USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Oakham > Town annual reports of the officials of the town of Oakham, Massachusetts 1907 > Part 2
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
33.1
29.7
92.2 91.6
·
87
12
15
55
Ethel H. Crowe.
Fall
12
20.4
18.9
Margaret V. Gray
Spring. . . Fall.
13
21.0
18.0
85.6 93.0
15
Margaret Tracy.
Winter ...
12
16.0
Quinapoxet Primary
Ella O. Peterson
L. Ula Skelton
Spring. . .
A. Florence Kirby.
16
30
TERMS,
Year.
5
PAXTON.
SCHOOLS.
TEACHERS.
TERMS. 1906-'07.
No. Weeks
in Term.
Average
Membership.
Average
Attendance.
Per Cent. of
Per Cent.
for Year.
No. Cases of
Tardiness.
Primary
|Sarah T. Britton
Sarah T. Britton
Winter
6
29.6 30.8 26.2
24.3 27.3
91.4 88.6 82.3
87.4
6
Intermediate
M. Alice Converse M. Alice Converse
Spring .. Fall
12
31.0
28.2
91.1
60
M. Alice Converse
Winter
7
27.1
22.8
84.2
87.4
52
Jennie R. Burnham
Spring
17
14.7
13.3
90.0
44
Grammar
Jennie R. Burnham .. Jennie R. Burnham
Winter
6
15.1 14.2
12.9
90.7
92.1
19
RUTLAND.
William S. Dunn,
Principal.
Spring . Fall Winter ..
13 12 15
24.0 29.8 29.0
22.6 28.9 27.6
94.3 96.8 95.2
95.4
25
Assistant.
Spring.
12
50.6 44.0 38.6
44.4 38.4 34.1
80.1
85.7
55 78
Martha E. Bemis
Spring .
12
42.9
40.9
95.3
29
Intermediate
Martha E. Bemis
Fall
12
43.0
40.2
93.5
27
Martha E. Bemis
Winter
10
40.8
37.0
90.7
93.2
35
Grammar
Alice F. Dodge
Fall
12
41.0
33.6 36.5
93.0 89.2
86
Alice F. Dodge
Winter
10
37.4
31.7
85.2
89.1
91 54
North Rutland .
Anna F. Finnerty Maud A. Moynihan Georgiana Fiske
Spring .
12
41.2
32.2
86.0 65.4 77.6
76.3
27
West Rutland .
Marion Kelleher Marion Kelleher Marion Kelleher
Spring . . . Fall
12
24
Winter ..
10
26.5 38.1 34.5
24.3 34.4 28.3
82.0
88.3
31
OAKHAM.
Center Primary .... {
Mrs. Minne M. Day ... Mrs. Minnie L. Woodis Ethel Braman ..
Spring. Fall Winter
10 11
28.0 21.0 17.0
26.0 20.0 13.0
93.0 95.0 85.0
91.0
12
Spring
10
13.8
13.2
96.0 96.0 94.0
95.3
11
Coldbrook.
Ruth E. Butterfield. . Ruth E. Butterfield .
Spring .. Fall
10
14.8 18.4 17.0
14.6 18.2 16.6
97.6
98.4
1
10
19.7
18.9
94.9 97.5
10
South .
Mrs. Minnie G. Woodis Mrs. Minnie G. Woodis Fall Mrs. Minnie G. Woodis
Winter . .
11
16.5
19.5 16.3
98.7
97.0
10
13.3
11.6 11.2
87.0 96.5
0
West.
Julia Connelly Julia Connelly Julia Connelly
Spring. Fall
11
0
Winter ..
10
11.6 10.0
8.8
88.0
90.5
0
Center Primary
Beulah W. Higgins
Fall
12
Beulah W. Higgins
Winter
10
10
26.0
20.0
91.7
30
Center Grammar ..
Florence E. Bothwell .. Florence E. Bothwell . Florence E. Bothwell .
Fall
11
5
Winter
11
25.8 25.2
24.8 23.8
98.6 98.9
4
Ruth E. Butterfield .
Winter
11
Spring .
11
20.0
14.4
95.5
24
Fall
12
25.9
22.5
86.9
88
15 20
High School.
Louise Marcley,
Beulah W. Higgins . . .
87.6 89.3
51
Louise Marcley
Spring
12
36.1
44.5
29.1
Fall
12
36
Winter
12
3
0
11
6
0
11
7 .)
Mabel C. Reid.
Spring Fall
17 12
0 12
17
21.5
Attendance.
90.3
23
6
attendance in all the towns except Paxton, as compared with last year. The severity of the present winter, and the presence of a few cases of scarlet fever in several schools, may account for the decrease.
Let me again call your attention to the meaning of the figures in the column headed "Per cent. of Attendance," and in the following one. The Coldbrook school in Oakham, for example, secured through regular attendance 98.4 per cent. of the benefit of the town's expenditure for that school, suffering only a small loss. The North Rutland school, on account of irregularity, ex- cusable or otherwise, secured only 76.3 per cent. of the benefits intended by the town's outlay for that school.
Much of the losses caused by irregular attendance is, perhaps, unavoidable, but my inquiries indicate that a large part of these losses might be saved by fuller co-operation of parents, attend- ance officers, and teachers.
RECENT HEALTH LEGISLATION.
The Legislature of 1906 enacted a law which requires the school committees of the State to appoint one or more school physicians, except in cities in which medical inspection of schools is already maintained by the board of health. Sec- tions 2 to 4 of the law are here quoted :
Section 2. Every school physician shall make a prompt examination and diagnosis of all children referred to him as hereinafter provided, and such further examination of teachers, janitors and school buildings as in his opinion the protection of the health of pupils may require.
Section 3. The school committee shall cause to be referred to a school physician for examination and diagnosis, every child returning to school without a certificate from the board of health, after absence on account of illness or from unknown cause; and every child in the schools under its jurisdiction who shows signs of being in ill health or of suffering from in- fectious or contagious disease, unless he is at once excluded from school by the teacher; except that in the case of schools in remote and isolated situations the school committee may make such other arrangements as may best carry out the purpose of this act.
7
Section 4. The school committee shall cause notice of the disease or defects, if any, from which any child is found to be suffering, to be sent to his parent or guardian. Whenever a child shows symptoms of small pox, scarlet fever, measles, chickenpox, tuberculosis, diphtheria or influ- enza, tonsilitis, whooping cough, mumps, scabies or-trachoma, he shall be sent home immediately, or as soon as safe and proper conveyance can be found, and the board of health shall at once be notified.
The town of Holden has already made the appropriation which the law prescribes shall precede any expenditure required under the act, and has appointed two school physicians. At the coming town meetings in the other towns, an appropriation should be made for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of the act. As the duties of the school physician are limited to the examination and diagnosis of children referred to him by the teachers, the appropriation for his compensation need not be large.
A further provision of the law is as follows :
Section 5. The school committee of every city and town shall cause every child in the public schools to be separately and carefully tested and examined at least once in every school year to ascertain whether he is suf- fering from defective sight or hearing or from any other disability or defect tending to prevent his receiving the full benefit of his school work, or requiring a modification of the school work in order to prevent injury to the child or to secure the best educational results.
The test of sight and hearing shall be made by teachers. The commit- tee shall cause notice of any defect or disability requiring treatment to be sent to the parent' or guardian of the child, and shall require a physi- cal record of each child to be kept in such form as the state board of edu- cation shall prescribe.
Reports from teachers on the tests of sight and hearing are not yet complete. Of 560 pupils. examined, 144, or about 25 per cent., are reported as defective in sight, and 65, or about 111/2 per cent., as defective in hearing. As this is the first time the teachers have made the tests, errors are quite possible. The test of hearing is more difficult to make than the eye-test, and errors are more likely.
It is too early to report definitely regarding the practical re-
8
sults of the eye and ear tests in our schools, but experience in towns and cities where similar inspection of pupils has been practiced for several years, indicates that much good comes of such inspection.
The superintendent in Quincy, Mass., reports :
There have been many cases of marked improvement, not only in schol- arship, but in conduct, where the defects have been corrected. The hand- writing of some has undergone a gratifying transformation; others have already attained a rank in their studies much above their previous record; others are no longer troubled with headache or pains in their eyes. In many cases attention, interest and ambition have displaced indifference and dullness, and in several instances the change in deportment has been as commendable as it has been noticeable.
It will be seen that the results desired depend upon the prompt attention of the parent or guardian to the notice re- ceived from the teacher or the school physician. This notice advises securing competent professional advice regarding the defect discovered. For example, if a child is reported as hav- ing insufficient visual power, an oculist should be consulted, and, if glasses are prescribed, they should be procured at once.
THE PROBLEM OF THE TEACHER.
To the less thoughtful onlooker, educational work may appear very simple and easy. There are many educational questions which those without experience and only casual knowledge are ready to answer off-hand and with much positiveness. A great scientist once said, "If you want to be cocksure of a thing, look at it once and never look again." He himself had learned cau- tion through numerous blunders. So those who have given many years of practical study to the vital problems of the school have learned the exceeding complexity of those problems, and by such persons conclusions are stated with reserve. Educators are still looking for light on some of the oldest and commonest questions of theory and practice in school teaching and manage- ment.
.
9
The central problem, on which many others depend, is the one named at the head of this article.
What the school may do for the pupil is conditioned by what the teacher is, in equipment, in experience, in professional spirit, and in personal worth. Everywhere and always the cry is for splendid teach- ers. The issues involved are of such far-reaching consequences that we shall never be content with anything short of ideal teaching by ideal teachers .- Supt. M. G. Brumbaugh, Philadelphia.
We shall never get the ideal teachers in any great numbers, therefore we shall never be content. But the schools must go on, and the practical questions of how to secure competent teachers, how to keep them alert and growing in efficiency, and how to retain proved efficiency for the benefit of our own children; are questions ever with us, and they seem to be growing in difficulty.
At the present time the supply of good teachers is exceedingly limited. The condition is the same as exists in other lines of. industry. Even farm help is very scarce, and the demand for competent skilled labor is everywhere far beyond the supply. The condition in the various industries has caused a decided in- crease in the market value of labor, and wages have risen. Nat- urally the same result must take place in the industry in which we are engaged. The Secretary of the Board of Education has written :
Higher wages would tend to secure all the elements of efficiency. Abler persons might be drawn from other employments; teachers could afford to spend longer time in preparation and so gain in scholarship and training; they could afford to avail themselves of forms of self- culture now beyond their means, and thus grow in efficiency. Fortu- uately the country at large is awakening, though slowly, to the fact that the teachers make the schools, and that in the last analysis the success of the public school system is a matter of wages.
No increase of salaries that we can make will by any means relieve all the difficulty we meet in securing and retaining satis- factory teachers. But our towns are able to make such an advance over present salaries as to overcome a part of our trouble. At
10
the proper time I shall be prepared to recommend reasonable action regarding the salaries of teachers whom we desire to re- tain, and as to the amount to be offered when vacancies are to be filled.
THE PROBLEM OF SUPERVISION.
Given a force of teachers as good as the compensation offered will secure, the practical question of such oversight and direction of the work of the force as will bring the best returns from the town's expenditure, is the one with which the superintend- ent mainly has to deal in his daily work. His work closely corresponds in general aim to that of the superintendent of any business or manufacturing enterprise. Each is the execu- tive officer of a board of directors, who in turn represent a body of stockholders, to whom all are finally responsible. Both must see that dividends are earned for the stockholders. But there is, however, an important difference. The superintendent of a mill can show his results by a balance sheet and by cash in hand, whereas the material with which the schools deal is spir- itual, and the dividends, though real, are too precious to be measured in dollars. Hence the popular failure to appreciate the significance of the school enterprise.
Though the office of superintendent of schools is a compar- atively new one, considerable has been written regarding the office and its duties. Your superintendent tries to keep in touch with current discussion of questions of supervision, as well as with that of the general educational problem.
Nothing is more surely established in pedagogy than that the fundamental ends in teaching, knowledge, power, and skill, can be developed in the pupil only through his own activity. "It is what the pupil does, not what the teacher says, that deter- mines the success of the teaching process." Hence the teach- er's function is to arouse and direct the activity of the pupil. In the exercise of his function of a teacher of teachers, the superintendent is under the same law. If a teacher is to ac- quire knowledge which will aid her in teaching, if she is to
11
attain power in its use, if she is to develop skill, or the ability to do her work easily and well, it must be by means of her own activity in study and practice. The thinking or the work of no one else will aid her, except as it may lead her to think and work. One of the problems of supervision is how to induce teachers to study, definitely and practically, the questions which pertain to their daily work. Routine is easier than study, and the teacher is in constant danger of falling into it.
A teacher of high intelligence and professional spirit will study the broader aspects of education, and in order to coun- teract the narrowing influence of constantly dealing with im- mature minds, and to keep her own soul alive and growing, will read much in other lines. But so far as my own direction of the studies of teachers is concerned, I have thought it best to keep very close to daily school-room needs. A teacher ought to read Browning and Tennyson, but she must know how to teach spelling. She ought to read the best fiction, but she must know how to run a school programme in a business-like way.
"Utilizing Educational Resources" is one topic discussed in teachers' meeting during the year, and planned for continuous study. The study of the topic was designed to lead teachers to "scrutinize" their own work day by day, with a view to eliminating waste, just as industrial concerns do.
"Class-Individual Teaching" has been studied with a view to establishing firmly in daily practice the plan of which I wrote in my report of last year.
"Training Pupils to Study" has received attention in teach- ers' meeting, and is expected to receive the teachers' attention in practical ways every day.
"Points in Teaching Reading," "Points in Teaching Writ- ing," "Points in Teaching Spelling," and "Points in Teaching Drawing" are the titles of outlines furnished teachers, and dis- cussed with them, and which they are expected to study and reduce to practice.
I wish I could report extensive reading by teachers of the many helpful professional books now accessible. I have in-
12
sisted that every teacher should own and study one book of that class, White's "The Art of Teaching." This book has proved its worth as a clear presentation of fundamental peda- gogical truth, and teachers are often referred to its pages.
The response to the call of the superintendent for definite study of school problems on the part of the individual teacher as a means of increasing efficiency in daily work, is not uniform in results. . Such uniformity could not be expected, for we have the young teacher whose experience has not yet fitted her to see the large meaning of the work she has undertaken, and the older teacher whose feeling of self-satisfaction pre- vents vigorous effort for improvement. But in many cases the results desired have been realized in a high degree.
SOME RESULTS OF THE YEAR'S EFFORT.
Results in school work are accomplished mainly in the school- room when teacher and children are working together. The chief factor in good results in the thoughtful, vigorous, persist- ent effort of the faithful teacher. The superintendent's main duty is to secure if possible an increase of thoughtfulness, vigor, and persistency on the part of his faithful teacher, and to direct her effort in the most fruitful lines. By frequent visits and by other means, the superintendent keeps informed as to the quality of the work being done in the various school-rooms, and is ready to give the committees a critical estimate of the ability and accomplishment of each individual teacher. As one means of acquaintance with the facts, I have asked each teacher a few questions regarding a part of the year's endeavors, and the answers are before me. I give three of the questions, and select a few answers:
1. Did the topic, "Utilizing Educational Resources," treated on pp. 91-95, Portfolio I, and discussed in teachers' meeting, so take hold of your mind as to cause you to "institute economies" in the lines indicated ?
13
Miss A: Yes, it did. I found I had been wasting time in various ways, but since the meeting I have tried very hard to remedy it.
Miss B: Throughout the past year, and especially since our September meeting, I have tried to utilize educational resources. Time has been saved by training the pupils to move more promptly. Paper, writing books, etc., are passed at a given signal or stated time, by a monitor. I have studied my plan of work each day with the same end in view.
Miss C: I have tried to apply the idea of economy: (1) By definite as- signment of definite tasks. (2) By making thorough knowledge of the work necessary to meet my demands. (3) By requiring rapidity of thought and expression. (4) By insisting on the lesson being learned and recited by the pupils. (5) Especially by making them understand that the work is to ad- vance every day. I have found it very important to have a backward pupil understand that the class work goes on and his failure will not retard the whole class.
Miss D: I have made an effort to save time in the following ways: (1) By opening school at the appointed time. (2) By distributing materials before the session begins. (3) By avoiding useless repetitions. (4) By trying to have the work done well the first time. (5) By trying not to spend time in useless thinking of the past day's work.
Miss E: I have tried to secure good use of the study time in the fol- lowing ways: (1) By the definite assignment of work. (2) By demand- ing a good recitation. (3) By trying to arouse interest in the lesson. If you can get the boys and girls interested, the rest is easy.
Miss F: Time and strength have been saved by using the "class-indi- vidual" method, thus securing better work from bright pupils, since they are not kept back by lazy pupils or those mentally lacking.
Miss G: I have tried to economize time in these ways: (1) Deciding what I wanted to do. (2) Doing it as nearly as possible. (3) Letting pupils who were not prepared to recite, sit down, and then taking them in- dividually.
2. Have you in regular daily practice a definite plan of individual teaching, as "the supplement and corrective" of class teaching ? State the plan and the results secured.
14
Miss K: I have in regular daily practice a definite plan of individual teaching. I devote thirty minutes of each day, at the time allotted on the programme, to giving individual instruction to those pupils whose need of it I have previously discovered. I also alternate written class work with oral class work, thus gaining more time for individual teaching.
Miss H: Before beginning my individual instruction, I assign to the pupils in their seats, written work, which must be done and done well. Then, when every child is at work, I call the individual to my desk and seat him beside me. My first object is to find, by questioning, the stum- bling block; this found, we go to work together and work patiently and cheerfully. My aim is to awaken the child's activities and help him to help himself.
Miss I: The results secured were better class recitation, more interest in the work, better expression and manner of recitation, promptness, and accuracy. P. does much better work than before, B. recites with more freedom, F. is more active, and S. is more careful, L. thinks more before she attempts to perform her work, and many more do far better than formerly.
3. Aside from matters connected with the above, what defi- nite improvements in your school work have you secured during the year ?
Miss I: I have tried to teach the children how to study. I think that my effort in this part of school work has helped one or two boys more than anything else I have done.
Miss J: I think I have succeeded in making my scholars really more interested in getting their lessons every day. I have made them under- stand that I expect nothing less than that, and, to a rather unusual degree, they have given me that. Because of this co-operation I have been able to get over more ground and do better work in many instances.
Miss I: I have secured a definite improvement in the children's man- ners. They seem more thoughtful for others, considering each other's feel- ings, and are kind and gentle. I have secured better spelling and lan- guage. I have spent a good deal of time on spelling and am pleased with the results. There is a great chance for improvement yet.
15
· Miss K: I have noticed that my pupils have become more alert. They take great pride in the study period, as I have tried to make them feel that they are working independently at that time. We have made a definite improvement in our reading this year. There is also an improvement in the pupils' drawing and written work. They try to do it "right and at once." Taking everything into consideration, I think we have worked more faithfully and cheerfully together than ever before.
Miss L: I find that in most of the subjects, the classes are further ad- vanced than they were at the same time last year.
These answers indicate only a small part of the commendable effort put forth in our schools during the year. It is the total of all such effort that produces whatever progress we may have made. In some schools results have been decidedly unsatisfac- tory, and in some they have been highly gratifying, with all degrees of efficiency between the extremes. On the whole, it is likely that our progress equals that of previous years. The great improvement still possible challenges our earnest teach- ers to renewed effort.
THE TOWNS IN PARTICULAR.
Holden .- A decrease in the average membership of the schools was reported last year, and a further small decrease is noted this year.
The expected loss of pupils at Springdale occurred. The . teacher having resigned at the end of the fall term, the school was closed and the pupils were transported to Quinapoxet.
Miss Agnes Dolan, Jefferson Intermediate, resigned at the end of the spring term, and Miss Margaret Nelson was chosen for the place. After a few weeks, she accepted an offer from Natick, and Miss Esther C. Hendricks was transferred to the position. Miss Ella O. Peterson was transferred from Chaffin to Miss Hendricks' place, and Miss Elsie H. Crawshaw was elect- ed to Chaffin primary. Miss Crawshaw was obliged to return to her home a few weeks later, on account of the illness of her
16
mother, and Miss Martha Clark has acted as a substitute. Miss Laura L. Chenery gave up her work soon after the fall term opened, on account of illness. Miss Josephine V. Judge was se- cured as a substitute for the remainder of the fall term, and Miss Ella Bartley for the winter term. Miss Chenery is expected to return for the spring term. Miss Margaret Gray resigned at North Woods at the end of the fall term, and Miss Margaret Tracy was transferred to the place from Dawson. Miss Mary Early was secured for Dawson. Miss Mae G. Cahill resigned at Springdale in November, and the school was closed.
It is worthy of note that of the thirty-one pupils entitled to enter the ninth grade at the High School in September, every one appeared. The high school teachers are the same as last year, and the work is distributed in the same way.
The following were graduated in June: Classical Course - Patrick E. Hanaver, Eva E. Came, M. Frances Chenery, Carrie L. Marsh, James H. Litchfield. English Course -John H. McDer- mott, Grace E. Lobdell, Ervin L. Winn. Anna L. Boyd received a certificate.
Patrick E. Hanaver entered Clark College in September, Misses Boyd and Lobdell entered business colleges, and Miss Marsh is employed in the office of the Barnard, Sumner & Put- nam Co. Mr. McDermott, Mr. Winn and Mr. Litchfield are taking post-graduate work in the school, in special preparation for technical courses. Misses Chenery and Came are at their homes.
Six pupils are candidates for graduation in June next.
It should be noted that a large number of the cases of tardi- ness reported as occurring at the High School are excusable, having been caused by the late arrival of electric cars.
Oakham .- As in previous years, Oakham has the best record of attendance of any town in the Union. Coldbrook school is first in per cent. of attendance, South school second, while the South school in Holden takes third place.
Soon after the opening of the fall term, Mrs. Minnie M. Day
17
was obliged to give up her work at the Center Primary, on account of illness. Mrs. Minnie L. Woodis filled the place for several weeks as a substitute. Mrs. Day not becoming able to return, Miss Ethel Braman, of Northfield, was engaged.
Mrs. Day had served the town very efficiently for seven or more years, and her loss from the schools is greatly regretted.
At the Center Grammar school there are seven pupils pursuing high school studies, having completed the grammar school course. Much credit is due the teacher for her care of these pupils who do not find it practicable to leave home to attend a high school. The pupils also deserve praise for their persistence.
Miss Dorothy Keyes of Worcester has been employed since September to supervise the music in the schools. Below is her report :
To Mr. Herbert J. Jones, Superintendent of Schools.
Dear Sir: Your supervisor visited each school once a week during the fall term. Through the winter term visits were made but once a month. Work was planned for the regular teachers to do between my lessons. I have made in all eleven visits.
The course in music as laid down when music was introduced, has been followed, and we are able to report advancement, especially in sight-sing- ing and pitch. It has been proven that ninety-five per cent. of the chil- dren can learn to sing and that all can learn to read music. In all the grades considerable attention has been given to written work, as it fixes principles clearly in the mind of the child. A mid-year exmination has been given with most satisfactory results. Class-singing has not been neglected. Recently the Fourth Reader of the New Educational series has been secured for the grammar school, which, with the other readers, gives us some of the best music published. Great interest is shown by the children in their work, and your supervisor urges parents to give their boys and girls every opportunity to hear good music outside of school.
I desire to express my sincere thanks to the superintendent and teachers for their hearty co-operation with me in the work.
Respectfully submitted, DOROTHY D. KEYES,
Supervisor of Music.
Worcester, Mass., February 28, 1907.
18
Paxton .- Last year I had to report a falling off in regularity of attendance. This year there is a decided gain.
Miss Mabel C. Reid resigned in June, and Miss Sarah T. Brit- ton took charge of the primary room in September. The other teachers remain the same as for several years.
Four pupils are preparing to enter a Worcester high school in September next.
The finishing and tinting of the walls was done in the summer vacation, and has greatly improved the appearance of the rooms.
Rutland .- The gain in attendance reported last year has not been maintained, as the tables show. The removal of several families from North Rutland accounts for a good part of the loss.
The addition of two weeks to the 32 weeks of school required by law is a sign of progress. An addition of two weeks more is desirable.
Miss Edna H. Johnson, assistant in the High School, resigned at the end of the spring term, and Miss Louise Marcley was transferred to the position from the grammar room. The teacher engaged for the grammar room taught three days, when illness compelled her resignation, and Miss Alice F. Dodge was secured for the position. At the North school, Miss Finnerty was called to a better position at Hudson soon after the opening of the fall term, and Miss Maud A. Moynihan was secured. She resigned to go to Westminster after a few weeks, and Miss Georgiana K. Fiske of Grafton took the place. The other teachers of last year remain.
Edward A. Hanff, David M. Hanff, and Mida E. Wentworth received the diploma of the High School in June. The gradua- tion address was delivered by Supt. J. G. Edgerly of Fitch- burg.
Edward Hanff was admitted on examination to the Worcester Polytechnic Institute, with credit to himself and his teachers.
We are fortunate in being able to retain Mr. W. S. Dunn as principal. There is a uniform spirit of industry and earnest-
19
ness manifested by the twenty-nine pupils of the school. The present senior class is six in number.
A noteworthy addition to the equipment of the school has been made by the presentation of nearly one hundred dollars" worth of apparatus for the teaching of physics. Mr. Parmelee F. Drury, a member of the school, secured subscriptions for the purpose from citizens of the town, and presented the apparatus to the Committee on behalf of the donors. Our thanks are due Mr. Drury for his enterprising effort, and to the subscribers for their liberality.
For several years the town has received from the State a grant of $300 to aid in maintaining a "legal high school." The last Legislature increased the amount of this State aid to $500, an act which the town highly appreciates.
In this, and in six previous annual reports, I have aimed to put on record some of the more important things attempted or accomplished in your schools. I acknowledge with gratitude the loyal co-operation of my associates during another year, and thank you most heartily for your continued confidence and support.
Respectfully submitted, HERBERT J. JONES, Superintendent of Schools.
Holden, Mass., March 9, 1907.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.