USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Southbridge > Town annual reports of the officers of Southbridge for the year ending 1957-1961 > Part 78
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Health and Physical Fitness Program President Kennedy has decried the lack of physical fit -.
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ness among many of our youth. I am sure that he refers to both sexes. With the construction of the gymnasium, another dream of mine came true. By use of a system of gymnastics and games, we hope that we can improve the physical fitness of our pupils. The physical fitness program includes not only fitness in sports but in posture, stamina, poise, and proper health habits.
Library
Southbridge High School has a large library in the process of being well equipped with books. Nevertheless, we must realize that a library, in order to be of the greatest value to the students and to the subject-matter teachers, should be un- der the charge of a trained librarian. The books should be properly catalogued and arranged according to the Dewey Decimal System. Students and teachers should obtain books as they do in any public library. I strongly urge the appoint- ment of a well-trained librarian. Such an appointment would be not only academically important but would assure the towns- people that their large financial investment in books is pro- tected.
The Science Department
The Science Department laboratories are equipped with unusually excellent facilities and equipment. As science has progressed and is progressing so rapidly, much new equipment was and will be mandatory.
It might be of interest to note here that Southbridge High School has on loan, from the Massachusetts Civil Defense De- partment, a kit which includes: 5 Dosimeters, 3 Survey Meters, 1 Dosimeter Charger, 2 Comparison Standards, and 3 Manuals.
Commercial Department
The Commercial Department has been implemented by seventeen new typewriters of the latest model, ten Royal manu- als and seven IBM Selectrics, and it is making use not only of these models but also of other less recent models. There are fourteen electric typewriters in all and sixteen manuals. The department has all types of commercial equipment.
Twelve senior girls are engaged in part-time office employ- ment in various businesses and industries in town. I extend my appreciation to the concerns offering such a valuable service to our commercial pupils. It is my hope that this service will grow to include not only girls but also boys interested in business careers. By June of the graduating year, the commercial pupils are equipped to provide skills such as: bookkeeping, filing, op- eration of calculating machines, operation of IBM key-punch machine, and transcription machines.
Foreign Language Department
The Language Department offers Latin, French, and Spanish. To make this department fully effective, a language
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laboratory of fifteen to twenty-four units should be installed as soon as funds are available. Such equipment will cost from $10,000 to $12,000.
Art
A well-rounded education, according to Liberal Arts Col- leges, never fails to provide an appreciation of the arts. In Liberal Arts Colleges this appreciation is developed through music, drama, and art. We are fortunate, indeed, to have an artist of Miss Claire Birtz' ability to develop the talents of those students interested in the arts. We have music directors who perform well; we have a very fine director of dramatics.
The art room in Southbridge High School is spacious and airy. Its color scheme in shades of light green with deep green accents and spice brown storage cabinets appeals immediately to the aesthetically gifted student. The modern kiln, stainless steel sinks, large study and storage areas make the art room a truly modern art center. I truly believe that the art room is unparalleled in any Massachusetts high school.
The offerings of all of the departments in Southbridge High School are amply covered in the pamphlet "Pathways to Suc- cess" and need no repetition in this report. The Trade Division, Guidance Department, and Health Department are presented in individual reports.
Recommendations
1. That a certified librarian be appointed.
2. That money be appropriated for assembly programs.
3. That a language laboratory be installed.
4. That after ten years of consecutive service, teachers and administrators be given sabbatical leave at full pay for professional study or travel.
5. That sufficient financial support be provided so that instrumental music training may be started in the elementary schools so that eventually, in addition to the marching band, a dance band, a classical orches- tra, and other instrumental groupings can be possible.
6. That more gymnastic equipment be provided for the physical education program to carry out President Kennedy's ideal of making young America strong.
7. That the fire alarm system be remedied to meet the approval of Fire Chief Gregoire, and that the Trade Division of Southbridge High School be connected to same system.
8. That a summer school be started for the enrichment of students and also for make-up work.
9. That the "inter-com" system be enlarged to include the library and the Trade Division.
I wish to express my appreciation to the townspeople for their continued efforts in behalf of the Southbridge High School, and I extend my thanks to the School Department for support.
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REPORT OF SOUTHBRIDGE HIGH SCHOOL Robert H. Cole Division
RAYMOND L. W. BENOIT, Director
After some years of planning and work we are finally oc- cupying the addition to our school. Public and specialized or vocational secondary school education is now located in one area.
There are some advantages to the Vocational Division in this arrangement as compared to the program which we had to endure formerly. We can now use the following facilities: the gymnasium, without a fifteen-minute walk in the rain or snow; the cafeteria, which keeps our building cleaner because we do not have milk bottles or lunch bags in the classrooms and cor- ridors; the auditorium, where we can get together without walk- ing across town; the athletic program, which calls for the join- ing of teams. This joining of teams, a new phase in sports, could or may prove beneficial sometime in the future.
Our honor society chapter is now being changed from Ella M. Cole Honor Society to the Cole-Corbin Chapter. Seven boys were added to the chapter this year from the Trade Divi- sion, and more will be added in the future.
As for the Trade Division, we have all of our machine de- partment under one roof after many years of separation. This tends to make conditions for working and learning a great deal better. We have eliminated the necessity for two classes in one room at one time. Our electric department has been enlarged.
We have dropped a course in current events from our curri- culum and added a course in general science. It was decided, after consultation, that current events were being covered suf- ficiently in the other sections of our English course and that the time spent in General Science would give our boys better training for the technical work into which they are going. A boy must now have at least 81 points to graduate. There is the possibility that this should be raised to 85 points in the future.
When a boy is in his junior year, he may be placed on the cooperative program provided his marks are high enough. A boy in the cooperative group must hand in work reports signed by his employer, shop instructor, and related teacher and must keep his marks up. The boy is given pay increases at the end of the first year, and again at the middle of his second year on cooperative work. We are starting our cooperative boys at rates ranging from $1.15 an hour to $1.40 an hour. We are now trying to expand our cooperative program, and with this ex- pansion it would mean that we could train more boys with the physical facilities which we now have.
In regard to our graduates, there is a five-year follow-up survey which must be made each year to find out the type of work that the graduate is doing at the present time, and also to
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find out if he is satisfied with his work or if he would like to make a change. With this information we are sometimes able to place a boy in another company doing the work for which he was trained.
There are other expansions which could be made in the future. One is the training of associate engineers in the 13th and 14th years. In order to do this, surveys must be made to determine the need for this kind of training. After the need is determined, it might seem likely that we would need more room space for that particular training. Vocational education for girls is constantly in our minds, but conditions are not right yet for the placement of these girls.
COLE TRADE HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES - 1961
Cabinetmakers
*Bachand, Kenneth Alexander
Beatty, Leonard John
Bennett, Harvey Paul
Benoit, Bruce Edward
Bradley, Neal Wayne Buckner, Thomas Charles Martin, Robert William, Jr. Rockwood, Edward Arthur
Draftsmen
Czyzewski, Ludwig Edward
Galipeau, Edward Alfred
Kaczmarek, Edward Stanley
Lippe, Francis Brian Rannigan, Vincent Richard Splaine, Ronald Francis
Electricians
Bachand, Alfred Raymond Brown, Dennis Edward Baldarelli, John Joseph Galante, Richard Carl Steele, Roger William
Beatty, Harold Lincoln
Bertrand, Edmund Ronald Wonderlie, Francis Glennville Young, David Harold
Machinists
Boulanger, Armand Albert Lanza, Stuart Leonard
Chamberland, Charles Edward, Jr. Marino, Amadee Daniel
DiCrescenzo, Richard William Roy, Robert Andre
Galliher, Dennis Irving St. Germain, Armand Roland
*Gardner, Bruce Carlton *Savage, Richard Leo
*Jamieson, Oliver Philip *Sweet, Robert David
*Trombley, Robert Anthony
Metalsmith
Battista, William Francis
* Black, William Ferron, Rene Alfred
Gracyalny, Gerald Joseph Tetreault, Armand Elzear Trahan, Gerald Romeo
* Members of National Honor Society.
Class Officers
President Vice President Secretary
Kenneth Bachand Alfred Bachand Robert Trombley
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Treasurer Class Adviser
Francis Lippe Mr. Anthony Chlapowski
Awards
American Legion Post 31 Award (Good Citizenship)
Kenneth Bachand
Director's Gold "C"
Kenneth Bachand
English
Harold Beatty
Mathematics
Oliver Jamieson
Science
Dennis Brown Dennis Brown Edward Galipeau
Social Studies
Music Award
In conclusion, I thank the Townspeople, the School Com- mittee, the Advisory Board, the Superintendent of Schools, the faculty, the office staffs, and our custodian for their valuable aid in helping to make the Vocational Education Program a success in the Town of Southbridge.
REPORT OF CHARLTON STREET, EASTFORD ROAD, PLEASANT STREET AND WEST STREET SCHOOLS
RAOUL O. LATAILLE, Supervising Elementary Principal
Year 1961 has seen the development of a new era in the Southbridge Public Schools. Although the major changes were predominant at the senior high and at the junior high levels, the completion of the new Southbridge High School has had its effects on the elementary school organization.
First, the overcrowded conditions significantly predominant in the elementary schools have been greatly reduced to the point where activity rooms and library rooms have been elim- inated as classrooms.
Second, the return of Pleasant Street School as an ele- mentary school gave the Globe section of the town four much needed regular classrooms to relieve the other three elementary schools of their overcrowded conditions and has helped greatly to relieve the increasing costs of transportation.
Third, the new Southbridge High School has enabled us to expand the elementary school facilities to the point where all pupils are presently assigned to the school nearest their home.
The new administrative plan started last year, that of one supervising principal for the four elementary schools, has proved itself desirable in most areas. It has and will continue to assure more uniformity of operation and better standardization and strengthening of the curriculum which will gradually result in an increased level of achievement for all grades. With the con-
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tinued understanding and cooperation of the teachers and the parents, the support of the administration in certain recom- mended areas, our elementary school organization can only improve.
Many aspects of our elementary schools have improved during the past year, but there is still room for more improve- ments. In the curriculum area, up-to-date texts are now in use for all major subjects. The latest acquisition of social studies textbooks completes this need. One phase of reading still re- mains to be improved and requires the utmost consideration and standardization; that is phonics.
Sets of phonics textbooks and workbooks have been re- ceived, and others are on order. These sets will soon be dis- tributed to all teachers for study and evaluation, and it is our hope that the final selection will be one that is uniform, con- sistent, and generally adequate.
It is also our ambition and desire to give more considera- tion and emphasis to the fields of spelling and composition in the future.
Our endeavor to provide for the individual differences of all pupils or to provide equal opportunity for all pupils has been satisfied at most levels. The academically talented and the re- tarded pupils have been segregated according to their needs. The average pupil is also adequately provided for in the regu- lar classroom. However, there is a large group of pupils between the mentally retarded and the average pupil which would re- quire more attention, and that is the slow learner.
We hope that, in the immediate future, the administration will look favorably at the initiation of a remedial program for the slow learner. Recommendations already have been made along this line for consideration by the School Committee and the Superintendent of Schools. The adoption of such a program would definitely increase the understanding and the achieve- ment of all pupils at all grade levels.
In connection with professional betterment, the first work- shop session for all elementary grade teachers was held Novem- ber 14. The workshop idea became a reality when the School Committee, at its November meeting, granted permission to the Supervising Elementary Principal and the teachers of the first five grades to use a half day of school each month for workshop purposes.
The functions of the workshop are: to identify and explore more readily common problems confronting the teachers; to find common policies of procedure; to evaluate the elementary curriculum and recommend changes; to appraise and select in- structional materials; and to provide ways and means for con- tinuous professional growth.
Perhaps the greatest strides forward were made in con- nection with public relations. The Parent-Teacher Associations at Eastford Road, West Street, and Pleasant Street schools
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were re-activated, and the establishment of a P. T. A. Council in Southbridge became a reality.
The functions of the Council are: to promote the work of the elementary schools through cooperation with school ad- ministrators and the School Committee; to broaden commu- nity understanding of the elementary school program, its pur- poses and aims; to cooperate along definite lines of work for the improvement of conditions affecting the welfare of children and youth; to standardize P. T. A. procedures; and to unite in common projects.
The nucleus of the Council comprises all the officers of the three P. T. A.'s, a classroom parent representative for each one of the thirty-one elementary classrooms, the four Teaching Principals, and the Supervising Elementary Principal.
The first general Council meeting was held at Charlton Street School, November 14, at 7:30 P.M.
Work has been started by the steering committee of the P. T. A. Council to formulate a handbook for parents which will contain all the schedules, regulations, and policies of the elementary schools.
The achievement tests given to all pupils of grades 2 and 5 revealed that pupils in general are achieving adequately and commensurately with their intelligence. Where certain defi- ciencies or weaknesses existed in certain subjects or in certain phases of subject matter, remedial measures have been taken or are contemplated in the near future.
All elementary teachers are to be commended for their splendid cooperation and their truly efficient work in the class- room.
I wish to take this opportunity to extend my sincere appre- ciation and thanks to the many people who have contributed to the improvements and to the success of the elementary schools during 1961, especially my four Teaching Principals, Miss Callahan, Mrs. Dintini, Miss L'Ecuyer, and Mr. Puracchio.
REPORT OF MARY E. WELLS HIGH SCHOOL
LUCILLE M. THIMBLIN, Supervising Principal
The year 1961 marked the beginning of Mary E. Wells Junior High School as a single unit with all of the 6th, 7th, and 8th grades under one roof. The transfer of classes from the Marcy Street, Mechanic Street, and Pleasant Street schools to the Junior High School building, plus the assimilation of the three advanced elementary classes and the three special education classes which were already housed in the building made the long-awaited event possible. It is to the credit of the teaching staff that the transfer was made with as few problems as possible and that we have become, in reality, Mary E. Wells Junior High School.
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As of October 1, 1961, 549 pupils were enrolled in Junior High School. Of these, 193 are 8th graders, 169 are 7th grad- ers, and 187 are 6th graders. In addition to the 549 Junior High School students, there are 39 pupils enrolled in the spe- cial education classes.
This year for the first time, and as an extension of the philosophy that inaugurated the advanced elementary classes, the Junior High School students have been assigned to class groups on the basis of academic achievement. In addition to the 71 students who are assigned to the three advanced ele- mentary classes, there are five class groups at each grade level, and each class group is populated with students who are achiev- ing at comparatively homogeneous levels. By lessening the range of abilities within a group, teaching has become more efficient and infinitely better adapted to the interests and needs of the students. This grouping has also proved effective for the personal as well as the academic growth of the students. In a class with intellectual peers, students are subject to com- petition and criticism with equals, and they learn that they must work hard for praise and that they can work hard and yet do no better than someone else.
Each of the 15 class groups (exclusive of the advanced ele- mentary and special education classes) follows a similar pro- gram schedule, although the work within each group varies according to the group's general ability. This schedule in- cludes:
Five periods per week of English (oral and written).
Five periods per week of reading and literature.
Five periods per week of arithmetic.
Five periods per week of science.
Five periods per week of social studies.
Three periods per week of spelling and penmanship.
One period per week of music.
One period per week of art.
Five periods per week as study periods.
Each homeroom teacher assumes responsibility for teach- ing reading and literature and spelling and penmanship. Since each teacher has a specific academic proficiency, all other sub- jects are taught on a departmental basis. The one exception to this is one 6th grade group of less academically talented pu- pils who, for reasons of personal need, remain with their home- room teacher for a larger part of the daily schedule. For ex- periences in the fine arts, we share the services of Mrs. Ruben- stein with the elementary schools, and the services of Miss Birtz with the high school. A small number of pupils partici- pate in the band program under Mr. Sweet's supervision and are dismissed from regular classes for this instructional activity.
The study periods are scheduled on a large-group basis in order to free teachers for other supervisory activities on a ro- tating plan.
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To stimulate the intellectually talented students, the three advanced elementary classes continue and are currently in their fourth year of operation. These classes are under the imme- diate supervision of Miss Edith Manzi. The program for these 71 students differs from the curriculum offered the 15 other junior high classes and provides a stimulating challenge for these students rather than an extended enrichment of stand- ard courses. These students have had their academic program accelerated at least one full year in all areas, and, in addition, they are offered a three-year course in conversational French (4 years for the current 8th grade class). The addition of the Language Laboratory in the teaching of French has enabled the students to practice the skills of hearing and speaking. This year the advanced elementary classes have been afforded the opportunity to award a scholarship to one student for study in the summer French program at Assumption College.
Many of the junior high classes have participated in the "Twenty-One Inch Classroom" program of televised lessons, specifically the 6th-grade science classes and the advanced ele- mentary French classes. Regular classroom work has been sup- plemented by other activities such as local field trips, the use of community resources and personnel, and participation in community projects.
This past year revisions were made in the language and social studies texts. New books were purchased for 7th grade supplementary reading, for the more able 8th grade science class, and special materials for the slower moving pupils in language and reading. Another innovation in the program was the complete revision of the report card, enabling teachers to evaluate the growth of pupils in work habits and study skills as well as in academic areas. Included in the revision was the change from alphabetical grades to percentage marks to corre- late more closely with the reports of the elementary schools.
Also in cooperation with the elementary schools has been the new plan for teachers' workshops. One day a month, with the early dismissal of classes, teachers meet for a cooperative study of common problems.
In the immediate future, the teaching staff will be further augmented by the addition of the part-time services of a nurse and a counselor.
One of the most challenging aspects of inaugurating a "new" school program is the opportunity it affords for gradual changes and continued improvements. Some of the changes that are anticipated at the junior high school level, changes that will require continued staff investigation and recommendation, are the following (not necessarily in order of priority).
1. Development of a student handbook for current stu- dents to assist them in their adjustment to a more demanding school program.
2. Curriculum handbooks in each subject area for a bet-
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ter coordinated academic program. A start has been made in this direction with tentative outlines in the areas of science and English.
3. Inauguration of a remedial program in reading and arithmetic. At this writing, it is anticipated that such a program can be begun on a limited basis as a sub- stitute for the study period for a few pupils who have given evidence that they could profit from such a pro- gram.
4. Elimination of the large-group study hall situation. As it currently exists, the study hall does not serve a useful function. Although it does benefit a few stu- dents who possess sufficient initiative to profit from the opportunity, it presents an undesirable amount of disciplinary problems. The situation will require addi- tional staff study. One possible alternative is an in- school, extra-curricular program, including science and math clubs, school newspaper, dramatics, student council, remedial work, band, chorus, etc. Since such a program would require teacher supervision and par- ticipation, some plan would have to be found for pres- ent extra-supervisory responsibilities, such as lunch- room duty, hall duty, etc. One favorable aspect of this alternate plan would be the elimination of the necessity of dismissing a student from an academic responsibility for participation in an extra-curricular activity. It would also allow full-school participation in some activity since bus transportation eliminates the possibility of a complete after-school program of activities.
5. Partial program of electives, including art and music. Presently, all students participate in art and music although not all pupils give evidence of interest in a fine arts program nor a willingness to participate effectively in such a program. Since we have only part-time services of teachers in these areas, it seems infinitely more logical that these two areas should be limited to students who could and would participate effectively and, consequently, could be offered more than one period per week in either art and/or music. It becomes obvious that some electives must be of- fered for those students who have less skill in academic areas. The field of practical arts (i.e., home economics and industrial arts) appears to meet this need. Since a sizeable percentage of the junior high school popu- lation falls in the category of "non-academic," this appears to be an imperative need. It would require additional personnel, but very little in the way of large equipment since the building already houses adequate equipment for the initiation of such a pro-
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