USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Weymouth > Town annual report of Weymouth 1874 > Part 4
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Theoretically, we all confess that the blessings of civil and religious liberty enjoyed by all, without regard to the accidents of birth or of pecuniary condition, are a priceless heritage purchased and trans- mitted to us by our fathers at the cost of great privations and sacri- fices, and that we cannot, without dishonor, neglect to cherish and defend with equal zeal and self-denial this more than princely inheri- tance ; but how difficult it is for any of us, in our every-day conduct, practically to exemplify this faith ! We all believe that the general education of the mass of the people is the only means of securing the permanent possession of these privileges, and that the system of , free public schools is the only agency available for the diffusion of such education. We all know that such schools cannot be efficient and successful without the earnest sympathy and aid of all parents, and especially of the educated, thoughtful, controlling minds of the Com- monwealth. But notwithstanding our hearty acceptance of these vital truths, and the cheerful alacrity with which, in great emergencies, the whole community will stand together in defence of these rights, with a resolution which shrinks not from sacrifices, and is undismayed by dangers, yet often how ungraciously we bear the small annoy- ances the minor privations, the venial transgressions, which must
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daily occur in the administration of the system of popular education by human agencies.
In our deliberate judgments we recognize the fact that the teacher, the superintendent, the committee, each requires for the right dis- charge of his honorable but laborious work the wisdom of the wisest, the patience of the meekest, the firmness of the most resolute, and that nothing short of the constant exercise of these virtues in their highest state of human development will save these public servants from mis- takes and failures obvious to the common-sense of all intelligent observers, and also that we have no right to expect or claim ex- emption from such errors on the part of the servants ; but how com- monly in our acts, when these mistakes personally affect our own interests, do we forget to exercise that charity which our judgment approves.
Your committee would suggest in this regard to all citizens, and particularly to all parents, that the cultivation of a more intimate ac- quaintance with the superintendent and teachers, their methods and aims ; with the daily life of the schools, their perplexities and achieve- ments ; with the individual pupils, their deportment and progress, - will greatly promote a lively sympathy with their joys and griefs, their successes and failures, and will lead us to be just to ourselves, to them, and to the great interests they represent, as well in our uncon- sidered words as in our ultimate judgments.
JAMES HUMPHREY, ABNER HOLBROOK, S. L. ROCKWOOD, CAROLINE R. JAMES, LUCIUS BROWN, ELIZABETH C. HAWES, School Committee.
WEYMOUTH, January 1, 1875.
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SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT.
TO THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE OF WEYMOUTH :
I submit the following, as my Annual Report of the Public Schools : -
During the past year there have been in session thirty-eight schools : two High, nine Grammar, eleven Intermediate, thirteen Primary, and three Mixed. Forty-three teachers have been em- ployed. Towards the close of the summer term it was found neces- sary to employ an assistant for half of the day in the Pratt Grammar, and for the whole day, instead of half as heretofore, in the Adams Grammar. Probably, with the present grading in those schools, and with the large number of pupils in attendance, it will be best to ren- der those positions permanent and to make appropriations for the same. The Pond Street Primary, which was provisionally established at the beginning of the school year, was discontinued at the close of the summer term, and the pupils were sent back to the Intermediate or transferred to the Central Street Schools. At the commencement of the present year an assistant was placed in the Commercial Street Grammar. No other changes have been made in the number of teachers employed. Several have resigned during the year, for various reasons, and their places have been filled by other teachers.
HIGH SCHOOLS.
The whole number of pupils attending both High Schools at the beginning of the school year ending July 1, 1874, was ninety-eight. The number at the beginning of the present year was one hundred and six. Ten young ladies graduated from the High Schools at the close of the year : six from the North, and four from the South. It is a sig- nificant fact, and one worthy of consideration, that the classes were composed entirely of young ladies.
In the lowest grades of the schools the boys are as a rule slightly in excess ; but as we rise to the Grammar grades the order is reversed,
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while in the High Schools the girls ontnumber the boys in a ratio of nearly two to one. Too little importance is attached to the educa- tional advantages which our High Schools afford.
The number of candidates for admission from the Grammer to the High Schools at the close of the year was seventy-two. Of these, forty-one passed the required examination and were admitted : fifteen to the North, and twenty-six to the South. The North School has been under the charge of the same teachers as during the previous year, and has fully sustained the good reputation of former years. The method of instruction and of discipline have been excellent, and the progress made by the different classes has been eminently satisfactory.
It was found necessary to make a change in teachers in the South High at the close of the summer term. Since then, the condition of the school has been much improved. Now that the school has entered the new building, an assistant will be employed for a portion of the time. With the pleasant surroundings and with the increasing number of pupils, the future prosperity of the school is assured.
GRAMMAR SCHOOLS.
In the nine Grammar Schools, five male and nine female teachers have been employed. Only four of these are purely Grammar Schools, the others having classes from the lower grades, while one has all the grades from Primary to High. With one exception the same teachers were retained through the past year, and have been continued during the present year. When the schools have good teachers, much better work can be done and much greater progress be made by the pupils, if the teachers are retained for several years in succession. Improve- ment has been made in some of these schools by reducing the number of classes and classifying them more strictly than before. The exam- inations have shown thorough instruction generally in our Grammar Schools. The teachers have been earnest and devoted to their work, and the results have been very satisfactory.
In some of the villages too large a portion of the pupils are with- drawn from school before completing the Grammar School courses, and even before entering the Grammar School. Not more than half of the pupils advance beyond the Intermediate before they are taken from school and put into the workshop. It is poor economy, even in a money-making point of view, that withdraws the child so early from school, and sends him into the world without the education that will enable him to compete successfully in after life with his fellow-men.
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INTERMEDIATE SCHOOLS.
In the eleven Intermediate and three mixed (Intermediate and Pri- mary) Schools, fourteen teachers have been employed. More changes than were desirable have taken place among the teachers of this grade during the year. Much has been gained in the schools of this grade, also, by decreasing the number of classes. Where these are graded into Upper and Lower Intermediate, there are two classes in each room ; in the other Intermediate Schools there are three, and in the Mixed Schools six classes. The teachers, while they are expected to see that the pupils understand the meaning of the words and expres- sions they use, have for the most part ceased to require them to com- mit to memory the long columns of words and definitions in their readers and spellers. The time formerly given to this can be much more profitably spent in other work.
While there has been considerable difference in the appearance of the schools of this grade, some ranking much higher than others, taking them as a whole, the work has been well done. Most of the examinations have been very creditable to teachers and pupils. More trouble has been experienced in the government of these schools than in that of the other grades, the cause of which is explained in another portion of my report.
PRIMARY SCHOOLS.
The Primary Schools have been under the charge of thirteen differ- ent teachers during the year. Most of them have been crowded, especially during the summer term. The average number of pupils in each room was nearly sixty, while in several there were seventy or more. This number is, of course, too large ; but with the present ac- commodations there seems to be no way to meet the difficulty. The Washington and Pratt Primaries are at present graded into five classes, including the three Primary and the two lower Intermediate grades.
The pupils pass directly from these two schools to the Pratt Gram- mar. Considerable attention has been paid to printing letters and figures, and to counting, in the Primary Schools. Printing, besides giving them a better knowledge of the letters and words, also pre- pares them, in some measure, for the writing books, which they use during the last year in these schools. The teaching should be more largely oral than it has been during the year, though there has been improvement in this respect.
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It is commonly believed that teachers of inferior qualifications and without experience are fitted to teach Primary Schools ; and it is fre- quently the custom to employ such teachers because they can be ob- tained at a smaller salary. This is a great mistake. It is of the highest importance that the pupils, at the beginning of their school life, should commence it aright ; that they should be brought to enjoy the school, and to form correct habits of study and deportment. This cannot be done unless the teachers have not only the requisite at- tainments, but also love for children, and tact in governing them and keeping them interested in the work of the school-room. It would be well to change the rate of wages, so that teachers in Primary and In- termediate schools may receive the same. If any increase is to be made. let it be for continuance in the service. If this change is made, there will not be that inducement for successful Primary teachers to seek for positions in the higher grades.
The year on the whole has been a successful one in all the schools. The teachers have worked faithfully and efficiently. There has been some improvement in the methods of teaching, and. while not attain- ing all that we could wish, enough has been done to show that the money appropriated for schools has been well spent. Your superin- tendent feels deeply sensible of the loss you have sustained by the deatlı of one of your number, who for a whole generation had taken a most prominent part in school affairs, and had been a most earnest friend and supporter of popular education.
SCHOOL ACCOMMODATIONS.
With the new building just completed at South Weymouth there will be ample accommodations at present for the pupils in the south- ern part of the town. The rooms on Central and Main Street, which have been crowded during the past year, can be relieved. There is a lack of school accommodations at East Weymouth. Several of the rooms there are small, inconvenient, and unsuitable for school work. There have been for the past year over sixty pupils in each of the Pri- mary schools in this village, while the Intermediate and Grammar rooms have been as full as it is expedient to keep them. The number of pupils is increasing, and the need of a new building will soon be- come imperative.
When built, it should be placed in as central a location as possible, and be large enough to accommodate. from three to four hundred pupils, so that all the children in the village except those attending at
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Commercial Street can be brought together in one building under the personal supervision of a male teacher. When this is done the schools can be much better graded than at present. We should need to have but one class in a room instead of two or three. It is obvious that the teachers can work much more effectively and profitably when they can give all their attention in one class ; when they are not attempt- ing at the same time to instruct a part'and govern the rest of the school. It is from the recitations, and from the direct instruction of the teacher, rather than from the study of text-books, that pupils in our schools derive the most benefit. If the teacher is enabled to spend the time, now divided between two or three classes, upon one, the profit to the pupils will be proportionally increased.
In this connection it is suggested that the two mixed Primaries, Pratt and Washington Street, should be so arranged as to grade them into Intermediate and Primary, making the Pratt Primary, Interme- diate, and sending such of the pupils as are nearer to South Wey- mouth to the Central Street schools, and the rest to Washington Street. If this is done each of these schools will have but three classes instead of five as at present. The disadvantage of being a little farther from school will be amply compensated for by the greater attention and time that the teachers can devote to the pupils under their charge. The same advantages would result from grading in a similar way the schools at Weymouth Landing, as was suggested in my report of last year.
It is to be hoped that no more school-houses are to be built on the plan of the Broad and Commercial Street buildings, if three teachers are to be employed in them. There are two, large, pleasant rooms in each, and they are well calculated for two teachers, but the recitation rooms are too small to be of much use. In order to occupy them, it is necessary to divide the classes, and so lose most of the benefit of hav- ing a third teacher as assistant. At present these assistants teach classes from both the Upper and Lower Grammar schools. Nothing is gained by this arrangement, while there are disadvantages con- nected with it, such as the confusion caused by the classes while pass- ing to and from the recitation room, and the dividing the discipline of the classes between two teachers. It would be much better to arrange all the pupils into three schools, giving each teacher charge over one, as we could do in a building properly constructed. Another objection to buildings so planned is, that the Grammar school pupils are sepa- rated from the rest and with them the male teachers, leaving the greater part of the pupils, at the age when the firmest discipline is needed,
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entirely under the charge of female teachers. The houses should be so arranged, that the Grammar and Intermediate could be brought together under the supervision and control of the male teachers. If any are to be apart from the rest, let it be the Primary schools.
Whenever new buildings are constructed in the future, they should be . calculated so as to effect this and to bring together as large a number of pupils as possible. It is only by a well graded system of schools, that the best results can be obtained from the money expended upon them, and we cannot have them graded as they should be while our buildings are planned and situated as at present,
TRUANCY AND ABSENTEEISM.
Truancy and absenteeism continue to detract from the usefulness of our schools. No school can make the progress it should unless the pupils are regular in attendance. It would be well to have truant officers appointed in the different wards, whose duty it shall be to visit the schools as often as necessary, find what pupils are needlessly absent, and see that the statutes in regard to truancy are carried into effect. Absenteeism could be remedied in a measure by the parents, if . they felt the great importance of regular attendance on the part of their children. Social gatherings and the different kinds of amuse- ment should not be allowed to keep the pupil from school or to diminish his interest in his studies. If they are permitted to stay away from school whenever they wish, they lose the hours of study and the instruction which their classes have received during their absence. On their return they must act as a hinderance upon the class, and waste the teacher's time in acquiring what they should have learned at the same time with their comrades, or fall back to a lower grade. Unless the pupil is far above the average in mental power, he soon loses interest in school and study, makes no progress, drops out of school altogether, and so enters upon the active duties of life without that mental discipline and practical knowledge which would make him an intelligent and useful citizen. The parents should co-operate with the teachers in whatever is for the good of their children ; they should strive to make them feel that their school and studies are matters of the greatest importance. This home influ- ence is especially needed to keep the pupil's mind interested in his school work.
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TEXT-BOOKS.
At the beginning of the year, Guyot's series of geographies were used throughout the town with the exception of four or five schools, where Warren's were in use. It was thought best to have the series uniform, and an opportunity was given those using Warren's or the old edition of Guyot's, to change their old books for the new edition of Guyot's at the regular exchange price. The readers that were in use were introduced several years ago. The books were for the most part well worn, and the pupils had heard the exercises read so many times that they took but little interest in the reading, and the lesson was recited rather than read among the younger pupils. At the opening of the fall term, another series was introduced. The increased interest taken in the study, and the improvement made since then, justify the change ; yet the pupils seem more deficient in this, than in any other branch. More attention should be paid to distinct articulation and inflection. The monotonous, expressionless manner which is prevalent in some of the schools should be corrected.
SPELLING. -
On examining the different schools in spelling it was found that, though the pupils as a rule were ready in such words as were in their spelling lessons, they were deficient in the common words which they use continually in writing and speaking In order to remedy this de- fect, the teachers were instructed to use the spelling-book less, to give less time to learning definitions, and to pay more attention to the words that the pupils meet with in their different text-books, especially in the reading exercises. The spelling is both an oral and written ex- ercise in our schools.
The whole number of words that a person of common education employs in writing and speaking is small, compared with the number in our spelling-books, so that a large portion of what pupils learn from the speller is of no practical benefit to them. It is better that they should become proficient in what they need, than to go less thor- oughly over more than they will ever have occasion to use. Spelling is almost useless as a disciplinary study except as an exercise for the memory, which can be more profitably cultivated by other agencies.
ARITHMETIC.
At the time of the adoption of the course of study it was found that the schools were much farther advanced in mental, than in written
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arithmetic. Pupils, who were at work in fractions in the mental arithi- metic, knew nothing about notation, and were unable to perform simple examples in the fundamental rules. Doubtless better results are obtained by carrying the two studies along together, as each as- sists in understanding the other. With this in view, the course was made out so as to take up the subjects together. The pupils are taught to count by object, soon after entering the Primary schools, and at the same time to make the Arabic characters. As they advance in the mental, they take up the corresponding processes in written arith- metic. The study of mental arithmetic should not cease on entering the higher grades, but it should continue as long as arithmetic is studied.
COURSE OF STUDY.
At the beginning of my work here as superintendent, it seemed to me that one great defect in the schools was the want of a proper sys- tem of grading. Different schools, nominally of the same grade, were far apart in the amount of work done, so that, whenever promo- tions were made from two or three Intermediate to one Grammar school, the pupils were not prepared to advance together. To avoid this difficulty, a course of study was marked out, giving the amount of work that each school and each grade were to perform in each study during the year. In this way, more nearly uniform results have been obtained. The course has been followed as closely as possible during the year. Some slight modifications will be made for the coming year on account of the changes in text-books. The division of the work among the grades has also been modified.
WRITTEN EXAMINATIONS.
At the close of the summer term, the pupils to be promoted from the Intermediate to the Grammar schools were subjected to a written examination on the work of the preceding grades, and only such as reached the required per cent were allowed to advance. This exami- nation was found to be a correct test, in nearly every instance, of the capability of the pupil to proceed with the work of the next grade. It is recommended for the future, in the Intermediate and Grammar schools, to make all promotions from class to class by written exami- nations. With this end in view, the teachers have been required to hold them at stated intervals during the present year. Previous to this year, only the candidates for admission to the High schools were
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obliged to pass a written examination ; but there seems to be no good reason for limiting it to these alone.
These examinations, besides giving us the surest test of the qualifi- cations of the pupil for promotion, will prove invaluable to the teacher as a means of determining whether the pupil really understands the work done. He will be enabled to discover and correct the defects in his methods of teaching, to detect those points in which his pupils fail, and to so modify his instructions as to supply whatever is want- ing. They are equally valuable to the pupils, encouraging the indus- trious, and urging the indolent to increased effort.
The written examination, if properly conducted, gives the child, in choice of words and in expressing his thoughts upon paper, a readi- ness that can not be obtained by oral examinations. He is obliged to have a clearer idea of the study in order to state his ideas about it in writing. It also gives him practice in writing, and his errors in spelling and in the use of language are discovered and corrected better in this than in any other way.
DRAWING.
The attention of the Committee is again called to the subject of drawing, and the necessity of having this important branch introduced more fully into the schools. Instruction has been given in drawing in a limited number of the schools, but it has been left entirely at the option of the teacher, whether to teach it or not. It is one of the branches required in our schools by the laws of the State, and an appropriation should be made so as to enable us to employ a special teacher, who may, for a time at least, take charge of the exercise in the different schools, and give instruction to the teachers from time to time during the coming year.
The advantages that would result from thoroughi, systematic training in drawing are many and various. In our community, a large portion of the pupils are to be engaged in mechanical pursuits, where they will need and use that knowledge of shading, distance, and form, which can be obtained from this instruction. It is not expected that all will become skilled draughtsmen or artists, or that they will all show an aptness for this branch of education ; but all should understand, to some extent, its principles, while instruction will develop talent in this direction which would otherwise be latent. We learn, too, from the testimony of those who have introduced drawing into their schools, that if the exercise in drawing alternate with writing, the pupils make
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fully as much progress in the latter branch, as when the whole time is given to writing alone, owing to the training that the eye and hand receive.
Aside from the material benefits arising from this instruction, we should consider as of great importance the high, æsthetic culture · which the pupil will derive from it, enabling him to appreciate, and in some measure to imitate, whatever is beautiful in nature and art.
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