USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > Plymouth > Town annual report of Plymouth, MA 1903-1905 > Part 16
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The High School building, while still ample for its origi- nal purpose, is not fully adequate for the needs of the ninth grade in addition thereto; indeed, it has become necessary to make use of a room never intended or adapted for school purposes, and also to partition one of the first-floor class rooms, . to meet the growing need for additional room. These expedients will serve for a time but an enlargement of the building may soon have to be considered. The com- mittee have plans in outline of a scheme proposed by the architect who designed the building, a plan which will se- cure abundant room without extending the present founda- tions or resulting in a displeasing architectural effect. This, however, is a matter which for the present, at least. must
Plymouth 9
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give way to a provision for needs more immediate and urg- ent. Anticipating the suggestion that the ninth grade might be housed elsewhere, and the need of more room at the High School thus be obviated, we would say that the trans- fer to this school building has proved so marked an educa- tional gain that, even if suitable room could be found else- where for this grade, though none is now available, it would, in our judgment, be a serious detriment to disconnect it from an environment of such manifest value and advantage.
As indicated in the last report, and there explained in detail. additional heating apparatus is urgently needed at the High School building, and in our judgment should be supplied before the fall term. After due consideration and expert advice we recommend the installation of a steam boiler ample in capacity to heat the large halls and the rooms now insufficiently served; with an extension of piping to the class rooms so that in spring and fall, before perma- nent fires are required, a small amount of steam could be circulated, instead of firing all the furnaces as heretofore, to secure the extra warmth occasionally needed. The sav- ing in fuel at such times would soon equal the cost of this additional piping. The estimated cost of the scheme, as per plan and specifications, is $1,800.
The time has also come when the worn out sanitaries at this building should, in regard for good health as well as economy, be replaced by modern closets connected with the sewer. The crematory furnaces are practically exhausted, and the closets, particularly on the south side, are in a foul and offensive condition. Radical and costly repairs would, therefore, be required at once if it were decided to continue in use this antiquated and faulty method of sanitation. Considering the cost this would entail, and the fact that several tons of coal are annually required to maintain the system, it is obvious that on both sanitary and economic grounds it would be far better to discard it altogether and
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to replace it with simple and modern closets as suggested. The estimated cost of this change is $700, which amount, together with that required for additional heating as above, the town is respectfully requested to appropriate.
The town has several times been reminded in reports of this department that, with the exception of the High School building, no insurance is carried upon any of its school property, and instructions have been asked if the town desir- ed any change of policy in this matter. It was doubtless in consideration of the large amount invested that insurance was placed upon the High School. The town has never lost a school building by fire, resulting from internal cause, and with modern heating systems and competent janitors the fire peril is remote; we would remind the town, however, that the additions to the Knapp and Cornish buildings have more than doubled their former value, so that each of these school houses now represents an outlay of more than twenty thousand dollars. Whether, in view of so large an invest- ment. it would be prudent to insure these two buildings, or to continue the policy of the past, is for the town to deter- mine. Incidentally we would sav that the rate for these buildings, if insured for eighty per cent. of their value, would be one per cent. per annum, or two per cent for three years. If insured for less than eighty per cent. of their value the annual rate would be $1.42; the three year rate $2.84.
The frequent loss of valuable teachers owing to the higher salaries paid elsewhere is a constant embarrassment to the committee and a very serious disadvantage and detriment to the schools. This loss, varying between one-fourth and one-half the entire teaching force annually, is doubly un- fortunate because it chiefly affects the primary and inter- mediate grades beyond which a large proportion of our children never go, many of necessity leaving school as soon as the law allows. It is of the utmost importance that the
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children whose school life is thus limited should have the benefit of experienced and successful teachers, but it is increasingly difficult to secure such teachers and impossible to retain them very long at the salaries paid in Plymouth, except in the case of those living here who, in devotion to their homes, repeatedly decline offers of better positions else- where. In the case of subordinate teachers in grades below the High School, our salary list is materially lower than that of towns which in general respects may fairly be compared with Plymouth; while the average salary paid in the Com- monwealth to teachers in these grades is almost thirty per cent. more than paid here. This obvious disadvantage so vitally affects the welfare of our schools that quite as much in the interest of the children as in justice to faithful and efficient teachers, we are moved by an imperative sense of duty to ask the town to sanction and sustain a policy of gradually increasing salaries in the grades referred to until they conform more reasonably to the rates current through- out the Commonwealth.
On the completion of the new buildings in October ad- justments of much advantage were made, crowded rooms were relieved. the temporary quarters at Sever street were abandoned. and the pupils of the Alden street school trans- ferred without inconvenience to them, that building being closed for the present. It will doubtless be opened before the year ends. however, as will also the one vacant room in the old Cornish Building. All the rooms in the new buildings are now in use.
The September census indicated a gain for the school year of 245 children of school age, equal, practically. to five additional schools. Four teachers have recently been added to the rolls, and more will certainly be needed before many months: the new buildings require an additional outlay for care and maintenance, and the advance in some salaries, urged elsewhere in this report, which we confidently hope
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the town will provide for, make a material increase in the appropriation necessary. A careful consideration of each item in the summary of school expenses indicates that $46,000 will be required for the current year, and an appro- priation of that sum, together with the special appropriation elsewhere noted in this report, is respectfully asked for.
The report of the Superintendent, which follows, contains data, deductions and suggestions of interest and value to those who are mindful of whatever concerns our public schools, and appreciative of the work of those who faithfully serve them. We commend it to the thoughtful considera- tion of all our citizens.
Respectfully submitted,
WM. S. KYLE, ELIZABETH THURBER, J. HOLBROOK SHAW, INCREASE ROBINSON, FRANK H. PERKINS, JOSEPH T. COLLINGWOOD,
SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT
To the School Committee of Plymouth :-
The report of the Superintendent of Schools for the year 1904 is herewith respectfully submitted. While it is not possible in any report of this kind to show clearly the gain, if any, in the quality of the work the schools are doing, yet it is possible to show whether the organization of the school forces and the increased support furnished them by the people are being used to make more efficient school work probable and natural. The latter purpose is the aim of this report.
SCHOOL CENSUS.
The School Committee is required by law to ascertain annually the number of children between the ages of five and fifteen years residing in the town on the first day of September. This census, taken in September, gave the fol- lowing returns, which are compared with like returns for the year 1903 :
Number of children between the ages of 5 and 15 years-
1903
1904
Boys,
837
906
Girls,
818
876
Totals.
1655
1782
Increase for the year, 127.
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Number of children between the ages of 7 and 14 years-
the compulsory school age-
1903
1904
Boys,
518
646
Girls,
512
636
Totals,
1030
I282
Increase for the year, 252.
This shows an increase over last year of 127 children of school age, and of 252 children between the ages of 7 and 14 years-the age when children must, by law, be in school.
1905
1904
1835 Present number of pupils enrolled, Jan. 4, 1727
24 Number of school buildings in use, 26
53 Number of school rooms in use, including High School, 49
54 Number of teachers regularly employed,
51
6 High School, 6
I5 Grammar schools, 14
29 Primary Schools, 26
4 Ungraded Schools, 5
3 Special teachers, one each in music, drawing and Sloyd, 3
57 Total, 54
ATTENDANCE.
To meet the requirements of the State Board of Educa- tion the following statistics cover the period of the school year, from September to July, 1903-1904, and are compared with the same items for the preceding school year :
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1903 .- 1904.
1902-1903.
Whole number of pupils enrolled for the year.
1,816
1.774
Number under ? years of age.
354
325
Number between , and 14 years.
1.231
1,230
Number between 14 and 15 years,
95
83
Number over 15 years.
136
136
Average membership of all the schools
1,663
1,587
Average daily attendance.
1.530
1,447
Per cent. of attendance,
.92
91.3
Number days absence of pupils,
25,252
28.288
Number cases of tardiness.
5,103
5.568
Number of dismissals before close of school session.
1.967
1,356
Number of cases of truancy reported by teachers.
45
76
Number of days of teachers' absence from school,
8:2
154
Number of visits made by Superintendent.
1.084
949
1,867
1,774
The number of children enrolled in schools at the present time is 1835, with 54 teachers, who are housed in 24 school buildings, besides a small school at the Gurnet.
The figures show twice the gain in the average member- ship over the gain in the whole enrolment for the year, and a substantial increase in the average daily attendance gives us a slight gain in the per cent. of attendance.
The policy of keeping the schools open on every school day, no matter what the weather may be, unfavorably affects our attendance record. There are likely to be one or more days in every month when the severity of the weather makes it necessary that many pupils should remain at home, and when, in the primary schools especially, only two or three children appear. It is necessary. the school being open, that all those who fail to present themselves be marked ab- sent. It sometimes happens that one such day in a month makes an abnormally low record for the whole period. Such a result is very discouraging to both teachers and l'u; ils. Many communities avoid this difficulty by closing their schools on stormy days, and so making such excessive absent records unnecessary. In order that our attendance figures may reach those of our neighbors. therefore, it is necessary that our attendance shall be enough better on other than stormy days to make up the difference. There is little doubt that the policy pursued here in this matter is right. notwithstanding the handicap it brings us. Although
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the conditions have been adverse during the past year. we have, nevertheless, increased our per cent. of attendance over that of the preceding year, and made our record better than the State average, both in the percentage based on the average attendance and in that based on the total enroll- ment.
FINANCIAL STATEMENT.
The items given below are based upon the expenditure for school purposes during the financial year 1904. The finan- cial and attendance periods are not therefore identical, but since each covers a full year, the one period being only a little in advance of the other, the returns they furnish are fairly reliable.
I. Assessed valuation of real and personal property in Plymouth, May 1, 1904, $9,365,264
2. Per cent. of valuation expended for cur- rent expenses of schools in 1904, .0042I
3. Expense per pupil on average membership, $23 69
4. Expense per pupil on same for schools of State, 1903-1904, $28 81
5. Expense per pupil on average member- ship on total expenditure for schools in 1903-1904, $25 07
6. State average on same basis, 1903. $36 76
7. Average monthly wages of men teachers in Plymouth in 1904, $103 00
8. Average monthly wages paid men teach- ers of the State, $145 48
9. Average monthly wages of women teachers in Plymouth in 1.904, $44 30
IO. Same paid women teachers in the State, 1903-1904, $55 37
In this statement the items are based upon the average
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membership of the schools, 1.663. Items 2 and 3 are based upon the whole amount ($41,689.74) which the Committee has spent, less the cost of repairs ($1,971.93) and new heating apparatus ($325.60). The items which make up this amount are payments for salaries, transportation, fuel and care of schoolhouses, text-books and supplies, inciden- tals. The sum thus expended ($39,392.21) is by act of the Legislature, to be regarded as the current expense of the schools, and is the sum to be certified to the State authorities as having been raised by taxation and expended "for the support of the public schools." This sum shows that dur- ing the past year the town raised by taxation, and expended for the school support of each child in the average member- ship (1,663) of the schools, the sum of $23.69. The State average on the same basis was $28.81. While the town, in the total expense for its schools ($41,689.74), paid an aver- age of $25.07 for each pupil in the average membership, the State average for each child on the same basis was $36.76.
There are 353 cities and towns in Massachusetts. Dur- ing the past year there were 141 of these cities and towns which imposed upon themselves a heavier tax for the school support of each child in the average membership of their schools than that of Plymouth, and 211 that imposed upon themselves a lesser tax. There were also 249 of these same communities which paid a larger percentage of their assessed valuation for school purposes than Plymouth paid, and only 103 of them that paid less.
SCHOOL ACCOMMODATIONS.
The school census taken in September shows an increase over the preceding year of 127 pupils between the ages of 5 and 15, and of 252 between the ages of 7 and 14 years. Though this increase is mainly at the north part of the town, there is a substantial gain at the Center. The other
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districts of the town have done little more than hold their own in numbers. Most of the children over 14 years of age are at work, especially those at the North, but for the 252 increase of those children between 7 and 14, that being the compulsory school age, school accommodations have to be provided.
The crowded conditions which existed last year in some of'the schools at the North and at the Center of the town have been adequately provided for by the additions to the Knapp and Cornish Schools. The Knapp building is dou- bled in size and is now a school of nine rooms, all of which are in use. The following classes are accommodated there:
Grade I, 39 pupils
Grade 2,
42 pupils
Grade 3, 40 pupils
Grade 3, 40 pupils
Grade 4, 36 pupils
Grade 4,
37 pupils
Grade 5,
42 pupils
Grade 6, 37 pupils
Grades 7 and 8,
39 pupils
352 pupils
These 350 pupils are most comfortably housed. The location of the Knapp School is central, and no more appro- priate or convenient spot could be found upon which to build it. The lot in the rear of the school furnishes ample playground for recess and other appropriate school pur- poses. But it does not, and should not, furnish a place where at any time of the day or night gangs of boys and men may congregate for athletic sports and contests. It was never the intention of the School Committee to provide an athletic field. Its proximity to the school building would preclude that : and to use the playgrounds for such a pur- pose would render the place an intolerable nuisance to
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the immediate neighborhood, and to endanger the safety of the school building.
The three other school rooms at the North have an en- rolment of 42 pupils each, and cannot well accommodate any larger numbers. There being no vacant school room at the Knapp Building, the committee will find it difficult next year, under present conditions, to furnish school accommoda- tions for the ordinary increased numbers which in that part of the town will apply.
Usually there are enough children entering school for the first time at Cold Spring to fill one room. Last September so few applied there that it seemed best, in the interest of a reasonable economy, to recommend that the children in the first grade there be distributed, some to the Knapp School and the rest to Allerton Street. This distribution was made without causing any of the children to walk an unreason- able distance. This change has left a vacant school room at Cold Spring which most likely will need to be used again next fall to accommodate the number of children in that locality which usually apply for admission in September.
The addition of four rooms to the Cornish School has made ample provision there for the present needs of the central part of the town. This building now contains eight good school rooms besides a convenient room for Sloyd work in the basement. At present seven of these rooms are being used by classes, as follows :
Grade 2, 43 pupils
Grade 3,
42 pupils
Grade 5, 46 pupils
Grade 5, 46 pupils
42 pupils
Grade 6,
Grade 6, 43 pupils
Grade 7,
33 pupils
295 pupils
ยท
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This building, as well as the Knapp Building, is very well adapted to its purpose. It is well planned, well lighted, well ventilated and contains an effective heating plant. That the building would cost more than was estimated could not be foretold or helped, because the addition made necessary so much work on the old part. But the building is well worth all it has cost in the convenient accommodations it has provided and in the larger opportunity it gives for a better and more efficient organization of all the schools in that section of the town. Both the enlarged Cornish and Knapp Schools are fulfilling all the claims made for them when it was urged that additions be made to these buildings instead of constructing new ones on other sites.
PRIMARY SCHOOLS.
Children five years old, or who will reach that age be- fore the end of the fourth week of school, are admitted to the primary schools during the first four weeks of the fall term only, if they have never before attended school. Chil- dren competent to enter existing classes are admitted at any time in the district where they live; if there is room; other- wise, they are sent to the nearest school where there is room.
The whole number of pupils enrolled in the schools at present is 1,835. Of this number 1.051, a little over fifty- seven per cent., are in the primary schools, grades one to four, inclusive, distributed in twenty-nine school rooms, making an average number of thirty-six pupils to each teach- er. The smallest number in any primary school is eighteen, and the largest forty-nine.
There has been no time, at least during the last ten years, when the primary schools were in better condition to do effective work than at present. The increased school ac- commodations provided the past year have enabled us to organize the schools upon the basis of one grade to each
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room. to give to each primary teacher a more reasonable number of pupils, and to make the work done in these schools more nearly suited to the needs and capacities of the chil- dren. But under the best school conditions it remains true that very many of the children who enter school at five years of age are too immature and are sent to school too irregularly to complete the first year's school work in one year. The average child would lose little by entering school at six instead of at five years of age. A comparison of data made elsewhere and covering several years makes it evident that the children entering school at five and those entering at six come together in the fourth and fifth grades. The
only suitable school for children under six years is a kindergarten, or at least a school where, in the main, the principles of the kindergarten are practiced; where there is but one session, or two short sessions, each day; and where the children are not subjected to the continuous restraint and discipline of the ordinary primary school.
GRAMMAR SCHOOLS.
The grammar schools include grades 5 to 9. The number enrolled in these schools at present is 605, about 33 per cent. of the total school enrollment. They occupy 15 school rooms, making an average number of 40 pupils to each teacher.
Promotions are made in each school by the regular teach- er at the end of the school year in June. In doubtful cases the Superintendent is consulted. These promotions are based on the estimate of the pupil's daily work made by the teacher, and recorded at the end of each month, in the gram- mar schools, on report cards sent to the parents. When conditions seem to justify it, a pupil may be promoted on trial for a month. In such a case, the parent is notified by written form of the intended conditional promotion, and the
.
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promotion in this form is made only in case the parent gives written consent thereto. If, at the end of the probationary period, the pupil's work warrants it, the promotion is made for the rest of the year, but no pupil is expected to be re- tained in any class when his interests are best served by his going back to a lower one.
The opening of the new school buildings has added mate- rially to the possibilities for increased efficiency in the grammar schools. The organization of most of these schools will now enable us to make some needed changes in the manner of doing their work. With two exceptions, no school room now contains more than one grade, and in several cases, two classes of the same grade occupy adjoining rooms. These conditions should allow us to adopt a more effective method of classification of pupils, and to provide a more flexible plan of promotion. Many children are cap- able of doing the nine years' work of the elementary school in a considerably less time than nine years, and would do it well in less time if the right conditions for work existed. A small class, and that divided into two or more groups, each group progressing as fast as the ability and industry of its members will allow, is a necessary and reasonable condition for work in each school room.
Then there should be some simple and natural plan where- by the individual pupil could go from one group to another, either higher or lower, at frequent intervals of time, that he may constantly find his work suited to his strength and ability. Our present method of yearly promotion inevitably makes it necessary that many a pupil should be obliged to lose time while waiting for the group or class in which he finds himself to catch up and pass on with him; or else he is urged to work beyond his endurance and ability in the vain endeavor to hold a place with others who are better endowed with strength and mental capacity than himself. Any method of promotion that is an obstacle to the pro-
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gress of some and a source of discouragement to others is a seriously defective one.
A plan of promotion that is reasonable must primarily consider the needs and welfare of the individual. regarding him as the unit of consideration rather than the group or class of which he is or is to be a part. And in determining under such a plan whether a pupil shall be sent on, the ques- tion is not whether he has completed the amount of work assigned by the course of study to his group or class, nor wholly whether he can keep up with the next higher class in their most difficult exercises, but it is rather the question as to what will be the effect or influence upon him of the work of the next class, as incentive, or mental furnishing, or self reliance, or quality of interest, that should decide the matter.
Ideal conditions in these matters do not exist in many schools, because lack of funds, lack of teachers and adverse public sentiment forbid them. They do not exist in our own schools, but every change in the organiza- tion of the schools, in the course of study and in the assign- ment of teachers, having for their aim the securing of these conditions, is a distinct gain.
HIGH SCHOOL.
Graduates of the grammar schools are admitted to the High School by certificate. No formal examination is re- quired, except in the case of those from other places who ap- ply for admission. There were 38 who received certifi- cates last June, and 35 of those receiving them entered the High School in the fall.
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