USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Quincy > Town annual report of Quincy 1882-1883 > Part 11
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Joshua W. Getchell,
76
IO
25
Rhoda Trask,
8I
2
East Boston. Braintree. South Boston.
27
Albert H. Arnold,
3
5
Feb.
8
Nellie F. Strine,
25
Boston,
15
Alice L. Hayden,
2 IO
Boston.
Mar.
19
Lillias R. Hodge,
73
Taunton.
Apr.
3
Elizabeth B. Balkam,
30
6 21
Neponset.
May
2
Edward J. Eaton,
IO
2 20
East Milton.
22
Benjamin Rich,
68
6
Charlestown.
July
17
Samuel Cummings,
2
5
Boston.
22
Stanley S. Balkam,
8 14
Neponset.
Aug.
8
Mary E. Costello,
8
Braintree.
IO
Edgar Pulsifer,
Boston.
I4
John Dean,
66
Boston.
I5
Francis Marden,
60
2 25
Dorchester.
I6
John Lakin,
68
3
Somerville.
Sept.
IO
Eliza J. Bryant,
28
I IO
Brockton.
Oct.
27
Susan M. Beale,
43
6 16
Lawrence.
29
Eliza R. Parker,
Worcester.
Nov.
3
Winnifred McCarty,
6 14
Boston.
Dec.
4
Priscilla Andrews,
84
10 27
Boston.
9
Emma L. Nash,
25
Woonsoc't, R.I.
IO
Mary B. Landrea,
Taunton.
16
Ellen O'Leary,
24
7
Boston.
24
James Newcomb,
54
9,20
Boston.
25
Francis A. Griswold,
20
3
20
Watertown.
29
Thomas P. Peterson,
35
Braintree.
1
Years. Mos. Days.
Emily A. Abercombie,
68
6 17
Watertown.
3I
205
SUMMARY.
Total number of deaths registered, 218.
Males.
Females.
Total.
January,
7
7
I4
February,
5
9
14
March,
1I
5
16
April,
10
I2
22
May,
I2
7
I9
June,
6
5
II
July,
IO
4
14
August,
9
I7
26
September,
19
9
28
October,
I2
5
I7
November,
II
I3
24
December,
5
8
I3
II7
218
Number.
Deaths under 1 year of age, .
5I
between I and 10 years of age,
22
66
66
IO " 20
66
66
66
20
30
66
30
40
66
66
19
66
40
66
50
66
60
66
66
IO
66
66
60
66
66
27
66
23
66
66
70 80
66
66
22
66
66
18
66
II
66
66
50
70 80 90
218
.
I5
REPORT
OF THE
SCHOOL COMMITTEE
OF THE
TOWN OF QUINCY,
FOR THE
SCHOOL YEAR 1882-83.
School Committee.
EDWIN W. MARSH,
JASON G. WITHAM,
GEORGE L. MILLER,
ALFRED SAMPSON,
WILLIAM G. SHEEN,
SIGOURNEY BUTLER.
Superintendent. SYLVESTER BROWN.
BOSTON: COCHRANE & SAMPSON, PRINTERS, 30 BROMFIELD STREET.
REPORT OF THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE.
The School Committee is required by the Statutes of the Commonwealth to make annually a detailed report of the con- dition of the public schools, and cause the same to be printed for the use of the inhabitants of the town.
For a detailed account of the condition of our schools, what is doing and what has been done, your committee will refer the inhabitants of the town to the report of the Superintendent of Schools, which is hereto annexed and made a part of this report.
As there are among us some who seem still to honestly believe that the new fashions are inferior to the old, who have the im- pression that their children are not learning as fast as those before them, who were educated under the old system, it is perhaps our duty to add our own opinion of the condition of the schools and of the progress being made, and to inform the town whether, in our judgment, their children are receiving a fair equivalent for the money annually expended for their education.
After careful consideration, we confidently express the opinion, that since 1875, when we introduced what is known as the new system, our children have been happier in their school and more interested in their studies ; that our teachers have worked harder, more understandingly, and with far better results, and that the progress, as a whole, has been much greater and on a more reli- able basis than under any system or practice previously seen in our schools.
The interest and enthusiasm of our Superintendent and teach- ers is unabated, and they have almost universally the respect and good will of their pupils ; if in addition they can feel assured of the continued confidence and support of the parents, we have
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210
faith to predict that our schools in the future will show a con- tinuous and satisfactory progress.
As in former years, the well-laid plans of the Superintendent have to some extent been frustrated, and the progress of the schools impeded, by the numerous changes in our corps of teach- ers. After getting a school in good running order with satisfac- tory teachers working well together, to have the line broken by the withdrawal of the principal, or even by a change in the subordinates, is discouraging to the superintendent and detri- mental to the whole school.
Yet this is an evil for which as yet we have found no adequate remedy. The school laws provide that "The School Committee may, when they think proper, dismiss any teacher from employ- ment, and such teacher shall receive no compensation for services rendered after such dismissal." On the other hand, it has been customary to accept the resignation of teachers at any time, after reasonable notice, as it would seem hardly just to attempt to hold them by a contract that could be binding only upon one side.
In this connection, we wish to correct a misapprehension which we think has prevailed to a considerable extent among our townspeople. The School Committee have been charged with making of our schools a show, to which people have come from abroad, often taking away with them our most valuable teachers. Neither the Committee nor the Superintendent have advertised our schools as on exhibition. They are public schools, and com- mon decency would seem to require that we should treat with courtesy gentlemen or ladies who, having heard a good report of our schools, have paid us the compliment to come, often from a considerable distance, to visit them. Neither are these visitors of a class that could offer any inducement to our teachers to leave us. They are usually themselves teachers or others inter- ested in education, who come simply to see what we have that is new and worthy of imitation. It is true that we occasionally have a visit from a neighboring superintendent in search of a good teacher, and so long as our teachers have a good name,-of which we certainly should not wish to rob them,-we shall not be free from such visitations. Although this may be annoying, we
2II
cannot make reasonable objection, so long as our own superin- tendent adopts the same course when seeking to fill his depleted ranks.
In considering matters which more directly concern the tax- payer, the troublesome question is again forced upon us, How shall we provide accommodations for our rapidly increasing num- ber? With the exception of the Willard and the Quincy, our school buildings are practically full. There are, perhaps, a few spare seats in the higher grades, but these are of no avail in pro- viding for the little ones crowding in at the bottom.
The following table will show the number of children in the town between the ages of five and fifteen, on the first day of May in each year, from 1878 to 1882, inclusive.
1878.
1879.
1880.
1881.
1882.
Adams,
365
402
407
439
50I
Coddington,
262
277
306
344
362
Washington, 245
257
27I
290
312
Willard,
478
508
550
611
646
Wollaston,
I33
157
189
197
202
Atlantic,
166
191
225
256
291
1649
I792
1948
2.137
2314
It will be seen that we have a gain in four years of six hundred and sixty-five, or forty per cent., while the gain for the year end- ing on the first day of May last was one hundred and seventy" seven, an annual increase sufficient to comfortably fill a four- room building the size of the Adams or Coddington, as originally constructed.
When last year it was found necessary to provide additional accommodation at the West District, the School Committee carefully considered a plan for placing a new building somewhere near the line between that district and the South, thus making provision for the surplus children from both districts. For reasons which they then thought sufficient, they decided to recommend, as a more economical plan, the enlargement of the Willard build- ing ; and as three of the four additional rooms provided are filled already, they feel assured that this house will soon be fully
212
occupied without drawing upon territory very much to the east- ward of its location.
Another plan to which we have given much thought in connec- tion with future wants, is to build a primary school-house some- where on " Edwards' Hill." This would accommodate the smaller children from a portion of the Centre, South and Quincy Point Districts, thus relieving three schools instead of two. As the children were ready to enter the Grammar School they would return to the districts from which they were taken. This plan- would necessitate a considerable outlay at first for a suitable lot of land, with an increased annual expense per head for the care of the pupils provided for.
There is another consideration which has led us to hesitate before recommending the plan last named at this time. Within a few months a considerable tract of land situated in the south part of the town has been put upon the market for building pur- poses. Nearly one hundred house-lots have been sold already, and building has commenced. The next few years will show, without doubt, an increase of population in this neighborhood, which will make it desirable to relieve the Adams School from this direction rather than from the east. A new school in this vicinity will unquestionably soon be needed, and should we include within its lines the easterly portion of the West District, the remaining territory, at the present ratio of gain in school population, will very soon need all of the Willard building for its accommodation.
By a slight change in the arrangement of rooms in one or two of the buildings, and with a little crowding, we think our schools, with one exception, can be carried along for a time in their present quarters.
At the Coddington something more is needed, as the present arrangement is not at all satisfactory. For nearly a year it has been necessary to place a class in the basement room of this building, a room which the town long ago voted to abandon as an unfit place in which to confine young children. To this parents very reasonably objeet, and the Committee feel that
213
they are laying themselves open to just censure in allowing its continuance.
After weighing the whole matter, and carefully considering the present and probable future wants of all sections, we are of the opinion that the most economical course for the town to adopt at the present time is to enlarge once more the Coddington school-house. A satisfactory plan has been prepared by an architect, by which a two-story wing may be added to the front of the building, giving four convenient rooms, with safe and commodious halls and stairways. The addition as planned will improve the outside appearance of the building, and would seem to be ample for the present and prospective wants of this dis- trict. If necessary, by a slight change in district lines, a portion of the children from the south could find temporary accommodation here while some plan was being matured for the permanent relief of that section. Should two rooms prove sufficient for present wants, the rooms in the third story of the old building could be advantageously vacated until needed. We have no doubt that the arrangement last named would be very satisfactory, not only to the teachers and pupils who occupy these upper rooms, but also very generally to the parents of the district.
This enlargement can be made and the four rooms furnished at an expense not exceeding $7,000, and we would recommend an appropriation of that amount for this purpose.
When in their last report the Committee advised an addition of four rooms to the Willard school-house, they named $6,000 as a sum sufficient to complete the building and furnish two rooms, which at that time was thought adequate for immediate use. Finding at the commencement of the fall term that to provide for the increasing number of children it was necessary to use at once three of the additional rooms, it was thought advisable to furnish and occupy the whole of the new wing, leaving one vacant room in the old building furnished and ready for use when wanted. This unexpected expenditure has required a small outlay in excess of the appropriation, the whole cost of
214
the addition, furnished complete, being $6,281.62. This is no loss to the town, however, as the vacant room will soon be needed.
There was appropriated at the last annual town-meeting for the usual school expenses, the sum of $38,800. There has been received from the State school fund, $213.12, and we are credited with $75 as the income of the Coddington lands, mak- ing the entire amount at the disposal of the committee, $39,088. 12.
There has been expended, $39,197.22, as follows : -
For Teachers' salaries,
$26,540 25
Fuel,
1,682 82
Care of rooms,
2,197 44
Books and stationery, 711 85
Incidental expenses,
2,668 59
Transportation of pupils,
868 25
Repairs,
2,528 02
Salary of Superintendent,
2,000 00
$39,197 22
Persistent leaks in the roof of the High School-house made necessary an outlay of $416.52, for relaying the slate on that building. This bill, which was unforeseen and unprovided for, has caused the expenditures for repairs to exceed considerably our estimate at the beginning of the year. Excepting a bal- ance of $109.10, this is offset, however, by a saving in other items of the account.
A State law, enacted in 1870, after adding Drawing to the branches required to be taught in the public schools, makes this additional requirement : -
" Any city or town may, and every city and town, having more than ten thousand inhabitants, shall annually make provisions for giving free instruction in industrial or mechanical drawing to persons over fifteen years of age, either in day or evening schools, under the direction of the School Committee." - Public Statutes, Chap. 44, Sec. 7.
215
As by the census of 1880 Quincy had a population of ten thousand five hundred and twenty-nine, it would seem that to conform to this law, the town should make some provision for the instruction therein specified.
The School Committee have been informed that an evening school for the instruction of young men in industrial drawing, supported by a small tuition fee from the pupils, supplemented by contributions from public-spirited citizens, has for some time been in successful operation.
The suggestion has been made to us by tax-paying citizens, that in the future, to conform to the law above quoted, this school should be conducted under the direction of the School Committee, and at the public charge.
That the town may have an opportunity to take action in the matter, we have added to our usual estimates the sum of $500 for free instruction in industrial and mechanical drawing.
For the usual school expenses for the ensuing year, your com- mittee have made the following estimates, which they respect- fully offer for the consideration of the town : -
For Teachers' salaries, fuel, and care of
rooms, $34,000 00
Incidental expenses,
3,000 00
Transportation of pupils,
900 00
Books and stationery,
800 00
Repairs of buildings,
3,000 00
Superintendent's salary,
2,000 00
$43,700 00
To which, if thought expedient, should be added, -
For instruction in industrial drawing,
500 00
Enlargement of Coddington School-house, 7,000 00
The extraordinary increase in the number to be educated, with the certainty that the next year will show a larger ratio of gain than any in the past, makes necessary a considerable in-
216
crease in the estimate for salaries, fuel, care of rooms, and inci- dental expenses. We have learned by experience that to pro- tect seven large buildings, with their furniture and surroundings, from the weather on the outside, and from two thousand lively children on the inside, requires a very considerable annual outlay. Several of our buildings should be painted this year, and in one or two alterations are needed to make more room. We have therefore thought it necessary to add one thousand dollars to the usual estimate for repairs. The other items we have made the same as last year, which we think sufficient.
EDWIN W. MARSH, ALFRED SAMPSON, JASON G. WITHAM, GEORGE L. MILLER, WILLIAM G. SHEEN, SIGOURNEY BUTLER.
REPORT OF SUPERINTENDENT.
REPORT OF SUPERINTENDENT.
Gentlemen of the School Board : -
My Third Annual Report, the seventh report of the Superin- tendent of Schools, is respectfully submitted.
ATTENDANCE.
The attendance of those children who have once entered our schools is sufficiently good with rare exceptions, but there is a class of children in Quincy that should receive your special at- tention. I have reason to believe that quite a number of people who have become citizens of Quincy within the past few years are evading the law, which requires that all children, between the ages of eight and fourteen years, shall attend school for at least twenty weeks annually. People have moved into the town, having arranged for a temporary residence here only, and it is perhaps somewhat natural that we should be less interested in the children of such persons, than in those children who proba- bly will remain with us until their school-days are over, and be likely to become citizens among us. Our duty to them, how- ever, is no less than it is to others, as the public schools of a town are for the purpose of receiving all children not otherwise prop- erly provided for, regardless of the length of time they remain. I would therefore recommend that one of the truant officers be appointed to investigate this matter, and see that the law is strictly enforced.
TEACHERS.
Our teachers have labored faithfully and well during the past year, and have attained results that will compare favorably with previous years ; but, although the results are all that we could expect, they are not in some schools so great as the indications seemed to promise that they would be a few years ago, when teachers who had been trained in our schools remained with us ;
ยท (219)
220
while in most of the schools which have had no change of teachers, the results are greater than I ever dared to expect. No one has a right to judge our schools by the impressions he receives while visiting rooms to which teachers have been re- cently appointed, and who are now simply beginning to learn to teach. Our schools, though they have lost a large percent- age of teachers during the past year, have not suffered to such an extent as in the two years preceding. You decided last year, and so stated in your report, that " when an exceptionally good teacher is willing to remain with us at a salary considerably less than has been offered elsewhere, it is but fair and reasonable so far as we are able, to make recompense for the sacrifice." This decision has been of immense advantage to our schools, by enabling us to keep many excellent teachers who under other circumstances would be teaching elsewhere.
TEACHERS' MEETINGS.
Your permission having been cheerfully given, I formed the teachers of our Grammar and Primary schools into four sec- tions, and have met some one of these sections nearly every Wednesday afternoon since last September, for the purpose of discussing methods of teaching and having model lessons given. Much more good has been accomplished by these meetings than by those we have had heretofore, when all of the teachers as- sembled together. One section meeting each week, all teachers have received instructions concerning the work in their respect- ive grades, and have seen teaching exercises on the same as often as once each month. The subject of each meeting was an- nounced beforehand, and all of our experienced teachers have been ready to express their views, and assist in instructing their fellow-teachers of less experience.
PROMOTIONS.
It was formerly the custom to promote pupils from grade to grade, provided they attained an average of a stated percentage of correct answers on an examination or a series of examina- tions. More recently those pupils have been promoted whom
221
their teachers named as being qualified for advancement. Ex- perience has shown that there will be a percentage of good and studious pupils whose names the honest teacher will be forced to omit from the list of those qualified to go on to the next higher grade with their classmates. The aim of the common school should be to do the greatest good to the greatest number, and teachers should never overlook the fact that the schools are exclusively for the children. The question to be answered in making promotions is not, " Has this child as good and clear a mind as his classmates ?" but, " Will this child be less fitted for the duties of life if he goes on with the pupils of his class and works with them the succeeding year ?"
After giving a good deal of thought to this subject, I have come to the conclusion that promotions should include the whole class, with very rare exceptions, after the first two years of the child's school life, until he reaches the first class in the Grammar school. If children are left in the same grade for two or more years they become discouraged, and the benefit derived from this repetition of studies is not at all commensurate with the time that is lost. It must be understood, however, by parents and children that no one is entitled to promotion unless his teacher can conscientiously recommend him as a pupil who has worked according to the best of his ability.
READING AND WRITING.
Taking the schools as a whole, the reading, I think, is better than ever before. Teachers have been continually reminded of the fact that the criterion in forming an opinion of their schools would not be so much the number of excellent readers as the paucity of poor ones, and also that the thing to be first con- sidered in forming a judgment of any room would be the ability of the child to grasp thought rather than any of those other qual- ities generally comprised in good reading.
My predecessor some years ago argued that, in the matter of writing, the direct teaching of penmanship should be unneces- sary after the child had been in school for a period of six years. We have been working, with this end in view, in some schools
-
222
without adequate results ; but in one school, at least, more than what was anticipated has been realized, and this without detriment to other studies. In the D Grammar at the Wash- ington school the pupils write with a degree of ease and accuracy rarely surpassed by A Grammar pupils as a class. Thus it has been clearly proven that, with the proper instruc- tion, if the pupils use pens after they have been at school two years, only two more will be required to make excellent writers.
ARITHMETIC.
In the study of arithmetic we rarely see results attained at all commensurate with the time and energy expended. This is because teachers, committee-men and superintendents, who were educated at a time when arithmetic was the almost uni- versal hobby, cannot rid themselves of the idea that pupils must get as much knowledge of the subject now as pupils formerly did who were several years older. So it is not often that a lesson is given or an examination made that does not contain some features in advance of the immature minds of the pupils. Perhaps I cannot make plain to you my meaning better than by the following illustration. While inspecting a B Grammar room I saw this problem placed upon the board, which the pupils were expected to perform : " A grocer's quart measure was too small by half a gill. How much did he thus dishonestly make in selling four barrels of cider, averaging 34 gal. 2 qt. I pt. each, if the cider was worth 24 cents a gallon?" This is not an isolated case; it is only one of the many problems which teachers continually give and examiners require that are wholly above the heads of children, and can only be solved by an adult with a pretty clear head for reasoning. Such problems are not only useless, but are positively pernicious, by putting obstacles in their way that it is impossible for them to overcome, thus causing them to become discouraged. I confess to having seriously misjudged children as to their powers of logical reason- ing, and shall hereafter in my examinations confine myself to those topics in arithmetic in their simple form which children should know and are able to comprehend.
223
Another cause of partial failure in the teaching of this subject is the tendency of teachers to crowd too many problems em- bracing a large number of principles into one lesson. An examination should include problems containing all principles the pupils have been taught ; but one principle is usually sufficient for the daily lesson. Teachers should bear in mind that it is a good quality rather than a large amount of work that is to be desired, and that it is better to have one principle thoroughly understood by all members of the class than many principles imperfectly comprehended. Our success- ful teachers of arithmetic insist that a diagram shall be drawn by every pupil to illustrate each problem before a solution of it is attempted. When all teachers insist upon this in each case, according to the instructions they have received, they will find it a great help to their classes in gaining arithmetical knowledge.
GEOGRAPHY.
Geography has heretofore been considered by our teachers as the most difficult branch of instruction taught in the common school. Probably this is due to the fact that no other study requires so much time on the part of the teachers in its prepara- tion. I think it has been better taught during the last year than before, and that at your annual inspection of schools in June you will find a marked improvement in the geographical knowl- edge the pupils possess. No study that is pursued in the pub- lic schools is more fascinating, both to teacher and pupils, when properly understood and appreciated, than the study of geography, and no study is productive of greater good, both as a mental discipline and as useful knowledge. I will present an outline of the way it is taught in our schools : It is begun at present in the D Grammar grade, after the children have com- pleted their fourth year in school. In this grade the pupils are to know the forms of land and water. Examples of all the forms of land and water to be found in the world, with rare exceptions, may be seen in our own town. In every branch of study we keep prominently in mind that, so far as possible, the object to be studied must be brought into the presence of the child. Ge-
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