USA > Massachusetts > Bristol County > Fairhaven > Town annual report of the offices of Fairhaven, Massachusetts 1926 > Part 4
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6
8:15-9:00 A. M .- Monday, Wednesday, Friday.
4:00-5:00 P. M .- Every school day unless absent on special business.
Open by appointment-
Wednesday evenings, 7:00 8:00.
The Superintendent's Office is open with a clerk in charge daily from 9-12 and 1:30-5, except Saturdays, when it is open only in the forenoon.
Telephone call at Town Hall, Fairhaven, 3891.
Telephone call at residence, 30 Green St., 6714-W.
School Calendar
1927
Monday, Jan. 3 Tuesday, Feb. 22
Schools re-open Washington's Birthday (holiday)
Friday, Feb. 25
Schools close
Monday, March 7
Schools re-open
Tuesday, April 19
Patriot's Day (holiday)
Friday, April 29
Schools close
Monday, May 9
Schools re-open
Monday, May 30
Memorial Day (holiday)
Thursday, June 30
Schools close
SUMMER VACATION
Wednesday, Sept. 7
Wednesday, Oct. 12
Wednesday noon, Nov. 23
Friday, Dec. 23
ยท Schools re-open Columbus Day (holiday)
Thanksgiving recess Schools close Christmas vacation
1928 Monday, January 2
Schools re-open
NO SCHOOL SIGNAL, 22
The signal at 8:15 A. M. indicates no forenoon session for any of the eight grades of the elementary schools.
The signal at 12:45 noon indicates no afternoon session for any of the eight grades of the elementary schools.
The no-school signals do not apply to the High School.
Report of the School Committee
To the Citizens of Fairhaven :
The School Committee presents herewith its annual re- port for the year ending December 31, 1926.
FINANCIAL STATEMENT (Elementary Schools)
RECEIPTS
Town Appropriation, 1926
$99,000.00
County Dog Fund
1,908.29
Henry H. Rogers Trust Fund
4,807.63
Pease Fund
382.63
Edmund Anthony, Jr., Trust Fund
506.25
$106,604.80
EXPENDITURES
General Control
$5,150.93
Superintendent
$3,564.30
Clerk
908.00
Attendance Officers
201.00
School Census
125.00
School Committee
150.00
Miscellaneous
202.63
Instruction
$77,935.38
Teachers' Salaries
$72,663.90
Text Books
2,599.91
Supplies
2,671.57
5
Operation and Maintenance
$14,588.47
Janitors' Salaries
$6,392.82
Fuel
3,165.10
Building Supplies
2,306.25
Repairs
1,307.28
New Equipment
1,417.02
Other Agencies
$6,495.58
Transportation
$3,739.75
Health
1,926.00
Insurance
829.83
Miscellaneous
$522.39
$104,692.75
Balance
1,912.05
$106,604.80
HIGH SCHOOL
FINANCIAL STATEMENT
RECEIPTS
Town Appropriation
$22,000.00
From Other Sources
28,000.00
$50,000.00
6
EXPENDITURES
General Control Office Clerk
$240.00
$240.00
Instruction
$33,180.96
Teachers' Salaries
$30,597.00
Text Books
1,091.96
Supplies
1,492.00
Operation and Maintenance
$14,756.88
Janitors' Salaries
$5,569.92
Fuel
1,461.56
Building Supplies
1,438.74
Repairs
5,913.05
New Equipment
373.61
Other Agencies
$638.00
Health
$173.00
Insurance
465.00
Miscellaneous
$295.46
$49,111.30
Balance
888.70
$50,000.00
PORTABLE SCHOOL ACCOUNT
Appropriation Expenditures :
$5,300.00
Edward E. Babb & Co. $4,788.74
(Building and Equipment)
2583.96
7
William Livesey
7.00
Manuel D'Amarel
14.09
Labor
20.00
$4,829.83
Balance
$470.17
$5,300.00
Your Committee has a balance from the regular appro- priations for support of schools amounting to $2,800.75. There is remaining in the Portable School Account, $470.17. A total of $3,270.92 is being returned to the General Treas- ury. The unusually large balances from the regular appro- priations are due chiefly to the following reasons :
(1) An unusually large number of resignations of ex- perienced teachers in June resulted in a reduced payroll because the new teachers began at minimum salaries.
(2) The estimated cost of seating the auditoriums of the Tripp and East Fairhaven schools was cut in half by the selection of less expensive seats.
(3) Competitive bids reduced by $1000. the estimated cost of re-newing the plumbing at the high school.
In making the Budget for 1927, a net increase of $3,100 is necessary. This allows for the scheduled increases in salaries due in September, the employment of one addit- ional teacher in the high school and two in the grades, and some increase in the cost of janitor service and fuel for the portable needed at the Rogers school. The actual in- crease in the appropriation is not, of course, sufficient to cover all this, but last year $3,400. was allowed for special repairs and new equipment, which are not included in the budget for 1927, leaving that amount available for other purposes.
8
The Committee suggests that citizens read carefully the report of the Superintendent of Schools relating to present school accommodations and future plans. In regard to his recommendation of another portable school, we do not be- lieve that it is sound policy, in general, to provide housing facilities by the use of portable schools, but in view of the rather unfavorable local business conditions, and of the fact that two years may elapse before relief at the high school is imperative, we believe that a portable for two or three years at the Rogers school may be a profitable in- vestment.
The immediate completion of the unfinished room at the East Fairhaven school is necessary. The estimated cost of doing this is $3,500. An appropriation of $5,000. will be necessary for a two-room portable.
The Report of the Superintendent of Schools has been carefully considered and is ordered printed as a part of the Report of the School Committee.
The Budget for 1927 is herewith submitted: :
BUDGET FOR 1927
Elementary Schools
Estimated for Expended in
1927
1926
General Control
$5,350.00
$5,150.93
Instruction
82,000.00
77,935.28
Operation and Maintenance
15,500.00
14,588.47
Other Agencies
7,000.00
6,495.58
Sundries
500.00
522.39
$110,350.00
$104,692.75
ESTIMATED RECEIPTS
County Dog Fund
$1,900.00
Received in 1926 $1,908.29
Henry H. Rogers Trust Fund
4,800.00
4,807.63
Pease Fund
380.00
382.63
Edmund Anthony, Jr., Fund
506.00
506.25
$7,586.00
$7,604.80
Appropriation required
102,764.00
99,000.00
$110,350.00
$106.604.80
BUDGET FOR 1927 High School
Estimated
Expended in 1926
for 1927
Instruction
$35,425.00
$33,420.96
Operation and Maintenance
11,000.00
14,756.88
Health
175.00
173.00
Insurance
500.00
465.00
Sundries
300.00
295.46
$47,400.00
$49,111.35
Estimated Income
26,000.00
Appropriation required $21,400.00
Total Appropriation, High and Elementary $124,100.00
ALTON B. PAULL, Chairman, JAMES STETSON, EDWARD L. BESSE,
WILLIAM B. GARDNER,
MISS SARA B. CLARKE, MRS. ELLA H. BLOSSOM, Fairhaven School Committee.
Report of the Superintendent of Schools
To the School Committee of Fairhaven :
I am submitting herewith my fourteenth annual report as Superintendent of Schools.
ATTENDANCE
The total membership of the schools for the year ending June 1926 was 2144 as compared with 2069 in 1925; the average membership, 1936 as against 1829 the previous year. The percentage of attendance was 94, a better average than we have been able to reach for several years.
The actual membership of the schools on December 1 was 1996 as against 1956 on the same date in 1925. If it included the pupils temporarily off the register due to con- tagious diseases, the present membership is 2020. The in- crease in 1925 was 72 pupils, that of this year 62.
SCHOOL ACCOMMODATIONS
The number of pupils to be housed has increased by 134. The only addition to housing facilities has been the portable, only one room of which is available for a class of normal size, the other being used for a small special class which must be maintained in compliance with the law. With a prospective normal increase of at least 50 pupils next year, it is obvious that further schoolrooms must be provided. Will there be an increase? The school census taken in October 1926 showed a total of 2511 children in town be- tween the ages of 5 and 16, an increase of nearly 300 over that of the previous year. That the enrolment of the public schools has not increased to this extent is due in part to the number entering the parochial schools and in part to the increased employment of children. The number of em-
11
ployment certificates since September is greatly in excess of the number issued during the same period last year.
In order to solve intelligently the school-housing prob- lem it is desirable to know the facilities we now have. The number of elementary schoolrooms available is as follows :
Oxford School 8
Oxford Portable
2
Ed. Anthony, Jr. school 8
Job C. Tripp school 7
Rogers school
8
Washington St. school
8
East Fairhaven school 4
45
If these rooms were of equal capacity and it was pos- sible to distribute pupils regardless of grade or location, the present elementary school membership of 1700 would give an average teacher-load of 38 pupils. The seating capacity of most of the rooms is 42, but ten of them will not seat more than 35. Furthermore, one of the rooms at the Portable must be occupied by a special class in which the membership must be kept even smaller. The average of 38 assumes that pupils can be distributed regardless of grade or of location, both of which are impracticable. There is clearly a shortage of schoolrooms in some sections and the teacher-load already much too large for reasonably efficient work.
Analysis of the Distribution of Children
At the Oxford school, nine rooms available for classes of normal size have an average membership of 38. If the grade distribution happens to be advantageous, four more pupils per room can be accommodated here. At the An- thony school, the average teacher-load is 33 only ; therefore,
-
12
if there should be an increase in North Fairhaven next year, and, owing to grade distribution, it was impossible to place them in the Oxford school, it is probable they could be cared for at the Anthony. It may be assumed that the Anthony and Oxford schools, together with the Portable, will take care of an increase of 50 pupils or more in North Fairhaven.
At the Tripp school the average teacher-load is 41 pupils, and the capacity of the rooms is such that this cannot well be increased.
At the Washington St. School, the average number per room is 33. The rooms of this building are relatively small. A maximum membership of 35 pupils per room can be ac- commodated. The building is now comfortably filled Twenty-five more primary children can, perhaps, be housed here.
The regular classrooms of the Rogers school are housing an average of 43. In order to provide a room for the in- creased enrolment of the 7th and 8th grades, it was neces- sary in September to combine two 6th grades into one with a membership of 48. Furthermore, these upper grades were then so large that if they had been placed in the five rooms available there would have been an average teacher- load of 48. It was necessary, therefore, to make another division and to place a class in the assembly hall on the third floor. Using the assembly hall as a ninth room, the average class numbers 40. This room, while suitable for use in an emergency, does not meet well the requirements for a regular classroom. It is on the third floor, does not have adequate lighting facilities, and is not modern in other respects. It was never intended to be used as a classroom.
There are 160 pupils in the present 6th, and 164 in the present 7th grades in town. Allowing for some losses
13
through leaving school, it seems certain that there will be a large increase in the 7th and 8th grade membership next year. Even with the use of the third floor room, we cannot house the pupils. The present number is very much too large for effective teaching.
At East Fairhaven the four rooms finished house 178 pupils, an average of 45 per room. In distributing the grades for effective teaching, it was necessary to have an overflow room of 35 pupils in the assembly hall. This section of the town seems to be growing rather steadily in population, and a further increase of pupils next year can- not be housed there.
The Immediate Problem : The problem for next year is to provide increased facilities at the Rogers school and East Fairhaven.
It is suggested that three or four rooms be added to the East Fairhaven school, that Sconticut Neck children be carried there instead of to the center, and that a 7th grade be opened there.
The following table shows the present distribution of the Sconticut Neck barge children by grades and schools :
School
I II III IV V VI VII VIII Total 1 7 5
Job C. Tripp 11
6
16
6 0 52 31
Washington St. 10 8
4
9
Rogers
4
1
4 3 12
21
9 11 14 10 17 10 3 95
Assuming the regular advancement of these pupils, and of those also now in the East Fairhaven school, if barge children are sent there next year, and a seventh grade opened, the enrolment will be as follows, allowing for no increase in school population :
14
Grade I
35 (Estimated number of entering class)
Grade II 55
Grade III 42
Grade IV
46
Grade V
44
Grade VI 35
Grade VII
43
Total 300
Eight rooms would be necessary to accommodate this number. One room would have to be completed and three new ones added. Under the above plan, the Tripp school would receive relief from prospective congestion, but still be unable to release a room for relief of congestion else- where. The loss of 31 pupils distributed through eight rooms at the Washington St. school would lessen membership there, but would not enable combination of classes so as to release a room to relieve congestion at the Rogers school. The elimination of barge children from the Rogers school and also of the incoming 7th grade from East Fairhaven, gives a prospective enrolment there, allowing for no increase of school population or losses from leaving school, as follows :
Grade V 51
Grade VI 58
Grade VII 140
Grade VIII 154
Total 403
A considerable percentage of pupils leave school at the end of the 6th or 7th grades. Allowing for this, it is highly probable that, even with the barge children and the in- coming East Fairhaven 7th grade eliminated, the Rogers school enrolment will be larger than at present.
15
Temporary Solution of the Housing Problem
The completion of the East Fairhaven school would not relieve the congestion at the Rogers school.
The completion of a room in East Fairhaven and the purchase of a two-room portable for the Rogers school would temporarily relieve both these buildings.
A More Stable Solution of the Problem
If a more stable solution of the housing problem is sought, it will be necessary to take into consideration the situation at the high school. Few people realize that in this building we have nearly reached the limit of capacity. In planning the building, recitation rooms were furnished to accommo- date a maximum of 300 pupils. There are now 351 pupils enrolled. To provide classrooms for this number, the sew- ing department has been removed from its quarters and placed in the corridor on the third floor, the mechanical drawing department has been moved into the former sewing room, thus providing another classroom ; the physics lab- oratory, the experiment demonstration room, and a small lecture room are being used for general recitation pur- poses. There is little opportunity for further expansion. It may be possible, by re-setting the seats of some of the rooms, to provide for the growth of two years more, but this will be at the expense of efficiency. It will make the divisions too large. The State Board of Education recom- mends that the number of pupils in a high school class be not more than 25. There ought to be no more for effective teaching. Five teachers at present have more than this standard number to care for.
A Junior High School
Since it will not be wise to consider an addition to the present high school building, a sound method of relief would be the erection of a junior high school. This would
16
care for the 9th grade, or high school Freshman class, which usually comprises about 35% of the high school member- ship. It is this class which causes congestion because of the number of divisions necessary in making the program. At the present rate of growth, if the first year class could be provided for, the high school building would answer the needs of senior high school pupils for at least ten years.
The erection of a junior high would not only solve the high school problem, and care for the increasing number of 7th and 8th grade pupils, but it would, at the same time, release five rooms at the Rogers school for use of pupils of the first six grades in the section of the town south of Huttleston Avenue. The desirable location for a junior high school would undoubtedly be in the central portion of the town, somewhere in the vicinity of Huttleston Avenue.
The establishment of a junior high school would not only be sound policy financially, in that it would furnish the most economical method of caring for the congestion at the high school, but it would also be the best plan educa- tionally. The present organization of our schools is on the 8-4 plan. This means that eight years are spent in the elementary school and four in the high school. Most up- to-date school systems are now organized or organizing on the 6-3-3 plan. This means six years in the elementary school, three in the junior high, and three in the senior high school. This arrangement is fast superseding the old or- ganization everywhere. No progressive community will solve its school-housing problem without including this in its plans. Fairhaven cannot afford to expend money on new school buildings without having in mind for the near future, if not for the immediate present, a junior high school. If the town does not feel able to build one this year, it should at least provide for an investigation looking toward the acquisition of a proper site for such a school.
17
In two or three previous reports, the educational char- acteristics of the 6-3-3 plan have been briefly sketched. An annual report is not the proper place to set forth ex- haustively the educational philosophy on which this modern organization of the public schools is based. Following is given a bare outline of the underlying reasons for it.
The present 8-4 system has been in use since the estab- lishment of public schools in America. Some valid criti- cisms made of it are: (1) It wastes time. It should not require eight years to reach the objectives of an elementary school education. (2) It does not take into account the changes in growing girls and boys. It uses too long methods adapted chiefly to younger children. (3) The subject matter studied in the grades overlaps and, as a con- sequence, there is much repetition. Furthermore, much material taught is now relatively useless. (4) It delays too long cultural subjects. (5) It does not articulate well with the high school and, as a consequence, many pupils leave school in the 7th, 8th, and 9th years.
Although there are disadvantages in the present system, it does not follow that the 6-3-3 plan is a panacea for all of them. It has been proven, nevertheless, that it does (1) lessen elimination of pupils, (2) provides curricula and ac- tivities better suited to girls and boys of adolescent age, (3) makes provision for individual differences, and, more important than any of these, (4) provides for a period of exploration and experimentation during which girls and boys, under guidance, learn something of their own capaci- ties both in relation to studies in school and to life work. This latter purpose is, perhaps, the unique one of the junior high school.
Recommendation
I recommend for the ensuing year that the unfinished room at the East Fairhaven school be completed, that a
18
two-room portable be purchased for use at the Rogers school, and that a preliminary investigation be initiated in regard to a site for a Junior High School.
SCHOOL WORK
The school work has continued, in the main, along lines already established. The revised course of study placed in the schools last year is resulting in increased effectiveness. Experience with it has already led to minor changes and undoubtedly others will follow from time to time. A good course of study must, of necessity, be subject to such modi- fications as experience, new knowledge, and new demands may require.
At present, curriculum revision is receiving attention everywhere. The reason for this is clear. As the Research Bulletin of the National Education Association says,-"It is not hard to see why hundreds of school systems are strug- gling with the problem of curriculum revision. If the school is to meet its responsibility, the curriculum of a generation ago will not do. A new curriculum must be built. The old curriculum called for the mastery of facts and skills, the new curriculum calls for the mastery of life. Life as it is today, and as it is to be tomorrow, becomes the basis of curriculum content This makes the problem an extremely difficult and complex task One has only to consider how large a part of his daily life is the product of that small fraction of human existence, the last century, to realize the rapidity of change in modern life When life is being re-made within a gen- eration, when it is being fundamentally modified within the space of a decade, a static curriculum is an anomaly. The rapidity of change in modern life demands constant re- vision of the curriculum if the school is to continue to hold its place as a constructive force in advancing civilization."
19
In Massachusetts, under the direction of the State Board of Education, committees are now at work to the end that there may be available for the schools of the State, courses of study in the various elementary school subjects embody- ing the results of the extensive research of recent years. Some preliminary reports have already been made by these committees. Those now available, together with those forthcoming, are certain to be of great value to the public schools of Massachusetts during the next decade. They will serve as a guide in local curriculum making.
Tests
Standard achievement and diagnostic tests have been given during the year in various subjects. Among these were the Stanford Achievement Tests, Wilson General Sur- vey Tests in Arithmetic, Wisconsin Inventory Tests in Arithmetic, Compass Diagnostic Tests in Arithmetic, Hill's Civic Attitudes and Information Tests, Witham's Standard Geography and History Tests, and the Bloomington Tests in English Composition and Grammar. The purpose of these tests is two-fold, viz.,-(1) to measure the work of a class by a standard secured through giving the examination to many thousands of children in schools distributed throughout the country, and, (2) to diagnose the strength or weakness of a class along some special line.
The results of the tests given indicate that your schools are maintaining a standard of attainment somewhat higher than the average in many respects. In arithmetic and his- tory the median is distinctly above the average.
The following table shows the results of the English tests in Punctuation, Capitalization, and Grammar in grades 7 and 8:
20
L
Subject
Grade
Fairhaven Median Score
Standard Median Score
Punctuation
7
9.4
10.
Punctuation
8
14.3
12.
Capitalization
7
19.3
18.8
Capitalization
8
22.
20.6
Grammar
7
12.9
12.
Grammar .
8
16.5
14.6
If there was adequate space in this report, it would be interesting to tabulate the results of each of the tests given and to comment on them. Although our standing is excel- lent for a school system employing so many inexperienced teachers, having such frequent changes in its teaching corps, and with a relatively low per pupil cost of Education, we must not rest content but must continue to strive for better results.
Safety Education
Safety Education is now a part of the required curricu- lum. The immediate occasion of its introduction was the increasing number of fatalities among children due to auto- mobiles. Modern life furnishes, however, many other hazards and if children can be trained in habits of careful- ness many accidents are preventable. To train children in this direction it is necessary that situations be provided for doing Safety work as well as studying about it. To this end Junior Safety Councils were organized this fall in each building. The object of these councils, it 'to make at- tractive to members the idea of thoughtfulness for others and the proper care of their own actions.' Membership requires that pupils learn the Safety Pledge, observe the Safety Code for at least one month, report at least two un- safe conditions, and help smaller children and elderly per- sons in dangerous situations. The Code to be observed is as follows. Some of it is worth the reading of adults.
21
IN SCHOOL:
1. Keep to the Right on walks, in halls, going up and down stairs.
2. Go up and down stairs ONE STEP AT A TIME.
3. Look where running.
4. Do not bully the little fellows.
OUT OF SCHOOL :
5. Do not play on the streets.
6. LOOK BOTH WAYS in crossing streets and rail- road tracks. First look to the left, and then to the right.
7. LOOK SHARP for automobiles, wagons and motor- cycles when alighting from a street car.
8. Do not walk on bridges or tracks.
9. Do not loiter around railroad stations or cars.
10. Be ever ready to assist aged people, cripples, and little children to avoid danger at street crossings and in boarding or leaving cars, trains, or other vehicles.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.