USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Saugus > Town annual report of Saugus 1916 > Part 11
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14
The Committee have provided in their budget and in their request for the annual appropriation a sufficient sum of money to allow them to increase the maximum salaries to which teachers may look forward and so make- some advance in making the personnel of our teaching force a matter of some permanency, and if the suggestion of the Committee is accepted by the citizens of the Town we believe that the tendency of the teachers to use our public schools merely as a training course will be decreased.
7
SCHOOL COMMITTEE'S REPORT
1916]
REPAIRS ON SCHOOL BUILDINGS AND GROUNDS
At the annual Town meeting in March, 1916, this Com- mittee after carefully going over the condition of the school property recommended that the sum of $2,000 be appro- priated for this department, and looking backward over the necessities and expenditures of the past year it seems that although the Town meeting voted us only $1,500 the School Committee estimate was much nearer the sum required. The multiplicity of small pieces of work which constantly occur in keeping our school buildings in running order and in a safe condition for the pupils are a constant source of expense and must, of course, be attended to promptly. The maintenance of roofs and heating apparatus the past year has constituted about one-third of the sum voted at the annual meeting for this Department.
Ballard School
Early in the year the condition of the roof of the Ballard School came up for consideration. This roof has been the subject of much discussion ever since the building was erected about seven years ago. We secured the recommend- ations and estimates of many experts from neighboring cities, most of which were impossible for your Committee to consider with favor with our small appropriation. After much discussion with the architect, who enlightened us as to the cause of the leakage and the original roofer who suggested a remedy for the trouble, a plan was finally agreed upon and the work completed with a five year guarantee clause in the contract for about two hundred and two dollars, which should in the judgment of your Committee last at least ten years. The interior of the Ballard School shows the effect of this leakage and is to say the least in a disgraceful condition. It is hoped that a sufficient sum will be appropriated to put this interior in proper order.
Mansfield School
This is one of the oldest of our school buildings and its condition begins to show it. Before school closed for the summer vacation, it became necessary to repair the stairs inside the building as they had become unsafe. This was done at once at a cost of about $30. After school closed a thorough overhauling was made of the outside steps and
8
TOWN DOCUMENTS
[Dec. 31
platforms, which together with the sills had rotted away. This work cost considerably more than was at first estimated on account of the extent to which the sills had decayed. Your Committee felt that to save the building it was best to be thorough at the start so the work was placed in the hands of the Town Building Inspector, under whose direc- tion it was completed.
Roby School
Much work needs to be done on the inside of the Roby School. The plaster ceilings in several rooms have been falling down for the past three years. These have been patched to keep them safe. All of the ceilings need tinting and the walls need painting. In fact about every building in Town is in urgent need of repairs in this respect. This is one of our best buildings and it should not be allowed to deteriorate. We also suggest that a large coal pocket be built sufficient to contain a year's supply of coal. This will give the Town the advantage of a full supply of coal for this building in better condition.
Felton School
During the summer an inspection of the furnaces at the Felton School disclosed a dangerous condition of the fire pots, which caused a strong odor of coal gas. After some delay a contract was made with a local plumber and the - work was completed early in the autumn.
Oaklandvale School
During the summer vacation a substantial coal bin with cement floor was built in the basement and about three tons of coal that had been buried in the dirt floor of the cellar was screened clean and put into the new bin. This con- stituted about one-half of the coal supply for the present winter. Many improvements are needed around and about the building. The cellar wall needs pointing. The lower room will soon be needed to provide room for the increased number of pupils. Some painting and tinting would greatly improve the schoolroom. The inside doors to the schoolroom need new panels as the old ones are cracked and let in the cold. The outside of the building should be painted especially the front which is much defaced by autographs and other pencil marks.
9
SCHOOL COMMITTEE'S REPORT
1916]
High School
At the High School a cabinet should be provided for the drawing boards, and a study hall provided where the pupils could improve more of their time in school. Provision should be made for partitioning off the alcove of the Audi- torium for use in drawing instruction. The remainder of the Auditorium should be maintained for a study hall and should be provided with additional lighting facilities by means of a skylight, or otherwise. Better rooms are needed for both the Manual Training and Domestic Science Departments, which are useful and worthy branches and should be kept up to the high standard which has been undertaken. Your Committee recommends that the sum of $2,000 be appropriated for repairs on buildings and grounds.
Lynnhurst and North Saugus Schools
In accordance with the recommendation of the Committee of last year, the North Saugus School Building was painted this year. This was all we were able to do, except take care of heat in stoves and furnace, etc. Both of these schools are full to overflowing now and have been for sev- eral years. Pupils are being sent from both of these schools to East Saugus, and Saugus Center. The unfortunate part of it is there is no direct communication between these two villages and the center of the Town. This necessitates a long and tedious ride through Lynn and a change of cars, and then a half-hour ride to Saugus. Some of these children have to leave their homes at seven-thirty in the morning and arrive home at five-thirty at night. This not only makes a hardship on the parents and children, but is de- cidedly harmful in its moral effects on such young children. The Lynnhurst Building, while one of the more modern schools, having a good basement, a furnace, toilets, venti- lating system, etc., is only a one-room building, accommo- dating the first five grades or about forty pupils. Your Committee feel that this building could be remodeled and made into a two-room building at not too great a cost and thus take care of the six grades in this village for some time to come.
29
10
TOWN DOCUMENTS
[Dec. 31
The North Saugus Building is one of the oldest in Town, with no modern improvements, no basement, no furnace, no ventilation, and no toilets. A glimpse into one of these rooms on a cold day recalls the old open fireplace, where the one nearest the heat roast, while those in the back of the room freeze. The two rooms are full and all above the sixth grade are being sent to other parts of the Town. Your Committee in view of these facts recommend that there should be a new school building of four to six rooms in this section of the Town for the proper housing of the first six grades, and that some proper means of transportation be furnished the children required to attend the Junior High School at Saugus Center.
New Schools
Permit us to say that it is a stimulus to have people out- side of the school management take interest in our work. It helps to place our needs before the townspeople under- standingly. Much hurried and unsatisfactory building of schools, including plumbing, has been done in past years at a large unnecessary annual cost. We feel strongly that when a district asks for a new school building - and there are three that should be supplanted at an early date - that those asking for such a building should give the Town a very clear statement of the adequate needs, its purpose, and possible destination of such a building. The represen- tative of the district should state exactly what will be given in return for the voted appropriation, and provision should be made for its completion, and proper supervision during construction.
It is a regretable fact that in the history of public school construction in the Town of Saugus, it has been the rule that no member of the School Board be made a member of the Building Committee. We feel that this is an opportune time to suggest that in the appointment of Committees to provide for future construction that the School Department of the Town should have a substantial representation on the Committee to whom is entrusted the charge of the con- struction, to the end that school buildings may be built to better serve the educational aims and requirements of the community.
11
SCHOOL COMMITTEE'S REPORT
1916]
Sanitation
It has been decided that it was unwise to carry out at this time the plans in the possession of the School Com- mittee for the improvement of school sanitation. First, because the cellar at the Armitage School is too dark, and at the North Saugus School there is no cellar of any kind. Secondly, because changes for entering the building will have to be made thus making it unusually expensive and not altogether satisfactory when completed.
The Kaustine plan is being looked into by the Committee. This system has been tried out with success by the Institute of Technology and may be adaptable to conditions in Saugus. It is quite inexpensive as compared with plumbing and it might be wise to consider its installation for temporary use until new buildings take the place of the old. Something must be done along these lines at an early date.
Owing to the epidemic of last summer and fall the Com- mittee intend to have the cellars whitewashed in all the schools, with lime at the proper time.
Heating
The heating and ventilating of the schools could be vastly improved and more economically maintained with more satisfactory results. For illustration, one of the schools with three rooms has four pieces of heating apparatus and they have never heated the entire building satisfactorily at all times during the winter months. We would rec- ommend that a good heating and ventilating system for schools be studied and as the old give out, do not add to the old, but start the installation of a system that will save money now expended for fuel, and materially decrease the large expenditures for this purpose which now have to be provided for in our annual budget.
12
TOWN DOCUMENTS
[Dec. 31
FINANCIAL STATEMENT
Education
General Expenses.
Superintendent's sala-
ry
2,000.00
Superintendent, care of supplies 50.00
Secretary
50.00
Attendance officer
150.00
Attendance, officer,
special
5.00
School physician
300.00
Clerk
43.98
Printing, stationery,.
postage
183.13
Telephone
104.61
Traveling expenses
29.13
School census
94.92
All other
7.25
3,018.02
Teachers' Salaries. .
High and ninth grade .
10,372.80
Elementary . ยท
27,885.56
Music, drawing, sew-
ing and manual
training
2,970.00
41,228.36
$44,246.38
Text Books and Supplies
High and Ninth Grade.
Books
823.64
Supplies
672.90
1,496.54
Elementary
Books
1,350.02
Supplies
1,154.22
2,504.24
Amt. carried forward,
$4,000.78
$44,246.38
13
SCHOOL COMMITTEE'S REPORT
1916]
Amt. brought forward,
$4,000.78 $44,246.38
Manual Training.
Supplies
239.77
Drawing.
Supplies
2.90
Domestic Science.
Supplies
19.95
Tuition.
Tuition
419.82
Transportation.
Electrics
550.00
Support of Truants.
Essex County
135.57
Janitor Service.
High
924.66
Other
3,634.32
4,558.98
9,927.77
Fuel and Light
High.
Coal and Wood .
1,258.12
Gas and electricity
67.20
1
1,325.32
Other.
Coal and wood
3,711.84
Gas and electricity
96.25
3,808.09
5,133.41
Amt. carried forward,
$59,307.56
14
TOWN DOCUMENTS
[Dec. 31
Amt. brought forward,
$59,307.56
Building and Grounds
Interior Repairs.
Carpentry and paint-
ing
535.21
Plumbing
463.20
Masonry
55.75
Electrical
110.23
Glass shades
24.11
Oiling floors .
214.50
Other
15.15
1,418.15
Outside Repairs.
Carpentry and paint-
ing
201.50
Masonry
1.92
203.42
Furniture and Furnishings.
Other
104.70
Janitor's Supplies.
High
7.92
Other
. .
53.78
61.70
Other Expenses.
Diplomas' graduating
expenses
79.29
Water .
430.60
Cleaning vaults
70.00
Express
26.91
All other
13.70
620.50
Amt. carried forward,
$2,408.47
$59,307.56
15
SCHOOL COMMITTEE'S REPORT
1916]
Amt. brought forward, $2,408.47 $59,307.56
Unpaid bills, year 1915
general
59.82
Unpaid bills, year 1915
repairs
35.53
95.35
2,503.82
Total for Education .
$61,811.38
New High School Building
Building and Land.
Architect contract on
account
3,326.48
Advertising bids . 64.38
Building contract on
account
35,071.85
Heating and ventilat-
ing contract on acct. 7,157.00
Land
3,951.72
Expenses and record- ing deed 4.41
Cleaning school build- ing
21.45
Moving coal .
10.00
49,607.29
Smoke Proof Enclosure.
Architect contract 90.56
Contract for enclosure
contract
1,509.44
1,600.00
Total New Building to date .
$51,207.29
16
TOWN DOCUMENTS
[Dec. 31
Report of the Superintendent of Schools
To the School Committee of the Town of Saugus:
The twenty-fourth annual report of the Superintendent of Schools is here presented.
School Sessions
The sessions for the different schools are the same as they were last year, namely, High School, 7.40 to 12.15; Ninth Grade, 12.30 to 4.30; Old School, 8.40 to 1.20; and the other schools, 9 to 12 and 1.30 to 3.30. These sessions have been satisfactory with the exception of the Ninth Grade session. This session has been so short as to eliminate practically all study periods in the school. For some of the pupils of this grade this fact explains partly their un- satisfactory standing. We are expecting a great deal when we think that all pupils of this age and grade will make satisfactory preparation of all their work outside of school.
Home Study
The new building will remedy this condition. For with an eight-period day opportunity for study sufficient for the greater part of the pupils' work will be provided. This does not imply that there should be no home study. It simply means that little home study will be required. Of course the pupil who learns one of the most valuable lessons that the school teaches, intense application to duty, will through interest and zeal in his work find time for home study. He will use every legitimate means possible to gain a mastery of the assigned task. He will soon recognize that lasting and desirable results come only from his own endeavors. Others can not do the work for him, but wise parents and tutors can point the way for him. Shame on
17
SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT
1916]
the school and the teacher that derides the divine obliga- tions of parenthood by forbidding the child to seek any legitimate guidance in mastering the task that has been imposed upon it.
Teachers
The large eighth grade of this year made it necessary to open another room for this grade in the Old School. The large third and fourth grades in the Roby School made it necessary to open there an overflow room for these grades. The necessary enlargement of our entire high school program made it necessary to employ two more teachers in the High School, making an addition of four teachers to our entire teaching force.
What changes have occurred in our teaching force may be seen in the two lists given later in this report. Low salaries in nearly all cases are responsible for these changes.
Transportation
Six hundred dollars for transportation at the present time on the Bay State Street Railway at half fare shows the extent of the lack of school accommodations in the various sections of the Town from which pupils are trans- ported to school. While many towns in this Common- wealth have a transportation bill several times as large as this yet this is a large bill for us. Next September when our school system takes the form which we have adopted for a six year elementary course and a six year secondary course we shall need new rules and regulations for the manage- ment of the transportation problem.
Transportation. to the Junior High School
We have never furnished free transportation to high school pupils because the Town has never maintained at any one time more than one high school. The idea of free trans- portation arose from closing the schools of one district and forcing the children to attend school in another district at a rather long distance from home. In keeping with this idea the children who attend the outlying schools of Lynn- hurst, North Saugus, Oaklandvale and some sections of Cliftondale should be given transportation to the seventh and eighth grades in the new Junior High School.
30
18
TOWN DOCUMENTS
[Dec. 31
Transportation from North Saugus
The transportation from North Saugus at the present time by the Bay State Street Railway is very unsatisfac- tory in more ways than one. After a trial of two years I am convinced that the hardship and the dangers to the pupils are too great for this practice to be continued any longer. The only immediate solution of this problem is for the Town to purchase a suitable barge and hire a com- petent person to take charge of it. By a suitable barge I mean one that is properly closed, heated and ventilated so as to give the maximum of comfort to the children. Such a plan is easily within our means and I believe will prove entirely satisfactory to all concerned. Of course if the seventh and eighth grade pupils do not fill the car the re- maining room should be given to the other high school pupils without charge, preference always being given to the girls and the pupils of the lower classes.
School Accommodations at North Saugus, Lynnhurst and West Cliftondale
In recent years there has been a marked increase in the number of pupils at North Saugus, Lynnhurst and West . Cliftondale. The accommodations in these districts are inadequate and in the near future some relief should be provided in the way of enlarged buildings. The building at Lynnhurst is a modern single room edifice. Another room should be added at once. The buildings at North Saugus and West Cliftondale are two-room structures and are too old to be modernized economically. They are also too small for the communities in which they are located. They should be disposed of in their present condition as ad- vantageously as possible and replaced by modern and adequate structures that will serve the communities for other purposes in addition to that of a school. At least a branch library and community hall could be easily provided in the new structures.
Location of the New North Saugus School
By locating the new building for North Saugus on the side hill south of Hawkes' Corner the congestion at Lynn- hurst and in the lower grades at Saugus Center would be
19
SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT
1916]
relieved. Of course in a growing town like Saugus all new school buildings should be so constructed as to admit of additions without a waste of funds.
Six and Six Plan
Later in this report we present a tentative program of studies for the six year secondary course. If a proper equipment is provided for maintaining this program there is not the slightest doubt but what the best of results will follow.
. That the citizens want such a program is shown by their votes to erect a junior high school and to continue the com- mercial, domestic science and manual training departments.
I would like to discuss this program at much greater length but there are several sufficient reasons why I should not do so at the present time. So, for the present we must content ourselves with its simple presentation.
Other phases of the six and six plan, the age of entrance, the maintenance of schools of the first six grades as near to the homes of the pupils as possible, departmental teach- ing, the elimination of the ninth grade, etc., have been discussed in previous reports.
Junior High School
"For the sake of clearness it is advisable to agree at the outset on a meaning for the term 'Junior High School.' In the first place it is a school to be entered by pupils who have completed the first six grades. This school prescribes for all certain portions of the old upper grade curriculum which it considers essential to American life and citizen- ship. As a rule it provides for boys and girls types of educational activity of distinctive interest to each. Further. it offers to pupils who have no definite aims, limited oppor- tunities for testing, discovering and analyzing themselves and by so doing makes it possible for them in some degree to develop aims. Finally it gives to pupils with definite aims an early start toward the realization of those aims. These characteristics then suggest the following definition for junior high school: It is a school which receives twelve- year-old children as they come from the limited field of a strictly elementary education and offers them an oppor-
20
TOWN DOCUMENTS
[Dec. 31
tunity to develop and test themselves in a wider field of work where choice as well as necessity determines the in-' dividual's course.
"The third characteristic of the junior high school is its recognition of the particular educational needs of the boys and girls as embryonic members of a society in which the place of the sexes is pretty clearly defined. Our coun- try knows no peasant class. The only place clearly con- ceded to married women is in the home. The American people are hardly likely to imitate age-long European custom in harnessing women permanently to the soil and to machinery. The American woman should be like Cor- nelia, a home queen with family jewels. The junior high school makes a clear differentiation of aims in the school work of boys and girls through its organization for manual training and home making courses. Its opponents are far from united against this feature. Many, indeed, heartily approve it, others are willing to accept it reluctantly. Only the thorough-going conservatives oppose it on the ground that the regular high school is the place for this differen- tiation or on the ground that there is too much need of drill on English essentials in the upper grades to permit any allotment of time to the new subjects. On the whole the battle along this line seems to have been pretty fairly won by the junior high school." (Extract from Report on Educational Progress in Massachusetts.)
Needs
New walks and improved grounds at the High School.
Playground apparatus for all school grounds.
At least one large athletic field.
A school nurse.
A school dentist.
Some way to humidify the air in the school rooms.
A revised code of regulations for the School Department.
A full time paid clerk to keep the office of the Depart- ment open throughout the day and through vacations. Lockers for all basement cloakrooms.
Adequate accommodations for the Manual Training and Domestic Science Departments. The physical laboratory now occupied by the Domestic Science Department is needed
21
SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT
1916]
for other school work. The Manual Training quarters are too far from the school to give proper correlation with the regular work of the school. If the furnaces and coal bins were removed from the basement in the High School good and well lighted quarters for both of these departments would thereby be provided. The safety of the pupils and the lesser cost of fuel and janitor service also demand the re- moval of the old furnaces.
Another urgent need is adequate accommodations for serving a lunch daily to a thousand pupils at the High School next year. Placing the Domestic Science in the basement will help to supply this vitally important need.
Suitable quarters are needed for the Drawing Depart- ment. Further delay in this matter ought not to be made.
A large study room at the High School. The old Assem- bly Hall seems to be the only place for such a purpose.
Conclusion
To avoid a too voluminous report I have refrained from discussing some of our school problems, although there is much need for such discussion. Instead, the space has been given to various tables and reports not usually found in our school report.
Material progress has been made. No other system of schools in the Commonwealth is giving so much to its pupils at so small a cost as ours. At this time it is fitting that I express my appreciation of the service rendered by all who have in any way by word or deed sought to enhance the welfare of our schools. To the Finance Committee for its thorough investigation of our special departments and its clear and fearless report of the same we express our gratitude. This report of the Finance Committee with its acceptance by the citizens assembled in town meeting is one of the most constructive pieces of work for the better- ment of our schools that has been accomplished in the last decade. Nothing is more salutary for the public school than a just appreciation of its work by the whole communi- ty. Especially would I commend the teachers whose ideals, whose enthusiasm, and whose devotion to their chosen work more than all else determine the standard and the efficiency of the school.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.