USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > Plymouth > Town annual report of Plymouth, MA 1897-1899 > Part 6
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The Grammar schools, as a whole, have done good work. Though they are not perfect, they certainly have held their own. Very few changes have been made in the matter or methods of work. The special appropria- tion for Drawing supplies has enabled us to obtain some necessary material, and work in that department has progressed satisfactorily. New books in the different lines of school work have been bought. The price at which good books are to-day placed upon the market makes it possible for every school to obtain a few at least. We have endeavored to place some of the best books within the reach of every pupil and to help him to read them intelligently and with appreciation ; that they may inspire him with an increasing love for all that is beautiful and true in thought and word.
The schools of today are receiving a large part of popu- lar attention, and are being subjected to much intelligent criticism. The grammar schools are receiving their fair share. There is no criticism more just or more worthy of consideration than that which arraigns the graded school on account of the rigidity of its program, and of the in- flexibity of its course of instruction and methods of work; because its work is planned for the average pupil, and in this plan no sufficient provision is made for the pupil who can do more or less than the majority; because such a system retards and dwarfs the mental growth of the boy or girl who is of greater ability than the average, and dis- courages the slower. Instead of all this, the school program should be flexible, the matter and method of instruction personal and individual; each pupil should be introduced as early and as rapidly as possible to those topics which especially interest him and arouse his enthusiasm. In a word, this criticism demands
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that the schools recognize and act upon the knowledge that no two children have the same abilities or capaci- ties, and therefore they cannot, with advantage to them- selves, be educated by taking the same course in the same way and in the same time.
It is profoundly true that the needs of the minority are not met when the school provides only for the majority, and that the rights of the bright and dull pupil are both too sacred to be sacrificed or ignored. But how to meet and overcome the difficulty this criticism exposes, appears to be a problem hard to solve. Many communities are working at it, some in one way and some in another, but the solution, under the cir- cumstances as they exist in most places, is not yet in sight. Some of the causes which give force to this criticism have already been removed here. Many of our schools are small enough to permit some individual work. Children are no longer promoted on formal ex-
amination. It is possible for pupils who have the ability to do more than the class is doing, and who are willing to work, to secure promotion to the next class at any time during the year. Several have been sent on in this way during the past year; and their going has proved an incentive to the classes they have left behind, as well as an incitement to themselves to do creditably the work of the grades into which they have gone. These are real gains; doubtless much more can be done, even under present conditions, to make the schools serve better the needs of the individual pupil ; but to provide a flexible program-practically a different one for each child, to make the instruction distinctively personal and individual, to provide suitably for the varying aptitudes of all pupils-these are de-
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mands which the public school is far from being able to meet. Any community which seeks to meet them fairly and adequately must be prepared to bear a much larger expenditure per pupil than it is bearing at present. When the people will endorse that method of solution the difficulty of meeting these requirements will be overcome.
The closing exercises of the Plymouth grammar schools were held Thursday afternoon, July 1st, 1897.
GRADUATES OF 1897.
BURTON SCHOOL.
Marion Wadsworth Beytes, Alice Swett Cole,
Charles Henry Bagen, Fred Howard Bradford,
Etta Burgess Griffin, Lida Jenkins Glover,
Robert Irving Bramhall, Elston Kittridge Bartlett,
Ida Warren Hall, John Fairbanks Bartlett, Grace Fuller Hinchcliffe, John Gooding Doten,
Violet Mahler,
Thomas Francis Manning,
Rosedla Lorena Wade, Minnie Booth Woodhead,
Rowland Wallace Vaughn.
CORNISH SCHOOL.
Hattie Otis Jackson, Anna Isabel Kelliher, Maud Mary Lucas, Mary Elizabeth Oosterdiep, Bessie Frances Sherburn, Bertha May Stevens, Ida Janetta Stevens,
Miriam Oliver Williams, Howard Parker Barnes, Windsor Joseph Cook, Abner Ellis, Richard Bryant Hobart, Hiram Sampson, Warren Potter Strong, Thomas Shaw.
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MT. PLEASANT SCHOOL.
Ethel Clifton Bartlett,
Lydia Clark Bennett,
Hattie Newell Parker,
Annie Augusta Pierce, Walter Chapin Holmes,
Ellen Ellsworth Powers, William Simon Picard,
Annie Corlew Schubert, Alton Ellis Sears,
Flora Belle Washburn,
Grace Clyfton Weston,
Harry Ames Bradford, Warren Lothrop Chandler,
Harry Richmond Talbot.
CHILTONVILLE SCHOOL.
William Bartlett Darling, William Henry Woodason, Jr. Arthur Everett Finney,
MANOMET SCHOOL.
Annie Freeman Bartlett, Edith Warren Sherman.
Etta Blanche Peterson,
UNGRADED SCHOOLS.
It would be pleasant to be able to report a way of making possible more successful work in the ungraded schools. These five schools have had during the year an average membership of 61, making about twelve pupils to each school. The cost for tuition on the average membership was a little over $29.00 per pupil, or nearly a third more than for children of the same age in the graded schools of the Town; to keep the cost for tuition at that figure, the teachers in those schools are paid 25 per cent. less than the average salary of the other teachers of the Town.
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Excepting the school house at Ellisville, the school buildings in all the outside districts are in good condition. All the books and other supplies that can be put to good use are furnished. But it is ex- tremely difficult to secure and retain good teachers for those schools. And this, together with the circumstances of their location and isolation, precludes good work being done in them. If a consolidation of the ten outlying schools, which include those at Chiltonville, Manomet and the five ungraded schools, were effected, four schools each having an average attendance of forty pupils could be formed.
HIGH SCHOOL.
One of the noteworthy facts in school statistics is the large and steady increase of attendance upon the high schools of the State. Ten years ago about 6 per cent. of all pupils enrolled were in high schools. To- day the high schools enroll 8.3 per cent. of all public school pupils; that is, during the last decade the high schools have increased their enrolment not only enough to keep up their ratio with the increased enrol- ment in the lower schools coming from the gain in population, but have gained a third upon that. For some years the large membership of the Plymouth High School, compared with the membership of the other schools of the Town, has been remarkable; but it can no longer be so regarded, for in the large growth in high school attendance all over the State many other schools have out-stripped our own. Nevertheless, our high school attendance is considerably in advance of the State average. The past year its membership was over 11
,
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per cent. of all the pupils of the Town, while the average high school membership of the State was only 8.3 per cent. of all public school pupils.
This does not mean that the other 92 per cent. of the enrolled public school pupils in the State, or that the other 89 per cent. of the pupils whose names are on the registers in our own schools, do not attend the high school. One of the reasons given in last year's report for requiring and maintaining a high grade of efficiency in our high school, was that from 40 to 50 per cent. of the entire school population were at some time members of this school. It is a popular mis- apprehension which assumes that the ratio of the high school membership to the total membership of all the schools shows the number of children who in any community enjoys high school privileges. This as- sumption is the source of most of the arguments intended to show the relative unimportance of high schools compared with the elementary schools, and gives color to the statement that the maintenance of the high school means "the education of the few at the expense of the many." The following illustration, in- tended to correct this misapprehension, is taken from the report of the State Board of Education. It is found in Massachusetts public documents, vol. 8, of 1894. When it was written, only 7.6 per cent. of the school enrolment was in the high schools of the State:
"To say that 7.6 per cent. only of the school popula- tion enters the high school is a serious misuse of a percentage of school attendance which leads many peo- ple to underestimate the important place the high school holds in our public school system. So important is it that this per cent. of 7.6 should be correctly
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interpreted that it is worth while to examine it another way to find its - true meaning.
"Suppose a school system of thirteen grades in which the number of pupils in each grade is just 100. Sup- pose, further, that the 100 pupils of each grade keep moving up without increase or reduction in numbers until they graduate from the high school. In this sup- posed case the entire school membership is 1,300, of which 400 are in the four upper grades, that is, in the high school. In other words, 3, or about 31 per cent., of the entire school membership is in the high school. To conclude, however, that but 31 per cent. of the school children in this supposed case ever enter the high school is clearly wrong; for it is obvious that 100 per cent. of the entire school population enter it. Now, if 31 per cent. in this supposed case indicates that 100 per cent. of the school population actually enter the high school, then the percentage of 7.6 under discussion indicates approximately that really 24.5 per cent. of all the children enter the high school, - a result very close to that already reached. As a matter of fact, it is known that in some towns from 40 to 50 per cent. of the whole number of those who attend school actually enter the high school."
If the foregoing illustration is understood, it will readily be seen that the per cent. of children in any community who are enjoying high school privileges, is equal to three and a quarter times the per cent. of its high school enrolment. Our average percentage of such pupils for the past five years has been over 40 per cent. For the year covered by this report, it is not quite so large.
The school during the past year shows a gain in regu-
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larity of attendance, and the number of late marks, which have been a growing evil for some years, is reduced 50 per cent. The spirit of the school is excellent, and the quality of its work increasingly good. More subjects in the course of study have been made elective, and the required number of hours of prepared work has been reduced from twenty-one to sixteen per week. This gives pupils opportunity for more intensive work. Those pupils who, for good reasons, were unable to do the regular work of their classes, have been allowed to take special courses; and those who have shown the ability, but an unwillingness to do the regular work of their classes, liave been required to do the full work, or drop to a lower class. This arrangement has relieved the classes of a strong retarding influence, and allowed the majority of the pupils to do much more satisfactory work.
The effect of these changes has been good. When a pupil is admitted to the school, the teachers advise and suggest the line of work which seems best suited to his taste, needs and purposes, so far as these are made known ; although they do not compel or constrain him to select any particular course. But when a pupil has chosen his work, presumably for good reasons, the school regards it a duty to require that he shall carry it on in such a way that it may lead to some definite and permanent good, and considers it wrong to allow pupils, when they meet difficulties in their line of work and possess the ability to overcome them, to drop that work half done, and to take up some other course which may appeal to their fancy. It contributes neither to the welfare of the pupil or school, nor to the interests of the community, to allow the school and
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pupils to dissipate their energies in this or in any other way.
The changes mentioned above have in no way abridged the course of study, but have made it more flexible. Indeed, the course of study is no fuller and no broader than the laws of the State governing high schools seem to require. There is no legal definition of what a statutory high school is, but the State Board of Education through its Secretary, by logical inference from old and recent legislation, from the character of the good high schools now in existence and from a fair interpretation of their purpose, conclude that the high school should adequately provide for the following :
1. Primarily, a good liberal training in recognized secondary subjects, and by approved methods, for those children whose schooling ceases with the high school.
2. The preparation of pupils for the Normal schools. If the first provision is met, this second provision will be met also
3. The preparation of pupils for high technical schools, such as the Massachusets Institute of Technology, the Lawrence Scientific School, and others. The first pro- vision will answer, either as it stands or with a very little option, for this third provision.
4. The preparation of pupils for College.
5. Courses of study four years long.
6. An adequate teaching force, and an adequate equip- ment to meet the foregoing provisions.
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Our school meets this minimum requirement fairly well, and it is meeting it at a small expense compared with the expense incurred for the same purpose in many communities. From inquiry sent to twenty towns* whose high schools are of good reputation, and where we should expect to find school privileges equal to our own, it was found that the average cost per high school pupil in those places for teachers' salaries only was $38.92. The average cost in Plymouth, for the past three years, for the same purpose, was $28.63.
The commercial instinct of the people is making itself felt in the high school of today. There is a popular demand that the school shall give to those pupils who desire it, an elementary knowledge of the methods and practices of business. All high schools are feeling the force of this demand, and many of them, probably the large majority of high schools a; large as ours, have responded to it, and are offering courses in busi- ness training. A commercial course, including book- keeping, business forms and methods, commercial arith- metic, typewriting and stenography seems to meet this reasonable, popular demand. Such a course offers many attractions to boys and girls who have no special liking or aptitude for other lines of school work; and who, if such a course be not provided, will not enter or remain long in the high school.
Our school has not made any adequate provision for this line of work. I think it should do so. There is a reasonable demand in this community for a commer-
* The names of these twenty [places in alphabetical order are : Arling- ton, Bridgewater, Canton,] Chicopee,[Clinton, Concord, Dedham, Framing- ham, Hingham, Leominster, Middleboro, Milford, Milton, Reading, Spencer, Stoneham, Wakefield, Watertown, Westfield, Whitman.
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cial course in the high school, and we could easily provide for it without decreasing in efficiency the other lines of work. As indicated above, the school is now doing only work enough to meet the statutory require- ments which entitle it to be classed as an approved high school. We may not, therefore, if we would, omit any of the work now being done, or substitute a com- mercial course for any other course now being offered. The school has now no larger teaching force than is absolutely needed to meet its present requirements. If, therefore, the popular demand for a commercial course is to be met, it cannot well be met by omitting any of the work now being done, nor by abridging it, nor by any method of substitution. To attempt to do so would seriously impair the present usefulness of the school. The only way in which it can be done, so far as we see, is by supplying to the school an additional teacher specially trained in this line of work.
A commercial teacher's salary would be the only added expense incurred besides a small sum of money to equip such a department. Doubtless this line of work would increase the attendance at the school; but this would entail no more expense for building, janitor, light. and fuel than the present attendance requires.
If the Town should see fit to appropriate for such a course in the high school one-fourth of the amount of money spent elsewhere the past year for this kind of work by young men and young women of the Town, we could carry on a commercial department success- fully.
The graduating exercises of the class of 1897, Ply- mouth High School, took place Monday evening, June 28, 1897.
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First Honor for Scholarship :
JOSEPHINE C. BELCHER.
Second Honor for Scholarship :
ADELINE M. STEVENS.
CLASS OF 1897.
Josephine Camp Belcher, Jennie Maria Burgess,
Marion Clifton Chandler, Hester Marion Cook, Ethel Hobart, Annie Clifford Holmes, Edith Wood Howland, Edith May Magee, Sarah Howland Paty,
Maud Atherton Peterson,
Annie Mary Rogan, Lucy Kendall Saunders, Adeline Mildred Stevens, Katherine Howard Sullivan, Agnes Spooner Whiting,
Horace Anderson,
Howard Gardner Beaman,
Charles Warren Bramhall, James Russell Clarke, Frederick Stamford Gray, Edward .Clinton Holmes, Edward Lyman Holmes, Eugene Nathan Hunting.
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VISIT THE SCHOOLS.
It would be a decided help and inspiration to both teachers and pupils if the people would oftener visit the schools. About 40 per cent. more visits have been recorded the past year than the former one, due partly, no doubt, to the fact that most schools have appointed, each term, a "visiting day," when parents and others have been especially invited to examine the regular every day work of the schools. Though all who are interested have been asked to come particularly at those times, they are no less welcome at any other time. We are glad of this gain; it is encouraging, and we hope for a larger number of visits the present year.
It is essential to the best work of the schools that the citizens who support them, and the parents whose chil- dren are in them, should know definitely their spirit and aims. It sometimes happens that citizens refuse their sup- port, moral and financial, to measures of school policy because of rumors of the delinquency or inefficiency of the schools, when these rumors have no basis of fact. Very often, too, the home and the school are working at cross purposes because the one does not understand the design of the other, and the natural result is misunderstanding and antagonism. The highest interests of the children require that there should be harmonious relations between the home and the school as well as unity of purpose and effort, in order to make use of the best resources of each for the children's advancement.
It would help to this end if citizens and parents would afford the time to gain definite knowledge of
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what the schools are trying to do. Such knowledge would destroy or disarm much groundless or unjust criticism, and replace it by that helpful constructive kind of criticism which we all welcome and invite.
We know of no agency better suited to help in bringing about a closer interest between the people and their schools than is promised by the formation of "Education Societies," composed mainly of citizens other than teachers, but in co-operation with them. It is the purpose of these societies to know the best thought on important school questions and the spirit and methods of the best schools; to use this knowl- edge to discover and increase the excellencies of their own schools, to note their defects and weaknesses and to contrive measures for their relief; to support and strengthen every plan for increasing their efficiency and elevating their tone.
The assistance which such a society renders and the interest its work arouses, give added vigor and power to the schools. Good teaching receives a greater degree of public approbation and appreciation, and the careless or incompetent teacher is less often found in the schools or retained there because of financial considera- tions. All questions of school policy are surer to have opportunity for a fair hearing and a just and intelli- gent judgment, and this insures for all reasonable measures recommended for adoption, the interest, confi- dence and financial support of the people. It is needless to add that the teachers and school officers of Plymouth would gladly welcome help of this kind.
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TRANSPORTATION.
By a recent Act of the Legislature, School Com- mittees are authorized to pay for transportation of pupils from the amount regularly appropriated for the "support of schools." Previous to this Act, all expen- ditures for transportation, to be legal, required a special appropriation therefor. The largest item of ex- pense for transportation the past year has been incurred by bringing grammar school pupils from the north part of the Town to the Burton School. The experiment has worked well, and the school has gained in regularity of attendance by the change. The location of the school in the centre of the Town has made the dis- tribution of pupils more convenient and equable. Financially it is a success ; for considerably less money is required for transportation than would be needed for interest and expense in erecting and supporting a school house in the north part of the Town.
The small number of pupils in attendance at the Cliff School would seem to render its consolidation with some other school desirable. Its average daily attendance for the past year has been about nine pupils, and since September only about seven. Most of these children live within a short distance of the elec- tric road. A ride of a mile would bring them to the Wellingsley School where they could easily be ac- commodated, as both schools are of the same grade, and when combined they would make a school of about thirty pupils.
The consolidation of these two schools should make
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their work more efficient than it can be at present, and, incidentally, it would save a little money to the Town. Of course, whenever conditions should warrant it, the school at the Cliff could be reopened.
TEACHERS.
The State now supports ten Normal schools. They require of all candidates for admission that they be graduates of high schools which the State Board of Education has approved, or that they have received an equivalent training elsewhere. In addition to this, many of the larger cities and towns of the State support teachers' training schools of their own. But these two sources of supply do not furnish enough teachers to meet the demand. The smaller towns and cities of the State are being made more and more the training ground for the larger cities and towns. Those places which will pay the highest salaries draw the best teachers from other communities. Committees everywhere report it increasingly difficult year by year to supply their schools with qualified teachers. The increase in the length of time required for the prelim- inary training, the advancing standard of what the qualifications of a good teacher should be, and the comparatively small number of teachers who are judged to possess these qualifications, make Committees and their agents exceedingly keen in their competition to secure the best service they can for their schools. A good teacher is worth all her abilities can command. She is not to be condemned or criticised for oftenest seeing her duty in the position which pays the largest
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salary. Her promotion is the legitimate result of her success, which is sure, sooner or later, to be appre- ciated by an intelligent pubilc.
We are now and again losing teachers who are called to other communities, but we do not suffer as many other places do, as Plymouth is fortunate in having a number of teachers whose homes are here, and who are patriotic enough to be willing to teach here for less compensation than they could get elsewhere. In the year covered by this report, however, about one-fourth of the whole teaching force has resigned, and the vacancies these resignations caused had to be filled by offering salaries averaging about ten dollars a week. The average wages of teachers filling like places in the State was $14.05. To compete successfully with other communities in securing teachers at the salaries this de- partment is able to offer, is one of the most discourag- ing duties the Committee is called upon to perform ; and it is the more dispiriting the greater its zeal and enthusiasm for the welfare of the schools. Justice to the schools and fairness to the Committee would sug- gest that it be enabled to offer at least the average amount paid by other communities for teaching service. It is most important that the school expenditure in this particular should be liberal, for the success of the schools is vitally connected with it. The teacher is ever and always the supreme factor in the school. She is and always must be the advancing ideal of her pupils. To retain the best teachers we have, to secure the best that can be found to fill vacancies as they occur will ever be the paramount duty of the school department.
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