USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > Middleborough > Town annual report of Middleborough, Massachusetts 1945 > Part 8
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LET'S ALWAYS KEEP THIS CHART IN MIND WHEN CONSIDERING MIDDLEBORO'S NEEDS
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ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS
To Members of the Middleboro School Committee.
Herewith is presented the annual report of the schools of the Town of Middleboro and my nineteenth as superintendent of those schools. Departmental reports have been prepared and submitted to me, the complete reports bound and filed in the department office. This report deals only with those details of our school system which should be of public interest and concern.
Continued educational progress has been made in our schools during the past year. Some new and better methods have re- placed some found wanting. Some courses have been introduced while in others the content has been changed. Some new and modern textbooks have replaced old and worn out copies.
The Iowa Tests of Educational Development were again given to the pupils in the first two years in the high school. The results were most encouraging as the averages of both years in all tests exceeded the Standard Achievement or average for the Nation. This is the first year our pupils have exceeded the national av- erage in all tests. We have a right to be proud of the abilities of our children and the results of these tests are definitely a credit to the school system.
Many of our returning veterans have been assisted in making their plans for further study. It is a pleasure to do this and it is sincerely hoped our boys and girls will make full use of any educational facilities we have to offer.
At our annual town meeting the High School Building Com- mittee will make their report. It will be a report of definite progress and proposal. Your superintendent has had the privilege of acting as secretary to this committee and has had an oppor- tunity to see how carefully they have investigated and discussed various sites, plans, and specifications.
A building cannot be built in a day, a week, or a month after the plans are completed. There will be a period when school housing conditions will cause many adjustments. It is probable some grades will have to go on part-time during that period. It is the responsibility of all to do everything within their power to see that this intermediate period is as short as possible and that unnecessary delays are eliminated, for the physical and educa- tional growth of a child does not wait.
OUR PHYSICAL PLANT
Much has been done during the year to improve the condi- tion of our physical plant and there is still much to do. In the Central Schools; at the High School the gymnasium floor was sanded, filled and refinished, dado painted in all corridors and stair wells, and library shelves and equipment installed in new . quarters; at Bates School new downspouts from the gutters were installed and the furnace repaired and newly covered; at School Street School openings were cut through the walls in the play- rooms making these rooms accessible for cafeteria and music purposes; at West Side School a new furnace was set up on the
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south side of the building thus eliminating a gas condition due to cracked plates; at Flora M. Clark School one furnace has been completely overhauled and the interior of the school redecorated. In the Suburban Schools; at South Middleboro School the building was painted both inside and out; at the Rock School the school yard was regraded and the fence from the Waterville School was set up along the highway line thus giving protection to all chil- dren at that school.
The Town Manager has given excellent cooperation with the School Committee in the matter of maintaining our buildings and most of our buildings are in a fairly satisfactory condition.
OUR NEW ENGLAND WEATHER
Our New England Weather is a most unusual topic in a School Report but probably no topic causes more conversation, complaints, and headaches to school administrators.
To have or not to have, that is the question. Yes, that is the question that must be decided by Superintendents before six o'clock on stormy mornings in our erratic climate. Our U. S. weather bureaus and radio forecasters with all their storm charts and in- formation available are not always right but school superintend- ents are expected to guess right at all times.
With the thought that, if parents better understood condi- tions that must be met on a stormy morning they would be a bit more charitable in their condemnations, a few of the facts are set forth in this report.
The Superintendent does not rely on his own judgment alone but, if the weather is doubtful at five-thirty in the morning, he calls the U. S. Weather Bureau in Boston, a radio station, or an airport for their forecast. Then after conferring with the chair- man of the school committee a decision is reached.
If the decision is no-school, action must begin immediately, not later than six o'clock.
Our school busses cover four hundred four miles per day and must necessarily get an early start. Seven telephone calls must be made to the contractors or drivers and in many storms connec- tions are hard to get due to line conditions.
The Superintendent of the towns that send children to our high school must be notified so he may stop his busses from starting out. Calls must be made to the radio stations WEEI and WBZ that they may put the information on the air and the local . Fire Department must be notified to sound the proper signal.
Even with the most prompt and courteous service from our local operator, these calls cannot be completed much before a dead line of six forty-five, the starting time of most busses.
With the help of the rest of the family answering incoming queries, the Superintendent can usually get shaved and dressed but no breakfast until later when sometimes he sits down and looks out of the window at the sun breaking through the clouds, at Our New England Weather.
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It is the earnest plea of the School Committee and the Super- intendent that parents use their own best judgment on stormy days as to their children's school attendance. The parent is best qualified to know the condition of the child's health, whether he has proper storm clothing, how far he must walk etc. The parent should rightfully make the decision as it pertains to her own child. There is no penalty for such absence and an opportunity will always be provided to make up any work lost.
The school authorities will continue to try to use their best judgment in predicting Our New England Weather but we need your cooperation and sympathy.
OUR ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS
The increase in the number of births during the past eight years has begun to be reflected in our elementary schools. One additional first grade was formed at the start of the present school year and undoubtedly a class each year will have to be added for six or eight years.
Classes in the middle grades are too large for efficient teach- ing but until the new building is a reality there can be no relief from this situation. Part-time or platoon classes may have to be formed next September.
School hours have been changed in the Rock-South Middle- boro schools. The early opening, the 'shortened noon recess, and the early closing have corrected long waits before and after school and have generally improved conditions. The additional cost in transportation to make this possible appears warranted.
OUR BATES SCHOOL
As in the lower grades the classes in the Bates School are much too large for efficient instruction. Individual help is nec- essarily limited but it is offered where possible, the teachers giv- ing unlimited out-of-school time to those who can remain for help. Since about one-half of the children have to leave on the bus immediately at the close of school, additional help becomes dif- ficult for this group.
Mr. Churchill who has been teaching shopwork here two days each week must be relieved for his regular work in Music. As soon as an instructor can be found, the shop program will be placed on full time and some relief will be obtained in the size of the academic classes.
Character training is a primary goal in all our schools, but the organization of materials and the efficient administration of the courses in Bates by Mr. Burkland has received statewide no- tice. The following paragraphs from the Massachusetts Teacher, written by Mr. Burkland, give a comprehensive idea of our work in this important field.
"The seventh cardinal principle of ethical character, like all other great objectives in education, depends primarily upon the classroom teacher. All teachers must be teachers of character as they should be of English, and of the former, at least, they should
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be teachers by example. Someone has said that "Character can't be taught," but there certainly are aids in the development of character traits as there are in the development of language traits.
At Bates School we early decided in our investigation that both direct and indirect methods of teaching were needed, and could well be used in our school in addition to that intangible character training by example and daily conltact.
As a method in direct character training, bi-monthly bulletins for use during the home room opening exercise period have been drawn up. A committee of teachers set to work to organize the materials. A library of reference material was found to be a re- quisite. First a shelf of books was assembled in the principal's of- fice for use, then a shelf in each homeroom was developed. In six years a library of forty-five books and pamphlets for each teacher has been achieved through the cooperation of the school depart- ment, the superintendent, and the various faculty members them- selves.
The order of opening exrcises was found to be important, in order that time be allowed for the program "feature". The teachers finally agreed to the following as the best "set-up": Good-morning; Bible selection; Lord's Prayer (as a prayer, in whatever manner learned at home, not as a concert recitation); salute or pledge; attendance (taken by students); and the "feature." For the salute or pledge the following are used in rotation: Mondays-The Oath of the Athenain Youth; Tuesdays-The Flag Salute; Wednesdays- The American Creed; Thursdays-The Safety Pledge; Fridays-A Civic Creed for Middleboro boys and girls, founded upon the one used in the city of Denver, Colorado. By this method it has been found that each declaration means much more to the students. At the first of each year the various subject teachers use the pledges as class exercises for explanation and learning.
The "feature" is based upon the topic or theme selected for emphasis each week. A suitable blackboard quotation is suggested for use during the week, and a list of references is given for the teacher to work from. For example: October 15, 1945-Theme: "Loyalty." Quotation, "Be true to your word, your work, and your friends .- Boyle.
The close of the day is not forgotten and each homeroom teach- er is requested to dismiss the class pleasantly and with the thought in mind of the many tudents who do their best, rather than the petty irritations of the day.
On Friday mornings the students conduct the exercises them- selves as a part of their Junior Red Cross work.
Close cooperation with the assembly program, Junior Red Cross work, 4-H Club work, scouting, the local YMCA, the clergy of all the churches, and our own fine parent-teacher association has been effective in "boosting" our program.
We have reached a number of our non-English-speaking pa- rents through the cooperation of two members of the faculty who speak a foreign alnguage, and with the help of a number of our fine student-teachers from the Bridgewater State Teachers Col- lege, some of whom also know some foreign tongue. The magazines in foreign languages printed by Junior Red Cross societies and
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explanations of the Constitution issued by the Daughters of the American Revolution have been used to advantage.
Believing that the work of the school is to build an improved citizenship, we have tried to make this study a contribution towards that goal.
OUR HIGH SCHOOL
(from the report of Lindsay J. March, Principal)
My report as principal of the Memorial High School is the ac- count of a memorable year with at least four great historic events occurring- the death of the President in time of war, the discov- ery of the atomic bomb, and the cessation of hostilities with two enemy countries.
As in industry and in business the change from war to peace has brought problems of reconversion. A change in emphasis has been necessary from preinduction training to training for the main- tenance of peace, and for the practice of competent citizenship in confusing times.
The return of three teachers from service has been opportune for several reasons. Some increase in enrollment had contributed to the size, twenty-one classes larger than the average of thirty pupils, which size the State Department of Education sets as a maximum. Only nine classes larger than thirty pupils are expected in a school the size of Memorial High School if it is to be approved by the State Department of Education.
Beginning a year ago boys in service began to show increasing interest in their plans for further schooling. A steady flow of cor- respondence during the summer has been followed by calls for ed- ucational counselling and service. The added teacher help has made possible the delegation by the principal sufficient routine duties so that he can be more free to help the ever-increasing number of veterans who wish to take advantage of their opportunities for further education.
A special type of training to correct reading difficulties which have been detected by the present testing program, but have not been corrected for lack of a person to do it, has been started.
The dean of girls is now able to give the much needed educa- tional counselling of girls and incidentally is a very valuable mem- ber of the faculty. Next year promises to be a very difficult one for all but exceptional students to gain admission to college. The returning veterans are rapidly filling the quotas of colleges, hence counselling for both boys and girls will be more essential than ever before.
The organization of a faculty health council to study the gen- eral well-being of pupils gives promise of a much stronger health program in the school. The physical directors, the dean of girls, and a teacher of social studies constitute the main committee out of which are developing subcommittees for the handling of special problems. One committee is organizing to make a survey of the ways and means by which health education is being taught by any teacher to the end that there may be more thorough covering of nutrition, and the social and scientific aspects of health education.
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Another change which promises to make a constructive con- tribution to the school is the reorganization of the library. The library is now open continuously from eight o'clock through two- thirty each day with a trained teacher in charge. There are seats for fifty-five pupils so that number may be accommodated in the library each period in the day, and with only one or two exceptions each freshman has at least one period a day in the library. Addi- tional book cases are being built during the holidays so that refer- ence books now in various classrooms may be collected under the care of the librarian. Also, space will be available for the books teachers may wish to borrow for temporary use from the town or state libraries. New magazines have been ordered for reference and as soon as racks are available more papers and periodicals can be wisely used.
The following persons have earned diplomas during the cur- rent year and are here mentioned for purpose of record :-
Harry Jocelyn Goodale, Jr.
Robert Eldon Buttermore
Theodore Parker.
Since the draft regulations have been revised to allow boys to finish high school, the award of military diplomas to boys leaving to enter service is no longer necessary and has been discontinued. The school will continue to give credit to undergraduates for edu- cational experience in service in accordance with the guide supplied to the school for the evaluation of such experience.
The greatest aim of the school in the future may well be the giving of such instruction as will teach men and women to live in peace.
AGRICULTURE IN OUR SCHOOLS (from the report of Jack Sturtevant, Instructor)
The fifth anniversary of the Agricultural Department in Mid- dleboro High School finds the department continuing to grow both in enrollment and in service area. The present enrollment figures show a membership of thirty-five pupils; this makes the depart- ment twice the size of the average high school department in Massachusetts.
The project returns, in figures alone, indicate the material contribution the boys in membership have made to agricultural production. In ownership enterprises, the boys produced and mar- keted in excess of $6,000 worth of produce. In supervised farm practice on local farms, the boys worked 26,000 hours in gaining practical knowledge and experience, and showed a financial earn- ing in excess of $11,000. Through emergency labor furnished by the boys, local farmers have been enabled to maintain their blood test- ing schedules for their poultry flocks, to complete their harvesting of vital crops, and to fill in the labor gaps that still exist on the local farms.
The best measure that can be cited, of the extent of the boys' contribution to the community welfare was the receipt by the
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Agricultural Department of the Sears and Roebuck Foundation Award. The award consisted of $35 in cash to be used by the local chapter of the Future Farmers of America in recognition of "the outstanding community service work of the boys as exemplified by their contribution in food production and war service."
The boys enrolled in the department are one hundred percent in membership in the Middleboro Chapter of the Future Farmers . of America, and one of our members has the honor of being elected a vice-president of the State Association. At the Annual Father and Son Banquet, Mr. Roy Fagerberg, Department Auto Mechanics Instructor, and Mr. Joseph T. Brown, County Agricultural Agent, were made honorary members and presented gold pins of mem- bership.
The boys are anxiously awaiting the erection of the proposed new building and the providing of facilities for the expansion of shop work to include woodworking and machine shop as well as auto mechanics.
This fifth anniversary of the Agricultural Department's exist- ence finds that it has definitely reached maturity and today is one of the strongest such units in the state of Massachusetts. With proper effort and cooperation, the department will undoubtedly continue to maintain its position and strength in the future.
MUSIC IN OUR SCHOOLS (from the report of Luther Churchill, Supervisor)
It is a pleasure to report that our children are receiving a course in music which includes the development of the ability to read music and to sing with good tone and diction. Special empha- sis has been made in correlating enunciation in reading and singing. This subject is one of special interest and it is hoped that by re- quiring clearer diction in songs we shall, in the future, note im- proved speech habits in our young people. At a meeting of all teachers at the beginning of the school year the discussion was primarily devoted to faults in diction and how they can be improved in singing. This was carried into the class rooms by the teachers and a noticeable improvement was manifested immediately.
"Circus Day," an operetta by John Fearis, was presented by the Bates School eighth grade in the Town Hall on April 11, and the audience, as usual, was particularly enthusiastic and lavish in their applause.
A reorganization of the vocal work in the High School has been made this year. This was begun during the early part of 1945 by abolishing the Glee Clubs and organizing a Choir of selected voices. These young people appeared in a concert in May under the direction of Mr. Charles Woodbury of Keene, N. H., who was acting as guest conductor at our annual band concert. From this selected group, a further selection of a small choir was made and the cantata "Ballad for Americans" by Latouche presented at the graduation exercises in June.
At the beginning of this school year, the voices of one hundred and fifty-three applicants for membership in the Memorial High School Choir were tested. From this group, eighty-three were se-
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lected and started immediately to rehearse numbers for our Christ- mas Assembly. More will be heard from this group later .
A glance at the chart "Planning a Perpetually Balanced Band for Memorial High School" will readily show that we have reached a stage where our school band will continue to function as an im- portant part of the music program. Long-term planning and many hours of consultation with parents have resulted in keeping our band evenly balanced. One will see that there are nineteen seniors who will leave the band this year and there are twenty pupils in the Bates Band who will enter. Assuming that no new members join our bands, the following year there will be twelve leaving and twelve entering.
Planning & Perpetually Balanced Band for Memorial High School
Instrument
Grade 4
ɔ̄ 6
S
9 10
11
12
Total
D Flat Piccolo
1
1
C Piccolo
1
1
C Flute
1
1
1
1
2
6
2
4
1
2
5
3
34
Alto Saxophone
1
3
1
1
1
1
2
10
Tenor Saxophone
1
1
1
1
4
Baritone Saxophone
1
1
Cornets
4
6
2
2
40
Alto Horn
1
2
1
4
Tromobce
1
3
2
2
2
1
3
18
Bass
1
1
1
3
Timpany
2
1
3
Snare Drum
6
5
2
3
2
1
2
2
23
Bass Drum
1
1
1
3
Cymbals
1
1
2
Totals by Grade
16
22
16
12
20
24
16
12
19
157
2
5
French Horn
2
3
Baritone Horn
1
1
4
Many of the band members are studying with private teachers which is a great aid in maintaining a good concert band. Mr. Don- ald Hayward of South Easton is teaching wood wind instruments a day and a half each week and also assists during rehearsal on Monday mornings. Mr. Myron Thomas has a large class of pupils studying brass instruments and your Supervisor continues to teach groups of the young pupils at the School Street School. Mrs. Mar- ion Beimont is teaching violin classes at the School Street School and this year her class is the largest she has ever had.
It is recommended that classes in harmony and music appre- ciation be added to the list of electives for high school students. Many school systems are offering these advantages and we have reached the point in musical interest where many students will have the desire to deive further into the mysteries of music.
Clarinets
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ART IN OUR SCHOOLS
(from the report of Sylvia G. Matheson, Supervisor)
"Among the gifts of God that distinguish man from the animal creatures is that gift of the THINKING HAND."
The courses in art in our schools for the past year have been outlined with the following objectvies in mind.
Art is an important part of living-Everyone has the right to learn how to use art and to understand and appreciate it.
Art belongs to every individual-The child should learn to re- alize the importance of art in relation to himself, his home, school and community.
Art no longer means painting pictures and going to museums, ONLY-Neither does it mean learning skills and techniques. Nor is it busy work. It is, on the contrary a vital force in the daily rou- tine of experience, and one that should be understood and turned to advantage in education.
On the practical and more tangible side, art in the school should help the student to realize the importance, and to improve his personal appearance. Should help him to know how to improve the appearance of his surroundings through good selection and ar- rangement. Such knowledge would apply to the many aspects of his life at home, in school and in the community. Should help him in all matters pertaining to selection and arrangement-in other words, give him reasons for what to like and what not to like. This will add to his competence as an individual and as a member of the social group.
Create a sensitiveness to art quality so that the student will know design, whether he finds it in a tea cup, a flat iron or a painting. Develop discriminating students who will know what is good. Create intelligent consumers who will recognize and enjoy art in all its phases.
On the less tangible, but no less important side art should de- velop the innate creative imagination of the student to the utmost. It is the power to think and act creatively that makes for accom- plishment, and through it accomplishment becomes entirely satis- fying.
In planning lessons from the above outline, these worthy ob- jectives are realized and adapted to the child's age and interests from grade to grade. Each teacher has been given an outline to fol- low for the year. These same outlines are carried along in more advanced stages in the Bates School and High School classes.
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