USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Ipswich > Town annual report of Ipswich 1949 > Part 9
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10
5
IPSWICH SCHOOL REPORT
New Appointments and Assignments
Bertram H. Bennett, a graduate of Fitchburg State Teachers' College and a candidate for the Ed. M. degree at Boston Uni- versity, was elected an elementary principal and assigned in September to the principalship of the Shatswell and the Burley Schools. Prior to taking this position, Mr. Bennett had taught for two years in the Medford Public Schools and before that, in Ipswich.
Frank J. O'Malley, Jr., a graduate of Ipswich High School and Suffolk University, was elected and assigned in September to Grade VI at the Burley School.
Alden W. Pearson, who received his B.S. in Education from Boston University in 1949, was engaged and assigned in Sep- tember to Grade V at the Shatswell School.
Mary M. Evans, Boston University Ed. M., who had taught in the Public Schools of Winthrop and of Reading, was en- gaged and assigned to Grade V at the Burley School.
G. Mark Hayes, who is a graduate of Holy Cross College and Boston School of Designer's Art and who has had wide experience in applied arts, was engaged to teach graphic arts and mechanical drafting at the High School.
Genevieve B. McKenna, who recently acquired a B.S. in Education degree from Boston University and who has had some fifteen years of teaching experience in the primary grades, was engaged by the School Committee in November and assigned to a new first grade which was opened at the Winthrop School.
Eleonore Richardson, a graduate of the Massachusetts Gen- ยท eral Hospital, who has had intimate contact with all phases of nursing, was elected school nurse in October.
6
IPSWICH SCHOOL REPORT
To see our local schools in perspective, it is helpful some- times to view their growth against the background of national trends in education. Such an exercise provides us with a relative basis for evaluation and is suggestive of adaptations which may be applied to the solution of our local problems. In this report I should like to review briefly these trends and to suggest some of the conditions which they seem to reflect. I should like also to try to relate them, by implication at least, to our local situation.
The Scope of Public Education
In America there has grown up the belief, expressed in law, that every boy and girl is entitled to education from Grade I through Grade XII at the expense of the state. This education has come to be thought of as minimal, not alone out of consideration for the welfare of the state but as a prime means of promoting the American social concept of equality of opportunity. The trend today is to extend free public edu- cation upward to include at least the thirteenth and fourteenth years of school, and downward to take in the ages encompassed by nursery schools and kindergartens.
The theory of what should constitute general education has changed over the years as the needs of our society have changed and as understandings have grown as to the nature of the learning process. For many years schools were operated on the assumption that training in the so-called tools of learn- ing'- reading, writing and ciphering - was the proper curricu- lum for the common man. This was the end, therefore, of elementary education. For those who would go further, a training of "mental discipline" was prescribed. For this pur- pose, it was believed, there was a standard curriculum applica- ble to all. From this curriculum, all who entered secondary school must profit or fall by the wayside.
7
IPSWICH SCHOOL REPORT
Today, we know that people at any age differ in all sorts of ways: - past experience, areas of growth, and points at which growth is likely to occur. Learning is a process of individual unfolding. Each of us grows from where he is, not from some independently determined starting point in common with all others. And the school, if it is to cater to all, must provide many avenues to the desired goal. We know that the more there is in common between the learning situation and the situation in which the learning is to be applied, the more likely will the learning be useful. We know the importance of interest as an indicator of readiness for learning, and we have learned a good deal about what these interests are likely to be at various levels of growth. Of particular importance, we know that no learnings ever occur without some form of activity on the part of the learner. Some of these activities can be performed sitting down, but a great many of them cannot. We know, also, that boys and girls (to say nothing of adults) grow best when they acquire from their learning experiences a habit of success, a greater sense of security, and a sense of belonging. And conversely, we know that any situation, in the home or in school, which leads to exclusion or relative failure for a large number, deprives children of these basic needs for growth.
These are commonplace principles which parents sense who observe their children with affection and desire for under- standing. And yet, when applied to the program of the school, they have tremendous implications: for the training of teachers, for the methods of instruction, for the materials of instruction and the kind of school buildings, and finally for the financing of the educational enterprises.
8
IPSWICH SCHOOL REPORT
Trends in Education
That some of these principles are being translated into practice is evident in well-established educational trends through- out the nation. Some of these, as they appear to this observer, are enumerated below.
1. There is a definite trend, on all levels of instruction, toward smaller and smaller classes to take better account of individual differences among children. There is some difference of opinion as to what constitutes the optimum class size. There is general agreement, however, that in most areas of instruction, it should not much exceed twenty- five.
2. There is a trend, particularly in the elementary school, toward larger classrooms in recognition of the need for conducting a variety of educational activities. The modern classroom contains a third again as much area as the average classroom in our local elementary schools.
3. There is a trend toward movable classroom furni- ture which provides greater freedom to teacher and pupil in planning and executing a variety of educational activities.
4. There is a trend toward equipping the classroom as a laboratory for learning, and the school itself as a minia- ture community.
5. There is a trend toward providing, in both elemen- tary and high school, facilities for libraries, lunchrooms, health clinics, space for physical education, an assembly room, a space for participation in music and the fine and practical arts.
6. There is a well-established trend toward providing kindergartens as a part of the public school program.
9
IPSWICH SCHOOL REPORT
7. There is a trend toward making the school play- ground an extension of the school itself - laying it out in areas designed for use by children at various growth levels. This playground is used almost continuously throughout the day when weather permits. For any school a minimum of five acres is essential, and greater area would be desirable.
8. There is a trend toward designing all these facilities for community use and toward enlisting parent and other lay participation in the consideration of school problems.
9. There is a trend, which grows out of the desire for economy and efficiency of operation, to think of the desir- able elementary school as having at least two classes to a grade from kindergarten through Grade VI, with a total enrollment in the school not much under 350. Such a school provides opportunities for a diversity of activity, for ade- quate grouping of children according to their needs, and for effective and economical leadership.
10. There is a trend, observable in the preachment if not universally in the practice, to think of secondary education as beginning at the age of earliest adolescence and to provide for boys and girls of those ages experiences suitable for their needs and interests prior to their entering into full participation in the upper secondary school. This may be carried on in a separate school which is sometimes called the junior high school, or it may be carried on as a complete and separate unit in the same building with the senior high school.
11. On the senior high school level, there is a trend toward the developing of a core of general education, ad- justed to the various levels of pupil growth but supple- mented by a wide variety of opportunities for developing
10
IPSWICH SCHOOL REPORT
individual talents in literature, music and the arts, science and vocation training adjusted to the interests of boys and girls as well as to the opportunities for employment avail- able in the area.
12. There is a noticeable trend - not too apparent in New England - to extend locally secondary education into the thirteenth and fourteenth school year, the so-called junior college level.
13. This enlarged concept of the scope of the secondary school has led to a trend toward the combining of small districts into regional schools for the purpose of providing a broad enough base of population and of fiscal resources to support an adequate school program at reasonable cost.
14. As a result of all these things, there is a trend toward increasing recognition of the responsibility of the state to use its tax power for ensuring all its youthful citi- zens of at least a minimal education for living in this country in this day - regardless of the relative economic status of the child's parents or of the general community in which he happens to live. This trend is reflected in "state school support programs" such as the one, inadequate though it is, which is presently operative in Massachusetts.
15. There is a trend increasingly to recognize the vital part which conditions of safety and sanitation, of ventila- tion and heating, of seeing and of hearing have on the mental and physical growth of boys and girls, and to apply modern scientific principles to the solution of problems related to these matters. In no other respect, perhaps, is the contrast between the modern and the traditional classroom more apparent than in the treatment accorded to these con- siderations in the original planning of the building.
11
IPSWICH SCHOOL REPORT
Local Trends in Conformity with Good Practice
In the light of general principles of good education and of established trends, there are a number of local conditions which support good educational practice. Some of these are enumerated below:
1. The firm maintenance by the School Committee of a policy of keeping pupil-teacher ratio, particularly in the primary grades, well under 30 to 1. This policy resulted this year in the establishment of an additional first grade at the Winthrop School to compensate for increased en- rollment.
2. The encouragement, through provisions for incre- ment in the salary schedule, of continuing teacher study of the problems of boys and girls.
3. The encouraging of local teacher study groups to attack local educational problems and the providing of ex- pert guidance and some materials to facilitate such study.
(This year, for example, groups of teachers are working on such problems as the evaluation of the reading, social studies and language arts programs, with a view toward developing an improved curriculum in these areas. Other individuals are developing new materials in their areas of specialization. )
Such activities by teachers cannot help being reflected in better conditions of learning for boys and girls.
4. The expenditure of considerable sums of money (as much as is prudent in consideration of the age of the build- ings) for the improvement of the material conditions of learning in the schools. The installation of new toilets at the Winthrop School, new lighting in fourteen classrooms, and the gradual replacement of antiquated classroom furni- ture are examples.
12
IPSWICH SCHOOL REPORT
5. The provision in the elementary schools for super- vision of instruction in art and in music.
6. The provision of supervising principals in all schools.
7. The support of an active health program with pro- vision for school nursing service, medical service and a dental clinic.
S. The provision in at least one elementary school (the Winthrop) of a lunchroom servicing some 150 chil- dren daily - most of whom are transported to school.
9. The support of a summer recreation playground program conducted by the School Department with the generous assistance of the local chapter of the American Red Cross.
10. The encouragement of adult education classes - carried on in the evenings at the High School. Though but fifty-six people participated in three classes this fall, it is hoped that the program can be expanded as experience and interest in the opportunities develop.
11. The provision of transportation for all children who live a mile or more from school.
12. The supporting, on the secondary school level, of a program of commendable diversity, in consideration of the size of the school and the fiscal limitations of the town. This program includes academic work adjusted to several levels of pupil interest and ability, a variety of experiences in science, languages, art, homemaking for girls, commercial work, cafeteria service, industrial arts including woodworking and graphic arts and mechanical drafting, a physical education program in which every boy and girl in the school participates, and a variety of activities, too num- erous to mention here, ranging from organized sports to dramatics carried on in the evenings and after school hours.
13
IPSWICH SCHOOL REPORT
Local Conditions Inhibiting Good Educational Practice
As against these conditions favorable to good education, there are certain fairly obvious inhibiting factors which should be noted in making a fair appraisal of the performance of the schools:
1. The deficiencies in the local elementary school plant in providing optimum conditions of health and learning have been referred to in previous reports. To convert these structures into an ideal setting for conducting an elementary school program would require complete remodeling and modernization. The extent to which that could be accom- plished is limited by the nature of the structures themselves. That the buildings, however, will be used for a considerable numebr of years to come is likely. A program for correcting the most obvious deficiencies is, therefore, being carried out.
2. The local elementary schools are lacking in space and facilities for kindergartens. Nor is any of the elemen- tary schools equipped with assembly rooms, lunch rooms in which all the children may eat together, play room space or special areas for handwork art, music and the like. Substantial improvement in this respect must be an outcome of new building.
3. Playgrounds surrounding all save one of the local elementary schools are inadequate. As has been said, five acres is a minimal requirement. All of our elementary school sites are much smaller than that. One contains less than an acre.
4. On the early secondary school level, the group which is perhaps poorest served locally is grade VII. This grade level includes a great number of early adolescents. These children would profit from a situation in which there were some departmentalization of instruction and a variety of
14
IPSWICH SCHOOL REPORT
opportunities for participation with others a year or two older than they in activities suitable to their interests and their level of growth. Again, substantial correction of this condition is largely contingent upon building expansion.
5. On the senior secondary school level, one of our prime deficiencies is the absence of opportunities for pupils in the eleventh and twelfth years to pursue vocational training locally according to their needs. This is the in- evitable handicap of the small school district, in which there is neither a sufficiently large population nor a broad enough tax base to support this very costly type of educa- tion. That some of our boys and girls may attend city trade schools in the area compensates for this in part, but not sufficiently to satisfy one who has concern for equality of educational opportunity. The problem is to be solved only as Ipswich grows in population or pools its resources for this and other purposes with adjacent communities.
Number of Children to be Served
Regardless of these trends, any projection of our school needs would be inadequate which failed to take into account the number of children to be served now and for a considerable period of time in the future.
If our present total population and school population were to remain relatively static, Ipswich could proceed rather in- definitely with its present school program, in spite of its limita- tions.
If Ipswich were to grow substantially, it would be neces- sary either further to restrict the educational offering or to build and plan into the building facilities for modernizing the entire program and for meeting other community needs.
15
IPSWICH SCHOOL REPORT
There seems to be some agreement that Ipswich is growing. For data on this subject, it has been our concern particularly to study the birth records in relation to first grade enrollment. The table below is a compilation of these data. They are in- teresting because they are not wholly in conformity with national birth trends. It will be noted, for example, that in 1948 there was a severe drop-off in number of births from the peak of 1947. This induced a note of caution in our previous estimates of future school needs. In 1949, however, when statisticians were predicting the beginning of a decline in the post-war boom in babies, births in Ipswich zoomed back to the peak.
It is evident from the data that Ipswich will have begun to outgrow its elementary school plant by 1954. By how much the plant will need to be altered to take account of the future, will be determined by the amount of new home construction, by the rise or decline in the local birth rate, and by the zeal of our citizens for a modern program of education for their children. All of these factors will bear careful scrutiny from here on out.
16
IPSWICH SCHOOL REPORT
Table Showing Local Birthrate and First Grade
Enrollment Six Years Later
Year
Births
Enrollment Grade I Six Years Later
Year
1949
155
150
1955
1948
110
*106
1954
1947
157
*152
1953
1946
133
*129
1952
1945
109
105
1951
1944
105
*102
1950
1943
123
115
1949
1942
111
98
1948
1941
103
96
1947
1940
100
95
1946
1939
95
102
1945
1938
67
85
1944
1937
87
77
1943
1936
90
86
1942
1935
90
86
1941
1934
90
82
1940
* Estimated
17
IPSWICH SCHOOL REPORT
The School Budget for 1950
In developing the school budget for 1950, a careful analysis has been made of the financial commitments and needs as well as the expected revenue from receipts and refunds of the school department.
First, the receipts: Money received by the Town treasury because of the schools comes (in the main) from three sources: financial aid from the State, tuition paid by other towns or private individuals, and from the sale or rental of equipment.
In 1948 this was $22,548.56 In 1949 this was 46,583.71 (includes $4,000 from Feoffees) In 1950 we expect 46,470.51 (includes only $2,000 from Feoffees)
Second, the expenditures: The budget here presented for 1950 requires the expenditure of $181,524.42. Of this total $137,212.00 will be required for salaries. The remainder $44,- 312.42 is required for coal, electricity, repairs and outlay, books and supplies, transportation and such items.
In 1948 this was $159,162.53 In 1949 this was 178,960.00 In 1950 we can expect 181,524.42
Third, the cost to the taxpayer: The total cost of main- taining the schools is shared by three groups: the local tax- payer, the towns sending pupils to our schools and the State taxpayers.
In 1948 the schools cost you in local property taxes $136,613.97 or about $16.70 on your tax rate.
In 1949 the schools cost in local property taxes $132,- 376.00 or about $16.25 on your tax rate.
In 1950 the schools will cost you in local property taxes $134,874.00 or about $16.55 on your tax rate.
18
IPSWICH SCHOOL REPORT
The question is often raised, and properly so, as to the relative cost of our schools. Lack of information on the sub- ject can be very misleading. The facts need to be known. They are as follows:
1. Among the forty-five towns in Massachusetts with popu- lation between five thousand and nine thousand, the Ipswich tax rate for 1949 was about average.
2. In Ipswich, the School Department expends a smaller percentage of the local tax dollar than do all save five of the forty-five towns in Massachusetts of like population.
While Ipswich expended 36.3% of its tax dollar for schools in 1949, the median percentage expended by other towns of five thousand to nine thousand population was 44.3%.
3. The per pupil cost of school support in Ipswich has been below that of the average in towns or that of the State as a whole.
For the year ending December 31, 1948 (latest avail- able figures) the average per-pupil expenditure for educa- tion in Massachusetts towns with population over five thou- sand was $180.60. The State average for all towns and cities was $192.88. For the same period, the Ipswich per pupil cost was $166.90.
This difference resulted, in the main, from the com- paratively low level of local salaries. For the school year 1948-1949 Ipswich ranked in the lowest twenty percent among towns of five thousand to nine thousand population with respect to average staff salaries.
19
IPSWICH SCHOOL REPORT
IPSWICH PUBLIC SCHOOLS - BUDGET, 1950 January 1, 1950 - December 31, 1950
On the basis of the following estimate of expenditures, the School Committee will request that the Annual Town Meeting appropriate the sum of $181,524.42 less $2,000.00 (the amount to be credited to the schools by the Feoffees during the fiscal year) for the support of education in Ipswich in 1950.
Item
1950 Estimated
Over 1949 Expen- diture
Under 1949 Expen- diture
1. GENERAL CONTROL (This item
includes salaries of Supt., clerk, truant officer, census taker, cost of telephone in all schools, and other administrative expenses)
$ 7,446.00
$ $ 136.50
2. EXPENSES OF INSTRUCTION
a. Teachers' Salaries (Item covers salaries of 43 teachers, princi- pals, supervisors and substitutes)
115,200.00
10,490.05
b. Texts and Supplies (Item covers all library and textbooks and general supplies for art, domestic science, printing, industrial arts, physical education, science labo- ratories and commercial train- ing)
6,764.00
371.19
c. In-Service Training (Item covers cost of operating local work shops for study of educational prob- lems)
500.00
64.19
3. EXPENSES OF OPERATING PLANT
a. Janitors' Salaries (Item covers salaries of 5 janitors and a part- time substitute)
b. Fuel, Power, Gas, Water
c. Operating Supplies (Item covers cost of all supplies necessary to keeping the 5 buildings open and fit for daily use)
11,266.00
488.70
7,225.00
201.83
1,500.00
195.29
20
IPSWICH SCHOOL REPORT
4. MAINTENANCE AND REPAIRS (Item covers recurrent repairs to buildings and fixtures, interior and exterior painting, carpentry, plumb- ing, and grounds maintenance)
6,960.00
35.29
5. AUXILIARY AGENCIES
a. Health (Item includes salary of Nurse, Doctor, Dentist and ex- penses of operating health serv- ices)
3,300.00
52.75
13,935.00
166.00
c. Tuition (70 people from Ipswich received practical arts or voca- tional instruction in one of the state aided vocation schools. This item covers tuition charges)
1,500.00
123.98
d. Americanization Classes
e. Miscellaneous and Insurance (Item covers cost of printing, express and trucking, diplomas and expense of graduation, and insurance on all buildings and contents)
1,578.42
343.74
6. OUTLAY (Item includes cost of alterations for toilets at Burley; new lighting, four classrooms; modern furniture, three classrooms; play- ground fixtures)
4,170.00
7,550.57
7. RETURNED TO REVENUE (unex-
pended)
1,676.48
TOTAL EXPENDITURE
181,524.42
2,564.42
LESS FEOFFEES PAYMENT (esti- mated)
-2,000.00
2,000.00
APPROPRIATION
179.524.42
4,564.42
LESS RECEIPTS TO GENERAL REVENUE
-44,470.51
-1,886.80
NET COST FROM LOCAL TAX
135,053.91
2,177.62
-
b. Transportation (Contracts for transportation of school children living more than a mile from school call for our expenditure of $78.03 per diem. There are 179 transportation days in this fiscal year)
180.00
90.00
21
IPSWICH SCHOOL REPORT
Conclusion
In closing, I should like to solicit your careful perusal of the reports of the principals, supervisors and school nurse, which you have received. I wish also to commend to you all those who are serving in various capacities in our schools at the present time. It is my observation that they are loyal, co-operative, zealous for the cause of education, and concerned for the wel- fare of our girls and boys. They deserve the support and en- couragement of the people of this community.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.