USA > Massachusetts > Bristol County > Fairhaven > Town annual report of the offices of Fairhaven, Massachusetts 1913 > Part 5
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Playground Movement.
An effort to introduce organized play among the educa- tional activities of the town began last spring. A number of interested and public-spirited people arranged an enter- tainment at High school hall to raise money for the equipment and supervision of Rogers school field as a playground during the summer months. The sum realized from the entertain- ment was supplemented by an appropriation by the School
13
Committee, and a contribution from the Improvement Association. A slide, volley-ball outfit, see-saws and swings were purchased. Sandboxes were provided for the little folks. Mr. Michael Joyce, a class leader in the New Bedford Y. M. C. A., and Miss Margaret Howland, a teacher in the Thomas Donaghy school of that city, were selected as supervisors. The playground opened on June 30th and closed on August 1st. The average attendance of children in the mornings was 40, and in the afternoons 52. These figures do not represent the different children using the play- ground in a day, only those present when attendance was taken. It is probable that not far from one hundred children made some daily use of the grounds. Most of the children were under twelve years of age. In the pleasure given the children and in the training resulting from play under supervision, the project was a success. The instructors did all possible to make the playground attractive and profitable. The discipline was excellent and rude conduct of any kind was eliminated during playground hours. Some annoyance to near-by residents and anxiety to those in charge was caused by the presence and conduct of an older element in the evenings. Rigorous measures should be adopted to prevent a recurrence of this if the playgrounds are opened again.
The unsatisfactory element in the playground experiment was the relatively small number of children in attendance. It is thought by some that longer establishment and fuller development of the playground activities would attract more children as participants. If this is true the movement is worth fostering, but, if not, the expenditure involved in keep- ing it up would hardly be justified.
There can be no doubt that organized play, whether in city or country, is a sound educational activity. Says Jane Addams : "The organized games under the direction of good trainers develop respect for the rights of others, fairness and self-control; cement the school and homes, and counteract the lawlessness and destructiveness which are the lesson of the street and vacant lot."
-
14
Promotion and Retardation.
The membership of the grade schools in June, 1913, was 710. Of this number 643 pupils were promoted and 67 re- tarded. The percentage of the membership retarded was 91/2. If this record was as good as the percentage of retarded pupils indicates it would be a source of greater satis- faction than it is. It needs to be appreciated, however, that not every child sent forward was fully prepared for the next grade. The necessity of making room for the next year's class, the futility of holding pupils more than two years in a grade, recognition of the fact that retarded children tend to lose interest, and a desire to please children and parents are factors in the promotion of large numbers of unprepared children.
A detailed report was required on each child retarded. The reasons given by teachers for failure of pupils to grade were as follows:
Immaturity or unpreparedness, 35
Irregularity of attendance, 16
Lack of knowledge of English,
7
Poor physical condition, 5
Other causes, 4
Total, 67
Last year's, report contained a grade and age distribution table showing the number and percentage of overage chil- dren in each grade. A similar table based on this year's enrollment will be found with the other statistical tables of this report. It is interesting to note that the total per- centage of children overage, based on the entrance age of five, is almost exactly that of last year. The percentage based on the standard age of six has increased one and one- half percent.
In fully one-third of your schools at present the number
15
of pupils per teacher is too large for the accomplishment of satisfactory results. In the Rogers school is a sixth grade of 47 pupils, a seventh grade of 51 pupils and a sixth and seventh grade school of 44 pupils. Thirty-five pupils in one grade constitutes a maximum number per teacher if work is to be done with a degree of thoroughness. In addition to the schools mentioned, five others in town have more than forty pupils per teacher. If the town votes to build the addition to the Oxford school the enrollment per teacher in the fourth, sixth, seventh and eighth grades at the Rogers school will be lessened and the present crowded conditions be remedied. A more advantageous distribution of pupils will also be rendered possible at the Oxford school where several rooms need relief.
I wish to call particular attention to the unfavorable con- ditions existing in your first grade. This grade at the Oxford school has a membership of 47 pupils and at the Washington Street school each of the two first grades has over fifty pupils. These children, admitted at the age of five, need superior advantages in order to approximate stand- ard first grade results. Owing to large membership the half- session plan prevails. I am in hearty agreement with the idea that a half-session is enough for five-year-old children, in so far as it concerns their physical condition, but it is equally certain that their immaturity creates the need of more teach- ing than they can get in the time. The half-session of school is further lessened by irregularity of attendance, due to the fact that very young children are more susceptible to dis- ease than older ones and are less able to attend school in cold or stormy weather. A considerable number of these children are further handicapped by lack of knowledge of English. Under the present working conditions one pupil in every four or five spends two years in grade one, while many pupils are sent forward poorly prepared in order to make way for the next year's class. These partially prepared children seldom recover from the lack of thoroughness in their work of the first year. They stumble on through the
16
grades, growing less prepared for each succeeding class, forming the habit of failure and glad to leave school when the law allows and parents permit. The first grade is the weakest spot in your system and this is due not to any ineffi- ciency of the teaching but to the conditions under which the teaching is done.
The following suggestions bearing on the problem of strengthening the work in grade one are submitted for your consideration :
I. Raise the entrance age to six and shorten the elemen- tary course to eight years. Permit pupils to enter in Septem- ber who will be six on or before the first day of January. This establishes a minimum entrance age of five years and eight months.
II. If it is felt that the School Department ought to con- tinue the traditional policy of housing and caring for chil- dren of five, maintain a sub-primary school or kindergarten for them and do the regular work of the elementary course in eight years. This plan would entail no additional ex- pense nor would it lengthen the time required to complete the elementary course.
III. If the present plan is continued provide an assistant to do individual work with slow pupils.
Unassigned Teacher.
In connection with the problem of promotion and retarda- tion, I wish to submit for your consideration the question of employing an unassigned teacher, i. e .- a teacher not en- gaged for a particular school. The mission of such a teacher or teachers,-for some systems employ several of them,-is to give individual help to backward pupils. The distribution of her services is made by a schedule prepared weekly and is based on the varying needs of the schools. She may work in the room with the regular teacher or in another room if available. The characteristic of her work is the same where-
17
ever she does it, viz,-she teaches individuals not classes. She supplements the individual attention possible by the regular teacher and thereby saves backward pupils from retarda- tion or enables them to go forward with better preparation for the work of the next year.
In our system the unassigned teacher might serve a two- fold purpose : She could do substitute work when needed and individual work when not so employed. During the present fiscal year the sum of $344 has been expended for substitute work. It is seldom that two substitutes are needed at the same time, so that the unassigned teacher could do most of this work. In the great scarcity of good substitutes it would be a distinct advantage to have one always available. Re- ducing the salary of the unassigned teacher by what has heretofore been paid for substitute work, the net cost would be about $150 per year. I am confident that the number of pupils saved by individual help from retardation through the efforts of such a teacher would justify the expenditure.
Medical Inspection.
The results of the eye and ear tests made by the teachers in September, 1913, are as follows :
Number of pupils examined. 747
Number of pupils defective in eyesight. 80
Number of pupils defective in hearing.
25
Number of parents notified 83
The amount expended for medical inspection in the grades has been the same as in previous years. It is too small to demand for it the individual examination of pupils required by law and hardly enough to compensate for the amount of general inspection work the schools need.
18
New Funds for the Schools.
Two legacies to be used in the support of the elementary schools have been accepted and received during the year by the town. One of these amounting to $10,000 was bequeathed by the late Sara C. Anthony, and the other amounting to $100,000 was the gift of the late II. H. Rogers. The income from each of these funds is, by the provisions of the re- spective wills, to be devoted to the support of the primary and grammar schools.
It is very doubtful if there is another municipality in the world that has been to such an extent the beneficiary of philanthropic effort in the support of its public school system as has Fairhaven. In other places colleges, private academies, technical schools and other institutions have been founded and endowed but where else have so large private funds been provided for the upbuilding of elementary education? The high school with its unexcelled equipment and its cost of maintenance, including the salaries of teachers; a splendid grammar school building, erected and equipped; a primary school re-modelled, furnished and made ready for use ; a fund of one hundred thousand dollars to be used by the common schools,-all these the gift of one man to the town in trust for its youth, and in addition, the Edmund Anthony, Jr. Fund and the Pease Fund, smaller in amount but animated by no less noble and generous a purpose.
It is pertinent to understand the motives underlying such gifts to Fairhaven. There was undoubtedly in each benefac- tor a genuine devotion to the permanent welfare of the town, and a realization that no agency could more vitally influence its life and character than the public schools. There was, also, a recognition of the fact that in the public schools, not in colleges and higher institutions of learning, an overwhelm- ing majority of boys and girls must receive their formal preparation for a career, and a conviction that after a gen- erous town had done all possible in the provision of educa- tional opportunity there would still be something of value
19
left to be done through their benefactions: something that would produce results of happiness, service and character in the lives of pupils. It would be difficult to select a finer method either of manifesting far-reaching love and devotion to a community or of showing an interest in the cause of nobler manhood and womanhood than through these splendid gifts to our public schools. Such benefactors should not be forgotten. It is often the custom of colleges to set apart a day each year as "Benefactors' Day." In a sense, these legacies for our public schools are not only benefactions to the town but, also, gifts to each child passing through the schools. I believe Fairhaven schools would do well to pause from routine duties a portion of a day each year and recall in memory those who have shown such devotion to their interests.
Teachers.
Twelve teachers to fill positions left vacant by resignations and two others, one an asistant in the domestic science department at the High school, the other in the preparatory department, have become members of your corps since the last report. It is a pleasure to state that all the new teach- ers are doing excellent work.
Eight of the resignations were caused by offers of higher salaries elsewhere, one by illness, and three by other reasons. The resignations to secure higher salaries occurred despite the efforts of the committee to retain teachers by a fifty dollar increase in their salaries here. There was a time when such an increase would have been effective. That it is not so now is due to advance in salaries elsewhere. Seven teachers who remained and three of the new teachers are receiving fifty dollars more than their positions paid last year.
The Fairhaven Union Teachers' Association organized last year has held three meetings since September. In October Superintendent Merriam of Marblehead gave a helpful talk on "The Teaching of Geography," in December Mr. George
20
H. Tripp gave an entertaining address on "Pirates and Buccaneers of the Spanish Main"; in January Robert J. Sisk of Newton spoke very instructively on "English Teaching in the Grades." It is a source of satisfaction to feel that teachers have the degree of professional interest necessary to sustain this association.
Good teachers and continuity of service are THE essentials of efficiency in school work. They can be had only by paying for them. In the last analysis the average quality of teach- ing depends upon the intelligent appropriation of money for the purpose. Intelligent appropriation of money for teach- ers recognizes market values and does not require teachers worth seven or eight hundred dollars per year for two or three hundred dollars less. The effort to secure high stand- ard service at a low standard rate of payment will occasion- ally be successful but will more often lead to disappointment. The highest standard of teaching is not too good for Fair- haven children. How nearly will the town approximate a standard rate for such service. For several years during the lifetime of Mr. Rogers he added to the sum paid by the town a substantial increase in the salary of every teacher who re- turned a second year. Did he not intend that the legacy re- cently received should be used in a similar spirit,-i. e .- to supplement the appropriation of the town, not to reduce it? The extent to which the town reduces its present school ap- propriation as a consequence of the legacy will indicate the proportion of the legacy that might as well have been left for other purposes. The continuance of the present appropria- tion would make possible the begginning of a new epoch in the grade schools of Farhaven. It would enable the main- tenance of a schedule of salaries which would result in the retention of good teachers, for longer terms of service, and would raise the average standard of teaching by attracting to us teachers of maturity and promise.
Viewed as a whole the year has been one of progress; in several directions distinct gains have been made. In the usual formal terms but, nevertheless, in entire sincerity, I
21
wish to express appreciation of the hearty co-operation of teachers and principals in efforts to advance the schools to a higher level.
It has been a pleasure to work with this School Commit- tee. I have appreciated its support and confidence and I hope the character of my work will continue to justify it.
Respectfully submitted,
CHARLES F. PRIOR.
22
ROLL OF HONOR. Pupils neither absent nor tardy for the year ending June 26, 1913.
High School.
Foster Baker
Ethel P. Brownell
Miriam Thrasher
Evelyn H. Ellis
Byron Morton
Louise G. Freitas
Madeline S. Corson
Florence A. Morton
Caroline R. Gilmore
Kathryn R. White
Minnie A. D. Halloran
Myron C. Goddard
Madeline E. Hoxie
Edwin V. Babbitt
Grace W. Mackie Frederick L. Dexter
Florence A. Porter
Herman A. Murray
Frank M. Babbitt
Allen P. Stillman
Benjamin Luther
Chauncey Thompson
John H. Tripp
Edward C. Westgate
Melissa H. Bessie
Old High School-9th Grade.
Marion Bennett
Frank Thrasher Malcom Blackwell
Agnes Black
Ethelyn Manchester Earl Whiting
Lester Hoerstedt
Grade 8-Richard Delano John Quirk Esther Jackson Anna Olson Dorris Price
Marion Stowell Gladys Tripp Grade 7-Alice Cole Grade 6 and 7-Sylvia Almy Stillman Bushnell Mildred McGill
23
Grade 6-Mildred Chase Elsie Dufrane Catherine Fleming Gladys Gellett William Ball Florence Freitas
Frederick Brotherson George Burke Malcolm Campbell
William Hager Sterling Wilson
Grade 5-Marian Brotherson Lolita Davis
Doris Dunn
Grade 4-William Karl
John Conway Hazel Bennett
Grace Chase
Esther Hayward
Louis Croxtall
Joseph Jenney
Sara Fleming
Isabelle Perry
Vernice Tuell
Rogers Annex.
Grade 3-Anna Johnson Gladys McCracken
Grade 2-Allen Ricketson Charlotte Anderson Grade 1-Anna Sohlgren
Ruth Wilbur Paul Jackson
Oxford School.
Grade 5 and 6-Laura Sweeney Edric Marsh
24
PRESENT CORPS OF TEACHERS.
HIGH SCHOOL.
Albert B. Kimball
Science
Chas. H. Woodbury
Mathematics
Alvin J. Long
Manual Education
Frederick C. Hill
Physical Education
Florence S. Ames
Grace M. Grant
English Stenography and Typewriting
Ruby R. Dodge
Latin
Lefee Ayer
German and History
Susan P. Gifford
French
Bessie C. Verder
Science and History
Eunice E. Strong
Domestic Science
Tosca Woehler
Sewing
M. Maud Morton
Drawing
Anna B Trowbridge
Music
Charles Johnson, Jr.
Manual Education
Worcester Polytechnic Institute Tufts College Columbia University International Y. M. C. A. Training School Bates College Chandler Shorthand
R. I. State Normal Smith College Wellesley Grenoble University Middlebury College Brown Lniversity .Oxford University, Eng. Columbia University Framingham Normal Boston Normal Art Silver Burdett School Columbia University Summer School
25
OLD HIGH SCHOOL.
Vashti M. Crosby Prep. Class Castine Normal $75.00
ROGERS SCHOOL.
Sara B. Clarke, Prin.
Grade 8 Bridgewater Normal
$100.00
Marion H. Lovell
8 Bridgewater Normal 55.00
Grace J. Delva
66
7 Fitchburg Normal 55.00
Elsie M. Kelley,
“ 6-7
Bridgewater Normal 55.00
Hazel E. Patterson
66
6
Bridgewater Normal
55.00
Sara M. Curtis
5 Fitchburg Normal
55.00
Edith M. Kendrick
5 Bridgewater Normal
59.00
Marguerite Struthers
4 Fitchburg Normal 48.00
Mattie L. Norris
4 Fairhaven High School
68.00
ANNEX.
Lillie B. Allen
Grade 3 Bridgewater Normal
$55.00
Katherine R. Eames
3 Framingham Normal 55.00
Rachel E. Kingsley
2 Castleton Normal (Vt.) 55.00
Mildred Canfield
2 Bridgewater Normal
48.00
Mary A. S. Sale
1 Framingham Normal 55.00
Lydia R. Ilsley
1 Fitchburg Normal
48.00
OXFORD.
Myra D. Crowell
Grades 5-6
Bridgewater Normal
$80.00
Alice T. Lee
66
3-4 No. Scituate Training School 50.00
Edale B. Garside
66
2-3 Westfield Normal 48.00
Charlotte C. Bayley
66
1 Newburyport Training School 48.00
SUPERVISORS.
Anna B. Trowbridge
(part time)
Music
$45.00
M. Maud Morton
(part-time)
Drawing and Sewing 45.00
Alvin J. Long
Manual Education
Charles Johnson, Jr.
Manual Education
Frederick C. Hill
Physical Education
26
HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES, 1912-1913.
1912.
Robert E. Achorn,
Ruth M. Aldrich,
Maria E. Ashley,
Charles E. Bowles,
George T. Bowles,
George C. Bradley,
Lelia M. Childs,
Amelia M. Cleveland,
Beatrice L. Dunham (Mrs. Bancroft Winsor),
Ruth E. Fitzsimmons,
Benjamin A. Gilmore,
Matthew Hiller, Jr.,
Stella W. Hiller,
Ellen H. Humphrey,
Textile School, New Bedford. Hairdresser, L. M. Merrill New Bedford. State Normal School, Bridgewater. At home, Mattapoisett. Architect, Stickney & Austin, Boston. Machinist, Mattapoisett. Mt. Holyoke College, So. Hadley. State Normal School, Framingham. At home, Acushnet. State Normal School, Bridgewater. Mass. Agricultural College, Amherst. Carnegie Inst. of Technology Pittsburg, Pa. At home, Mattapoisett. Simmons College, Boston.
27
. Harriet N. Jenkins,
Henry B. Knowles,
Vincent W. Leonard,
Alice C. Ordway,
Clyde L. Rounseville,
Clarence B. Terry,
Mary E. Thatcher,
Marjory W. White,
At home, Rochester. Swain Free Art School, New Bedford. Brown University, Providence, R. I. At home, Mattapoisett. Clerk, Lorraine's, New Bedford. Bookkeeper, Atlas Tack Co., Fairhaven. Clerk, Atlas Tack Co., Fairhaven. Radcliffe College, Cambridge. Electrician, SS. H. Couch Tel. Co., Norfolk Downs.
James E. Wood,
Thomas W. Albiston,
Foster W. Baker,
Lucy Baker,
Collector, Fairhaven. Clerk, Lorraine's, New Bedford. At home, Fairhaven. At home, Mattapoisett.
Helen O. Bowman,
Laura E. Bowman, Training School for Nurses, St. Luke's, New Bedford.
James H. Brennand, Farmer, Fairhaven. Florence M. Coupe, Stenographer, M. C. Swift & Son, New Bedford. Nathan B. Denham, Hotel Clerk, Mansion House, New Bedford.
28
Adrian R. Ganter,
Pauline R. Griffin,
Ralph M. Holland,
Asa S. Hoxie,
Marion E. Mantius,
Byron F. Morton,
Mary M. Soares,
Anna F. Sohlgren,
Harold S. Spooner,
Harold D. Stillman,
Paul R. Swift,
Clara L. Taylor,
Miriam Thrasher,
Mildred C. Tinkham,
Delight Tuthill,
Samuel F. Tuthill,
Maria M. White,
Hilda W. Wilde,
Farmer, Athabasca Landing, Alberta, Canada. Training School for Nurses, Mass. General Hospital, Boston. Draughtsman, N. B. Gas Light Co., New Bedford. Farmer, Mattapoisett. Training School for Nurses, Mass. General Hospital, Boston. Thomas Manual Training School, Detroit, Mich. At home, Fairhaven. Clerk, Browne Pharmacy, New Bedford. Salesman, Fairbanks Soap Co., Trenton, N. J. Dartmouth College, Hanover, N. H. Clerk, N. B. Cotton Corp., New Bedford. Stenographer, Atlas Tack Co., Fairhaven. At home, Fairhaven. Post graduate, High school, Fairhaven. State Normal School, Bridgewater. Mass. Agricultural College, Amherst. At home, Lakeland, Fla. Stenographer, N. B. Storage Co., New Bedford.
GRADE
TOTAL
AGE
I
II
III
IV
V
VI
VII
VIII
IX
X
XI
XII
IX
5.
80
2
80
6
37
43
82
7
21
32
27
2
82
8 .
5
21
37
17
2
112
9 .
7
16
24
40
20
5
83
10 .
2
2
10
26
28
13
2
75
11 .
2
1
3
14
17
20
17
1
99
12 .
1
1
2
10
16
17
24
24
4
10
13
87
14 .
67
15 .
47
16
1
4
4
7
18
33
17 .
2
2
4
13
21
18 .
4
19 .
20
21 .
Total enroled . .
156
118
106
117
101
69
80
59
59
72
47
27
40
1051
Number over age based on entrance age of five .
39
41
42
58
51
31
37
16
16
17
6
4
4
356
Percentage above normal age . . . .
25.
34.7
39.6
49.6
50.5
45.
46.2
27.1
27.1
23.6
12.7
15.
10.
33.8
Number, over age based on entrance age of six .
18
20
18
32
34
14
16
3
3
6
2
0
0
164
Percentage over age
11.5
17
17
27.3
33.6
20.3
20
5
5
8
4
0
15.6
2
4
14
9
21
13
26
25
2
4
4
2
11
3
9
20
23
3
3
5
1
11
16
13
5
97
18
19
1
4
.
1
82
HIGH SCHOOL
TABULATED STATEMENT- GRADES, TEACHERS, ATTENDANCE, ETC. SCHOOL YEAR -SEPTEMBER, 1912 - JUNE, 1913.
SCHOOLS.
TEACHERS.
Whole number
enrolled.
Average
Average
Per cent.
attendance.
Total days'
absence.
tardiness.
No. of weeks
in year.
High, Old High,
High Prep. Prep.
Albert B. Kimball,
176 167.00 162.00 97.1
908
126
40
Vashti M. Crosby,
36
32.40
31.40 96.9
189
25
Rogers,
8
Sara B. Clark,
53
49.45
47.94 96.87
276
11
"
7
Euelyn H. Emmott,
50
42.73
40.42 94.5
302.5
13
6 & 7
Ruth N. Bailey,
42
37.9
37.67 96.18
293.
10
6
Eula P. Goodale,
49
39.1
37.
97.6
238.
6
66
5
Ethel M. Kendrick,
37
29.79
28.9
97.
164.5
14
5
Sarah M. Curtis,
35
30.29
29.27 96.70
192.5
9
66
4
Emma J. Sherman,
52
42.28
39.58 93.58
554.5
32
66
4
Mattie L. Norris,
51
43.08
40.85 95.01
421.5
4
Rogers Annex,
3
Lillie B. Allen,
35
30.01
28.31
94.
335.5
16
3
Katherine R. Eames,
36
31.51
29.74 94.38
330.5
20
2
Rachael E. Kingsley,
37
33.35
30.70 92.30
471.5
8
66
2
Mildred A. Thompson,
40
30.76
29.74 95.5
239.
8
membership.
attendance.
Grades.
Cases of
Mrs. Chas. Woodbury,
8
Bertha A. Grimes,
Ida W. Lindquist,
Rogers Annex,
55
44.66| 44.73
40.42| 90.5 40.82 91:25
790 758
11
Oxford,
5 & 6 3 2
1 Rosa M. Bowker, Mary A. S. Sale, Myra D. Crowell, Fannie G. Harlow, Mary F. Calden,
Music,
Drawing, Sewing, Cooking, Manual Training,
Anna B. Trowbridge, M. Maud Morton, Tosca Mochler, Eunice E. Strong, Alvin J. Long,
Charles Johnson,
Frederick C. Hill,
Totals, 1913,
1005
870.68
816.59
93.8
8,148
536
Totals, 1912,
4002
879.15
815.47
92
10,972
550
Totals, 1911,
1028
845.
801.
94
9,307
643
Totals, 1910,
960
852.
775.
92
10,598
512
Totals, 1909,
947 801.
749.
93
9,792
434
44
34.89
32.94 92.37
367
28
47
37.25
92.39
545.5 409
64
39
28.8
34.5 26.6
92.5
47
1 Constance V. Andeews, Edith F. Hill,
43
30.7
27.83 92.21
382.5
68
6
Physical Education,
1
48
4
FINANCIAL STATEMENT 1914
PEASE FUND
Dr.
Cr.
Receipts : Balance, Feb. 1, 1913, Dividends from trustees,
$416 63 305 34
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