USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Quincy > Town annual report of Quincy 1881 > Part 10
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Aver'ge daily at-
Amount expended for each scholar of average number in daily attend'ce.
1875 $30,170.60 1.544
$19.54
1,363
$22.13
1.301 $23.19
1876
30,605.62 1,784
17.15
1,401
21.84
1,335 22.92
1877
31,293.92 1,868
16.75
1,436
21.94 1,373
22.79
1878
30,628.41 1,953
15.68
1,484
20.64 1,413
21.69
1879
31.477.70 1,910
16.48
1,551
20.24 1,467
21.46
1880
32,504.45 2,097
15.50
1,643
19.77 1,562
20.81
* This includes salaries, fuel, repairs of an ordinary character, and everything except additions to buildings or furniture.
+ This includes all the scholars who have attended the schools during the year, irrespective of the length of attendance. The name of no scholar is registered twice.
# The average number of scholars is obtained by dividing the aggre- gate number of days' membership of all the scholars by the number of school days.
7
No. 2.
High School.
Adams School.
Coddington School.
Quincy School.
Washington School.
Willard School.
Wollaston School.
Amount spent.
Scholars enrolled.
Cost per pupil.
Amount spent.
Number of pupils.
Cost per pupil.
Amount spent.
Number of pupils.
Cost per pupil.
Amount spent.
Number of pupils.
Cost per pupil.
Amount spent.
Number of pupils.
Cost per pupil.
Amount spent.
Number of pupils.
Cost per pupil.
Amount spent.
Number of pupils.
Cost per pupil.
1875
$2,963 69
63
$47 03 $5,975 00
377
$15 85 $4,877 25
207
$23 56 $3,285 35
165
$19 91 $5,232 96
230
$22 75 $6,222 98
402
$15 72 $2,481 08 1 00
$24 81
1876
2,649 97
77
34 41
6,098 63
421
14 48 5,057 65
246
20 56
3,741 52
198
18 89
4,480 42
244
18 36
6,158 21
485
12 69
2,337 50
126
18 55
1877
2,740 23
112
24 43
6,005 15
439
13 67
5,015 43
247
20 30
3,453 57
210
16 45
4,758 42
264
18 00
6,633 25
499
13 29
2,787 56
148
18 83
1878
2,796 26
137
20 41
5,832 55
436
13 37
4,798 66
274
17 51
3,215 79
195
16 48
4,594 52
284
16 18
6,805 80
528
12 89
2,568 30
166
15 47
1879
3,200 22
145
22 07
6,230 00
456
13 55
4,718 73
243
19 41
3,342 30
188
17 77
4,746 62
274
17 32
6,650 47
489
13 60
2,702 93
168
16 08
1880
3,461 83
154
22 47
6,300 09
497
12 67
5,222 27
286
18 25
3,420 87
224
15 27
4,806 70
245
19 61
6,412 51
543
11 80
2,880 18
186
15 48
1
Year.
REPORT OF THE SUPERINTENDENT.
Gentlemen of the School Board :
I present to you this my first annual report, the same being the Sixth Report of the Superintendent of Schools.
Having been a teacher in the schools of Quincy nearly all of the time they were in charge of Superintendent Parker, and being acquainted with the teachers and many of the pupils, I entered upon my duties last April under much more favorable circumstances than would have been the case if I had been a stranger to the people and unfamiliar with the methods which had been introduced. I was also fortu- nate in being associated with a corps of teachers well trained in the philosophy of education and the art of teaching. My chief duty, therefore, was not so much to visit schools that were already in charge of persons whose ambition it was to have schools second to none, and who also had the ability to succeed, as to fill vacancies as they should occur, and to supervise carefully the work of the few teachers who had had little or no experience. It soon became evident that this was no small task, as any one will see by looking at the number of resignations during the past year. Three of our six Grammar School principals have left us to accept posi- tions more advantageous pecuniarily, and ten of the assistant teachers have also resigned ; thus more than a fourth part of our teaching force has gone from our schools since March, 1880. In the Wollaston School not a single teacher remains who was there ten months ago; in the Quincy School only one of the former teachers is left. We cannot expect to compete with large and wealthy cities, but if some means
203
could be devised whereby our teachers could be retained here when they are called to places of less importance and wealth than our own town, our possibilities for the future would be far greater than now. Considering these draw- backs, I think we can congratulate ourselves and all inter- ested, on the improvement that has been made. The plan of work inaugurated six years ago has been steadily continued, and each succeeding year more fully demonstrates that the line upon which we are working is emphatically the correct one. I deem it unnecessary here to define our plans and methods, as they have been so fully outlined in previous reports that all interested in their working are perfectly familiar with them.
It is generally agreed among educators, that, to the exclu- sion of everything else, if necessary, a child, when he leaves the Grammar School should be able to read well and under- stand ingly at sight ordinary reading, to speak the English language correctly, to write a letter in a neat, rapid, and legi- ble hand, to perform any arithmetical problem he would be · likely to meet in practical life, and to be able to think and
reason. Simple as this may seem to some, nevertheless pa- tient labor is required for a long time to accomplish it. I think it may safely be said of our children that when they leave the Grammar School they are able to do all this ; and I may go still farther, and say that those children who entered school when Mr. Parker assumed charge and are now in the C Grammar grade are able to do it. Nor is this all that has been accomplished, as is charged by critics who have never visited our schools. Excellent results have been obtained in geography and history, and by some of the teachers some- thing has been done by giving a few minutes each week to teaching the structure of the human body and the meth- ods by which the health may be preserved. Much time has
€
204
been given to history, with the end constantly in view o leading the children to acquire a love for this branch of study. And here I wish to say that the plan inaugurated by Mr. C. F. Adams, Jr., while a trustee of the Public Library and a member of the School Board, has been productive of in- estimable good in the study of geography, biography, history and good reading. I refer to his plan of allowing the principals of the several schools to select from the Town Library a cer- tain number of books in proportion to their number of pupils, and keep them for as long a period of time as may be thought necessary. It is daily a matter of surprise to me that so much good reading has been done. A book is taken into the school-room, read and talked about until each child is full of enthusiasm concerning it, and all are anxious to read the book at their homes ; another is commenced in the same way, and the interest increases ; thus a love for good reading is created.
Who can measure the benefits that may spring from the habit of reading standard works? Horace Mann, whose memory all reverence, and whose influence will never die where the English language is spoken, said, " Good books are to the young mind what the warming sun and the refresh- ing rain of spring are to the seeds which have lain dormant in the frosts of winter. They are more ; for they may save from that which is worse than death, as well as bless with that which is better than life." A distinguished divine has said, "A library is not a luxury, but one of the necessaries of life. A book is better for weariness than sleep ; better for cheerfulness than wine ; is often a better physician than the doctor ; a better preacher than the minister; a better sanctuary than the drowsy church."
I have insisted that every child in all grades above the D Primary should learn at least four lines of choice poetry
205
each week. At the close of last term I examined each school on the work for the whole term. The teachers with- out exception entered into this with enthusiasm, and all suc- ceeded in a greater or less degree. It was plainly notice- able that the schools which had accomplished most with this exercise had also made a degree of improvement in reading and in the use of language more marked than the others. This work will be continued and pursued in such a manner that its results will never be forgotten. And besides being an excellent practice for the cultivation of the memory, it will be a source of much pleasure to the pupils in future years.
The principles of Civil Government is not a branch of in- struction in our Grammar course at present, but may, I think, be profitably taken in connection with reading. It is now taught in the High School, but as many of our pupils go no further than the Grammar school, I propose, with your sanction, to purchase sets of books on the Government of the United States for the use of each principal. Every citi- zen should know at least the fundamental principles of the government under which he lives ; yet where are the people at large to get this information if not in the public schools ? From a good, brief book like " Martin's Civil Government," or " Townsend's Shorter Course," much useful information may be gained by children even without the aid of an in- structor ; but, with suggestions and explanations by the teacher an excellent general knowledge can be acquired.
In nothing have we made greater progress than in the physical culture of our children. All education should begin here. On this, success in the education of each child depends. Our moral and mental natures may be be entirely changed by neglect of the body. Every child not deformed by nature - and even deformity can be lessened by right treatment - may become a well-
.
206
formed person. I have heard it said that the boys who go to West Point Military Academy. appointments being made generally through political friends, are physically no better than the average boy in our common schools ; yet by reason of the daily practice of various kinds of gymnastics for a number of years. they are graduated physically perfect with- out exception. If the same course were pursued in all of the common schools, similar results would follow. We have had daily exercises with this end in view. Our teachers have had special regard to the way in which the children stand and walk ; and the change in their bearing has been noticed and spoken of by many persons. By the liberality of Col. F. W. Parker, and of Drs. Gilbert and Gordon. prizes have been given to the best school and also to the best individual gymnasts in some of the schools, thus inducing a healthy rivalry among teachers and children that has resulted in much good. I hope the Committee will think best to ask for a small appropriation, so that the efficient service ren- dered by Miss Ballou, as teacher of physical exercises in the High School, may be continued for a portion of the time the coming year.
We have now arrived at that period of growth in other studies when music and drawing may be introduced into all the grades, and be pursued scientifically. In nearly all our schools the children sing fifteen minutes each day, and in one or two schools the science of music is taught. Rote- singing is better than no singing at all; yet to how much better advantage the time could be spent if pursued in the proper manner. It is the opinion of superintendents and teachers where music is taught in the schools, that be- sides giving a completeness to the mental culture of the child that could not otherwise be attained, there is a perceptible gain in other studies. Singing interspersed with the daily
·
207
work of the school-room, furnishes a pleasant means of rec- reation, improves the voice, materially aids the instructor in the teaching of reading, and, what is of far greater importance is beneficial as an aid in securing for our children health, that most desirable of earthly bless- ings. No one who is at all familiar with the working of the schools, can for a moment doubt the usefulness of this subject, unless it be some person with no love of music in his soul, or one who delights not in watching the faces of children beaming with happiness.
Quincy, having a population of over ten thousand inhabit- ants, is compelled' by law to " annually make provision for giving free instruction in industrial or mechanical drawing." I consider drawing one of the most useful studies that can be successfully introduced into our common schools. It is especially valuable to the children of this town, many of whom will be engaged in a branch of industry whose foun- dation is a knowledge of this art. From conversation with many parents, especially in the quarrying and stone-cutting districts, I find they earnestly desire that drawing should be a regular study in our schools.
It is argued by some that as aptitude for drawing does , not come naturally to all children, and as every one cannot become proficient. it should receive no attention. As well may it be said that reading aloud is useless because all cannot become perfect elocutionists, or that the study of language should be abolished because all of our children will not become accomplished rhetoricians. I quote a few pro- positions on this subject of industrial drawing in the public schools from the annual report on industrial drawing in the State of Massachusetts for the year 1879: "All children who can be taught to read, write, and cipher, can be taught to draw. The true function of drawing in general educa-
208
tion, is to develop accuracy of perception and to exercise the imagination, thereby tending to produce a love of order and to nourish originality. Educationally, drawing should be regarded as a means for the study of other subjects, such as geography, history, mechanics and design. In general education it is to be considered as an implement, not as an ornament. The practice of drawing is necessary to the pos- session of taste and skill in industry, and is therefore a com- mon element in education for creating an enjoyment of the beautiful, and for a profitable practical life. Drawing may now take its legal place in the public schools as an element of, and not a specialty in, education at as little cost as any equally useful branch of instruction, with the prospect that at a future time as many persons will be able to draw well as can read and write well, and as large a proportion be able to design well as to produce a good English composition."
Hon. J. W. Dickinson, Secretary of the State Board of Education, says, " In the minds of educated men, there is an increasing appreciation of the value of drawing in the public schools. It furnishes the best means of training the ob- serving powers and of the imagination, upon whose culture the activity of taste depends ; it enables the people of a State to run the race of life with the advantages that intellectual skill can add to physical force, and it elevates the morals by calling the mind to the intelligent study of the beauti- ful."
In Boston all teachers must hold a certificate of ability to draw. from Prof. Walter Smith; in Brookline and other places in the State all teachers already in the schools have been provided with the proper instruction to enable them to pass the required examination. Our teachers are not all educated up to this at present, and means should be provided
209
whereby they can attain proficiency ; then each teacher can go on with this as with any other study.
I cannot close this report without alluding to the great advantages the Quincy schools receive from the system of training which we give to the graduates of our High School and to others, to fit them for the trying position of teachers. I believe that the excellence of our schools to-day depends in no small degree upon this special training. The advan- tages of this plan are many. When a vacancy occurs in our corps of teachers we are able to fill the place with a person thoroughly acquainted with our plan of work, who will give much better satisfaction than one unaccustomed to our schools. Many of the young ladies of Quincy are supplied with places, if not in our own schools, in other towns and cities. The assistance they render to the regular teachers while they are in training is very great, and I think the teachers are few who do not like and fully appreciate this assistance. If a teacher is ill some one is ready to keep the school moving, and teach more or less acceptably. It is desirable that teach- ers should visit other schools frequently, so that they may be able to compare schools and methods of instruction. The training class admits of this, and obviates the necessity of closing school for this purpose, as we formerly had to do.
Of the thirty-seven assistant teachers in our Primary and Grammar grades, twenty-three have been members of the training school, and many others are teaching out of Quincy. The full teaching force at the Quincy school, in- cluding the principal, received their knowledge of educa- tional methods in the class while it was in charge of Col. Parker.
During the fall term I taught a class of twenty-six young ladies, twelve of whom now have positions here or else-
210
where, and others have been offered places who prefer to wait until vacancies shall occur in our schools.
The demand for Quincy teachers is so great that it is much to our advantage that these pupil-teachers wish for a time to teach in our schools after they have served their ap- prenticeship ; but it must be distinctly understood that much time is lost in changing teachers, even if an equally good one is secured, which is rarely the case. Months will be re- quired to bring some of our schools where they would have been to-day but for a change in instructors.
After the teacher, nothing contributes so much to the success of a school as a pleasant room, well ventilated, and equipped with apparatus and objects for teaching. Our school-rooms, as a whole, are pleasant, and as well ventilated as rooms can be, according to our present mode of heating. There is only one means of perfect ventilation, and that would involve an expense greater than you would wish to incur at present.
Teachers should conduct physical exercises with windows open often enough to keep the air comparatively pure, and windows should be open in all rooms for a few minutes at each recess, and also after each session of school.
Our Primary rooms are well supplied with apparatus, but the Grammar schools are somewhat deficient in this partic- ular. The High School and Wollaston School only are sup- plied with sets of maps ; and although the Metric System is laid down in our course of study, no school has any appa- ratus to illustrate this subject. I would respectfully request that the appropriation for incidentals be sufficiently large to supply these deficiencies.
In conclusion, permit me to say that for our schools I have a high ideal. The province of the common school is to see that every child is educated physically, mentally, mor-
211
ally ; and when. in addition to true mental and physical de- velopment, all who enter the portals of the primary depart- ment shall leave school to enter upon the practical duties of life, having within them the germ which shall develop into true manhood and true womanhood, then, and not till then, may our ambition as directors of the education of the young be satisfied.
SYLVESTER BROWN
٦
..
FINANCIAL REPORT.
TUITION.
HIGH SCHOOL.
H. A. Keith,
$1400 00
Mary E. Dinegan,
600 00
Mary L. Flint,
300 00
Fannie E. Lord,
300 00
$2600 00
ADAMS SCHOOL.
T. A Mead,
1000 00
F. F. Murdock,
45 00
Mary W. Woods,
266 25
Estelle Morris,
202 50
Eliza C. Sheahan,
475 00
Cora I. Young,
450 00
S. Adelaide Souther,
450 00
Mary M. Devlin,
425 00
Susie C. Flint,
377 50
Avelina Robie,
362 50
Euphrasia Hernan,
360 00
Emily M. Garrity,
160 00
Mary Wilson,
45 00
4,618 75
CODDINGTON SCHOOL.
Mary E. Dearborn,
900 00
Hetta L. Clement,
475 00
H. Holbrook,
35 00
Amounts carried forward, $1,410 00
$7,218 75
214
Tuition. continued.
Amounts brought forward,
$1,410 00 $7,218 75
F. Eustis,
35 00
Carrie E. Morse,
140 00
Annie C. Murdock,
182 50
Elizabeth E. Morse,
450 00
Julia E. Underwood,
450 00
Lydia L. Follett,
450 00
Nellie French,
10 00
Emma C. Hall,
15 00
Nettie W. Penny,
20 00
3,162 50
QUINCY SCHOOL.
D. S. Farnham,
235 00
A. E. Frye,
615 00
Nellie A. Wilson,
315 00
Lilian Bryant,
224 87
Florence M. Wason,
162 75
Carrie N. Eaton,
200 00
Mary F. Taylor,
450 00
Hattie S. Curtis,
60 00
Mary E. Long,
26 25
2,288 87
WASHINGTON SCHOOL.
I. Freeman Hall,
600 00
W. M. Stevens,
500 00
Clara E. Crosby,
450 00
Mary Marden,
475 00
Katie A. Raycroft,
405 00
Nora R. Baldwin,
182 50
Emma C. Hall,
175 00
Amounts carried forward,
$2,787 50 $12,670 12
215
Tuition, continued.
Amounts brought forward, $2,787 50 $12,670 12
Carrie E. Morse,
90 00
Cora I. Bates,
360. 00
Maggie Burns,
200 00
$3,437 50
WILLARD SCHOOL.
A. H. Blood,
$200 00
W. P. Beeching,
800 00
T. J. Driscoll,
185 00
Nellie A. Wilson,
135 00
S. A. Starkweather,
225 00
Mary T. Dewing,
475 00
Emma M. Fletcher,
80 00
Emily A. Bosworth,
225 00
Mary E. Wadley,
8 75
Alice M. Guernsey,
113 75
Emeline A. Newcomb,
450 00
Nellie Fegan,
450 00 .
Clara Grignon,
260 00
Hattie S. Curtis,
100 00
Euphrasia Hernan,
75 00
Annie C. Murdock,
175 00
Carrie N. Eaton,
60 00
Theresa Fegan,
175 00
Mary A. Spear,
500 00
Georgie M. Glines,
20 00
$4,712 50
WOLLASTON SCHOOL.
F. F. Murdock,
$640 00
Lillie A. Hicks,
120 00
Amounts carried forward, $760 00 $20,820 12
216
Tuition. continued.
Amounts brought forward, $760 00 $20.820 12
Florence I. Gleason,
360 00
Cora E. Bates,
85 00
Mary King,
245 00
Phobe Lyon,
105 00
Mary Gay,
400 00
Mary E. Wadley,
35 00
Florence Carter,
15 00
$2.005 00
W. Bertha Hintz, lessons in drawing, 130 00
E. M. Ballou, lessons in physical train- ing. 145 80
$23,100 92
SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS.
F. W. Parker,
$384 60
Sylvester Brown, 1,615 40
$2,000 00
-
TRUANT OFFICERS.
S. B. Turner.
$14 00
J. Lapham (1879), 4 00
$18 00
CARE OF ROOMS.
High School,
200 20
Adams School,
300 04
Coddington School,
253 96
Quincy School,
200 20
Washington School,
250 12
Willard School,
300 04
Wollaston School,
200 20
Cleaning-materials,
163 00
$1,867 76
217
FUEL.
High School,
133 82
Adams School,
269 73
Coddington School,
134 46
Quincy School,
166 02
Washington School,
219 26
Willard School,
144 30
Wollaston School,
106 79
Weighing coal,
9 60
$1,183 98
TRANSPORTATION.
J. T. French, to Coddington School, 459 00
M. W. Gerry, to Quincy School, 48 00
James Faulkner, ce
25 00
B. S. Robinson, to Washington School, 80 20
$612 20
BOOKS.
Lee & Shepard,
$45 75
A. C. Stockin,
48 89
S. F. Nichols & Co.,
5 00
Thomas Nelson & Sons,
4 84
Willard Small,
23 50
Geo. Sherwood & Co.,
4 50
Wm. Ware & Co.,
12 02
J. B. Lippincott,
17 40
J. L. Shorey,
10 00
M. W. Tewksbury,
7 28
R. S. Davis & Co.,
27 50
Amount carried forward, $206 68
218
Books, continued.
Amount brought forward, $206 68
W. S. Pattee. 8 60
Thompson, Brown & Co.,
7 44
Knight, Adams & Co.,
42 21
S. Brown, 6 10
D. Lothrop & Co., 3 47
Boston School Supply Co.,
3 96
Ginn & Heath, 6 00
D. S. Farnham,
6 61
$291 07
INCIDENTALS.
HIGH SCHOOL.
W. W. Ewell, map, frame and fix- · tures, $28 00
John P. Soule, pictures for teaching history, 9 60
J. L. Hammett, three slated globes, 9 75
M. E. Dinegan, music, 2 30
Albert Keating, moving plants for grad- uation, 2 00
S. H. Spear. curtain cord, 1 30
Citizens' Gas Light Co., stage lights, 1 50
Peter B. Turner, putting on double windows, 3 85
Mrs. A. B. Packard, flowers for grad- uation, 3 50
J. S. Whall, sulphate copper, 75
$62 55
219
Incidentals, continued.
ADAMS SCHOOL.
S. B. Turner, extra labor and supplies, $29 81
P. H. Gavin, making sinks, repairing pump, &c., 19 32
Hallett & Cumston, express, 4 00
W. W. Ewell, chairs, 15 00
Terance Keenan, gravel, 3 00
E. A. C. Hardwick, rent of land, 10 00
G. Beck & Son, one teacher's desk, 15 50
S. H. Spear, pails, dippers, repairing locks, &c., 8 18
Whitney & Nash, ewers and pail, 1 20
S. Brown, one teacher's desk, 15 50
Plummer Farm School, board of Hen- ry Chance, truant, 1879, 26 00
E. H. Martin, setting glass, 75
John Rossiter, moving coal from stone building, 3 50
Peter B. Turner, making sinks, 12 30
- $164 06
CODDINGTON SCHOOL.
John H. Pray, mats, $22 50
Terance Keenan, gravel, 4 00
Charles Pierce, ink-fillers and repair- ing stove, 5 50
French & Starbuck, extra labor, 48 03
S. H. Spear, chair, screens, keys, glass, &c., 5 85 Smith & Co., teacher's desk, 25 00
Amount carried forward, $110 88
220
Incidentals. continued.
Amount brought forward, . $110 88
Whitney & Nash, pails, pitchers and supplies, 5 88
Sanborn & Damon, repairing pump,
cups, repairing stove, 4 25
M. Cronin, cleaning yard, 3 00
J. H. Pierce, coal hods, 4 20
J. W. Hersey, paint, 1 13
J. O. Holden, repairing clocks, 3 25
-
$132 59
QUINCY SCHOOL.
W. W. Ewell, chairs, $4 67
Wm. Mahoney, repairing vault, 1 00
Thomas Gurney, supplies, 12 40
J. M. Glover, setting glass and repairs, 10 37
A. E. Fyre, sundries, 1 50
Sanborn & Damon, knives,
30
S. H. Spear. gong, and hanging same, 17 75
H. French, ruling blackboards, 3 00
J. O. Holden, new clock and repairs, 11 25
M. W. Gerry, grading, 7 50
E. A. Perkins, stock and labor, 7 58
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