USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Weymouth > Town annual report of Weymouth 1889 > Part 13
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impossible to supply school-rooms with the large amount of fresh air that is absolutely essential and remove the foul air which is always present and undoubtedly causes much ill health, without other means than mere openings into practically dead-air chimney flues. These matters, together with the contemplated painting and repairs, make it highly important that our work should not be hampered by insufficient appropriations, and we earnestly hope that the entire sum recommended by your committee may be granted.
The Committee respectfully ask for appropriations for the ensuing year as follows : -
Salaries of teachers
$24,300 00
Janitors, fuel, and cleaning
.
4,300 00
Text books and supplies .
3,500 00
Repairs . · .
4,800 00
Miscellaneous, including transportation
1,500 00
Incidentals
500 00
$38,900 00
This may be reduced by
The Pratt Fund
. $300 00
The Alewife Fund . .
.
252 00
One half dog tax
.
.
555 64
Tuition of non-resident pupils .
96 00
1,203 64
Leaving a balance to be raised by taxation of .
·
$37,696 36
Respectfully submitted,
WILLIAM A. DRAKE. JOSEPH A. CUSHING. AUGUSTUS J. RICHARDS. BRADFORD HAWES. HENRY A. THOMAS. JOHN C. FRASER.
.
REPORT
OF THE
SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS.
To the School Committee, Weymouth, Mass. :
In 1865, Samuel Bowles, editor of the Springfield Republican, crossed the continent in company with Speaker Colfax, and other distinguished gentlemen, and, visiting the Valley of the Yosemite, in California, wrote as follows : -
THE YOSEMITE !- As well interpret God in thirty-nine articles as portray it to you by word of mouth or pen ; as well reproduce castle or cathedral by a stolen frieze or broken column, as this assemblage of natural wonder and beauty by photograph or painting.
In presenting my eighth annual report, I am again reminded that it is utterly futile to attempt to describe what is best in our school life and relations. We may give statistics of attendance, explain the physical needs of our schools, record the events of the year. describe this and describe that, - there remain always features of our work too grand and too sacred to be adequately set forth. As well interpret God in thirty-nine articles as fathom and formulate all the mysteries and subtleties connected with the onward rush and flow of two thousand young lives; as well reproduce castle or cathedral by a stolen frieze or broken column as embody in a so-called school report all that is involved in leading a child along the pathway of learning for thirteen years. In the practical workings of every educational system there are revelations and surprises that baffle description, and, however much we may talk of heating, light, and ventilation, of grading school- house yards, of arranging a course of study, of employing skilled teachers, and the like, behind and beyond and above all these is the spectacle of the school-room itself. Here is an outlook as grand and inspiring as any in the Sierras. All that is mortal shrinks back, and all that is immortal sweeps down to the front, when, looking into the bright faces of the little ones, we contem-
257
plate the possibilities of the future, and what it may bring to their young lives. Every year I shrink instinctively from writing about our work, because I feel that what is best in education, like what is best in scenery, must be seen, felt, and experienced on the spot, and cannot be interpreted to others by word of mouth or pen. A school report differs essentially from every other town report in that the schools sustain a more vital and intimate relation to the life of the community and embrace a higher and more complicated , range of interests than any other department or organization con- trolled by the town.
Leaving to others, therefore, the heights and depths of a subject that has practically no limitations, I submit the following pages as a partial review of the year and a partial expression of my own views and feelings : -
OUR TRAINING SCHOOL FOR TEACHERS.
Our Training School for Teachers has now entered upon its second year, with ten members, as follows : -
MEMBERS OF THE TRAINING SCHOOL, 1889 90.
NAME.
RESIDENCE.
Graduated from what School.
WHEN.
Chrissy M. Ahlf
Weymouth.
North High.
1889
Maggie A. Dee
East Weymouth.
66
66
1889
E. Louise Fay
66
66
66
66
1889
Annie A. Fraher
66
66
66
1889
Mary A. Lonergan
Weymouth.
66
66
1889
Edith McCormick
Cohasset.
Cohasset High.
1889
Emma Nichols ..
1889
Sadie L. Powers.
East Weymouth.
North High.
1889
Lizzie E. Tirrell
66
66
1888
Abbie F. Tower
Cohasset.
Cohasset High.
1889
Last year diplomas were awarded to eighteen graduates, eleven of whom, to my knowledge, are already engaged in teaching. Others are looking for positions and will probably secure them before the year is out.
The same general plan of management is pursued this year as last. During the thirty weeks, which constitute the course, the members of the school go through all the grades in our schools
258
below the high, working and teaching under the eye of the regular teacher, conducting class exercises, observing methods, and some- times assuming the entire charge of the school. Every fortnight they meet me in some school-room, the regular teacher in which gives up for the time being, and there take turns teaching under the eye of the critic specially appointed for the occasion, the regu- lar teacher, and myself. Every fortnight we meet in the small upper room of the Franklin School, for the discussion of peda- gogical science and a lesson in psychology ; also, for drill in pen- manship and reading, and, indeed, all the branches of study taught in the lower schools. As the basis of our instruction in psychology, we use Putnam's Elements of Psychology, a simple but comprehen- sive work. The trainers keep, also, a diary, noting day by day such manifestations of the child mind as impress them as peculiar, and recording whatever they think will be of value to them in their future work. I append a few extracts from these diaries, to show that the trainers are keen, observant, and thoughtful : -
To-day closes first week. Every day I have been presented with bou- quets of every description from roses to weeds. I'm very grateful for these favors, but dispose of the latter as secretly as possible.
Asked who the President of the United States is, and every child in the school (lowest primary) answered " George Washington." One little girl told me she was fifty years old at half past seven Sunday night.
It is amusing to see how ready the children in the lower grades are to sing alone.
Developed the words in the reading lesson, telling a connected story, which is Miss -'s plan. It evidently holds the attention of the pupils better. Had the number lesson pictured upon the board. Framed the best picture. I think it a good idea to do this.
Miss - has fine order. She always keeps her word to the scholars, and when she gives a direction is always instantly obeyed. Many teachers threaten and never execute. That, I think, is a very bad plan.
I have discovered that teaching requires more labor and forethought than I at first imagined. I see the necessity of good example.
In geography, asked a boy what animal in Florida had a long tail and large jaws and lived in a swamp. He replied proudly : " an elevator."
I have noticed that no two teachers govern or control alike; also, that the schools that have the best order are the best.
1
:
259
The schools should help to form character as well as scholarship. Weekly lessons in temperance should be given and the evils arising from the use of tobacco should be pointed out. Scholars from the upper grades can be seen almost every day smoking on the public streets.
It is so pleasant to think that if teachers do their duty some one may say in years to come : " Her words and her example prepared me for a life of usefulness."
The teacher. to-day, in developing the word " president" (second pri- mary), asked the name of the most prominent man in our country. A little fellow promptly replied : " John L. Sullivan."
I have found that if a teacher puts life and vigor into an exercise, the pupils reciprocate.
Anger is altogether out of place in the school-room.
When I am a teacher I shall make it an invariable rule to have the words misspelled in the stories of one day included in the spelling lesson of the next day.
I find it a novelty to be among children, and interesting to study their different ways and dispositions. I have found that a teacher requires a large amount of tact to govern a school well. I think that tact goes as far in the school-room as talent.
In a few cities the training school has fallen into the hands of politicians, who use it to secure positions for their friends. Believ- ing that our school is secure against such a fate, and that, in estab- lishing it, you have desired above all things to save it from any such prostitution of its powers, I have asked the teachers who have trainers under them to make a confidential report to me when the latter leave them for a higher grade. The blanks furnished for this purpose are as follows : -
1. Miss
has been in my room half days.
2. She has conducted exercises.
3. Her willingness to work,
4. Skill in conducting exercises,
5. Ability to hold and interest a class,
3, 4 and 5 marked on a scale of 10.
This report is wholly confidential, and should be made to superintendent when the work of a grade is completed.
I have wanted the opinion of the teachers in addition to my own in order that, when asked by you to recommend a teacher for a given position, I might feel sure I had named the right party.
260
The question is sometimes raised in educational circles, whether training schools do not interfere with normal schools, and whether it is not better to leave the professional training of teachers wholly to the latter. Perhaps a few general observations on this topic may not be out of place here. The time may come when Massa- chusetts will go as far as Germany has gone in the recognition of teaching as a profession, and in the consequent regulation of the teacher's training ; but until that time comes, the training school will not hurt but help the normal school, and it will be of great local advantage in such large towns as do not pay salaries sufficiently great to draw teachers of skill and experience from other towns. In a class of twenty high-school graduates say, there are usually several for whom large sympathy is felt; they may be poor girls, and they may not be ; at any rate, active interest is exerted in their behalf, and it is not usually well or even possible to disregard that interest. Such young ladies are awarded schools, as a foregone conclusion. They would not be required to complete a two years' or a four years' course at a normal school, even if one were located within the limits of the town. By the establishment of a training school with a brief course the difficulty is obviated. An appren- ticeship covering a whole year or the greater part of a year can then be insisted upon ; and while I would recommend all to go to a normal school who can, I advocate the establishment of training schools on the ground that half a loaf is better than no loaf at all. We gain in three ways by having one: first, beginners become familiarized with our system and acquire a certain measure of skill and experience before taking charge of a school; second, we are enabled, as a rule, to head off those who have no natural aptitude for teaching, and who would not, if employed, improve the teaching corps ; third, the schools are greatly benefited by the presence of the trainers as trainers. This is, perhaps, the most important consideration of all. I wish that, instead of ten, I had a hundred trainers to-day. They do a great deal of work, and they do it for nothing. They help individual pupils, and they bring new life and fresh interest into the schools.
OUR HIGH SCHOOLS.
Our high schools reflect the general intelligence that is claimed for the town, and are an evidence of the high social level of the different sections composing it. Two years ago they reached a
261
membership of over one hundred and eighty, now they number two hundred pupils. This is a remarkable attendance for a town of the size and valuation of Weymouth, and does the place and the people great honor. It shows that they appreciate the advantages of the higher education and are making strenuous efforts to obtain it. I subjoin a table that will be, I think, of general interest in this connection : -
TABLE SHOWING SIZE OF HIGH SCHOOLS IN MASSACHUSETTS, SCHOOL POPULATION, ETC.
CITIES AND TOWNS OF MORE THAN 10,000 INHABITANTS.
Valuation in 1887.
Population in 1885.
(State Census.)
School Population
in 1987.
Pupils in High School
How many there would be if
the ratio to school population
were thesameas in Weymouth.
Attleboro
$6,766,340
13,175
1,222
73
122
Boston. .
747,642,517
390,393
70,127
2,561
7,013
Brockton
14,721,079
20,783
3,544
219
354
Cambridge
59,652,810
59 658
11,216
547
1,122
Chelsea
19,405,664
25.70
4,91
250
489
Chicopee.
5,844,065
11,516
2,453
78
245
Fall River
44,294 547
56,870
12,758
463
1,276
Fitchburg
12,662,703
15,375
3,351
323
335
Gloucester
12,614,787
21,703
3,797
243
380
Haverhill
16,246,412
21,795
3,749
239
375
Lawrence
28,427,123
38,862
7,758
318
776
Lowell
56,749,253
64 107
11,635
526
1,164
Lynn
30,830,656
45.867
7,888
278
789
Malden
14 403,880
16.407
3,049
218
305
Marlbor
4,528,026
10.941
2,375
130
238
New Bedford.
32,682,258
33,393
5,131
364
513
Newburyport.
8,016,587
13,716
2,514
120
251
Newton .
32,277,307
19,759
3,893
477
389
North Adams.
5,440,461
12,540
2,822
111
282
Northampton.
9,091,687
12,896
2,370
135
237
Pittsfield
9,159,286
14,466
3,047
135
305
Quincy
9,404,670
12,145
3,153
177
315
Salem.
26,187,327
28 090
5,222
216
522
Somerville .
27,471,800
29,971
5,722
518
572
Springfield .
37,982,664
37.575
6,516
370
652
Taunton
17,069,895
23 674
4,060
204
406
Waltham.
12,298,748
14,609
2,617
19 i
262
Weymouth
5,722,234
10,740
1,823
182
182
Woburn.
8,473,249
11,750
2,787
156
279
Worcester
59,307,925
68,389
14,048
1,038
1,405
in 1887.
262
By a study of the foregoing table, it will be seen that of all the cities and towns of more than ten thousand inhabitants in the State, Newton is the only one that has a larger high school in pro- portion to the population than Weymouth has. But population is not the only factor to be considered. Valuation has much to do . with influencing high-school attendance. The greater the wealth, the larger the leisure class, and the fewer the families that cannot afford to send their children to the high school. Making valuation the basis of comparison, or making population and valuation both the basis of comparison, we find that Weymouth is facile princeps. To have as large a high school, on the basis of valuation, as Wey- mouth has, Newton would require a membership of 1,026 pupils in place of the 477 it now has.
This places much to the credit of Weymouth, and gives her a merited prominence. For her valuation, she has the largest high school in the State,- I speak always with reference to cities and towns of ten thousand inhabitants or more,- and very likely the largest in the whole country. I have desired to bring this fact to the notice of the people, because it is a distinction to be proud of. Perhaps maintaining such a high school is as great a distinction as sending one thousand men to the front during the civil war. At any rate, there is no small measure of heroism involved in it, for, if we could look into all the homes from which pupils go to the high school, we should find that in not a few sacrifices are being made and there is pinching in one way or another to enable some member of the household to get an education. Frequently the older brothers and sisters as well as the parents are saying to themselves, No matter what comes to us, this one must have an education.
There are two questions the reader is likely to ask in this con- nection : first, Is the present large high school attendance likely to be maintained? and second, Are all these pupils, now in the High School, qualified to be there? In answer to the first question, I would say that the attendance has been slowly increasing for a number of years, and there is every evidence from the number of pupils now in the grammar schools that the number will not only be maintained but exceeded in the years to come. In answer to the second question, I would say that I think our system of pro- motions is on the whole very judicious, and that it rarely happens in any grade that a pupil is promoted who ought to be kept back or kept back when he ought to be promoted. I know this is a
-
263
great deal to say, but nevertheless I believe it to be true. An almost ideal state of things exists in the schools of Weymouth as regards this matter of promotions, and I do not believe there is any power this side of heaven that can manage it any better than we do. The good results are due to a flexible and not iron-clad system of marking and examinations that I have described fully in previous reports and will not touch upon now. It must be borne in mind, moreover, that we have a nine years' course below the high school, while in several of the towns with which com- parison is made above, there is only an eight years' course.
In view of the position of our High School before the country, I have thought that all the facts with regard to it should be brought out at this time, and I have accordingly asked each of the High School principals to make to me a report of the condition and wants of the school under his charge. The two reports are ap- pended below : -
NORTH HIGH SCHOOL.
It is interesting to note that the number of college preparatory pupils is increasing. There are twenty-five in all pursuing this course, twelve of whom are in the entering class. With this increase there is a correspond- ing improvement in the scholarship of the school. A good number of these realize the necessity of very faithful application to secure the realization of their purpose. With the author of a previous report, I believe that we can fit our pupils for the best colleges. But if we do thiis work as well as our neighboring preparatory schools, it must be upon like conditions. There, hard work is the price of success. Here, it must be the same.
A change in the order of studies in the college preparatory course seems advisable. The studies for the first year are Latin, French, and Algebra. These subjects, so different in their nature from those of the grammar school course seem too great a tax for even the most intellectual and studious of our pupils, while one of moderate ability can hardly hope to master the first year's work in one year. The knowledge of French obtained during the first year so nearly evaporates before the completion of the course, that it would be impossible to pass a very easy college entrance examination.
Since the last report, quite a departure has been attempted in the study of the literature of our own tongue. The prescribed course gives two terms only of the four years to this study. For more than a year past, one day in the week has been made a literary day. Each class makes a study of some author. At present, the fourth class is reading Irving's Sketch Book, the third class is using the little volume, American Poems, while the first and second classes are studying plays of Shakespeare. That this work is appreciated and highly profitable is manifested in many
264
ways. No pupil finds the study of Shakespeare dry and uninteresting. Selections from Julius Cæsar, The Merchant of Venice, Macbeth, Evange- line, Snow Bound, Keramos, the Deserted Village and others, are fre- quently heard at our rhetorical exercises. This plan gives our college preparatory pupils an opportunity for the study of a large portion of the literature prescribed by our colleges.
The ability to write and speak our own language with perspicuity, freedom, and elegance, is witli us considered a fundamental object. The English of each exercise is carefully looked after by each teacher. To train a person in the accurate, forcible, and varied use of his own native language is to develop and train every faculty of his mind. The modern methods of teaching history, literature, physics and chemistry are finely adapted to the development of this power over language. Even the symbols of mathematics may be made to tell the truth neatly and concisely.
The increase in physical apparatus enables us to make the work in this department largely experimental; but as yet, the teacher is the experi- menter, and the pupils are consequently deprived of valuable discipline. A reform in this matter can be effected with the next class.
By the addition of a fourth teacher to our number, the power of the school has been increased. The work is better classified. The teachers are doing that line of work to which they have given special attention. As a result, we confidently hope that our pupils are enjoying greater ad- vantages than those who have gone before them.
L. HERBERT OWEN, Principal.
SOUTH HIGH SCHOOL.
Ever since the enactment of the law requiring the town to furnish free text-books, there has been a steady. increase in the number of scholars enrolled in the school, from forty-four for the year ending June, 1882, to sixty for the year ending June, 1888; and an extraordinary increase, partly due to the free transportation provided scholars from Lovell's Corner, to eighty-two for the present year, as follows : -
Class I.
Class II.
Class III.
Class IV.
· English Course
1
5
9
29
Classical Course
3
11
9
10
College Course
1
2
2
0
-
-
-
5
18
20
39
Another cause of this increase has been the establishment of a closer connection with the Grammar School, the bridging of the gulf which formerly separated them, by the abolition of an entrance examination, and by making promotions from the Grammar to the High School by the same method as from the Primary to the Intermediate and from the Intermediate to the Grammer School. From the present indications there ought to be ninety scholars enrolled in this school next fall.
This increase in the number of scholars and of daily recitations, since
265
all the courses are now represented with a single exception in each class rendered necessary the fitting up of another school room and the employ- ment of another assistant. Should the membership reach ninety, it would be desirable to have the entire building devoted to the High School.
Physical and mental development are largely conditioned upon environ- ment. Better work is likely to be done, better order maintained in a well furnished and well cared for school-room. As the public school system culminates in the High School, this school is expected to present an example of the best work and the best order. Hence it should have surroundings calculated to ensure this result. During the present year this building has been put in excellent condition, and the good effects upon the pupils are already manifest.
In a school of this size there should always be one or more in each class who aspires to a higher education than even that of the high school. Such are the opportunities now offered in the way of free tuition and scholar- ships for ambitious students needing such assistance, that hardly any one who has an aspiration for a collegiate education and the determination to attempt it, need fail. Even if one has no desire to go to college, he ought, in order to get the most benefit out of his high school career, save in exceptional circumstances, to take the classical course. It is to be regretted that so few of the present entering class made this choice.
The reproach is sometimes made against the work of the high school that a graduate is good for nothing, can do nothing to earn a living, has no trade or profession. Especially is this true since entrance to the teacher's profession has been made conditional upon attendance at a normal or training school, for teaching has been, hitherto, a career open- ing its doors directly to the high school graduate. But the aim of high school instruction is misunderstood.
The high school is no technical or trade school. What is there taught, all might profitably study. The high school graduate stands at the dividing point of the ways of life, ready to take whichsoever road inclination, ability, or necessity may direct, certain that, whatsoever may be his choice, provided he has improved the opportunities presented to him, he is likely to go farther and fare better than if he had not had such preparation.
· Such training, then, is an investment looking for future and not imme- diate returns. The rush and hurry of modern life cause a tendency to look for too quick returns on invested capital. Hence, because of the failure to produce immediate income, the high school graduate is said to have no cash value and a high school course to be useless. But the view is a nar- row one and leaves out of the account the value of a disciplined mind, the added enjoyment of life possible to an educated person, and in general, the far-reaching consequences of laying the foundations well.
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