USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Saugus > Town annual report of the officers and committees of the town of Scituate 1958-1960 > Part 39
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These took time and, along with other complications, it was not until a special town meeting of October 1948 that an estimated amount was voted for construction. This still left the step of advertising for bids and it was not un- til March 1949 that construction was begun. The new school, called the Central School, was finally completed in April 1950, almost seven years after serious discussion of it had begun.
When the discussion began the three existing build- ings were filled to the "gunwales" and before the new School was completed the overflow had to be housed on the second floor of the old Police Station and in a room in the Allen Library. When the Central School was com- pleted the children were immediately moved in and the.
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REPORT OF THE SCITUATE SCHOOL COMMITTEE
doors of the old Jenkins and Hatherly Schools were locked, it was hoped, forever. Five months later, in Sep- tember 1950, the Hatherly School was open again and it was necessary to continue using it until 1957.
In March 1950 the annual Town Meeting appointed a committee and appropriated money for plans for an ad- dition to the high school. With preliminary plans and the survey of a consultant the committee approached the 1951 Meeting for an appropriation of an estimated amount of money for construction. This was granted but, owing to a shortage of steel caused by the Korean War, the amount of money authorized having turned out to be inadequate and a controversy over additional money to make up the difference (it was not added) the wing was not begun un- til November 1952 and not completed until April 1954. This wing contained science laboratories, a library, a gym- nasium and ten classrooms, eight classrooms having been lopped off the original plans.
Meanwhile, in 1952 the annual Town Meeting ap- pointed a committee to investigate elementary school needs once again and, upon its recommendation, a Special Town Meeting of December 1952 voted to raze the old Jenkins School and purchase land to increase the size of the site. It also authorized the procurement of complete architectural plans for a new school on the site and, fur- ther, specified that the Building Committee obtain con- struction bids before turning to the town for funds to build the school. Through this approach the new twelve room Jenkins School was built and opened for use in Sep- tember 1954.
In March 1955, the elementary school population hav- ing grown in five years from 585 to 1,160, the Town Meet- ing authorized the acquisition of plans for an addition to the just completed Jenkins School, plans for a new elemen- tary school and the purchase of land on Tilden Road for it. This Meeting also created a permanent Building Com- mittee to be composed of representatives of the School Committee, Advisory Committee, Planning Board, P. T. A. Teachers Association (one each) and two persons, either architects or builders appointed by the Selectmen. It was
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REPORT OF THE SCITUATE SCHOOL COMMITTEE
argued that a permanent committee would benefit the. town by its accumulation of experience and the oppor- tunity to develop an efficient, standarized approach to each successive assignment. Looking back, the town can easily agree that this was a useful step to have taken.
The 1956 Meeting appropriated funds to construct a. four room addition to the Jenkins School and the new six- teen room Wampatuck School. Both were completed prior to the opening of school in September 1957, and none too soon, for the elementary population had now grown to 1,590. This population required 46 class rooms plus 4 kin- dergartens and the Central, Jenkins and Wampatuck Schools combined contained just 48 rooms plus 4 kinder- gartens. The doors of the old Hatherly School once again were locked, this time, it turned out, for good.
By now the other shoe was beginning to pinch again and the town's attention was directed to the secondary grades, which were rapidly feeling the effect of increased population at lower levels. The High School, with its en- larged capacity of 650 was struggling to house 783 7th to 12th graders in September 1957. Since the municinal center- took precedence over school building in that year it was not until the Town Meeting of March 1958 that the Build- ing Committee was authorized to begin plans for a new secondary school and enlarging once again, the high school.
At this point a decision was made to make the new buildings a high school and turn the old one into a junior high school. The major reasons for this decision were that it would be most expensive to make a really first class high school out of the existing building, the available land was woefully inadequate in athletic fields even for a school of 600 students, and the proposed 10 room addition would be the last expansion physically possible. Since Scituate will probably never need more than one high school, but will need two, perhaps three, junior high schools eventually, it was concluded that a proner high school (with a capacity of 800, expandable to 1200) should be built on the ade- quate site adjacent to the municipal center and then a sec- ond junior high built when the population of grades 7-9 outgrew the old, twice expanded high school.
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REPORT OF THE SCITUATE SCHOOL COMMITTEE
In March 1959 the town authorized the construction of the 10 room addition and the new high school. Mean- while, the elementary grades had totally filled their 48 rooms, the 4 kindergartens were overflowing and the sec- ondary grades had run to 907 versus the high school's ca- pacity of 600. In September 1959 the situation was out of hand. for the elementary grades required at least 53 rooms and the secondary enrollment was over 1,000. The only adequate solution was the cancellation of kindergarten and the use of double sessions for grades 7-12. In Septem- ber 1960 kindergarten was restored by installing all sixth grade classes in the new wing of the high school. Owing to a most unfortunate and unforeseen delay in completing the new high school, however, grades 7-12 began the year again on double sessions and remained there until the building was finally ready, a date unknown at this writing.
B. ENROLLMENT FORECAST FOR SCITUATE PUBLIS SCHOOLS, 1961-1965
This forecast is based upon the enrollment predic- tions made in November 1957 in the supplement to the "Benjamin Report" the gray covered booklet entitled "The School Housing Problem at the Town of Scituate, Massa- chusetts," by Educational Service Associates. Largely it is an attempt to bring the 1957 predictions up to date and to correct in that report a major error, now apparent after three years' experience.
The predictions of the original report were made by the use of a statistical method known as "percentage of survival." This method consists simply of counting certain units (in this case, children) at a given point and compar- ing them with the number of the same units existing at a later point. For example, if 200 children were born in Scituate in 1954, one might look to see how many had "sur- vived" to reach first grade in the fall of 1960. That figure would equal the number born in 1954 minus those who had moved away, minus those who had died or were mentally / physically unable to attend school, plus those (also born in 1954) who had meanwhile moved into Scituate. If 320 1st graders were found in 1960, the percentage of survival
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REPORT OF THE SCITUATE SCHOOL COMMITTEE
would be 320/200 or 160%. Similarly, the survival between 1st and 2nd grade, 2nd and 3rd grade, etc., can be figured and expressed as percentages. By doing this for a number of years for all grades, percentages with some statistical reliability can be developed.
For our present purpose of attempting to forecast school enrollments beyond 1960, the 1957 report is inade- quate. This revision has included two specific changes:
1) The actual enrollment figures of 1958, 1959 and 1960 have been added.
2) A five-year period of experience has been used in place of a ten-year period in computing survival per- centages. This concentrates the figures of the most recent "high growth" years and should improve the accuracy of the result.
Following, in tabular form are the 1957 Educational Service Associates percentages of survival, grade by grade, and the 1960 revision (both omit any consideration of kin- dergarten) :
Birth to Grade 1
1957 %'s 136.1
1960 %'s Difference 165.2 +29.1%
Grade 1 to
2
108.2
106.61
Grade 2 to 3
105.3
107.5
Grade 3 to 4
104.4
100.5
-0.3%
Grade
4 to 5
102.7
103.8
Grade
5 to 6
101.5
103.4
Grade
6 to
7
106.9
98.4 )
Grade
7 to
8
98.9
107.4 8
+3.6%
Grade
8 to 9
91.5
95.1]
Grade
9 to 10
94.9
99.6)
Grade 10 to 11
98.4
94.9 7
+6.0%
Grade 11 to 12
93.4
97.9 ]
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REPORT OF THE SCITUATE SCHOOL COMMITTEE
There are two observations to be made from the above table. First, both columns show a steadily declining per- centage of survival from Grade 1 to 12, with a significant drop between the 8th and 9th grades, the point where, in all school systems, some students leave for private school. This indicates clearly that people moving to Scituate tend to bring with them younger children, the majority of which are pre-school children. As an aside, it is interesting to note that the percentage of Scituate's population in the public schools has grown from 20% in 1955 to 25% in 1960. The reason lies in the fact that the average increment of 600 new citizens per year has produced an average of 225 or more students per year, meaning that 36% of the net new population have been or became public school children during these five years.
Second, the table indicates readily that the major dif- ference between the original figures and the present re- vision is in the birth to first grade percentages. This means simply that, between 1955 and 1960, the percentage of families migrating into Scituate with small children was higher than ever before in the past. A look at the birthrate trend, moreover, suggests that these new families have not finished having children when they arrive. Scituate's birth rate for the past 18 years has been :
Average, 1942-45 95 Average, 1946-50 138
Average, 1951-55 177
1956 238 (Grade 1 in Sept. 1962, plus newcomers)
1957
263 (Grade 1 in Sept. 1963, plus newcomers)
1958 244 (Grade 1 in Sept. 1964, plus newcomers)
1959 310 (Grade 1 in Sept. 1965, plus newcomers)
1960 figures incomplete.
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REPORT OF THE SCITUATE SCHOOL COMMITTEE
The following table indicates the revised enrollment projections, with the original projections of 1957 in paren- theses.
REVISED ENROLLMENT PROJECTIONS
1960-61 1961-62 Actual
1962-63 1963-64 1964-65 1965-66
Elementary
1-5
1433
1595
1760
1970 300
2105 365
395
1-6
1679
1850
2055 (1800)
2270 (1855)
2470 (1940)
2705 (2001)
Rooms needed,
@ 30/room
56
62
68
75
82
90
Rooms available, in:
48
48
48
48
48
48
new school
18
18
18
18
second new school
18
18
Deficiency
8
14
2
12
-2
6
Net deficiency
4
2
-2
6
Junior High
7-8
471
490
510
560
605
675
9
*
*
*
255
295
Capacity
650*
650*
650*
650*
900
900
Senior High
9
211
230
235
245
10-12
418
490
565
645
680
705
Capacity
800
800
800
800
800
800
Total Enrollment
2780
3065
3365
3720 (3290)
4005 (3420)
4380
(2665)
(2875)
(3090)
(3690)
6
246
255
295
66
84
84
J. H. new wing adds. 10
10
10
10
860
970
629
720
800
890
*9th grade moved to high school to permit elementary grades to occupy part of the junior high school.
These projections tell a simple, direct story. Not hav- ing built an elementary school for four years, we are eight
12
2310
(1565)
(1680)
3 existing schools
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REPORT OF THE SCITUATE SCHOOL COMMITTEE
rooms short in 1960-61, with only 48 general classrooms and students enough to fill 56. Fortunately, the new high school and the enlarged junior high school have consider- able excess capacity this year and the shortage is easily overcome by moving one of the junior high grades (the ninth) to the senior high school and the sixth grade into the junior high's new wing.
But in September 1961 this arrangement will not be sufficient because the junior high wing will not fill the gap of 14 rooms between 48 and the 62 needed. This will re- quire considerable juggling and squeezing and it is certain that, whatever solution is decided upon, it will be some- thing less than satisfactory, educationally.
In 1962 the situation, without another school ready for use, will be patently impossible, in terms of our present educational program. Three buildings will be able to han- dle only grades 1-4. The high school, with its extra grade, will be at capacity. This leaves the junior high school and its capacity of 900 (too high a figure, actually, when con- sidering elementary grades) to handle the 1,100 of grades 5-8. It will not be able to do so. There are only two solu- tions : a new school or double sessions for grades 1-4. The latter simply is not consistent with good education.
By 1963, even with a fourth school in operation, the figures indicate that it will still be necessary to retain the junior high wing for grade 6, thus requiring grade 9 to remain in the high school - exactly the same arrange- ment we have now.
This brings us to 1964, when the size of grades 10-12 will make it necessary to move grade 9 back to the junior high school, thus eliminating any further classroom assis- tance to the elementary schools. Assuming that the 1962 school will contain 18 general classrooms (as large as is educationally desirable) we shall have 66 rooms for the elementary grades - and need 82. 1964, then, indicates the need for a fifth elementary school.
The projections for 1965 are set down with some re- luctance because five years in Scituate are like ten years in ordinary towns. Presuming constant rates of growth,
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REPORT OF THE SCITUATE SCHOOL COMMITTEE
however, 1965 suggests that we must begin looking at the junior high school needs, for it will be somewhat over ca- pacity by then. Altogether, this is not a joyful picture but we are confident that the people of Scituate prefer as forth- right and accurate an outline of the future as we are able to provide. :
There is a question to be asked here, to be sure. How accurate are these projections? No one knows. No one can know with assurance, due, to the dynamic growth of our town. These projections have been based purely on the ex- perience of the past five years and it is entirely possible that the town will grow more rapidly or more slowly during the next five.
One indicator might be the availability of land for the continuance of house building at the rate of 135 homes per year, which is the average for 1953 through 1959. Most of this would have to be in the 20,000 foot zone because there is little land left in the 10,000 zone and the 40.000 zone is likely to develop more slowly. Thus, the 20,000 foot zone would have to produce about 110 houses per year to main- tain the past rate for the next five years. Unquestionably there is room for: 550 houses in this area (there is room for 150 on one site alone), but it can only be guessed if all will be built between now and 1965.
Another indicator is the price of housing to be built during this period. Presently very few houses under $20,000 are being built in Scituate and the average price can be expected to continue rising in the future, particu- larly as land in and near the 40,000 foot zone is used. An analysis of two areas in Scituate with distinctly different housing shows the following :
Price Range Number Children in School Ave. /House % in Grades K-5 14,000-17,000 40 155 1.4
25,000-35,000 40 47
1.2
70
45
This suggests that the more expensive homes contain somewhat fewer school age children per house and, more important, a far smaller percentage in the lower grades. Thus, it may develop that the projections given above may
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REPORT OF THE SCITUATE SCHOOL COMMITTEE
be slightly high for the elementary grades. If so we per- haps would not reach 1965 with two new elementary schools and still not enough classrooms. Possibly there would even be two or three rooms we would not need to use for a year or so. This is a prospect almost intoxicating to contemplate but it is, of course, purely conjectural.
C. SELECTING A SCHOOL SITE
Quite possibly some of you reading this would be in- terested to know how the School Committee goes about finding a site for a new school. In this instance, fairly typi- cal of prior occasions, the question was formally discussed at its first meeting in September. It was decided to invite several individuals and represntatives of various town boards to assist and, upon the response to these invitations, an informal "Site Committee" was established. It consisted of the five members of the School Committee, the Superin- tendent and his assistant, one member each from the Board of Selectmen, the Planning Board, the Board of As- sessors (also a builder), the Park Department (also of the Scituate Youth Center), the Town Engineer and an archi- tect familiar with site problems and development. This made a total of thirteen, including the five volunteers.
Before the first Site Committee meeting the Superin- tendent and one of the School Committee members con- solidated the five "colored pin" school population maps (used for plotting bus routes) into one grid map so the present enrollment from each of 24 portions of the town could be established. The other members devoted them- selves to reading the several books and pamphlets on school site selection available for guidance in this rather specialized activity.
To the first meeting the Planning Board member brought a map showing current and expected housing de- velopment areas and this was integrated with the grid map to indicate where the future population increments will likely be concentrated. At this point, it was possible to de- cide with some authority that the next new school should be in the northern part of the town, somewhere in an area bounded roughly by Country Way, Gannett Road, Hatherly
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REPORT OF THE SCITUATE SCHOOL COMMITTEE
Road, and Mann Hill, Captain Pierce Roads. This area fit- ted requirements: 1) It would accommodate the consid- erable elementary school population in the northeastern section of the town; 2) it was not too close to the thinly populated West End, the Cohasset line, the ocean or the existing Wampatuck School; 3) it agreed with the Ben- jamin "master plan" which locates two of the town's even- tual nine elementary schools in Section VII of the master map - Egypt Beach, Shore Acres and Sand Hills, inland as far as the railroad tracks.
Between this meeting and the next, the members went individually on "field trips" to survey the area selected. Then, at the next meeting, the resulting observations were used to select five sites within that area. At the meeting following, three of these sites were discarded, one because it was too far to the west, another because its considerable slope would increase building and grading costs, and a third because its acquisition cost would be the highest of the group. This left two, and, after another look at both, it was determined that: one was on higher and better drained land than the other; more of it was already cleared ; it could largely be obtained from a single owner; and, finally, as home building in the area progresses, more of the school's population would be able to reach it by foot. On the basis of these factors the final decision was made.
The foregoing perhaps leaves one obvious question unanswered. There is room for an elementary school on the large piece of land containing the new town buildings and the new high school. Granted it is not where the school population is concentrated, but we transport most of our children by bus. Therefore, what difference does it make where a school is located? Why not build the school there and save $8,000? There are three answers to this :
1. Even if we transported ALL of our children by bus it would still be worthwhile to disperse elementary schools toward the population centers of the town. By so doing the length of each bus route is kept to a minimum, saving both money and time. (Residents whose children entered first grade from 1953 to 1956, when all six first grades were housed in the old Hatherly School, will recall
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REPORT OF THE SCITUATE SCHOOL COMMITTEE
that some of these children spent as much as 11/2 hours per day on a bus.)
2. The fact that we do transport a very large per- centage of our children to and from school by bus is condi- ditioned by another fact: Scituate, changing rapidly from a rural to a suburban community, is extremely short on sidewalks. Thus, many of our children are transported not because of distance but as a matter of safety. The School Committee directs your attention to the Planning Board's program for year to year building of sidewalks on strategic busy streets leading to our schools. This will help to reduce the need for bus transportation, thereby not only saving money but also enabling the schools to have more flexibil- ity in their educational programs.
3. This is not the only elementary school Scituate will need to add to its system. The land near the new high school will be used for one of the additional elementary schools. Land values generally are increasing in Scituate and we can expect this to continue. The elementary site available near the new high school represents an invest- ment by the town of about $7,500. Ten years hence, a site of similar quality could easily cost $25,000, if it were avail- able at all, and conceivably it could cost far more. There- fore, by spending $8,000 now we shall save a considerably greater amount later.
In closing this section of the report the School Com- mittee offers its warmest thanks for participation in the Site Committee work to: J. Arthur Montgomery, Arthur O'Day, Walter Scott, Robert H. Tilden, John E. Bamber and Phillips N. Weeks. Quite literally, without their assis- tance it would not have been possible to accomplish the task before us.
All of the tumultuous changes in Scituate's schools following World War II were witnessed and assisted by a member of the School Committee who completed 19 years of continuous service on March 15, 1960 and died the fol- lowing day. His kindly and gentlemanly presence has since been missed greatly by the School Committee as well as by
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REPORT OF THE SCITUATE SCHOOL COMMITTEE
the entire community. It is with respect and affectionate memory that this report is dedicated to the late Fred W. Waterman.
The Scituate School Committee GEORGE C. YOUNG, Chairman ELLEN M. SIDES, Secretary JOHN Y. BRADY EDWIN P. GUNN ROBERT C. MacARTHUR, JR.
2
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REPORT OF THE SCITUATE SCHOOL COMMITTEE
THE SCITUATE SCHOOL COMMITTEE
i George C. Young, Chairman 1963
20 Lawson Road, Egypt - LInden 5-1821
Mrs. Ellen M. Sides, Secretary 1962
Glades Road, Minot - LInden 5-1125
John Y. Brady 1962
50 Turner Road, Scituate - LInden 5-0935
Edwin P. Gunn
1961
684 Country Way, North Scituate-LInden 5-0698 Robert C. MacArthur, Jr. 1963
305 Country Way, Scituate - LInden 5-2883
0
SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION
Daniel L. Holmes, A. M., Superintendent of Schools
Office, Administration Building Cudworth Road, LInden 5-3300 Judson R. Merrill, Ed. M., Administrative Assistant
-
SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL
Edward L. Stewart, Ed. M., Principal
Office, 606 Chief Justice Cushing Way
LInden 5-3300
Residence, Brook Street LInden 5-0599
Erroll K. Wilcox, B. S., Assistant Principal
-0 ------
JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL
Thomas E. Abbott, B. Ed., Principal
Office, First Parish Road LInden 5-3300 Residence, 19 Shady Lane LInden 5-2423
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REPORT OF THE SCITUATE SCHOOL COMMITTEE
CENTRAL SCHOOL Joseph C. Driscoll, Ed. M., Principal Office, Branch Street Residence, 19 Thomas Avenue
LInden 5-3300 LInden 5-1742
0
JENKINS SCHOOL
Guido J. Risi, B. S., Principal
Office, First Parish Road Residence, 7 Wilshire Drive
LInden 5-3300 LInden 5-3540
0 -
WAMPATUCK SCHOOL
George D. McPhail, B. S., Principal
Office, Tilden Road Residence, 77 Cedar Street
LInden 5-3300 LInden 5-2965
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REPORT OF THE SCITUATE SCHOOL COMMITTEE
REPORT OF THE SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS
It is my pleasure to submit to you my first annual report and to indicate not only the various accomplish- ments of this period, but to briefly outline some of the educational challenges which must be analyzed by the School Committee, the school administrators, the several school faculties and interested citizens of the town.
SCHOOL HOUSING
One of the immediate problems facing the adminis- tration today is the proper housing of pupils at the ele- mentary school level. The students of the sixth grade, who are temporarily housed in the junior high school, should return to the elementary schools as they now oc- cupy classrooms which will soon be needed for junior high school use. A careful perusal of the preceding report of the School Committee will illustrate how this situation is to be relieved.
The opening of the Scituate High School allows us to restore the single session schedule for both the junior and senior high school grades with the resulting advan- tages of not only the use of a modern senior high school building but the lengthening of the classroom periods and school day.
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