USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Saugus > Town annual report of Saugus 1898 > Part 12
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Thirty teachers, including the supervisors of music and draw- ing, are now in the employ of the Town. Of this number ten have begun service this past year. During the same time seven have been released-four to accept more remunerative positions elsewhere, and three to establish homes of their own. At their own request three teachers have been granted transfers, Miss Austin from North Saugus to Cliftondale, Miss Parsons from East Saugus to Cliftondale, and Miss Chubbuck from Cliftondale to Saugus Centre. Miss Cook, the supervisor of drawing, whose resignation was received early in the year, began a good work in
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REPORT OF SUPERINTENDENT.
Saugus, which has since been successfully carried on by Miss Sadie R. Melzard. The change and addition to the High School corps of teachers is noted in the report of the principal.
The large number of changes in our corps of teachers is to be regretted. It seriously interferes with continuous and successful adherence to our plans and methods, and tends to destroy a cer- tain esprit de corps, so essential to the highest efficiency. On the other hand, it is a pleasure to work with a body of teachers who are ambitious, anxious for suggestions in regard to ways of improving their work, who are students of educational problems, and who are determined to win such approval of school officials as will secure for them a call to a more lucrative position. Such teachers -the enthusiastic, growing teachers - cannot often be retained for a long term of service at the salaries we offer, but the short term of first-class teachers is preferable to a longer term of any other class.
There is one teacher in town whose name deserves special mention on account of length and efficiency of her service. In the report of the School Committee of Saugus for the year ending March, 1850, it is recorded that Miss Eliza A. Mansfield took charge of the primary school in Ward No. Four, during the last half of the year. Miss Mansfield has occupied this same position during all the years since that time, and before the close of another calendar year, if her present good health continues, will complete fifty years of successful service. Such a rare event calls for popular recognition.
In the Saugus annual school reports of the last twenty-five years the question of teachers' salaries has frequently been the subject of comment. In the report of 1877, after speaking of the desirability of more skilful teaching, we find these words : "To secure the advantages mentioned above, it is obvious that a larger expenditure than at present would be needed. High education, wide culture, choice combination of character, like all other rare and valuable things, can be obtained only by paying the worth of them. If these, however, are indispensable to valuable results in education, they should be secured. If it be deemed impracticable to do this, let us not be surprised or disappointed if we do not secure the results which they alone can afford."
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REPORT OF SUPERINTENDENT.
II
In the report of 1880 it is recorded that "The pay of our teachers ranges from six and one-half to nine dollars a week ; this is believed not to be more, and in many instances far less than fair working ability commands in factories." The report of 1881 records a small increase in teachers' salaries, and then adds : "Notwithstanding this increase they are still paid less than in most towns of this vicinity." This statement is certainly true to- day. In the reports of 1885 and 1886 we are glad to find another small increase of teachers' salaries mentioned. Nevertheless the report of 1888 has these words : "We have no word of fault to find with the Town for its school appropriations. It deserves great praise for the liberal amount of money it spends for educational purposes, considering its population and its relative valuation. Nevertheless, we have great difficulty in retaining our teachers, when other towns and cities are paying greater salaries, thereby inducing many of them to leave us just when we most need their services. We hope the Town will enable us by its next appropriation, to add still further to the pay of these worthy teachers, whose entire time, talents and energies, after long pre- paration, are devoted to the highest interests of our Town." This statement is as true this year as ten years ago. The report of 1879 has this striking quotation : "The most alluring swindle that a penny-wise and pound-foolish public economy ever forced upon the masses is a cheap school teacher."
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To these statements of other years little need be added to rep- resent the condition of things now. Saugus continues to send forth its good teachers to do most acceptable service in more highly favored communities. This must be so, I presume, for some years to come. But the impression must not prevail that the teachers of Saugus are not highly efficient. Indeed, they are rendering a service wholly out of proportion to their remunera- tion. Not a few of them could acceptably fill positions at the maximum salary paid in neighboring cities.
I am glad to know that their valuable services are appreciated more than ever before. Nor has appreciation been wholly con- fined to parents having children in school. And it is right that it should. not be, for every resident of the Town has a vital interest in maintaining a high standard of intelligence, culture and moral-
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REPORT OF SUPERINTENDENT.
ity. At the school exhibit in the Town Hall last June, it was my privilege to meet and converse with a large number of the people of Saugus. And I was deeply impressed by the marked interest in the schools which was manifest by all, also by the spirit of real co-operation so evident in the remarks of parents. In the tre- mendous responsibility of training children, parents appreciate any help the teacher renders, and teachers are greatly encouraged by the help and sympathy of the parents.
The teachers' meetings have been conducted about as in previous years. General meetings, grade meetings and volunteer classes have claimed our attention. By a system of exchange with superintendents of this vicinity, the teachers have had the pleasure of listening to Supt. George E. Gay, of Malden, on "Language Training," and to Supt. W. H. Small, of Chelsea, on "The De- velopment of Historic Interest." Other addresses, by Supt. C. H. Morss, of Medford, Supt. F. H. Nickerson, of Melrose, and Supt. R. J. Condon, of Everett, are to follow. We should be pleased to welcome to our teachers' meetings anyone interested in education.
In the annual report of 1877 we find these words : "In our present system, very little if any attention is given to the culture of the æsthetic element of our nature. It is not possible, of course, to do much in this direction, but that should make it all the more important for us to secure as much as is possible, con- sistently with other demands. Much would be accomplished if care were taken to provide pleasant, attractive and tasteful school-houses and recitation rooms. The exhibition of taste in the surroundings of the school would tend by its silent influence, to develop taste among those brought into almost daily contact with it. The introduction of drawing is an influence which tends in the same direction." It is gratifying to think of the great advance in this phase of education during the last few years. Our beautiful school-houses, both the new and the old renewed, lend their aid. A few pictures adorn the walls of several rooms, especially at East Saugus, which have been pre- sented to the schools by friends. And yet in most cases the walls are bare. I wonder If there are not those who would be glad to assist in beautifying our otherwise delightful school-rooms by
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REPORT OF SUPERINTENDENT.
contributing pictures or other works of art. The instruction in drawing as now given is a potent factor in developing an enthusiastic appreciation of the beautiful. The work in drawing as seen in the exhibit of last June received very favorable mention. And if any should remark that such work in the schools is need. lessly ornamental, it might be said that "God when he created the heavens, did not forget the rainbow and the sunset ; and that He created along with corn, potatoes and cabbage, also the lily, the morning glory and the rose."
The report of the superviser, Miss Melzard, is here inserted :
ATLANTIC, MASS., Dec. 30, 1898.
Mr. C. E. Stevens, Superintendent of Schools :
DEAR SIR,-Though it is but a short time since the introduc- tion of drawing in the schools of Saugus, the progress made has been very satisfactory. Since I have had charge of the work the teachers have been very kind, interested and open to suggestions, and I feel that the progress made is due largely to them.
Our aim in teaching drawing in the schools is to awaken a love for the beautiful in the child, and to make the child feel that he can create beautiful things. No one can appreciate a beautiful thing at once : appreciation comes through a study of the parts which make it so. We call these parts structure, enrichment and appearance.
In September we began under the head of enrichment, studying color, drawing in all mediums the leaves and flowers, followed by a decorative treatment of the same, trying to bring out the creative power of the child. This part of the work appeals especially to the children, and they express themselves remarkably well. We do not try to bring them up to any fixed standard, but try to have them express their individuality.
Next came the appearance work, the drawing of objects singly, then in pleasing groups. With this work we shall try to study some of the great masters and their work, for we think it as important for the child to know a great artist as a great author, and a good picture as a good book.
In February and March will come the construction work in which we shall aim to have the children appreciate the structure
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REPORT OF SUPERINTENDENT.
of things, be able to read working drawings, and create some beautiful thing.
During April, May and June, we shall study color, historic ornament and design. All the schools are now supplied with brushes, and we hope to do some good work.
The work in the High School is rapidly improving. We have recently had some good casts furnished, and are just starting light and shade, with charcoal.
I give three lessons a month to the pupils in the High School, and visit the other schools once a month. Teachers' meetings for primary and grammar grades are held once a month.
In closing, I wish to thank you and the School Board for your interest and help, and the teachers for the spirit in which they have taken up the work.
Respectfully submitted, SADIE R. MELZARD, Director of Drawing.
The singing in our schools is good. The results are very satisfactory. Miss Page who has had the care of this department for several years, and still remains at its head, presents the following report :
SAUGUS, MASS., Jan. 10, 1899.
Mr. C. E. Stevens, Superintendent of Schools :
DEAR SIR,-In looking back over the year's work, since the last yearly report, I see steady advancement in all grades. Our pupils enjoy singing and are enthusiastic in their work which alone bespeaks success.
In the education of a child music may exert a very wide influ- ence, an influence reaching beyond the mere knowledge of the science itself, and affecting more or less the child's whole nature.
When proper attention is given to the voice, to position and to correct breathing, the beneficial effects of singing upon the physicial health are considerable. Therefore, let all children sing.
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REPORT OF SUPERINTENDENT.
As an aid in mental discipline and the training of the eye, sight singing is valuable in the same way that mathematics and all study of form are useful. Great concentration of mind and quickness of sight are required for this study, and these are sure to help the child in his other studies. Therefore, let all children read music.
The refining influence of good music upon the moral nature of the child is acknowledged by all. The interest displayed by most children in a well-conducted singing lesson proves their eagerness to be admitted to the world of music. Music softens and refines the emotional nature and in many ways makes the individual better prepared for the duties and pleasures of life.
Our enrollment has so increased that the first five grades are now in separate rooms ; this facilitates our work very greatly and another year will show more decided growth.
During the spring two choruses of High School pupils were formed. The choruses furnished the musical entertainment at the graduation in June and I am sure their singing was enjoyed and appreciated by all.
Our teachers have been most faithful in carrying on the work as outlined, and to them is due much credit for our successful year.
Respectfully submitted,
HELEN M. PAGE.
The evolution of the Saugus High School is an interesting study. Twenty-five years ago it was a small school of twenty- five pupils, in the care of one teacher. Much of the work which they then did is now taken up in the grammar schools. In 1880 the school had two teachers, an improved course of study, and an average attendance of thirty-three. Pupils were admitted to the High School after completing about the same work as is now accomplished in grade eight. For the next twelve years the membership slowly increased. In 1893 the average attendance was a little more than forty. In the fall of 1895 there was an average attendance of a little more than sixty, three teachers were employed, and the course of study greatly improved and extended. At the present time, with nearly one hundred pupils, four teachers
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REPORT OF SUPERINTENDENT.
and good courses of study, an excellent school-house, and fair laboratory conveniences, this school as never before is equipped for successful work.
One or two other provisions will soon demand consideration. Stenography and typewriting are rapidly finding a place in the leading high schools of the State. Manual training is now re- quired in not only the High School, but also the elementary schools of cities or towns of twenty thousand or more inhabitants. This appears to me to be a wise requirement, and well worthy of the consideration of smaller towns. It would be well if Saugus had a manual training plant, where not only school pupils, but minors who spend their time on the streets, could be compelled to busy themselves. Boys and girls nowadays do not work enough.
Your attention is called to the report of Principal Adams :
SAUGUS, MASS., Jan. 2, 1899. Mr. C. E. Stevens, Superintendent of Schools :
DEAR SIR,-I have the honor to submit to you my third annual report. The average membership in the High School for the year has been eighty-eight, about nine per cent. more than last year. The membership by classes at the present time is as fol- lows :
Class one II
Class two
.
27
Class three
24
Class four
33
This shows our present membership to be ninety-five. Of these, thirteen are taking the four years' classical course, with Greek ; twenty-two are taking the four years' classical course, with Latin and French ; and the remaining sixty are taking the three years' English course.
At the opening of the term in September it was found advisable to have a fourth teacher in the High School. This became necessary because of the increased demand for a more extended curriculum, as well as because of an increased membership in the school.
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REPORT OF SUPERINTENDENT.
The High School now occupies the entire upper part of the Roby School building, where we have ample room for our work.
In June Miss Dickerman resigned from our corps of teachers to accept a better position in Connecticut, and Miss Lang, a gradu- ate of Smith College, was elected to fill the position made vacant by her. Miss Emery, a graduate of Wellesley, was elected to teach English Literature. This now enables us to offer a much better course of study for our pupils than heretofore.
This is especially true of English Literature. No branch of study in our High School is of greater importance than English Literature ; therefore, we should be untiring in our efforts to place the best books in the hands of our pupils, and thereby cultivate a taste for good reading. Reading has much to do with what a child thinks, feels, and does, and consequently what he is. If our pupils, at graduation, have no desire for the better class of read- ing, then the work of the school, in a great measure, has been a failure. With this thought in mind, we have improved and extended the course in English Literature. After consulting with Miss Emery, our teacher of English, a list of books was prepared from which each pupil is required to select and read two each term. The following is the list as arranged :
CLASS I. DIVISION I.
I. Adonais
Shelley
Ode to the West Wind .
66
To a Skylark
66
Among the Euganean Hills .
Stanzas in Dezection near Naples
2. In Memoriam
3. Eve of St. Agnes .
Ode on a Grecian Urn Ode to Melancholy
66
Ode to Psyche
Ode to a Nightingale
4. Sonnets (first twenty-five in series)
5. Lady Geraldine's Courtship
6. Prisoner of Chillon
All for Love . · Destruction of Sennecharib
Tennyson Keats 66
Shakespeare . E. B. Browning Byron
66
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REPORT OF SUPERINTENDENT.
7. Saul, the Lost Leader Love Among the Ruins How they Brought the Good News Evelyn Hope
R. Browning
66
66
66
Arnold
The Strayed Reveller
66
The Forsaken Merman .
66
9. The Ancient Mariner
Coleridge
Kubla Khan
66
Christabel
IO. The White Doe of Ryleston. Laodamia
Wordsworth
DIVISION II.
I. Pride and Prejudice
Austin 66
2. Mansfield Park
3. Confession of an Opium Eater
. De Quincey
4. An Humble Romance . Mary Wilkins Poe
5. Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque
6. David Copperfield
Dickens
7. Less Miserables
Victor Hugo
66
9. Beside the Bonnie Briar Bush
Maclaren
IO. A Window in Thrums .
Barrie
II. Their Wedding Journey Howell
DIVISION III.
I. Heroes and Hero Worship
Carlyle
2. Sesame and Lilies Ruskin
3. Walden Thoreau
4. Autocrat of the Breakfast Table Holmes
5. Fireside Travels Lowell
6. Essays on Nature and Culture Mabie
7. Across the Plains .
Stevenson
8. Yesterdays with Authors
, J. T. Fields
9. Cheerful Yesterdays . .
IO. Men, Women, and Books Birrell
Higginson
8. Dover Beach . Thyrsis
66
8. Notre Dame de Paris
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REPORT OF SUPERINTENDENT.
DIVISION IV.
1. Henry the Eight and His Court Muhlback
2. Age of Elizabeth Creighton 3. Houses of Lancaster and York Gardiner Earle
4. Colonial Dames and Good Wives .
5. Sabbath in Puritan New England .
6. La Salle and the Discovery of the West .
Parkman Fiske
7. The War of Independence
8. Jesuits in North America in the 17th Century, Parkman
9. Protestant Revolution
10. Tales from English History
Strickland
DIVISION V.
I. Wordsworth .
2. Burns (Letters)
3. Holmes (Letters) .
4. E. B. Browning's, (Letters) .
5. Carlyle .
6. Alfred the Great
Hughes
7. Historical Characters in the Reign of Queen Anne
8. Gladstone
Oliphant Russell Coulthorpe
9. Addison
IO. Edmund Burke
Morley
II. Thoreau (Familiar Letters) Sanborn
CLASS II. DIVISION I.
I . L'Allegro
Milton
Il Penseroso Samson Agonistes
2. Comus and Leycidas
66
3. Rape of the Lock
Pope
4. Hamlet Shakespeare
The Tempest
5. Twelfth Night Othello
6. Much Ado About Nothing King Lear
. ‹
Seebohm
Myers Robertson Morse 66 Nichol
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REPORT OF SUPERINTENDENT.
7. Palamon and Arcite
8. Sohrab and Rustum
9. Astrophel
Epithalamium Prothalamium
IO. The Rivals . A School for Scandal
Sheridan
DIVISION II.
I. Vanity Fair .
Thackery 60
2. Henry Esmond
3. Jane Eyre
C. Bronté
4. Marble Faun .
Hawthorne G. Elliot
5. Daniel Deronda
6. Mill on the Floss
7. Romola
66 66
S. Bleak House
Dickens
9. Pickwick Papers
IO. Hypatia
Kingsley
II. Westward Ho
I2. Heart of Mid-Lothian Scott
DIVISION III.
I. Addresses
2. Milton
Pope
3. Shakespeare's England .
Winter Lamb
5. Getting on in the World Mathews
6. From the Easy Chair
7. Self Reliance, History, Friendship
S. Nature .
The American Scholar
9. Essays in Idleness .
IO. Second Essay on the Earl of Chatham
II. Cromwell
The Diamond Necklace .
. Drummond Lowell 66
4. Essays of Elia
Curtis Emerson 66
Repplier Macaulay Carlyle 66
Dryden Arnold Spenser
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DIVISION IV.
I. Roman Life in the Days of Cicero
2. Frederick the Great and His Court
3. Thirty Years' War
4. Young Folks' History of Germany
5. Young Folks' History of France
6. French Revolution
Morris
7. France in the Nineteenth Century .
S. Makers of Venice .
9. Makers of Florence
IO. Story of Spain Hale
DIVISION V.
I. Jeanne D'Arc
Oliphant
2. A. Hamilton
Lodge
3. Napoleon I .
Seelye
4. Court of Louis XIV
Saint-Amand
5. Shakespeare .
Hudson
6. Madame Roland
Tarbell Warner Lord
9. Webster
IO. Calhoun
II. Clay
Schurz
CLASS III. DIVISION I.
I. Idylls of the King . .
Tennyson
2. Princess ·
Lowell 66
3. Selections from Bigelow Papers Ambrose Aladdin . The First Snowfall
66
4. Lay of the Last Minstrel
Scott
5. The Deserted Village
Goldsmith
6. Songs of Seven
7. Boy's Percy ·
8. Maud
Ingelow Ed. by S. Lanier Tennyson
Church Muhlback Gardner Tonge 66
Latimer Oliphant
7. Emerson
8. Two German Giants
Lodge Von Holst
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REPORT OF SUPERINTENDENT.
9. Merchant of Venice
IO. A Little Book of Western Verse
II. Afton Water, Bannockburn . To Mary in Heaven, The Banks of Doon John Anderson, My Jo.
Honest Poverty, Tam O'Shanter
Shakespeare Field
Burns
DIVISION II.
I. Kenilworth
Scott
2. The Talisman
66
3. Last Days of Pompeii
Lytton Hale
5. Nicholas Nickleby
Dickens
6. Old Curiosity Shop
7. Scarlet Letter
Hawthorne
8. Romona
Jackson
9. Lorna Doone
. Blackmore
IO. Adam Bede .
George Eliot
II. Vicar of Wakefield Goldsmith
12. Treasure Island Stevenson
DIVISION III.
I. Age of Chivalry
Bulfinch
2. Age of Fable (Greek and Roman Deitier)
3. Manual of Fable (Greek and Roman Mythology,
4. My Summer in a Garden
5. Stories of the Iliad
Murray Warner Church 66
6. Stories of the Odessey
Lowell
7. My Garden Acquaintance A Good Word for Winter 66 On a Certain Condescension in Foreigners 66
8. Malory's Boy's King Arthur . Ed. by S. Lanier
9. Wake Robin
IO. Locusts and Wild Honey .
. Burroughs
4. A Man Without a Country
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REPORT OF SUPERINTENDENT.
DIVISION IV.
1 . The Crusader
2. The Athenian Empire
3. Troy
4. History of Chivalry .
5. Pictures from Greek Life and Story
6. Pictures from Roman Life and Story
66
7. A Day in Ancient Rome
Shumway
8. Story of Alexander's Empire Mahaffy
9. Rise of the Macedonian Empire .
Curteis
DIVISION V.
I. Plutarch's Lives, Vol. I
2. Plutarch's Lives. Vol. II .
3. Hawthorne
Bridge
4. Irving Warner Hutton
5. Scott
6. George Eliot
Cross
7. Hannibal
Morris
8. Washington Lodge 9. Washington Wilson
IO. Lincoln Schurz
CLASS IV, DIVISION I.
Songs of Labor
Whittier
2. Mogg Megone
3. Tales of a Wayside Inn
. Longfellow Shakespeare
4. Julius Cæsar
5. Lays of Ancient Rome
Macaulay
6. Enoch Arden Tennyson 7. Thanatopsis . Bryant 66
Wind and Stream
The Gladness of Nature
66
To a Waterfowl
.
Ed. by f. S. White 66
.
Cox 66
Benjamin James Church
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REPORT OF SUPERINTENDENT.
S. How the Old Horse Won the Bet Holmes
The One Hoss Shay The Chambered Nautilus Old Ironsides 66
9. The Snow Storm May Day
Wood Notes .
Emerson
DIVISION II.
I. The Jungle Book . Kipling
2. Tom Brown's School Days 3. Last of the Mohicans Hughes Cooper 4. The Pilot 66 Irving
5. The Alhambra
6. Robinson Crusoe Defoe
7. Gulliver's Travels . Swift
8. Twice Told Tales Hawthorne
9. Rab and His Friends Brown
DIVISION III.
I. Tales from Shakespeare
Lamb
2. Stories from English Literature
Wright
3. Sharp Eyes . W. H. Gibson
4. Signs and Seasons
5. Voyage in the Sunbeam
. Burroughs · Brassey
6. Conquest of Granada
Irving
7. Easy Star Lessons
Proctor Ball
8. Starland
9. Marjorie Flemming
Brown
IO. Stories from Vergil
Church
DIVISION IV.
I. Historic Girls
2. Historic Boys .
·
Brooks 66
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REPORT OF SUPERINTENDENT.
3. Among the Lawmakers
4. Boys of '76 .
5. Boys of '61
6. Decisive Battles of the World
7. Army Life in a Black Regiment
Higginson
8. Stories of the American Soldier Brooks .
9. Travelers and Outlaws . Higginson. .
IO. Young Folks' History of Boston
Butterworth
II. Through Colonial Doorways Wharton
DIVISION V.
I. Daniel Boone Abbott
2. Autobiography Franklin
3. Life, Letters and Journal Alcott
4. Girls Who Became Famous Bolton
5. Boys Who Became Famous
6. The Two Spies (Hale and Andre) Lossing
7. Hero Tales from American History Lodge and Roosevelt
8. Men of Achievement-Statesmen . Brooks
9. From Lady Washington to Mrs. Cleveland Gordon
Through the courtesy of Miss Newhall, who has charge of the Public Library, we have been enabled to ascertain just what books are available for the pupils ; and we believe that every book in the list given can be found in the Public Library.
Our High School Library is still small, and we daily feel the need of a few selections of standard works. We respectfully invite the attention of the graduates and friends of the school to this fact, and assure them that any addition to our library, how- ever small, will be highly appreciated.
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