USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Wakefield > Town annual report of the officers of Wakefield Massachusetts : including the vital statistics for the year 1900-1902 > Part 29
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HIGH SCHOOL.
Attention is called to Principal Howe's report of the high school, which contains a detailed statement of present conditions, and cer- tain recommendations which he considers essential to the highest efficiency of the school. These facts and suggestions should receive our very careful consideration.
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Few towns or cities, I think, can show a greater per cent. of pupils in the high school than we can. This shows that Wakefield not only has a good high school population but that we have a very popular high school. It seems that some adequate provision should be made at once for more room. The practical limit of the present building is two hundred and fifty pupils. We have enrolled that number this year. If our estimates for another year are realized, we shall have twenty-five or thirty pupils more than, with convenience, econ- omy and safety, can be accomodated. Shall the needs of the school receive attention this year or must its efficiency be seriously handi- capped for lack of room ? This is a question for the voters and tax payers to decide. A new building will doubtless be provided at some future time, but it may be several years before the town will feel able to do this. In the meantime an addition could be built on the north or west side of the present building, thus providing room sufficient for the growth of the school for eight. or ten years. Of course the architectural effect of the present building would be destroyed, and the internal arrangement could never be made whol- ly satisfactory. It would, however, answer our purpose, in a way, and enable us to make certain needed changes suggested by Mr. Howe, but which must wait for more room.
I wish also to emphasize what Mr. Howe has said in regard to the introduction of a business course. I believe that a public high school should give the best possible life equipment to the largest possible number of pupils. Every high school should offer strong classical courses of study by which a pupil may thoroughly fit him- self for any New England college, but I believe that the needs of that large per cent. of pupils who never go to college should be carefully considered. President Jordan, of Stanford University, speaks as follows concerning the high school :
" The first function of the high school is as a finishing school and not as a preparatory. It is the poor man's college. If there is any solid basis for maintaining the high school with public taxes it is this. If the fortunate few who go to college can prepare themselves in the public high school, well and good, but this is not the object for which the school is maintained. Whatever bending may be necessary to make connections between the high school course and the college curriculum, it must come from the college and not from
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the other. There should be no warping of the high school for any such purpose. The course should be as symmetrically rounded as a college course. Over three-fourths of the high school graduates never go to college. There can be no surer way of arousing hostili- ty to the high school than by making it primarily an adjunct to the college or university."
The work of the public school should be made as practical as pos- sible. Has the work been such in the past, or is it, to any great ex- tent, today? Unless our graduates are going to college or to a nor- mal school, are they so well equipped for life's work as they might be if graduating from a broad four year's business course ? We are living in an intensely practical age, and public opinion is demand- ing that more emphasis shall be given to the practical side of edu- cation. This has led to the establishment of business courses in a large number of high schools, and I believe that eventually every well equipped high school will offer such a course. This course should be made as broad, as thorough and as exacting, as ex- tensive and as intensive, as any other course in the school. Book- keeping and stenography, which many think comprise a business course, are but a very small part of a complete and well rounded course.
Some will say that only a few would avail themselves of this line of work, since only a few plan to follow business pursuits or to take up office work. Only a very small per cent. of the graduates of any high school ever go to college, but I am sure no one would object to giving those few an opportunity to prepare themselves for college. I venture to predict that more pupils in any high school, if given the opportunity, would graduate from the business course than from the straight classical course. It is possible for nearly every pupil, passing through the grammar grades, to graduate from the high school. That several do not enter, and that many others drop out before graduation, is due very largely to the fact that these pupils fail to find just the opportunities they desire in the high school. Some of those who drop out do so through the importunity of the managers of certain Business Colleges ; others drift about for awhile and finally go to work. A good business course would appeal very strongly to such pupils as providing the means of being prepared to do something when through with school work.
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PUBLIC LIBRARY.
A good public library is a matter for congratulation to any town. It is a great factor in the entertainment and education of the people as a whole, and may be of material assistance to the teachers and pupils of the public schools. The trustees of the Beebe library seem to recognize these facts, and are doing all in their power to make the library a valuable assistant to the work of the schools. Teachers are accorded special privileges in certain lines of books, and by making full use of these privileges can greatly benefit them- selves and their pupils.
The Citizen's Educational Society is having a list of one hundred books prepared, twenty for each of the five upper grammar grades. This list, which is to be printed and distributed in the schools, will include only the very best books in the library as determined by the combined opinion of competent judges. It will be of very great benefit to parents and teachers in directing the reading of the young people.
We teach the children how to read and we should feel somewhat responsible as to how they exercise this power. I believe there is nothing connected with the education of the child of greater impor- tance than the proper direction of his reading. We learn a few facts at school, most of which are soon to be forgotten, but the pow- er developed remains and our education will continue. Nine-tenths of the general knowledge we possess in later life comes from the voluntary reading of newspapers and books. Given the ability to read and the habit is sure to be formed. Whether the character of the reading matter indulged in shall be beneficial and uplifting, or debasing trash will depend upon the taste formed by the boys and girls of school age. How important, then, that parents and teachers shall take a deep interest in this matter, and do all in their power to create in the young a taste for good reading.
In closing my report I wish to express my gratitude to the teachers for their good will and loyalty, and to you, members of the school committee, for your hearty cooperation and unanimous support.
Respectfully submitted,
U. G. WHEELER,
Superintendent of Schools.
High School Principal's Report.
To the Superintendent of Schools :
SIR-I herewith present my fifth annual report, and the ninth in the series of High School Principals' reports.
The past year has been an uneventful one in the history of the school. Perhaps that which most demands remark is its unprece- dented increase in size, amounting to nearly twenty-five per cent. At the beginning of the fall term the pupils enrolled filled within half a dozen all the seats in the building. The estimate of last spring of a probable school of two hundred and twenty-five pupils was materially exceeded, owing to the large size of the entering class, which, in turn, was due to the unexpectedly large number of new pupils from Lynnfield.
The growth in the number of pupils has not been attended by a corresponding increase either in the number of teachers or recita- tion rooms. At the present time there are more pupils in the school per teacher than for any year of the past eleven, and of the past twenty-one there have been four only when the number has exceeded that of the present year. With our present number of teachers, however, the use of the recitation rooms has practically reached the limit. I find that there are not more than two periods in the entire week, from Monday till Friday, when the rooms are not in use, and in the case of some rooms only one. In one case the exigencies of the programme demand two recitations in one room at the same time.
Judging by our past experience, the case next fall will be worse still. I estimate that the school will then number two hundred and seventy-five pupils. There are three rooms in the building suited for the seating of pupils. The combined seating capacity of these three, when crowded, is two hundred and fifty-nine.
This increased number of pupils will, beyond question, require
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the employment of a larger number of teachers, but I can see no way by which this can be done until greater accommodations in the way of recitation rooms are provided.
Further, as the numbers increase, the question of moving classes expeditiously in our narrow " four-foot-eight " corridors becomes a perplexing one.
It might appear that a building the size of ours should easily provide accommodations for all the various classes, and so it should if properly arranged. But rooms with floor space of twenty-five hundred or fifteen hundred square feet, such as our two largest rooms are, will accommodate a class of thirty-five pupils no better than rooms with a floor space of five hundred square feet. For janitor's room, supply room and book room we are obliged to utilize a small closet, entirely inadequate, and a former dressing room.
To sum up the question of accommodations, it appears that with the estimated increase in the number of pupils, and the consequent increase in the number of teachers and recitation rooms, your High School building, as it stands today, is inadequate to meet the pro- spective demands upon it.
COMMERCIAL COURSE.
If you will allow me to refer briefly to a subject upon which I have already twice appeared in print, I wish to record my belief that there is a growing sentiment in the community favorable to the introduction into our course of study of a line of work which could properly be termed a business or commercial course, which would include, at least, a practical course in bookkeeping, typewriting and stenography. There is a growing and well founded belief that a school supported by public taxation has no right to withhold from those children whose destination does not seem to be some higher institution of learning, an opportunity to secure an equipment ser- viceable to them at the very outset of their careers after leaving school. Much is said about the inability of the modern pupil to spell correctly. It is my firm conviction that a thorough course in typewriting is a good antidote for poor spelling.
A year or more ago I found in a class of fifteen or twenty boys and girls one or two pupils only who read the newspapers, who took any interest in the politics of town, state or nation, who knew the
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price of butter, flour, or beef ; who had any conception of what a building like the High School house would cost. When I reflect that the school has taken it upon itself to arouse the young to an appreciation of the wonders of nature, I cannot make myself be- lieve that it is not reprehensible when it fails to open the eyes of its pupils to the social and industrial life surrounding them.
Perhaps all the courses of school should have this function, but it seems to me that it should be emphasized particularly in a business course, where those pupils are to be found who cannot have the ad- vantages of a higher education. Hence among the subjects proper- ly belonging to such a course, in addition to those mentioned, I should name a study of government, especially town, county and state ; industrial arithmetic, including such topics as land measure- ments, lumber measurements, etc. ; local industry, American indus- tries, the principles of commerce, including the function of boards of trade, United States consuls, etc.
The fear that the introduction of such a course will lower the standard of the school, is, I believe, not well founded. On the contrary, a well-administered, substantial commercial course, will raise the general average of school work.
GERMAN
It is highly desirable that a course of two years in German should be offered our pupils. The following considerations lead me to this conclusion :
The colleges, to which our pupils naturally turn, require of those who have not studied Greek, three languages, Latin, French, and German; in two a maximum amount, and in the third a minimum amount. It often happens that a pupil in the second year of the High School (when the study of Greek begins), does not know that he can go to college, and naturally does not begin Greek. Later in the course plans may change, and a college career be determined upon, but inasmuch as Greek has not been studied and German is not offered, the only possible method of entrance is with a condi- tion in German.
There are such pupils in the present senior class, who will be obliged to enter with a condition, if they enter at all, whereas there are other members of the class who have no condition staring them
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in the face, not because their scholarship is better, or because they have done more work, but because they happened to take Greek three years ago.
MISCELLANEOUS.
Of last year's class two entered the Lawrence Scientific School, two Boston University, three Salem Normal School, two the Massa- chusetts Institute of Technology, and one, a member of the class of '98, entered Harvard.
The two young men who entered the Institute of Technology both passed the advanced French, one with credit, and one passed both the trigonometry and college algebra of the freshman year. Our single candidate at Harvard passed with five honors, as follows, Elementary Greek, Advanced Greek, Elementary French, Elemen- tary Physics, and Advanced Latin. One of the candidates who en- tered the Lawrence Scientific School passed with honors in elemen- tary French, history, algebra, and solid geometry.
The class gifts of the last three years have been as follows : Cap- itol at Washington, class of 1901 ; Mount Vernon, The Angelus, class of 1902 ; Niagara Falls and the Lion of Lucerne, class of 1903.
We have also to acknowledge the receipt of a picture, entitled "Birth of Our Nation's Flag," from H. M. Warren, Post 12, G. A. R.
The alumni prizes of $10 and $5, for excellence in essay work, were awarded to Miss Eunice Weston and Miss Blanche B. Thomp- son.
The prize of $5, offered by Mr. A. H. Thayer for the best essay on " The Old Middlesex Canal," has been awarded to Miss Edna Marion Grant.
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Respectfully,
CHARLES H. HOWE.
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Report of the Supervisor of Music.
MR. U. G. WHEELER, Superintendent of Schools.
DEAR SIR : - The report of the study of music for the year is re- spectfully submitted.
There has been a marked degree of increase in the interest of the study of music, since the new material was added and the adoption of the National Course of Music in the lower grades, has been a stimulus to both pupils and teachers.
In the lower grades the work of training the voice so as to pro- duce a pure, sweet tone, and a proper cuitivation of the ear, together with the intelligent perception of tone relations has been very suc- cessful. The pupils can readily write upon the staff short melodies, that are sung by the teacher to one syllable. Voice culture, with ear training, scale singing and short melodies from the scale on the chart, tone perceptions, and twelve or more rote songs, constitute the work of the year in this grade.
The second grade having received the work of the first year have continued progressive reading in the nine keys from the chart and board. The study of time and the naming of the different charac- ters used in that grade, also the pitch names of the lines and spaces are taken up at this time.
The third and fourth grades have made good progress in reading in all the keys, also in time, intervals, two part singing and a part of the chromatic scale have been studied.
The fifth and sixth grades have studied all the keys with more difficult intervals and time progressions. The chromatic scale is taken up, at this time, more thoroughly. Studies and songs in two and three parts have been carefully studied with reference to mel- ody, time and expression.
The seventh and eighth grades have reviewed the chromatic scale and studied major, minor, diminished and augmented intervals and
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triads. All of the minor scales in the natural, melodic and har- monic forms, have been learned and written. Careful attention has been given to the expression marks, and the signatures have been written in all of the keys.
In the ninth grade the major, minor and chromatic scales have been reviewed. The F clef has been introduced and exercises and songs in three and four parts have been given to cultivate taste and expression. The book in this grade has been in use for fifteen years, and one must be furnished to keep the schools up to the standard.
The High School is doing good work. As the voices of a good many of the boys change during their stay in this grade, it is very difficult to get fine four part singing, and just as the voices develop into good basses or tenors, they graduate. Nevertheless, the work is very satisfactory, and the concert given in the Town Hall on Jan- uary 24th, was successful, both musically and financially. The school has so increased in numbers that two periods have to be given to music, and I would suggest that the upper hall be furnished with seats so that the whole school may be brought together and thus make a saving of time and also the expense of text-books, as two pupils can easily use one copy. The hall could also be used for rhetorical and physical exercises.
The teachers are enthusiastic and are co-operating cheerfully with me to bring the study of music up to the highest standard.
Thanking you and the committee for the hearty co-operation and support, I am
Respectfully yours, GEORGE F. WILSON, Supervisor of Music.
WAKEFIELD, MASS., January 31, 1900.
Report of the Supervisor of Drawing.
To the Superintendent of Schools.
The work in drawing has been continued on very much the same plan as last year. Studies of nature subjects were made in the au- tumn with brush and ink, and mechanical drawing was taken in the early winter. A greater effort has been made this year to correlate drawing with manual training, by making working drawings of the objects which were afterwards constructed. This has appealed to the boys as being of practical value, and has helped to make them more accurate and painstaking in their work. Object drawing and design have been considered later and in the spring water colors were used in painting simple sprays of flowers and leaves, and in design.
The course being thus systematically divided gives an opportunity for the development of the different talents of the individual pupils, and a training which should aid those without special artistic abili- ties to earn a better living, and to enjoy life more, by implanting in them some appreciation of beauty, and a little knowledge of famous works of art.
The study of pictures has been continued with much interest by teachers and pupils ; the life and works of two great artists having been assigned to each grade for special study.
A most interesting and important event, recognizing the value of the influence of good pictures upon the young, has been the deco- rating of the walls of the new Hurd school building, through the generous efforts of Mr. Junius Beebe, and Mr. Foster, of the firm Foster Brothers, art dealers, Boston, and other residents in the vicinity of the school. About forty beautiful pictures and fifteen plaster casts have been contributed, an excellent choice of those suited to each grade having been made. It is hoped that citizens in other sections of the town will imitate this liberal example, and do something to beautify the Greenwood and Warren schools.
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The entering class of the High School has recently purchased and presented to the school, a fine solar print of Niagara Falls and also one of Thorwaldsen's Lion of Lucerne, making a worthy addition to the school's collection of works of art.
The conditions in the High School for doing advanced work are totally inadequate, and as only one period a week is spared for this subject, progress is necessarily slow .. A few pupils from the third and fourth year classes, have elected drawing this year, but from lack of room and time are obliged to work with another class in the room, which causes some delay and confusion.
Respectly submitted,
ANNIE B. PARKER,
Supervisor of Drawing.
Report of Supervisor of Sewing.
MR. U. G. WHEELER, Superintendent of Schools.
DEAR SIR :- The sewing lessons commenced in January, 1899, and instruction was given to the girls in the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth grades.
When the schools reopened in September, the work was advanced to the ninth grade, thus giving five grades the benefit of this branch of manual training.
The first term was devoted almost wholly to practice work, in order that all the pupils might understand the principles of sewing and also that a good foundation might be laid for future work.
This term more articles will be made as less practice work will be required in the upper grades-yet every grade will always have a certain amount of this to do, as by the practice work a series of stitches and principles are taught the pupil and then an article is made using these stitches. By this means the application and value of each stitch and principle is learned.
Very few of the girls have ever had any special instruction in sew- ing before these lessons were introduced into the schools but all the pupils have taken hold of the work with an active interest and, as the work progresses, it is the hope and expectation that in the course of another year the upper grade may be prepared to take up dress cutting.
Each girl is expected to bring needles, thread and thimble, with a bag in which to keep her work. But these are loaned to those not able to procure them.
Cloth and thread are provided for the practice work but the pa- rents are expected to supply the materials for all articles made.
Sewing develops not only the hands but the brain as well, for by these lessons the power of concentration and of self-reliance is taught. The touch and the sight are also called into more perfect use. All these have a vital connection with the other work of the school.
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The aim of this branch of school work is to give the pupils, with one hour's instruction per week, such a knowledge of the stitches and principles governing plain sewing that they will in due time be able to do the ordinary making and mending in the home. The needle is a necessity in the home and if we equip the children with a skilful knowledge of its use it will become an enjoyment as well as a necessity.
Respectfully submitted, MARY JESSAMINE WILSON.
WAKEFIELD, MASS., January, 1900.
Report of Manual Training.
MR. U. G. WHEELER, Superintendent of Schools.
DEAR SIR :- On account of the delay in the arrival of the benches, Manual Training did not begin until February, 1899. From the first, the work has been characterized by interest and enthusiasm, and at the inspection evenings last June, the results of the work numbering ten hundred and fifty pieces, were shown.
Last year, noon work was given to those desiring and the interest was such that the room could not accommodate all the applicants, even on the hottest days.
One and a half hours, once a week, are devoted to the work and the results in the classes that began last year show a marked im- provement in accuracy and finish. In several classes, original de- signs have been called for, with pleasing results.
The work is carried on in ten classes, from the seventh, eighth, and ninth grades of the Lincoln, Warren, Greenwood, and F. P. Hurd Grammar Schools. In some of these classes it has been necessary for economy's sake to combine two grades. This is a disadvantage when explanation of the work is required because both parts are obliged to stop work; otherwise, the explanation must be given in a tone to be heard above the work of the other section. That would unnecessarily disturb the school above ours.
Sewing is taught in the fifth and sixth grades and the question has been asked if the boys in those grades could take Manual Training. The boys in these grades are too small to use the tools to advantage even on our smallest benches. This fact has been clearly demonstrated in cities where the experiment has been tried and the work abandoned. If that hour once a week could be de- voted to careful mechanical drawing taught by the regular grade teacher, as it is in Somerville for example, the result would be a de- cided help to our work by the time the boys reached the seventh grade.
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