USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Weymouth > Town annual report of Weymouth 1875 > Part 5
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RESIGNATION.
One vacancy occurred on this Board during the year, on account of the resignation of Mrs. C. R. James. This resignation, which was first tendered in June, was not accepted until August, encouragement
76
having been given that she might be able to resume her duties if. some delay was granted. Early in September F. W. Lewis was chosen to fill her place.
GRADUATING EXERCISES OF HIGH SCHOOLS.
For several years past it has been the custom of the graduating class in each of the High Schools to celebrate their graduating exer- cises in some commodious building,-one of the churches being gen- erally used for that purpose." This practice, which originated in the limited accommodations of the school-rooms, and which, therefore, was in the beginning a necessity, has gradually come to be an expen- sive luxury, the burden of supporting which has been quite heavy to individual members of the schools, so that of late the School Committee have been called upon, as agents of the town, to assist in defraying the expense.
As a matter of economy, therefore, and in order to promote a unity of feeling and sentiment between the two schools, it is hereby sug- gested that the graduating exercises of the North and South High Schools be combined and held at the Town House. The recent addi- tion to this building affords more convenient accommodations for the use of the graduating class than can be found elsewhere. The occa- sion, too, would bring together the friends of the graduates from all parts of the town, and be in reality a union of the alumni, which should properly take place in order to make the annual reunion something more than a euphonious title for a meeting of graduates of two High Schools who have no sympathies in common. This union celebration might necessitate a shortening of some of the exercises which, on such occasions, are always better for being " short and sweet."
ESTIMATE OF EXPENSE FOR SUPPORT OF SCHOOLS THE ENSUING YEAR.
There are employed in the public schools, under existing arrange- ments, forty-three teachers, at a cost, for salaries, of $2,000 per month. It is anticipated that there may be required, at the beginning of the next school year, the services of an additional teacher for a school at Weymouth Neck ; also of three assistant teachers on half time for the Athens, Commercial Street, and Torrey Street Grammar Schools. These would make an additional expense of $85 per month. The esti- mated cost of fuel, care of rooms, and incidentals, judging from the
77
past, will be $400 per month. The total expense, therefore, of main- taining our schools on the present basis for one year will be as fol- lows : -
Salaries of forty-three teachers for ten months · $20,000 00
66 four
four . 340 00
Fuel, care of rooms, and incidentals
4,000 00
Total
$24,340 00
The available amount from all sources for the past year has been $24,406.26.
The Committee, therefore, recommend that the town grant for sup- port of schools the present year be the same as last year.
HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES IN 1875.
NORTH HIGH.
Amasa H. Smith.
Annie F. Loud.
George E. White.
Josephine A. Raymond.
Emma F. Ambler.
Lizzie F. Richards.
Annie M. Briggs.
Emma W. Sherman.
SOUTH HIGH.
Mary F. Logue, Lizzie Reed,
T. Irving White.
QUESTIONS USED AT THE ANNUAL EXAMINATION OF CANDIDATES FOR ADMISSION TO THE HIGH SCHOOLS IN JULY, 1875.
ARITHMETIC.
1. Add 73+55. From 9} take 63. Multiply 8g by 7753. Divide 6g by 872.
25. Find the prime factors of 4,004, 160, 414.
35. Add (96=1.2) +(960+.12)+(9.6+12)+(.96=120). From (450.07 × 2.501) take (25.754 X .00045).
. 45. Add £. + $s. + 2d.
510. Find the cost of 13 tons, 7 cwt., 3 qrs., 20 lbs. of hay at $25.50 per ton.
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610. Sold two carriages for $250 apiece ; on the first I gained 25 per cent, on the second I lost 25 per cent. Did I gain or lose on the whole, and how much ?
710. Find the simple interest of $430.75 from July 2, 1872, to July 7, 1875, at 83 per cent.
810. Find the difference between the true discount and the bank discount on a 90 days' note for $450 at 6 per cent.
910. For what sum must a 90 days' note be given on a bank that it may yield $400 ?
1010. Find the equated time for the payment of the following sums : $100 due in 2 m., $300 due in 7 m., $600 due in 9 m., $100 due in 1 yr.
1110. Find the distance from the centre to a corner of a square field containing 400 acres ; also find the distance round the field.
1210. Multiply the square root of 2798.41 by the cube root of 287.496.
GEOGRAPHY.
15. What is the greatest number of degrees of latitude and longi- tude that a place can have ?
25. What countries of Europe and Asia would a line drawn east of Boston cross ?
35. Name five peninsulas of Europe and five seas bordering Europe ?
45. To what country does Australia belong? Describe its climate, name its principal river, range of mountains, its largest cities, and chief products.
55. Name the two principal rivers of Africa and its two most im- portant cities.
65. Name the principal river, mountain range, cities, and products of the Chinese Empire.
75. Name six of the principal cities of the United States, giving the two largest first.
85. Along what rivers are the principal lowland plains of South America?
95. Name the three general divisions of the surface of North America.
105. Tell what is meant by the basin of a river, and give the boun- daries of the basin of the Mississippi.
1150. What and where are the following ; - Glasgow ; Yucatan ; Apennines ; Pamlico ; Sumatra ; Ganges ; Odessa ; Altai ; Adriatic; Valparaiso ?
1
1
79
GRAMMAR.
110. Write a compound sentence.
210. Write a complex sentence.
310. Give the principal parts of the following verbs : - lie, write, come, lay, sit, go, set, give, advise, bear.
" Our fathers found her in the wood Where Nature meditates and broods
The seeds of unexampled things Which time to consummation brings
Through life and death and man's unstable moods."
420. Analyze the above sentence.
510. Name the nouns in the sentence and tell the case of each noun.
610. Name the verbs and tell which are transitive.
710. Change the voice of the first transitive verb in the sentence without changing the meaning of the sentence. 1
810. Give a synopsis of the first verb in the indicative and potential moods.
95. Parse " where."
105. Parse "which."
HISTORY.
110. How many years from the discovery of America by Colum- bus to the American Revolution ?
210. Name the thirteen original States.
210. Give an account of the first settlement of Massachusetts ?
410. Which of the United States was settled by the Spaniards ?
510. Name three Indian chiefs who have been prominent in the Indian wars.
601. State the purpose and the result of Burgoyne's invasion and the year in which it took place.
710. Give a full description of the first battle of the Revolution- ary War.
810. Mention some of the advantages resulting from the Louisiana purchase, and in which administration the purchase was made.
910. What portion of the United States was acquired by purchase, what by conquest, and what by annexation ?
1010. Name all the States that seceded from the Union, state the cause of their secession and the result of the war that ensued.
The words given out for spelling are not preserved.
Table showing the per cent of correct answers to the foregoing questions given by scholars admitted to the High Schools in July, 1875.
Scholars' Number.
Arithmetic.
Geography.
Grammar.
History.
Spelling.
General
Average.
Relative
To which
Admitted.
1
90
93
92
95
88
91.6
1
South. 66
2
62
80
92
90
82
81.2
12
3
90
72
65
75
72
74.8
20
North.
4
55
84
66
80
76
72.2
28
South.
5
79
68
80
92
50
73.6
22
North.
7
60
65
90
70
70
71.0
31
9
62
60
84
78
68
70.4
33
66
10
83
65
85
98
76
81.4
11
66
13
45
80
80
85
70
72.0
29
66
14
89
75
95
85
74
83.6
8
66
16
65
62
91
72
80
74.0
21
South.
19
60
83
86
90
72
78.2
14
22
65
75
90
83
96
81.8
10
23
70
81
80
75
72
75.6
18
24
63
75
83
82
60
72.6
27
66
25
70
90
86
87
82
83.0
9
30
80
83
75
90
56
76.8
17
North.
34
45
76
76
85
68
70 0
35
38
80
66
60
67
78
70.2
34
66
40
68
71
87
62
78
73.2
24
41
55
61
92
75
74
71.4
30
South.
42
75
82
50
88
66
72.2
28
44
34
85
89
70
86
72.8
26
North.
46
85
87
95
90
72
85.8
3
47
60
74
90
65
68
71.4
30
49
80
67
68
78
62
710
31
South.
51
80
60
90
67
70
73.4
23
North.
53
60
76
73
92
64
73.0
25
South.
54
70
92
90
80
96
85.2
5
55
38
70
89
95
86
75.6
18
56
90
90
91
79
72
84.4
7
South.
57
75
98
92
92
88
89 0
2
59
40
90
85
88
66
73.8
21
60
80
88
86
88
86
85.6
4
62
50
97
89
93
77
79.8
13
63
82
94
97
90
62
85.0
6
66
45
88
78
75
68
70 8
32
67
86
78
79
80
62
77.0
16
North.
70
45
81
77
74
74
70.2
34
73
61
82
65
82
86
75.2
19
74
58
79
74
90
88
77.8
15
South. North.
75
50
79
58
80
84
70.2
34
66
North. 66
66
North. South.
66
Rank.
School
66
North. South.
81
The average mark of all scholars who were examined was 67.8
was 66 66 passed the examination 76.6
The average mark of all scholars admitted to the North High School was
. 75.6
The average mark of all scholars admitted to the South High School was .
77.7 No scholar got a mark below 30 and none above 92.
One «
66 between 30 and 40. 1
Three scholars got a mark
40 and 45.
Four 66 66 45 and 50.
Six 66 66
50 and 55.
Seven 66 66 55 and 60.
Five
60 and 65.
Seven 66 66
65 and 70.
Twenty-two scholars got a mark between 70 and 75.
Eight scholars got a mark between 75 and 80.
Six 66
80 and 85.
Five 66
85 and 90.
One scholar
90 and 95.
PRICE LIST OF TEXT-BOOKS AS RECENTLY ESTABLISHED BY THE COMMITTEE.
Monroe's First Reader
$ .25
Second Reader
.
.40
Franklin Third 66
. .50
Fourth 66
7.60
Fifth 66
1.00
Sanders' Primary Speller
.16
Union
.20
Walton's Primary Arithmetic
.22
Intellectual
.35
Written 66
.88
Guyot's Elementary Geography
.60
66 Intermediate
1.20
Greene's Introduction to Grammar Grammar (new edition)
.85
Anderson's History of United States
.45
1.00
6
82
P. D. & S. Writing Books (large size)
66 small « .
Webster's Common School Dictionary .
1.00
The text-books used in the High Schools will be furnished at twenty per cent less the advertised retail prices.
School-book agents throughout the town are hereby authorized to be governed by the above-named prices.
C. C. TOWER, S. L. ROCKWOOD, LUCIUS BROWN, ELIZABETH, C. HAWES, WILLIAM DYER, F. W. LEWIS,
School Committee.
WEYMOUTH, Jan. 31, 1876.
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SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT.
TO THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE OF THE TOWN OF WEYMOUTH :
Gentlemen, - I submit the following as my report of the educational condition of the schools for the first term of the school year, beginning Aug. 1, 1875, and ending July 31, 1876, together with the average attendance of the school year 1874-5.
GENERAL STATEMENTS.
There have been in operation during the year thirty-eight schools : ten Primary, sixteen Intermediate, ten Grammar, and two High. In them forty-three teachers have been employed, thirty-eight as princi- pals and five as assistants.
At the Perkins Intermediate Miss A. A. Smith resigned her posi- tion at the close of the third month, and Miss Carrie A. Blanchard took temporary charge of the school for the remaining month, and was then elected as regular teacher.
At the School Street Upper Intermediate Miss Anna Nute was obliged to resign at the end of two months on account of ill health, and Mrs. Dora L. Cushing was employed as temporary substitute until three weeks before the close of the term, when Miss Mariana Holbrook, of Rockland, was elected to fill the vacancy. Miss Nute managed the school with great success and acceptance, and the necessity of her resignation was regretted by all.
At the Athens Intermediate Miss Hattie J. Farren was substituted for one week on account of sickness by Miss Lizzie Thomas.
At the Mt. Pleasant Upper Primary Miss M. Lizzie Foye was granted leave of absence for one month on account of ill health, and the services of her sister, Miss Alice G. Foye, employed in room of hers.
Miss Parrott, of the Commercial Lower Grammar, was obliged to give up the management of her school for the third month of the term on account of sickness, and Miss Josephine Raymond was employed to teach the school during that time.
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On account of death in his family Mr. Shaw had to resign the man- agement of the North High School during the last week of the term, and the assistant, Miss Lewison, conducted it during that time.
Miss Alice R. Rogers, who had acted as assistant in the Torrey Street Grammar and South High Schools, was appointed at the close of the term to the position of full assistant in the High School.
With the above exceptions the schools have been under the care of their own teachers.
PRIMARY SCHOOLS.
There are in town ten strictly Primary Schools containing only primary grades. Of these, six have three grades, one two grades, and three one grade. The one with two grades has thirty-five scholars, those of one grade have an average of forty-five, and those of three grades an average of fifty-eight, the smallest having forty-seven and the largest seventy-four. Six other schools contain primary classes. " The tables show the number of new scholars added, and the number of each sex belonging to each grade of each school. Each school has been taught by one teacher.
The teachers of the primary department have devoted themselves honestly and faithfully to their work. Some, however, have more nearly than others realized their expectations. The order has, in general, been good in all, and in some excellent, and worthy to be spoken of in terms of highest commendation. Nothing is more pleasant than to enter some of these schools and see a large number of little children all with cheerful faces, respectful to their teacher and to each other, sitting orderly in their seats without whispering or turning round, or tearing up paper to pile on their desks or scatter on the floor, walking carefully across the room, standing in a line to recite, speaking up with a clear, loud, and cheerful voice, and showing every indication that they love their school, and that all things are moving in a way to accomplish for them daily the greatest moral and intel- lectual good.
The method pursued by nearly all the primary teachers in teaching the letters, reading and spelling, is the rote method. The child looks , at the letter and says its name repeatedly from day to day till he can tell it at sight. No analysis of it is given on the blackboard, no com- parison of it with any object he knows is made, no story told about it, nothing said as to how neat and pretty it is, no analogy between it and other letters is pointed out, no sounding of fit is given, but the
85
child learns by repeatedly looking at the letter to tell its name at sight. Some teachers do more than others to render the learning of the letters easy and rapid and to fix their forms and sounds and classes clearly in the mind. Some attach more importance than others to a thorough understanding of the letters in its influence on the qualities of a scholar's reading and speaking, and on the early culture of his literary taste. The common way, however, is to have the scholar repeat his lookings at the letter until by means of these alone, or mainly, he gets able to tell its name as soon as he sees its form .. After he has in this way learned to tell the names of all his letters he begins to read. He can now tell the letters a, b, in the word ab, but has, by his previous drill, acquired no means of telling what they spell, for to do this he must utter in succession their sounds. If he had before learned these, he could now be required with a little aid to do this for himself, but just as he was told the name of each letter, he must now be told the name of the word they spell. By repeatedly pronouncing the name of short words, he comes, without knowing it, to learn the sounds of their letters. After he has in this way learned the letters and their sounds, and has had practice in connecting the two, he is able to call words at sight. Thus the child learns at last what he should have been taught at first, viz. the sounds of the letters.
This method is unphilosophic and precisely the reverse of what it ought to be. The correction is to invert the method, and, instead of beginning with the letters themselves, begin with the sounds ; first learn the thing signified and then learn its sign. Begin with the ear instead of the eye. Sounds came before letters, spoken language before written. But, though the sounds should be studied a long time, they should not be studied too long a time before the letters are introduced. Three things are included in such a knowledge of the letters as a child is able to and should acquire ; the sounds of the letters, the forms of the letters, and the names of the letters. Begin with the sounds because they come first, and drill long on them be- cause they are important. Learn the vowel sounds first, and after- wards the consonant sounds. Take the vowels in order and the sounds of each in order ; then do the same with the consonants. Repeat them again and again ; make them loud, distinct, and clear. Let the class sound them separately and in concert. Let the sounds themselves be given separately and in combination. Let the class become enthusi- astic. This practice will tend to make them speak loud enough to be heard when they recite. Let the teacher be sure to sound the letter herself, and do it many times till it is clearly impressed on the ear.
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Name the sounds in connection with giving them, but do not yet write the letter on the board before the eye, except just enough to excite and intensify a desire to see how the form of the sign would look if it were written out. When giving combinations of sounds spell by sound a few words, or even many, such as Ate, Mate, Mat; Mete, Met ; Pine, Pin ; Note, Not ; Horse, Rat, Doll, Sled. At length, but not after too long a time, begin to study the forms of the letters, keep- ing up the drill in the sounds and names. Let the forms be analyzed and different forms compared. Let the child be taught how to make the letter, where to begin and which way to go, and not be left to begin wrong or learn after long trial or, waste of time to begin right. Let the teacher make and explain the making of the letter repeatedly. If scholars can make the letters in their printed form they have learned much about them in their written form. If scholars are drilled thus in sounds and letters their representatives now, they will find the study of Grammar, when they come to it, less mysterious and difficult. They will also have anticipated much of reading and spelling.
Some of the advantages of this method of learning to read and spell have already been named. They may be summed up as follows :-
I. Gain in time. It is not expected that the child's study of sounds and letters will be exhaustive. As far as it goes it should be scientific and what is learned should be learned correctly. But less time will be required in this than in the other way to reach a certain standard of perfection. Time is saved when the things essential to be learned in order to read are learned in their natural and progressive order.
II. Distinct articulation clear cut words, every element brought out in its purity, foreign accent, foreign sounds of letters, impediments in vocal organs, local and peculiar intonations, counteracted and cor- rected.
III. Analytic drill, analysis and synthesis, the complementary pro- cesses of thinking activity. The old method does not admit of strict analysis and synthesis. The time spent in teaching scholars to swal- low words whole is saved for analytic drill. The scholar deals with simple elements and learns to combine and separate with confidence, thus forming at the outset those habits of self-reliance which the common method could never foster.
The importance of primary schools in a system of education is obvious. Primary scholars are of an age at which they can do little for themselves. They must receive from their teacher all they get. She is their oracle, and their faith in her and all she says is unbounded. How important then that she should know how much to teach and how to
87
teach it so as to interest them. In these schools scholars receive their first impressions of school life and form their earliest habits of study. An error here sends its mischievous influence through the whole life of the child and out into society. If the end and aim of all teaching and education is the formation of character, to make men and women better physically, intellectually, and morally, then surely not less im- portant than any other is the teaching in the Primary schools. The power which a vigorous character has of producing its likeness in another is known to all, and as the impressions received here are the first, and those which afterwards control, it is of the greatest im- portance that they be formed from a perfect model. The very best talent is required in the Primary schools, and the best educators in all countries are devoting themselves to the consideration of the improve- ment of the methods of primary instruction. That would be a wise provision which should require the primary classes to be taught by tried and experienced teachers.
INTERMEDIATE SCHOOLS.
Of these schools there are ten pure, containing only intermediate grades, and six mixed, having in them both intermediate and primary classes. Of the pure Intermediates four have three grades, two have two grades, and four have one grade. Of the mixed Intermediates three have six grades, two have five grades, and one has two grades. Each has been under the charge of one teacher. In the pure Intermediates the largest has fifty-nine scholars and the smallest forty-five, and the average number of each school is forty-nine. In the mixed Intermedi- ates the largest has sixty-two, and the smallest twenty-nine, and the average to each school is forty-seven. In these sixteen schools the average number of each is forty-eight. The intermediate scholars constitute about thirty-three per cent of the school population.
The teachers of this department, with few exceptions, have labored faithfully and devotedly, and with apparent love of their work. Their average experience in their present positions is three years ; many of them had had experience in teaching before they entered the positions they now occupy. The attendance in their schools has been well maintained, and the scholars have appeared orderly and interested in their studies and ambitious to learn their lessons so as to pass the ex- aminations required for admission to the higher grades. It should be mentioned to the credit of some scholars who failed to receive promo- tion at the end of the last year, and had to remain behind in the same
88
school, that they have worked faithfully and shown that they mean to be ready to stand any fair examination for promotion at the end of the present year.
In Intellectual Arithmetic the teachers have been directed to require the scholars to perform the examples mentally at their seats, and also to practise writing out their mental processes on the boards, using the signs of addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, equality, etc. This method renders the study of this arithmetic more easy and inter- esting, and gives it a more direct bearing on the study of Written Arithmetic. It is recommended that Intellectual Arithmetic, as a required study, be confined to this department, and that Written Arith- metic be studied in the first year of the Intermediate course to Addi- tion, in the second through Federal Money, and in the last to Com pound Numbers. In the Grammar schools the teachers have devoted their time to the Written Arithmetic, some requiring recitations in the Intellectual occasionally and others not at all.
The present course of study requires the study of Grammar to be begun in the last year of the intermediate course, and to be carried to Syntax in Greene's Introduction. It is justly felt by teachers that this is more than they can do and do it well. This study ought to be taken up in some simple form sooner or less ground be required for this year.
GRAMMAR SCHOOLS.
In this department there are ten schools, eight pure and two mixed. Of the mixed schools, one contains the three grammar grades and one intermediate grade, and the other all the grades from the primary to the high. The pure schools have an average of forty-eight scholars to each school, the largest containing fifty-eight and the smallest thirty-three. In the mixed schools, the average to each school is sixty-three, the larger containing sixty-seven scholars and the smaller sixty. The average number in each of the ten schools is fifty-one. The number of Grammar school scholars in town is four hundred and forty-eight, distributed as follows : At North Weymouth, twenty ; at Old North, fifty ; at East Weymouth, ninety-four ; at Weymouth Landing, one hundred and ten ; and at South Weymouth, a hundred and seventy-four. The average number to each of the ten schools is forty-five. The High School constituency of the town is, therefore, four hundred and forty-eight : one hundred and seventy-four for the South, and two hundred and seventy-four for the North.
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