Town annual report of Swampscott 1927, Part 3

Author: Swampscott, Massachusetts
Publication date: 1927
Publisher: The Town
Number of Pages: 160


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Particular Sewers


1,000.00


Brooks


1,500.00


$39,517.00


Highways


Highway Administration


$2,600.00


Highway


48,300.00


New Construction


15,000.00


Seal Coating


5,000.00


Street Construction


2,500.00


Street Watering and Oiling


5,000.00


Sidewalks and Curbing


4,000.00


Snow and Ice


5,000.00


Continuous Sidewalks


10,000.00


Lighting Streets


23,500.00


$120,900.00


Charities


Public Welfare


$9,000.00


Soldiers' Benefits:


Soldiers' Relief


5,000.00


State Aid


500.00


Military Aid


700.00


Pensions


6,823.11


$22,023.11


Amount carried forward


$302,461.61


39


SELECTMEN'S REPORT


1927]


Amount brought forward


$302,461.61


Schools and Libraries


Schools School Repairs Library


$156,480.00 2,635.00 6,500.00


$165,615.00


Recreation and Unclassified


Parks


$ 7,500.00


Subordinate Officials


390.00


Memorial Day


500.00


Firemen's Memorial Day


200.00


Heat and Light, G. A. R. Hall


625.00


Heat and Light, V. F. W. Hall


200.00


District Nurse


300.00


Legion Lease


950.00


Trust Fund Custodian's Bond


40.00


Reserve Fund


5,000.00


Printing Town Reports


1,250.00


Insurance


3,000.00


$19,955.00


Enterprises


Cemetery


$4,500.00


$4,500.00


Interest and Maturing Debt


Interest:


Loans in anticipation of revenue


$10,000.00


General Debt


37,200.00


Sewer Bonds


15,850.00


T. B. Hospital Bonds


2,120.00


$65,170.00


Municipal Indebtedness:


General Debt


$13,090.50


Sewer Bonds


7,174.75


T. B. Hospital Bonds


4,000.00


$24,265.25


County of Essex:


Essex Sanatorium assessment


(estimated)


$4,000.00


$4,000.00


Total


$585,966.86


Respectfully submitted, JAMES W. SANTRY, PHILIP W. BLOOD, HOWARD K. GLIDDEN, Board of Selectmen.


40


TOWN DOCUMENTS


[Dec. 31


Town Counsel


To the Board of Selectmen:


Gentlemen: I hereby submit my report as Town Counsel for the year 1927.


During the year I have furnished numerous written opinions to the various departments of the town, attended hearings, taken part in conferences where legal advice was required and attended to all other legal work in which the town was interested.


Various minor claims have been handled and some settled. Suit was brought in behalf of the town against Harold W. Fair- weather, of Gloucester, for causing the death of Joseph R. Burnett in an automobile accident, the family of Mr. Burnett having elected to take compensation from the town, thereby subrogating to the town their rights against Mr. Fairweather. This suit has been set- tled for thirty-three hundred ($3300) dollars, payment of which will be made as soon as necessary papers are executed and de- livered.


Respectfully submitted,


H. D. LINSCOTT, Town Counsel.


41


REPORT OF SCHOOL COMMITTEE


1927]


School Committee-1927


No School Signal


Two double strokes on the fire alarm, 2-2. Street lights turned on for five minutes.


7.20 A.M. No school in the junior or senior high schools.


7.50 A.M. No session in grades I to VI inclusive.


IMPORTANT: If the signal is not given at 7.20, but is given at 7.50, sessions of school will be held in the junior and senior high schools and no school in grades I to VI inclusive.


School Calendar-1928


Winter term begins


Tuesday, January 3


Winter term closes


Friday, February 17


Spring term begins


Monday, February 27


Spring term closes


Friday, April 13


Summer term begins


Monday, April 23


Summer term closes


Wednesday, June 20


High School Graduation


Thursday, June 21


Fall term begins


Wednesday, September 5


Fall term closes


Friday, December 21


Report of the School Committee


To the Citizens of Swampscott :-


Since its organization early in March, the Committee has met seventeen times for the transacting of school business, the ses- sions lasting from 7:30 to 10:30 p. m.


Our schools rank well with other schools of the State, as evidenced by the Superintendent's report, but the committee be- lieves that we should not be content merely with good schools. Swampscott can afford and should have superior schools.


In the opinion of the school committee the fundamental requi- sites of a superior school system are :-


(1) Superior teaching and all that it implies; (2) A fair minded sympathetic public opinion which appreciates that nothing human is perfect, yet applauds generously every honest. intelligent effort of the educational staff to effect improvement; (3) Superior material equipment in the way of text books, roomy, well ventilat- ed, properly lighted buildings on adequate plots of ground.


Permit us to enlarge on these three fundamentals:


(1) Teaching Staff


During the past year the committee has observed with grati- fication the tendency of our teaching staff to take their profession seriously and to improve themselves therein. The committee has already given considerable time and thought to the question of teachers' salary increases and hopes to work out some system of reward for outstanding and meritorious service which will en- courage our present teaching staff and attract superior teachers to


42


TOWN DOCUMENTS


[Dec. 31


our schools. We have a splendid basis for what is professionally known as "a good school town," and efforts should be made to make our school system increasingly attactive to teachers of a super- ior type. The committee heartily approves such steps as have been taken by the superintendent and his assistants to put into effect the following improvements:


An organic course of study from first grade through high school with indications of objectives in different grades, content, standards of accomplishment, and the like.


A reasonable but unified and effective program of super- vision for all the schools of the town which will keep the teaching up to the educational objectives laid down in the course of study without cramping the initiative or the spe- cial talents of individual teachers.


Co-ordination of work in grades, especially those in Jun- ior and Senior High Grades.


(2) Public Opinion


It is the opinion of the committee that our schools deserve and should have the moral and financial support of the citizens of the town. Intelligent criticism of a constructive nature is al- ways welcome to the open-minded school man or woman, but no school system can expect to thrive in a hostile atmosphere. View- ing the work of the educational staff in the large, the committee feels that the town does not have to apologize for its schools and that our townspeople should commit themselves to a forward looking program of educational opportunities for the children of the community.


(3) Material Equipment


The educational staff is often criticised for conditions arising from causes which are not attributable to the staff at all, but to the inaction or tardy action of the town itself. The situation in the Palmer School district is an example. Here we have a section of the town, paying a substantial part of the town taxes, suffering from inadequate school facilities. The population of the Palmer School area is primarily a public school population. The people in that section, as a class, want to send their children to the public schools and protest the expense and inconvenience of any other arrangement. Yet, if at the opening of the next school year the parents of the Palmer School section should claim their rights, that is, a seat in the public school for every child of proper age, the Palmer School could not meet that claim. The school could accommodate about two-thirds of the number who have the right under the law to a seat in school.


An examination of the superintendent's report will disclose other needs which are considered essential in modern methods of education.


School fires are tragic things, whether or not there is loss of life. The failure of many a child throughout his school life is traceable to the interruptions and make-shifts in his education caused by a burning of a school building. Therefore, every effort should be made to protect our school property from fire. The com- mittee advises the town to consider the installation of efficient fire prevention equipment, such as automatic sprinklers, especialy in the newer buildings.


Supervision


Some two and a half years ago Swampscott entered into an arrangement with Nahant whereby our superintendent was released


43


REPORT OF SCHOOL COMMITTEE


1927]


one day a week to devote this time to the supervision of the Na- hant schools, with a corresponding saving for Swampscott in the superintendent's salary. Last June, the committee felt that Swampscott again needed the full time services of its superin- tendent, but as Nahant had made its commitments for the ap- proaching school year with the understanding that the joint agree- ment would remain in force, it was palpably unfair to Nahant as well as to the superintendent to dissolve the agreement on such short notice. It was, therefore, voted to continue the arrangement with Nahant for another year, with the understanding that the agreement would be dissolved not later than the end of the present school year, so that after June, 1928, Swampscott shall have the full time services of the superintendent to put into effect our plans for the future.


The High School


In view of the report of the State Supervisor of Secondary Education and the observations of various patrons of the schools, this committee recommends that a committee be appointed at the annual town meeting to make an investigation of the needs of the town with respect to the high school and report to the town at a subsequent town meeting.


The committee wishes again to record its appreciation of the splendid work of the superintendent and the teaching staff and the co-operation which they have accorded the committee at all times.


In closing we call upon all our fellow-townsmen to regard the schools of Swampscott as a prime asset. It would be thoughtless and ungrateful for either the town or this committee to ignore the great amount of constructive work which has been done by committees, superintendents and teachers in the past. In fact, so much has already been done that the present committee aims merely to bring to fruition seeds that have been planted in earlier years. Yet, however good previous action has been, the present committee cannot be content simply to keep the past secure; it would fail in its duty if it did not arouse the town to the possi- bility of making still greater progress, and urge upon both the towns-people and the educational staff general constructive policies for the attainment of that end.


Respectfully submitted,


JOHN VANNEVAR, Chairman BEATRICE WADLEIGH, Secretary MARION BURDETT GEORGE E. MITCHELL CHARLES W. HOBBS


44


TOWN DOCUMENTS


[Dec. 31


REPORT OF THE SUPERINTENDENT


To the School Committee of the Town of Swampscott:


Ladies and Gentlemen :- It is my privilege at this time to submit my eighth annual report as Superintendent of the Swamp- scott schools. This report is somewhat more brief than others, in accordance with the request of the town fathers that all depart- ments co-operate with them in an effort to reduce the length of the town documents and thus lower the expenses of various re- ports of the town.


During the past twelve months we have suffered thirteen resig- nations from the teaching staff, five occasioned by marriage and the rest for miscellaneous reasons. All our new teachers are graduates of college or normal school and with one exception have at least two years' teaching experience.


It is my belief that in general our replacements have strengthened rather than weakened our teaching staff, though a rate of turnover that would give us a complete change in the teaching staff each five years is one which we should endeavor to reduce.


The report of the School Attendance Officer for the year 1927 shows that of the 134 complaints made by teachers and principals of our schools, 47 were actual cases of truancy, 71 were because of illness, the others for varying reasons. During the entire year there has been but one court case.


In . December 1926, Swampscott participated in what was known as a State-wide Arithmetic Test, conducted by the School of Education at Boston University and carried on in 103 Massa- chusetts cities and towns. On that day over 110,000 children, from grades five, six and seven, were given a written examination in the four fundamental processes with whole numbers, simple operations with fractions and business situations. The tabulations are too lengthly to appear in an abbreviated report, but briefly are as follows: In ten of the fifteen subdivisions of the examina- tion, Swampscott children were above the State average, in five of the subdivisions below the State average, while in grades six and seven, Swampscott averages were above that for the State in all the subdivisions, except that of business situations. An average of all the examinations taken by our children was several percent. higher than the State average.


An examination of the scores obtained by the children of our fifth and sixth grades in the Stanford Achievement Tests, given in the spring of 1927, shows that the children of these grades ranked above the normal score in reading, arithmetic, history, language and spelling, falling below by a small margin only in science, a subject which receives less emphasis in the Eastern part of our country than in the West, where most of the normal scores were figured. It seems reasonable to state, then, that the work of our elementary grades ranks well with that of other school systems. not only within the State but in the country at large.


In June, 1927, pupils from the Swampscott High School took college board entrance examinations in twenty-five subjects, passed in nineteen of these and failed in six. A member of that group, Stanley Jordan, who took entrance examinations for Yale Uni- versity, was admitted to the Freshman class and ranked first in his class in the scholastic aptitude test given to all the Freshmen shortly after the college year began. Mr. Jordan was later se- lected by the Scholarship Committee of Yale as recipient of the DePuy Scholarship, one of eight special scholarships awarded each year to the members of the Freshmen Class at Yale "on the basis


45


REPORT OF SCHOOL COMMITTEE


1927]


of their prepartory school record, strength of character, promise and need of financial assistance." This is purely objective evidence that would seem to dispute the statement occasionally heard that Swampscott High School does not prepare for college.


During the calendar year 1927, over half of the members of our teaching staff have taken professional courses of one kind or another, either at Harvard, Boston University or under the direc- tion of the Department of University Extension of the Common- wealth. This is a very creditable showing on the part of our teachers, the more so because we do not subsidize professional im- provement in any way, those teachers who have taken courses having done so through professional zeal. rather than because they received salary increases for work accomplished in this di- rection.


At the present time, we have organized and working on cur- riculum revision the following committees: Senior High School English, Junior High School English, Elementary Mathematics, Elementary Science and Hygiene. To the principals and teachers who are working on these committees much praise is due. They are giving liberally of their time and effort in this constructive work so essential to the proper progress of a school system.


At the close of the school year in June we were confronted with a difficult problem in the Palmer School district. The en- rollment in that school was of such a nature that it was seen that it would be impossible to continue the ola pian of two classes to a room in that building when schools re-opened in September- one additional room was imperative. Several plans to alleviate conditions were considered. one to hire a room in the Neighborhood Club or some other building in that section of the town, another to transport one room of children to some other school. but both of these were abandoned because of the expense involved, and it was finally decided to divide by a temporary partition one of the class rooms in the Palmer School, to make two rooms from one, and to install auxiliary heating and ventilating devices therein, that the health and comfort of the children should be properly maintained, with the result that we have been able to keep within this building all but ten of the children of this school district.


The special repair appropriation of $4,000 voted by the town at the 1927 town meeting was expended for repairs at the High School, after specifications had been drawn up and the work ad- vertised in accordance with the town by-laws. This work included metal ceilings in the rooms and corridors of the older section of the High School building. repainting of fire escapes, a new auto- matic pump for the heating system and many smaller items. To our other buildings we made such nominal and ordinary repairs as are yearly necessary, except that at the Hadley School a special task was performed in repointing some of the brick work and re- placing artificial lime stone which had begun to deteriorate. The amount allowed for this latter task was not sufficient to complete it and we contemplate additional work in this direction in 1928.


Looking Towards the Future


The most pressing of, our problems for the solution of which we are looking to the future has to do with the housing situation in the district now served by the Palmer School. It is not neces- sary to review at this time the efforts of the School Department to secure additional rooms in this section. The situation in which we find ourselves today has been forseen for several years, and earnest efforts have been made to avoid congestion or transferring


46


TOWN DOCUMENTS


[Dec. 31


of pupils from their natural elementary school districts. At present the situation in the Palmer School is briefly as follows:


There are still housed in that building the six elementary grades of the Phillips Beach and Beach Bluff sections of the town in a building originally of four rooms, but, as explained above, now temporarily arranged so that three full sized class rooms and two small class rooms are available for instructional purposes. By this expedient, we have a room for each of the first four grades and have continued this year to have the fifth and sixth grades combined in one room with one teacher.


Another year owing to the size of the present fourth grade it will be most undesirable, if not impossible, to have the fifth and sixth grades together, and we shall doubtless find it neces- sary to transfer the sixth grade as a unit to some room now va- cant in one of our other buildings. This will be a matter of ex- pense to the town, as well as a source of inconvenience and pos- sible anxiety to the parents of those children who must be trans- ported.


It is greatly to be hoped that the report of the building committee appointed at the last annual town meeting to bring in recommendations for additional school housing facilities in this part of the town will receive favorable and prompt attention on the part of the citizens of the town, so that by September, 1929, all elementary school children who rightly belong in this district may be accommodated here. There is appended below the enroll- ment in the Palmer School by grades and rooms, as of Novem- ber 1, 1927, also figures showing the enrollment in the same school on that date for the past ten years.


Palmer School Enrollment By Grades, November 1, 1927


Room 1, Grade 1


23


Room 2,


Grade 2


35


Room 3,


Grade 3


23


Room 4,


Grade 4


31


Room 5,


Grades 5 and 6 37


Total enrollment 149


Palmer School Enrollment, November 1


1918


127


1923


136


1919


131


1924


133


1920


125


1925


134


1921


118


1926


137


1922


124


1927


149


No one interested in the progress of education in Swampscott could make any report concerning its schools without referring particularly to the High School. Other reports in this series have called attention to certain very obvious conditions in the location, equipment and possibilities for good secondary education in the present high school building. It is not desired to repeat unduly that which has been written before. However, let us quote at this time from an unprejudiced educator who had occasion to visit the Swampscott High School during the past year. On September 27, Mr. Frank P. Morse, Supervisor of Secondary Education for the State, spent the school day in the High School and a portion of his report concerning the visit follows:


"I am very glad to say that I found the school in good con- dition. The spirit and discipline of the school appeared to be very good. I am not able to make a good report with regard to the High School building. The room used for the library is altogether


47


REPORT OF SCHOOL COMMITTEE


1927]


too small, and in passing let me say that the number of books is far below the minimum that was set by the regulations of the New England Colleges and Secondary Schools in 1921. The work in Household Arts in the building is very poorly housed. The room is inadequate for regular school work. The accommodations for the lunch counter are very inadequate indeed. There is not room enough for the work in Manual Training. A school as large as Swampscott High School ought, in my opinion, to provide for some form of Manual Training besides woodworking. This is im- possible under present conditions.


"It is very difficult for me to say how the defects pointed out above can be remedied without the construction of a new high school building or a very substantial addition to the present build- ing, together with the making over of much of the interior of the building. I am sure from my observation and experience that the school will continue to be handicapped while it is obliged to work under present conditions."


While on this subject, may I quote from the report of our High School Principal who comments as follows on several problems pertinent to the welfare of this school:


"Attendance-A high percentage of attendance and a low percentage of tardiness are among the best criteria by which to evaluate the efficiency of a school.


"Last year our percentage of attendance was 95.67, and there were 1.6 tardinesses per pupil. Both are unsatisfactory. In a school of this size the percentage of attendance should not fall below 97, and the number of tardinesses should not exceed one to every five pupils.


"Such an objective is attainable, but its accomplishment re- quires the co-operation of parents and pupils and their dedication to the proposition that education is the most important business of youth.


"Regularity in attendance is essential to successful work in school, and no absence, unless on account of personal illness, should be allowed by parents.


"Economically, it is wasteful to operate the school at less than full pupil power, and educationally it is fatal to a high standard of achievement.


"A school, although primarily a social institution, is at the same time a business enterprise, and should be regarded in that way by all who are concerned in its welfare and product.


"Public Sentiment-Like a church, a town, a business cor- poration, or any other human organization, a school will rise no higher than the ideals of those who are responsible for it. Hence the prevailing attitude of the community must be one of confi- dence, friendliness and co-operation, if pupils are to have faith in their undertaking, loyalty to the institution, and a willing and persistent spirit of work, all of which are vital to the right type of school.


"After all, success or failure in school is an individual matter, and a hearty, loyal public spirit establishes such a favorable en- vironment that the oncoming child becomes saturated with its morale, and is encouraged, if not obligated, to do his best.


"The scholastic record of its graduates and the type of citi- zenship displayed by them in making their adjustments in our complex society, entitle the Swampscott High School to the con- fidence, co-operation, and whole-hearted support of the citizens of the town.


"Not only have I found nothing inherently wrong in the High School, except the physical conditions of the building, but I have been impressed with the spirit of both pupils and teachers.


48


TOWN DOCUMENTS


[Dec. 31


"The citizens of Swampscott may justly have a feeling of real pride in their High School.


"Practical Arts-The most acute problems of the school are those which have to do with the building and with the proper housing and equipment of the department of pratical arts. The shortcomings of the building have been emphasized by Mr. Morse of the State Department of Education, and further comment by me along the same line would be superfluous. There is, however, a phase of the building problem which is directly connected with the proper organization and administration of the practical arts curriculum.


"Swampscott needs to expand the work offered in practical arts, if the high school is to make an effectual attempt to meet the abilities, needs and desires of an increasing number of boys and girls who have no interest in either academic or commercial subjects.




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