USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > Plymouth > Town annual report of Plymouth, MA 1926-1927 > Part 33
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grades. It is with this forward look that the following recommendations are made.
Schedule of Rooms for Junior High School to accom- modate 600 to 650 pupils. Upon the basis of the pro- gram of studies, and the schedule of periods recommend- ed in this report the Junior High School should have the following schedule of rooms :-
Class rooms to seat 35 pupils each, 14
General Science rooms, 2
Library and study hall (equivalent),
2
Cooking, 2
Sewing, 2
Manual Training Shops,
3
Mechanical Drawing,
1
Freehand Drawing,
1
Music,
1
Gymnasium with accessories,
1
Auditorium,
1
Lunch Room,
1
Administrative suite,
1
Pupil lockers in corridors.
Toilets, storage rooms, etc.
Heating plant, janitor's quarters, etc.
Schedule of Rooms for a Senior High School to accom- modate 400 to 450 pupils. With the proposed program of studies outlined for the Senior High School and the suggested schedule of hours, a building to house these pupils would demand the following rooms :-
Class rooms to seat 25 to 30 pupils, 10
Science laboratories (Biology and Phys.
and Chem. combined), 2
Commercial studies,
3
Domestic Science, 1
Domestic Art, 1
Manual Training Shop, 1
Mechanical Drawing, 1
1
Medical and Health suite,
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Freehand Drawing,
1
Music,
1
Library and study hall (equivalent),
2
Gymnasium and accessories,
1
Auditorium,
1
Lunch Room,
1
Administrative suite,
1
Medical and health suite,
1
Pupil lockers in corridors.
Toilets, storage rooms, etc.
Heating plant, janitor's quarters, etc.
Recommended Combination of Junior and Senior High School Buildings-For many reasons it is desirable to keep the Junior and Senior High schools in the closest cooperation. As stated earlier in this report the ideal plan would place all six grades, from the seventh through the twelfth, under a single administration. Such a plan works for greater unity and efficiency in teaching. How- ever, in a community of the size of Plymouth, it is the most economical precedure. By such a combination it would not be necessary to duplicate many features which could be used in common by both the Junior and Senior High School pupils. The most evident of these would be the auditorium, gymnasium, library, lunch room, health and medical rooms. By a proper lay-out and lo- cation of rooms the space devoted to the following activi- ties could be reduced : - domestic science, domestic art, manual training, drawing, music, etc.
TWO POSSIBLE PLANS SUGGESTED
A New Junior-Senior High School Building-From the fact that both of the present buildings under consid- eration are unsatisfactory, and that it would take consid- erable renovation and alteration to modernize them, it might be well to divert these old buildings to the use of the elementary grades and to build a new combination Junior-Senior High School building on a new site. The chief argument for this plan is that it would provide ade-
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quately and ideally for the entire Junior and Senior High School grades for many years to come. It would not be a compromise with two old buildings which can with difficulty be made entirely satisfactory for high school purposes. While this would involve more money to com- plete the plan, the present situation could be relieved by building immediately only such portion of the proposed building as might be afforded by the town at this time. By this is meant that either the Junior High School sec- tion or the Senior High School section would be built now, and the remaining section at some future date.
From studies made of the home locations of the pupils now attending the Junior and Senior High schools, and considering the problem of transportation and the future trend of population, the site for a new Junior-Senior High school should be somewhat to the north of the present center of the town.
The Second Suggestion is to build a new structure between the two present buildings and connecting with the Junior High School, and to make necessary altera- tions in both old buildings. This new building would then contain the needed extra class rooms and the addi- tional features which can be used in common by both junior and senior groups. This section would include the auditorium and the gymnasium with the necessary locker rooms, shower baths, etc.
The exact assignment of rooms in this new section will depend upon the determination of the best uses to which the rooms in both old buildings can be adapted. The following schedule of rooms for such a new section is based upon a more or less arbitrary assignment of rooms in the old buildings, but at the same time on a basis of economy in using the old portions to the greatest advan- tage.
If this plan should be adopted a new central heating plant to heat all three buildings,-present junior, present senior, and the new section should be considered in the plan.
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Schedule of Rooms for New Section-It is suggested that the proposed new section face the street looking to- ward the old high school building. This structure would then contain the following :
Auditorium to seat at least 750, 1
Gymnasium to be divided by moveable . partition (60x80 minimum), 1
Boys' showers, lockers, toilets,
1
Girls' showers, lockers, toilets,
1
Offices, storage, etc., for instructors,
2
Lunch room to accommodate 300,
1
Kitchen and supply rooms,
1
Principal's office suite,
2
Men and Women Teachers' rooms,
2
Domestic Science,
2
Domestic Art,
2
Freehand Drawing,
1
Manual Training Shops,
2
Mechanical Drawing, 1
Toilets,
4
Class rooms, 7
Nurses' and Doctor's health suite, 1
Alterations in Old High School Building-No exten- sive or costly changes are recommended. However, the following are deemed essential.
1. Remove cooking and lunch rooms from basement. Place girls coat rooms and toilets here, relieving one class room space on first floor.
2. Provide better lighting for old assembly hall and use for study hall purposes only. Partition off two class rooms if possible.
3. Equip one room on second floor as a biological laboratory.
4. Use small room at front of second floor for a men teachers' room.
5. Properly equip the commercial department in four rooms on second floor.
6. Abandon present heating arrangements for new central plant.
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Alterations in Old Junior High School Building-The following suggestions are made with the idea of improv- ing the situation in the present Junior High School build- ing, and of using the space to the greatest advantage.
1. Equip two of the large class rooms as general science laboratories.
2. Use present boys' shop in the basement for spec- ial opportunity class work for boys.
3. Use present domestic science rooms for the special opportunity class work for girls or as a printing shop.
4. Remove lunch room equipment to new section.
Suggestions for Procedure-Two possible solutions of the problem have been suggested. Before a sound judg- ment can be given in regard to either proposal, it is nec- essary to know approximately what it would mean in cost to the town. This can be determined only by employing an architect to prepare sketches of these plans with es- timates of cost. Then the town and the committee can determine the most desirable solution.
SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS
The following brief statements will summarize the more important recommendations of this report.
1. That the program of studies suggested for the Junior High School, seventh, eighth, and ninth grades be adopted as building the future cur- riculum policy, and that such steps be taken toward this goal as conditions will permit from time to time.
2. That in the same manner the Senior High School work out its curriculum policy keeping in close co-operation with the Junior High School in the revision of the courses of instruction and in pupil guidance.
3. That as a general policy of administration and for the purpose of raising the standard of school work, the class periods and the school day be
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gradually lengthened until a more satisfactory school day is reached.
4. The following building conditions have been. found to exist :-
a. The present High School building rates only 442 points out of 1000 on the Strayer standard scale.
b. The present Junior High school building rates 528 points on the same scale.
c. Considerable renovating must be done to make these buildings satisfactory. This is specially true of the High School build- ing.
d. To meet the present educational needs ad- ditional building space must be provided. as shown in this report.
5. Two possible solutions are suggested.
a. To build at the present time a portion of a new building eventually to house both the Junior and Senior High schools on a new site to the north of the town center.
b. To build a building to house the needed. facilities on the land between the two old buildings and to make certain alterations in the old buildings. This also implies a new central heating plant.
6. To take immediate steps to employ an archi- tectural specialist in school-house planning to prepare sketches in order that approximate esti- mates of cost may be obtained.
Respectfully submitted,
JESSE B. DAVIS.
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REPORT OF THE SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL
My first annual report as principal of the Plymouth High School is herewith submitted.
Let me say at the outset, that the condition of the school as I found it is a tribute to the ideals and efficiency of my predecessor. Both teachers and pupils have been gracious in their reception and have cooperated in a most commendable manner, apparently appreciating the dif- ficulties which ordinarily accompany a change of admin- istration.
At the present time there is a total membership of 412, distributed as follows :
Grade IX
Grade X
Grade XI
Grade XII
Boys,
51
48
49
27
Girls,
66
64
50
47
-
Total,
117
112
99
74
Our total enrollment for the year is 428. Thirty have left school, and fourteen have entered, leaving a net loss of sixteen. Of the thirty who have left, thirteen have removed from town, two have changed to other schools, three have left because of physical incapacity, the others to go to work. There are seventy-six classes, ranging in size from three to forty-three, the average being twenty- four.
I have made a few changes in the working program of the school. The bell schedule has been re-arranged to eliminate the "warning bell" toward the end of a recita- tion period. The period of out-of-door exercise which formerly came about half way through the morning ses- sion has been discontinued. Pupils now pass directly to lunch without returning to there home rooms. This avoids considerable confusion. On four days a week,
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there are seven periods, on the other six an assembly for the entire school meets regularly on Mondays. A large chorus meets on Wednesdays, and the Glee Club on Fri- days. Each class meets in regular rotation once a month on Tuesday mornings for the transaction of class busi- ness and conference with the principal.
Several teachers' meetings have been held, at which various timely topics having to do with professional advancement have been discussed. Matters of routine procedure have been taken care of as far as possible through daily bulletins. The faculty has been organized into committees. A curriculum committee is considering the content and value of the present curricula, and is pre- paring to suggest improvements. An assembly com- mittee, acting with a committee chosen by and from the Student Council, has assumed much of the responsibility for assembly programs, in which student participation is stressed. A committee on faculty meetings suggests and plans topics to be discussed at teachers' meetings. A social committee has supervision over the social life of the school. Practically every teacher is connected with some work of the school apart from the regular class work.
The organization of the Student Council has been somewhat changed. Each home room has a president, vice-president, and secretary. The presidents, together with the presidents of classes and clubs, and captains of teams make up the Council, thus securing a comprehen- sive representation of all school interests, at the same time maintaining an efficient organization.
Instead of having mid-year examinations, term exam- inations, eighty minutes in length, were held at the close of the Fall term. They are to be held at the end of each ranking period except the final period in June. I am convinced that an adequate examination system results in higher scholastic attainment.
A fund known as the "Student Activities Fund" has
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been established. All student organizations deposit in this one fund. Each organization may draw out money only up to the amount credited to its account. All finan- cial transactions must be approved by the principal and faculty treasurer on especially prepared vouchers. The accounts are audited monthly by the advanced bookkeep- ing class. Admission to all athletic contests, and a year's subscription to the "Pilgrim" are secured by all students who voluntarily contribute ten cents per week to a gen- eral fund - a part of the Student Activities Fund. Money may also be used from this fund to finance unus- ually good assembly programs. About 86 percent. of the school are contributing regularly to this fund.
Considerable interest in debating has been manifested. The first team ever to represent Plymouth High School in an interscholastic debate made an excellent showing in a difficult contest with Walpole High School.
We expect to organize very soon an honorary society, admission to which will depend on excellence of character, high scholarship, and demonstration of leadership and definite service to the school. Membership will be open to all who qualify but not before the end of the second marking period of their Sophomore year.
A new club known as the Press Club has been organized in the Junior English classes. Their purpose is to learn more about various phases of newspaper writing and to prepare a weekly column of school news for the "Old Colony Memorial."
It must have been quite apparent to the four hundred or more parents and friends who visited the school last November, when we held an afternoon and evening ses- sion, that we are subject to many serious handicaps which limit the effectiveness with which our work is being car- ried on. It should hardly be necessary to reiterate the unsatisfactory conditions in our present building. Im- properly lighted and ventilated, crowded, with limited accommodations for the comfort and convenience of both
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pupils and teachers, it is very evident than an enlarged. and improved school plant must be provided if the work of the school is to be maintained at the desired high level. In the present building we can provide each pupil with a "home room" seat by putting about eighty Fresh- men in the back of the Assembly Hall. We can find accommodations for classes with difficulty, and only by using the rear of the Hall as a study room.
Five classes meet in what was formerly a boy's coat room, which is most unsatisfactory. Several classes are so large that pupils are obliged to sit on chairs around the room owing to the lack of regular desks. What we call our library is located in the rear of the Assembly Hall also, thereby making it exceedingly difficult for pupils to do reference work and affording no opportunity to protect and care for the books and magazines. For many weeks a group of about twenty-five Sophomores used as a "home room" a room furnished with tablet arm chairs, not desks. This compelled them to keep their books and other paraphernalia on shelves, to reach which it was necessary to stand on chairs. This condition has lately been remedied by transferring these pupils to the chemistry laboratory as a home room. There they have chairs equipped with drawers underneath the seats in which to keep their school supplies. Although this is an improvement, it is not a good arrangement. An assembly hall, the use of which is not hampered by the presence of other pupils, is valuable for music, dramatics, public speaking, debating, and assemblies of patriotic, inspira- tional, and informational nature. We look forward to the time when such an auditorium will be available. For these purposes we now are obliged to disturb a large number of pupils except when an assembly for everybody is being held. Many classrooms are improperly lighted, some having insufficient light, others having a cross light, which makes it difficult for pupils to see what is written on the blackboard, to say nothing of the severe eye-strain caused thereby. A different style of window curtain
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would help somewhat in controlling the light in some rooms.
I have stated that many classes are too large. There are thirty-six classes of more than twenty-five students each. Of this number seventeen are over thirty each. Thorough work is very difficult in classes of more than twenty-five, but under present conditions no additional classrooms are available, therefore, subdivision is impos- sible.
While the laboratory for physics and chemistry serves quite well, there are no similar facilities for biology and general science. Over 100 pupils are enrolled in each of these two courses, which indicates keen interest in them and makes very apparent the need of properly equipped rooms for the presentation of these subjects.
There are no shops for boys interested in manual train- ing. A few boys go over to the Junior High School four periods per week, but this is by no means the equivalent of a thorough going manual arts program. The house- hold arts courses for girls are restricted also, because of lack of room and facilities. I am sure many more boys and girls could and would derive much educational benefit from this type of work if opportunity offered.
No adequate physical training program is possible at present. We have no gymnasium, no locker or shower rooms. Instruction and training in matters pertaining to health and physical well-being are an integral part of a well-regulated school program. We believe in physical training and development through group games and ath- letics which should be provided for all boys and girls.
The rooms for typewriting and other commercial work are cramped and insufficient, especially for the former.
About eighty pupils are sufficiently interested in free hand and mechanical drawing to take these subjects two periods per week, that is, when "study periods" leave them free to do so. I feel very sure that, given a suitable room and a full time teacher, a splendid art department could be developed.
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Since the boys' coat room was transformed into a class- room, they hang their outside clothing in a dingy base- ment. The girls' coat room is so crowded that we have two dismissal bells at the close of school in order to avoid congestion. In neither case, can proper care and pro- tection be given to pupils' property.
At the present time, the Principal has no private office, which means that the study of school problems, inter- views with pupils, parents and teachers, correspondence, and in fact much of the work connected with the adminis- tration of the school can be carried on either by tolerat- ing interruptions and disturbances, or by escaping to some quiet and unfrequented corner of the building. This is really a serious situation, but no remedy seems to be possible in the present structure.
I sincerely hope that the School Department's plans for additional school rooms will be acceptable to the town, and that the program for the reorganization of the work of both Junior and Senior High School may proceed forth- with.
Besides advocating the construction of a new unit, I should also like to suggest other changes in the school as it now exists. First, I feel sure that certain courses could be conducted to the better advantage of the pupils if they were separated according to curricula, instead of being thrown in together. The college preparatory and com- mercial pupils have very different aims and interests and instruction should be adapted to these aims and interests. Second, pupils should be grouped as nearly as possible ac- cording to ability and maturity. In this way teaching and learning can be made more effective and worth while. Third, some changes in the courses of study seem to me to be desirable, but I am not prepared at this time to state definitely what they should be. Fourth, I recommend the extension of the educational and vocational guidance pro- gram, a beginning of which has already been made. Fifth, I should be pleased to see the work in music expanded to include courses in appreciation and harmony. I believe
TOWN OF PLYMOUTH
1620.
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REPORT OF THE TOWN OFFICERS FOR THE YEAR 1926
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it entirely feasible to permit pupils to study music outside of school, under conditions acceptable to the school au- thorities, and receive credit toward promotion and grad- uation. Sixth, I believe that a longer school day is de- sirable. A five hour day is altogether too short a time in which to accomplish all that is demanded of a modern high school, which trains for the worthy use of leisure as well as for the command of fundamental processes and vocations. The tendency among progressive school sys- tems is to lengthen the school day. In other localities investigation has shown that very few high school pupils actually need to work afternoons. In any event, prepara- tion for life should receive first consideration.
The results of the term examinations, together with my observation of class work, convince me that much good work is being done. Generally speaking, the spirit of the school is good. We realize, however, that no school is so good that it cannot be made better. We therefore, address ourselves to the task of making whatever improvements and advances seem to promise greater efficiency in the conduct of the various phases of school work. Our sole desire is to provide the boys and girls of Plymouth with the best of educational opportunities.
Respectfully submitted,
WAYNE M. SHIPMAN.
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REPORT OF JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL
In any work of importance there is a definite objective and so, in this report, it may not be amiss to state the aims of the Junior High School :
1. To offer a program of studies which shall be suited to the varying needs of boys and girls in their early ado- lescence.
2. To take into account the individual differences of each child.
3. To assist boys and girls in discovering their own natural aptitudes or talents.
4. To acquaint boys and girls in an elementary way with some social, economic, and political problems which they must soon face in the world.
5. To induce as many as possible to go on with their education in High School.
6. To give those who must leave school for economic reasons a good start by way of special vocational train- ing.
7. To inculcate by practice the principles of good citi- zenship.
In brief, the purpose of a Junior High School is to give every adolescent boy and girl a richer and fuller program than the old grammar school gave.
A curriculum or course of study prepared years ago no longer meets the need of modern life. The Junior High School curriculum should be adapted to the needs of the miscellaneous pupils. Inventions have changed industrial and economic life and changed living conditions have altered social life. It follows then that as conditions change and as our knowledge of the child changes, the curriculum must be revised to meet changed conditions and to conform with the needs of the individual child as they are now understood. This need of a thorough
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revision of the curriculum has been reported in the Fourth and Fifth Yearbooks of the Department of Superintend- ents and the Twenty-Sixth Yearbook of the National Soci- ety for the Study of Education.
In order to carry out a regular Junior High program there must be room and equipment to do so. This year we have more pupils then there is room for. The building was originally planned to seat 400 pupils. The enrollment in October was 475 pupils. There has been a slight dimi- nution in this number. Some have moved to other places, but only seven have left school for economic reasons.
One class of eight grade pupils has no home room. The sewing room is utilized, but here there are neither desks nor inkwells. It is a strain on children to sit in an uncom- fortable position at these tables. As the teacher has no home room she uses any room vacated when boys are at woodwork or girls at sewing. Sometimes there will be two classes in one room, and no teacher can do her best under this condition. The drawing teacher has been obliged to work under this condition since September.
The classes are too large. As planned, the seating capacity of each classroom was thirty-six pupils. We have classes this year averaging from forty to forty- five. Some of these pupils have no desks, but we have put into use every portable desk in the building.
As the first objective in secondary education is Health, and as a course in health includes the scientific physical education of every boy and girl, it naturally follows that some place in a Junior High School should be provided for the carrying out of a physical education program. The corridors in a school poorly ventilated and with a mini- mum of light are unfitted for such a purpose, yet these are where the physical training is carried on at present. In the lower corridor during the setting-up drills of the school, boys are crowded together in this narrow space, while the girls are using the upper corridor. During the different class periods of physical education
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