Town annual reports of Acton, Massachusetts 1894-1900, Part 7

Author: Acton (Mass.)
Publication date: 1894
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 540


USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Acton > Town annual reports of Acton, Massachusetts 1894-1900 > Part 7


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II


14


5


I27


29


W. Grammar,


31


30.63


29.5


4


10


3


108


78


W. Primary,


43


29.72


28.2


8


7


4


34


57


C. Grammar,


46


23.33


22.81


8


8


2


22


22


C. Primary,


13.53


13.07


IC


3


28


II


East,


33


27.26


26.34


17


3


77


47


North,


22


22.5


21.97


13


18


II


3


68


315


272.17


260.02


68


91


46


806


587


It will be seen that the number of tardy marks and dismiss- als is quite large. I invite the attention of teachers and parents to these two annoyances which do so much to affect unfavorably the progress of the schools and the moral training of pupils, and urge them to make every effort to reduce the number to a mini- mum. Tardiness is a bad habit, whether it is formed by pupils, or practiced in the business relations of life. It is for the best interests of individual pupils, of parents and of schools, that a habit of promptness be formed by our pupils, and the time to cultivate such a hablt is during schcol life.


Again, a request to a teacher to excuse a child before the regular time for dismissal may seem of little consequence to the parents, but it may mean a great deal to the child, because one or more important links in his chain of knowledge may by that very means be lost, causing his future knowledge to rest on a less secure foundation. And when it transpires that a pupil lacks knowledge he ought to have, it often happens that the teacher is blamed for his deficiency, even if the child has lost many recita- tions through irregular attendance. It is a manifest injustice to a teacher to hold her responsible for the progress of a pupil who


60


SCHOOL REPORT


is not prompt and regular in his attendance. The interests of the schools demand that the number of tardy marks and dismiss- als be considerably diminished. I sincerely trust the parents will unite with the teachers to bring about a reduction.


TABULAR STATEMENT.


TEACHERS.


Terms.


SCHOOLS.


Wages of teachers per month


Whole number of pupils


Average membership.


Average attendance.


Per cent. of attendance.


Pupils under 5 years of age.


| Pupils over 15 years of age.


| Pupils between 8 and 14 ye'rs


W. A. Charles,


Spring Fall Winter


High.


50 00


59


54.38,96


Hattie L. Tuttle,


Spring Fall Winter


South Grammar


40 00


31


30.25


27.4 26.02 86


0


0 30


Henrietta E. Cutler,


Spring Fall


South Primary


40 00


43


41.67


38.05,95 40.65 97


O


0.21


Bertha L. Gardner, Lilla Keniston,


Winter


43


38.8


35-7


92


Albertie M. Preston,


Spring Fall Winter


{ west Grammar -


40 00


33


32.2


26.74 96 31.c6,96


0 29


32


31.9


30.71 96


Harriet H. Gardner,


Spring Fall Winter


40 00


29


28.33


31.34 96 26.88 91


O


0 21


29


28.21


26.49 94


Susie E. Conant,


Spring Fall


Centre


40 00


36


28.16


27.44 97


O


2 24


Susie E. Conant.


Winter


Centre Grammar


40 00


18


16.25


20.5


98


0 12


Florence N. Day,


Winter


Centre Primary


40 00


21


19.6


18.7


95


Ida A. Hapgood,


Spring Fall Winter


East


40 00


29


26.7


27.52 97 25.81 97


O


0


21


33


26.69


25.69 96


Lillian F. Richardson, 3


Spring Fall Winter


North


40 00


24


23.5


23.3.99 22.46 95


O


O


24


23.66


-


5


M. Florence Fletcher, I


55


53.83 54.33 56.73


50.96,96 52.56 97


0 44


94


Hattie L. Tuttle.


32


31.16


28.75 92


Bertha L. Gardner,


4I


39.84


27.78


30


38


32.63


S


44


25.6


25.3


99


15.68 96


Fall


21


21.


28.4


29


22


20.33


20.15 99


* Whole enrollment for both schools.


1


ȘIII II


57


31


29.02


61


TOWN OF ACTON.


SCHOOLS.


On the whole, I have to report a very satisfactory year's work. There are weak places, many of them, but by the appre- ciate attitude of the town, and the helpful assistance of the peo- ple, they can gradually be diminished.


Changes are constantly taking place in the educational field, ¿ and demands for better educational facilities are being made on all sides to meet changed conditions. Upon the response which towns make to the requests for facilities to meet these demands, depends in a large measure the progressive and successful work of the schools.


At the end of the sixth week of the fall term, the Commit- tee judged it advisable, owing to an augmented membership, to divide the Centre school and to open a grammar and a primary department there. When this division was made there were almost twice as many pupils at the Centre as there were in the fall of '93, when the schools were consolidated. So much more is now required of a teacher than formerly, that it is exceedingly difficult to find those who have the physical strength and execu- tive ability to manage successfully schools with as many classes as ours are obliged to have.


Reading is the most important study in the curriculum, for by that art most of our information is acquired; and one of the most encouraging signs of progress in the domain of education is the demand that the pupils of our public schools shall have the best kind of literature to read, for one of the true ends of read- ing is the cultivation of a love for good literature. In accord- ance with this view, masterpieces of English literature have been put into our schools to displace the school reader with its com- pilation of scrappy selections. Reading in three other lines, viz., history, geography and science, has also been introduced.


READING LIST.


Grade I. Thompson's "Fables and Rhymes."


Grade II. " Æsop's Fables."


Grade III. " Riverside Reader."


Grade IV. Scudder's " Fable and Folk Stories."


62


SCHOOL REPORT


Grade V.


Kingsley's " Water Babies."


" American History Stories," Vol. I., Pratt.


" American History Stories," Vol. II., Pratt. " Boston Tea Party."


Grade VI.


" Little Daffydowndilly."


" Book of Stories."


" True Stories from New England History."


" Beginner's History," Montgomery. Scribner's " Geographical Reader."


Grade VII.


Franklin's Autobiography. Geographical Reader. Second Book. King. " Glimpses of Europe."


"Sketches of the Orient."


Grade VIII. "Two Great Retreats." Geographical Reader. Third Book. King. " American Tropics." " Old Ocean."


To read well implies the ability to gather thought quickly from the written or printed page. The child who is trained to think when he reads, has an immense advantage over him who has not formed this habit in his reading course. Our teachers aim from the beginning to train their pupils to grasp the thoughts expressed in their reading and not simply to pronounce words. Reading the selections of an ordinary school reader, however, over and over again, may give children facility in word calling, but it does not conduce to thought getting. Nor does such read- ing tend to foster a love for good literature. The efforts of the teachers to train their pupils to read well should be supple- mented by a generous list of interesting and profitable reading matter for their use in teaching well this key to all studies. I trust this list will be added to next year.


Drawing, a study required by law, and a knowledge of which is now required for admission to Normal Schools, has been introduced as a regular study. Although not much more than a beginning has been made, the prospect of good results later is quite encouraging. The services of a special teacher, however, one day a week, at least, is needed to secure the best results. The State course of study prepared by State Agents Henry T.


63


TOWN OF ACTON.


Bailey and L. Walter Sargent, has been placed in each school. The teachers find it very helpful.


Teachers' meetings have been held from time to time. In the winter term the teachers were addressed by Miss Balch, on Drawing; by Mr. J. T. Prince, Agent State Board of Education, on Language and Discipline; and by Agent A. W. Edson, on English and Habit Training. In the fall term the teachers were granted a day to attend the N. W. Middlesex Teachers' Associa- tion, which met at Ayer. Miss Preston read a paper on Lan- guage at this meeting. The Association was addressed by some of the leading educators of the State. Such meetings are a great benefit to teachers.


I am sorry to say that. ill-health caused the resignation of Miss Gardner at the beginning of the winter term, and the tem- porary absence of Miss Tuttle. Mrs. Hosmer substituted for Miss Gardner one week, after which Miss Keniston was placed in charge of the school. Miss Tuttle was granted leave of ab- sence for one term, and Miss Cutler was engaged as a substitute.


The South Acton grammar school is now possessed of a small, but well selected school library, and some beautiful photo- graphs and engravings. Our thanks are due Miss Tuttle and the school for these very acceptable gifts.


I would recommend the consideration of vocal music as a study. Singing, well conducted, has a refining influence on pupils which repays many-fold the time taken for the necessary instruction. "Of all the fine arts," says Bain, "the most availa- ble and influential is music. This is, perhaps, the most unexcep- tionable as well as the cheapest of human pleasures."


I would also ask that the advisability of adopting vertical penmanship for the first two grades be considered. I believe the vertical is better than the slant, for the following reasons : 1. It is more natural. 2. It is better hygienically. 3. It is more legi- ble. 4. It is more simple.


HIGH SCHOOL.


The progress of the classes in the high school has been ex- ceptionally good during the year. Industry and good spirit are prominent features of the school, and a great deal of work with


.


64


SCHOOL REPORT


·very little friction is the result. Through the efforts of teachers: and pupils a piano has been obtained for the school, and a plan to raise money to purchase an art collection is being carried out. Training in elocution has been continued, and drawing has been added to the list of studies. The school, however, does not yet have the advantages it should have. There should be a more complete course of study and better facilities for work in science. But the present course embraces more studies now than two. teachers can advantagously teach. They are oblidged, even now, to spread their energy and thought over too much ground; and better facilities for science work demand an additional room for- a laboratory, the room in the basement being altogether too small for the present senior class; and as the next senior class will have almost twice as many pupils, the basement laboratory will be impracticable for class purposes.


The question of high school education is a vital one. The State has recently decreed that all children who desire to take a high school course, and who are qualified therefor, shall be fur- nished proper instruction, either in the town in which they live, or in an approved high school elsewhere, at the expense of the town to which they belong.


Acton, according to latest census, contains over five hundred families. It is therefore obliged by law to maintain a high school and furnish its pupils proper instruction. What this proper in- struction is, the State Board of Education decides, and as this Board has decided to approve our high school only temporarily, we may infer that in the final disposition of the matter its approval will be witheld, and for the following reasons. 1. A course of study too narrow in its scope. 2. An inadequate teaching force. 3. Lack of proper laboratory facilities. 4. Insufficient apparatus.


I have no doubt that the permanent approval of the State Board can be obtained if the town will engage an additional teacher, and furnish a well equipped laboratory. Just what the course of the State Board will be, in regard to our school, if it. does not meet their requirements , I do not know.


The graduation exercises of the high school, class of '95 took place at the Town Hall, Thursday evening, June 13, 1895. An


65


TOWN OF ACTON.


eloquent address on this occasion was delivered by Mr. Eben H. Davis, Superintendent of Schools, Chelsea, Mass. Excellent singing under the direction of Mr. Charles was furnished by the school.


HIGH SCHOOL.


Graduating Exercises of the Class of '95, at the Town Hall, Thursday Evening, June 14.


GRADUATES :


CLASSICAL COURSE.


EVA CLARISSA BASSETT, JOHN EDWARD HANNON,


INA STELLA BRYANT, ALICE EMMA MILLER,


MARY EDWARDS,


MABEL FRANCES WETHERBEE,


SARAH ALICE WOOD.


ENGLISH COURSE.


AUGUSTINE BRADFORD CONANT, LORETTA CENTENNA SHATTUCK, ETHEL VIOLA HANDLEY, CARRIE ELIZABETH TAYLOR, CARL PICKENS, GRACE EVELYN TAYLOR, LULA FLORENCE WHITCOMB.


JAMES QUINLAN, 1


PROGRAM.


March, Prayer,


Orchestra Rev. F. P. Wood School


Song, "New Hail Columbia," Address, Supt. E. H. Davis, of Chelsea School Song, "In Countless Songs Abounding,"


Supt. Edward Dixon


Conferring of Diplomas, Song, " In Violet Time," School Orchestra


Music,


66


SCHOOL REPORT


CONSOLIDATION OF SCHOOLS.


Consolidation is today a much discussed problem in many towns of the state. I take it for granted, that those who favor consolidation and those who oppose such a plan are actuated by the best of motives-the good of the schools. Consolidation is a departure from established custom, so its ready adoption is not to be expected unless its advantages are shown to be greater than its disadvantages, consequently it rests with those who favor such a movement to give their reasons why such a change is desirable.


It may safely be assumed that modern teaching is expected in our schools. . However much we may value the scheme of edu- cation embraced in the three R's, the, public statutes demand a broader curriculum. Then, too, public sentiment now demands that teachers shall teach classes, and not simply hear recitations. To teach is to direct the work of the pupils, to show them how to study, to arouse their interest, to train them to habits of clear, concise, and connected expression, to examine their written work, to cultivate in them a love of study and lead them to investigate for themselves, to impart information, and to lead pupils to ap- ply the things learned.


In our mode of grading there is an interval of a year between the grades. There are at present seven grades in the East and North schools. One of the best arranged daily programs of work I have seen for a school of seven grades called for thirty-three class exercises per day. Allowing thirty minutes for two recesses, there are left three hundred, thirty minutes for thirty three class exercises, or ten minutes to a class, and this includes the time for all individual work. This number of class exercises is altogether too many for satisfactory instruction and drill, but the East and the North schools have even more than that number. It is an impossibility for a teacher to teach a class properly in ten min- utes, and follow it up all day. She must fall back in a large measure on the old way of simply hearing classes ; and the weaker the teacher, the more apt she will be to adopt such a course.


If the pupils of the Centre, the East, and the North schools were accommodated in one building, the following advantages would ensue :


.


67


TOWN OF ACTON.


1. A more complete course of study.


2. An improved classification.


3. Broader and more effective instruction.


4. The stimulating influence of large classes.


5. More individual work.


6. More rapid progress.


In addition to these advantages, consolidation will better en- sure the retention of good teachers, and a better opportunity for enrichment of the course in the lines of vocal music, drawing, and nature study.


The fifty-eighth annual report of the State Board of Educa- tion says : " The consolidation in Concord, Bedford, and Lexing- ton, is as creditable a part of our school history as their stand in colonial days is of the history of the nation." Why not make the same thing true of Acton ?


I desire in closing to express my gratitude to the teachers for their efforts to make the year's work a profitable one, to the people for many courtesies received, and to the committee for their hearty cooperation, to the chairman especially for his very helpful assistance during the year.


Respectfully submitted, EDWARD DIXON, Superintendent of Schools.


68


SCHOOL REPORT


Report of Superintendent .== Supplement.


COURSE IN GEOGRAPHY AND HISTORY.


Elementry geography naturally divides itself into four parts ; viz., geographical objects, the earth as a whole, continents and nations.


Geographical objects are : hill, valley, spring, brook, river, lake, cape, peninsula, cloud, dew, snow, ice winds, climate, soil, plants, animals, people, etc.


The. purpose of the lesson on geographical objects is to train pupils to observe well, to express their knowledge correctly by talking, writing and drawing, and especially to acquire and to express their knowledge of the facts which they must observe in order to read the globes, maps and books used in the study of the earth as a whole and of its continents and countries.


GRADE IV.


FORMS OF WATER. .


Observation of the forms, such as clouos, fog, mist, rain, dew, frost, snow and ice, as they occur and where they occur, to recognize each and to find the more obvious qualities and uses of each; to find the times of greatest abundance, and the uses of the common forms ; to find the Regions of cloud and fog; rain and dew; frost, snow, ice; glaciers, ice bergs, ice floes.


Imagine the regions by aid of pictures and text. Find uses of the forms in abundance.


Writing, reading, memory gems, imaginative writing, as for previous topics.


Weather .- Observation of weather conditions, temperature and moisture. Association of temperature, wind and form of water.


Seasons .- The months included. £ Association of tempera- ture, wind and moisture prevaling in each season.


The weather record should be continued.


69


TOWN OF ACTON.


Temperature .- Observation, by feeling, of changes in tem- perature.


Reading the thermometer, placed outdoors, and noticing the gradual changes during each day and each month.


Velocity .- Observation of velocity as indicated by effects on leaves, twigs, dust, etc. Calm, light breeze, moderate breeze, strong or fresh breeze, gale, storm, hurricane.


Enter the observation in the daily weather record.


Direction .- Observation of the directions of winds bringing heat, cold, rain, snow, etc.


Effects, uses .- Favorable, disastrous ; land and sea; to plants, animals, people, buildings, vessels. If possible, give lessons on the life-saving service.


Suggestions .- Keep a weather record on the blackboard. Record children's observations of temperature, direction and velo- city of the wind, the form of water prevailing, unusual conditions. etc.


Stories or descriptions should be read and told of the temperature and peculiar winds of distant regions and of the upper air, of their uses and effects; of the bravery of the life- saving crew, of the seamen in times of wrecks, of the kindness of others to the shipwrecked; of the beauties of the forms of water; of the wonderful work that water does.


LAND AND WATER.


Bodies of land : Hill, plain, valley, hill range.


Bodies of water: Spring, brook, river, pond, lake.


Projections of land : Cape, peninsula, isthmus, island.


Projections of water : Bay, sea, strait.


The geographical objects which can be seen should be taught by outdoor lessons. For distant objects use pictures and text.


In the case of each group of bodies lead the pupils (1) to recognize and name each body when seen; (2) to find what dis- tinguishes it from other bodies ; (3) to find the relations of bodies to one another, as of hills to valleys, springs to brooks, hills and valleys to brooks, rivers and lakes, peninsulas to bays; (4) to compare the bodies ; (5) to find the uses of the various objects ; (6) in addition to oral and written expression to represent all


70


SCHOOL REPORT


parts which can be so represented, by neat symbols; (7) to practice map reading ; (8) to mould in sand known objects.


Most important facts :-


The surface,- level or elevated ; the hills,- direction of slopes ; the slopes,-steep or gradual.


The streams,-source, bank, branches, mouth, direction and rate of flow, work of streams, wearing, carrying.


The soil,-fertile or sterile ; where fertile and where sterile.


Ponds, lakes, bays or oceans,-the shore projections and indenta- tions ; islands.


The weather,-what winds bring heat, cold, rain, snow, moisture, dryness.


Plants and animals of the town,-those good for food, shelter or clothing; occupations and industries of the town.


Roads, railroads,-use of.


Different villages in the town and reasons for their location.


NOTE .- As the pupils learn these facts, teach them to con- struct maps representing,-


1. A plan of the schoolroom on paper or the blackboard, with the location of principal objects.


2. A plan of the schoolyard with the schoolhouse.


3. A map of the neighborhood, with roads and principal buildings.


4. A map of the town, representing the position and direc- tion of natural features. Teach the pupils to draw such maps in time of recitation and to recite as they draw.


Suggestions .- The names of things studied should be taught, but definitions at this stage of the work should not be required. Make collections of products.


2. Study United States as a whole.


«. Locate in continent.


1. Boundaries.


c. Natural features of the continent found in United States, surface, drainage, soil, climate, productive districts.


d. Principal cities.


e. Means of communication, railroads, canals, water-routes.


f. Government.


g. Divisions, states, territories.


71


TOWN OF ACTON.


3. Oral lessons to show the uses of rivers, the effect of soil and climate on productions, the connection between productions.


: Special study of Massachusetts, using following topics :-


a. Location in United States and New England.


b. Boundaries.


c. Comparative size and population.


d. Natural features, surface, rivers, soil.


e. Natural advantages for agriculture, commerce, manu- facturing, fishing.


f. Chief industries, where located and why ; exports.


g. Counties and cities, location and industry.


h. Railroads.


Suggestions .- Besides a globe and the maps of the conti- nents, there should be in every schoolroom a map of the United States and one of Massachusetts.


POEMS (Nature).


Address to the Ocean (Proctor) ; The Ocean (Byron); The World (Levee); The Tides, The Sound of the Sea, Sunrise on the Hills, Sundown, Mississippi River, The Wave, The Brook and the Wave, Twilight, Autumn (Longfellow); Snow Storm (Emerson) ; The Tempest (Fields); The Rainbow (Keble) ; Song of the Stars (Bryant;) Autumn (Shelley) ; November (Hood) ; Lengthening Days (Gould); The Brook (Tennyson); The Hills (Lucy Larcom); A Brook Song (Eugene Field) ; The Wind (Landon); Icebergs (McGee); The Northern Seas (How- itt); Early Spring (Brackett); Summer (Bryant); Spring and Summer (Levee); The Sea (Cornwall) ; September (H. H.) : The River (Southey).


FIFTH YEAR. THE EARTH AS A WHOLE.


Teach from globes, pictures, maps.


Have recitations as follows: Oral descriptions with and without the aid of pictures, globes or maps; association of places, pictures, etc., with their symbols on globes and maps ; filling in progressive world outline maps; writing from series of topics, with and without the aid of pictures, globes or maps.


72


SCHOOL REPORT


Teach the following themes with their subdivisions:


The Earth,-its position in space, size, rotation, axis, poles, equator, time of rotation, day, night, observations from the earth of the sun and the moon.


Land and water divisions, - land and water hemispheres, eastern and western hemispheres.


Continents and Oceans,-their names, forms, relative sizes, rela- tive positions.


Islands,-continental, oceanic.


Coast line,-projections of land and water, position, direction, adjoining waters, commercial importance.


Relief,-world ridge, appearance of the top, form, slope, basins formed.


Highlands,-low parts of the world ridge (Panama, Bering's Strait, Suez), greater and lesser highlands and their posi- tions.


Lowlands,-position in each world basin, position between the two highlands of each continent.


Drainage,-world water-parting, world basins (Atlantic and Pacific oceans) with their slopes, forms and relative extent, world river systems (Atlantic and Pacific systems as repre- sented by commercially important rivers.)


Climate,-zones, movements (due to the motion of the earth.)


Winds,-their cause, general direction, land and sea breezes, winds of the north temperate and north frigid zones, winds from continents to oceans in the winter and from oceans to continents in the summer, winds of the torrid zone, the trade winds.


Rainfall,-the distribution of vapor, the formation of clouds and rain, the amount of rainfall, places of much, little or no rain. Ocean Currents,-the Gulf stream, the Japan current, polar streams.


Soil,-regions of great fertility, deserts.


Productions : -


Agricultural regions,-wheat, corn, rice, cotton.


Grazing regions,-meat, hides, horn, wool.


Lumbering regions,-wood of deciduous trees and of ever- green trees.


73


TOWN OF ACTON.


Mining regions,-coal, iron, copper, gold, silver. People,-the different races and their distribution.


After the study of the great features of the whole earth, group the facts belonging to each continent under the following topics : Coast line,-advantages, disadvantages.


Relief,-highlands, lowlands.


Drainage,-Atlantic system, Pacific system, rivers and lake routes.


Climate,-characteristics, advantages, disadvantages.




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