USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Pepperell > Town annual reports of the officers of the town of Pepperell, Mass 1932 > Part 4
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SUPERVISOR OF ATTENDANCE ARTHUR A. CHARBONNEAU
NO SCHOOL SIGNAL (In charge of Superintendent)
At 7.45 on fire alarm: Three blasts repeated second time means no session of elementary schools for the day.
Six blasts repeated second time means the High School is also closed for the day.
At 11.30 on fire alarm: Three blasts repeated second time means the elementary school will continue in session until 1.00 and close for the day.
Six blasts repeated second time means the High School will also continue in session until 1.00 and close for the day.
SCHOOL CALENDAR FOR 1933
HIGH SCHOOL
January 3 to February 24
8 Weeks
March 6 to April 28
8 Weeks
May 8 to June 30
8 Weeks
September 5 to December 22
16 Weeks
ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS
January 3 to February 24
. 8 Weeks
March 6 to April 28
8 Weeks
May 8 to June 16
6 Weeks
September 5 to December 22
16 Weeks
All schools will re-open Tuesday, January 2, 1934.
Schools will be closed February 22, April 19, May 30, September 4, October 12 and 27 (County Convention), Nov- ember 30, December 1.
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Report of School Committee
The School Committee respectfully submit the following report for the year ending December 31, 1932:
FINANCIAL STATEMENT
RESOURCES
Town appropriation
Dog Tax of 1931
$39,000.00 573.81
Total
$39,573.81
Expended as per following statement
36,842.28
Balance on hand December 31, 1932
$2,731.53
EXPENDITURES
General Control
Salaries of School Committee $150.00
Salary of Superintendent 1,710.00
Expenses of Superintendent 189.33
Attendance officer, School census Other expense 56.64
$2,105.87
Expenses of Instruction
Salaries of Supervisors (Physical
Training, Music, Drawing)
$774.40
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Salaries of High School Teachers 7,713.40
Salaries of Elemen'y School Teachers 16,003.60
Books, High School 181.29
Books, Elementary Schools
238.78
Supplies, High School 198.95
Supplies, Elementary Schools
552.29
$25,662.71
Expenses of Operation
Janitor service, High School $548.30
Janitor service, Elementary Schools
1,122.37
Fuel, High School 361.14
Fuel, Elementary Schools
793.20
(Full fuel requirements not purchased)
Miscellaneous Expenses of Opera-
tion (light, water, telephone,
soap, towels, janitors' supplies)
High School
120.28
Elementary Schools
312.59
$3,257.88
Repairs and Replacements
High School
$67.37
Elementary Schools
280.49
$347.86
Auxiliary Agencies
School Libraries, High School $6.50
Health, School Physician, Supplies 254.52
Transportation 4,830.60
Tuition, Trade and Vocational Schools 348.79
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Expense of Graduation
21.19
$5,461.60
New Equipment, Outlay
6.36
Total Expenditures
$36,842.28
Respectfully submitted,
CHARLES H. JEWETT PATRICK J. HAYES TRESCOTT T. ABELE School Committee
96
Report of the Superintendent of Schools
To the School Committee of Pepperell:
Gentlemen:
I am pleased to submit this as my thirteenth annual re- port. It is the ninth since the formation of the present su- perintendency union in 1924. It is followed by certain sta- tistics desirable for permanent record and it is hoped also of present interest. It is accompanied by reports of the high school principal and the school nurse, dealing with mat- ters uppermost in their fields during the past year. Super- visors and special teachers have not been asked to submit annual reports for printing. Much of their work is so like that of previous years that printed reports from them do not seem to justify space in a period of extreme economy.
Reference to the work in special subjects will now be in- corporated in the report of the superintendent. First, in re- spect to music, special supervision of which was temporarily dropped by action of the Committee at the close of the last school year. As far as the grades are concerned there has been no marked restriction of educational opportunity for the children so far to have it so. There is only one new teacher in the grades who has responsibility for the sub- ject. All others have for one to eight years worked under supervisors who followed the method used, and they have their outlines well in hand. Drill on necessary technical mat- ter is going on. So is the necessary work with monotones in lower grades. So is the learning to enjoy singing of songs appropriate to the various ages of children, and the special
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radio programs and other work for appreciation of the best music. The real weakness of the present situation is the absence of any music period in the high school If music were to be taught so as to cultivate a general appreciation of and attachment to the best, scarcely any school subject is more important. Whenever it may become possible to se- cure music instruction that promises to send pupils out of our schools with anything approaching such permanent values, no matter of a reduced budget should stand in the way of placing it in operation. There will be no annual music pro- gram at Prescott Hall. These programs have for some years apparently been enjoyed by the parents, but they required considerable special preparation by the schools, for previous weeks and also on the day of the program, due to the distance in Pepperell of the schools from the Hall.
Perhaps at this point it would be appropriate to discuss the present status of the high school orchestra. After the spring term Mr. Sussman withdrew from directing the or- chestra. Candidly, the work of the orchestra reached a peak of achievement a year or two ago which they never sur- passed. Candidly, also, I believe the degree of appreciation of them which had been so generally expressed by the pub- lic was a factor in arresting further improvement. I had the privilege of watching the orchestra from its beginnings, the commendable progress it made before it had a regular leader, and the impetus that came during the early period of Mr. . Sussman's work. Then under the policy of having the town pay the leader, players of all degrees of proficiency felt en- titled to profit from the instruction. Quality could not be maintained. Less and less pupils were taking private les- sons or even doing outside practice. Yet the school insisted on entering competitions and wondered why they failed to win. It was appropriate to commend the pupils when cir- cumstances made their achievement more worthy. But to be satisfied at this time with the present quality of perform- ance as a musical organization would more properly be char-
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acterized as "small town stuff," something which, as a school system, we must not do. During the fall we gave an oppor- tunity to work with the orchestra to Mr. C. F. Schlosser, whose life work has been music in various schools and mili- tary organizations and who has had ample experience with music and the various instruments.
Mr. Schlosser has been holding practice periods with the orchestra. It is intended that the members shall pay the cost of instruction, as is done in towns larger and better fin- anced than Pepperell. Those who have not mastered their instruments should first do so elsewhere. For those who are sufficiently proficient, who take private lessons or at least do sufficient home practice, and who realize they are not per- fect and wish to pay, Mr. Schlosser is prepared to take them to levels not yet reached. If there are too few such pupils, Mr. Schlosser would do well to use his time elsewhere or at least not risk his reputation with an organization of only ordinary quality. The proper size of an high school orchestra in Pep- perell at this time would be nearer six than the twenty-five of last year.
A group of beginners on instruments is well under way, meeting each week at the Shattuck School. During the early weeks the large roomful constituted too large a number of pupils to be handled successfully. Now that eliminations for various reasons have reduced the number below a dozen, real progress is being made. It is understood this progress will soon be shown before a gathering of parents. The children are paying for their lessons. Those who are serious enough to faithfully practice at home are of course the backbone of the group. Parents who have invested in instruments would do well to insist on home practice if it is to be money well spent.
Supervision of drawing has been continued and this is fortunate. The supervisor is one of excellent training and
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personality and is getting excellent results. Since her time in town was reduced two years ago to one half day a week the cost has been minimized. Her outlines are constantly va- ried by introducing new projects of less interest, perhaps, to the ordinary layman, but all should be interested in the gen- eral aim of all her work, expressed in the following sentence from her report to the superintendent, an aim in which I be- lieve she is achieving success :
"What we are striving for is to train a group of youths to become more intelligent consumers of products; to have standards of art values, and to apply them in everyday life."
Instruction in manual training and cooking and sewing has been continued for the boys and girls respectively of the upper grades. If this had not been done there would be an- other distinct loss of educational opportunity. The work of these teachers has gone on much as in previous years ; Miss Coburn, in particular, however, bringing in new plans of real value and showing appreciation of modern trends in her subject. Perhaps it is enough evidence of good work in these departments that after visiting the classes last spring and talking with the teachers, the School Committee decided to continue them.
Dropping the employment of a supervisor does not neces- sarily mean dropping the subject from the schools. In man- ual training and domestic science the teachers are not sup- ervisors; they do all the work. To drop them would mean dropping the subject. In drawing the work would suffer se- riously without the supervisor. In music there is less loss. There is much sentiment during these times in favor of drop- ping certain activities from the schools to get the cost of schools back to where they were in other days. Such senti- ment comes from those who are frankly uninformed yet pro- fess to plan our work for us, something from which educa- tors have always suffered more than other fields of ac-
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tivity. The subjects which it is proposed to drop are in the schools because of laws, and the laws were placed in the stat- utes more through influence of laymen than teachers. A subject is not necessarily less important because it is new. The best excuse for the presence of some subjects in the high school is that they have been taught since the Middle Ages. To anyone who gives enough thought to weigh the relative importance of various subjects in the later life of most pu- pils, higher mathematics and Latin will seem of less value than training, direct or indirect, in character, health, physi- cal training, preparation for home making and parenthood, lively appreciation of good literature, music, and art, the really useful in arithmetic and geography, and at least enough of history to note when it repeats itself. Let us keep our heads when we receive ill-considered advice to follow the action of some other community whose circumstances are different from our own. Let us be guided by the principle that we will make all economies we can where pupils and teachers do not suffer unreasonably, and that economies that are unfair to employees or restrict the real educational op- portunities of children will come as a last resort.
Of the special subjects in the schools, physical education remains for discussion here. We have been engaged during the fall in a revision of this work. The state supervisor was called in to observe some of the classes and note the general plan of the work. The local supervisor has for some years car jed on indoor exercises and some games, transferring them out of doors in mild weather and seeking to interest high school pupils in exercises, marching, and some other ac- tivities. Work by the teachers on the four days a week with- out the supervisor was limited to part of that done on her visits. The state supervisor followed his visit with another when he met with teachers and laid out a program, modern- ized, incorporating the progress made in the subject the last fow years, and constituting a considerable revision of what had been done here. He promises to come again in the near
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future and explain the work at a meeting of parents. It has been one of the most gratifying experiences to note the ini- mediate response by the teachers in the revision of this pro- grams and work, their clear grasp of what was wanted, and their ability to translate all this into a changed perform- ance. It has called and will call for some increase in equip- ment for games, which I believe to be money wisely spent. Much of it will result in increase in desirable skills and games children will enjoy out of school and after school days.
The enrollment in the high school at present is the larg- est for many years. This is a general condition elsewhere, but in our school it is not due to great extent to the reason usually offered, that many older pupils remain longer in school because unable to find employment. Our grades always vary in size. The eighth grades last year happened to be unusually large, Most of these pupils would in normal years have con- tinued through part of a high school course. According to state regulations, which call for one teacher besides the principal for each twenty-five students, there would be need for at least six teachers. However, the building has accom- modations for only five teachers to work satisfactorily, and during the present emergency the state is lenient in en- forcing regulations. The upper class history and some of the freshmen classes are so large that it is impossible to give all students the attention their needs require. However, on the whole the high school is having a good year. The younger teachers have had one more year of experience, all are striv- ing to please, and are fitting more and more into our school system.
A school day or a school year may be so long or so short as to impair results. The usual experience has been that within reasonable limits the length of the day or year is not particularly significant. This seems to be confirmed by the trial this year of a program in the high school where- by classes end one hour earlier. It was specified that all un-
.
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satisfactory students should be detained each day for fur- ther work. We did not intend that any parents, employers, or organizations should plan that pupils would necessarily be dismissed at 2:30.
It would be more reassuring if there were more evidence of work being taken out for home study, and as parents have been prime movers for a shorter session, of a check up by them to insure more study at home. Also it would be reas- suring in the absence of this, if larger numbers of pupils were detained and found in serious application for an additional hour. Nevertheless, all evidence gathered so far seems to show the standard of work in the classes is being maintained with a shorter schedule.
The class to be graduated this year is the largest for a long time. The entering class next fall promises to be smaller. Five of the graduates last June have continued their studies ; Mary Bartlett at the College of Liberal Arts of Boston Uni- versity, Caroline Hearn at Keene Normal School, and Ber- nard Twichell, Adeline Jensen, and Catherine Morrissey at Becker's Business College in Worcester.
I believe all reasons advanced by the principal for dis- continuing football are good under the conditions existing in our high school. Certainly no influence was ever exerted by the school officials in favor of football. It is well known that there is dissatisfaction in a portion of the public with the results in high school athletics. Much of the cause of the record may be traced to the same source as that for failure of the orchestra to continue to improve. With unemployment among qualified men teachers as at present, it would prob- ably be possible to find someone who would maintain class . room standards and at the same time coach effectively. There would be more encouragement to seek such were it not for the presence of the "small town" attitude toward sports. Students must take them seriously if they are to compete on an equality with other teams. They must practice willing-
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ly and hard and not report for play when the spirit moves. They must be prepared to make sacrifice for the sake of physical condition. Here again parents can help. Incidently it may be added that in the best colleges emphasis is shift- ing to athletics and physical education for all rather than development of a single team.
The employment of an assistant teacher in the Shat- tuck School was discontinued last June. In some of the grades there continues to be the same call for more instruction than regular teachers can give, where grades are large and a number of pupils are of a type that needs extra attention. The dropping of the assistant is in that way a restriction of educational opportunity for those pupils. There is a surplus of well and regularly trained teachers who would be glad of the opportunity to do such work at a small salary. But in times of financial uncertainity and when many towns are in- creasing size of classes and reducing the number of teachers although in most such cases the towns are in poorer situa- tions than Pepperell, the matter is for the present laid on the table.
The Teachers' Club organized over a year ago holds the interest and support of the entire body of teachers. It is well worth while, in its connection with the State Federation and well attended meetings every two months with professional and social programs.
It is gratifying to know of the new life and enthusiasm this year in the Parent-Teacher Association, of the highly suc- cessful drive for new members and incidentally of the funds secured thereby, and of the increased interest and atten- dance at meetings. The Association certainly has possibili- ties as a medium through which the public may become bet- ter informed of the needs and aims of the schools. Through closer acquaintance between parents and teachers, each may come to know better what to expect.
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There are topics which merit attention other than the world-wide crisis in business and finance and industry. For- tunately, because discussion of other topics is more pleasant and they have been given precedence. But it seems impos- sible to keep reference to the business depression out of con- sideration of any of our plans. We are in the grip of condi- tions beyond the control of any country alone. A year ago it was hoped that we might at least have the depression by now with us in a modified form. The modification seems to be in the form that we would do well to get a second wind for the long and rough trail ahead. It is given to no mortal to look far into the future, so perhaps this outlook is wrong. Many panaceas are offered by those who should be in a better posi- tion to advance them. With the present national attitude to- ward a tax that would balance budgets and the canceling of debts in the interest of business revival other measures seem of minor significance.
Studies have been made to show that previous business depressions in the United States have been accompanied by increased expenditures for education and by starting of new activities along educational lines. Perhaps no depression caused as much idleness and suffering as that of 1837, a per- iod marked by the work of Henry Barnard in Connecticut and the beginning of the great work of Horace Mann as Sec- retary of the Massachusetts Board of Education, with the opening of the first normal schools. Similar results have been found attending the depression of the early seventies and others. Perhaps all this shows that the spiritual de- pression is the worst feature of these extraordinary times. "Beer for Christmas" and "Take it out of the children" seem to be the reigning slogans of the moment.
What have the Pepperell schools done toward meeting the decreased ability of the town to pay? The town appro- priation for 1932 was smaller than for 1931 by about 3 2-3%. The appropriations for schools in the State as a whole fell off
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5.1% last year. Salaries of three men were reduced in the summer varying amounts, approximately 10%. All special part time teachers and supervisors were reduced 10 % at the same time. A separate janitor was appointed for the high school and the compensation of the others reduced, so the cost of janitor service is somewhat lower than when employ- ing someone to assist at the high school. Major repairs were eliminated. In awarding new contracts for transportation bids were revised until with a division of the Oak Hill route and starting a new small route on Jewett St. the monthly cost of transportation was reduced 20%. The music supervisor and assistant at the Shattuck School were dropped. A consid- erable balance was returned to the town at the end of the year. Anyone interested to compare the financial statement of the department with that in the report a year ago will note that more or less of a decrease was effected in practically every item.
Returns from all cities and towns in the state up to September 20th last show that 72 of the 355 cities and towns had reduced part or all the salaries of teachers: 33 for 10% 20 for 5% to 10%, the rest scattering. In 97 other cities and towns the teachers had made contributions back to the town or in some other way, for longer or shorter periods: 23 for 10%, 33 for 5 to 10%, 28 for less than 5%, etc. The latter method of effecting a saving has been preferred. Since it maintains the salary schedule intact, it will be easier to re- turn to the old figures when the town becomes better able to pay.
It must be true that fully as many communities as num- erated above have had more difficulty than Pepperell in rais- ing funds. We hope thinking by the citizens about ways to lower costs will not be superficial. Each community has a situation more or less unlike any other. Before deciding to reduce the salaries of teachers we should consider they have always served in this town for less than most surrounding towns.
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Many mill employees, few of them with any degree of training, received until recently weekly wages greater than teachers. Certainly teachers had no share in the melons cut through most of the last decade by the employers of indus- try. Where does the teacher's salary go? Little of it can be saved. If they live in town, and this is an argument why more should do so, it is spent in town. Some boards of trade have asked that salaries of teachers be maintained, in order not to decrease their purchasing power.
It is hoped a distinction will be kept between true econ- omy or elimination of waste, and economies which mean a restriction of educational opportunity for the children. In a school system always frugally managed the first course will not yield much saving. It is questionable whether sacrifice of income by individuals belongs in either classification. Fail- ure to provide sufficient instruction in really worth while sub- jects would be a distinct loss to the children. Some subjects now supervised can be carried on fairly well for a time by regular teachers. This would not be true of drawing, manual training, or domestic science. There is a tendency that the. subjects last introduced into schools shall be the first to go in any stringency, and to classify them as fads. What is a fad? In 1633 it was reading, which was not needed by the average citizen of that day. In 1733 it was arithmetic which was then coming in and much of which has been dropped in recent years as useless. In 1833 it was geography and history In 1933 it is whatever was not in the schools a generation ago and which the particular citizen does not appreciate. Rather than newer subjects, we can better spare some which are in the schools mainly because they have always been there. Evidence exists that we have among us many thoughtful . parents who wish their children to have the advantages of the newer subjects.
We understand the increased burdens on the towns and the decreasing ability of most citizens to raise funds. How-
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ever, we trust that good intentions and careful study and thinking will save our situation. The children are growing up and their training can not be postponed. Those now in the schools will in a few years have their share in the work of the world and the administration of the town. The School Committee have shown understanding of the situation and their consultations have been valuable. Relations with them have been pleasant.
Respectfully submitted, GEORGE B. CLARKE Superintendent of Schools
108
Report of the Principal of the High School
My fourth annual report is being written with some feel- ing of apprehension and even alarm concerning the welfare of our educational system. It is both lamentable and deplor- able to think that this great state educational policy which has taken so many years to build up to its present status is hovering close to the brink of oblivion, particularly during this period which finds our schools housing and educating more students than ever before.
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