USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Princeton > Town annual reports of officers of Princeton, Massachusetts for the year ending 1945 > Part 4
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1,000.00
Mattie Loring Cemetery General Care Fund :
Balance Jan. 1, 1945
$103.99
Income
2.08
Total
106.07
Payments
2.08
Balance
103.99
Cemetery Perpetual Care Funds :
Balance Jan. 1, 1945 $15,226.70
Income 313.47
Bequests
300,00
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ANNUAL REPORT
Payments
$15,840.17 313.47
Balance
15,526.70
.
Balance Dec. 31, 1945
$38,231.70
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ANNUAL REPORT
Report of the MUNICIPAL LIGHT DEPARTMENT BALANCE SHEET - DECEMBER 31, 1945
ASSETS
PLANT INVESTMENT (Net of Depreciation)
Land $500.00
Poles, Fixtures and Overhead Conductors 21,098.36
Line Transformers 5,313.63
Consumer Meters 3,237.34
Transformer Station and Substation Equipment 1,676.85
Transportation Equipment 748.57
Structures 290.00
Net Plant Investment-After Depreciation CURRENT ASSETS
$32,864.75
Cash :
On Hand-Consumers' Deposits $120.00
In Bank-
Consumers' Deposits $330.00
Subject to Checks 2,587.64
2,917.64
Accounts Receivable
3,048.18
Inventories-Materials and Supplies
1,862.15
Total Curent Assets
7,947.97
Total Assets $40,812.72
LIABILITIES AND SURPLUS
LIABILITIES
Notes Payable-Town of Princeton $1,000.00
Accounts Payable 1,155.15
Consumers' Deposits 450.00
Total Liabilities $2,605.15
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ANNUAL REPORT
SURPLUS
Appropriated : Loans Repayment
Construction Repayments
$26,000.00 1,681.19
Total Surplus-Appropriated Earned
27,681.19
Balance-January 1, 1945 $8,920.30
Add: Profit for the Year Ended December 31, 1945 1,661.08
Total Surplus $10,581.38
Deduct : Property Replaced-
Applied to Depreciation 55.00
Balance-December 31, 1945
10,526.38
Total Liabilities and Surplus
$40.812.72
STATEMENT OF INCOME AND EXPENSES FOR THE YEAR ENDING DECEMBER 31, 1945
INCOME
Metered Sales to Private
Consumers $19,830.20
Municipal Revenues, including Gardner
Electric Light Company 2,740.01
Total Revenue from Sale of Electric Energy $22,570.21
Other Income
Merchandise and Jobbing Sales $325.30
Connection and Service Charges 21.00
346.30
Total Income $22,916.51
EXPENSES
Electric Energy Purchased $10,990.80
Wages and Commercial Salary 5,058.67
Depreciation
2,342.29
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ANNUAL REPORT
Transmission and Distribution Expenses
1,171.86
Transmission and Distribution
Maintenance Supplies
524.90
Transportation-Maintenance and Expense
594.16
Office Expense
341.12
Insurance
160.54
Telephone and Telegraph
71.09
Total Expenses
21,255.43
Net Profit for the Year Ended
December 31, 1945
$1,661.08
ANALYSIS OF PLANT VALUES- DECEMBER 31, 1945
Asset
Cost
Depre- ciation
Net Book Value
Land
$500.00
$
$500.00
Structures
500.00
210.00
290.00
Transformers
3,473.82
236.48
3,237.34
Poles and Fixtures
58,856.95
37,758.59
21,098.36
Consumers' Meters
3,477.01
1,800.16
1,676.85
Line Transformers
10,662.74
5,349.11
5,313.63
Transportation Equipment
1,106.05
357.48
748.57
Totals $78,576.57 $45,711.82 $32,864.75
R. S. HAMILTON ALLEN IKALAINEN CHESTER C. DRURY
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ANNUAL REPORT
Report of the BOARD OF PUBLIC WELFARE
To the Voters of Princeton:
There are three cases on the regular or active list (unemployable) of Public Welfare.
There are 16 Old Age Assistance cases and no Aid to Dependent Children cases.
The Financial report will be found on another page.
Respectfully submitted,
CHARLES E. HARRINGTON. JOHN C. HUBBARD, FRED W. BRYANT, Board of Public Welfare.
December 31, 1945.
85
ANNUAL REPORT
TOWN WARRANT
COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS ELECTION OF TOWN OFFICERS and ANNUAL TOWN MEETING
February 4, 1946
Worcester, ss .:
To any Constable of the Town of Princeton,
Greetings :
In the name of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts you are required to notify and warn the inhabitants of said Town who are qualified to vote in Elections and Town Af- fairs to meet in Bagg Hall in said Town on Monday, the Fourth day of February, 1946, at 12 o'clock M. for the following purposes :
To bring in their votes to the Election Officers for the Election of Candidates for the following Town Offices :
POLLS WILL BE OPEN FROM TWELVE O'CLOCK M. TO SEVEN O'CLOCK P. M.
Moderator for one year. One Selectman for three years. Treasurer for one year. One member Board of Public Welfare for three years.
Three Constables for one year.
One Electric Light Commissioner for three years.
One School Committee member for two years.
86
ANNUAL REPORT
One School Committee member for three years.
One member Cemetery Committee for three years.
One member Park Commission for three years.
Tree Warden for one year.
One Trustee of Trust Funds for three years.
One Assessor for three years.
One member Board of Health for three years. Auditor for one year.
And to act on the following articles of Town Affairs :
ANNUAL TOWN MEETING TO BE CALLED AT EIGHT O'CLOCK P. M.
ARTICLE I-To hear the report of the Town Officers and any outstanding Committees and act thereon.
ARTICLE II-To see if the Town will vote to appro- priate such sums of money as may be needed to defray Town charges for the ensuing year, or act anything rela- tive thereto.
ARTICLE III-To see what method the Town will take to have the Town meetings warned the ensuing year, or act anything relative thereto.
ARTICLE IV-To see if the Town will vote to author- ize the Selectmen to contract with the State Highway Com- missioners for the Construction of any road that may be allotted to the Town the ensuing year, or act anything relative thereto.
ARTICLE V-To see if the Town will vote to author- ize the Treasurer with the approval of the Selectmen, to borrow money from time to time in anticipation of the revenue of the financial year beginning January 1st, 1946 and to issue a note or notes therefor payable within one year, and to renew any note or notes as may be given for a period of less than one year in accordance with the pro-
87
ANNUAL REPORT
visions of Section 17, Chapter 44 of the General Laws, and any debt or debts incurred under this vote to be paid from the revenue of the financial year beginning January 1st, 1946.
ARTICLE VI-To see if the Town will vote to appro- priate a sum of money for the prevention and extinguish- ment of fires, or act anything relative thereto.
ARTICLE VII-To see if the Town will vote to appro- priate the sum of Two Thousand Nine Hundred Twenty dollars ($2,920.00) to be used with any money the State may allot under the provisions of Chapter 81 of the Gen- eral Laws, or act anything relative thereto.
ARTICLE VIII-To see if the Town will vote to appro- priate a sum of money under the provisions of Chapter 90 of the General Laws, this sum or any portion thereof, to be used with any allotment from the State and County for the Maintenance of Chapter 90 roads in the Town, or act anything relative thereto.
ARTICLE IX-To see if the Town will vote to appro- priate a sum of money for the suitable observance of Memorial Day and appoint a Committee to have charge of same, or act anything relative thereto.
ARTICLE X-To see if the Town will vote to appro- priate a sum of money for a Dental Clinic, or act anything relative thereto.
ARTICLE XI-To see if the Town will vote to appro- priate a sum of money for the use of the Treasurer to foreclose Tax Titles, or act anything relative thereto.
ARTICLE XII-To see if the Town will vote to the use of the Library Trustees the amount of money collected in fines, and for the sale of books, magazines and waste paper by the Librarian during the year, or act anything relative thereto.
ARTICLE XIII-To see if the Town will vote to in- crease the amount appropriated to the use of the Library
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ANNUAL REPORT
Trustees for the purchase of books for the ensuing year to One Hundred dollars ($100.00), or act anything relative thereto.
ARTICLE XIV-To see if the Town will vote, under the provisions of Section 108, Chapter 41 of the General Laws, to affix the salaries of the Town Officers for the ensuing year, or act anything relative thereto.
ARTICLE XV-To see if the Town will vote to trans- fer a sum of money from Machinery Rentals to the Ma- chinery Fund, or act anything relative thereto.
ARTICLE XVI-To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate a sum of money for the completion of Rail Hill Road, under the provisions of Chapter 90 of the General Laws, to be used with any allotment from the State or County, or act anything relative thereto.
ARTICLE XVII-To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate a sum of money for the construction of the East Princeton Road-Route 31, to begin at Route 140 and extend toward Princeton Centre, under the provisions of Chapter 90 of the General Laws, to be used with any allotment from the State or County, or act anything rela- tive thereto.
ARTICLE XVIII-To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate a sum of money for a complete lunch program in the Princeton School, or act anything relative thereto.
ARTICLE XIX-To see if the Town will vote to pur- chase a suitable tract of land for the establishment of a Town Dump, or act anything relative thereto.
ARTICLE XX-To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate a sum not to exceed Fifteen Thousand dollars ($15,000.00) in addition to the amount made avail- able in the Princeton Electric Light depreciation fund for the purpose of extending and enlarging the electric light plant. To authorize the town Treasurer, with the approval of the Selectmen, to borrow said sum and to issue notes of
89
ANNUAL REPORT
the Town therefor. Said notes to be payable in compliance with provisions of Chapter 44 of the General Laws and to be amortized in 15 years, or at such earlier dates as the Treasurer and Selectmen may determine.
ARTICLE XXI-To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate a sufficient sum of money for repairs to the Town Barn, or act anything relative thereto.
ARTICLE XXII-To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate a sufficient sum of money to paint the upper and lower vestibules and the two toilet rooms in the Town Hall, or act anything relative thereto.
ARTICLE XXIII-To see if the Town will vote to accept One Hundred dollars ($100.00) in trust for the per- petual care of the lot of Edward A. Padgham in Woodlawn Cemetery, or act anything relative thereto.
ARTICLE XXIV-To see if the Town will vote to ac- cept One Hundred dollars ($100.00) from Joseph C. Har- rington in trust for the prepetual care of his lot in Wood- lawn Cemetery, or act anything relative thereto.
And you are directed to serve this warrant by posting attested copies thereof seven days at least before the time of said meeting, at the Village Store, at Bagg Hall, at the West Sterling Post Office, at the R. E. Williams Store and the W. N. Potter Grain Stores, Inc.
Hereof fail not and make returns of this warrant with your doings thereon at the time and place of said meeting.
Given under our hands and seal this twenty-first day of January, A. D. 1946.
CHARLES E. HARRINGTON, JOHN C. HUBBARD, FRED W. BRYANT,
Selectmen of Princeton.
ANNUAL REPORTS
OF THE
School Committee .
AND THE
Superintendent of Schools OF
PRINCETON
MASSACHUSETTS
N
CET
ON
P
WOR
SMA
1759
1741
MAS
FOR THE YEAR ENDING DECEMBER 31, 1945
£
Directory of PRINCETON SCHOOL
SCHOOL COMMITTEE
Mrs. Peter Moore, Chairman
Mrs. Susan B. Gendron, Secretary
Mr. Judson M. Goodnow
Term expires 1946 Term expires 1946 Term expires 1947
SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS
Laurence A. Fogg Sterling, Tel. 141
SUPERVISOR OF MUSIC
Mrs. Priscilla Mansur Leominster, Mass.
SUPERVISOR OF ART
Miss Margaretta Boylan Clinton, Mass.
SCHOOL PHYSICIAN
C. Vernon Paterson 16 Norwich St., Worcester
SCHOOL NURSE Mrs. Virginia Durkin 1156 Pleasant St., Worcester
SUPERVISOR OF PENMANSHIP
W. L. Rinehart Weston, Mass.
4
ANNUAL REPORT
FACULTY
Yrs.
Yrs. Local Total Exp.
Name Position
Degrees
Exp.
Guy H. Lagroe, Principal
A.B.
1
19
Ethel Mirick, Asst. Principal
26
33
Mildred Henderson, Eng .- Hist.
B.S .- M.A.
1
20
Madeline Rice, French-Latin
A.B.
16
21
Mary Jane Nesbitt, Commercial
3
4
Frances Fraser, Math .- Science
B.S.
2
2
Hazel Sage, Grades 3-4
B.S.
1
10
Eleanor Wentworth, Grades 5-6
B.S.
1
1
Dorothy Landis, Grades 1-2
9
20
SCHOOL CUSTODIAN
John Simonatis
Princeton, Mass.
Report of the SCHOOL COMMITTEE
Despite the difficulties of wartime conditions, it is felt that the Princeton School has maintained its good stan- dards. This is due to the conscientious work of the prin- cipal, teachers, and superintendent.
At the opening of school in September, 1945, Mrs. Hazel Sage assumed the duties of teaching Grades Three and Four, replacing Miss Olive Barton, who left us to take a position in Ashland. Miss Eleanor Wentworth is teaching Grades Five and Six in place of Mrs. Margaret Thomas. Miss Mildred Henderson now teaches History, English, and Civics in place of Miss Doris Porter. Late in August we re- ceived with regret the resignation of our principal, Mr. Ar- thur Frellick. Very fortunately, we were able to secure the services of Mr. Guy Lagroe of Ludlow, Vermont.
The School Committee invited any interested persons to attend its regular May meeting, which was held in the East Princeton School, to discuss the advisability of closing that school. Of the five persons who attended, four agreed with the School Committee that the small number of pupils could be more advantageously taken care of in the Center School. At the June meeting it was voted to close the East Princeton School for the 1945-46 year. Mrs. Gladys Towle, who taught this school for 13 years, is now teaching in Westminster.
Mr. Peter Moore resigned from the Committee in April, due to his imminent induction into the Army. Mrs. Anne D. Moore was appointed to serve until the next annual election.
It must be understood that in order to maintain our school's high standards, we should be ready to pay our pres- ent good teachers adequate salaries. As our High School is now accredited as Class A by the College Entrance Board, we wish to maintain its standard.
6
ANNUAL REPORT
The lower halls were painted a lighter color, and the girls' dressing room refinished late this year. Other much- needed repairs have not been made since materials are diffi- cult to obtain and costs very high. This repair work, how- ever, can be put off only until 1946, and funds for it must be included in the school budget. We are turning back to the General Fund about $750, most of which is beacuse of temporary saving on the new Payroll Plan.
When it is necessary to close school due to hazardous driving conditions, the NO SCHOOL signal will be broad- cast as heretofore. As the school year is 180 days by law, it is necessary to keep school open every day possible so that a longer summer vacation may be enjoyed.
By vote of the School Committee, no transportation costs to any vocational school will be paid after June, 1946.
Respectfully submitted, ANNE D. MOORE, SUSAN B. GENDRON, JUDSON GOODNOW.
-
Report of the SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS
To the School Committee and Citizens of Princeton :
I herewith submit my third annual report as superin- tendent of Schools.
Since our last report the United Nations have won a great war for national survival and for the survival of in- dividual rights as we know them. As we read recent re- leases our eyes are opened to the realization of how close we came to the abyss; how narrow the line between victory and the prostration of our way of life. We can take great pride in our development of a social, political, and economic system that has once more overcome the forces of evil most decisively and on a world wide scale. Our pride must be tempered with humility for the margin was narrow and the cost great.
In our last report we said that after this war is over we must teach our children to wage peace as we wage war; that is, with all the skill, devotion and energy with which we are endowed. I repeat this again, with increased em- phasis, for we now enter the Atomic Age. We cannot allow history to repeat itself as we have in the past by our in- difference and our shallow optimism. Only an unscrupulous, aggressor nation can win an Atomic War. America is not such, and therefore will not have a third chance. America is a breaker of precedent. Let us teach our children to break the precedent of history and wage peace with all the brain, brawn and courage with which mankind has waged war. The winning of permanent peace would seem to be the only hope of freedom loving peoples.
America has seventeen million children between the ages of eleven and seventeen. Ten years from now they will all be adults. I believe that we can sincerely tell our children that it's a great time to be young, that we can anticipate a long period of constructive peace, that we are entering an era of health, and of better living, that there was never so good a time to be an American. It certainly is within our
8
ANNUAL REPORT
power to make this come true. We believe that American schools, churches and homes will rise to the challenge and to the necessity. America now stands at the summit of the world, a very lonely spot if we stand alone; an enviable and inspiring spot if we share it with others.
HEALTH AND PHYSICAL FITNESS
Selective Service records show conclusively that we are not reaching the mark in this field. A proper physical Edu- cation program will help overcome this. The attention that our schools are now paying to diet is a helpful influence. New advances in medical science, shorter working hours and a higher standard of living for the average American family should all contribute something to improving our national health picture. The advocates of compulsory, mili- tary training say that army training at eighteen years of age is the answer as far as the boys are concerned. This seems doubtful in view of the fact that most physical fit- ress and health problems among our youth need to be discovered and corrected long before graduation from high school.
VISUAL EDUCATION
The publicity given to the military training program has created tremendous interest in the use of audio-visual materials as part of our educational program. As a result of this wave of interest, many are predicting a rapid expan- sion in the use of these materials in our schools in the post war period. However, while interest is paramount in the development of this program, it is by no means the only factor. Consequently, one may ask if the circumstances which have always had a tendency to check the further use of audio-visual materials have been altered by the military training program ?
Here are the basic factors that, in the past, have had a tendency to retard the audio-visual program in our schools : (1) Teacher Training (2) The attitude of the administrator (3) Distribution of materials (4) Production of materials (5) Cost, Teach Training, and Production and Distribu- tion of Materials are still limiting factors that must be overcome. The success of the audio-visual program in the schools of tomorrow depends upon the degree to which the
9
ANNUAL REPORT
different groups will cooperate with one another in an ef- fort to further the whole movement.
Good teachers have always developed a form of audio- visual program, particularly in the grades. Modern materi- als would help such teachers who were trained in their use. Poor or mediocre teachers would profit little. Visual educa- tion is a lot more than showing a moving picture.
Complete audio-visual program equipment would re- quire the following :
1. 35 mm. Sound projector 11. 2x2 Slide Camera
3. 16 mm. Sound projector 2. 35 mm. Silent Projector
5. Standard 3x4 Slide 4. 16 mm. Silent Projector
7. 35 mm. Strip Film 6. 2x2 Slide
8. Tripurpose projector . machine
9. Opaque Projector
10. Motion Picture Camera
SCHOOL PERSONNEL
The greatest single service that can be rendered a school system by its superintendent and School Committee is in the wise selection of teachers. Present day teacher shortages do not allow us our former freedom of choice in this matter. Therefore wisdom availeth little! However, Princeton has been most fortunate in acquiring the services of its new teachers in this difficult period. As a result of this good fortune I believe that your school has an excep- tionally strong faculty for a small town. If we can maintain such a faculty there is little question about the value of having our own twelve year school. Post war conditions seem to point toward the desirability of each town, or at least each school union, having its own high school.
Princeton is growing and gives promise of continuing to do so. Our school enrollment is growing rapidly each year.
The end of the war has brought little relief in the teacher shortage situation, except possibly in the senior high school administrative field. We are told that there will be little change for the better in the next five years. Teach- ers in general will be scarce. Good teachers will be at a premium. The salary item in school budgets must be larger if we are to meet present day competition,
10
ANNUAL PEPORT
THE TESTING PROGRAM
According to test authorities, Intelligence tests should be given at four different levels during the public school career of our youth; the primary level, the intermediate level, the Junior High level and the Senior High level. In accordance with this we intend to give these tests in Grades One, Four, Seven and Ten. These four I.Q. tests, taken through the child's school career, should provide a reason- ably accurate estimate of his mental ability. This year our Achievement Tests will be given in May.
NOTES, NEEDS AND NEWS
1. Needed: More concern with the development of char- acter and responsibility in our children.
2. Needed : More emphasis on our responsibilities and less on our rights.
3. Needed: A high school program to meet the needs of all the children.
1. Needed: A stronger health and physical education pro- gram.
5. Note: World War II statistics show that the U. S. Army had an educational average of Grade Ten. World War I statistics point to an average of Grade Six. We are making some progress, therefore.
6. Note: Harvard now wants high school graduates to come to Cambridge with the following qualifications : Good written and spoken English; some knowledge of Science; enough Mathematics for average living ; good background of American History, plus having had about twenty-five percent of their high school time de- voted to general education subjects. The old-fashioned college examination is gone and a certain definite num- ber of credits are no longer required. People entering certain fields must still stress Mathematics and lan- guages in their high school curriculum.
7. Note: High Schools are not fundamentally college pre- paratory institutions as they used to be. All high school courses should be related and not isolated.
11
ANNUAL REPORT
8. Note: We can't abolish science and industry even if we would. Our only alternative is to improve social science.
9. News: 283,000 teachers have left the profession since Pearl Harbor.
10. Note: We haven't improved ourselves as fast as we have improved our environment.
ENTERING AGE
Children must be six years old on or before December 31 if they are to enter Grade One in September of that year. No pupil will be admitted to Grade One later than October 1 except by transfer from another school and then only if of age stated above. All children must present a birth certi- ficate or other definite evidence of age, on entering school.
A child should have a mental age of 6 years and 6 months to be really ready to read. According to tests, if a child's mental age is below six, starting reading is use- less. We intend to give tests to all entering Grade One children and advise parents as to the probability of suc- cess. Although a child may be chronologically old enough to enter Grade One, if the test reveals a lack of reading readiness, we hope that parents will not enter such chil- dren until the following year. This will prevent the child not ready for reading having to repeat Grade One.
COMPULSORY SCHOOL AGE AND EMPLOYMENT OF MINORS
All children must attend school between the ages of seven and sixteen. Certain exceptions may be made by written permission of the superintendent of schools for children who have reached the age of fourteen.
Employment permits, sometimes called "school cards" are required for all persons under twenty-one who are employed in manufacturing, mercantile, and certain other establishments and trades. These may be obtained at the office of the school principal. The minor must appear in per- son and present suitable evidence of age, of health, and of having met certain scholastic requirements.
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ANNUAL REPORT
ENROLLMENT - DECEMBER 1945 - PRINCETON
Grade
Boys
Girls
Total
1
9
12
21
2
5
8
13
3
8
7
15
4
7
9
16
5
6
6
12
6
6
10
16
7
5
5
10
8
8
3
11
9
7
2
9
10
6
3
9
11
4
11
15
12
2
1
3
ATTENDING RUTLAND AND WORCESTER SCHOOLS
7
2
2
8
1
1
10
1
1
13
1
1
2
Grand Total
76
80
156
STATE REIMBURSEMENT - INCOME FROM TRUST FUNDS - RECEIVED OR DUE
For the Fiscal Year Ending December 31, 1945
1. Superintendent's Salary and Expense
$ 386.67
2. General Fund-Part I
1,850.00
3. General Fund-Part II
5,236.69
4. High School Grant
1,114.25
5. Tuition and Transportation Receipts
584.80
6. State Wards
192.78
7. Income from Gregory Fund
8.54
8. Income from Temple Fund
22.11
9. Vocational Tuition Reimbursement
232.22
Total $9,353.84
IN CONCLUSION
As we go forward into 1946 may we be thankful for the blessings that came to our country in 1945, blessings
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ANNUAL REPORT
that were made possible, in part, by the sacrificial efforts of Princeton boys on foreign battlefields. May School Com- mittee, Superintendent, Teachers, and Townspeople con- tinue to cooperate in a spirit of sympathetic understanding toward each other, to the ultimate good of all we would achieve, as we step forward bravely but humbly into the Atomic Age.
Respectfully submitted, LAURENCE A. FOGG,
REPORT OF SCHOOL NURSE
To the Superintendent of Schools:
I hereby submit the following report for the year 1945.
Visits to the Center School
30
Visits to East Princeton. School
14
Home visits
15
Number of pupils examined
155
Tonsils, enlarged or infected
12
Acne
8
Vaccinated
2
Carious teeth
66
Cerumen
11
Pediculi
7
Ringworm
3
Impetigo Contagiosa
12
Poison Ivy
8
Dogwood poison
2
Boil
3
Urticaria
6
Deflected Septum
2
Slight Scoliosis
Chicken Pox
45
Tested eyes of 155 pupils
15 found defective
Tested hearing of 155 pupils 3 found defective Parents notified of defects in both cases.
155 pupils weighed; 5 found to be 15% or more under- weight.
Permission given for diptheria antitoxin to be given to 13 pupils.
Respectfully submitted, VIRGINIA M. DURKIN, R.N.
4
14
ANNUAL REPORT
VOCATIONAL SCHOOLS STATEMENT
Special appropriation under the supervision of the School Committee:
Appropriation Tuition
$500.00
Transportation
$236.44 94.50
Total Expended
$330.94
Balance
$169.06
Amount Expended in 1945
$330.94
Reimbursement from State for 1944
232.22
SPECIAL REPAIRS STATEMENT
Balance held over from 1944
$174.01
R. H. Hamilton & Son., Inc. for shingling outside of old build-
ing and staining the shingles $174.01
174.01
Balance $0.00
DENTAL CLINIC STATEMENT
Special appropriation under the supervision of the School Committee:
Appropriation
$100.00
Dentist's Salary
$70.00
Assistant's Salary
14.00
Total Expended
84.00
Balance
$16.00
Amount received for work done at Dental Clinic $25.88
PUBLIC SCHOOL FINANCIAL STATEMENT
Town Appropriation
$27,250.00
22.11
Temple Fund
$27,272.11
15
ANNUAL REPORT
Expenditures
Teachers' Salaries
$13,351.94
Superintendent's Salary and Expenses
805.13
Supervisors' Salaries
930.00
Janitor's Salaries
1,200.00
Health
412.00
Local Transportation
5,559.00
Fuel
1,530.59
Text Books and Supplies
749.62
Repairs
744.97
Elementary Tuition (Out-of-town)
224.00
Elementary Transportation,
(Out-of-town)
160.00
New Equipment and Grounds
214.69
Miscellaneous Operating Expenses
305.70
Maintenance
136.11
School Committee Expenses
36.47
Typewriter Repair Expenses
37.60
Total Expended -
$26,497.82
Balance
$774.29
Receipts
Received from State:
Mass. School Fund Part II $5,236.69
Superintendent's Salary, Expenses 386.67
High School Grant 1,141.88
Received from Town of Sterling :
Tuition and Transportation
386.80
$7,152.04
Total Town Expenditures
$26,497.82
Total received from State, Town of Sterling
and Temple Fund 7,174.15
Total Cost of Schools to Town $19,323.67
REPORT OF SCHOOL PRINCIPAL
To the Superintendent of Schools:
I submit herewith my report as Principal of the Prince- ton School. This being the climax of the Mechanical Age, mass
16
ANNUAL REPORT
inertia is the trade mark of our disintegrating civilization. It is perhaps the cancerous disease destroying our intel- lectual stamina. Mass inertia is compounded of many fac- tors : indifference, lack of will, apathy, easiest way out, blindness, loss of hope, entanglement of deadening stagna- tion. There are as many acts of kindness, mercy, and con- sideration among individuals today as ever; there is today little else than hate and vengeance in the mass of mankind. This antithesis between the individual alone and the in- dividual in unity with his fellows is the prime psychologi- cal, social, economic, political, and intellectual problem of the day. I cannot understand this antithesis, but I do know, however, that from the womb of mass inertia have come the triplets : confusion, anarchy, retrogression.
For the last three decades many voices in education have been raised for generalities which do not glitter, but which are sordid and tarnished. Least of all has been men- tioned, if at all, the acme of the highest in man, a disci- plined will. The smaller schools have succumbed far less to this mass inertia than the urban. Yet, the reality of this confusion is alarming. But some enervated by the propa- ganda of the movies, radio, neon signs, moronic funnies, split attitude towards principles and ideals, obsenity, barn- yard effusions may scoff. Still I am ready to accept the bets of those who cannot discern already indications that this generation's children may be the last to be given in- struction in schools where books are the main source of stimulation and knowledge and that the teachers who are teaching your children today may be the last generation of teachers who shall teach in a free and independent man- ner - yes, here in America.
This is the atomic age. We of this generation are standing on a precipice. The spirit of man, the motif of all human progress, is scarcely audible in the distance, and much less listened to. Within the next few months man- kind will be forced to make or, more likely, to accept a decision. He may follow the path which winds along the edge of the precipice and within fifty to one hundred years develop the birth pangs of another age, another civiliza- tion, as happened in the eleventh century and again in the sixteenth century. Or he will jump over the precipice and his acceptance of defeat will produce another Dark Ages of a thousand years, as happened in the fifth century with the fall of the world civilization of Ancient Rome. Man may
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ANNUAL REPORT
yet choose the first or he may accept the second. This is no idle dream; it is a hard fact of inexorable reality.
Amid this mass inertia - this confusion, anarchy, and possible retrogression - the school still has two guiding lamps lit of centuries-old experience to follow. From the days of Aristotle, it has been held a duty of the school to teach one how to become a citizen-an individual who en- joys the privileges of an honest and enlightened govern- ment maintained by himself and his fellow-citizens for the consideration of all its citizens, and who renders a devoted allegiance to that government. From the tenets of Christ- ianity, the school has learned the duty of training one how to become a gentleman-an individual manifesting the qual- ities of honor, justice, consideration, kindness, integrity, loyalty, devotion, understanding, faith. As we stand on the hazardous precipice tonight, we know the dawn has need of the Eternal Verities to be perseveringly remembered and diligently practiced. The school is still-for a while-the treasury of the fundamentals of life, in this passive orgy of mass inertia. Schola lux et veritas in provincia habet.
Respectfully submitted,
GUY H. LAGROE, Principal.
1
INDEX
Report of Board of Public Welfare 84
Report of Board of Selectmen 16
Report of Cemetery Commissioners 48
Report of Charlton Home Farm Association 65
41
Report of Fire Department 62
Report of Moth Superintendent 64
81
Report of Police Department
63
Report of Princeton Public Library
54
Report of Superintendent of Highways
59
Report of Tax Collector
37
Report of Town Auditor
66
Report of Town Clerk
7
Report of Town Treasurer
34
Report of Trustees of Boylston Burial Ground
49
Report of Treasurer of Goodnow Memorial Building 53
Report of Trustees of Goodnow Memorial Building 50
3
Town Officers
Town Warrant 85
Jury List 33
SCHOOL REPORTS
Directory of Princeton Schools 3
Report of School Committee
5
Report of Superintendent of Schools
7
Report of School Nurse
13
Report of School Principal
15
Vocational School 14
Financial Statement of School Committee 14
Report of Commissioners of Trust Funds
Report of Municipal Light Department
1
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