USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Wakefield > Town annual report of the officers of Wakefield Massachusetts : including the vital statistics for the year 1952 > Part 5
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The School Committee, ever conscious of its responsibility to the cit- izens of the Town, present and to come, values its opportunity to work with Supt. John B. Hendershot and all School Department personnel to- ward one end, knowledge, usefulness, and vision for Wakefield's young people.
REPORT OF SUPERINTENDENT
To the Wakefield School Committee:
I have the honor to present for your information and consideration my second Annual Report of the Superintendent of Schools; it is for the year ending December 31, 1952.
The past year has been a happy one for me, The pleasure of working with the people of Wakefield, the school staff, and with you has more than fulfilled my anticipations. I said in last year's report that the schools of Wakefield are good schools. The past year has made me even surer of that statement. Weaknesses do exist, of course. Some of them have been discovered and partly overcome. We are at work on others.
Those of us engaged in carrying on the work of the schools have found it to be one of intensive activity. We are in the midst of a period of study tional program for Wakefield despite the fact that overcrowding in class- and reorganization in order to maintain and develop further the educa- rooms grows more acute.
Modern education makes the child the center of activity rather than the subject. It sets up for itself definite problems whose answers meet the need of the child, and it encourages the child to search far and wide
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for any knowledge or information which he can obtain that will help him . to answer his own problems. More and more, this type of working together -pupils with pupils and pupils with teachers-has become the standard of procedure in our schools. The result is that our pupils are not only standing well in the fundamental kinds of knowledge, but also they are developing clear emotional standards, sound moral ·judgment, and a broad democratic spirit of living happily together. These latter achievements are not measurable; they can be judged only individually. If one has watched schools grow over a period of years, it is clearly evident that chil- dren are getting all they ever got from the three R's, plus a great many other benefits equally as valuable to them in living a worthwhile life.
More and more teachers are finding it difficult to maintain this type of program as classroom enrollments become larger. Wakefield teachers in general are alert to the situation and are studying with marked earnest- ness in order to discover feasible adjustments and modifications that will enable the schools to continue serving the diverse personalities and ob- jectives of the pupils. We do not want and we feel that the parents in Wakefield do not want a static, formal, dictatorial teacher-dominated classroom atmosphere. The fact remains that many of our elementary classrooms at present have a larger pupil enrollment than is desirable for modern educational practice.
Primary classroom enrollments will continue to be larger than we de- sire them to be. We are certain that because of these large classes READING will become a problem for some of our children. I recommend, therefore, that in the immediate future a developmental remedial reading program be instituted in our system in order to "rescue" children who ap- parently become "lost" and need the additional help in their early train- ing in Reading.
To teach and to train the children in the many necessary branches and to prepare them as far as they are capable of being prepared to meet life with courage, hope, and understanding is an almost overwhelming task, a tremendous responsibility, a challenging service, and a real pro- fession.
Young men and women admitted to teacher-training today are se- lected for their natural ability, scholarship, character, health, adaptability and purpose. They must spend from four to five years after high school graduation in intensive study and practice, not alone in the arts of teach- ing, but also in cultural fields. So long as they continue in the profession, be it four or forty years, they must continue to study and improve their knowledge and technique. There is no end of study in the teaching pro- fession. Our teachers have been carefully chosen and are efficient, pro- gressive, loyal and professionally alert; they are rendering an invaluable service.
If we are taken sick, the best physician is none too good; if we are in trouble at law, the most learned and skilled lawyer seems absolutely neces- sary; if we are about to build an important structure, only a highly skilled engineer can be of real service to us; thus it follows that if we want the best training and skill for the most important business of life-the suc- cessful training of our youth-the best teachers are the least we should demand.
"The children first" should be one of our important mottoes, because
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if they are properly trained, they will assume the responsibilities of the future successfully. How manifestly unfair it would be if we were un- willing to give up unnecessary luxuries and extravagances and deny the children full training for the life they must live.
The program of in-service improvement of staff members is worthy of special comment. New discoveries and research in child growth and de- velopment, guidance services, methods and materials of instruction, make outmoded some of our older concepts and practices. At least sixty-three of our teachers in Wakefield have earned 309 collegiate credits at various New England colleges during the past year. In addition they have at- tended conferences, participated in educational demonstrations, worked with outstanding leaders in education, and done many other interesting things to promote growth.
Democracy in Our Schools
Newspapers and radio commentators have been informing the Ameri- can public of the number of people within our midst who are willing to sell our freedom and security to countries with doctrine foreign to that of ours. We are confronted by dangerous and troublesome doctrine. Mil- lions of people in the world are being governed by leaders whose ideas are the opposite of ours. We must realize that these countries operate and maintain schools just as we do and through constant dictatorial proced- ures are training young minds to give unquestioned allegiance to the or- ders of their leaders. They are indoctrinated with a belief in the infalli- bility of authoritarian government.
We in America, through its school program, have endeavored to de- velop citizens who can and will consider all the aspects of a problem and then come to wise decisions. Our way of life, which we have and enjoy, has developed because free-thinking men and women have decided it is most desirable. The schools must realize they are partly at fault when any one person who has attended our schools and who enjoys the privi- leges and opportunities of our American life expresses a belief in authori- tarian rule. Some in America have expressed such a belief. Therefore, more and more stress must be placed upon citizenship education within our school program.
In Wakefield, the schools have been emphasizing those things that contribute to a knowledge of our American heritage, a deep appreciation of democracy and its meaning, as well as an understanding of the peoples of other lands. It is hoped that as we intensify our efforts to improve the school curriculum, teachers, parents, and pupils may work out clearer statements of our educational objectives, content, and methods in order that our way of life may be assured and that it may be demonstrated that democracy really works and eventually all nations may live in har- mony and peace.
Democracy is a vital, living, practical way of life that should permeate every aspect of our school and community. It is not something to give lip service to but something you live, feel and experience. It is our hope that the boys and girls who attend the Wakefield schools will all reach their full statures in accordance with their individual interests, needs, and abil- ities and become useful and effective citizens.
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Thrift has been encouraged through the efforts of our elementary principals. A plan has been in operation the past year which gave the children an opportunity to save regularly through the purchase of savings stamps. Through instruction in the general field of thrift they are learn- ing to save and how to spend wisely. It is significant to note that a total of $16,709.57 was saved by the children during 1952.
FROM THE REPORTS OF STAFF MEMBERS
The High School, Roland H. Kinder, Principal.
"By the retirement in June of our submaster, Arthur A. Fulton-the Wakefield High School has lost one of its most influential and respected faculty members. Mr. Fulton never promised more than he could pro- duce, but he always delivered more than he promised. His sincere in- terest in the welfare of the students, his ready wit and his high standards have affected for the better the lives of thousands of boys and girls. We miss him a great deal but hope that he will always find satisfaction and peace in his new environment."
"Mr. Donald White also retired in June. His thorough knowledge of history and government, his broad cultural background and his quick mind were factors in instructing and stimulating the hundreds of pupils who were members of his classes during his long service."
The teachers in the English Department have worked faithfully to interest-not entertain-their pupils, and to give remedial help wherever and whenever possible. The favorable showing of the college preparatory pupils in entrance and placement examinations has been gratifying. The English curriculum is under a continued process of revision. When an- other English teacher is added to the department it would be very de- sirable to have one who is a specialist in the speech arts.
The Senior Classbook of 1952, The Oracle, again received a first place honor rating from the Columbia University Press Association. The Look- out, published monthly, is now selling at the rate of 600 copies an issue. Both the Lookout and the Oracle are self-supporting.
A large library of film strips has been built up in the Social Studies Department, and the attempt has been made to supply adequate wall maps and other aids. More than half of the seniors have elected either the course in American Government or that in Problems of Democracy.
The science field has changed so rapidly in the last decade that con- siderable alertness is required to keep up to date. The Science Depart- ment has added much apparatus and equipment in the past two years, wall charts for all the science classes have been purchased, film strips have been used extensively, and sound films have been borrowed from many industrial concerns. Lack of proper storage space still remains a problem.
The cost of maintaining boys' athletics has risen so much more rapidly than the income from the spectator sports that a subsidy is necessary if we are to remain in competition with our established rivals in athletics. The Sports Club conducts two general parties and the talent show an- nually, and makes it possible for any student to attend all athletic events at a greatly reduced rate.
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Continuing needs in the Guidance Department are clerical assistance and more room.
At least one course in mathematics is required of all students. The work on the revision of the mathematics course of study is being con- tinued.
One of the highlights of the year for the Language Department was the exchange of students between Mexico City and Wakefield. Humberto Ibarra Salono, of Mexico City, spent several months as a student in the Wakefield High School, while Miss Betty Gibb spent the summer in Mexico City, with mutual benefits.
We have the maximum number of classes - seven - in Mechanical Drawing.
The High School cafeteria continues to operate at a loss. Mr. Barry and I strongly recommend the placing of the manager on the School De- partment payroll. The other solution seems to be an annual subsidy, since decreasing portions or increasing prices do not appear to be advisable.
The Student Council again conducted the general elections in June and has run the canteens during the entire year. The Occupational Con- ferences were again held monthly as a part of the Guidance program. The Girls' Chorus, the Inter Nos Club, the Junior Forum which has been formed since September, the Senior Play, the Ski Club, student organ- izations, have all functioned successfully.
More than 200 high schools in the state now have classroom instruc- tion in automobile driving, with 150 of these offering behind-the-wheel training. It would seem that Wakefield should seriously consider such training, which could be given in the afternoons without interference with the regular instruction.
Interest in the program in Shopwork continues to run high.
The Commercial Department reports that employers are seeking our commercial graduates and that favorable comments are being received concerning our graduates who continue in other schools.
The librarian gives instruction to Freshmen as part of their work in English on how to use the material there and how to proceed when doing reference work.
The most important thing in any school is the day-to-day classroom work of its teachers. The results of their instruction, their guidance, their inspiration and their example are not readily assessed. In all secondary schools the greatest need is for master teachers. My hope is that we shall be in a position to attract them to Wakefield as vacancies in our faculty occur.
Guidance, Howard J. Heavens, Director
What is being done in the Guidance field in the Wakefield schools?
When the under-age child takes the test for admission to school he is meeting guidance for the first time. As he advances through the grades guidance is being carried on by his classroom teacher, his principal, and primarily in reading, by Miss Lenk. Mental capacity, reading, achieve- ment and vocational preference tests are given to him at intervals during his eight years in the elementary schools, and he receives some remedial services. A complete permanent record folder goes along with each pupil
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from grade to grade, and into the High School at the end of the eighth year.
Each spring Mr. Kinder and I visit each eighth grade, including those at Saint Joseph's and Lynnfield, to explain the various courses that may be chosen by incoming Freshmen. The object of these visits is to acquaint the pupils with the High School offering, and to explain the vocational ends of each-in brief, to help the boys and girls to make wiser choices of their courses for the ninth year.
In the high school the general aim is to try to help each student-
1. To establish an objective, and
2. To attain that objective.
The homeroom teacher is always available for suggestion, Miss Upham is responsible for questions of social aspect especially as they apply to girls, Mr. Barry looks after disciplinary breaches, while the Director de- votes his time to educational guidance and preparational needs for special objectives.
To counsel intelligently it is necessary to know as much as one can of his client, and to have complete records on each individual. This informa- tion comes to us in the grade school permanent record folders. In high school two sets of records are kept. The class and subject records are kept on the cards in the office, and are available to any of the teachers in the school. The standardized test records, extracurricular activities, work history, and all bits of other information are kept on the test record sheets in my office. They are only available to me to be divulged only at my discretion.
The bulk of the standardized tests are given through the Boston Uni- versity Battery. The students are tested in the 9th and 11th years. They include mental maturity, reading comprehension, English fundamentals, mathematics fundamentals, spatial relations, clerical aptitudes, and an in- terest inventory. Boston University furnishes the tests, part of the ad- ministration, the machine scoring, and the percentile tabulation on the basis of class and New England norms. These results are indispensable adjuncts to intelligent counselling. The cost to us is on so much a head and is quite reasonable. Tests for individual fill-ins are administered and corrected by me.
Occupational information is dispersed to the students by current pamphlets and books in our library, and in my office. But the bulk of that is more effiectively done by occupational conferences held each month. Eighteen conferences dealing with occupational information are held in fields varying from the professional level of medicine, engineering, and the arts to the semi-skilled levels in industry, mechanical, and office.
The responsibility for job placement is divided between Miss Clifford and me. Miss Clifford advises and contacts for girls in the Commercial Department for clerical and secretarial positions. All others come to me, those who desire further training of any sort and those who want work in any field. Neither Miss Clifford nor I actually get the jobs but furnish leads and make contacts. We have had no trouble in placing all who are qualified, and many who are not.
My time is quite completely filled with meeting outside representa- tives, parents, and counselling with students. The work in filling out transcripts and recommendations is a time consuming job. But, I do not
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know anyone in the school who has greater access to information nor who is in a better position to know more about all the students than I. Con- sequently this latter job is unreasonable to delegate to anyone else, and I feel, by making careful and complete descriptions on recommendation and transcripts, Wakefield High School is gaining much greater confidence of the business, school, and college admittance officers.
The record of placements of the Class of 1952 follows the general pat- tern set by the last five classes with one noticeable and understandable exception. The number going into the Service is sharply increasing with a corresponding drop in those accepting trade positions.
The Guidance Department is asked to make a report on "Drop-outs" each year. And so each person who leaves school must be interviewed by me before he leaves. Our losses are not too great percentage-wise, nor in quality at least in terms with what we have to offer. And then it is my job to welcome each newcomer to the school, straighten out his school program, introduce him (or her) to some of the pupils of his own age, and to get him generally settled in his new school. The pupils I have called on from time to time for help enthusiastically endorse this custom.
To carry out the aims given above, the student is tested for ability and aptitude, he is given authentic information concerning many different fields, he is kept abreast of the changing labor market, careful records are kept of his progress in school, and checks are made of his success in his work after graduation.
Elizabeth V. Upham, Dean of Girls.
The dean of girls attempts to be a person in whom the girls can con- fide and from whom they can expect understanding. She acts as a liaison between the parents, the town and the school, being readily accessible at all times to both parents and students seeking counsel and guidance. She is attentive to the moral and social needs of the school, and uses all oppor- tunities to suggest correction whenever and wherever necessary, always working on the philosophy that the students really desire to know and to do what is right.
The dean acts as advisor and chaperon for all classes, and is respon- sible for correct conduct at the social activities which she supervises. Her objectives are to have the students take the initiative, to feel that they are mature individuals, to plan and execute projects, and to be ultimately re- sponsible for the results of their efforts.
She is the consultant-supervisor of the Inter Nos Club. She helps to make necessary adjustments for girls with special emotional or health problems. She maintains a school publicity book, as well as a card file for job applications. She conducts a course for Freshmen called "Living with Others," where the aim is to guide students to learn proper social behavior and to make satisfactory adjustments to life situations.
In all her work the dean attempts to maintain as many pleasant con- tacts as possible, despite the fact that part of her work involves disciplin- ing. She tries to have a feeling of genuine interest in the welfare of each individual girl, and to know all she possibly can about each girl's per- sonality, health and emotional problems, academic and social strengths and weaknesses, work experiences, plans and aspirations. Her ultimate aim is to develop the student as a mature, responsible person.
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Cafeterias, Gerard G. Barry, Supervisor.
During the past school year the cafeteria ran at an operating loss of $212.94. We cannot continue to lose money at this rate. So far this year we are operating at a loss.
We have kept our prices as low as possible, although food prices con- tinue to rise. Our adult and student payrolls are as low as possible.
One solution, which I strongly recommend, is that of placing the man- ager on the School Department payroll. This would mean the difference between a loss each year and a comfortable working margin.
From the Reports of the Supervising Principals.
Because of the increased enrollment at the Hurd and Warren Schools it was necessary to put grades 4, 5 and 6 at both schools on double sessions in September. This meant that the children in these grades lost one hour's time in school each day. This change was accomplished with a minimum of disturbance for all concerned, and it is felt that the basic fundamentals have been well taught. With the opening of the new Dolbeare and Walton Schools in the Fall of 1953 these double sessions can be discontinued.
The enrollment at Greenwood continues to increase also. There were 496 pupils in 1951, there are 528 in 1952, and the estimate for 1953 is 568. With 18 classrooms in this building, the time is not far distant when there will be only six grades here, with three classes to each grade.
The Parent-Teacher Associations have been active at all the schools. The Association at Lincoln purchased a motion picture machine. The one at Franklin has sponsored the 7th and 8th grade evening dance program. At Montrose a highly successful minstrel show, in which parents, teach- ers and pupils participated, was held. Regular and well-attended meetings have been held by all Associations. The December Bazaar at Greenwood was extremely well patronized.
Gradually a fair-sized filmstrip library is being built up for all schools. Tape recorders would greatly facilitate the work in speech, language and music.
During the Summer fluorescent lighting was installed in all the class- rooms at the Warren and Lincoln Schools. This is the beginning of a long- range program which is hoped will eventually extend to all schools, for inadequate lighting is one of our major problems.
The attempt is being made at all schools to replace the old non-ad- justable desks and chairs. Also a beginning was made in the installa- tion of asphalt tile floors at the Lincoln School where the floors are par- ticularly bad.
There is increasing criticism and complaint relative to the surface of the play areas at all schools. Continued efforts should be made to secure some sort of a hard surface for all playgrounds.
We were fortunate in the teachers who began work in the Wakefield schools in September. They have fitted into our system well and are doing good work. Unfortunately, however, we lose, for one reason or another, a number of good teachers each year. Good work is being done in the class- rooms of Wakefield, and those parents who are familiar with it seem to be well satisfied.
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Elizabeth P. Lenk, Elementary Consultant
The work of the Elementary Consultant during the past year has in- cluded the following:
1. Teachers' demonstrations and conferences, with the particular aim of acquainting the new teachers with the general aims and pro- cedures in Wakefield, and of offering special help in the fields where it seems to be needed most.
.2. Classroom visits, with each school visited weekly, and demonstra- tion lessons given for new teachers.
3. Continuing the testing program, using Reading Readiness, Mental Capacity, Word Recognition, and Achievement tests.
4. Rendering remedial services, with diagnostic test, conferences with teachers and parents, supplying materials, arranging private tutor- ing, and following up on the more serious problems of individual children.
5. Conducting the Pre-School Evaluation tests. This past year 147 underage children were admitted to school as a result of the tests, while 26 were not accepted.
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