USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > Plymouth > Town annual report of the officers of the town of Plymouth, Massachusetts for the year ending 1927 > Part 15
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c. Considerable renovating must be done to make these buildings satisfactory. This is specially true of the High School build- ing.
d. To meet the present educational needs ad- ditional building space must be provided as shown in this report.
5. Two possible solutions are suggested.
a. To build at the present time a portion of a new building eventually to house both the Junior and Senior High schools on a new site to the north of the town center.
b. To build a building to house the needed facilities on the land between the two old buildings and to make certain alterations in the old buildings. This also implies a new central heating plant.
6. To take immediate steps to employ an archi- tectural specialist in school-house planning to prepare sketches in order that approximate esti- mates of cost may be obtained.
Respectfully submitted,
JESSE P. DAVIS.
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REPORT OF THE SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL
My first annual report as principal of the Plymouth High School is herewith submitted.
Let me say at the outset, that the condition of the school as I found it is a tribute to the ideals and efficiency of my predecessor. Both teachers and pupils have been gracious in their reception and have cooperated in a most commendable manner, apparently appreciating the dif- ficulties which ordinarily accompany a change of admin- istration.
At the present time there is a total membership of 412, distributed as follows :
Grade IX
Grade X
Grade XI
Grade XII
Boys,
51
48
49
27
Girls,
66
64
50
47
Total,
117
112
99
74
Our total enrollment for the year is 428. Thirty have left school, and fourteen have entered, leaving a net loss of sixteen. Of the thirty who have left, thirteen have removed from town, two have changed to other schools, three have left because of physical incapacity, the others. to go to work. There are seventy-six classes, ranging in size from three to forty-three, the average being twenty- four.
I have made a few changes in the working program of the school. The bell schedule has been re-arranged to eliminate the "warning bell" toward the end of a recita- tion period. The period of out-of-door exercise which formerly came about half way through the morning ses- sion has been discontinued. Pupils now pass directly to lunch without returning to there home rooms. This avoids considerable confusion. On four days a week,
School Report 4
1
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there are seven periods, on the other six an assembly for the entire school meets regularly on Mondays. A large chorus meets on Wednesdays, and the Glee Club on Fri- days. Each class meets in regular rotation once a month on Tuesday mornings for the transaction of class busi- ness and conference with the principal.
Several teachers' meetings have been held, at which various timely topics having to do with professional advancement have been discussed. Matters of routine procedure have been taken care of as far as possible through daily bulletins. The faculty has been organized into committees. A curriculum committee is considering the content and value of the present curricula, and is pre- paring to suggest improvements. An assembly com- mittee, acting with a committee chosen by and from the Student Council, has assumed much of the responsibility for assembly programs, in which student participation is stressed. A committee on faculty meetings suggests and plans topics to be discussed at teachers' meetings. A social committee has supervision over the social life of the school. Practically every teacher is connected with some work of the school apart from the regular class work.
The organization of the Student Council has been somewhat changed. Each home room has a president, vice-president, and secretary. The presidents, together with the presidents of classes and clubs, and captains of teams make up the Council, thus securing a comprehen- sive representation of all school interests, at the same time maintaining an efficient organization.
Instead of having mid-year examinations, term exam- inations, eighty minutes in length, were held at the close of the Fall term. They are to be held at the end of each ranking period except the final period in June. I am convinced that an adequate examination system results in higher scholastic attainment.
A fund known as the "Student Activities Fund" has
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been established. All student organizations deposit in this one fund. Each organization may draw out money only up to the amount credited to its account. All finan- cial transactions must be approved by the principal and faculty treasurer on especially prepared vouchers. The accounts are audited monthly by the advanced bookkeep- ing class. Admission to all athletic contests, and a year's subscription to the "Pilgrim" are secured by all students who voluntarily contribute ten cents per week to a gen- eral fund - a part of the Student Activities Fund. Money may also be used from this fund to finance unus- ually good assembly programs. About 86 percent. of the school are contributing regularly to this fund.
Considerable interest in debating has been manifested. The first team ever to represent Plymouth High School in an interscholastic debate made an excellent showing in a difficult contest with Walpole High School.
We expect to organize very soon an honorary society, admission to which will depend on excellence of character, high scholarship, and demonstration of leadership and definite service to the school. Membership will be open to all who qualify but not before the end of the second marking period of their Sophomore year.
A new club known as the Press Club has been organized in the Junior English classes. Their purpose is to learn more about various phases of newspaper writing and to prepare a weekly column of school news for the "Old Colony Memorial."
It must have been quite apparent to the four hundred or more parents and friends who visited the school last November, when we held an afternoon and evening ses- sion, that we are subject to many serious handicaps which limit the effectiveness with which our work is being car- ried on. It should hardly be necessary to reiterate the unsatisfactory conditions in our present building. Im- properly lighted and ventilated, crowded, with limited accommodations for the comfort and convenience of both
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pupils and teachers, it is very evident than an enlarged and improved school plant must be provided if the work of the school is to be maintained at the desired high level. In the present building we can provide each pupil with a "home room" seat by putting about eighty Fresh- men in the back of the Assembly Hall. We can find accommodations for classes with difficulty, and only by using the rear of the Hall as a study room.
Five classes meet in what was formerly a boy's coat room, which is most unsatisfactory. Several classes are so large that pupils are obliged to sit on chairs around the room owing to the lack of regular desks. What we call our library is located in the rear of the Assembly Hall also, thereby making it exceedingly difficult for pupils to do reference work and affording no opportunity to protect and care for the books and magazines. For many weeks a group of about twenty-five Sophomores used as a "home room" a room furnished with tablet arm chairs, not desks. This compelled them to keep their books and other paraphernalia on shelves, to reach which it was necessary to stand on chairs. This condition has lately been remedied by transferring these pupils to the chemistry laboratory as a home room. There they have chairs equipped with drawers underneath the seats in which to keep their school supplies. Although this is an improvement, it is not a good arrangement. An assembly hall, the use of which is not hampered by the presence of other pupils, is valuable for music, dramatics, public speaking, debating, and assemblies of patriotic, inspira- tional, and informational nature. We look forward to the time when such an auditorium will be available. For these purposes we now are obliged to disturb a large number of pupils except when an assembly for everybody is being held. Many classrooms are improperly lighted, some having insufficient light, others having a cross light, which makes it difficult for pupils to see what is written on the blackboard, to say nothing of the severe eye-strain caused thereby. A different style of window curtain
.
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would help somewhat in controlling the light in some rooms.
I have stated that many classes are too large. There are thirty-six classes of more than twenty-five students each. Of this number seventeen are over thirty each. Thorough work is very difficult in classes of more than twenty-five, but under present conditions no additional classrooms are available, therefore, subdivision is impos- sible.
While the laboratory for physics and chemistry serves quite well, there are no similar facilities for biology and general science. Over 100 pupils are enrolled in each of these two courses, which indicates keen interest in them and makes very apparent the need of properly equipped rooms for the presentation of these subjects.
There are no shops for boys interested in manual train- ing. A few boys go over to the Junior High School four periods per week, but this is by no means the equivalent of a thorough going manual arts program. The house- hold arts courses for girls are restricted also, because of lack of room and facilities. I am sure many more boys and girls could and would derive much educational benefit from this type of work if opportunity offered.
No adequate physical training program is possible at present. We have no gymnasium, no locker or shower rooms. Instruction and training in matters pertaining to health and physical well-being are an integral part of a well-regulated school program. We believe in physical training and development through group games and ath- letics which should be provided for all boys and girls.
The rooms for typewriting and other commercial work are cramped and insufficient, especially for the former.
About eighty pupils are sufficiently interested in free hand and mechanical drawing to take these subjects two periods per week, that is, when "study periods" leave them free to do so. I feel very sure that, given a suitable room and a full time teacher, a splendid art department could be developed.
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Since the boys' coat room was transformed into a class- room, they hang their outside clothing in a dingy base- ment. The girls' coat room is so crowded that we have two dismissal bells at the close of school in order to avoid congestion. In neither case, can proper care and pro- tection be given to pupils' property.
At the present time, the Principal has no private office, which means that the study of school problems, inter- views with pupils, parents and teachers, correspondence, and in fact much of the work connected with the adminis- tration of the school can be carried on either by tolerat- ing interruptions and disturbances, or by escaping to some quiet and unfrequented corner of the building. This is really a serious situation, but no remedy seems to be possible in the present structure.
I sincerely hope that the School Department's plans for additional school rooms will be acceptable to the town, and that the program for the reorganization of the work of both Junior and Senior High School may proceed forth- with.
Besides advocating the construction of a new unit, I should also like to suggest other changes in the school as it now exists. First, I feel sure that certain courses could be conducted to the better advantage of the pupils if they were separated according to curricula, instead of being thrown in together. The college preparatory and com- mercial pupils have very different aims and interests and instruction should be adapted to these aims and interests. Second, pupils should be grouped as nearly as possible ac- cording to ability and maturity. In this way teaching and learning can be made more effective and worth while. Third, some changes in the courses of study seem to me to be desirable, but I am not prepared at this time to state definitely what they should be. Fourth, I recommend the extension of the educational and vocational guidance pro- gram, a beginning of which has already been made. Fifth, I should be pleased to see the work in music expanded to include courses in appreciation and harmony. I believe
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it entirely feasible to permit pupils to study music outside of school, under conditions acceptable to the school au- thorities, and receive credit toward promotion and grad- uation. Sixth, I believe that a longer school day is de- sirable. A five hour day is altogether too short a time in which to accomplish all that is demanded of a modern high school, which trains for the worthy use of leisure as well as for the command of fundamental processes and vocations. The tendency among progressive school sys- tems is to lengthen the school day. In other localities investigation has shown that very few high school pupils actually need to work afternoons. In any event, prepara- tion for life should receive first consideration.
The results of the term examinations, together with my observation of class work, convince me that much good work is being done. Generally speaking, the spirit of the school is good. We realize, however, that no school is so good that it cannot be made better. We therefore, address ourselves to the task of making whatever improvements and advances seem to promise greater efficiency in the conduct of the various phases of school work. Our sole desire is to provide the boys and girls of Plymouth with the best of educational opportunities.
Respectfully submitted,
WAYNE M. SHIPMAN.
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REPORT OF JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL
In any work of importance there is a definite objective and so, in this report, it may not be amiss to state the aims of the Junior High School :
1. To offer a program of studies which shall be suited to the varying needs of boys and girls in their early ado- lescence.
2. To take into account the individual differences of each child.
3. To assist boys and girls in discovering their own natural aptitudes or talents.
4. To acquaint boys and girls in an elementary way with some social, economic, and political problems which they must soon face in the world.
5. To induce as many as possible to go on with their education in High School.
6. To give those who must leave school for economic reasons a good start by way of special vocational train- ing.
7. To inculcate by practice the principles of good citi- zenship.
In brief, the purpose of a Junior High School is to give every adolescent boy and girl a richer and fuller program than the old grammar school gave.
A curriculum or course of study prepared years ago no longer meets the need of modern life. The Junior High School curriculum should be adapted to the needs of the miscellaneous pupils. Inventions have changed industrial and economic life and changed living conditions have altered social life. It follows then that as conditions change and as our knowledge of the child changes, the curriculum must be revised to meet changed conditions and to conform with the needs of the individual child as they are now understood. This need of a thorough
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revision of the curriculum has been reported in the Fourth and Fifth Yearbooks of the Department of Superintend- ents and the Twenty-Sixth Yearbook of the National Soci- ety for the Study of Education.
In order to carry out a regular Junior High program there must be room and equipment to do so. This year we. have more pupils then there is room for. The building was originally planned to seat 400 pupils. The enrollment in October was 475 pupils. There has been a slight dimi- nution in this number. Some have moved to other places, but only seven have left school for economic reasons.
One class of eight grade pupils has no home room. The sewing room is utilized, but here there are neither desks nor inkwells. It is a strain on children to sit in an uncom- fortable position at these tables. As the teacher has no home room she uses any room vacated when boys are at woodwork or girls at sewing. Sometimes there will be two classes in one room, and no teacher can do her best under this condition. The drawing teacher has been obliged to work under this condition since September.
The classes are too large. As planned, the seating capacity of each classroom was thirty-six pupils. We have classes this year averaging from forty to forty- five. Some of these pupils have no desks, but we have put into use every portable desk in the building.
As the first objective in secondary education is Health, and as a course in health includes the scientific physical education of every boy and girl, it naturally follows that some place in a Junior High School should be provided for the carrying out of a physical education program. The corridors in a school poorly ventilated and with a mini- mum of light are unfitted for such a purpose, yet these are where the physical training is carried on at present. In the lower corridor during the setting-up drills of the school, boys are crowded together in this narrow space, while the girls are using the upper corridor. During the different class periods of physical education
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the corridors are again used during stormy days. It naturally follows that the noise from the exuberance of youth disturbs the home-room teacher. A proper place such as a gymnasium, for carrying out this health pro- gram, would mean better physical development of youth and activities planned according to the demands of present-day conditions.
In contrast to our crowded conditions are the well- lighted, well-ventilated gymnasiums in the other Junior High Schools that I have visited in our state.
Parents who visited the school on Parents' Night com- mented on the crowded conditions during the lunch per- iod. On pleasant days pupils go outdoors to eat as the place allotted is too crowded, but on stormy days this is impossible. The result is that only a small number can use the shelves for their trays. As this lunch is for many pupils the regular noonday meal, there is pressing need for a lunch room where every boy and girl can find a seat. and wholesome place to eat.
"Public education should not be an everlasting formal round of study and recitation of abstract studies, but should include some method of organized equipment whereby pupils can be working on definite jobs."
The woodworking room is inadequate for the program defined here. Two classes go to the South Street School. It is the best we can do at present. With this arrange- ment we still have some classes on short-time periods on account of crowded conditions. One class that really needs this line of work is deprived of its two regular periods. One class in household arts uses the upper cor- ridor for a classroom.
Many children who can do skillful work with their hands are unable to do given work that requires mental application. It is the policy of the Junior High School to prepare these boys and girls for a vocation that is useful. We have one class of forty pupils in the school this year who come under this type. That the school has helped
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them is evident from the projects these children made during their woodwork and household arts periods in four months. These boys and girls nearly all of whom are of legal age, would probably be out on the streets or loafing at home. They are not only getting their introduction to vocational training but also initiative, inspiration, and habits of industry. With more room and adequate equip- ment a more extended program could be arranged for this group.
A very serious problem is the music program. We have curtailed the periods so that classes receive instruction only bi-monthly. The classroom is unsuited for the larger boys and girls, and often we are obliged to have two pupils use the same seat. There is only one suitable place to carry out a program for Junior High School music, and that is an assembly hall.
In the beginning of my report I stated that one of the purposes of the school is to inculcate by practice the prin- ciples of good citizenship. To do so, we need the assem- bly hall where all the children of the school can meet as one democratic society. In the past we improvised a hall by placing seats in the upper corridor and carried on a program for days of special observance. The State build- ing inspector has forbidden this arrangement. The pupils are keenly disappointed about losing the assembly period. This is one place where school spirit is capi- talized, where boys and girls can express their talents in music, pageantry, or literature. It is a marvelous place to implant citizenship that will include the citizenship of the community, the state, and the nation. Yet on a day as sacred to us all as Armistice Day, the exercises for that day were held in individual classrooms.
To give the advantages of a real Junior High School program to every boy and girl we need more room and more equipment, but it will mean genuine profit because each pupil will be given some line of work for which he is fitted. Progress along these lines cannot be delayed, or
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if it is the aims for which a Junior High School was organized cannot be reached.
In conclusion, I wish to express to you, Mr. Handy, to the members of the School Committee, to the teachers of the school, and the parents, my sincere appreciation of the unfailing support I have received in carrying out the policies of the school.
Respectfully submitted,
KATHARINE A. O'BRIEN,
Principal.
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REPORT OF PRINCIPAL OF HEDGE SCHOOL
I hereby submit my report of the work done in the Hedge School for the year beginning in September, 1926, and ending in June, 1927.
The total membership was four hundred fifty-six. The attendance was good, the average percent for the year being 95.3.
There have been several changes in the teaching force. It is always unfortunate to have good teachers leave,- their worth, if they remain in the same school for a period of successive years, cannot be estimated. How- ever, we have today a conscientious and efficient corps of teachers who are giving the best that is in them.
Professional improvement is being made through faculty meetings held every Tuesday morning and by reading educational books and magazines. Several of the teachers have taken summer courses. Such experts as Mrs. Gareisson who demonstrated how to teach read- ing and Mr. Houston who presented his writing methods are valuable sources of instruction for the teachers. The interest of the teachers in the school building has been shown by their efforts to make it more attractive. This year they have bought rugs and curtains for the teachers' rest rooms and are planning to complete the furnishings in the near future.
The Standardized Intelligence and Achievement Tests which have been given during the year have shown a wide range of individual differences among the pupils. The knowledge gained from these tests plus the teachers' estimates of the pupils' abilities have resulted in a better classification and should lessen retardation.
For the past three years the school has been benefitted
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educationally and socially by the weekly assemblies. The safety law which permits three hundred pupils, only, to be seated at one time in our auditorium has made it im- possible for the whole school to assemble. It has been necessary to alternate the lower and upper grades, the first three grades hold an assembly one week and grades four, five and six the next. This is unfortunate as it re- moves one of our most important means of teaching com- munity spirit and citizenship, and is, of course, a great disappointment to the boys and girls.
Parents are cordially invited to visit the school as often as possible and in this way keep in touch with the children's work. For various reasons there are many who cannot do so during the day time. At your sugges- tion an evening session was held, thus giving an oppor- tunity for all who wished to see the regular school work. The large number of parents and friends who came proved the value of the procedure.
Realizing the importance of a sound mind in a sound body we have stressed the teaching of health. The sixth grade has continued the publication of "The Standish," a health newspaper, and every class has worked out at least one health project. Twice a month five health in- spectors have visited all of the rooms and at the end of each month have presented a banner to the class which rated highest in personal hygiene and general cleanliness. The boys and girls have been much interested in the Modern Health Crusade and by daily trying to perform the required duties are laying a foundation for correct health habits. The parade of the Crusaders and the presentation of medals to the children who were 100% in health was impressive and inspiring. The children were filled with enthusiasm and were eager to join the health army.
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