USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Saugus > Town annual report of the officers and committees of the town of Scituate 1952-1954 > Part 53
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We like to consider athletics as an integral part of school life. Scituate High is represented by girls' hockey, basketball, tennis and softball teams. The boys compete in football, basketball, baseball, and this year for the first time in cross country and wrestling.
The school is proud of its record in interscholastic competition. The boys and girls have won a high percentage of contests and have conducted themselves at all times in a manner that has reflected credit on the school and community.
It has been a pleasure to watch the band perform in their new uniforms. This group has provided fine entertainment at the foot- ball games, assemblies and concerts.
Many parents visited the school during an open house night held in the fall. The faculty welcomes these opportunities to discuss mutual interests with the parents.
I would like to express my personal thanks to you, the school committee, the faculty and the student body for the cooperation and confidence that has been extended to me in my first year as principal.
Respectfully submitted,
EDWARD L. STEWART, Principal
REPORT OF THE CENTRAL SCHOOL PRINCIPAL
The following table will show the distribution of pupils in the Central Elementary School as of October 1, 1954:
K Gr. 2 61 Gr. 3 78
Gr. 4 113
Gr. 5
146
Gr. 6 131
Special 12
Total
69
610
With the opening of the new Jenkins School the teacher-pupil load was reduced to a more desirable size, twenty-seven to thirty pupils per class, with but one class having an enrollment of more than thirty. Classroom teachers are assigned as follows:
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Kindergarten-Marion Fleck, Edna Locklin; Grade Two, Flor- ence Hyde, Margaret Leach; Grade Three, Madalin Ford, Shirley Mann, Doris Reddy; Grade Four, Mabel Buck, Madlyn Crawford, Doris Mckinlay, Marguerite O'Hern; Grade Five, Edith Fennessy, Ralph Fletcher, Vera Mitchell, Barbara Sargent, Eleanor Wescott; Grade Six, William Bonner, Mary Monahan, William Lincoln, Grace Lull, M. Beryl Rafuse; Special, Rose Trefry.
Because of the transportation problem, and a demand for shorter hours for primary grade pupils, the following time schedule has been adopted: School opens at 8:40 A.M. for grades two, three and special and closes at 1:50 P.M. The school day for grades four, five and six extends from 9:30 A.M. to 3:20 P.M. Morning kinder- garten sessions run from 8:40 A.M. to 11:30 A.M. and afternoon sessions from 1:00 P.M. to 3:20 P.M.
Mention is here made of certain activities carried on during the year in Central School.
1. Testing Program
a. Intelligence tests, grades K, 3, 5
b. Achievement tests, grades 2-6 ยท
c. Reading readiness tests K
d. Individual tests where necessary
2. Assembly Programs
a. Moving pictures
b. Safety programs
1. Puppet Show
2 Safety and Electricity Fire Chief Curran and Inspector Remick
c. Illustrated lecture on Sweden - Mrs. Clara Clement
d. Talk on Africa - Mrs. Evelyn Hunter, former mission- ary to Africa
e. Musical and dramatic
3. Instrumental instruction - grades 5 and 6
4. Boys' Glee Club - grades 5 and 6
5. Series of evening meetings with parents on reading Mrs. Bassett, Director of Reading
6. Educational Field Trips
a. Science Museum
b. Children's Museum
c. Planetarium
d. Plymouth
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e. Chase Animal Farm
f. Historical Scituate
7. Improved Reading Program
8. Course in "Techniques for Better Reading"
9. Inter-class (grades 5 and 6) soccer tournament
10. Publication of a school paper - "The Comet" - under the supervision of Mr. Fletcher
11. Use of sound projector, film strips, slides and opaque projector as teaching aids
12. Nature Study for grade 6 - special instructor from the Massachusetts Audubon Society
Parents are invited to visit the school to observe classes in opera- tion and to confer with teachers.
LeROY E. FULLER, Principal
REPORT OF THE PRINCIPAL OF THE JENKINS AND HATHERLY SCHOOLS
Scituate pupils were helped considerably this year by the open- ing of the new Jenkins School. Our average class size is now less than thirty pupils with no class having more than 32 pupils enrolled.
In addition to the advantage of a modern building, every mem- ber of the Jenkins teaching staff has had many years of experience. They are teachers who know children and who know teaching from the vantage point of watching hundreds of pupils develop and learn under their guidance.
This experience plus an unusual degree of cooperation made the opening of our school go very smoothly. Having the use of an in- door playroom was particularly appreciated by the staff in the opening weeks when we had no outdoor playground. The playroom continues to be in use every day and enables us better to present a well-rounded school program.
Each of us at Jenkins wishes to thank all of you - school ad- ministrators, school committee, building committee, and taxpayers --- who made it possible for us to have the privilege of guiding the learning activities of your children in this new school.
The six teachers at Hatherly School with the aid of their super- visors completed a most successful school year at Hatherly in June. Despite being in an old building designed for the use of larger pupils
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SCHOOL COMMITTEE REPORT
the first-graders accomplished a great deal. Hatherly once again houses all the first-grade pupils. We find that the problems of dis- cipline and correct behavior are negligible when there are no older children around to imitate or to impress.
Naturally in an older building we are more concerned with the safety of the pupils. The Hatherly School is kept as clean as possible. Extra practice in fire drills is given, especially to those on the second floor. During the past year every door was taken down. The screw- holes in the woodwork were filled and the door hinges were reset more solidly.
In the fall Mrs. Hoey and Miss Castles, both Scituate residents, became new first-grade teachers. They replaced Mrs. Heffernan and Miss Fleck who returned to kindergarten teaching. As many enter- ing pupils this fall did not have the advantage of kindergarten train- ing, a rotating system of enrolling in the first grade was introduced. Each pupil went to school the first two times in groups of six. This procedure enabled the pupil to know his teacher and his school better and it enabled his teacher to find out more about each of her pupils. This resulted in placing the children more accurately and more quickly in their classroom learning groups.
Teachers of both schools have been particularly pleased with the helpful and enthusiastic cooperation they are receiving from many "room mothers." The P.T.A. supplied the initiative and leadership in inaugurating a "room mother" system this fall. We hope this cooperation between home and school will grow ever stronger.
Everyone is invited to visit our schools; parents are particularly urged to come and see what their children are doing. The only real way to know how well we are doing is to come and see for yourself.
ROYAL S. GRAVES, Principal
REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR OF READING
At the close of my first year as Director of Reading, I am happy to report certain positive elements indicative of our progress in read- ing. If, at the same time, I appear to present the reverse side of the coin and point out those problems most lacking of solution, it is be- cause I am confident that as citizens of a rapidly growing but stable community, we must face facts squarely and try to remedy our inade- quacies.
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SCHOOL COMMITTEE REPORT
Let me say at the outset, then, that Scituate's elementary chil- dren from kindergarten through grade six are learning to read. This fact is demonstrated by the results of standardized tests and checked against the test results of children - more than 50,000 of them - all over the United States.
Secondly, I should like to say that we have, to a remarkable degree, a staff of competent, devoted teachers, who are open minded and willing, even eager, to improve their skills and teaching methods and who feel keenly their responsibilities in the all-important area of reading. We have, moreover, excellent mechanical aids for the diagnosis, evaluation, and practice of reading skills. With these the staff is growing more familiar and more expert.
We have begun that two-way parent-teacher communication which makes it possible for us to team up with parents in working out our common problems. We are earnestly seeking to extend that communication.
A cooperative study of our reading program and of our ability as teachers of reading is well underway. We are, in fact, taking a long and searching look at the skills of reading and spelling, how they should be taught, and our competence in teaching them. Ninety-five percent of our elementary teachers as well as six teachers from the high school are enrolled in the two-semester course, Tech- niques for Better Reading, offered by the Director.
An adequate, systematic, and objectively-administered test pro- gram is in operation. The Reading Office gives mental maturity and first-grade entrance tests in kindergarten (first grade this year) in grade three and grade five. Such tests help teachers judge the type of work to be expected from each pupil. Similarly, silent reading tests are given in grades two through six, the results of which de- termine the need for added emphasis. To these are added frequent inventories and tests of all reading skills, from phonics - the speech sounds as applied to reading - to comprehension. From the results of these tests we may draw several conclusions:
1. Scituate children in grades two through six are reading above the national grade norms.
2. The range of grade level achievement in silent reading is entirely normal when compared with country-wide ranges.
3. The range of abilities in our grades and class rooms, while greater than we wish, is no greater than in similar grades and class- rooms all over the United States.
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SCHOOL COMMITTEE REPORT
I am glad to say, therefore, that we know where we are in read- ing and where we intend to go.
Despite these positive indications, however, we have a long way to go. We must fill in many gaps. Certainly, we must pursue more faithfully the area of learning from and reporting to parents about their children's reading and spelling. Discussions, conferences, im- proved report cards and the use of helpful parent visitation should be extended.
While we have, I think, made commendable progress, we do not yet have a truly developmental reading program. Such a program should be systematically organized from kindergarten through grade twelve. There should be no gaps in instruction or practice. One skill should follow and be built upon another. The organization of such a program is a tremendous undertaking. Especially is this true when one considers that our school population has all but doubled since 1945 and that our teachers now number 79 as opposed to 37 in 1946
Nor are all these teachers entirely practiced in the teaching of reading skills nor in the interpretation and use of test results. They need, and rightly so, time and a great deal of assistance in finding test data the helpful guide they should be.
Our elementary library facilities - or lack of them - merit serious consideration. Books and facilities are urgently needed if we are to provide guidance in the selection of recreational reading and the use of reference materials. Our teachers are both generous and ingenious in attempting to provide room libraries, but a reading pro- gram which fails to surround its children with books for every pur- pose is entirely inadequate.
At the secondary level, we have barely scratched the surface of exploration. Mr. Harrer, an assistant and trainee in reading, and the Director are currently engaged in group work and conferences with some junior high school pupils. Since it is commonly recog- nized that instruction and practice in the reading skills, both basic and advanced, should be continued at both the secondary and higher levels, it would appear likely that regular classes in the skills of reading should be included in the curriculum.
If, then, we know where we are in reading and where we in- tend to go, there remain always the way and the will to achieve. I am most appreciative of all the evidence that we are not only learn-
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ing the way but that we also have the will. Better reading must in- evitably be the result.
Respectfully submitted,
ELIZABETH M. BASSETT Director of Reading
REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR OF GUIDANCE
This year the guidance program in Scituate has been correlated so that a wider range of guidance services is being offered to the stu- dents and parents. A brief outline of the guidance program follows:
Testing - This fall reading tests in vocabulary and compre- hension have been given in Grades 8 through 11 to help in the plan- ning of the general reading program in the high school. In the spring achievement tests will be given and academic ability tests to those grades who have not had them for three years. A vocational aptitude battery has been given to those in the junior class who de- sired it. Individual tests will be given as the situation arises. The 7th and 8th grades are now taking academic ability tests.
Conferences - All students will have assigned interviews during the year and the spring one will be devoted to the individual plan- ning of the student's schedule for the rest of his high school years. Parents are welcomed to these conferences.
Occupational Information -- One of the important functions of the Guidance Office is the encouragement of student interest in oc- cupational information. The Office has set up an occupational library which will be available to students during their study halls. Career meetings led by men and women skilled in their field have been held and will be continued during the year. Meetings al- ready held have been in homemaking, forestry, aviation, U. S. Marines, secretarial work, agriculture, nursing, U. S. Coast Guard, lobstering, marine biology, U. S. Army, home economics, U. S. Navy, accounting, engineering, merchant marine, small boat industry.
Educational Guidance - Seniors are being urged to apply to a college or school of their choice where the office feels they will be accepted. The Office has an extensive library of college catalogs, nursing schools, special schools, information or armed services pro- grams, scholarships, college days, college board examinations and careers.
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SCHOOL COMMITTEE REPORT
This office has been in close contact with the elementary schools to correlate the cumulative records, the reading program, the refer- rals to the Child Guidance Center in Quincy and the general testing program.
The alumni and townspeople are invited to use the occupa- tional and educational library in the Guidance Office on Tuesday evenings and the placement bureau, which is being planned to assist the students in securing jobs, both for the summer and after gradua- tion.
SAMUEL J. TILDEN, Director of Guidance
REPORT OF THE HIGH SCHOOL LIBRARIAN
The Scituate High School Library, now known as The John J. Heffernan Memorial Library, was opened officially in September of 1955. Records indicate a total registration of 521 students from Grades 7 through 12, with a daily library attendance of 171. The number of books charged out daily from September through De- cember was 81, the greatest number in any one school day being 138 books. These figures do not include periodicals and Scout manuals or material taken out by the faculty.
Since 1953, when the 1700 volumes of the old school library were necessarily packed away for a year, many improvements have been made. Everyone who has visited the new library quarters has ad- mired the spacious reading room with its fine furnishings, the faculty reading room, the well-equipped work room, stack room, and con- ference rooms.
Every effort is made to maintain a pleasant atmosphere, one conducive to quiet reading and study. Many come each day to read one of the four daily newspapers or peruse favorite periodicals from the varied assortment on the magazine stand. Often there are groups of students busy with research problems in either science or social studies or English.
During the past two years a large number of reference books has been added to the nonfiction shelves. At the present time, the weakest part of the library is the fiction section. Although about 175 novels on various reading levels have been purchased for the new library, the total number is far from adequate for the use of Grades 7, 8, and 9, the members of which are enthusiastic readers. With the purchase of more books in 1955 and the occasional gifts from pupils and friends it is hoped that this situation will soon be remedied.
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SCHOOL COMMITTEE REPORT
The total number of volumes in the library is now 2255, in contrast to the 1700 volumes of 1953.
Twenty-six boys and girls from Grades 9 through 12 work as library assistants, two being on duty each period, whenever possible. The library is open from eight o'clock until three with the exception of the activity period when it is closed. Pupils are allowed to come from their study halls and homerooms on a pass system.
The librarians have their own club and meet each Monday to discuss their problems. They have enjoyed one guest speaker, Mr. Wilmot Brown, who talked on Old Scituate, a topic on which they are doing research for the benefit of the library. They have already entertained socially a group of student librarians from nearby South Shroe towns and were represented at a similar meeting held in the fall at Quincy High School.
The school library is a member of The American Library As- sociation and, therefore, enjoys the advantages of being affiliated with a national organization as well as the benefits of being as- sociated with local school library groups.
Visitors are always welcome in the library. It is hoped that more townspeople will come in during school hours to see for themselves how much the library facilities are appreciated and used by the students and teachers of Scituate High School.
ELEANOR GILE, Librarian
REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR OF MUSIC
The opening of Jenkins School and the enlarged enrollment made it necessary to divide the vocal music program into two levels. Miss Gertrude Reynolds now supervises all vocal music in grades kindergarten through six. This program in the elementary schools consists of instruction in the rudiments of music reading, voice train- ing and music appreciation. The tape recorder and high fidelity phonographs in the Jenkins and Central Schools are used fre- quently to good advantage.
The boys' glee club of the Central School which rehearses weekly sang at the May meeting of the PTA.
Christmas programs were presented in the Hatherly, Jenkins and Central Schools. During these programs, all the pupils had the opportunity of performing for their schoolmates and joining to- gether in the singing of carols.
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SCHOOL COMMITTEE REPORT
The instrumental program at the Central School has decreased from two days to one day each week. This became necessary due to the inability of securing practice teachers for this year. Adequate instruction for eighty fifth and sixth grade students on string, wind and percussion instruments during one five hour period is impossible. Lessons are given in the cafeteria, when available, and in the Men Teachers' room. There is no music room.
Mr. Robert Gartside was engaged to teach vocal music on the junior-senior high level two days per week. Because of increased re- sponsibilities at Harvard University, he was forced to resign early in the school year. Mr. John Hornor replaced him. The newly formed Senior High school mixed chorus gave a fine performance at the first PTA open house. Future plans include a spring concert and participation in the Southeastern Massachusetts Music Festival. A diversified general music program in the Junior High school pro- vides for experiences in vocal, instrumental and music appreciation thru recordings.
It is hoped that a full-time vocal program can be realized. This could then provide for more and varied experiences than are possible in a single mixed chorus in high school.
The High School band and orchestra, which is composed of both junior and senior high school students, could not function satisfactorily while the schools were on double sessions. With the return to a normal school day and the addition of an activity period, operation of both organizations can now procede more satisfactorily. New band uniforms have greatly added to the appearance of that group.
Scheduling difficulties and overcrowded conditions allow for only one band and orchestra rehearsal each week. This situation compares unfavorably with the other schools in the state which pro- vide from two to five periods per week for each organization.
We need considerable equipment and acoustically-treated ac- commodations which might be shared by vocal and instrumental departments. With proper physical surroundings and equipment, both teacher and student can then obtain maximum teaching and learning efficiency.
B. NORMAN DICKINSON, Director.
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REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR OF PHYSICAL EDUCATION
The physical education program at Scituate has been planned so as to develop agility, coordination, speed, strength, skills, sport- manship and knowledge of games. Some of the specific activities used to develop these aims are apparatus activities, gymnastics, tumbling, marching, wrestling, exercises, badminton, tennis, hand- ball, ropeskipping, speedball, soccer, flickerball, fieldhockey, touch football, track and field, and fundamental skills in basketball. Athletic ability is not stressed altho it is recognized that a good physical education program will benefit individuals interested in competing on the athletic teams.
With the addition of the new gymnasium and its excellent locker and shower rooms, the physical education program has been enhanced tremendously. The dividing doors in the gymnasium make it possible to conduct physical education classes for the boys and girls at the same time. With new shower and locker rooms we have asked each student to provide a gym uniform. For the boys this uniform consists of navy blue gym shorts, a white "T" shirt, and gym or tennis shoes. For the girls the uniform consists of girls' blue gym uniform and gym or tennis shoes. Each student is asked to change into his or her uniform for each physical education class period and to take a shower following each period of activity. The purpose of the uniform is three-fold. It is cheaper, it is hygienic, and it lends to uniformity and class morale. 99% of our students have these uniforms and take showers following physical education activity periods.
The 7th and 8th grades now have three classes of physical edu- cation weekly, the 9th grade four and the 10th, 11th, and 12th grades two. With the addition of gymnasium equipment and apparatus a much more diversified program can be developed. Also with the increasing enrollment more outside play area is needed.
This year the athletic program has been enlarged with the hope that more students may enjoy competitive sports and enter into the program. We now have football and cross country for the boys and field hockey for the girls in the fall season, basketball and wrestling for the boys and basketball for the girls during the winter season, and baseball, track, tennis and golf for the boys and softball and tennis for the girls in the spring season. We feel that the success of the athletic program is measured by the number of students who enter the program and not by the win-lost records established by
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these teams in competition with other schools. With the addition of these new athletic teams the overall cost of the athletic program will increase. These sports that have been added will not provide much revenue although neither will they be very expensive. This in itself will necessitate a rise in the athletic budget. Naturally as our school grows so will the sizes of our team squads in each sport which also means a rise in the overall cost of the athletic program.
The new gymnasium with its folding doors has facilitated the basketball program tremendously. It is now possible for the boys' and girls' teams to practice simultaneously. This means that larger squads can be carried for the coaches now have twice as much practise time as they had a year ago. Also, anyone may enjoy the program and still reach home at a reasonable hour after practise sessions.
I feel that we have a very competent coaching staff in all sports and that they have contributed a great deal to the success of the athletic program.
I want to thank the Park Dept., Police Dept., and the Highway Dept., for their excellent cooperation during the last year.
I feel that the students of Scituate High School are very fortunate in having such a varied sports program. Our goal is to attract even more students into the activities of this program.
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