USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Saugus > Town annual report of the officers and committees of the town of Scituate 1931-1933 > Part 37
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9
Report of Superintendent of Schools
duties outside the class-room. Any task entrusted to her hands was sure to be done with such painstaking care that revision or even inspection was rarely necessary. She was always loyal to the school and its activities. Such teachers are hard to find, and their loss is never entirely made up.
UPKEEP OF BUILDINGS AND GROUNDS
There were a few major repairs to school buildings during 1933. The interior of the Jenkins School was painted throughout, new treads were placed on the base- ment stairs, and a doorway cut through the partitions between the two front classrooms on the first floor to allow for a freer exit from the building in case of emer- gency.
The driveway to this building was resurfaced and the section at the rear was enlarged to allow for the turning around of the busses and to provide a larger play area during the early spring and late fall when muddy conditions are prevalent. The driveway to the Hatherly building and the service drive into the High School were also resurfaced.
For the coming year it will be advisable to consider the outside painting of both the Hatherly and Jenkins buildings, replacing all or a part of the gutters of the Jenkins School, painting the cupola at the High School, and refinishing a number of pupil desks.
During the summer the School Committee was con- fronted with the problem of extensive repairs to the tennis courts. A general resurfacing was necessary and the baseboards needed replacing. At different times during the past two or three years the Committee had
10
Report of Superintendent of Schools
been approached by individuals who used the courts and asked to consider the advisability of rebuilding one or more of them to provide for a hard surface instead of clay. With this in mind it was decided to build one bitu- minous court, and after some study the "Lay Kold" court was selected and Edward Breen was engaged to build it. Soon after the work was started it was seen that two courts would be more economical to replace than one, and accordingly two were built.
Mr. Breen took a great deal of care in the construc- tion and it is expected that this work will prove to be economical considered from the long range point of view. No upkeep outside of a yearly painting of the court lines should be necessary over a period of years. In fact, the contractor has placed in the hands of the Committee a guarantee against any repairs to the playing surfaces for a period of five years. The courts can be used at any time as they dry off immediately after a rain, and they can be used at any time of the year when the weather is suitable as the frost does not affect the surface. It is interesting to note that the new courts were used many days in the late fall, and the clay courts were rarely used after October.
TRANSPORTATION
There has been little change in transportation routes in the past six or seven years. . In this same period, how- ever, the busses have had to carry an increasing number of pupils, and notwithstanding the fact that more com- modious busses were placed in operation on nearly all of the routes three years ago, at the present time every bus is filled to capacity and several are crowded.
From all indications at our disposal, the school en- rollment will continue to increase, and the bus load con ..
11
Report of Superintendent of Schools
sequently will tend to become heavier. In an effort to avoid a large increase in our transportation costs, I recom- mend the following modifications in the present routes :
(1) Continue Route II, which now ends at the Hatherly School, to the High School. This change will distribute among three busses the load which is now carried by two and will prevent the present crowded con- ditions between these two points.
(2) Start Route III at the corner of Grove Street and Mann Lot Road, taking both elementary and high school pupils from that point.
(3) Combine the work of the two busses on Routes VIII and IX by having one bus make two trips around the circuit of Tilden Road, Turner Avenue, and Jericho Road. On the first trip the bus would take High School pupils only, and on the second, those attending the Jen- kins School. As the time necessary for both trips should not be greater than one hour, no great inconvenience should result from the change.
This arrangement would result in the release of one of the present bi szes for use in some part of the area served by Routes VI and VII where at the present time the busses are most heavily loaded, and should cost considerably less than the alternative of adding another bus to the nine now being operated.
(4) The bus thus released could be used to carry the pupils from either the Third Cliff district and the Driftway, or those along Stockbridge Road. If the lat- ter, the bus on Route VII would cross the railroad bridge at Greenbush and continue up Country Way to the High School, and then to Jenkins, and thus be able to relieve the bus on Route VI of a part of its load.
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Report of Superintendent of Schools
It has been the policy of the School Committee to transport all pupils who live over one mile from the school which they attend. In practice, however, the busses are carrying many pupils who live under the mile limit. This is a desirable thing to do as far as it applies to small children and those living on much travelled high- ways without the protection of sidewalks. Other chil- dren, however, living within one mile of the school ought not to ride except on an occasional stormy day. Busses should not be crowded by carrying children who are no- entitled to ride.
It is gratifying to note that our bus costs have no" risen in proportion to the number of children carried. In the school year 1926-27, with a school enrollment of 509, the transportation costs were slightly in excess of $11,000.00 At the present time, with a school enrollment of 747,. the cost is about $12,000.00. Incidentally, it should be noted that we are now maintaining nine routes instead of eight, as in 1926, and that our busses today are very generally superior in looks, in safety devices and in capacity to those of six or seven years ago.
It is appropriate that we should take recognition cf the long and faithful service of Aaron Bates as a con- veyor of our school children. It is not an easy task to have the strict control necessary for an orderly bus, and still retain the good will of' all the children and the confi- dence of their parents. Mr. Bates succeeded in doing this, and there was rarely, if ever, any complaint from his route. His genial disposition and constant good humor will be missed by all those with whom he came in contact.
OUR SCHOOL GROWTH
It is important that I should again call attention to the continued growth of the Scituate school population
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Report of Superintendent of Schools
because it necessarily has a bearing upon our school needs and expenditures. The following table, similar to one published in the school report last year, but including the year 1933, shows the yearly increase in pupils.
School Enrollment
Elementary Grades
Junior High Grades
Senior High Grades
Total
1926
286
104
119
509
1927
314
97
117
528
1928
361
93
137
591
1929
369
88
135
592
1930
398
77
144
619
1931
421
73
162
656
1932
436
107
165
708
1933
443
131
173
747
You will notice that there was a sharp increase in the Junior High (Grades VII - VIII) enrollment this year. On October 1st the sixth grades of the Hatherly and Jenkins Schools numbered eighty-six pupils. Ac- cording to past experience we must assume that eighty of these will enter the Junior High next September. This leads to the conclusion that the Junior High next year will enroll as many as one hundred forty-five pupils, and a seventh grade of eighty or more will make it necessary to provide another teacher for this unit. This also means that we must have another room for our regular Junior High classes, and this can best be obtained by using one of the present Music or Art rooms. This move can be made with little injury to the work of either of these depart- ments, although it will submit the supervisors to some inconvenience in caring for materials and supplies, and arrangements will need to be made for taking care of combined choral groups in the Auditorium.
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Report of Superintendent of Schools
It is also fairly certain that our High School enroll- ment next September will increase to not far from two hundred pupils. It is fairly obvious that this demands an- other teacher, as an entering class of sixty pupils must be handled in two groups in practically all subjects.
To those who may not be convinced of this need let me analyze the situation further. According to our pres- ent estimates, and exclusive of special classes which mect one or two periods a week, there will be about forty-nine regular classes meeting daily next year. In addition to these classes, teachers must supervise the library-study hall each of the eight daily periods, and also have charge of the seven class-rooms the last period. Altogether, then, there will be an aggregate of about sixty-four daily periods during which teachers must have charge of groups of pupils. If the Principal is assigned four of these groups, - and four is the maximum number of periods that a Principal should devote to class-room duties - we have sixty periods to divide among eight teachers, including the one we propose to add next year. This means a daily average of seven and one-half out of eight periods that each teacher will have charge of pupil groups. In other words, even with this increase in the faculty, teachers will have almost no spare periods next year.
We must also be concerned with pupil home stations for another year. There are one hundred seventy-three class-room desks in the Senior High and each room has the maximum number that it will hold. Twenty or more additional pupil stations must be provided to take care of the increased enrollment. These additional seats may be placed either in the Library-Study Hall or in the Household Arts building, and I am inclined to recom- mend the latter location. We expect about twenty-four
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Report of Superintendent of Schools
Household Arts pupils next year who will have one-half of their work in the household Arts building, and it would be no hardship for them to have their home room lo- cated there.
Again this year - as last - I am selecting from teachers' reports on special activities connected with their work a few that may be of interest to the general public, and these are being added to this report.
Your attention is also called to the reports of the School Physician, School Nurse, and Attendance Officer. The usual statistical tables and Financial Statement for the year 1933 are included.
Respectfully submitted,
HAROLD C. WINGATE,
Superintendent of Schools.
16
Report of High School Principal
REPORT OF HIGH SCHOOL PRINCIPAL
Mr. Harold C. Wingate,
Superintendent of Schools
Scituate, Mass.
Dear Sir:
I have the honor to submit my seventh annual re- port as principal of the Scituate High School for the scho- lastic year 1933-34.
The following table showing the distribution of pupils by sex and grade is given as of December 1, 1933. It does not indicate the total enrollment during the first three months of this school year, but does represent, I believe, what will be a nearly constant enumeration for the seven months to follow :
Grade
Boys
Girls
Total
Freshman
24
22
46
Sophomore
15
20
35
Junior
18
29
47
Senior
15
27
42
Post Graduates
3
3
6
75
101
176
17
Report of High School Principal
The information and data given in a report cannot cover in detail the work of a school year, but must neces- sarily be limited. I will confine the substance of this re- port to two phases, pertinent to the successful accom- plishment of our objectives.
The economic plan of curtailment in all lines of work, which appears to have reached its peak during the past year, is having its effect upon the work of the school. Under this year's program every teacher is fully occupied every period of the school day during each school week. In some of the classes teachers are instructing as many as forty-seven pupils. This teacher-load means many extra hours work outside of the regular school periods and results in an insufficient allotment of time needed in preparation for a proper presentation of his or her sub- jects.
A second phase is the effect upon the pupil. We ac- cept as being axiomatic that individual differences exist ; that some pupils learn more readily than others; that more assistance must be given those pupils who grasp new ideas less quickly. The progress of the more apt pupils in a group should not be retarded by an excess of time being given to those who require extra assistance. With a teacher's time fully occupied no time remains for individual instruction. A continuation of this pro- cess results in the pupil's becoming confused in his work and failure to secure a passing grade for the year. An overburdening teacher-load and pupil failure due to a lack of time for individual instruction do not in the light of posterity represent true economy.
For the school I express my thanks to those who have
18
Report of High School Principal
given us reading material for our library in the forni of books and magazines during the past year.
Respectfully submitted,
A. RUSSELL C. COLE, Principal.
19
Instructor in English
READING FOR ENJOYMENT
BESSIE M. DUDLEY Instructor in English
High School
In these days when the future seems to promise shorter working hours for people of all classes, it is more than ever important that love of reading be developed as one enjoyable and profitable use of leisure time. And en- joyment of reading must begin at the level of a person's interest.
As a variation of the study of the classics and other prescribed reading, the students of the English classes have been given occasionally a rather elastic reading a :- signment, which seems to have accomplished its purpose. They are allowed to make their own selection of a week's reading. - with the suggestion that, since during a life- time they can read only a few of the thousands of books that have been written, they choose something that they consider worth while. Primarily, however, they are to try to find a type of reading that they will really enjoy.
Some students are likely to have already in mind good books that they have been intending to read, but for which they have not found time. Others explore in the school library until they find titles which challenge their interest. Also lists of suggested reading are avail-
20
Instructor in English
able, many of which classify the fiction so that one may choose from the field of his interest: stories of adventure, stories of the sea, stories with historical background, stories of romance, etc. From these sources or with the help of librarians, the majority soon make a choice. One or two non-readers usually present a problem. In one of these cases a boy who said that he never read at home, finally became interested in the short articles in the "Reader's Digest".
At the end of the reading period each student makes a report in the form of a book review, either written or oral. The oral report is most beneficial as it serves a triple purpose : the report of reading, practice in speaking before an audience, and the stimulation of interest in further reading by the various reports.
The books read by the students have been, in the majority of cases, unexpectedly well chosen. Biography. accounts of travel, and other non-fiction are included in their selections more and more frequently. Following are books reported on during recent reading projects of this type: Antin, "The Promised Land"; Barnes, "Years of Grace"; Barrie, "The Little Minister" and "What Every Woman Knows"; Barton, "The Book Nobody Knows"; Borden, "The Origin of Radio Speaking"; Bronte, "Jane Eyre"; Cierva, "The Autogyro"; De la Roche, "Lark Ascending" and "Master of Jalna"; Dickens, "David Copperfield"; Elsburg, "On the Bottom"; Gals- worthy, "The Patrician"; Garland, "Roadside Meetings"; Gibbs, "Untertow"; Gould, "Cold"; Grayson, "The Friend- ly Road"; Halliburton, "New Worlds to Conquer"; Hardy. "Far from the Maddening Crowd"; Keller, "The Story of My Life"; Kipling, "The Light That Failed" and "Kim"; Meigs, "Invincible Louisa"; Morrow, "Forever Free" and "With Malice Toward None"; Muir, "The Boyhood of a
21
Instructor in English
Naturalist"; Rockne, "Four Winners"; Wallace, "Ben Hur"; Wharton, "Ethan Frome"; Shakespeare, "The Tempest"; Shelley, "Frankenstein".
In fact, so discriminating have the students proved in their choice of reading that the assignment is repeated as time permits during the year. Of the reports from a class of forty last month only six selections seemed not worth while, - and these may have been the most valu- able of all to the pupils concerned, in awakening an in- terest in reading, if it is true, as one educator has said, that "the only really bad reading habit is not reading at all."
22
Instructor in Science
CHEMISTRY AND THE HOME
M. B. GILLESPIE Instructor in Science
High School
The average person's idea of things chemical has generally been derived either from a glimpse of a labora- tory or a scene from a modern motion picture. On the one hand he is usually impressed unfavorably by the not-too-pleasant odors which seem to emanate from every laboratory or else he is overwhelmed by the staggering array of flasks, retorts and vials over which plays a ghostly light making up the usual run of "movie" chemi- cal workroom scenes. And, yet, chemistry for the most of us is neither one nor the other of these. It is rather a great branch of human knowledge the applications of which are completely interwoven with the lives of all of us.
The housewife is one of those who is apt to think that chemistry has few points of contact with her daily life. But let us look at a few of these activities from a chemical viewpoint.
The house must be kept clean. Dishes and clothing must be washed. There is the problem of softening hard water, of the use of soaps and special chemical cleansers, of the effect of certain chemicals on the life of clothes, of the removal by proper methods of spots and stains.
23
Instructor in Science
.
The best clothing for the money should be selected. A knowledge of the various types of fibers used in mak- ing cloth and what treatment particular fibers will stand will certainly not be a disadvantage. Shoddy material will not be selected and genuine ecenomy will be the re- sult. When it comes to a question of bleaching or dye- ing goods an understanding of the chemistry which un- derlies these processes will be of assistance.
Food for the family is to be prepared. And what is baking but home chemistry. The modern cook no longer uses the "pinch of this and a shake of that" method. She measures accurately according to good recipes or her own experience. The oven temperatures and timing are exactly adjusted. And the results are uniform and satisfying products not to be obtained by a hit or miss method. She has simply followed good chemical methods as used by the chemist himself in his laboratory.
Not only should the food be prepared carefully but it should be selected the same way. Today's homemaker knows the comparative value of foodstuffs and what con- stitutes a well-balanced diet for the family. She knows about proteins, carbohydrates and fats; she understands the significance of vitamins and can figure calorie require- ments; she realizes she has to read the labels on food- stuffs to secure the protection offered by the pure foods laws; and she can use the family pocketbook to get the most for the money in quality and quantity.
The kitchen itself is a veritable museum of the work of the chemist. Due to his efforts, it differs appreciably from the kitchens of a hundred years ago. Stainless chromium steel knives are found here. Monel metal, an alloy of nickel and copper, brightens the room and makes it easier to clean. Aluminum, the metal that comes from
24
Instructor in Science
clay, finds a wide use. Glassware, from the window panes to cooking dishes is an absolute necessity and pyrex, the glass that stands heat, is a product direct from the chem- ist's laboratory. He can also claim as his the tungsten filament electric light which has transformed the kitchen from a gloomy work room to a pleasanter well-illuminated laboratory.
The list of items about the household with which the chemist has had contact might be extended indefinitely. To mention a few of these at random - paints, ink, leather, perfume, drugs, rayon, paper, fuels and rubber. The photographs or paintings which adorn the walls are a product of his skill. The cellophane wrappings on pack- ages delivered to the house exhibit his work.
Of course, the household can be run quite well with- out a knowledge of the chemical processes and materials which underlie it. In the same way an automobile can be operated without an understanding of the mechanics of it, but in both cases, the greatest satisfaction and effi- ciency will be obtained by the person who "knows why".
25
Supervisor of Art
MAKING USE OF OUR OPPORTUNITIES
DORIS D. WARD Supervisor of Art
Because I believe a direct contact between the stu- dent and the person actively engaged in some branch of art work is of greatest value, we have, this year started to contact the art classes of the Junior and Senior High Schools with workers in Commercial Art, Illustration, Sculpture, Portrait-Painting and Mural Decoration, in Stage-Craft, Costume Design and Interior Decoration.
I believe this contact is valuable because it brings to the classes the actual experience of the worker in the field, backed by his original specialized and advanced training in his particular subject while in Art School plus his knowledge gained by his constant research work in library and museum.
In November, teachers and students were invited to attend the demonstration given by senior students from the Massachusetts School of Art at the Cohasset Woman's Club. Every phase of art work was carefully outlined and the work traced from the study at the school to the actual working field. I regret more did not see this dem- onstration and I wish that arrangements could be made to bring it direct to our school.
In December, during the work with the eighth grades on the setting for the Junior High School Carol Service,
26
Supervisor of Art
we called upon a former Scituate High School student who brought to us his experience in the type of work we were attempting. The entire setting was based on re- search work in the classes on Christmas symbols and customs through the ages.
Arrangements have been made to have an established interior decorator speak to the Senior High School classes on actual decorative problems with samples of materials used.
We want to go farther in our study of marionnettes and the miniature stages with their lighting systems. We have been very fortunate to find someone who has been successful in this field of expression to help us.
In the new stage sets for dramatics we are bringing . to the classes the privilege of working directly with people who have had stage-craft experience. To them the play is a real field of achievement where a set means a study of color and of light and shadow. Research work is opened up in the history of the theatre and in period architecture and furnishings.
As High School people we may not be able to do the perfect job on these sets but we intend to enjoy all the benefits to be derived from the correct approach of the subject and to begin to know the value of research work.
We are fortunate in Scituate to have graduates of the Massachusetts School of Art who are soundly backed by that institution as A1 workers in their chosen fields. They have been very gracious in giving of their time to make each of our problems more real. I want to acknowl- edge the fine work of Miss Barbara Coleman who has been assisting me in the department and also the splendid work of Mr. Paul Quinn.
27
. Supervisor of Art
We have only started on this new venture. It has great possibilities and we welcome the cooperation of all workers in the field. For our own part, we should add to our Art Library a good History of Architecture, of Furni- ture, of Painting and of Sculpture and work should be re- newed at once on the assembling of the valuable originals which have been given to the school.
28
Instructor in English
CREATIVE WORK IN ENGLISH
ANNE L. CUNNEEN Instructor in English Junior High School
One of the aims of our English teaching in the junior high school is to lead the pupils to enjoy and appreciate good literature, and the attainment of this end may be aided through their own endeavors to create.
I have undertaken in a small way one phase of crea- tive work - that of writing verse.
The first real step in our verse writing was a group effort which resulted in the writing of couplets. Then individuals tried writing couplets, the initial line being given them to work from.
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