USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Swampscott > Town annual report of Swampscott 1916 > Part 11
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After considerable study and due consideration your Committee decided to adopt a step which has been taken in other places where the system has prevailed-to abolish the semi-annual promotion system that has obtained for several years and establish a Junior High School composed of the seventh and eighth grades and the freshmen class of the High School. By this step your Committee is able to make a substantial saving in the expenditures for the teaching force, particularly in the High School, where the influx of two classes a year has necessitated more teachers than other- wise would have been necessary. By abolishing this division of classes throughout the school system it is also expected to concentrate greater efficiency. With this accomplished your Committee has been able to estimate a need of only 4 per cent increase over its appropriation of last year, though the attendance is increasing at the rate of from 7 to 8 per cent a year and materials used in the schools have advanced from 20 to 100 per cent.
Notwithstanding the demands for economical administration there has been no deviation from the purpose of maintaining a high standard in the educational part of the work. Tbe schools were never working more
97
SCHOOL COMMITTEE'S REPORT.
1916]
harmoniously nor producing better results than they are now. This has been in a large measure due to the never flagging interest of the superin- tendent, who has had the loyal, unstinted co-operation of the principals and teachers in promoting the best interests of the schools.
While a great many of the townspeople show a warm interest in the progress of the schools, there is a large element who gave them little or no attention. It should be remembered that a high grade of efficiency in the schools can be maintained only through the cooperation of the parents with the school authorities. Efforts to give the children a full measure of benefit are oftentimes partially defeated by the attitude of a parent who fails to support policies which have been established for no other purpose than that his child and other children may enjoy to the best advantage educational facilities from which the child must emerge in a comparatively few years to take up the more serious duties of life.
The schools here and elsewhere are conducted for the greatest good of the greatest number. No other policy can be carried out with any degree of success. It is not unreasonable to demand of a child that he conduct himself in accordance with such rules and regulations as have been established for proper and adequate discipline. Neither is it unreasonable to ask a parent to recognize the constituted authorities and to give them his support, to the end that the educational system may be enabled to give to the children of the town the instruction for which the people pay and which they have a right to demand, shall be given. A partial, haphazard system of discipline, revamped from time to time to meet the emergency of a dissatisfied parent who has failed to thoroughly investigate an act affecting his child, can result in nothing else than disorganization and an ultimate collapse of the entire school system.
Your School Committee would urge every parent to make frequent visits to the schools, to consult with teachers and principals with regard to their children. No complaint of a child, if it is taken seriously, should be allowed to drop until his teacher or principal has been seen. An attitude of indifference is just as unfair to both as a complaint against the teacher or principal without having secured the viewpoint of both. Both principals and teachers welcome the visits of parents. They know that a close relationship between them must result in a better understanding and closer cooperation. The teachers as a whole are a loyal group of men and women devoted to their work, ambitious to give the children the best that is in them, anxious to please the parents and keen in their appreciation of public support. In closing, your committee desires to express its thanks to the townspeople for the confidence they have shown in voting the necessary funds to properly carry on the school work, the educational details of which will be found in the report of the superintendent.
Respectfully submitted,
EDWARD TILLOTSON, Chairman. ARTHUR W. STUBBS, ROBERT F. KIMBALL.
98
TOWN DOCUMENTS.
[Dec. 31
REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE
To the Members of the School Committee :
Following is a statement of the expenditures of the School Department for the year ending December 31, 1916, as represented by the bills approved and sent to the Town Accountant :
GENERAL EXPENSES.
School Committee
$579 53
Superintendent
3,062 44 .
EXPENSES OF INSTRUCTION.
Supervisors
5,236 50
Salaries-Principals
$2,080 00
$2,800 00
Salaries-Teachers
10,955 75
20,261 14
Text Books
459 40
732 31
Supplies
854 34
699 71
EXPENSES OF OPERATION.
Janitors
1,070 00
2,840 00
Fuel
1,385 48
1,575 09
Mis. Operating Expense
577 97
1,040 55
EXPENSES OF MAINTENANCE.
Repairs
496 75
924 51
AUXILIARY AGENCIES.
Libraries
10 55
Health
155 00
Transportation
300 00
MISCELLANEOUS EXPENSES.
Sundries
1,290 61
EXPENSES OF OUTLAY.
New Equipment
631 78
Totals
$11,266 41
$17,879 69
$30,873 31
Total appropriation
. $60,000 00
Total expenditure
60,019 41
Overdraft
$19 41
Respectfully submitted,
ARTHUR W. STUBBS,
Secretary.
General.
High.
Elementary.
99
SCHOOL COMMITTEE'S REPORT.
1916]
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS.
To the School Committee of the Town of Swampscott:
GENTLEMEN : - In my last annual report, I discussed three important problems in the policy of the school department. They were :
First : The need of school accommodations based on a study ot direction of growth in the schools.
Second: The advisability and possibility of introducing the Junior High School system as part of our educational policy.
Third : The justification of various units of cost in our schools as compared with other years and also with other towns of the same class.
The beginning of the new year finds these issues still paramount in our consideration. Accordingly in the following report I shall review these problems, Ist, to show what has been accomplished in the directions indicated a year ago; 2nd, to suggest what steps are immediately neces- sary in the carrying out of our policy ; 3rd, to recommend changes in our policy wherever the facts seem to indicate that such changes are advisable.
School Accommodations.
This question received thorough attention during the last year, both from the Superintendent and the investigations of the School Committee and also a Building Committee, appointed at the town meeting, to con- sider the immediate needs of the town with respect to school accommoda- tions. The conclusion of all these investigations may be summarized as follows :
The large growth at the Hadley School in the past few years has not been so much from the immediate district of that school as from the fact of taking pupils from other sec- tions of the town - chiefly, the upper end of the town, known as the Machon School district, and secondarily from the east end of the town, known as the Palmer School dis- trict. The facts showed that by far the most pressing and immediate needs were school accommodations in the Machon School district. At a special town meeting last fall, a com- mittee was appointed to secure plans and specifications for an eight-room building in place of the present Machon School and to bring in at the next annual meeting a report giving the accurate costs based upon such specifications.
It is highly desirable that this project be in sufficient shape at the annual town meeting so that definite action may be taken. Aside from the question of unsafe and unsanitary quarters, the present fall will find an increase of 14 2.7 per cent in the building, thus bringing it to its capa-
.
100
TOWN DOCUMENTS.
[Dec. 31
city without accommodating the many children in that district who are now going to either the Clarke or the Hadley Schools.
The secondary problem a year ago in school accommodations was the Palmer School district, in the extreme end of the town. It was pointed out at that time that the Hadley School was taking care of the pupils from that district from the fourth grade up. It was pointed out further that the Hadley School could not continue to take pupils from that school, if the district continued to grow, without congesting the fourth grade at the Hadley School. Developments of a year have shown the conditions to be somewhat changed. Instead of showing an increase in the member- ship of that school, a comparison of the fall term statistics shows an average membership in 1915 of 70 and in 1916 of 60. This is a decrease of 14 2.7 per cent. From the standpoint of accommodations, it cannot be said that the situation of that district is at all serious. The accommoda- tions at the Hadley School can be stretched to meet the demands of the fourth grade from the Palmer School for a number of years. The growth of the district, however, would indicate that additional accommodations will have to be provided at the Palmer School within two or three years.
To summarize our policy on school accommodations the event of the the year has shown that the additional accommodations already under way in the Machon School district are necessary immediately, and that additional accommodations in the Palmer School district will be necessary within two or three years.
The Junior High School.
In the report of 1915, I discussed at length the institution known gen- erally as the Junior High School or the Intermediate School. That dis- cussion was the context of our deliberation and thought on this matter for the last three years. As this matter forms the most important part of our educational policy at present, I wish to summarize the definitions and recommendations which were made at that time.
In establishing a Junior High School the present system of four grades in the High School and eight grades in the Ele- mentary School gives way to an elementary school of six years, a junior high school of three years, and a senior high school of three years. In the first six years the aim is to give the pupils all the fundamental processes in arithmetic and to teach them common facility and accuracy in the use of the mother tongue. The work for all pupils in these grades would be alike. Then beginning in the seventh year and through the eighth and ninth years, there would be a slight differentiation in the courses of study for the various types of pupils, increasing with the progress of years. The most sig- nificant feature of this plan is that this change is but slight at first and that enough of the fundamental subjects is given to all pupils in these grades, so that they may change from one group to another without loss of work previously covered. None of the work would be so highly specialized in the Junior High School but that pupils who found that they were not suited to one form of work might enter a form more adapted to their capacity before continuing their chosen form of study in the High School.
1916]
SCHOOL COMMITTEE'S REPORT. IOI
The following details of organization are necessary under such a plan :
Departmental teaching in these grades, promotion by sub- jects rather than by grade and ultimate centralization of the present seventh and eighth grades with the first year of the High School in one building under one administration.
The establishment of an intermediate school in Swamp- scott will not be a radical measure. Neither is it in any way an experiment. The idea is being carried out either in whole or in part in the most progressive communities, not only in the west but in Massachusetts as well.
The introduction of the intermediate school is justified because it is an attempt to solve the problems of the seventh and eighth grades and of the first year of High School; because it does away with the dangerous, abrupt change from the elementary school to High School; because it is adapted to the age of the pupils which it handles ; because it seems to give the proper education to various types of children ; and because it greatly increases the efficiency of the Senior High School.
Conditions locally are favorable toward the gradual adop- tion of such a plan. The 7th and 8th grades of the town have been centralized in the Hadley School during the last two years. The excellent equipment of the large Hadley School building in a central location is another favorable factor.
The conservative amount of addition asked for when the High School was enlarged last year was an indication that the need for a Junior High School was recognized. But the greatest reason for the adoption of this plan here as well as elsewhere is the resulted economy in the administration of this group as well as in the more expensive administration of the Senior High School group, and also the conservation of the varying capacities of the different types of pupils.
The foregoing paragraphs are a summary of the question as it was presented last year. Since then the Superintendent has given a great deal of study to the matter, both in theory and as it is worked out in prac- tice elsewhere. In addition, the matter has been frequently considered at meetings of the School Committee. As a result the School Committee at its first meeting in 1916 voted to adopt this system : namely, six years in the elementary school, three years in the Junior High School and three years in the Senior High School.
As pointed out, we have already adopted in a conservative manner cer- tain essential features in this system. The same policy must be adopted in putting this system into full effect. To install this idea completely in any given short time would be inadvisable. £ If the details are carried out as opportunity offers, the ultimate cost of instruction in the High School will be lowered. An abrupt change of this sort would cause confusion among the pupils and result in inefficiency in teaching.
Accordingly I submit the following policy :
From February, 1917, to June, 1917, that the system remain as now con-
8
102
TOWN DOCUMENTS.
[Dec. 31
ducted, with this exception, that the pupils who graduate from grade eight in February remain in the Hadley School building and have the usual High School subjects which they would have taken had they become freshmen in the High School.
From September, 1917, to June, 1918, that the schools be organized as six grades in the elementary school, three in the Junior High School and three in the Senior High School. The elementary grades are to cover the common school subjects, paying particular attention to proficiency in the use of the mother tongue and in the fundamental processes in arithmetic.
That in the Junior High School, Class I, now the present seventh grade, remain as it is with departmental work.
That in Class 2, now called the eighth grade, for 70 per cent of the time all pupils will have the same subjects in the common school branches.
That for 30 per cent of the time their work be differentiated from a standpoint of what course they may take in High School or whether they go to High School at all. That is, for 30 per cent of the time, they will be given some work in either an academic course, including a modern language, or in a commercial course or in a practical arts course.
That in Class 3, now known as the first year in High School, that 50 per cent of the time be given to all pupils to common school branches in the fundamental subjects. That for 50 per cent of the time they be given differentiated work from a standpoint of what course they may take in High School or whether they go to High School at all, carrying out to a further degree the courses suggested under Class 2.
As to the Senior High School, for the next few years it will remain practically as it is, except that in September, 1917, to June, 1918, there will be but three classes. In the Senior High School, the course of study will be so administered as to properly prepare for commercial life or to prepare pupils for Normal Schools or Colleges, as at present.
Cost of Our Schools.
Last year an extension study of the units of costs in our schools was made. A comparison was made with the preceding year, in order to indi- cate whether costs per unit were increasing or decreasing. This was done, not to justify what we were doing, but rather to shape our policy in this direction on facts.
A similar table is given below for the fiscal year just closed. Consider the most important conclusions on the various items of a year ago, in order to see if by comparison with this year we have profited by recom- mendations then made and to see how the present tendencies in costs may effect our policies.
1916]
Statement of Costs for the Fiscal Year, 1916. A COMPARISON WITH THE YEAR 1915.
1915.
1916.
Decrease.
Increase.
Per Cent
I. Average Membership .
2. Amount expended for the support of Schools
$4,068 17
7.2%
3. Average Membership of High School .
23
8.7%
4. Average Membership of Elementary Schools
1,070
29
2.8%
5. Total cost per unit of average membership
$42 85
$44 19
$1 34
3.1%
6. Cost of conducting High School per unit of Average Membership
66 65
69 87
3 22
4.8%
7. Instruction cost in High School per unit of Average Membership
52 75
56 52
3 77
7.1%
8. Cost of books and supplies in the High School per unit of Average Membership
6 36
4 56
$1 80
28.%
9. Instruction cost in Elem. Schools per unit of Average Membership
22 60
23 41
81
3.6%
. IO. Cost of books and supplies in Elem. Schools per unit of Average Membership .
2 02
I 34
74
38.5%
II. Appropriation asked, 1917-$62,400 Expended, 1916
60,019 41
$2,380 59
3.9%
12. Average Membership for January, 1917-1,398. For January, 1916
1,34.5
53
4. %
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
1,306 $55,951 24 265 1,041
1,358 $60,019 41 288
52
4. %
SCHOOL COMMITTEE'S REPORT.
103
I04
TOWN DOCUMENTS.
[Dec. 31
The rates of change from 1915-16 shown here might be construed for the most part to aid in illustrating almost any explanation that might be ventured. Comment thereon may be summarized as follows : Unit total costs of education in our schools have increased by from 2 per cent to 4 per cent. Doubtless such an increase might be expected in these days of greatly increased costs of all forms of material and labor.
Returning to the discussions of these items a year ago, the following significant statement is found :
"Item Number 10 (also Number 8) shows that 14 per cent more has been spent for books and supplies in the elementary schools. Part of this increase is explained by the fact that a new grammar was introduced in the seventh and eighth grades, and also by the fact that Manual Training and Domestic Science has been extended further into the lower schools. However, the size of this increase is not in propor- tion to the effect that these causes should produce. Greater care must be used during the coming year to decrease the amount of this unit."
In the face of this recommendation it is at least gratifying to refer to items Number 8 and Number 10 and find that the attempt to lower this unit has been successful to the extent of a reduction of 28 per cent per pupil in the High School and 38 per cent per pupil in the grades. I know that the committee and the townspeople will recognize that princi- pals and teachers must have used great effort, in the face of increased prices on paper and books, to have brought about this result.
Referring again to the discussion last year this even more significant comment was made :
"Item Number 7 shows that the instruction in the High School costs $1.35 per pupil more, or 2.6 per cent more than it did the previous year. This is explained by the fact that more teachers have to be added on account of the system of semi-annual promotion in the High School. As long as this system obtains this per capita cost will continue to increase."
The table preceeding shows this prediction to hold true for the past year. Item Number 7 shows an increase in the cost of instruction in the High School of $3.77 per pupil, or an increase of 7.1 per cent. Item Number 9, which covers cost of instruction in the grades, increased by 3.6 per cent.
The reason for these per capita increases continues to be mainly the system of semi-annual promotion in our schools.
This condition has been evident to the committee for some time, but when the per capita costs were considered by making out the budget for 1917 the situation became so clear that the committee voted to abolish the system of semi-annual promotions. It is certain that this action for this year will take $3,000 from what would have been absolutely necessary for salaries of additional teachers during 1917. Further than that in subse- quent years the per capita cost of all instruction in our schools will tend to be less than in the last two or three years.
Primarily, the return to the annual promotion practice must be con- sidered as a move for the sake of more economical administration. Properly administered in an urban department, the semi-annual system
105
SCHOOL COMMITTEE'S REPORT.
1916]
must be considered as progressive policy. But in a small town the advan- tages are outweighed by the excessive cost of operation and the large amount of time required of teachers for the routine work of reports, pro- motions and the organization of class room work, which should more appropriately be given to the teaching of children.
Department Reports.
In the past the custom has been for various principals, supervisors and auxiliary officials of the department to submit reports which have been appended to that of the superintendent. These have been omitted this year at your direction. The report of the superintendent aims to cover the essential matters and embodies the recommendations of subordinates in so far as they have bearing on the policy of the committee.
It has been customary to print in the annual report, certain statistical information which may be of value to the committee and of interest to the citizens. Such tables, together with graduation programs, will appear as appendices to the report. It is hoped that statistics that are agreed on as being of professional value, or in the interest of research, may be compiled uniformly and published by the State Board of Education.
Conclusion.
In concluding this report, I have in mind certain ambitions for our schools which the various members of the committee have had during my five years of service with you. I believe that for the first time in that period we now have those ambitions embodied in the platform upon which we are working. It is gratifying to know that the committee share this opinion. But in order that our whole educational structure may be developed beautifully and efficiently, it is most necessary that the faith of the community in the work we are doing shall be more strong. This will come about only by standing firm on the ground we have attained. Then I believe that the parents of the town will cordially uphold our position on our established policies of organization of teaching and discipline. We believe that that would be a grand thing for the children of Swampscott.
In the preceding paragraphs I have used many times the phrase, " the policy of the committee." Your platform may be expressed in different ways on various topics. But it seems to your superintendent that by and large it may be defined as-
" The educational welfare of the children of Swampscott at the most reasonal expense."
You have considered many suggestions which, if adopted, would be educationally expedient. But in testing every proposition by the question of legitimate expense you choose the middle course found so safe by him who once attempted wings.
This safe course provides a comfortable atmosphere in which to work on educational problems, and I am sure that this feeling is shared by all who are under your direction in this educational task.
WILLARD M. WHITMAN,
Superintendent of Schools.
106
TOWN DOCUMENTS.
[Dec. 31
APPENDIX A. Census and Attendance Statistics.
SCHOOL YEAR, SEPTEMBER, 1915, TO JUNE, 1916.
Number of boys 5 years of age or over and under 16
671
Number of girls 5 years of age or over and under 16
601
Total
.
. 1,272
Number of boys 5 years of age or over and under 7
120
Number of girls 5 years of age or over and under 7
. IIO
Total
230
Number of boys 7 years of age or over and under 14
446
Number of girls 7 years of age or over and under 14
· 405
Total
851
Number of boys 14 years of age or over and under 16 Number of girls 14 years of age or over and under 16
. 86
Total
191
Total enrollment in the schools
1,436
High School enrollment
289
Elementary School enrollment .
1, 147
Average membership
1,362
Average daily attendance
1,288
Per cent of attendance
· 94.5
APPENDIX B. SCHOOL ATTENDANCE, FALL TERM, 1916. ALL SCHOOLS.
Average Membership
Average Attendance
Per cent of Attendan e
September
1,292*
1,267
98.1
October
1,378
1,321
95.5
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