USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Wakefield > Town annual report of the officers of Wakefield Massachusetts : including the vital statistics for the year 1909-1912 > Part 38
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READING
We have started a campaign on reading. This subject is the basis of all the work in the upper grades and high school. Some seem to think that because they can pronounce the several words correctly they are reading. Not so : reading is the getting of the thought from the printed or written page. We see aliens learning the English language. Many times they pronounce the words nearly correctly, but they have absolutely no idea of what the paragraph is about ; so it is with the children in the schools. They give more attention to pronounciation than to thought getting. This inability to grasp the thought from the printed or written page is a direct cause of poor work in other subjects in the higher [grades. Often a pupil cannot work out a problem in arithmetic, merely because he cannot read it understandingly. He goes to the teacher, perhaps, and says he cannot "do the example." Many times if the teacher merely carefully reads the problem to him he nods his head and says "Oh yes ! I see now." The work in reading is divided into three parts ; the mechanics of reading, that is learning to read, to pronounce the words ; an in- troduction to good literature : and the inculcation of a desire to read good literature. To assist in the last two parts the sub- committee on Text-books recommended the adoption of a list of new reading books, with this idea singly in mind, that we might give the pupils a taste and a desire for standard works. It is not the intention to replace old books immediately by books from this list, which would be a needless expense to the town, but to gradually replace old and worn out books.
SPECIAL FEATURES AT GREENWOOD
Principal Vardon of the Greenwood school is doing much extra work along special lines. There are two to which I wish to call your attention : namely, the use of the lantern in teaching geogra- phy, and the work of the home garden movement. The Greenwood School by means of entertainments secured enough money to buy a lantern. Slides may be borrowed, some merely for the pay- ment of expressage, others at a nominal fee. The children can understand and appreciate things which they see. I was present at an illustrated lesson on Europe. The pictures were thrown
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upon the screen and remained there while the instructor gave comments upon them and called attention to special features. Mr. Vardon also uses the lantern at some of the meeting of the Parents' Association. In March the government loaned the school two hundred fifty slides showing the work upon the Panama Canal. These were used for the entertainment at the March meeting.
The following is an excerpt from Principal Vardon's report : "The home garden movement here is grandly supported by the Association. In May, Mrs. J. C. Woodman, of Melrose, gave a talk for the benefit of the young gardeners on 'the Planting and Care of the Gardens.' The improvement in the gardens this year was very noticeable. About thirty-four per cent of the pupils entered the work, having expended more than twenty-one dollars for seeds as against twelve dollars last year, thus showing a decided increase in interest, which continued throughout the year.
"Because of the early frost, the exhibition was held one week earlier than was intended, but certainly was a success. The exhibits were arranged by the association. Sixty awards were given for vegetables, flowers, sewing, sloyd, drawing, and other manual work. About twenty-five photos of the gardens were shown by means of the lantern, while many could only be shown by photographs owing to lack of time to make slides." Mr. Vardon neglected to say that he spent a large amount of his own time in taking these photographs of the gardens, and in trans- ferring these photographs to lantern slides.
Educators have a great deal to say about the use of lanterns and moving pictures for school use. Mr. Vardon is making good use of his lantern to the benefit of the pupils. It would be well if the other large schools had an assembly hall and a lantern.
MANUAL TRAINING
Mr. Peabody in his report says, "The primary aims of the work in manual training are not, as many people think, to produce models or to prepare boys for any special vocation, but they are to produce intelligent workers. That implies a develop-
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ment of the boy mentally, morally and physically, that he may be better able to enter industrial activities.
"At present there are 281 boys from the seventh, eighth and ninth grades receiving instruction in this important subject. Each boy has a period of one and one-half hours each week.
"During my teaching in Wakefield the equipment of the manual training department has been much improved and enlarged, and each year the boys make more models of higher quality and show deeper interest in the work. This interest is shown by high school scholars who seek opportunities to work afternoons and grammar school boys who wish to remain after hours, but who are refused these privileges on account of the crowded schedule."
The manual training department is also doing work of a prac- tical nature which gives the boys excellent practice and inciden- tally saves money for the town. Some of the boys are now build- ing a filing cabinet which will be used at the high school. Sev- eral desks and chairs that have needed some slight repairs have been handled by the boys in this department. They seem to- enjoy the work and it seems to me they must receive some prac- tical benefit from this outside work. While there is no desire that the manual training room be turned into a general repair shop it does seem advisable to have the boys attend to odd jobs when they have time. It gives them a chance to put into prac- tice the theory and training which they receive. As soon as a boy feels that he can use what he receives in school then he is happy, and his school work means more to him than before. One of the first questions "a boy asks is this : "What is the use of studying this?" If the manual training teaches him to think and to use his hands, a happy combination, then the study justifies itself. The ability to use simple tools is a necessity for most boys, and in helping him attain this ability we make him a bet- ter citizen
-
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CROWDED CONDITIONS
The section of the town which feeds the Franklin school seems to be growing very rapidly, and of course the increase in popula- tion means an increase in the enrollment of the school. The first two grades seem to be most affected. The total membership for the first grade for the month of December 1911, was 51, while the average membersnip was 50.41. The second grade had a total membership of 42, while for the month of November the enrollment was 45. To furnish seating room for these extra ones, portable desks and chairs were added to the equipment of the room.
There are so many in the first grade that one teacher cannot do justice to all, consequently an assistant has been provided who shall give all her time to assisting in this grade.
The Greenwood school, in the room for grades eight and nine, will be more overcrowded next fall than ever. At present there are 54 in a room designed for about 40. The ventilation is entirely inadequate to take care of the foul air. Not only the poor ventilation but the adding of the extra fourteen thus crowd- ing the room, interferes with the work which both teachers and pupils do. There are 36 in the eighth grade and 40 in the seventh grade ; consequently, there will be about 76 for this room next year, which will be an impossibility. Some means of relieving this situation must be devised before the school opens for the next fall term.
AGE LIMIT FOR BEGINNERS
Section 6 of Chapter 1, of the rules and regulations reads as follows : "Any child five years old before April 1 may be admitted to school during the first two weeks of the 'following school year, and any child seven years of age or older or one who has previously attended school shall be admitted at any time upon application to the Superintendent, provided he has complied with the regulations of the Board of Health and the public statutes."
This vote raises the age at which a child may enter school from five years to about five and one-half years. This is a step in the right direction. I believe that it would be better to change the
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wording and make it read January 1 instead of April 1. The age of entrance should be practically six, and then the system changed from nine grades to eight grades, and I so recommend. If a child enters at six instead of at five he is older mentally and can take up his school work more easily and with less chance of repeating his work in the lower grades. Statistics show that the retardation of pupils is the largest in the first grade. Many children at five years of age are entirely unfitted to begin school work while they would be able to begin their work with a fair chance of succeeding if they waited a year longer. By begin- ning at six and working through an eight grade system they would be no older at the end of the grammar school course than they are at present by entering at five and remaining in the grades for nine years.
HIGH SCHOOL
It is proper at this time to call your attention to the high school. I call your special attention to the principal's report which follows, which is interesting and instructive. I call your attention to that part of the report which gives in outline the housing of the students, and the crowded condition of the building.
It looks now as though it will be necessary to engage another teacher next year. If that does come to pass, this extra teacher will have no room which she can call her own, but will be com- pelled to pass from room to room wherever there happens to be a vacant period. When still another teacher has to be secured, it is a problem as to where she may work. It seems almost an im- possibility to make a place for her.
There is no question but what the efficiency of the school is diminished by the poor accommodations. Some of the rooms should not be used at all for class rooms, unless for very small classes. The ventilation and light are very poor.
From the December report of the attendance in the high school we get the following :
1910
1911
Registration less transfers
367
397
Average membership
351.9
381.2
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There are 139 in the present ninth grade and 189 in the present eighth grade. The senior class in the high school has an enroll- ment of 72. If the same proportion of the ninth grades enters high school as entered last year there will be an enrollment of about 425.
It therefore seems that the high school will be still more handı- capped next year by numbers and poor facilities for handling them.
In spite of the handicaps, I believe that the school is doing good work. Our certificates are received without any question by all colleges which accept a certificate as a means of entrance, and I have heard of none being dropped because of poor scholarship.
From a report which came to the office during the fall term, I give you the following information in regard to the graduates of the commercial department :
Number of graduates in June
26
Number at home
.
.
.
4
Number visiting
.
2
Post graduates
2
Number waiting for a vacancy
1
Number attending higher institutions
1
Number holding commercial positions
16
It is worthy of notice that all who have positions, and even those who have not, have not taken any work in any commercial school, but have taken up work directly from our high school.
ABSENCES
Attending school is the business of the child, it is his duty to be at his post every day unless prevented by illness. The num- ber of absences increased during the last school year by about .8000 over the number for the school year ending June, 1910. Pa- rents should feel the necessity of sending the child every day when possible, and the child should feel the responsibility of being in his seat at the proper time. I sincerely hope that all parents will aid us in keeping down the number of absent marks and therefore increasing the efficiency of our schools.
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TRUANT OFFICER'S REPORT
"I have investigated 134 cases, of which 26 were cases of tru- ancy, the balance were for sickness, negligence of parents, etc. Two prosecutions were made in court for truancy during the year."
EVENING SCHOOL
The evening school began on October 30, 1911. The law has been changed regarding the interpretation of the term "minor", and raises the age from 18 to 21. Last year it was 18. This of course has increased the registration in the evening school.
SEWING CLASS
There seemed to be a demand for a class in sewing. The class in sewing was limited to 50. There are about 32 at present en- rolled. Entrance to this evening sewing class is restricted to those young women who are not members of the public schools. The students show considerable interest, and the attendance is good. The course is intended to give instruction in plain sewing, cutting and fitting and the use of the sewing machine. To this is added talks on physiology and hygiene.
MILLINERY CLASS
There has been a decided request for a class in millinery. A class will be formed for the remainder of the season. Admission to this class will be limited to those who are enrolled as members of the evening class.
MECHANICAL DRAWING CLASS
There are fourteen enrolled in this class. We secured the ser- vices of Mr. Mitchell, who has taught this subject in southern col- leges, and at present is a student at Technology. The work is individual work, each going as fast as he chooses and is able.
In these three classes a deposit of one dollar is required as a guarantee of good faith and regular attendance. The deposit is. returned at the end of the course if the conduct is satisfactory and the attendance regular.
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The following is a table giving in condensed form the data for the Evening school :
Illiterate men enrolled .
49
Illiterate women enrolled .
21
-
Total
70
Average membership, illiterates
. 62.70
Average attendance, illiterates
. 56 52
Per cent of attendance, illiterates
90.14
Literate men enrolled
50
Literate women enrolled
40
Total membership, evening school
120
Average membership, evening school
102.7
Average attendance, evening school
. 90.35
Per cent of attendance, evening school
87.97
Total membership, sewing class
32
Total membership, drawing class
14
Total membership of all classes
166
.
.
In conclusion I wish to thank all who have worked with me for their hearty support and earnest co-operation.
Respectfully submitted,
WILLARD B. ATWELL,
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High School Principal's Report
MR. W. B. ATWELL,
Superintendent of Schools,
DEAR SIR :- Herewith I submit my seventeenth annual report and the nineteenth in the series of High School Principals' reports.
TEACHERS
During the past year the school has lost the valued services of Mr. R. C. Bean, teacher of Science for the past five years, who left the school to take a position as Junior-Master in the Girls' High School of Boston, of Mr. Lucien H. Thayer, teacher of French and German, who has taken a position on the staff of the Boston Globe and of Miss Florence W. Lowell, teacher of English. The places thus made vacant have been filled by the appointment of Mr. L. N. Brooks, a graduate of the Haverhill High School and Dartmouth College and teacher of Chemistry in the Hanover, N. H. High School, as successor to Mr. Bean, of Mr. Albert W. Hopson, a graduate of the Everett High School and Harvard College and a teacher of experience in Cushing Academy, as teacher of French and History, and of Miss Ethel G. Reed, a graduate of Tufts College and a teacher of successful ·experience in the Orange (Mass.) High School as successor to Miss Lowell. Miss Florence O. Robinson of Braintree has been appointed assistant in drawing.
THE SCHOOL, SIZE, ETC.
As I have done many times before, I have to report again that the school, at the opening of the present school year was the largest in its history, numbering three hundred and ninety-seven pupils. These pupils are distributed among the different classes : as follows :
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Boys
Girls
Total
First Year class
80
66
146
Second Year
51
47
98
Third Year 66
27
53
80
Fourth Year 66
28
44
72
Graduate Student
1
1
Total
186
211
397
The unusually large proportion of boys is noticeable. Just the reason for this, I am unable to state.
Assuming that the town has the same population as last year and not including the twenty one Lynnfield pupils, each thousand of Wakefield's population sends thirty three pupils to the High School, a number somewhat larger than last year.
Thirteen teachers are employed in the school, not including the teachers of Music, Drawing, and Military Drill, an average of one teacher for 30.5 pupils. Some few years ago the number of pupils per teacher was twenty seven. These figures indicate that the size of the teaching corps has failed to keep pace with that of the number of pupils. With the opening of the present school year, in order to avoid the employment of an additional teacher, it became necessary for the principal to do more active teaching than is for the good of the school at large, and to assign the clerk in the office to a number of recitations in the Commer- cial department, an arrangement that ought not to be continued another year.
ACCOMMODATIONS
It had not been my intention to call the attention of the School authorities again to the question of High School accommodations, and I shrink from doing so lest I he thought unduly insistent and disposed to magnify unreasonably the importance of this depart- ment. However, it seems to be a part of my duty to point out conditions as I meet them every day.
Below is a list of the rooms in the building, with their ap- proximate size or capacity, their uses and my comment thereon, as far as comment seems needed.
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ROOM 1. This room is 50 ft. by 50, containing one hundred and twenty-eight desks, all occupied, with the exception of three. It is a combined study and recitation room and owing to its size and the presence of many pupils is a rather difficult room to hear recitations in. Although so large and seating so many pupils, from the standpoint of the number of recitations that can be held in it in a day, it is no more valuable than a much smaller room.
ROOM 10. This room is also a large one, bein gapproximately 50 ft. by 35 and containing eighty-five desks, of which sixty-three are occupied. This room is used constantly for recitations, as well as for seating and study purposes but as was said concerning the large room above, although so large it is really no better for recitation purposes than the smallest room in the building
ROOM 3. A small room, on the second floor, fitted with thirty desks. This room is used for recitations only. To accommodate some classes, owing to their size, it has been neces- sary to bring in chairs.
ROOM 4. A small room, second floor, with nineteen desks and two settees. Used for recitations only. The room has only one window[and even on pleasant days is unduly dark. Furthermore, proper ventilation is difficult to maintain. From the hygienic standpoint the room ought to be condemned and not used.
ROOM 5. A small room, second floor, with forty small sized desks arranged [uncomfortably close together, in order to secure as large a seating capacity as possible. Used for recitations only. Well ventilated.
ROOM 7. The typewriting room, third floor, fifty feet by fif- teen, a part of what was originally the "hall", heated at one end by steam pipes passing through the room and at the other by a stove. The room is of ample size, but poorly lighted and very poorly ventilated.
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ROOM 9. The commercial department room, third floor,a large room fitted with forty commercial desks, thirty- four of which are occupied. This room also contains the banking outfit. It is not well lighted, the windows being rather small. Well ventilated. Used for recitation and study purposes, both.
CHEMICAL LABORATORY. Fitted with tables, sinks, water and gas. Used for laboratory work only. No recitations.
PHYSICAL LABORATORY. A large room. fitted with ap- paratus cases, Harvard Physics
tables and large sink. Intended to be used for Laboratory pur- poses only, but necessity has compelled its use as a recitation room for a part of each day.
ROOM 16. A good sized room, third floor, in the addition made a few years ago. Fitted with thirty desks of which twenty-two are occupied. Used for recitations in the commercial department, and in science, as conditions allow. Well lighted and ventilated.
ROOM 17. A good sized room, in the addition. Used as a drawing room. Fitted and filled with thirty drawing tables and cases. Altogether inadequate for the use to which it is put. Splendidly lighted and well ventilated.
ROOM 14. A good sized room, second floor, in addition, fitted with thirty-five desks, all occupied. Used for recitations and for study. Well lighted and ventilated.
ROOM 12. A good sized room, first floor, in addition, with forty desks of which twenty-nine are occu- pied. Used for recitations and for study. Fairly well lighted and well ventilated.
ROOM 13. A good sized room, second floor, in addition, fitted with thirty-five desks, all occupied. Used for recitations and for study. Well ventilated and lighted.
ROOM 13. A good sized rcom, first floor, in addition, fitted
with thirty-five desks of which twenty-eight are occupied. Used for recitations and for study. Well lighted and ventilated.
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ROOM 11. A large room, first floor in old building, fitted with forty-three desks of which twenty-six are
occupied. Used for recitations and for study. Fairly well lighted and ventilated.
CORRIDORS. I should say that one-half the corridors are six feet wide and the remainder five or seven.
The above, together with two small closets, the book room and dressing rooms, constitute every inch of floor space in the building.
With the above facts in mind may I quote from my report of 1908.
"The school building contains twelve rooms, that readily, with one exception, namely, the large hall (Room 1), lend themselves to the purposes of recitation rooms, the two laboratories for chem- istry and physics and the typewriting room. Of these' fifteen rooms, the typewriting room manifestly cannot be utilized for recitation purposes, neither can the chemical laboratory, leaving thirteen rooms available for recitations and of these, two at least, more or less unfitted for work under the best conditions, namely, the large room seating one hundred and twenty-eight pupils and the physical laboratory with its tables, cases and sink. To pro- vide recitation rooms for the thirteen teachers now employed in the school, has been somewhat of a problem, it can easily be seen, especially for the two days in the week when the teacher of draw- ing is added to the number. It would not have been possible to provide for fourteen teachers with thirteen rooms but for the fact that each teacher is allowed a free period or two per week. When another teacher becomes necessary, and no one can tell how soon that will be, I do not see how we can avoid conducting two recitations simultaneously in the same room or else utilize the corridors as recitation rooms which, to one acquainted with the corridors, with their drafts of air and inadequate heating, is unthinkable.
"As the school has become crowded, or perhaps better, has approached its limit of capacity, the work of the school has begun to suffer and will continue to do so in increasing measure as long as its accommodations continue to grow more and more cramped."
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This was the way the situation appealed to me three years ago when three hundred and fifty-nine pupils were enrolled. the larg- est number up to that time in the history of the school. Since then the number of pupils has increased by thirty-eight, who have been cared for with no addition to the teaching force. The demand for an additional teacher for at least a portion of the time, is well nigh imperative and cannot long be denied.
Further, experience has taught us that one of the rooms, viz. Room 4, that was deemed available, ought not to be counted on for use with large classes, owing to poor light and ventila- tion. Still I do not see how its use can be avoided. The Physi- cal laboratory has been impressed as a recitation room and the large room, Room 1, which ought never to be used as a recitation room, has been put to increased use as such. In some of the drawing classes at the beginning of the year there were more pu pils than there were desks and it was not an uncommon experience for me to find four or five pupils with drawing boards on their knees or resting against the wall, because of lack of room for more drawing tables.
It is a matter of remark among the teachers that the work is materially harder than ever before, owing to the bigger classes that come to them and the larger number each is required to supervise while conducting their recitations.
These facts and the condition of the corridors and stairways when classes are passing from room to room and when the school is passing out at fire drill, will warrant me, I believe, in saying that the school is crowded and is suffering as any organization, whether factory, mill, church or lodge is bound to, when attempt- ing to do its work in cramped, inadequate quarters.
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