USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > Plymouth > Town annual report of Plymouth, MA 1949 > Part 17
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or more pupils and a considerable number of these large classes have two grades. Over-size classes not only make the problem of class control more difficult but they make it more difficult for the teacher to do full justice to the needs of each individual child.
NEW FACILITIES RECOMMENDED AND TIME SCHEDULE
In the light of the situation set forth above, the first three steps in the building program are clearly indicated. These steps are recommended in the pre- ceding report of the School Committee as recommenda- tions to the town at the annual meeting and may be summarized as follows :- (1) Renovation and improve- ments in the Cornish-Burton buildings during the sum- mer of 1950 with a view to the use of these buildings at least until the pressure of pupil growth is passed. The cost of these improvements approximates $20,000. (2) A new elementary school of not less than eight classrooms and auxiliary rooms on the town-owned land (Murray Lot) and land to be acquired. This step should be completed by the fall of 1951. The over-all local cost is estimated to be in the neighbor- hood of $400,000.00 less state aid of 26% on build- ing and fees. (3) For Manomet four additional class- rooms and auxiliary rooms to be constructed either adjacent to the present building or as a separate unit, work to be done as soon as satisfactory plans can be developed and not later than the fall of 1952. Present estimates of over-all local cost range from $125,000.00 to $175,000.00 less state aid, depending on plans that may be recommended.
If favorable action is taken by the town providing substantially the facilities asked for by the School Committee, our elementary school opportunities will
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be greatly improved in the next two years not only through housing a substantial number of our pupils in modern buildings but by greatly reducing the number of over-size classes in several of our schools. This would enable teachers more effectively to meet the needs of individual pupils.
It is difficult to recommend at this time exactly what form the next step should take in the building pro- gram. There is obvious need at the Mt. Pleasant for the following additional facilities : a combination assembly- playroom, a kitchen adjoining a general-purpose room, a classroom designed for beginning children, and a teachers' room. The pupils, teachers and parents in this area should have the advantage of these accom- modations commonly found in recently constructed buildings. The question whether the fourth step in the building program, probably needed by 1953, should take the form of an eight-classroom unit with auxiliary rooms built near and connected to the Mt. Pleasant or should consist of a minor addition to Mt. Pleasant and a new major unit located elsewhere requires further study including any indications of population trends that may soon appear.
Later steps that may be needed in the elementary building program should be based upon further studies of population and housing trends made during the next several years.
PERSONNEL CHANGES
RESIGNATIONS
During the past year ten teachers submitted re- signations. These included the following : Grace Black- mer, who retired after serving 33 years as teacher of sewing in the elementary and Junior High Schools of
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Plymouth; Mrs. Alice Lema Petroff, teacher of Eng- lish in the Junior High School for the past 10 years and for several years teacher in the elementary School, who resigned in April because of home duties; Mrs. Marjorie Viets, teacher of English and Latin in the Junior High School for the past 9 years, who resigned in March to be married; Janet Broadbent, teacher of primary grades in the Plymouth Schools for the past 7 years, including Manomet, Oak Street, and Cornish, who resigned to accept a position on the training School faculty at the Bridgwater State Teachers Col- lege; Irene Golden, teacher of cooking in the Junior High School for the past 61/2 years, who resigned to be married; Mrs. Florance Caldera, teacher of grade 6 at the Hedge School for the past 4 years and grades 3 and 4 at the Oak Street School for 1 year previously, who resigned in May because of home duties; Mrs. Marian Radcliffe Heath, teacher of social studies in the Jun- ior High School for the past 3 years and grade 5 at the Hedge School for 1 year previously, who was married in April and resigned at the close of the school year; Mrs. Mary Kennedy Henry, teacher of grade 4 at the Hedge School for the past 31/2 years, who resigned at the close of the fall term because of home duties; Mrs. Arleen Shaw, teacher of grade 4 at the Hedge School for the past 2 years, who resigned because of a change of residence to another area; and Barbara Gilles, teacher of grade 3, Hedge School, for the school year 1948-49, who resigned to secure a position in the junior high grades.
Mary Cingolani, teacher of English and French in the Junior High School, was granted a leave of absence for advanced study at DePaul University.
Mrs. Bertha H. Perkins, regular and substitute teach- er in the elementary schools of Plymouh for many years, died suddenly on November 27.
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Mrs. Priscilla Post, assistant to the school nurse, who had been granted a leave of absence for the school year 1948-49, submitted her resignation. Mrs. Ruth Trask, who substituted in this position, resigned be- cause of home duties.
Appointments
The following new appointments of teachers to the Junior High School staff were made during 1949: (1) Mr. John Tavernelli, a teacher in the Gifford High School, Avon, was appointed in March to teach English and Latin in the position vacated by Mrs. Viets. Mr. Tavernelli was graduated from Boston University in 1942 and received his master's degree there in 1948. (2) Cynthia E. Bradley of Hanover was appointed to teach clothing in place of Grace Blackmer. Miss Bradley is a graduate of Framingham Teachers College in the class of 1949. (3) Mrs. Viola M. Figueiredo of this town was appointed to teach cooking in the position vacated by Irene Golden. Mrs. Figueiredo is a gradu- ate of Framingham Teachers College, class of 1935, and served as teacher of household arts in the Ply- mouth High School from January, 1938 to June, 1946. (4) Doris M. Schneider of Hanover, who was graduated from Boston University in 1949, was appointed to teach English in the position vacated by Mrs. Alice Petroff. (5) William Gault of this town was appointed to teach English as substitute for Mary Cingolani, on leave of absence for advanced study. Mr. Gault is a graduate of Bridgewater Teachers College, Class of 1949.
The following new appointments were made to the Hedge School staff : (1) Barbara R. Bell of Hopedale was appointed to teach grade 3 in the position vacated by Barbara Gilles. Miss Bell graduated from Tuft's College in 1948 and received her master's degree from
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Boston University in 1949. (2) Mrs. Rose Lamborghini of this town, who has taught for several years in the elementary schools of North Providence, R. I., was appointed to the fourth-grade position vacated by Mrs. Arleen Shaw. Mrs. Lamborghini was graduated from Rhode Island College of Education in 1946. (3) Mrs. Renelta A. Moran of Kingston was appointed to teach grade 6 in the position vacated by Mrs. Florence Caldera. Mrs. Moran graduated from the Lowell State Teachers College in 1937 and taught a total of 10 years in the public schools of Gilford, Conn., King- ston and Plympton.
Two new appointments were made at the Cornish School. Mrs. Mildred Stearns of Bridgewater was appointed to teach grade 5 in place of Mrs. Bertha Perkins, who was transferred to grades 1 and 2. Mrs. Stearns was graduated from Hyannis Normal School in 1922 and did graduate work at Bridgewater State Teachers College where she received her master's de- gree in 1949. She taught a total of 34 years in the elementary schools of Connecticut. Mrs. Jeanette Holmes, a substitute teacher in Plymouth for several years, was appointed to fill the vacancy in grades 1 and 2 created by the death of Mrs. Perkins in November.
Marilyn Maguire, who was graduated from the Ply- mouth High School in 1949, was appointed assistant to the school nurse.
SUMMER SCHOOL
The summer session for pupils in grades four to eight who need to improve their work in the tool sub- jects in order to do successfully the work of the next school year was held at the Burton School for a six- weeks period, July 5 to August 12. The school was in session for three hours each morning, Monday through Friday.
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Of 83 pupils enrolled, 76 were present more than 20 of the 29 sessions held. In appraising the accomplish- ment of the pupils in attendance, the teachers rated their work "fair" or "good" in 64 cases and the same appraisal of the attitudes shown toward their work in 81 cases. Nearly all of the pupils were permitted to advance to the next higher grade in the fall.
HOME INSTRUCTION OF PHYSICALLY HANDICAPPED CHILDREN
Following the requirements of Chapter 71, Section 46A of the General Laws, we are providing instruction for school children suffering from physical handicaps that make attendance at school impracticable. When the child's physical condition becomes such that it is known to the school department through the family doctor that the child cannot attend school for a con- siderable period, the School Committee arranges to provide home instruction after school hours by a teach- er for two periods a week.
During the course of the past year, nine children have been given such instruction. Three were first-grade children, three second-grade, two in junior high, and one in senior high. Among the causes of these physical disabilities were the following: three automobile acci- dents, two cases of rheumatic fever and one each of the following : virus infection, football injury, tubercu- losis suspect and chorea.
It is clear that this service is not only a social re- sponsibility but that the financial expenditure is justi- fied in that the children are enabled in most instances to keep up with the work of their grades.
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PROFESSIONAL STUDIES BY PLYMOUTH TEACHERS
Each year finds a number of our teachers taking late afternoon or Saturday courses at Harvard or Boston University, others taking summer courses, and still others being granted a leave of one year to meet the full requirements for an advanced degree.
This year, eighteen of the elementary teachers took a university extension course given locally on "The Child and His Curriculum". This course was given by Miss Iva Lutz of the Bridgewater State Teachers Col- lege. Much of the work centered about the recom- mendations of the new state curriculum guide for grades 1-3.
Pursuant to the study of the new state guide, com- mittees of teachers have been formed for the purpose of discovering at what points our present Plymouth curriculum differs from that recommended by the state. After such differences are brought out, they will be given further consideration and the several committees will make recommendations for changes in our local procedures wherever such changes seem to be justifi- able.
TEST RESULTS IN THE TOOL SUBJECTS
It is helpful from time to time to subject our pupils to the same test questions that have been answered by thousands of other pupils on corresponding grade levels in various parts of the country and to compare the results. An even greater value to be derived from the giving of standardized tests is found by principals and teachers who administer the tests, since the results
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enable them to discover wherein each individual pupil is strong, average, or weak in the several subjects. All of us who administer these tests are aware that the pupils' standardized test scores indicate their relative standing only in the so-called three R's and do not reveal the progress being made in the social studies nor in the development of those qualities essential to good citizenship. There seem to be no adequate tests available in these important areas in which our schools endeavor to make valuable contributions to the pupils' growth. The pupils' personal conduct is the really effective test of this.
The results of the Metropolitan Achievement Tests in the tool subjects given in May were quite encourag- ing and indicate that Plymouth teachers and pupils on the whole are doing fine work in the three R's. These results may be summarized in the following statement. All six elementary grades showed an average standing above the test standard as follows: grade 1, two months; grade 2, four months; grade 3, five months; grade 4, six months; grade 5, eight months; grade 6, one year. It should be observed that the Metropolitan tests were used this year in grades 3-6 in place of the Stanford tests that have been used in those grades here- tofore.
SCHOOL EXPENDITURES
Since no higher authority-state or national-estab- lishes the amount of money towns and cities in Massa- chusetts are required to spend for education per pupil, we naturally look for standards of comparison to other Massachusetts communities that are nearest our size and maintain the type of school organization Plymouth maintains, that is, one having elementary, junior and senior high schools.
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Each year a comparison of our school expenditures is made with those of twenty-four other Massachusetts communities. The latest available comparison is shown in the table following. By assumption, Plymouth stands in the middle of the group of towns so far as popula- tion is concerned. We also stand about in the middle with regard to the valuation per pupil (Column 2). This means that our taxable valuation for public school support is about average for the number of pupils we have to educate. On the other hand our tax for the support of schools per thousand valuation (column 3) was below average. The percent that the school tax represents of the total tax for municipal purposes also was below average, and the amount expended for school support per pupil for the school year 1948-49 (column 5) was $7.87 less than the median amount in this group of twenty-four towns.
For further information as to the more detailed ac- complishments of the schools and as to certain needs we are hopeful of supplying so as to meet the most essential requirements of a sound educational program, I ask your attention to the following reports of princi- pals, department heads and supervisors.
May I again express my deep satisfaction in work- ing with the Plymouth School Committee in the effort to provide the educational facilities and opportunities needed by Plymouth children.
Respectfully submitted,
BURR F. JONES
COMPARATIVE DATA ON SCHOOL EXPENDITURES-PLYMOUTH AND MASS. TOWNS (12 Next Larger and 12 Next Smaller Having Elementary, Junior, and Senior High Schools)
1948-49
1946-50 Equalized Valuation Per Pupil (1)
1948 (Fiscal Year) School Tax (2)
1948 (Fiscal Year) % School Tax of Total Tax
(School Year) Expenditure for School Support Per Pupil
Belmont
28866
Barnstable
16790
Northbridge
$25.69
Northbridge
55.8 % Norwood
$259.53
Framingham
25502
Wellesley
$17512
Shrewsbury
21.85
Norwood
49.4
Belmont
233.31
Milton
21718
Swampscott
16753
Bridgewater
20.00
W. Spring.
48.1
Andover
200.70
W. Spring.
19453
Belmont
15508
Rockland 18.91
Shrewsbury
47.5 Swampscott
218.81
Winthrop
18696
Winchester
15384
Norwood
18.79
N. Attleboro
47.4
Wellesley
218.33
Wellesley
17581
Milton
14968
Natick
17.68
Winthrop
45.1
Winchester
215.61
Greenfield
17020
Norwood
14826
Winthrop
17.60
Bridgewater
43.8
Barnstable
214.45
Norwood
16508
Webster
14590
Reading
16.77
Belmont
42.8
Webster
213.44
Natick
15789
Greenfield
14528
N. Attleboro
16.35
Greenfield
42.4
W. Spring.
204.12
Winchester
15300
Andover
13999
W. Spring.
15.77
Needham
42.4
Milton
198.33
Needham
14507
Marblehead
12024
Stoneham
15.73
Andover
41.4
Needham
196.43
Lexington
14452
Plymouth
11992
Lexington
14.85
Rockland
40.2
Lexington
188.59
*Plymouth
13536
Framingham
11468
Needham
14.83
Reading
39.0
Marblehead
187.09
Webster
13534
Needham
11325
Framingham
14.62
Natick
38.8
Framingham
182.01
Marblehead
12524
W. Spring.
11276
Belmont
14.11
Milton
38.2
Reading
179.51
Reading
12327
Lexington
10949
Andover
14.10
Plymouth
37.1
Plymouth
179.22
Stoneham
12032
Stoneham
9780
Plymouth
14.09
Barnstable
36.0
Shrewsbury
179.21
Andover
11920
N. Attleboro
9658
Milton
13.92
Winchester
35.7
N. Attleboro
175.67
Swampscott
11835
Winthrop
9188
Greenfield
13.91
Lexington
35.3
Greenfield
175.60
N. Attleboro
11552
Reading
8682
Marblehead
13.59
Swampscott
34.7
Stoneham
171.64
Northbridge
10212
Rockland
8680
Swampscott
13.17
Stoneham
34.2
Winthrop
163.00
Shrewsbury
9296
Northbridge
8252
Winchester
12.84
Framingham
33.2
Rockland
159.71
Barnstable
8647
Natick
8018
Wellesley
11.79
Marblehead
32.4
Northbridge
155.44
Bridgewater
8641
Shrewsbury
7629
Barnstable
9.66
Wellesley
31.9
Natick
155.15
Rockland
8603
Bridgewater
6718
Webster
8.60
Webster
27.7
Bridgewater
134.42
* Median
13536
11468
14.83
39.0
187.09
Average
14802
12020
15.57
40.0
190.37
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(1) Valuation established by State for five-year period 1946-1950.
(2) Local tax per $1,000 for school support (not including outlay).
1945 Pop.
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REPORT OF SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL
With the recent inauguration of a course in "Atomic Energy and its Implications" for all the pupils in the High School, it appears appropriate to review very briefly those which have been established here to keep the education of our boys and girls up-to-date. In doing this it should be emphasized that these courses possess not only vocational or utilitarian virtues, but are educa- tionally valid because they rest upon the fundamental principals of secondary education. Mere utility is not enough to justify the inclusion of new material in the program of studies.
The courses or topics are as follows:
1. Consumer Education
2. Home Living
3. Home Management
11. Radio
12. Biology in Everyday Life
5. Driver Training
6. World Geography
7. Problems of Democra- cy
8. Functional Mathe- matics
9. Basic Electricity
10. Basic Machines
4. How People Behave and Why
13. Typing
14. Bookkeeping
15. Economics of Com- merce
An athletic program supported by, and to a great degree administered by, the pupils should be appended to the above list, as should the assembly programs, and such projects as operettas or plays.
It may be that in the above list some topics have been over-looked, or appear to be duplicated, but the
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material is used in such widely varying forms in differ- ent subjects that such apparent duplication-or ab- sence-is inevitable in preparing any list.
In the traditional subjects-English, Mathematics, History, Languages, the Sciences-the scores obtained in the College Entrance Examinations by our graduates are one good indication of the school's efficiency. It is gratifying to report that in this respect we have better- ed a record of which we have always had reason to feel justly proud.
To revert to our course in "Atomic Energy", it may be of interest that the committee on "The New in Edu- cation" of the Massachusetts Secondary Schools Princi- pals, Association, distributed our report on this subject to the principals of the state, and Dr. Fletcher Watson of Harvard School of Education intends to use the Ply- mouth experience in making his report to the Ameri- can Association of School Administrators this year.
EDGAR J. MONGAN,
Principal
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REPORT OF THE JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL
Achievements of 1949
The steady development of the Student Council and marked progress in student government.
ยท The acquiring of a bioscope for the Science Depart- ment.
The purchase of a projector for assembly and class- room use, financed entirely by school earnings and pupil contributions.
The Boston University testing program in Grade 8.
An increased number of opportunities for parents to meet teachers.
Recommendations for 1950
Improvement of lighting in the classrooms.
A ditto machine to be used by teachers who do not have free use of blackboards and for the benefit of students who cannot see the boards easily.
An increased allowance for visual education. An opaque projector is needed and a classroom-type mov- ing picture projector could be used to advantage.
New wall maps, globes and geographies to replace those worn out and outmoded.
Modernization of the foods laboratory and the pur- chase of more stoves. Oven space is needed.
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Continuation of interior painting-classrooms, halls and stairways.
The purchase of towels so that the showers may be used as part of the physical education program for boys.
An assistant physical education teacher for boys.
Continued expansion of the library with reference books for classrooms.
MARY M. DOLAN,
Principal
1
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REPORT OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS
Parent-Teachers Associations have been formed and are now working effectively in the Mt. Pleasant, Cor- nish-Burton, and Hedge Schools. The lectures and dis- cussions at the meetings of these organizations have helped to give to parents and teachers a better under- standing of the child and his problems. More after- school conferences between parents and teachers have been encouraged.
Since the acquisition of a sound motion picture pro- jector by the Manomet School, educational motion pic- tures can now be shown in all of the elementary schools. Because of limited funds for film rental, and lack of assembly halls for showing films in most of the schools, a well-rounded program of educational films is not yet possible. Films on geography, science, health, safety, and civics have been shown during the year.
Film strip projectors have been purchased by the Cornish-Burton and Hedge Schools with money from their own school funds. Libraries of film strips on edu- cational subjects are being built up with help from the P. T. A.
Service activities in which the elementary pupils participated during the year were as follows:
1. Contributions of money to Junior Red Cross.
2. The filling of Junior Red Cross Christmas Boxes for needy children.
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3. Christmas gifts through the International Friend- ship League to orphan children overseas.
4. Save the Children Federation-Bags of Clothing were collected for the needy children in all parts of the world.
Respectfully submitted,
ELOUISE E. CASHIN HELEN S. MANCHESTER RICHARD F. SMITH DONALD T. WELCH
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SELECTIONS FROM REPORTS OF SPECIAL TEACHERS
Vocal Music-Elizabeth F. Crook, Teacher
A continual emphasis is being placed upon experi- ence: Singing, rhythmic activities, listening, playing, and creating. We thereby try to achieve the primary aim in music education, which is enjoyment, and the secondary aim, namely, the ability to read music.
A boys' quintet has been formed this year and my hope is that in time it will grow into a boys' chorus.
The Senior High School Girls' Glee Club re-organized in September with a membership of ninety singers. The High School as a whole is busy with another operetta "The Count and the Coed" to be presented in February.
Instrumental Music-John Pacheco, Teacher
Instrumental music in the grades has made real pro- gress, and it is in the elementary grades where the groundwork is laid for a successful program. Our ex- periment with the tonettes this past year proved to be a worthy one and this group has more than doubled in size from ten players to a group of thirty-four. From this source Junior High School realized twenty new instrumentalists this year.
In Junior High School the band had forty-nine members. The Junior High School orchestra consisted of fifteen members.
The Drum Major Corps consists of thirty-six girls picked through competition and more important their scholastic standing.
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In Senior High School the band is beginning to im- prove in size, and better yet in correct instrumentation, as evidenced by the excellent work they did in pro- viding the orchestral accompaniment to the operetta "Riding Down The Sky", performed by the Senior High School.
ART
A. Junior and Senior High School-Mrs. Margaret E. Brown, Teacher
The High School art classes designed, painted, and set up the entire stage setting in the High School operetta "Riding Down The Sky". Paper sculpture was a new problem in the beginners class. Graduation deco- rations consisted of 14 paintings of "America the Beau- tiful" showing variations of the typical American scene from "sea to shining sea". The Roll of Honor for the High School Auditorium was nearly completed. This consisted of 1,200 hand lettered names of all boys who were members of Plymouth High School and who ser- ved in World War II.
B. Elementary-Elizabeth Egan, Teacher
Art in our schools today is based on "Art for Living" instead of the outmoded "Art for Art's Sake". Current interests, school events, seasons, and correlated studies serve as motivations for creative growth through varied art media. The important aim in elementary art work is to seek the development of appreciation of art which will enrich the pupil's life.
Physical Education
A. Junior-Senior High School Boys-John H. Walker, Teacher
The work of this department falls into three major divisions: (1) Class Activities, (2) Intramural Sports
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