicate a plan or outline of your general policy.
Enrollment.
As may be seen from the enrollment tables, to be found on pages 16 and 17, a larger number of pupils are in the public schools of the town today than ever before in its history. Of the 1465 enrolled since September, 1416 are in actual membership at the present time. Taking the enrollment of last year as a basis, there has been a net gain of 87 pupils-more than enough to fill two large class rooms. When we consider the limited ac- commodations of a year ago, it will be seen that to house this additional number has been a problem of no small proportions,
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and could be accomplished only by the sacrifice of space that was held exclusively for other purposes.
The assembly hall on the top floor of the Manning Building- the only one we had in our whole school system-was given up to accommodate the largest freshman class that ever entered the high school. A lower room of the Burley School was furnished throughout to provide for an overflow of mixed fourth and fifth grade children. This room had been used previously as a play- room for the smaller children during stormy weather. We had no choice in the matter; the assembly hall and the play-room- both much needed adjuncts in any school system --- were given up to serve other and more necessary purposes.
There is another feature of our enrollment, not to be found in the table, however, that should be brought to your attention. It is an item of no small political and social interest and should fill us with confidence for the future. And that is the large num- ber of children of foreign parentage that are in our public schools. I feel that it is not realized or generally known that more than fifty per cent. of our school population is composed of such chil- dren. We have one school in which this class of children is about eighty-five per cent, of the total number enrolled in that building. Our schools are drawing their pupil supply from fifteen different nationalities. Poland, Greece, Russia, Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland, France, Italy, Portugal, Scotland, England, Ireland, Nova Scotia and Quebec - each is contributing its quota to this heterogeneous gathering, and the public schools are taking care of them all. The harmonious and friendly relations existing among these children is not only most gratifying but is truly in- spiring. It should fill us with hope and give us courage to go forward.
There is very little quarreling and fighting among them now- far less than in the good old days (?) when every child was sup- posed to be able to trace his ancestry back to the Mayflower.
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Faults they have, to be sure, but who is without faults?
The power which exists in our public schools to unify and bring into conformity all these different racial traits and charac- teristics is a splendid tribute to the lofty ideals, the high purpose, and efficient work of our teachers. For let it be understood, that these results come not by observation alone, but are achieved only by well-planned, concerted, and persistent effort on the part of those engaged in this humanizing work. No opportunity to give expression to our sympathy to those in trouble or sorrow of any kind among the school children is ever neglected or allowed to pass unimproved. Occasions of sickness and death are al- ways noticed by gifts of flowers or letters of condolence to the afflicted ones, and this too without discrimination of race, or creed, or social standing. Everything is conceived and carried out in the spirit of true democracy, and we are pleased to say that the results of these beneficent efforts are being more and more apparent each year.
There is another phase of our educational program that should come within the scope of your deliberations. Call it an opportunity or an obligation as you may. It is a matter of the deepest significance to each and every one in this community, and demands the most careful consideration and treatment. Here, too, is a condition that has not been realized or known to any of us until very recently.
To bring the matter before you in its organized form, let me quote a few statistics that have been compiled by one of the large insurance companies of New York City. There are in Ipswich
2131 native born of foreign and mixed parentage
2182 foreign born
1699 non-citizens, and
482 persons, over twenty-one years of age, who cannot write in any language.
To any one having the least regard for the social and polit-
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ical welfare of this community, the conservation of our institutions, or the safety and stability of our form of government, these fig- ures must present a most urgent appeal. This is not a theory but a real condition. It is a matter that calls for consideration and adjustment along the lines of the most enlightened experi- ence and wisely directed effort; or else we shall suffer the con- sequences of our indifference and neglect.
The first two items of the list give us but little concern. The public schools are already doing something to remedy this condition. But when we realize that the number of non-citizens is more than one-fourth of our entire population, and is almost equal to the number of our registered voters, it would seem that some concerted action toward the education of these people as to the duties and responsibilities of citizenship should be under- taken at once.
It is a large contract for any single department to undertake unless it can have the moral and financial support of other organizations that have equal interest in the progress and uplift of this community. The accomplishment of such a task requires time, money, effort, and brains. But if out of this number we can succeed in building up one thousand self-respecting and law-abiding citizens, no one will be able to accuse us of failure in the line of duty, nor will this community be the poorer for such an expenditure.
The greatest obstacle to be overcome in any line of effort is ignorance. We find this to be true in every situation in life, and this statement gives the crux to the whole situation.
Nothing is settled until it is settled right; and the only right settlement admissible here is through the channels of education -physical, mental, and moral-and the whole community should have a part in this work.
The middle West furnishes many examples of what has been successfully accomplished in the line of the Americaniza-
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tion of such groups. The State itself offers substantial assistance as may be seen from the following :
Massachusetts Legislation for Adult Immigrant
Education.
Chapter 69, General Laws, Sections 9 and 10. Amend- ed May 27, 1921. Revised Form of Chapter 295, Acts of 1919.
Section 9. The department, with the co-operation of any town applying therefor, may provide for such instruction in the use of English for adults unable to speak, read, or write the same, and in the fundamental principles of government and other subjects adapted to fit for American citizenship, as shall jointly be approved by the local school committee and the department. Schools and classes established therefor may be held in public school buildings, in industrial establishments or in such other places as may be approved in like man- ner. Teachers and supervisors employed therein by a town shall be chosen and their compensation fixed by the school committee, subject to the approval of the department.
Section 10. At the expiration of each school year, and on approval by the department, the commonwealth shall pay to every town providing such instruction in conjunction with the department, one half the amount expended for supervision and instruction by such town for said year.
To allow this condition to continue, when the remedy is known, would be a blot on our escutcheon, and a smirch on the good
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name of our town. It would always be pointed out as a striking evidence of our indifference and short-sightedness, and, good friends, what of the future?
These people are ambitious and desirous to learn. Many of them have already taken out their "first papers" and many of them have requested the privilege of further instruction through the evening school. This we were obliged to deny them this year on account of lack of funds, Let us hope that this extreme and urgent need-and it is mutual-may arouse the leaders of our organizations to make a united effort in meeting this great civic and moral obligation.
Changes of Teachers.
The changes in our teaching force this year have been the largest within my experience, Most of them were made solely for financial reasons. We started the schools in September with eighteen new teachers. Now, if you will allow fifteen per cent as the average loss in efficiency arising from a change in teachers, you will have some idea of the loss entailed by this change.
If other communities will pay from $150 to $450 more than we can offer them, we must expect to lose our teachers. In one instance-that of the supervisor of drawing-I am informed that she is getting nearly double the sum received here. There is but one result growing out of this practice-loss in the efficiency of our schools.
We might cover pages with graphs and diagrams, showing salary schedules of other towns, or of the state, or of the nation as a whole. We might say that but a fraction of the amount spent for pleasure would more than quadruple the total expend- itures for education. We might show that the money spent for
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tobacco and chewing-gum alone would amply meet all the educational requirements of the whole country. Still, all this would be of doubtful value, if not utterly futile.
The gauge and measure of a community's appreciation of educational opportunities is reflected in the amount devoted to school purposes and especially to the item of salaries. Would it not seem probable that parental regard for the well-being of children would be strong enough to hold our best teachers at current rates? Are not the school children of this community just as deserving as those of other places? Shouldn't they be given a fair and equal chance? Are we so unmindful of the possibilities for distinguished service that may be locked up in some one or more of these children? What shall be our answer?
The great outstanding need of this department today is the adoption of some reasonable salary schedule by which the best teachers would be assured of a reasonable increase of salary with each additional year of service. There should be no minimum, and only a nominal maximum. This would give the necessary range to school authority, and every advancement in salary should be based upon merit alone. With such an assur. ance and incentive to good work, we might be able to retain more of our good teachers and so build up an excellent teaching force of whom we might well be proud. What incentive or encouragement has a teacher for professional improvement, or to do a better grade of work, who after three or four years of successful effort, receives no more salary than at the beginning of her career? Yet we have them on our list today and it is as un-economical and wasteful as it is unjust.
Many of these teachers are taking supplementary courses of study; some of them are carrying all the financial burdens of the home and the family; others of them have been sick and their small savings have dwindled to the vanishing
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point. Their salaries have been small, and the amount received from the retirement fund will be correspondingly low. Will not the good people of this town permit the more generous impulses of their natures to prevail and thus end a condition that calls for humane consideration?
Junior High School.
This school is still working under a severe handicap. The unfavorable conditions of last year have been intensified by a lar- ger entering class. Lack of room still compels the pupils to move the settees from the corridors into one of the larger class-rooms several times a week. During other periods, the pupils are obliged to occupy the same settees in the corridor for regular class work, and comfort and best-grade work are both sacrificed by so doing.
The teachers are obliged to re-write their work upon the blackboards in different rooms to meet class requirements. The classes are large, the program necessarily heavy, and the num- ber of pupil hours allotted to teachers are altogether too many. Not a few of the children, too, are obliged to hurry through their work and are acquiring slovenly habits of work and thought. The slower pupils cannot be given the amount of individual at- tention they should receive and so lose interest in their work.
Departmental teaching is not adapted to the requirements of wide variations of individual differences of mental capacity or of slower minds. All such pupils should be segregated and placed in small classes under the instruction and guidance of a single experienced and skillful teacher. Poverty of mental endowment or of home environment or of social standing should not debar such pupils from the best advantages the school can offer. For in many, many instances our very best type of cit- izens springs from this class of pupils. We need more room if
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we are to meet our obligations to these children, and to secure better results for all.
Parents should see to it that more time and attention is given to home work. From one to two hours of steady, persistent eff- ort will not be too much for home study to insure the regular advance from class to class in these two grades. A larger degree of co-operation between the parents and the teacher would be mutually helpful and, in many cases, add materially to the child's acquisition of knowledge and to the length of his school life.
Again, parents should realize more fully the unfortunate conditions under which the work of the school is being done. If they did so, criticism, and fault-finding, would be less, especially by those not personally interested in the matter except in the line of malicious gossip. Let it be remembered, too, that any adverse criticism of a teacher, or of her work, made within the child's hearing, reacts in a tenfold measure to the child's disadvantage and loss. Blame there may be, on one, or both sides, but there are better ways of making the adjustments than by doing so in the presence of the child himself. Let us not forget that the wel- fare of the child is the supreme object of all our efforts, and that time and patience and good sense by all the parties concerned are necessary for his fullest development.
The teachers in this school are working faithfully to fulfill their obligations to the children, and to meet the requirements of an overcrowded curriculum. Every year some new subject, or special phase of educational work is, by law, required to be taught. Not incidentally as in former times, but as something superimposed upon an already heavy course of study. What with the multiplicity of subjects to be taught, the added respon- sibility of training in character building and morals-once the function of the home-the teacher has no time to impress her personality nor to establish those friendly relations whose influence upon the children should be a lifelong power for good.
.
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Each teacher should have a home-room, where the atmosphere and the genuine home spirit and influence might always be found. The last period of each day should be devoted to the teaching of those cardinal virtues of obedience, honesty, kindness, loyalty, and service to mankind; where an opportunity to study the lives of the best men and women might be given, and where the right emphasis upon ideals and character values might be placed: where the highest moral qualities, not only could be talked about, but where they could be driven home so thoroughly as to dominate the life and conduct of every pupil. Had we more room, then such training would be possible and could be required, but it is not possible under existing conditions.
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