USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > Abington > Town annual report of the officers and committees, 1940 > Part 13
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Last year, in Town Meeting, automatic increases in salaries up to a maximum set for each type of position were approved by the Town. These salary increments are responsible for most of the $3,020.89 increase shown in this account. It will be noted that the estimate for total cost for everything in 1941 is $3,095.47 more than in 1940, indicating that general expenses are expected to be $74.58 more than in 1940. While our salary account is to be larger than in 1940, may I call attention to the fact that Abington salaries are still considerably below State average.
The textbook estimate (account number 17) is con- siderably less than for 1940 although still slightly higher than the State average. Extra monies for such a purpose should never be considered a fault, but in this case the expenditure is especially justified by the fact that in recent years much too little has been expended for this purpose. This extra amount is more than offset in the
* Average membership is found by dividing the sum of the number of pupils actually enrolled on every school day by the number of days school was in session during the year.
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supplies account (number 18) which is less than half the State average.
Our operating expenses are a little high, but 1940 experience, together with an expected increase in the price of fuel, indicates that it would be unwise to ask for less on these accounts (19, 20, and 21). The State lumps the three accounts so it is difficult to determine just where our discrepancy lies.
Item 22 "Maintenance of School Plant", is under the State average, as it should be.
Our estimates for the cost of maintaining the libraries are modest in comparison with State experience. (Ac- count 23).
While we are spending more money for the promo- tion of health than is common throughout the State, I should be very reluctant to decrease the services which we are giving. I feel that this record is one of which we may be proud and I would recommend that an extension of dental work beyond the fourth grade be seriously considered. While I do not advocate any change in our present set up I should like to point that in many com- munities salaries and other expenses for this type of work are charged to the Board of Health.
Items 25, 26, (Transportation) are low in our geo- graphically compact town and our "Tuition" (item 27) is very low. These items do not include tuitions to vocational schools (the last and unnumbered account) which are somewhat high in our community where we have no trade school facilities. I am asking for more money in this account for 1941 because of the expected increase in the requests for trade training to meet the demands of the rearmament program.
Our "Miscellaneous" account (number 28) looks large. The principal reason for this is the fact that in a great many communities insurance on school buildings is not charged to the school budget but to a public buildings account carried by the town.
In some ways it is unfair to the schools that so large a proportion of their support is through direct local tax- ation. Our armed forces, our penal institutions, our asylums for the insane and other unfortunates, our State and Federal highways, our State and National Govern- ment, and so forth, cost us individually many times over as much as our educational system, but the support for them is not so obvious-indeed many of us are not even
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aware that we are paying for these services and very few of us really know how much it is costing us as indi- viduals. In contrast with this everyone knows what the schools are costing him-at least he knows how much is asked for in Town Meeting, and he sees the cost of main- taining the schools as the largest single item in the war- rant. Naturally he is concerned about this and not at all worried by the National budget or the size of a Federal grant. Probably many of us feel that the only tax which counts is the local real estate tax. Be that as it may, I wish to point out that part of the money ap- propriated by the Town for the support of the schools is not actually obtained by local levies on real estate. The amount is greater than is generally realized and comes primarily from the State or Federal government. During 1940 Abington received from or through the State a total of $11,575.25. Since this amount is known to the assessors when the tax rate is set, it is apparent that local real estate does not bear quite as large an assessment for the support of schools as would appear to be the case. The returns were as follows :
$10,200.00 State reimbursement on account of employ- ment of teachers.
247.38 Tuition for children (State Wards)-De- partment of Public Welfare.
62.56 Transportation (State Wards) - Depart- ment of Public Welfare.
1,065.31 Reimbursement for tuitions to Vocational Schools.
$11,575.25 TOTAL
In addition to the above returns there are lesser amounts which are important in the aggregate. They consist of rentals for the use of auditoriums, payments for loss or breakage of school property or the sale of discarded or obsolete equipment or books, returns from the Dental Clinic, and so forth. During 1940 these returns amounted to $248.45 distributed as follows:
$ 135.00 Rental of auditoriums
73.70 Dental Clinic
13.27 Materials, supplies, books, etc.
13.00 Sanitary supplies
11.45 Manual Training
.50 Repairs
1.53 Miscellaneous
248.45
Total
$11,823.70
Grand Total from All Sources
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Changes in Personnel
The past year has seen several changes in personnel. In June Dr. Franklin P. Hawkes, Superintendent of Schools for ninteeen months, resigned to accept a posi- tion as Superintendent of Schools in West Springfield. In his brief tenure Dr. Hawkes accomplished a very great deal. An indefatigable worker and master of detail, he left copious and invaluable records covering every phase of his work while in Abington. He initiated many departures from earlier procedures and showed himself an able and dynamic executive. Teachers, other members of the staff, and Townspeople wish him all success and happiness in his new and larger position.
As this report was going to press, several changes in the High School staff took place. The first of these was the resignation of Mr. John Haggerty to take effect February seventh so that he might accept a position as Manual Training Instructor in the City of Everett. Mr. Haggerty had been a teacher of science and manual training in our schools since 1937 when he came to us from the neighboring town of Rockland. While we regret losing him, we wish him continued success in his chosen profession. Mr. Haggerty is being succeeded by Mr. Robert Kelleher of Brockton.
Mr. Edward Landy, who became principal of our high school March 15, 1937, resigned to accept the posi- tion of Director of Guidance in Montclair, New Jersey. Mr. Landy came to us from Quincy and during his too brief period of office, interrupted last year by a leave of absence to conduct a survey for the Department of Secondary-School Principals of the National Education Association, has demonstrated remarkable ability as an executive in education. The Faculty and students of the Abington High School sincerely regret losing him, even while hoping that he will be very happy in his new position. While all who have been associated with him are sorry that he is leaving, all feel that they have been gainers during their contact with him.
Mr. Landy is being succeeded by Mr. Charles Frolio, submaster of the high school who first came to Abington in 1920. Mr. Frolio has the best wishes of the Faculty, pupils, and townspeople.
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At the time of this writing a new Science teacher to take Mr. Frolio's classes has not been selected. Mr. John Matyosaitis served in the position of Shop Instructor during Mr. Landy's leave of absence and left Abington for a position in East Bridgewater at the close of the school year 1939-40.
Because of decreased enrollment at the North School Mrs. M. Evelyn Murphy left our service in June 1940.
All other changes in personnel are covered in the re- port of the School Committee.
Last September Miss Margaret Kirby asked if she might have the opportunity to do cadet work in our schools in the field of domestic science. We were es- pecially glad to allow her to serve in this capacity be- cause of the heavy schedule Miss Higgins was being asked to carry, and because we had no trained domestic science teacher available for work with grade school pupils. Miss Kirby has made herself so nearly indispen- sable that we hope to be able to put her on salary after Town Meeting. Miss Kirby has been dividing her time between the two elementary schools.
Manual Training in the Elementary Schools
Psychologists are generally agreed that we should speak of the "intelligencies" of an individual rather than his intelligence. It has been recognized for many centuries-witness the parable of the talents-that we differ vastly in our abilities, and it is common parlance to speak of the "book minded" or the "manually minded". We know also that a relatively small number of our high school graduates actually go on to liberal arts colleges. Most of our boys and girls are going to earn their ways in the world by physical exertion of some sort and, therefore, it is only fair that we give them some acquaintance with tools. The majority will make use of tools vocationally or avocationally, eventually. and a healthy appreciation of manual work and work- manship is culturally valuable to all. For this reason among others, most school systems are giving manual training to all boys on a required basis at the junior high school level and as an elective in the senior high school.
Almost any school room which has electrical or gas outlets can be equipped to serve satisfactorily in the teaching of domestic science, but this is not equally the case with manual training. Manual training is in its
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very nature noisy and makes a most unsatisfactory neighbor to any other class room. In addition, power equipment needs special wiring, secure foundations, and ample space, and if medium sized or large projects are to be built, there must be storage space. Practically all these conditions are lacking in our elementary schools and we have an extremely limited supply of even necessary hand tools. (I found that we were well supplied with excellent work benches, but while one school did have a hammer, one saw, and a screw-driver, the other was even less opulent in this matter.) The high school is poorly equipped, too (I found that it lacked a bit-brace, although somewhat better off in the matter of other hand tools), but there is some power machinery, a large room under the gymnasium well removed from any class rooms, a ground floor on which any machines we are likely to require can be placed safely, and a fair amount of storage space. If the ele- mentary school boys could go to the high school to take their manual training, any money available might be spent to better advantage since it would not need to be divided among three schools. For these reasons our elementary school schedule was changed to allow boys to go to the high school for manual training. Most boys take great delight in this type of work and are glad to take the walk to the high school one day a week. Me- chanical drawing, which is a part of the work, is done in the elementary schools, since it does not have the same limitations which accompany manual training. Whenever the weather is bad the boys stay in their own schools and work on mechanical drawing. If more time is needed at the end of the year to finish this work, a few extra "good weather days" can be used.
ARITHMETIC
The philosophy behind our present arithmetic series : is that it is far better economy of time in the teaching of arithmetic fundamentals to defer beginning work with them until the pupils are nine or ten years of age. This theory has a fairly well established experimental foun- dation. In our situation, however, there are some hard, practical facts which throw doubt on the advisability of continuation of this approach in our own schools. First among these is that few schools using this philosophy are among our neighbors with whom we are constantly exchanging pupils, and our pupils are being demoted when they move out of our town; and second, and per- haps more important, standard achievement tests indi- cate that our children are not doing as well as they
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should. Whether or not this is an indictment of our own too feeble ardor for the philosophy, the fact re- mains the needs of Abington pupils are not being met adequately in this matter. For these reasons we are seriously studying the problem with the hope and ex- pectation that we can supplement our present plan or adopt an entirely new plan and series to correct the situation in the near future.
ELEMENTARY PROGRAM
Simultaneously with the change in the seventh grade and eighth grade program necessitated by the change in manual training, a study was begun of the entire schedule. A number of complications were found: for example, supervisors giving time to the elementary schools or to the high and elementary schools, were having difficulty in meeting their assignments. Several meetings were held with the teachers in which time al- lotments for the different subjects were thoroughly dis- cussed and the whole program in the upper four grades was revised. A corresponding revision in the lower four grades is under consideration at the present. I should like to emphasize that these changes in the pro- gram, including the study of arithmetic, and other matters pertaining to educational or administrative policy are the joint product of the best experience and judgement of faculties, supervisors, and principals, working together.
WORK PERMITS
Six employment certificates were issued during 1940 to individuals betwen the ages of fourteen and sixteen. Four of these certificates were issued to boys and two to girls.
One hundred ten certificates were issued to minors between the ages of sixteen and twenty-one. Of these, twenty-eight were issued to girls and eighty-two were issued to boys.
APPRECIATION
Our staff is composed of experienced and mature people. I am continually delighted with their zeal, pro- ficiency, and responsiveness. There will always be prob- lems to solve but I am confident that we can deal with them together. I sincerely appreciate the reception and the whole-hearted support which they have given me.
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The people of Abington have been everything I had hoped; friendly, patient, cooperative, and with an earn- est enthusiasm for the schools. It is my desire that I shall continue to merit the confidence which they have placed in me.
In concluding my first report, I should like to take the opportunity to call to the attention of the Towns- people the devoted service rendered by the members of the School Committee. Unpaid liason officers be- tween the community and its schools, representative of each and interpreter of each to the other, they are rendering a service which deserves unstinting and un- qualified support.
Respectfully submitted,
DERWOOD A. NEWMAN, Superintendent of Schools.
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HIGH SCHOOL PRINCIPAL'S REPORT
Dear Dr. Newman:
At the outset I should like to express my sincere ap- preciation of the sympathetic and understanding co- operation which you have given me since your arrival as Superintendent. The task of running the modern high school is, as you well know, a tremendously com- plicated one and your thorough grasp of the problem and encouragement are fully appreciated.
EMPHASIS UPON DEMOCRACY IN SCHOOL MANAGEMENT
In writing this Principal's report I make haste to add that the success of the principal depends in large measure upon the co-operation of the faculty and pupils. I have been particularly fortunate in securing such cooperation. I have tried to encourage this co- operation by having the management of the school con- ducted in as democratic a way as possible. For it is my firmly held belief that only through providing the pupils with genuine opportunities at democratic self- management will they truly cooperate, and what is more important, learn to become cooperating citizens of a democracy. I also hold that a given faculty will respond better to leadership, work harder, and have a more thorough understanding of its specific jobs and of the objectives of the school as a whole if it be given its due share in the making of decisions concerned with the operation of the school. On all matters of basic policy concerning the curriculum of the school, the management of pupil behavior, and the measurement of our efforts, the faculty has held the final decision through its voting privileges.
In this time of crisis which confronts our nation and in our monumental efforts which we are making in the cause of national defense, it behooves us to remember that we are concerned with the defense of our demo- cratic American way of living. I therefore maintain that the single most important aspect in the adminis- tration of the school is the encouragement and develop- ment of habits and attitudes which are inherent in the
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democratic process. And to that end, I, as principal, have consciously striven to provide opportunities for pupil and faculty participation in the management of the school. You are keenly aware of this primary func- tion of the school and for this I offer thanks.
The democratic approach to the management of a school many mean that problems have to be worked out slowly, but in the long run they will be solved more satisfactorily and on the bedrock of firmly held con- victions rather than on the shifting sands of tempora- rily enforced requirements or of lightly held enthusi- asms. Faculty meetings, individual teacher-principal conferences, faculty committees, student council, and home-room discussions are the chief instruments used. I do not claim perfection in our approach or achieve- ment, nor will I be brash enough to offer an over-all evaluation of our efforts-that is for you, the committee and townspeople to judge.
A PROGRAM OF EVALUATION
The faculty has, however, launched upon the broad and complicated assignment of evaluating the work of the school. We are doing this chiefly for two reasons. First, we are interested, very naturally, in how well we are doing the job for which we are paid. Secondly, we want to find out, if we can, how we may improve our efforts for the betterment of the pupils who are now in high school and for those pupils of the future. Since space does not allow a complete description of our ef- forts, permit me to dwell briefly upon what we are trying to do in the direction of evaluating one very im- portant objective of the high school,-namely that of attempting to ensure better occupational adjustment on the part of our youth once they have left the high school. We are launching a follow-up program which consists of mailed questionnaires sent out every year to youth at periods of 1, 3, and 5 years out of high school. In ad- dition we plan to hold personal interviews with rep- resentative samples of these youth and with their em- ployers. From the data thus gathered and carefully analyzed we hope to be able to judge how well we are preparing youth for the world of work and to draw inferences for possible modifications of the school pro- gram, if such changes seem desirable. We hope also by the use of this follow-up plan to be of occasional service to some of the youth now out of school. Occasionally
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the high school office receives calls from employers to fill particular jobs. Our follow-up scheme enables us to know which out-of-school youth need jobs and what they are best suited for.
WHAT HAPPENS TO OUR GRADUATES AND WITHDRAWALS
Since our follow-up program has just been started at the time of writing, I am unable to provide as many details as I should like. But eventually the complete facts will be on file in the high school office for pur- poses of analysis and possible conclusions. On the basis of incomplete returns, it may be of general interest to know that of 40 of last year's graduates and dropouts for whom we have information to date, eleven are em- ployed full-time, one part-time, two are unemployed and seeking work, one is unemployed and not seeking work, twenty-two are going to school either full-time or as their present major activity, and three are en- gaged in miscellaneous activities. This would indicate a much higher percentage of employment than has been reported for the past few years. Of the twenty- two going to school full-time only seven are in liberal arts or technical colleges demanding the traditional academic preparation for entrance requirements. Of the remaining fifteen, two are in college preparatory academies. These are the complete returns for schools of this kind. That is, only nine out of our last year's graduating class of seventy-eight are directly using their strictly academic college preparatory work. Of the re- maining thirteen full-time students at other institutions six are attending business schools, two are attending hospital schools of nursing, and the remaining five are in schools of cooking, aircraft, etc. Undoubtedly many of those who continued with school beyond the high school would have gone to work if jobs had been available or if the high school could have provided them with the training which they sought elsewhere. It is safe to say that some of those now attending some of the Business Schools are simply taking work which the high school already offers. This implies the need for greater guidance and placement efforts.
We are not only interested in those youth who have left school and did not continue with any further formal schooling but we are also interested in the needs and interests of those who go further. Reports from the schools and colleges to which our youth go after leav-
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ing Abington High show that on the whole they are very successful. We do not intend to lose sight of the immensely important task of adequately preparing the minority who go on to further schooling. Our standard- ized testing program has shown a slow but steady im- provement in the average achievement of our college preparatory pupils over the last few years. The results are on file in the school office for examination.
SOME NEEDED SUPPLIES AND EQUIPMENT
In fulfilling our complete function as a high school we need equipment and materials for the support of three departments in particular. Much added supplies and equipment are needed for the general shop if it is to achieve its objective. A well equipped and supplied general shop is a sorely needed part of the modern high school. The school library needs additional books, equipment, and supplies if it, too, is to properly fulfill its much needed function. The science department, in particular the field of biology, needs much in the way of supplies and equipment. The detailed specifications for the needs of these departments have been presented. I know that you have a sympathetic awareness of their needs.
SOME FACTS ABOUT THE PRESENT ENROLLMENT AND THEIR IMPLICATIONS
I have presented the data on age-grade enrollment to you which you have incorporated in Table on page 79. The age-grade enrollment has not changed appreciably in the past several years. I should like again to point out the overlapping of age levels in the various grades. This argues for a flexibility in the pro- gram to meet the needs of the different age groups in each of the grades. The program cannot be rigidly based upon a grade classification alone. With pupils ranging from thirteen to nineteen years of age we have presented in the high school all the problems arising from the range of early to late adolescence. Standards of conduct must be insisted upon which are not too rigid and childish for the eighteen and nineteen year old pupils and which, at the same time, must not result in looseness of behavior for younger thirteen and fourteen year olds. A specific example is the problem of school dances. How late should they be run? On the one hand parents of the younger children want them home early, while parents of the older children
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are not so insistent upon early arrival at home from the dance. The parents will have to determine when they want their respective children to leave the dances and to go home.
In Table I is presented a distribution of the pupils by their present curricular enrollment. Follow-up figures show that our present college and commercial curri- culums are overloaded. This implies again a need for more intense guidance efforts. We are trying to pro- vide such services through the establishment of grade counselors, as you are aware. But these counselors are also full-time teachers. If they are to do their jobs prop- erly their loads must be lightened to permit them to have at least one full period per day for counseling. But even if this is made possible there still remains the problem of making the civic curriculum sufficiently worthwhile and comprehensive enough in its offerings to enable realistic counseling. Our industrial arts and home economics department must be strengthened if we are to serve all of our high school youth.
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