USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Swampscott > Town annual report of Swampscott 1944 > Part 11
USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Swampscott > Town annual report of Swampscott 1944 > Part 11
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Future developments on this playground area include a suitable locker building for high school teams, a baseball field, a softball lay- out, and a field for field hockey and junior high football. In addition, it will be possible to provide a small skating area and improved tennis courts.
Maintenance of the fields and improvement of the area demand the attention of three men from early Spring until December 1.
ABBOTT PARK is the third recreational area, consisting of 2.1 acres. This play area was the first playground in town. Today this Park is ideal for small children's play areas and for such sports as badminton, horseshoe pitching, volley ball, etc. Here is the only good- sized skating area available to adults and children alike.
This Park is in bad condition and needs a general overhauling to put it in proper shape to furnish good skating and proper play fa- cilities.
Abbott Park maintenance calls for some 12 man hours each week during the Summer months and the nearly full-time efforts of two men during the skating season to keep the ice scraped and for the night flooding. No such man hours have been put on this Park because we haven't had them to spend on this area.
Future developments on this Park should include the construc- tion of two tennis courts, the placing of a new clay foundation under the skating area, a new system of piping to permit better flooding, a new sod surface for Summer use. The erection of a Utility Building
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[Dec. 31
to furnish toilet facilities and a heated room for skaters should also be included.
BLANEY BEACH, well known to residents and non-residents as a fine swimming beach, is crowded during the Summer. This spot is also the center of a considerable fishing business with fishermen's headquarters at the "Fish House."
We need one man's time the year around here to keep the build- ing and surroundings clean and sanitary. Here again we have been handicapped by too little manpower and have kept a man on this spot only part time.
The remainder of the Parks are purely ornamental and have no recreational facilities nor possibilities.
The Monument Avenue Park area includes the Soldiers' Monu- ment Plot, the Memorial Boulder Plot, the Memorial Flagpole Plot, the rear plot, and Howland Park. The entire area covers 2.2 acres with 1.6 acres in fine lawn, 12,900 square feet in shrub beds, and 9 flower beds of about 1,000 square feet.
A real beauty spot, appreciated by townspeople and visitors alike, we have spared no efforts to keep this Park in good condition. But even here the shrub beds have been neglected somewhat due to lack of labor. We intend to keep two men on this 2.2 acres constantly and not only maintain, but improve the appearance of this area.
Along with Monument Avenue we now, by the vote of the town in 1944, have the maintenance of the grounds of the new Administra- tion Building under our jurisdiction. We are pleased to have this ex- pression of the confidence of the townspeople in us and are glad to accept the responsibility.
There are in all 3 acres on this estate with the exclusion of the buildings. On the lot were 186 trees, some dead, others dying, and many others so injured by hurricanes that they serve as breeding spots for infectious disease.
We have here approximately 825 lineal feet of hedge to be kept trimmed, fertilized, and cleaned out. Much of this hedge is in very poor condition and needs care to be brought back.
There are over 4,000 square feet of shrub beds with some 370 different shrubs in bad shape.
There are over 128,000 square feet of grass to be seeded, loamed, fertilized, watered, and cut.
A survey of the entire estate has been made and from this sur- vey, 5 operational areas have been laid out. All trees have been in- spected by not only Mr. Burk, but also by state and private foresters and all trees in good condition and good location will be retained- all others have been marked for destruction. This work is started and should be finished by Spring. Also a replanting plan has been evolved and approved and some plantings have already been put in place.
We are certain that we can have a great part of this spot in ex- cellent condition by the end of 1945 and that it will match the Monu- ment Avenue plot in beauty.
One man will be assigned to this estate permanently and extra labor will be assigned to him from April to December.
The initial cost of re-landscaping this spot will be the subject of an article in the Town Warrant, but after the first work is done the
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1944]
maintenance on this estate should not be high provided the proper care is given.
In fact, unless we increase our present labor and equipment, no park or playground can be kept in good condition, and eventually we will be faced with a very costly program of replacement of grass, shrubs, and play fields.
ยท Respectfully submitted, JOHN HOMAN, Chairman; FREDERICK C. BURK, RALPH I. LINDSEY, Secretary,; Park Commissioners.
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TOWN DOCUMENTS
[Dec. 31
School Report For the Year Ending December 31, 1944
SCHOOL COMMITTEE, 1944
Edgar U. Burdett, Chairman
LYnn 2-3853
56 Elmwood Road
Marion D. Morse
LYnn 2-2203
Bernard F. Carey
63 Orchard Road
Ralph N. Murray
LYnn 5-0597
Amos E. Russell
LYnn 3-6464
66 Kensington Lane
Regular meeting, second Wednesday of each month.
Superintendent of Schools and Secretary of the School Committee Frank L. Mansur
2 Palmer Avenue LYnn 3-2193
The office of the Superintendent of Schools is open on school days from 8:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M .; Saturdays from 9:00 A.M. to 12:00 P.M.
School Calendar 1945
Winter term begins. Tuesday, January 2
Winter term closes Friday, February 16
Spring term begins Monday, February 26
Spring term closes .Friday, April 13
Summer term begins Monday, April 23
Fall term begins. .Wednesday, September 5
Dedicated to the twelve former students of Swampscott High School who have this year given their lives in the Armed Services of the Nation.
IN MEMORIAM
ALAN BJORKMAN Class of '42
RALPH G. BOYCE.
Class of '38
MORRISON BROWN
Class of '34
THOMAS K. BROWN
Class of '36
GEORGE A. FOSTER
Class of '40
BLAINE KEHOE.
Class of '41
BERNARD LIPSKY
Class of '34
ALAN W. LOWELL.
Class of '40
GERSHON ROSS .Class of '40
KENNETH SAVILLE Class of '37
DONALD WILCOX
Class of '41
THOMAS WADLEIGH
Class of '33
Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori
7 Millett Road
LYnn 3-3693
79 Banks Road
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SCHOOL REPORT
1944]
REPORT OF THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE
The School Committee submits the following report for the year 1944:
Many of the more important matters that have required action by the Committee during the year are covered in the report of the Superintendent of Schools, but some things not there included should be called to the attention of the people of the town for their informa- tion.
The Committee wishes to express its appreciation of the whole- hearted cooperation and assistance rendered by Mr. Timothy J. Ryan, Supervisor of Highways, and Mr. Howard Hamill, Town Engineer, in repaving the Hadley School yard. Mr. Hamill engineered and super- vised the job, and Mr. Ryan lent the assistance of his employees to preparing the sub-surface and drainage. It is due to their efforts that the job could be kept within a reasonable figure.
When the Committee organized for the year, Mrs. Marion Morse, who had been Chairman of the Committee for three terms, announced her desire to retire from this office. Mr. Edgar U. Burdett was elected Chairman in Mrs. Morse's place.
Ever since the organization of the Swampscott Unit of the State Guard, the High School has been used as an Armory. During the year, conferences with Captain Frazier and Mr. Bessom of the Selectmen were held for the purpose of arranging the required facilities for storage of military equipment. The matter was arranged to the satis- faction of all parties. This use of the school facilities has now come to an end, due to transfers of members of the Company to other units.
From time to time during the year the Committee has been glad to grant the use of its auditoriums at cost to local civic organizations. Such grant has been made to the Rotary Club that it might hold a lecture for raising money to publish the "Sculpin," a miniature news- paper which the Club sends to servicemen from time to time; to the Parent-Teachers' Association for its regular meetings; to the Boy Scouts and to the Girl Scouts. One meeting of the Swampscott Wom- en's Club was held at the High School auditorium as guests of the High School, and the American Legion was granted the use of the gymnasium. The High School gymnasium was likewise used during the Winter for evening basketball, though at less convenience than usual to the users due to the difficulty of providing heat. It is hoped that this difficulty has now been eliminated with the return to oil as fuel.
The Committee would note the retirement of Mr. Louis Marino as director of instrumental music instruction. Mr. Marino had been in charge of this instruction since it was first instituted in our schools, but personal advantage led him to resign during the Summer. In Mr. Harvey Davies, the Committee feels that it has a capable suc- cessor to Mr. Marino. The Committee has made known to Mr. Davies its desire to stimulate an increased participation of pupils in instru- mental music, both in the form of the orchestras and the band, which should continue as an organization throughout the year. Mr. Davies has outlined to the Committee his plans and procedures he has in mind, and the Committee has found these most acceptable.
The growth of school population in the Clarke School district and the accompanying shrinking of the Machon School district has led the Committee, after serious consideration, to alter its district boundaries so as to transfer to the Machon School certain pupils not seriously inconvenienced because of distance. The area north of and
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TOWN DOCUMENTS
[Dec. 31
including Bristol Avenue will be considered as in the Machon School district beginning in September, 1945.
For the past few years the Committee has engaged an outside guest speaker for the High School graduation exercises. With the thought that these exercises might provide a more personal touch if members of the graduating class had a greater part in the exercises, the Committee requested the principal of the High School to lay the matter before the officers of the class. Upon the basis of his report, it has been voted to return to the type of exercises formerly in vogue.
The New England Association of Secondary School Principals has made certain recommendations as to the awarding of High School diploma credits towards a war diploma for certain accomplishments in the armed services. The recommendations appear to this Committee to be reasonable and desirable, and the Committee has voted to accept them as a basis for action in case of requests from those in the armed services.
It has appeared recently that in the Junior High School pupils in grade Nine have had some diffculty in making elections of studies as they desired because of program conflicts. To overcome this difficulty, the Committee has authorized the establishment of a class for begin- ners in Latin in the High School as of September, 1945. Providing a sufficient number of pupils indicate a desire for a third foreign lan- guage in the High School, preferably Spanish, the Committee has authorized the addition of this language to the curriculum, providing it entails no additional expense.
As will be noted in the report of the Superintendent of Schools, there has been no let up in the program of repairs. The buildings are in good shape in spite of the difficulty of getting repairs done and the means available.
Respectfully submitted,
EDGAR U. BURDETT, Chairman; MARION D. MORSE, BERNARD F. CAREY, RALPH N. MURRAY, AMOS E. RUSSELL,
School Committee.
FINANCIAL REPORT OF THE SCHOOL DEPARTMENT
Appropriation
Refund
$234,287.00 20.00
$234,307.00
Warrants Payable 1,800.00
$232,507.00
Expenditures :
General Control
$ 7,965.10
Instructional Service
177,027.41
34,987.87
Operation of Plants Maintenance
7,008.98
Auxiliary Agencies
3,936.42
230,925.78
Unexpended Balance
$1,581.22
1944]
SCHOOL REPORT
129
Credits to the Department:
General Receipts
$ 100.05
Tuition Received-General 1,233.50
29.75
Tuition, English Speaking Classes State Refund, Trade and Vocational Schools State Refund, General School Fund
105.37
14,711.80
Net Cost of Schools
$214,745.31
REPORT OF THE SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS
To the Members of the School Committee of Swampscott,
Mrs. Morse and Gentlemen:
This report marks the end of the third year of war. To attempt at this time to evaluate the effect of its depressive atmosphere upon a school system is impossible. Only the years can do that. No one, I think, doubts that the years following this upheaval will see changes in our educational processes.
Some already profess to foresee what those changes will be. It is easy in this war environment to become infected with a hysteria and set forth toward what may seem for the moment to be as inevit- able goal. But we are still in the midst of war. It is well to bear in mind that those innovations that have come in the past three years have had one aim, and one aim only: to bypass everything that does not contribute directly to the war effort. They may, to be sure, have their values in times of peace, but there has been no opportunity yet to examine them against a background of anything but war. Peace has attributes and qualities that are essential, but which flourish at no other time, and to form judgments now, and to put into effect measures based on those judgments, seems to me premature. If his- tory runs its accustomed course, we are in for no educational revolu- tion but rather for a period of steady and considered readjustments, in which Swampscott certainly must participate.
Locally we have set the present school year as one in which to apply a thorough check on ourselves so far as basic matters are con- cerned. We have done considerable testing and have had satisfactory results as we examine ourselves against the data available from out- side sources. As an example, I submit here the results of subject mat- ter standard tests given in June to our sixth grades:
Reading-Understanding Meaning of a Paragraph. National norm 61 for grade 6.
Swampscott norm 67, or equivalent of 3rd month of grade 8.
Reading-Understanding Meaning of Words. National norm 61 for grade 6.
Swampscott norm 67, or equivalent of 3rd month of grade 8.
Spelling-National norm 61 for grade 6.
Swampscott norm 65, or equivalent of 8th month of grade 7.
Arithmetic-Reasoning.
National norm 61 for grade 6. Swampscott norm 67, or equivalent of 3rd month of grade 8.
$16,180.47
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TOWN DOCUMENTS
[Dec. 31
Arithmetic-Computation. National norm 61 for grade 6. Swampscott norm 71, or equivalent of 3rd month of grade 9. Language Usage- National norm 61 for grade 6. Swampscott norm 71, or equivalent of 3rd month of grade 9.
These scores are medians for the entire class of 122 pupils. They were given to measure the accomplishments of this class at the time of entering the Junior High School. Similar tests, for the purpose of checking ourselves and the progress of our classes, have been given in the other elementary grades with comparable results.
In the Junior High School our testing has been primarily diagnos- tic, and confined for the most part to arithmetic. We have studied the progress of individual pupils rather than that of the class as a whole, with the thought of finding individual difficulties and overcoming them. The general program of testing at this level has been set up under the direction of Mrs. Sexton, who likewise administers certain individual tests for us in the grades, as well as special vision tests preliminary to referring pupils to oculists. We propose to test rather widely in Reading, English, Latin and French in the Junior High School by next June.
The work in corrective reading is continuing. This corrective work has now reached into the Junior High School. The plans there have been carefully worked out and the instruction inaugurated under the enthusiastic leadership of Miss Fitzgerald of the English Department. The work of vocabulary building, which has been carried on in the High School for several years, has likewise been brought to greater focus in the Junior High School. I feel that both the development of reading ability and the expansion of vocabulary are extremely essen- tial for the pupils of Junior and Senior High School years. Indeed, I have been told by college authorities that they feel that scholastic aptitude in college pupils correlates more closely with richness of vocabulary as revealed in aptitude tests than with any other element.
We have made one other significant advance in the testing pro- gram at the High School by engaging the services of the Boston Uni- versity School and College Relations Division for aptitude testing. This is a first step in the development of a guidance program. The tests examine the pupils as to language and non-language abilities, their fields of interests together with the degree of aptitude which they have in those fields, and the level at which these interests reveal themselves. It is an interesting commentary that these tests have rather consistently confirmed the opinions which the faculty had al- ready formed of pupils from observation, but they have the advantage of having been recorded by the pupil himself in black and white, and consequently, of being something specific to discuss with parents. Mr. Gray has found the tests of great value, and is personally discussing each pupil's test with the pupil and the parents concerned.
The tests were first given last spring to our Junior and Senior Classes, and this fall to our new Junior Class. Following the first testing, I received from Mr. Stephens, who personally conducted the tests, an entirely unsolicited letter in which he stated that the Swampscott High School was the first High School in which his de- partment had tested both college and non-college students which had either equalled or surpassed the national norms in Reading Compre- hension. He added:
"I certainly enjoyed working with both Mr. Gray and the students on the testing program. Your students are unusually well disciplined,
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SCHOOL REPORT
1944]
very friendly and most cooperative; and I am confident that Mr. Gray is doing a very thorough job of counseling."
Commenting upon the general situation at the High School, Mr. Gray has reported that out of 109 members of the graduating class of June, 1944, twenty-four have entered the armed services. However, there are also twenty-eight in degree-granting colleges and twenty- one in schools of other types, indicating that the tendency to seek further education, which has been characteristic of our graduates for years, continues almost undiminished in spite of the temptation of high wages in industry. He likewise makes note of a fact not generally recognized; namely, the considerable opportunity for students to par- ticipate in school activities if they have the inclination. He lists eighteen student organizations of about as many different types. Cer- tainly the pupil who wishes to do so may find in such a variety some interest to catch his fancy, and perhaps in several instances, to lay a basis for a hobby that will serve his later years most pleasantly.
There have been several changes in our teaching staff during the year. Miss Eleanor Sanborn of the Junior High married during the summer; Miss Doris McCausland of the Junior High accepted a posi- tion of greater professional advantage elsewhere; Mr. Harry Sargent and Miss Frances Clay of the Senior High School entered other posi- tions more closely coinciding with their personal interests. Mr. Louis Marino of the Music Department withdrew to devote more time to professional musical interests.
New teachers are: Mr. Otto Peterson and Mrs. Dorothy Dixon (military substitute) at the Senior High School; and Mrs. Greta Briggs and Miss Nance Marquette at the Junior High School. Mr. Harvey Davies succeeds Mr. Marino.
In June Miss Marion Tyler retired under the requirements of the Teachers' Retirement Act. Miss Tyler was one of those happy persons who rejoiced in her choice of profession. Mentally and professionally she remained young, and at the time of her retirement seemed as capable and active in the classroom as when she first entered our system in 1930. She withdrew admired and respected by us all.
To carry on the supervision of penmanship in Miss Tyler's stead, we have engaged the services of the Rinehart Functional Handwriting organization. Mr. Rinehart, who personally supervises the instruction, is similarly engaged in about twenty-five percent of the communities of the state. He does not promote a new "system," so called, of pen- manship, but a process of motivation and teaching. Such communities as Belmont, Weymouth, Fitchburg and Greenfield report most enthu- siastically about his work and its success in their schools, and the instruction at the State Teachers' College at Fitchburg is under his direction.
We have attended regularly to the inevitable problem of repairs, but with more difficulty than in past years due to inability to secure the services of workmen promptly. In this respect we are doubtless no worse off than others, but two roof repair jobs, and a window caulking job have been hanging fire for nearly two months. Principal repairs during the year include cleaning and painting the water tanks at the High School, painting the Stanley School, a classroom and a corridor at the Junior High, a study hall at the Senior High School, and the elementary classrooms in the Hadley elementary building. Lightning struck the Stanley School tower in the summer causing slight damage to the structure but none inside the building. The artificial stone window sills on the south side of the Junior High
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TOWN DOCUMENTS
[Dec. 31
School were all repaired, the Clarke School chimney was recapped, and the steps at the High School were rebuilt. Perhaps the most obvious work done was the repaving of the Hadley School yard with sheet asphalt. This seems a most suitable substance where some vehicular traffic must be borne or, lacking natural playground, where a smooth play surface is desired in a confined area. At any rate, it is a vast improvement over the old brick surface that formerly existed.
We should continue our painting program without let up in order not to find needed work accumulating at a later date. I suggest the painting of the Clarke and Machon School exteriors in the summer, and the redecorating of classrooms up to the number of eight or ten, doing some of this latter work each vacation rather than leaving it all for the summer. The rear of the High School gymnasium needs attention to prevent leaks in driving storms like those of this fall, which seem to have aggravated a condition that we had thought was somewhat under control.
Nothing has been more gratefully received than governmental permission to resume the burning of fuel oil at the High School. The work of reconversion is underway as I write, and by the New Year the two boilers should be ready for operation. Our oil allowance should be sufficient to carry us through the year, assuming no unforeseen contingencies of weather.
For the first time in several years our September opening re- vealed an increase in number of students in the lower grades. The first grade at the Clarke School was so large that an assistant has been required. No tendency towards an increase in school population has as yet revealed itself in the Machon or the Stanley areas, but the center of the town is obviously tending to reestablish itself at a point approximately the same as eight or ten years ago. The Junior and Senior High Schools are naturally reflecting the shrinkage that began in the lower grades several years back, but are tending to level off at about 380 pupils each. One may expect this figure to re- main fairly constant in these buildings for the next four or five years, judging from the size of the grades that will feed them.
War conditions have had less effect on Senior High School enroll- ment than had been expected. Our boys have in general finished their High School course before entering the armed services; and our drop of approximately fifteen pupils in the graduating classes for two years is almost as much due to the smaller size of the classes when they entered the school as it is to enlistments or the draft.
Early in February this department lost by death, after a linger- ing illness, one of its most beloved and respected teachers, Miss Jean Allan of the Junior High School. Miss Allan had been a teacher in Swampscott for over thirty years, most of that time as head of the English Department at the Junior High School. Her entire life had been devoted to her love for teaching. Inspired by a genuine interest in young people, she had an unusual ability to inspire them with her own ideals, her appreciation of the finest in literature and her whole- some attitude towards life. She was one of those fortunate teachers whose classroom relationships form friendships that last to the end of life.
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