USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Saugus > Town annual report of the officers and committees of the town of Scituate 1946-1948 > Part 11
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Erroll K. Wilcox
Science
Richard M. Rogers
Commercial Subjects
Wilton G. Hawes
Mathematics
Lawrence A. Benson
Practical Arts
Bessie MI. Dudley
English
Esther M. Harrington
French, Latin
Ruth E. Hawkes
Commercial Subjects
Elcanor Gile
English, History Household Arts
Ella L. Vinal
Aeronautics, History
Anne L. Cunneen
English-Grades VII &VIII
Elizabeth Giles
Mathematics, Science-Grades VII & VIII
Mrs. Maud C. Williams
History, Civics-Grades VII & VIII
Carol Vollmer
Geography, Hygiene-Grades VII & VIII
Doris M. Rowell
Art
Gertrude M. Reynolds
Music
Donald F. Leach
Instructor of Instrumental Music
HATHERLY SCHOOL
LeRoy E. Fuller Principal
M. Beryl Rafuse
Grade VI
Eleanor Westcott
Grade V
Helen Pearl Grade IV
Elizabeth Van Dusen
Grade III
Jeanne H. Lockhart
Grade II
Barbara O. Annis
Grade I
Mrs. Doris L. Reddy
Assistant
JENKINS SCHOOL
LeRoy E. Fuller
Principal
Mildred S. Young
Grade VI
Mary E. Monahan
Grade V
Marguerite I. O'Hern
Grade IV
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Mary S. Kingsbury
Ruth E. Moulton
Physical Education, History
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SCHOOL COMMITTEE REPORT
Eunice M. Cole
Grade III
Rose M. Fisher
Grade II
Gertrude J. Ward
Grade I
Mrs. Rose M. Trefry
Special Class
Priscilla Kelley
Assistant
Mrs. Madeline B. Vickery
Assistant
SUPERVISORS
Mrs. Helene D. Fulton
Art-Elementary Schools
Gertrude M. Reynolds Music-Elementary Schools
HEALTH OFFICERS
Max D. Miles, M. D.
School Physician School Dentist
W. B. Parsons, D.D.S.
Margaret J. O'Donnell
School Nurse
SUPERVISORS OF ATTENDANCE
Margaret J. O'Donnell
Elementary Schools
Joseph A. Dwyer
High School
William F. Kane
High School
JANITORS
Frank H. Cole
High School
Donald E. Quinn
High School
Lewis B. Newcomb*
Hatherly School
Frank L. Young
Jenkins School
HIGH SCHOOL CAFETERIA
Ina L. Wilder
Manager
Annie Barry
Assistant
BUS CONTRACTORS
Mrs. Malvina H. Young
Route A
Prescott A. Damon
Route B
R. H. Dyer
Route C
Joseph W. Appleton
Route D
Wilson S. Brown
Route E
Robert E. Huntley
Route F
Allan R. Wheeler
Route G
"Succeeded by Wilfred C. Prouty on December 1, 1946.
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SCHOOL COMMITTEE REPORT
REPORT OF THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE
To the citizens of Scituate:
The School Commtitee presents to you herewith the report of the Superintendent of Schools and also the reports of the Principals and health officers.
The inadequate conditions of our elementary schools have made it most difficult to arrange classes for the best interests of our children.
It is gratifying to find so much interest in the proposed new building, for which the architects are now drawing plans, and which we hope will become a realization before long.
The cost of maintaining our schools at the high standards which we all want, has increased steadily, and is reflected in an increased budget, as will be true in most other communities.
Your Committee has voted to set the age of entering school, beginning next September at five years and eight months on Sep- tember first.
We are very grateful to Scituate Post No. 144, American Legion, and their Auxiliary, for their co-operation, in allowing the special class from the Jenkins School to occupy their hall this year. It re- lieved the situation at that school so that, with the addition of all- other teacher it can be taken care of for the present.
The committee takes this opportunity to thank the people of Scituate for their generous support of the schools. We trust that you will continue your interest and co-operation in the future.
The committee is most anxious to co-operate with the citizens of Scituate to make our schools always better.
Respectfully submitted
THOMAS W. MACY, Chairman FRED T. WATERMAN, Secretary MRS. EMMA L. DAMON School Committee
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SCHOOL COMMITTEE REPORT
REPORT OF THE SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS
To the School Committee of Scituate:
I take pleasure in submitting my twenty-first annual report for your consideration.
The school year opened for the fall term of 1946 on September 4. The October 1 census showed a total enrollment of 855 in the three schools, compared with 851 in 1945. The Hatherly school numbered 229; the Jenkins school, 260; and the High School, 366.
TEACHING STAFF CHANGES
At the beginning of the fall term, two of our teachers who had been on leave of absence on account of war service, returned to their teaching positions. Miss Elizabeth M. Monahan resumed her duties as teacher of Grade V of the Jenkins school, and Mr. Edward L. Stewart resumed his position as teacher-coach at the High school.
Also, at the beginning of school in September, Miss Carol Vollmer, teacher of Grade VI at the Hatherly School, was trans- ferred to the Junior High school to fill the position made vacant by the resignation of Miss Dorothy Maxim, who had accepted a similar position in Me'rose.
Miss M. Beryl Rafuse took over the sixth grade position at the Hatherly School and Miss Eleanor Westcott of Castine, Maine, a graduate of Castine Normal School, with twelve years' experience in the schools of Maine and Massachusetts, accepted! the position in Grade V.
The vacancy in the part-time position of Supervisor of Drawing for the elementary schools, caused by the resignation of Mrs. Bar- bara Arnold, was filled with the appointment of Mrs. Helene D. Fu'ton of Hanover. Mrs. Fulton is a graduate of the Massachusetts School of Art and has had fourteen years' experience as a Super- visor of Art in New England school systems, among them Burling- ton. Vermont: Newport, Rhode Island; and Holyoke, Massachu- setts.
At the High School Mr. Wilton G. Hawes of Newton, Massachu- seits, a graduate of Boston University, with a considerable amount of graduate study at Columbia University. accepted a position as teacher of mathematics. Mr. Hawes formerly was a teacher at Monson Academy and at Pelham (N. Y.) High school.
Two resignations were received at the beginning of the fall term from members of the high school faculty. Miss Virginia Vines resigned to be married and Mr. Philip M. Dodge resigned to enter business at Colebrook, New Hampshire. The position of
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SCHOOL COMMITTEE REPORT
teacher-coach, relinquished by Miss Vines, was filled with the ap- pointment of Miss Ruth E. Moulton of Boston, a graduate of the American College of Physical Education at Chicago, Illinois. Miss Moulton has had over ten years' experience in the Posse School, Welles'ey High School and as a substitute for one year in the Girls' Memorial High School, Roxbury.
The Practical Arts position at the high school was filled by the appointment of Lawrence A. Benson of Brockton. Mr. Benson is a graduate of Upsala College, East Orange, New Jersey, and has had seven years' experience as teacher of manual training at the Medway High School. He has also taught classes in the Brockton Evening High School.
UPKEEP OF SCHOOL PROPERTY
The repairs at the Hatherly School this year were of a routine mature. At the Jenkins School, in addition to the usual yearly repairs, it was necessary to replace one of the furnaces.
Substantial repairs and improvements were completed at the High School during the year. The classroom next to the Principal's office was made into a general office, with a counter, a large closet for books and supplies, and a closet for wardrobe purposes. The f'oors of the library study-hall, the new general office, the English room and the corridors adjacent to these rooms, were all sanded and refinished. The walls and ceilings of the corridors, as well as those of several of the classrooms, were repainted and the woodwork was varnished. To comply with the orders of the State Department of Public Safety, all plain glass was removed from the fire stop doors between corridors and stair wells of the older part of the building and special safety glass installed.
The copper flashings inside the parapet walls of the cast wing of the building were renailed and the area retarred and graveled. Bare spots in several other sections of the roof were likewise treated.
A book and supply cabinet was made for the use of the special class, now housed in the American Legion Hall. A new liquid duplicating machine was purchased for the use of the Hatherly and Jenkins schools.
Equipment purchased for the high school included a Stanley Router for the shop, a new Reynolds trombone and case for the band and a piano for the music room. An art square and a couch cover set were purchased for the teashers' room.
Major repairs contemplated for the coming year include the outside painting of the Jenkins and Hatherly schools, reshingling the Household Arts building, painting the High school Auditorium and installing in it an auxiliary lighting system.
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SCHOOL COMMITTEE REPORT
ADMISSION TO GRADE I
In past years the age of admission to Grade 1 of the Scituate schools has been considerably lower than that in most Massachusetts towns. Many children under the age of six years are not ready to meet successfully the requirements of Grade I and so many failures result. To help remedy this situation, the School Committee voted last Spring to admit to the first grade in September only those chil- dren whose fifth birthdays were on or before January 4, 1946. Those whose fifth birthdays were between January 5, 1946, and May 4, 1946. inclusive, were allowed to take a special entrance test to de- termine their readiness to take up first grade work.
Early in August these tests were given to about thirty children by a clinic from the staff of the Taunton State Hospital, and ap- proximately one-half of these were admitted to the first grade in September.
At its October 1946 meeting, the School Committee decided to discontinue the testing program as a method of admission to Grade I, and passed the following regulation:
"For admission to Grade One of the Scituate Schools, a child must have reached the age of five years and eight months on Sep- tember 1 of the year of entering."
This regulation will be effective at the opening of school in September, 1947.
SCHOOL ENROLLMENT
The October 1 enrollment in all schools this year was 855, a very small increase over that of 1945. However, this figure does not reflect accurately the measure of increase in the school popula- tion. As stated above, about fifteen pupils were denied admission to the first grade this year on account of the increase in the age re- quirement. Also, for the first time, this year, a group of Scituate punils, numbering about twenty, are attending the parochial school at Weymouth. In addition to this, two Scituate pupils living close to the town line on Border Street, are attending the Cohasset schools, and nine others in the Humarock area of Scituate are at- tending the schools of Marshfield.
One of the more acute problems that presented itself at the opening of school was the size of the entering.class at the Jenkins School. It is obvious that a class of over sixty pupils is too large to be handled as a single group, even with an assistant teacher. Some emergency measures were necessary, and it was decided to look for quarters for the special class outside of the Jenkins School, and to use the small special class room for a division of grade 1.
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SCHOOL COMMITTEE REPORT
Through the courtesy and co-operation of the Scituate Post, #144, of the American Legion, we were granted the use of the Legion Hall for this purpose, and the special class is now located there. This again emphasizes the pressing need for additional school building accommodations.
NEW ELEMENTARY BUILDING
Elsewhere in the Town Report is the report of the committee appointed for the purpose of securing preliminary plans and speci- fications for a new elementary school. This committee, after some investigation and study, secured the services of a competent school architect and sketches of the new building are now being prepared. The land upon which to ercet the building has been acquired by the Selectmen and studies have been made of its best use for school purposes.
This building is being planned to accommodate up to 650 pupils enrolled in Kindergarten and Grades I to VI, inclusive, and to in- clude two kindergarten rooms, a special classroom, a library, a com- plete health unit, a cafeteria, gymnasium, assembly hall, and ad- ministrative offices. Eighteen regular classrooms will be an im- mediate need.
Play areas will be carefully planned, and there will be access to the building and grounds from First Parish road as well as from Branch Street.
TEACHERS' SALARIES
There has been much discussion recently, on a nation-wide basis, of the inadequacy of the average salary of teachers. This has referred not only to salaries in relation to the present high cost of living, but also in comparison to salaries received by those engaged in other professions. School teachers themselves are taking the initiative in seeking to increase school salaries. Early in the present year the Massachusetts Teachers' Federation contacted each teachers' club in the State, and suggested the appointment of com- mittees to make a study of salaries being paid and planned for in other comparable towns and to recommend increases in local salary schedules.
The Scituate Teachers' Club met and discussed the matter and appointed a committee to investigate. The committee did this and its recommendations were accepted by the club ..
At the invitation of the Superintendent, the teachers' com- mittee met with the School Committee at its regular December meeting and presented its request for salary increases. At a sub- sequent special meeting, the School Committee, believing that the request of the Scituate teachers was reasonable and not out of line
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SCHOOL COMMITTEE REPORT
with the practice of other towns, voted to include the requested increases in the school budget for 1947.
These increases would include a $250. increase for each teacher, making the maximum salary for senior high school teach- ers with Bachelor's degrees, $3,000. Previous to the town meeting of March 11, 1946, the maximum salary for men teachers in the high school had been $2,750, several hundred dollars higher than that for women teachers. A referendum question regarding equal pay for men and women teachers was on the ballot used at this meeting and it was passed by a large majority. This specified that "women teachers employed in the same grades and doing the same type of work with the same preparation and training as men teachers shall be paid at the same rate as men teachers."
It was therefore necessary to immediately increase the salaries of most of the women teachers in the senior high school to $2,750. As the maximum salary of teachers in the junior high school was then $2,150 and that of the teachers of the elementary grades, $2,000, some dissatisfaction was evident on the part of the lower paid teachers. To help correct this situation, the maximum salary for all teachers in the junior high and all degree teachers in the e'ementary grades was increased to $2,200. in September.
As a further step towards the establishment of a single salary schedule for Scituate teachers, the teachers' committee asked that $200. additional be granted the junior high and elementary school teachers. This is likewise included in the budget for 1947. If accepted by the Town, this will assure a maximum salary of $2,650 for regular teachers with degrees and $2,450 for regular teachers without degrees in grades I - VIII inclusive in 1947.
Your attention is called to the following reports of the school principals, the school physician, and the school nurse: also to the various statistical tables and to the financial reports.
Respectfully submitted,
HAROLD C. WINGATE, Superintendent of Schools.
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SCHOOL COMMITTEE REPORT
REPORT OF THE HIGH SCHOOL PRINCIPAL
Mr. Harold C. Wingate Superintendent of Schools
Scituate. Massachusetts
Dear Sir:
I herewith present my first annual report since returning from military leave.
The year 1946 has been the first full year of peace after four years of war. Our school has gradually returned to normal. Fewer young men are needed for military service and high school students are being allowed to finish their courses before being called by the government. Two former pupils have returned to the school after war service and others are securing credits toward a diploma from the Scituate High School while in the service or in special schools for servicemen set up by the Massachusetts Department of Edu- cation.
The enrollment of the high school is on the upward trend, the figures of October 1, 1946 showing 366 pupils in attendance. The incoming seventh grade numbers 78. Your attention is called to your report for 1943 showing that at the time additions were made to the High School building in 1930, only 221 pupils were enrolled. The capacity of the building is at present being overtaxed and the probability of further increases in incoming classes as well as the admission of pupils transferring here from other towns makes it imperative that some action be taken by the town immediately to add further classrooms, laboratories, and toilet facilities to the school.
As a part of the guidance program of the school, pupils of grade eight were given the Terman Tests of Mental Ability, grades ten and eleven were given the Iowa State University General Devel- opment Tests and grades nine and twelve were tested by the Special Testing Service of Boston University using a battery of Mental Maturity. Fields of Interests, and Aptitude tests. In all of these, pupils of Scituate High School stood well above the averages of high schools throughout the United States, our school ranking among the leading schools of the country in English and breadth of vocabulary.
Scituate High School continues to maintain its "Class A" rating with the Massachusetts Department of Education. The New Eng-
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SCHOOL COMMITTEE REPORT
land College Admissions Board was dissolved in June 1946. High schools in New England of high scholastic standing have in past years been allowed to certify graduates to colleges that were mem- bers of this Board. Scituate High School has enjoyed this privilege since 1936. Hereafter the acceptance by colleges of graduates of New England high schools will be based upon the record of former graduates in colleges, the school record of the student, and the recommendation of the high school principal.
Although it was difficult to secure admission to colleges for high school graduates of last June, graduates of Scituate High School were very fortunate. All members of the class of 1946 taking the College Preparatory and Scientific Preparatory courses and who attained certificate grades, were admitted to college if they desired to go. Graduates of this class are now in Boston University (2), Colgate (2), Hartwick, Immaculata (2), Massachusetts Insti- tute of Technology (2), Massachusetts State College, Oberlin. Regis (2), Simmons, Tufts, and Green Mountain Junior College.
The health program of the high school was augmented this fall by the tuberculosis tests which were given by representatives of the Plymouth County Hospital of Hanson. More attention to posture is being given in the regular physical education classes of the school which include all pupils not specifically excused by family physicians. With the lifting of restrictions on bus transpor- tation regular schedules of inter-school sports have been possible this year under safer traveling conditions. This fall the members of the South Shore League voted to play their mid-week basketball games in the afternoon rather than in the evening, the sponsors stressing the educational and health values of such a change.
To date, 381 former pupils of this school have served in the military services of our Country since 1941 and 17 died during this service. The graduating class of 1946, as its gift to the school, left money for a bronze plaque giving the names of these gold star veterans. This plaque will be placed inside the main entrance to the school where it will keep forever before the school the sac- rifices of its former students.
In keeping with the spirit of democracy as studied and advo- cated in our school, the Scituate High School Student Council has recently been formed. This body of student leaders will be very helpful to the Principal and the faculty in fostering school spirit and in planning the extra-curricular activities of the school.
The annual Senior Class play was presented in April. "Strictly Formal" was well received by a large audience. In December, the "all school" production was Gilbert and Sullivan's Pinafore. This
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SCHOOL COMMITTEE REPORT
always popular operetta proved to be a huge success, dramatically and financially.
A non-credit course in Character Guidance for pupils of grade nine, started in 1940 but discontinued during the war years, was resumed in September of this year. The course in Automobile Safety Driving under the sponsorship of the Massachusetts Reg- istry of Motor Vehicles has also been replaced in the curriculum of the school.
In conclusion, may 1 express my thanks to you and those whose interest and cooperation have made it possible to round out a progressive school year.
Respectfully submitted, FREDERICK A. CALKIN. Principal.
REPORT OF THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS
Mr. Harold C. Wingate
Superintendent of Schools
Scituate, Massachusetts
Dear Sir:
I herewith submit my fourth annual report as Supervising Principal of the Hatherly and Jenkins Schools.
The following table shows the enrollment by grades as of October 1, 1946:
Grade
I
II
III
IV 31 35
V 43 32
70 VI 37 33
Sp. Total 229
Hatherly
39
40
39
Jenkins
63
48
40
9 260
Total
102
88
79
66
75
9 489
You will note by the preceding table that there was a large entering class at Jenkins School in September. With no unused room available the immediate problem became one of housing. Through the courtesy of Post No. 144, American Legion, Legion Hall was made available for school purposes. It seemed advisable to use this hall to house the Special Class. This was done and the boys and girls are very happy there. The small room formerly used by the Special Class is now being used by a division of the first grade.
The usual problems arising from the use of old buildings are still with us. A new, modern, well-equipped building is the solu- tion.
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SCHOOL COMMITTEE REPORT
Mention should be made of the following activities that have taken place during the year.
1. Use of films for entertainment and instructional purposes.
2. Enlarging room libraries.
3. Contributions to Red Cross and Plymouth County Tuber- culosis Drive.
4. Sale of seeds.
5. Sale of pictures.
6. Filling of boxes for overseas Junior Red Cross.
7. Special instruction in nature study.
8. Hobby show by pupils of the fifth grade at Jenkins School.
9. Cooperation of citizens of the town by giving talks to classes on hobbies, travel, the showing of films, etc.
10. Afternoon tea at Hatherly School by a group of interested parents.
11. Eleven teachers in attendance at a B. U .- Harvard Extension Course in Brockton-"Reading and Study in the Elemen- tary Grades."
12. The testing program.
I should like to elaborate upon the testing program in the elementary grades. At the present time two types of group tests are given to the pupils in these grades, the mental ability test and the achievement test. The Pintner-Cunningham Primary Mental Abil- ity Test is given to a child while he is in grade one; in grade three he is given the Otis Quick-Scoring Alpha Test; in grade six he is given the Otis Quick-Scoring Beta Test. In the early days of testing it was felt that the intelligence quotient of a child remained con- stant. However, continued research and experimentation have convinced educators that intelligence quotients do change. Hence, the three testing periods during these years. The Stanford Revised Achievement Test is given to all pupils in grades two through six in May of each year.
Purpose of mental ability tests:
1. For teaching purposes, to discover which pupils are bright and capable of doing better school work than they are doing and to discover which pupils are dull and may be attempting work beyond their capacity.
2. For administrative purposes, to regrade pupils into more effective working groups.
3. For comparisons with other grades in other schools of the system and with schools throughout the country.
4. For research or experimental purposes.
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SCHOOL COMMITTEE REPORT
Purpose of achievement tests:
1. To provide a more objective and reliable basis for classi- fication and grouping for instructional purposes.
2. To provide a more objective and reliable basis for pro- motion.
3. To help the teacher evaluate her teaching methods ob- jectively.
4. To diagnose the deficiencies of pupils as a basis for reme- dial work.
5. To evaluate achievement in terms of ability.
Regardless of the purpose for which the tests are given, the teacher will do well to analyze the results as a basis for improving pupil adjustment and the work of the classroom. For, unless this is done, the tests have no value.
I should like to take this opportunity to express my appreci- ation for your support and for that of the School Committee and to thank the teachers for their cooperation during the year.
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