USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > Middleborough > Town annual report of Middleborough, Massachusetts 1906 > Part 9
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TRAINING CLASS.
A training class of four members was maintained the past vear.
The plan of work was along different lines from those fol- lowed by previous classes. Each trainer spent three weeks in observing the work in all the central buildings. thus giv- ing an opportunity of seeing schools of one and more than one grade to a room, and one week in one of the suburban schools. Lessons in psychology. pedagogy and school man- agement were given weekly at the Superintendent's office. and lessons and examinations in arithmetic. grammar and spelling, school regulations. school reports and practical talks by the. Superintendent on school room work formed a part of the work. The trainers are all engaged in teaching the present year-three in this town and one in Lakeville- and are able by applying what their observations taught them to adapt themselves successfully to school work. The training class has given some excellent teachers for school work. Of the present corps 17 are graduates of the train- ing classes.
As it is necessary by rule of the board that the class shall number at least three pupils. and as only two applied for membership this year. one a resident and one a non-resident. no training class is maintained the present year. For those who cannot attend a normal school I consider it an excellent preparation for school work.
REPAIRS. 1906.
Owing to the building of the new schoolhouse on the site of the old School Street building. necessitating the removal of the old building and the fitting up of the same for school occupancy. as well as the fitting up of the Chapel building.
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the expenditures for repairs were larger last year than an- ticipated. The following detail account will show what has been done to the various buildings the past year :
HIGH SCHOOL BUILDING.
At the annual meeting of the town it was voted to appro- priate $1,000 for making such changes in the High School building as would give a physical laboratory on the third floor, and an assembly hall on the second floor, by remov- ing the partition that now divides the former assembly room, making the two recitation rooms into one large room, fitted for a school hall.
The matter was left to the school committee to carry out, and a sub-committee, consisting of Warren H. Southworth, Nathan Washburn and E. T. Pierce Jenks, was chosen to have charge of the repairs. The unfinished part of the third floor has been all finished, a large physical laboratory fitted up for individual work with large lecture desk and a room for photographic purposes. The hallway between the two laboratories has also been finished. The total appropriation was expended on the necessary work on this floor, so that to finish the work of fitting up the assembly hall on the second floor will call for another appropriation. The woodwork enclosing the dressing rooms on both floors has been re -. moved, much improving the appearance of the corridors, as well as giving better light, purer air, and better ventilation.
UNION STREET BUILDING.
This building was inspected and the sanitary condition not approved by a state inspector of public buildings last spring and the matter being appealed to the local board of health by the School Board. was adjusted by certain changes in the basement being made, whereby the sanitary conditions were improved, and a fire escape being placed on the rear of the building. The sanitary conditions in this building at the present time are good and the suggestions made by the local board of health and carried out by the School Board have greatly improved the existing situation. These changes called for an expenditure of nearly $100.
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WEST SIDE BUILDING.
This building was painted and the rooms thoroughly renovated. New shades have replaced the inside blinds, and 'new windows were bought, so that on the north side of the building double windows have made it easier to heat the rooms in the severe cold weather.
SCHOOL STREET BUILDING.
The fitting up of this building after it was moved to the rear of the lot incurred considerable expense. New out- buildings were erected, steps and platforms in front and rear of the building constructed, the sides boarded and rendered wind-proof, and new stoves purchased. Through the kindness of the building committee seats and desks and teachers' desks were secured for temporary use in the two lower rooms, whose seats and desks had been taken to the Chapel building. The building has been well adapted for temporary use, but little trouble having been experienced in heating the rooms this winter. The cost of making this building suitable for occupancy was nearly $320.
CHAPEL BUILDING.
The expense incurred by the School Board in making this building ready for occupancy for the two primary grades consisted in building the partition which divides the room into two school rooms, purchasing blackboards, stoves, cur- tains, sinks and painting partition. The seats and desks were taken from the old School Street building. The com- mittee of the Congregational church very willingly carried out the suggestions of the school authorities in fitting up the Chapel and the building has proved a very satisfactory one for primary purposes. A large yard in the rear gives a good playground and the rooms have been kept in a comfortable condition the present winter. The expense to the School Board in fitting up this building was nearly $170.
FOREST STREET BUILDING.
The rooms in this building have been thoroughly renovated under the supervision of the janitor. and new shades have been purchased for all the windows. This building is kept
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in excellent condition, the basement being equally as spot- less as the rooms above.
SUBURBAN BUILDINGS. Marion Road School.
The fitting up of this building incurred an expenditure of $242.
The building has been shingled and painted, the interior papered and painted, seats renovated, new teacher's desk and chairs purchased.
Waterville School.
The grounds in front of the building have been regraded at an expense of $100.30.
This was greatly needed and adds much to the appearance of the grounds.
OTHER REPAIRS.
A fence has been rebuilt at the Thompsonville school yard, repairs on the building made, and a teacher's desk and chairs purchased.
A pump has been purchased and repairs on the building made at Nemasket.
The school room at the Rock has been thoroughly renovat- ed, ceiling kalsomined and woodwork and walls painted and the furnace has been thoroughly repaired.
New seats and desks for additional pupils have been placed in the Soule school room.
The blackboards in all the school buildings have been thoroughly renovated.
REPAIRS, 1907.
Outside of the completing of repairs at the High school building, the following repairs will be necessary :
If the Union Street building is to be used for school pur- poses for any length of time, I would recommend that it be painted, as it has been many years since it has been renovated. The two buildings at North Middleboro also need painting. A new fence should be built at Rock ; a well driven at the Highland grounds ; the school room at Thomas-
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town reseated, as the desks are in an unsatisfactory condi- tion; the basement in the West side, Union street and Main street buildings renovated by painting of woodwork and kalsomining stone and brick work; new shades purchased for many of the windows in the Main street building; in- terior of South Middleboro school building renovated; the pupils' desks at the Green renovated. An additional furnace for Union Street building is needed.
CONCLUSION.
In the growth of the schools we see the growth of the town. Good schools are important factors in the prosperity of any place. People wish their children to attend good schools. An education is all that a great many of us can give to our children. It is our aim to meet that demand for maintaining a good system of schools. We ask your co- operation in securing this end. We have as a whole an earnest, faithful, intelligent body of teachers, who are work- ing with the school officials to raise the standard of their schools. We wish that their endeavors might be rewarded by a substantial increase in their salaries. No class of work- ers is so poorly paid, considering the great and vital im- portance of their work, as teachers. We appreciate the co-operation of the local papers, through which the people of the town have been kept in touch with school affairs by the publication of the weekly "School Notes."
With the growth of the town will come an increase in school expenditures. More families mean more school build- ings, more teachers, more supplies for their children. The school appropriation will increase as the town grows. We trust that the same liberal spirit will be shown towards the schools of the future as has been in the past. It will be our endeavor ·to conduct the affairs of the school department in as economical a manner consistent with increasing the effi- ciency of the schools. Let us all take a pride in our schools and be ever ready to do what is for their best interest, re- membering that the schools are our best gifts to our children.
Respectfully submitted, CHARLES H. BATES,
Superintendent of Schools.
. SPECIAL REPORTS.
HIGH SCHOOL.
SUPERVISOR OF MUSIC.
SUPERVISOR OF DRAWING.
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REPORT OF THE PRINCIPAL OF THE HIGH SCHOOL.
Mr. C. H. Bates, Superintendent of Schools :
Dear Sir-I sumbit this brief report of my seventeenth year as Principal of the High school. I feel that the year has been a successful one, and that there has been unity of effort on the part of the teachers in every department to work zealously for the best interest of the school. The total enrollment during the current school year is 200. In com- parison with the growth of the business interests of the town the number is not quite as large as I had supposed it would be. It is a singular fact that we have lost more pupils by families moving from town than we have gained by families moving into it. This may be explained by the fact that a great many people working in town have not been able to move their families here on account of the lack of tenements.
Owing to the large enrollment in our school, it became evident that our teaching force was too small. The Com- mittee met this difficulty by voting an additional teacher for the school. Miss Olive W. Sullivan was elected for the position. The fitting up of an excellent physical laboratory on the third floor has also supplied an important need. Next year, when we shall have the whole building for High school purposes, many of the difficulties under which we have labored will be removed, and an opportunity will be given for work on a larger scale, which, I am sure, will add to the efficiency of the school.
There seems to be a growing demand for a business course in our High school. If this is added to our school curriculum, we must have an additional teacher thoroughly versed in this branch of school work, and a room provided with the necessary fittings.
One of the greatest hindrances to successful school work is . the so-called social element in school life. At High school age, if a pupil is going to attend school, he should make a business of it, and let many of the so-called social duties and diversions have a minor consideration. School work, like any other work, should be done well. If the pu- pil is bound to go at this in a shiftless, careless way he is
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forming habits that must prove detrimental to his best wel- fare. It is infinitely better for him to go to work at some- thing else than to waste his time in pretending to go to school. During his High school course he should realize individual duty and responsibility, especially if he con- templates continuing his studies after leaving the High school. If a pupil requires constant pressure on the part of the teacher to perform his school duties with any degree of success, that pupil rarely makes a success of his college life, when he is left, in a great measure, to shape his own moral and educational welfare.
The graduating exercises were held Friday evening, June 22. The class numbered 32, the largest in the history of the school. Respectfully submitted,
WALTER SAMPSON,
Principal of the High School.
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REPORT OF THE SUPERVISOR OF MUSIC.
Mr. Charles H. Bates, Superintendent of Schools :
Dear Sir-I have to report a very profitable year in Music, still I cannot say that I am wholly satisfied with the result; but a good working spirit predominates in most every school, both among teachers and pupils. The subur- ban schools have done especially good work. The changes in the teaching force at some of the Centre schools have in- terrupted somewhat the work of those schools. Of course, that was unavoidable, but we have done the best we could under the circumstances. More material for music work would be a great advantage to the schools. I have worked hard, the teachers have worked hard. I love the children and my work, but it is not possible to do as much or more this year as last, as with the increase in the number of schools I shall have less time to do the work.
I hope the public will realize more and more the value of this subject, and that not only the head, but that some at- tention should be given to the education of the heart. I trust that more time instead of less will be given to music.
As better expressing my ideas and to show that I am not alone in my wishes for more material and time, with your permission I quote the following :
It has long been conceded by sensible and honest-thinking people that religious dogma and cant do not make honest men. The schools will never return to the study of theoreti- cal religious teaching. The mass of the people today are de- manding honest men and not pious hypocrites. Hence the educational public is gradually coming to the conviction that there must be a training of the heart to right feeling and right action independent of, apart from, and without any reference to creed.
In the public schools there are three subjects which will find a larger and larger place in the curriculum because of their help in this direction. One is good reading. Reading material in the future will be selected not only for the in- formation which can be acquired through it, but for the uplifting influence of the author. The second is Art. Me- chanical Drawing itself trains the eye to careful observation, and in time the soul becomes moved by the living and speak-
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ing picture. No one who has watched the public press for the past ten years can help realizing how rapidly pictures are increasing and what a vast and subtle influence they have upon the mind. The third and most important subject is Music. In song the whole individuality of the child is lost. He forgets himself and opens his heart to the expression of the emotions. For the time being a noble emotion takes full possession and lifts the child from the humdrum and daily routine into the grandeur of feeling which is his higher self. One who notes the influence of the singing of "Old Hun- dred" or "Bethany" among a congregation and gazes upon the glorified faces of men and women and notes how they open their whole souls in song, can but realize the vast influ- ence of Music upon human beings. It ennobles the whole life, and when Shakespeare said :
"He who hath no music in his soul and is not
moved by the concourse of sweet sounds is fit for prison and the dungeon's cell,"'
he expressed a principle of human nature the truth of which has appealed to all mankind.
Music cannot but advance as rapidly in the schools as any other department. In the past it has never received the full recognition that it should.
Music is no longer considered a school fad in communities possessing a fair degree of intelligence. The truth is work- ing its way well into modern practical pedagogy and into the thought of the people that music has genuine educational value as a subject of study. Music influences character and ennobles life vastly more deeply and fully than most other subjects which have long been considered absolutely essen- tial in a public school course of instruction. As a means of moral and patriotic education and real ethical culture and transforming power music is the peer of any subject and the superior of most subjects in the whole school cur- riculum.
The Supervisor of Music in York, Pa., says :
"Music is a sister to reading and correct intonation and enumeration. Musical notation develops faculties of the memory, of observation and research, as do geography, and other branches of elementary teaching. It is not merely a pastime, a sort of additional tolerated recess; it feeds the child's mind and develops taste as do other studies upon which more stress is laid. To teach the child how to control
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and apply the gifts of voice and tune which God has given him, to add a principle of æsthetic culture that rounds him out, is of the greatest value."
Music teachers should feel that their work is the most im- portant work of the schools. They should teach Music not merely by teaching the rudiments and exercises and songs for practice or songs that teach of science and nature, but they should remember that Music is the expression of the emotion of the soul and with this expression the soul grows, and unless they are teaching soul expression in sound they are not teaching Music.
Respectfully submitted,
AUSTIN M. HOWARD,
Supervisor of Music.
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REPORT OF THE SUPERVISOR OF DRAWING.
Mr. Chas. H. Bates, Superintendent of Schools :
Dear Sir :- The work in drawing this year was begun with interest by both teachers and pupils. The time given and ar- rangement of classes is in most cases the same as last year, although the two new schools necessitated some changes. An illustrated outline for the course in drawing is prepared for the teachers each month and this is explained and dis- cussed in teachers' meetings.
In the lower grades we are trying to create more freedom of expression, vividness of imagination and confidence, all essential qualities if better work in higher grades is to be obtained.
In the upper grades more attention is being given to sin- cerity of work. The aim should not be to obtain a result which is effective only, nor merely the expression of an idea, but to express by means of drawing any subject which may be presented, truthfully, carefully, and in the best possible way that the child is capable of doing it. This requires care- ful observation and skill in execution. Stanley Hall says : "The mind grows as the hand develops skill." And Mr. Bennett has said: "When a workman does the finest kind of work possible, he becomes more than a workman-he be- comes an artist."
In the fall color is studied that the children may learn to see and appreciate color and color harmony. At this time also pencil drawings are made of the plants and flowers, trying to express their beauty of line and form, also the life and individual character belonging to each specimen.
Considerable time was spent on mechanical drawing, train- ing the children in exactness and neatness. Imagination and freedom of expression are developed in lower grades by il- lustrating familiar stories, winter sports and occupations.
During the winter months the subject of appearance draw- ing is taken up; the lower grades making large, free draw- ings of their toys or other simple objects in which they are interested, studying the form, proportion, and the action- if there is any, as in a steam or fire engine, boat sailing, etc. The upper grades are drawing all kinds of objects and studying the principles of fore-shortening and conveyance
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as they are needed. Later interesting groups will be drawn and an attempt will be made to express by means of quality of line and indications of light and shade the character and texture of the object.
In the spring the nature drawing will be continued both in pencil and with paints, and some work in design will be attempted.
The plan of work in the suburban schools follows the same general lines, although much simplified, and some of the teachers are obtaining very good results, considering the limitations under which they work.
The High school classes are very earnest and conscien- tious and should have some creditable results by the end of the year.
The spirit in the schools seems to be excellent and the teachers are teaching the subject with enthusiasm and earn- estness and the children are trying to do their best.
I wish to thank the superintendent and teachers for their hearty co-operation.
Respectfully submitted,
MARY L. COOK,
Supervisor of Drawing ..
THE OLD SCHOOL STREET SCHOOL BUILDING.
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THE OLD SCHOOL STREET BUILDING.
The school building which stood for so many years on the site now occupied by the new building has so much of his- toric interest connected with it that it has been thought fit- ting in this report to reprint the account recently given in an issue of the Middleboro Gazette, together with a cut of the building and its surroundings :
An Historical Sketch of an Edifice That for More Than a Half-Century Has Been Prominently Identified with the Cause of Education.
The preparations now under way for the removal of the School street schoolhouse and the erection of its successor on the site thus made available, furnish the occasion for a brief sketch of the history of this building, which, more than any other, has been closely identified with the cause of education in Middleboro, and which, in fact, at one time contained all the public schools then maintained at Middle- boro Centre. The building represented the consolidation of three schoolhouses-one located at the corner of Wareham and Wood streets, another on South Main street, near the site now occupied by the residence of Hon. M. H. Cushing, and the third on North Main street, on the land now belong- ing to the Peirce estate, and known as the "Orchard lot."
The report of the school committee for 1850-1851 con- tains the following record of the change: "District No. 37 and a portion of No. 15 have been united to No. 18 the past year. They have unitedly built a large and commodious schoolhouse, which, with the grounds and improvements, cost more than six thousand dollars, making it one of the best schoolhouses in this section of the state. The house is intended for grade schools, with three departments (pri- mary, intermedial and grammar). There were two schools in this district in summer, taught respectively by Laura H. and Lucy H. Potter. The winter schools commenced in their new house, with the Misses Potter as teachers in the pri- mary and intermedial departments, and Ephraim Ward, Jr., in the grammar department, who was succeeded with
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expiration of engagement by John Willis, whose term has not expired." It should be remembered that the schools of that period were governed by their respective districts, the town school committee having merely general super- vision over the whole, and publishing in their annual re- ports such suggestions and criticisms, often very frank, as they saw fit to offer. The school year consisted of two terms, the summer term being usually entrusted to a woman teach- er, and the services of a man being enlisted for the more unruly winter session.
The committee reported in March, 1852, that the whole number attending school in District No. 18 during the pre- vious summer term was 173, of whom 70 were in the pri- mary department, 24 of these being under five years of age. The primary classes were taught at this time by Miss Sarah T. Holmes, who was succeeded the following year by Miss Mary L. Tinkham. The verdict of the committee in their next report was that "Miss Tinkham's genius and ingenui- ty is well suited for administering to the comfort and im- provement of the numerous company of little ones commit- ted to her care." Evidently the judgment of the subse- quent generations and committees was along similar lines, for Miss Tinkham completed thirty years of teaching in the School street building, and resigned in 1880, "carrying into her retirement,"' to quote the committee again, "the kindest regards of the committee, the parents (many of whom have been her pupils), the youth of our village, most of whom received their first school instruction from her, the large band of pupils whom she left behind, and men and women who have been under her instruction, and who are now scattered in all parts of the world."
Other teachers whose names are connected with the period when the School street building was the only one at the Centre are Amos Sherman, Jr., who had charge of the grammar department in the late fifties, and won a large . popularity; Ichabod F. Atwood, late of Rock, who was principal about 1861; Matthew H. Cushing, about 1867 ; and Miss Harriet C. Barden, who was a teacher in the inter- medial and grammar departments for about sixteen years, from 1860 to 1876, when she became the wife of Joseph E. Beals. Misses Marion G. Pratt (afterwards Mrs. David G. Pratt), Annie A. Lovell and Lucia A. Drake were also among the teachers in the different grades in the buildin.",
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