USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Middleton > Town annual report of Middleton, MA. 1962 > Part 7
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Educational specifications, therefore, were prepared on the basis of this maximum anticipated enrollment of 3400 pupils. These in- dicated that the space needed to house the educational program for this number of pupils, based on the present curriculum offering, would require a total educational plant equivalent to three buildings the size of the present building. To construct two more buildings of this size would necessitate the acquisition of more acreage than pre- sently owned by the district. Under present state standards this would mean the purchase of a minimum of 25-30 additional acres, and, in all probability, at some spot removed from the present location. It would also mean constructing a fully contained plant
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complete with auditorium, gymnasium, cafeteria, boiler room, etc., thus duplicating at considerable expense to taxpayers of the district, facilities already available in the 1958 building.
The idea that at some future time under this plan of arrangement he regional school would be operating in two separate locations in- stead of the one single one, which is so ideally situated geographically with respect to each of the three towns, was not an appealing one. One could easily forsee the possibility of some serious and complicated problems of both administration and transportation arising in the future that could prove to be inefficient and costly in terms of an- nual operating expense. This latter consideration is an important one for the major portion of the annual budget goes towards paying the operational cost of the school, whereas, only 12 to 15 per cent of it goes towards paying off the bonded indebtedness incurred on account of constructing and equipping a building.
For these and other reasons having educational significance, the committee concluded that moving in the direction of expanding the regional school facilities in the present location offered the most practical and economical solution to its building needs problem. The long-range aspects inherent in a building project of the magnitude envisioned indicated clearly the desirability and importance of developing and preparing a master plan. Such a plan would help in- sure that the expansion would be accomplished in as economical and as efficient a manner as possible. It would also serve to guide this com- mittee and future committees, enabling them to make intelligent decisions relative to such matters as how much to build at any one time, when to build to prevent reoccurence in the future of the present double-session predicament, and also be reasonably certain that each element of new construction when built would fit in with those portions to be constructed at a future date.
Advantages To One Central Location
During the summer and fall months the attention of the com- mittee, the architects, the administration, and the school staff has been focused on the development of this master plan. At the same time particular attention has been given to planning in detail the facilities required under the first stage of construction to provide the instructional spaces needed for pupils in grades 7 and 8.
As these plans have progressed it has become increasingly clear to all who have been involved in their development that there are several distinct educational as well as economic advantages to be realized through keeping all pupils, grades 7 - 12, together in the one central location. Among these are the following:
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1. The opportunity for pupils at all grade levels to share in the use of the specialized and core facilities.
Examples which can be cited to illustrate this advantage are: - -One good centrally located library, well organized and equipped can provide more efficient and more thorough services than can several smaller libraries in separate buildings.
-The present 600-seat auditorium with its excellent stage facilities is adequate to serve the needs of both the junior high school and the senior high school, and thus, will eliminate the necessity and expense of building a separate one for the junior high school.
-A single large central cafeteria will permit more efficient and economical preparation and serving of the school's hot lunch program than will separate smaller cafeterias. In addition, the larger dining area will provide useful space for study hall purposes and the giving of standard- ized tests to large groups. It will also furnish an additional large area for assembly purposes, as well as for holding evening social activities both for pupils and other com- munity groups.
2. The provision of good specialized facilities which the larger school unit makes possible.
Examples which can be cited to illustrate this advantage are: - -The expensive to build and equip special laboratory facili- ties required for teaching the sciences (physics, chemistry, biology, general science) can be more economically secur- ed when grouped together in one central location. In addi- tion, it will prevent duplication of expensive science apparatus and demonstration equipment. Centralization will also make available for use by all pupils such neces- sary auxiliary science spaces as dark room, science lecture hall for large group demonstrations, and for some pupils, work areas in which to carry on individual re- search projects.
Similar advantages will also exist in the other specialized in- structional areas of art, music, and homemaking.
3. The opportunity to provide instructional spaces of varying size thus permitting greater flexibility both in programming and in utilizing instructional staff time.
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-For example, having several classrooms one-third to one- half the size of the standard classroom will provide more economical use of valuable instructional space particularly in the upper grades of the high school where small classes frequently occur under the free elective system in the advanced third and fourth years of such subjects as foreign language and mathematics.
- -Similarly, with the use of folding partitions in some places it will be possible to transform two standard size classrooms readily into one larger classroom whenever it is felt desirable to bring together at the same time two or more class sections in the same subject for a single pre- sentation, or to hear a guest speaker.
The importance of having flexibility and variety of use of classrooms needs to be stressed, particularly if at some future time it should be thought desirable to want to introduce at Masconomet some of the new instructional techniques as, team teaching, large group instruction, programmed learning, teaching machines, etc., which are being used today with most satisfactory results in ever-growing number of school systems throughout the country.
4. Permit the continuence of our subject departmental set-up thus enabling department chairmen to retain the same close contact presently enjoyed with the teachers of the department. -As the school enrollment and the number of teachers in- creases this need for close coordination of the activities and instruction being given in each subject area and at each grade level assumes greater importance if the present high instructional standards are to be maintained.
-With both schools located on the same site and being able to share the same specialized facilities and teachers these matters of coordinating instructional materials and super- vising teachers of each department will be greatly facili- tated for the department chairmen.
Disadvantages which might arise through having a large number of pupils concentrated on one site have been anticipated and given careful consideration. In our judgement these can be overcome satis- factorily when this becomes cause for serious concern by various ad- ministrative refinements that can be made in the organization of the school. Many communities today have a single school enrolling 2500 or more pupils and have evolved practical ways in which this reorgani- zation can be done effectively and economically and without impair-
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ment of the educational program. These currently are being studied by the committee with the help of the administration and other members of the professional staff.
The Master Plan
The total school complex when completed as shown by the Master Plan will consist of the present building for general classroom use for pupils in grades 9 - 12, a junior high school classroom building, and several smaller structures designed to provide the special facilities required to carry on the instructional programs in the specialized subject areas of art, music, homemaking, industrial arts, business education, science, and physical education.
The difficulty as well as the great expense involved in trying to expand the existing specialized facilities within the present building as enrollment increases led the committee to conclude that building the separate structures to meet these needs presented the most logical as well as the most economical solution. By doing it in this manner only those of the specialized facilities actually required under each stage of the expansion program would need to be constructed leaving the rest of these areas for completion at a later time.
The above-mentioned separate structures including a separate library building and cafeteria would be so located between the present building and the new junior high school classroom building as to be readily accessible for use by pupils from both schools. This arrange- ment will also serve to tie in the new buildings with the present building in a way that architecturally will be both pleasing and harmonious while at the same time achieving a greater degree of compactness along with maximum flexibility, functionality, and economy in the use of educational space than could be secured by any other means.
Stage I Construction
The first construction stage is aimed primarily at providing enough additional space to care for the instructional needs of pupils in grades 7 and 8. Facilities to be built under this stage are as fol- lows: the junior high school classroom building; 5 general science combination classroom-laboratories in the science building; 2 home- making rooms and 2 art rooms in the combination art-homemaking building; and, 2 shops ( one for metals and electronics, the other for woodworking) and one mechanical drawing room in the indus- trial arts building.
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Also to be constructed is a field house and in the new cafeteria building the dining space needed for grades 7 and 8. The field house will not only give us the increased space needed to restore the full time allotment given to physical education for all pupils prior to double-sessions, but will make it possible to introduce in our program a greater variety of physical education activities than can be carried on in the conventional gymnasium.
Moreover it is less expensive per square foot to build - $10 as compared to $15 for the conventional wood floor gymnasium. Thus by building a field house it will be possible to get facilities for physical education normally carried on in the conventional gymnasium at one-half to two-thirds the cost of the latter.
It will also be necessary to construct additional locker and shower facilities for both boys and girls. These will be built as extensions of the present exisiting facilities. Since the existing boiler room con- tains ample space to add a third boiler and this will be adequate to meet the heating requirements for the proposed new construction, it will not be necessary to expand this facility under the first stage.
An aerial view showing the expansion of Masconomet Regional under Stage I as well as the general form of the completed expan- sion at saturation appears on the fold-out sheet following page -.
Future Construction Stages
Stage II construction, which according to the enrollment projec- tions should be completed by September 1966, will be aimed primarily at increasing the facilities for grades 9 - 12, since the bulk of the enrollment increases will come in these grades. This will mean adding to the structures housing the specialized programs, completing the cafeteria started under Stage I, building a new library to serve the entire school, expanding the boiler room, and converting existing specialized spaces in the 1958 building to general classroom use. Stage III will be concerned mainly with adding classrooms to the junior high building and to the separate structures housing the specialized programs as needed. Stage IV will complete the building expansion program with the construction of a music building, class- rooms for business education, and an administration building.
Estimated Costs of Total Expansion Project
It is expected that this long-range building expansion program will extend over a period of years depending on what happens to growth in enrollment. In estimating the total cost of the building and equipping a school the office of the Massachusetts School Build-
NEW ART & HOME EC.
CLASSRMS
FUTURE SENIOR CAFETERIA .
NEW LOCKER EXPANSION
BOYS
GIRLS
FUTURE LIBRARY
NEW MECH. DRAWING
"FUTURE, ART.
FUTURE JUNIOR HIGH EXPANSION
HOME EC. CLASSROOMS
-NEW JUNIOR." HIGH SCH .* CLASSRM WING
W
FUTURE COMMERCIAL GLASSRM.S
1
- 1
FUTURE SCIENCE CLASSRM. EXPANSION
FUTURE JUNIOR HIGH EXPANSION
FUTURE MUSIC CLASSROOMS
FUTURE OFFICES
AERIAL
VIEW OF
EXPANDED
MASCONOMET
REGIONAL
JUNIOR - SENIOR
HIGH SCHOOL
STAGE NO. ONE
RICH & TUCKER ASSOCIATES, ARCHITECTS
1963
PRESENT MASCONOMET REGIONAL JR. - SR. HIGH SCHOOL
NEW FIELD-HOUSE
NEW JUNIOR CAFETERIA
FUTURE SHOP EXPANSION
NEW SHOP
NEW SCIENCE GL'ASSRMS
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MASCONOMET REGIONAL SCHOOL REPORT
ing Assistance Commission uses a formula based on square foot per pupil, and cost per square foot. The amounts currently being used are 117 sq. ft./pupil and $20.00/sq. ft. On this basis the new facilities to be built under stage I to accommodate 850 pupils will entail an expenditure of approximately $1,990,000. It is the committee's hope that when actual bids are received the final price tag will be no more than this.
Additional Land Purchase
Two additional parcels of land have been acquired. On January 17, 1962 a purchase and sale agreement was signed for the Cyrus E. Killam property adjacent to the Dana Killam property acquired in 1961. The purchase price for the 8.8 acres was $15,000. On February 7, 1962 a purchase and sale agreement was signed for the Ronald Perley property on Rowley Bridge Road, Topsfield. This parcel of land containing approximately 7.8 acres is situated on the easterly side of Fish Brook, and was acquired for the purpose of developing additional fields for physical education and athletics when this be- comes necessary. The purchase price was $1,000. With these two new acquisitions the total acreage now owned by the district amounts to 82 acres of which 25 acres is in river meadow land.
In Conclusion
For the past decade the United States has been engaged in a school expansion program of massive proportions. In the face of rapidly increasing national population the end is by no means in sight.
In scores of communities in this state as in others this problem has been attacked in an expedient and piece-meal manner with the inevitable result that yesterday's hastily contrived solutions frequent- ly contribute to the magnitude of future crises.
Your school committee feels strongly that through its action in developing a master plan for building expansion of the regional junior-senior high school which is geared to take care of growth in enrollment up to the point of total population saturation of the member towns, it is acting for the best interests of the citizens of the district. Looking at the dimensions of the total problem has re- quired the expenditure of considerably more time and effort than would have been the case had the committee limited its efforts to coping only with immediate needs. We are convinced, however, that the end result in the long run will prove to be more highly satisfactory.
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In our opinion stage number one in the construction program satisfies the demands of the moment and at the same time will become an integral and logical part of the eventual solution.
The committee has had a number of meetings with the officials of the School Building Assistance Commission who have indicated their approval of the plans for construction under the first stage. There have likewise been many meetings with the architects as well as several visits made with them to nearby communities to look at recently constructed buildings. It is expected that many more trips will be made in the coming years as we move into the actual construction phase.
Our architects, Rich & Tucker Associates of Boston, are now developing complete working drawings and preparing the construction specifications for this first construction stage. The present time-table calls for these to be completed and ready to go out to bid by the middle of February 1963. If everything moves along on schedule it is anticipated that construction can be started by mid-April 1963, thus allowing the proper amount of time to complete these new facilities for use by the opening of school in September 1964.
GRADES 7 AND 8 INVOLVED IN DOUBLE-SESSION
Faced with the realization that enrollments for the 1962-63 school year would far exceed the capacity of the building, the decision to schedule grades seven and eight on a platoon or double-session basis was made primarily to avoid cutting courses or time from the high school program. If new facilities are available by September 1964, as planned, the educational program for the high school need not be altered or decreased as next year's enrollments can be handled by continuing the double-session program for grades 7 & 8 only.
After careful study of the space problems, available staff, and relative importance of courses offered, the double session program was structured so that (1) seventh and eighth grades share the dis- advantages of attending the afternoon sessions by shifting at mid- year; the seventh grade going to school from 12:30 to 5:10 P.M. during the first half of the year and then shifting to the morning session 8:00 to 1:07 P.M. during the last half of the year. The eighth grade attends school in the morning for the first half and shifts to the afternoon schedule during the last half of the year. (2) A minimum of change was made in the time devoted to the main academic subjects (English, Social Science, Mathematics, Science and Languages) but regrettably the program offering for grades seven and eight had to be modified by decreasing the time spent in Art,
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MASCONOMET REGIONAL SCHOOL REPORT
Music, Physical Education and Guidance. In addition all activity periods and study periods were eliminated.
HIGH SCHOOL EVALUATION
At the Seventy-seventh Annual Meeting of the New England As- sociation of Colleges and Secondary Schools, Masconomet Regional High School was elected to Continued Membership in the Association. This action was taken as a result of the recommendation of the Visit- ing Committee which evaluated the high school over a four-day period starting on March 5, 1962. This concentrated evaluation by thirty-two experienced and highly qualified educators from throughout the state examined all phases of our school life in- cluding plant, staff, facilities, equipment, program of studies, attitude and behavior of students, effectiveness of classroom instruction, activity program and various special services. The forty-four page report provided by this committee is a valuable document for guiding continued self-evaluation as we continue to seek improvements as an outstanding secondary school.
Much of the success of the evaluation should be credited to the many hours of study and work by the teaching staff who indulged in the self-evaluation that preceded the visitation. Every member of the staff participated in the self-evaluation program, capably led by Mr. William Vaughn, chairman of the Steering Committee. Using released time and many other meetings after regular school hours the compre- hensive self-evaluation was completed in approximately a year's time. The total report of the Visiting Committee which is highly compli- mentary to all responsible for the high standards maintained at Masconomet is available to the public through the local libraries. Like any public school there are ways to improve the program and many of the recommendations cited will have been recognized and acted upon when the new facilities are completed in 1964.
Required by the New England Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools is a two year and a five year follow up report showing what measures have been taken to improve the conditions listed as recommendations. Already significant action is being taken by the School Committee, administration and staff. In addition to the most significant measures of planning for new facilities, the approval for released time for the staff to continue thorough study and plan- ning in the area of school curriculum has been granted and a careful- ly structured plan for such study has been drafted. A Steering Committee representing the administration, department chairmen, and classroom teachers has been chosen to coordinate local study and planning. Each Department Chairman has likewise been charged
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with the responsibility of carefully considering measures to effect some changes for curriculum improvement even before more facilities are available.
In our examination of the thoughtful recommendations by the Visiting Committee we should not make the error of overlooking the many conmmendations which justify the pride and satisfaction we have in claiming outstanding achievements in the short period of three years. Perhaps the general appraisal of the Visiting Committee can be best summarized by the following quote from the report: "The Visiting Committee was favorably impressed with the organization and administration of the Masconomet Regional High School which gave the general feeling that the high school was functioning in a manner that might be expected in a school that had been in operation for many years". Likewise the Visiting Committee noted and emphasized many times very high praise for the well-dressed, well- poised, well-mannered, and enthusiastic student body who possess a high degree of interest and enthusiasm for their schoolwork.
FACULTY
A continuing growth in enrollment presents for any school com- mittee a host of problems, not customarily encountered, which grow out of that increase. Your regional school committee can readily attest to the veracity of this generalization. One of these problems, already dealt with at some length in this report, is that of securing the needed classroom space in which to house the boys and girls and to carry on the instructional program. Another is that of securing and maintain- ing a staff of competent and well-qualified teachers.
Each year since it opened in 1959 it has been necessary to add to the instructional staff of the regional high school. In 1962, 8 new teachers were added. The total professional staff now numbers 70. For the most part the new teaching positions are at the upper levels of the high school where the enrollment increase has been the great- est, requiring the scheduling of additional class sections in several subject areas, particularly in the required subjects of English and Social Science.
It was also necessary to fill 18 vacancies resulting from end-of- the-year resignations. Teacher turnover this year was higher than usual, but not entirely unexpected as several of those leaving the system had indicated this as their intent when they joined the original staff in 1959. The fact that 1962 was the third year of opera- tion and thus the tenure appointment year for better than one-half the staff had no appreciable effect on this situation.
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Interviewing and observing teachers, assembling credentials - the entire recruitment process - is of first importance for our superinten- dent in terms of time spent. The high school principal and the depart- ment chairmen are likewise much involved in this selection process, as are members of our education sub-committee who interview and pass on all candidates recommended by the superintendent prior to their names being submitted to the full committee for approval and elec- tion to the staff. Not all candidates who are elected accept their ap- pointment. This happened several times this year. While we were able to find new candidates for these spots, with the exception of two vacancies in reading, such occurences only serve to add to the pro- blems of staffing.
Nevertheless, the committee feels they were most fortunate in being able, in this period of teacher shortage, to find so many well- qualified persons to fill this year's vacancies. In spite of the many changes that have taken place, we feel that the overall quality of the staff has been perceptibly improved by the new additions. New mem- bers have adjusted well to our school and have been most responsible in carrying out their individual assignments.
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