USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Saugus > Town annual report of Saugus 1951 > Part 4
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Audio-Visual Aids
In the budget there are two small items for audio-visual edu- cation. Since the beginning of teaching audio-visual aids have been used by good teachers. For generations instructors have realized that verbal, discussions, recitations and reading of the printed page became more interesting, more real to the pupil when supplemented by charts, maps, globes, field trips, pictures and models. The value of the motion picture as a teaching device has been generally accepted for many years. However, as late as 1935, only four percent of the schools were equipped with pro- jectors and only ten percent by 1940. World War II gave the first real impetus in the use of these teaching tools. With lavish use of
SCHOOL COMMITTEE REPORT
the unlimited funds at its disposal, the Government purchased all equipment necessary for quickly training war personnel. The speed with which trainees learned when audio-visual equipment was used was amazing. The War thus advertised the effectiveness of such teaching. Today we are in a better position to make use of audio-visual aids than ever before due to the realization on the part of the general public of the value of the method and due to the increasing number of devices available. Years ago teachers were limited to blackboard chalk, aquaria, bulletin boards, car- toons, charts, clues, comics, costumes, creative achievements, dancing, dioramas, demonstrations, furniture, trips, graphs, illus- trated talks, animals, plants, miniature stage sets, modeled figures, murals, nature specimens, objects, phonographs, relics, sand box scenes, stamps, story-telling, tableaux, and visits to farms, fac- tories and zoos. Gradually, these devices have been augmented by the stereopticon, the opaque projector, the film strip and film slide projector, the silent motion picture, the sound motion pic- ture, the wire recorder, the tape recorder, the phonograph, the radio and now television.
It is generally recognized that all of these devices are sup- plemental. They individually and collectively cannot be used to educate a child. Their function rather is to aid in making the traditional means of instruction more effective.
To embark upon a program to intensify the use of visual and auditory aids involves two things - a teaching staff trained in their use and the availability of materials and equipment. To achieve the first goal Dr. Abraham Krasker, staff expert of Bos- ton University will conduct a course in Saugus of sixteen, two- hour lessons beginning the last week in February. This training, given outside of school hours, will be open to all Saugus teaching personnel on a voluntary basis. Emphasis will be placed on learn- ing how to use such devices as motion picture projector, film strip and film slide projectors, wire and tape recorders, and the opaque projector. Teachers will receive instruction in making and using slides. They will be shown how to splice films. They will learn how to use a motion picture in such a manner that real learning will result, so that it will not be merely entertainment, so that it will broaden and deepen the learning received from the printed page. The course is designed to be practical instead of theoretical.
An inventory of equipment has been taken. There is on hand, due to the efforts of individual Parent-Teacher Associations, fund raising drives on the part of children, and from School Com- mittee funds a limited amount of equipment and a small library of slides and film strips. It is Hoped that from the equipment item in the School Committee Budget funds will be available this year to purchase a film strip projector for each school not already having one.
SCHOOL COMMITTEE REPORT
A volunteer committee under the Chairmanship of Miss. Mary Walsh has been working, cataloging film strips, inventory- ing equipment, seeking lists of free materials, and making a small list of materials to be purchased if the School Committee Budget is approved at the Annual Town Meeting. The members of the Audio Visual Aids Committee including the Chairman, Miss Walsh, Principal, Armitage School, are: Eileen Barry, Grade III, Ballard School; Principal, Richard Lynch, Grade V, Centre School: Marleah Graves, Grade II, Cliftondale School; Mrs. Clara Hinck- ley, Grade III, Emerson School; Mary Lavin, Grade I, Felton School; Mrs. Bertha Schaefer, Grades III-IV, Lynnhurst School; Mrs. Marion Emmett, Grades IV-V, North Saugus School; Mrs. Viola Wilson, Grades I-II, Oaklandvale School; Mrs. Louise Dan- iels, Grade II, Roby School; Mrs. Viola Maclaren, Grade VI, Sweetser School and Gloria Solomita, Grave V, Veterans Memo- rial School. Thus all schools and grades are represented on the Committee which will function as a permanent group. With a small amount from the School Committee Budget each year the program will be of great value to the children of the community during the next few years.
Auto Driving
The School Committee have made provision in the 1952 Bud- get for a live, state-sponsored Auto-Driving Course. The sums involved, three hundred dollars for an instructor and three hun- dred fifty dollars for gas, oil, insurance, registration and gar- aging of a car, is very small when the great value of such train- ing is considered. The car will be sold to the School Committee for one dollar by Hanson Chevrolet, Incorporated, and repur- chased by them at the end of the year for a like amount. It will be delivered with dual controls. In Massachusetts over one hun- dred and thirty towns and cities have already adopted this course as a part of the curricula of their high schools. A large portion of accidents occurr to cars having drivers of ages sixteen to twenty-seven. However, few of these are operators who have re- ceived certificates from a school-sponsored Auto-driving course.
Books and Supplies
Since 1948 the cost of scholars supplies has advanced approx- imately twenty per cent. Prices of textbooks have risen accord- ingly. Saugus has approximately four hundred more pupils than in that year. Therefore the budget has been increased in order that our pupils may have the basic texts and necessary supplies.
On September 1951 twelve additional teachers were at work. Ten of these were assigned to the elementary grades, one to the Junior High School and the twelfth to the Senior High School. Of the ten in the elementary schools, six were teachers of the two- platoon grades, the other four assisted in rooms having forty or
SCHOOL COMMITTEE REPORT
more pupils. For the opening of the new Veterans Memorial School two more teachers were engaged. Thus there are four- teen more on the staff for 1952 than during the major portion of 1951. This is directly reflected in the salary budget for 1952. It is basically due to increase in the number of pupils in the schools and not to the fact that a new school to shelter these pupils was built.
Hot Lunch Program
The well-equipped Veterans Memorial School has a large kitchen and a medium sized cafeteria. Here for twenty-five cents over three hundred pupils from the school itself and the adjacent Felton School receive a complete meal each day. For this price pupils receive a hot main dish, milk, salad, vegetable, sandwich, and dessert. Seconds are always available at no extra cost. This is possible only because the Federal Government subsidizes each meal to the amount of nine cents plus free surplus commodities such as vegetables, fruit, dried eggs, and powdered milk. Saugus has a one-session school day. Consequently almost all of the pupils must remain at the school for lunch. Many leave home in the morning after a hastily eaten breakfast. Therefore the hot lunch in the middle of school session both supplements this type of breakfast and replaces the traditional cold lunch. Health is always placed at the head of any list of educational objectives. The hot lunch program is most helpful in building strong bodies.
Grade II - Dorothy Tarrasuik, girl nearest camera, and friends receive first meal at Veteran's Memorial School Cafeteria
SCHOOL COMMITTEE REPORT
In the near future it is planned to prepare meals for the other elementary schools and send them out from the Veterans Memo- rial School kitchen in Vacuum containers. We hope eventually to offer an inexpensive, well-balanced, hot lunch in every school in Town.
We were particularly fortunate to secure the services of Mrs. Lillian Soderstrom .: She had previously served as Cafeteria Director in a similar program for seven years. She has three ex- cellent assistants, chosen from over thirty ladies who offered their services. All salaries and supplies, other than the free Sur- plus ones are paid for from the daily twenty-five cent fees of the pupils. Parents are invited to observe the program in action.
School Admission vs. School Readiness
For some time pupils have been admitted to Saugus schools at the age of five and one-half years. Such a policy assumes that the child is nearly ready to learn to read. Research workers in the primary field agree that children are most ready to read when they are mentally between six and six and one-half years old. Unfortunately many children who are six chronologically have not reached that age mentally. These children will have a difficult time in the traditional first grade reading program. Many of them will not be ready for reading for another full year. Approx- imately 20% of all children in the first grades in the United States fail in the first grade. In any first grade group there are the bright and the dull, the mature and the immature, the healthy and the frail, the well-fed and the under-fed, the bold and timid, the ones who get along well with others and those socially mal- adjusted. Yet this ill-assorted group come to the first grade teacher and all are expected to follow the same program. It is inevitable that with large classes and no previous kindergarten training that part of this group will fail. Having failed once they are well on their way to a school career in which failure is their lot. In Saugus the average child in the first grade is not old enough to successfully do school work, namely to read. As stated above our average pupil is only 51/2 years old on September first. For his own good he should be six years old. He should at least reach a minimum age of six by November first which is about the time when serious work on reading begins. Therefore I recommend that the School Committee set the entering age of school pupils in Saugus at five years and eight months on or before September first, effective September 1, 1953. The single and only reason being that the average child and all below aver- age are not old enough for first grade attendance before that time.
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SCHOOL COMMITTEE REPORT
Following is a summary of entering age requirements in towns and cities in Massachusetts (1948).
six years old or over 25
five years 11 months 9
five years 10 months 13
five years 9 months 9
five years 8 months
154
five years 7 months 7
five years
6 months
61
five years 5 months 36
five years 4 months 3
five years 3 months
1
five years
2 months 7
five years 1 months
0
five years 0 months
2
four years 11 months
0
four years 10 months
1
Total 328
Towns having kindergartens
66
Towns administering pre-school test .. 88
Towns having a trial period 3
Grade I - Veteran's Memorial School, January 14, 1952
SCHOOL COMMITTEE REPORT
Saugus Schools and the Future
At the present time there are approximately two thousand pupils in grades one through six, five hundred ten in grades seven and eight and seven hundred twenty-five in the Senior High School. To house these pupils there are 67 elementary, 14 Junior High School and 22 Senior High School classrooms. The average number per room in the elementary grades is 30, in the Junior High School 36.4. A brief examination of the present enrollment shows that grades one, two, three, four and five are considerably larger than those immediately higher.
Grades 1
363 319
2 368 3
4 347 319 5 261 6
7
8 263
There is a difference of almost 60 between grades five and six. In September 1953 (a year from next September) the pres- ent fifth grade will reach grade seven, replacing a class with nearly sixty fewer pupils. As stated above, there is already an average of 36.4 pupils per room. If the additional 60 pupils reach grade seven it will increase the number per room by 4.2, or to 40.6 pupils per room. The following September (1954) a still larger class will enter grade seven (there are now 347 in grade four). In that year allowing for a reasonable mortality the com- hined seventh and eighth grades will total 650. Dividing this num- ber into the fourteen classrooms we find 46.4 children per room. Even if such numbers could be instructed the limitations of the size of rooms would prevent such an arrangement. It will prob- ably be necessary to resort to the two-platoon system in grades seven and eight. For some of these pupils it will be their second experience in three years, their first being in 1951.
The first impact of the large post-war classes necessitated the building of the Veterans Memorial School. It was needed in 1949 - it was ready in January 1952. The second impact will be first felt in the Junior High School in 1953, and the third in the Senior High in 1955.
The following survival table illustrates roughly what the situation will be through 1962.
Estimated School Population- Saugus, Mass., 1951 - 1962
BIRTHS
SCHOOL
NUMBER IN
TOTAL ENROLLMENT
Year
Number
Year
Grade 1
Grs. 1-6 Grs. 7-8 Grs. 9-12 Grs. 1-12
1945
323
1951-52
363
1977
510
728
3215
1946
352
1952-53
422
2085
512
758
3355
1947
396
1953-54
475
2207
548
774
3529
1948
354
1954-55
425
2252
628
767
3677
1949
342
1955-56
410
2277
659
825
3761
1950
318
1956-57
382
2296
643
875
3814
1.951
342
1957-58
410
2342
628
924
3894
1958-59
685
962
1959-60
782
968
1960-61
782
1009
1961-62
717
1085
1962-63
688
1120
249
SCHOOL COMMITTEE REPORT
These figures are based on the previous history of the schools of the community. Many factors may change them. However, one overall fact is clear. The present Saugus School Buildings will be totally inadequate to house the school children by September 1953 and the situation will worsen rapidly each year until by 1956 all of the schools of the community, Elementary, Junior, and Sen- ior High Schools will be so over-crowded that good education will be impossible at any of the three levels. Hundreds of Saugus chil- dren will have been robbed of their birthright - the right to an opportunity for success in life equal to those of the boys and girls of other communities.
In addition to the necessity for more space there is need for an expanded program of education in Saugus, not now possible, due to the limitations of the physical plant. In the Junior High School there should be classes in Physical Education for both boys and girls. There should be instruction in Home Economics for girls and Practical Arts for boys. These children will soon be mothers and fathers caring for their own children. Looking forward to that day every girl should receive training as a home- maker and every boy should learn to use his hands.
At the Sweetser Junior High School there is no cafeteria. Sci- ence laboratories are available in neither the Central Junior High School nor the Sweetser School. Facilities in Music and Art are limited.
Following is a list of the deficiencies in the education offered the pupils of the Saugus High School, mainly through the limita- tions of the existing school plant.
1. No Physical Education classes for boys or girls.
2. No sports for girls.
3. No Home Economics for girls.
4. Inadequate shops for boys.
5. Inadequate Physics and Chemistry laboratories.
6. No Biology laboratory.
7. Inadequate assembly and stage facilities. (At present three assemblies are required to seat the whole school.
8. Inadequate health room facilities.
9. Very inadequate library space.
10. Poor natural and artificial lighting.
11. Inadequate space in Cafeteria.
12. Poor rest rooms for teachers.
13. Very poor lighting for mechanical drawing.
14. Outworn heating plant.
15. Inadequate study hall - pupils must study in rooms in which classes are being conducted.
16. Music rooms are small cubicles.
17. No provision for Audio-Visual education.
SCHOOL COMMITTEE REPORT
Consequently Saugus must have more classrooms for its chil- dren because of both space and curriculum needs. If a building project is begun in March 1952 it would not be completed before September 1954 possibly as late as 1955. From the standpoint of State Aid the town qualifies for the 50% maximum. The State will pay one-half of all approved costs except interest on bonds and cost of site. The School Building Assistance Commission will even share in the cost of an Educational Consultant. It is true that the situation could be temporarily relieved by the building of more elementary schools, allowing present facilities to be con- verted to Junior High School uses. It would not solve the prob- lem in the High School which will become acute in 1955. The construction of a Junior High School would also temporarily re- lieve all three levels. It would improve the Junior High School situation but it would help neither the later over-crowding or curriculum in the Senior High School. The only feasible solution that will help all levels of education and serve as a basic step in future growth is the construction of a new Senior High School. If completed in 1954 it would remove the 750 pupils from the present High School freeing 22 rooms for other purposes. The 650 pupils in grades seven and eight could be assigned to the present Central Senior High School building allowing 34 pupils per room. Nineteen of the twenty-two rooms would be immedi- ately in use. The 12 rooms in the Central Junior High School and the six rooms at the Sweetser School, now used by Junior High School pupils, would be free for use by elementary school pupils. Thus if a Senior High School is built, it will directly make space available for; 1000 Senior High School, 750 Junior High School, and 2700 Elementary pupils. To undertake this task requires cour- age. It demands faith in the future of Saugus, which is to say "America". It requires a determination that our children shall have a better opportunity for success and happiness in life than we did. Our ancestors, whether they were immigrants of the May- flower period or of a later day, had courage. The first of these faced the ocean in a tiny vessel. Beyond them lay the unbroken wilderness peopled only by savages. With rough tools they cut the trees, built rude huts and planted their few seeds. Many died but a few survived. Succeeding generations came to this country, some in the holds of great vessels. Their resources were meager. They worked as laborers for food and clothing. All of these early and later immigrants had some things in common: willingness to work, eagerness to sacrifice and above all faith in the future.
If we are to have good schools for our children we too must make sacrifices and have faith. One of the first things our ances- tors did was to build a school. They were engaged in a life and death struggle to secure food and to hold off disease. Their prob- lems three hundred years ago were far greater than ours today. May we do as well by our children as they did by us.
SCHOOL COMMITTEE REPORT
Following are the reports of other members of the school staff and some important tables and charts. It is regretted that space did not permit printing the reports in full.
During the past six months I have found everyone connected with the schools to be most helpful. The Parent-Teachers Associa- tions, the members of the School Committee, teachers and prin- cipals, all members of the schools' personnel have been most co- operative. During July former Superintendent Evans and I worked together. I should like to express my appreciation for his generous and whole hearted aid in familiarizing me with the Saugus Schools.
J. J. MORGAN
Report of High School Principal
At your request I am presenting my annual report as Prin- cipal of Saugus Central Junior High and Senior High Schools. This is my seventeenth such report. In this brief report I shall give my philosophy, the outstanding accomplishments for the year 1951, and what I consider to be the needs.
"Our country has the capacity and resources for world leader- ship. To succeed in this responsibility, our nation should remain strong in the following characteristics:
(1) Technical skill and productive capacity.
(2) Economic stability for all citizens.
(3) Common loyalty to democracy.
(4) Freedom of thought and expression.
(5) An understanding of the people of the world.
(6) Health, energy, integrity, and the will to work.
If our country is to be strong in these characteristics, all individuals in our society should be educated to the full extent of their capacity. We should require all youth to remain in school until high school graduation, and it is our duty to provide the type of education to meet present day needs. We must have teachers who will focus their attention on the whole child not just subject matter."
It is very easy for any one who has been connected with one school system for sixteen years to get into a rut and fail to pro- vide the leadership that is so badly needed. I hope that is not so in my case. When it comes to stating what has been accomplished during the past year one wonders about this matter. We did have an outstanding band concert in April. This concert was held at the Lynn City Hall Auditorium before a capacity audience. In June our graduation program was one of the best that we have had during my term of office. The choral selections were especi- ally fine. In the late fall we held an Open House for parents and
SCHOOL COMMITTEE REPORT
friends. The program was so arranged that parents could attend their children's classes. This function was very well attended and we received many fine compliments about it. Just before school closed for the Christmas vacation we held our annual Christmas Cantata. A large group of boys and girls making up the combined School Glee Clubs gave an outstanding program. This was by far the best musical program that has been given since I have been principal here.
It is always a pleasure to receive letters from such colleges as Trinity, Harvard, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology telling us how well prepared our graduates are who are attending these institutions. Such letters came during this past year.
The young people of today live in world vastly different from the one children grew up in back when I first started teaching school. Added to the influences of these times, are among other things, radio, television and a new kind of newspaper which has to compete with these new communication devices. It is much more difficult today for the high school teacher to cope with the effects of outside influences upon the minds of their pupils than it was for the teachers of a generation ago.
Are we meeting the present day needs of our young people here in Saugus? I certainly feel that we are not. Saugus young people are not getting the kind of education that they should because we do not have the proper facilities in our out-moded buildings to meet these needs. We do not have a physical educa- tion program for either the boys or girls. We do not have home economics classes for the girls. Our science laboratories are very inadequate. Our assembly hall is too small to accommodate the entire school. Our school library does not meet the requirements of the State Board of Education. Our industrial arts program needs to be enlarged. We should offer new courses that will bet- ter meet the needs of our young people who are not going to college.
We should act at once. We have "missed the boat" too many times in the past.
JOHN A. W. PEARCE.
Report of Director of Guidance
The fundamental philosophy of the department is that its function is to work assiduously toward the optimum adjustment of the pupil. It is considered that the work of the department is not complete until the individual pupil has assumed the responsi- bility of directing his own activities. That is, that optimum adjust- ment involves self-direction, self-discipline, and self-realization.
SCHOOL COMMITTEE REPORT
The basic objectives of the department may be considered to be three-fold. First, assist the student in meeting various problems of a personal, social, vocational, and educational nature as they come up in his school life. Second, assist the student in the deter- mination, analysis, and understanding of his interests, aptitudes, abilities, limitations, opportunities, and needs. Third, assist the student in the acquisition of sound occupational information in order that he may make wise educational and vocational choices and decisions.
The attainment of these objectives is predicated upon basic assumptions which the department must keep in mind. First, it is necessary to recognize the fundamental psychological concept of individual differences. The entire program is oriented to the idea that each student differs in some respects from each other student, and that these differences are important in attaining optimum adjustment.
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