USA > Massachusetts > Barnstable County > Harwich > Town annual reports of the selectmen and overseers of the poor of the town of Harwich 1951 > Part 11
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Sept. 1952
Grade
Enrollments,
Rooms Needed
1
75
3
2
64
2
3
51
2
4
57
2
5
54
2
6
37
1
Special
1
338
13
As Mrs. Nickerson has pointed out in her report, we solved our requirement for an extra room this fall by divid- ing the all-purpose room with a temporary partition. This is an unsatisfactory expedient which should be given up as soon as possible. In other words, we need two rooms for the coming year.
One of our problems which creates some misunder- standing stems from the fact that we have a fairly large group of children who are below normal capacity in ability to learn. This is true of course, in all towns, but in many towns of our size, the group is not large enough to warrant a special class. Such a class creates a secondary problem in that the other children tend to label members of the class as misfits. We believe we have very largely overcome this weakness by having the children report to their regular classrooms and participate with the other children in those subjects in which they can keep up. Then they report to Miss Wicks for special help in their regular subjects with the aim of bringing them up to the highest level of learning of which they are capable. In addition, they are taught handwork which will be useful to them when they leave school.
There is another group of children who learn slowly,
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but who are capable of keeping up with their regular grade provided they are given additional individual help. This ad- ditional help is given by the principal, Mrs. Nickerson, who also helps those children who are behind in their work be- cause of illness. This work is remedial in nature and supple- ments the instruction given by the regular classroom teacher whose time for individual help is in inverse ratio to the num- ber in the class. The larger the group, the less time is avail- able for individual help.
I feel that this discussion belongs in the over-all con- sideration of building needs for the following reasons : First, we must have a special class room, and this room should be as large as, or larger than, any other classroom because much of the work is handwork which requires more space. Second, I wish to emphasize the fact that we should make every ef- fort to hold our classes down to 25 pupils because of the need of individual attention. Lest someone conclude from this statement that perhaps our classrooms are too large and could seat more pupils, let me hasten to explain that the size of any classroom is based upon the teaching program, rather than upon the number of seats which could be put into a room. In the modern classroom, groups of children work on different projects in different parts of the class- room. A study of modern elementary school classrooms will show that rooms the size of ours are standard for the ac- comodation of 25-30 children.
Before leaving this topic, it might be well to consider future needs of the elementary school, over and above our immediate needs for next year. Looking ahead five years to September, 1956, and using our figure of 75 as an estimated enrollment for the first grade for next year, it is obvious that the need will be for three, rather than two, classrooms per grade. This prediction is based, please bear in mind, on a conservative estimate, not taking into consideration the 64% increase over birth rate which has actually prevailed. in recent year.
(2) High School. The effects of our growing school pop- ulation is beginning to be felt at the secondary level. Again, looking ahead five years, and simply moving our present. grades ahead at their normal pace, the high school enroll- ment should be as follows :
160
Grades
September 1956
7
51
8
57
9
54
10
37
11
50
12
48
297
One might make the criticism that this table makes no provision for drop-outs, but experience over the past five years has shown that transfers have more than compensated for drop-outs. In other words, we should shortly expect a high school population of about 300 pupils. As Mr. Morris has pointed out in his report, this would require four more classrooms, and in addition, we should provide for an art room, a library, and an adequate gymnasium-auditorium. We shall need a gymnasium of adequate size, divided by folding doors which will allow both boys' and girls' physical educa- tion to be carried on at the same time. There should be sep- arate shower rooms for boys and girls. This gymnasium should seat at least 500 for a basketball game and at least 1000 when used as an auditorium.
FINANCE
The cost of our schools continues to increase as all other costs are increasing, but a study of the following table will show that the burden upon the taxpayer has not been exces- sive in Harwich. Our valuation is so high that the tax for schools of about $9.58 compares very favorably with the state average of $14.41. Our valuation per pupil of about $20,000 compared to the state average of $12,272 makes Harwich one of the towns best able to support its schools. Our net cost per pupil is slightly above the average because we have a comparatively small school.
1947
1948
1949
1950
Total cost
of schools,
$95,932.83
$108,828.33
$121,885.52
$127,663.83
1951 (1) $117,942.00
Reimburse-
ments,
23,836.24
28,228.44
33,767.20
27,086.69
17,283.92
Net cost
72,196.59
80,599.89
88,118.23
100,577.14
100,658.08
Valuation
8,778,052.00
9,314,780.00
9,746,480.00
10,463,530.00 10,500,000.00
Tax for schools,
8.21
8.65
9.02
9.70
9.58
No. of pupils
as of Oct. 1.
409
462
480
507
530
Gross Cost
per pupil.
234.55
$ 235.56
$ 253.92
$ 251.80
$ 222.53
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Net Cost
per pupil
176.28 174.45
183.58
198.37
189.92
(1) Since this report is written in November, it is necessary to estimate some of these figures.
PERSONNEL
It is again gratifying to report a small turnover in teachers during the past year. At the elementary school, we opened this fall with three new teachers and Miss Crosby who returned after a year's leave of absence. Miss Sally Higgins is teaching the fourth grade, Mrs. Arthur Keefe, a division of the sixth grade, Mrs. Caroline Fife is teaching the first grade, while Miss Wicks has been transferred to the special class position left vacant by the retirement of Miss Burnham. At the high school level, two new teachers have joined the faculty. Mr. Leonard Peck is our new Eng- lish teacher and Miss Janet Lewis is our new Home Econom- ics teacher. Mr. Frederic Grecius is the new instrumental music supervisor for this school union. We hope to add one more teacher at the high school level in order that some of the larger groups, particularly the high school English clas- ses, may be divided into smaller, more homogeneous groups.
This small change among our personnel has, I believe, increased the stability of our schools. Able teachers who have worked together long enough to coordinate their ef- forts are an essential factor in any school system.
REPAIR AND IMPROVEMENTS
It is the policy of the School Committee to spend enough each year to keep our school plant in first class condition. Our major improvements during the year include :
(1) An outdoor, hard-surfaced basketball court at the high school. This has proved a most bene- ficial addition to the recreational program and is in constant use.
(2) Redecoration of all classrooms on the second floor at the high school. The rooms have been painted in attractive pastel shades and the ceil- ings have been whitened.
(3) Repair work on the floor of the gymnasium has leveled the floor, eliminating the hazard of twisted ankles.
162
(4) The necessary division of the special purpose room into two small rooms has already been mentioned.
(5) The Building Committee has put in a walk and made other improvements at the elementary playground which have helped in keeping sand out of the school.
(6) Each year we plan to spend a modest sum to fertilize the lawns and improve the grounds. This has resulted in a pleasing campus effect around and between the two buildings. .
MISCELLANEOUS
1. Driver Education under the supervision of Mr. Wil- liam Fish continues to be successful. This program has been spreading rapidly across the country and has now been in operation long enough to prove that trained drivers are less prone to accidents than those without this training. The comparatively small expen- diture for this program is very much worth while if it reduces the appalling number of accidents on our highways. We should not forget that without the cooperation of the Chase Chevrolet Company and the Manson Sales Corporation, this instruction would be very expensive.
2. Course of Study Work. This program under the supervision of Mrs. Melvin Knight is being continued . and is proving very beneficial to the elementary teach- ers. We hope that eventually we shall have a course of study for all parts of the curriculum.
3. Libraries. We have continued to add to our libraries, expending about $1.00 per child per year for this pur- pose. As mentioned in another part of this report, one of our needs is for an adequate central library at the high school.
4. Nature study under Mr. Levy of the Audubon Society has proved most helpful in interesting and teaching the children of the sixth grade about the world of nature.
5. Handwriting. The Rinehart System has become an
163
accepted part of our curriculum, and everyone is in agreement concerning the beneficial results in improv- ing the handwriting of the children.
6. Guidance. For progress in this important field, I refer you to Mr. Lynch's report.
7. Music and Art. I refer you to the reports of Miss O'Toole, Mr. Tileston, and Mr. Grecius for progress in their fields. The operetta presented recently by the elementary school was an outstanding success.
8. Pupil morale. It seems to me that mention should be made of the splendid spirit among our students as evidenced by the respect and care given the new ele- mentary building and the recently decorated rooms at the high school. We see so much evidence of lack of respect for public property that it is gratifying to report this interest among our students. Under the direction of Mr. Fish, the boys at the high school have been carrying out a project of landscaping which has added much to the appearance of the. building.
9. Educational trips. Educators have come to realize the great value of actual experience in the educational process of starting with the familiar experiences and adding to the child's knowledge. For instance, if we are teaching fire protection we show pictures of fire apparatus, or better still, we take the children for a visit to the fire station. Mr. Morris has listed the trips taken by the high school pupils. In the elementary school, the sixth grade spends one day each year at Plymouth, visiting the points of his- torical interest. The fifth grade has visited the Central Cape Press to develop an under- standing of newspaper work. All elementary grades have visited the library, and we hereby express our appreciation to Mrs. Doane, librarian, who has been most helpful in explaining the library to the children. Other trips have been made to the broadcasting station in Yarmouth, to the beaches, and nature walks with Mr. Levy.
CONCLUSION
In concluding my fifth annual school report to the town
164
of Harwich, I wish to again express my appreciation to the members of the School Committee and also to the teach- ers for their continued support and cooperation throughout the year. The efficiency of our educational service depends very largely upon the classroom teacher, and individually and collectively, the Harwich teachers have devoted their time conscientiously and unstintingly to the educational welfare of the children under their guidance. The long hours devoted by the School Committee to planning and develop- ing school policy and the conscientious devotion of the teach- ers-lacking either we would fall far short of our goal of bringing to all children of Harwich the very best in edu- cation.
Respectfully submitted, HERBERT E. HOYT
REPORT OF THE PRINCIPAL OF THE HIGH SCHOOL
Paul A. Morris
The time has come for me to report some facts and figures to you, as I see them. I will try to report them simply, honestly, and completely, so that all the citizens may under- stand in time, that conditions are changing and something will have to be done to take care of this change.
The enrollment of our high school is growing. We take the official count of the pupils on October 1 of each year. Let me list the figures for the last five years.
1947
162
1948
188
1949
196
1950
203
1951
219
Our building is planned for a maximum enrollment of 240. It will hold 240 if they are conveniently distributed by grades. The figures would seem to indicate that we are ap- proaching our saturation point.
Two years ago our teaching staff, in a loyal effort to cope with the expansion, accepted a daily program of more
1
165
periods per day with an added class load per teacher. This had two results. It gave too much free time to pupils outside of classes, and it simply postponed the day when an expanded faculty would have to come.
Consequently this fall we resumed our six 60 minute period rotating program which has been working so well in our school. This has had three definite results, two of them desirable, and one of them undesirable. First, it did away with the surplus free time of the student, which was not used to good advantage. Second, it gained for the pupil a supervised study period under the direction of the teacher involved. Third, it increased the size of several classes, some- times doubling them. We can overcome the serious disad- vantage of these united classes which are now large hetero- geneous groups, by dividing them into small homogeneous groups and employing one additional teacher. My recom- mendation has been and is, that this should be done im- mediately.
When and if the enrollment of our school reaches 240, it will be necessary to do two things. First; the remaining five undivided classes will have to be divided; and second, additional teaching personnel and space will have to be pro- vided for them. This is a serious situation which we must face. The enrollment record for the last five years, if con- tinued with the same progression, indicates that we normally expect to expand after the next two years.
If this need for expansion comes, we will need first of all twelve home-rooms. We are using eight rooms as home- rooms now. That leaves four additional home-rooms to be provided. Secondly, more room must be provided for the Art Department. That small room is seriously overcrowded now. In the third place, we should have a Library room. Some might suggest that the same room could be used for the Art and Library purposes. But the Art room is also used as a guidance counseling room when not for Art, and coun- seling cannot be done in public.
How the Town will provide the additional space, I do not know. The enrollment figures of the Elementary school would seem to show that the High School will need to be enlarged in two years. Taking a grade out of the Junior High and placing it in the Brooks Academy building is a
166
stop-gap measure at best. Whether or not our Auditorium- Gymnasium should be made into class-rooms and a new suitable Auditorium and Gymnasium built is a matter of time and money. Whether or not a new Junior High School building should be built is debatable. Whether or not the present High School building should be converted into a Junior High School building to include the overflow from the Elementary school, and a new complete High School building built is open to discussion. It seems to me that something will have to be done, and we should be thinking about it.
I want to add a note of commendation to our teaching staff for their interest in the development of children out- side of the school, and for the sacrifice of their own time which has been given to take the pupils on educational trips. The School Committee has been most cooperative in providing transportation. Our reaction is that the trips have been very much worth while. I think the townspeople will be interested in reading what trips have been made during the past year.
1. Grade 9 visited the State House in Boston for a tour arranged by our Representative, Oscar Cahoon. They went to the Charlestown Navy Yard, where they went on board the Constitution; then to the Old Granary Burial Ground, the Old State House and Museum; and then to Harvard where they vistied the Agassiz Mu- seum and the Peabody Museum. Mr. Fish, Miss Cash- man, Miss Adamson and Mr. Bailey were in charge.
2. Mr. Fish took grade 8B to Hyannis where the group enjoyed a supervised tour of the plant where the can- dles for the Colonial Candle Shop are made.
3. Mr. Bailey, Mr. Fish, and Miss Rood took both 7A and 7B to Orleans where they visited the Mayo Duck Farm. They were shown through the complete pro- cesses by Mr: Mayo and an assistant.
4. Mr. Sherman M. Woodward of South Dennis thought- fully invited a group of pupils to visit his well-known Driftwood Zoo. Grade 7B was chosen and Mr. Fish made the trip with them.
5. A group of pupils from 7A and another group from 7B visited the Harwich Water Department pumping
167
station. Mr. Bailey and Mr. Fish accompanied them.
6. The 9th grade class in Business, while studying a unit in Air Transportation, visited the Hyannis Airport for a guided tour of inspection. Miss Cashman and Miss Rood went with them.
7. Miss Cashman made arrangements with Mr. Speryle of the Cape and Vineyard Electric Company at Hy- annis for her Junior and Senior Commercial class to visit and inspect the business office of the company.
8. The classes in Civics in the school under the leader- ship of Mr. LeClaire and Miss Rood viewed the activi- ties of the Annual Town Meeting of Harwich to see Democracy in action.
9. Miss Lewis conducted her Junior-Senior class in Home Nursing to the Cape Cod Hospital where they were conducted through the institution, and had the work of the student nurse explained to them.
10. Miss Cashman escorted her class in office practice to Otis Field to inspect and observe the work of the Public Information Office there. This is the largest clerical office at Otis Field.
11. Mrs. Lovering took her class of grade 8 to the Brooks Library many times in order that they might to taught the processes of Library classification and book care.
REPORT OF THE HARWICH ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Ethalene B. Nickerson, Principal
In 1950 attention was called to the need for more room in the Elementary School. This still remains a serious prob- lem.
Before the opening of school in September, the General Purpose Room was partitioned, making two small rooms, one to be used as a remedial room, the other as an over-flow for the sixth grade. This arrangement is far from satisfac- tory, because both rooms are too small. There should be . enough space in any class room to allow children to work in projects in small groups without interefering with each
168
other. This is especially true in a Remedial Room where much of the work uses the project method which requires moving about and self expression.
The development of Cape Cod has increased the popula- tion in Harwich to such an extent that next year we need two rooms each for grades two, three, four, five and possi- bly six. We expect a first grade of between seventy and seventy-five children which means that a new cycle of three rooms to a grade is starting. In summarizing this topic, I will say that for the next school year we will need thirteen rooms. Our building now provides us with ten class rooms and the undesirable General Purpose Room.
With the pleasant addition of Mrs. Keefe, Mrs. Fife and Miss Higgins to our faculty, our school opened in September with enthusiasm on the part of the teachers. Miss Wicks returned from a six weeks course in Fitchburg Teachers College where she received certification from the State for teaching Remedial and Special Class work. In October Mrs. Adams, Mrs. Chase, Mrs. Miller and Mrs. Ruth Nickerson began a Harvard University Course in Principles and Prac- tices in School Health Education.
A report on the whole program would result in a long discourse, but I will say that the success in the teaching of reading is proven by the result of tests which show our children to be above the average. The results in the Rhine- hart writing are very gratifying to Miss Cadigan, the in- structor.
All teachers in the Elementary School are working under the leadership of Mrs. Melvin C. Knight on a curriculum which includes a survey of our arithmetic and Spelling and other aids in teaching. The Art work, Music and Health are being conducted as in former years. The School Cafeteria, as always, is a busy, happy spot at noontime under the ex- cellent management of Mrs. Ellis and her co-workers. Mr. Smith, the custodian, carries on his work in his usual effi- cient manner.
In closing, I cordially invite you to visit your school at any hour of any day.
169
REPORT OF THE GUIDANCE DIRECTOR David O. Lynch
"Why do we hear so much about guidance today where- as once it did not seem so necessary or important?" This is a question which keeps occuring when people are first making the acquaintance of school guidnace.
This question may be answered by stating that guidance has always been necessary, but is more so now. Through the years all good teachers attempted to help youngsters be well adjusted and to make intelligent plans for their own future. In the simple society of the horse-and-buggy days it was comparatively easy to help the relatively few youngsters in our secondary and higher institutions. Times have changed and schools have changed, and these two factors have great- ly increased the need for guidance. Society has changed. Whereas in 1870, 52% of the wage earners of this country were engaged in agriculture, that has now fallen to 16%. With the decline in the number of persons earning their living through agriculture, we have found a decided shift of population from the country to the city. A country boy could not help but learn about at least one occupation. He might learn that he did not like it; but this, though a neg- ative fact, was a most important one. Too, the home is much less the center of vocational and economic life, and also social life, than it was in the past.
Furthermore, there has been a great increase in the amount of training which is required for different types of jobs. For example, dentists used to be considered trained after 18 months of school. Today, it requires six years be- yond high school, and many of our better dentists are tak- ing seven or eight.
We have seen industry becoming more and more special- ized. The school, too, has become larger and more specialized. We have added to the number of subjects taught in the schools. Whereas often this is very good, it makes guidance much more necessary. It is very good to have a wide choice of subjects but if the student is to get the kind of education best for him it is necessary that someone study him and try to help him select those studies and activities which will be of greatest value to him as an individual and a member of society.
170
What we call guidance today has come about through attention to vocational guidance, consideration for the men- tal health of the individual, the growth of personal work in industry, the attention of the many aspects of the child and his development, and finally the need for helping a pupil make normal progress through the school.
Each pupil continues to have his inventory folder and each year the information becomes more valuable .. Stan- dardized testing is being continued ; pupils from grade eight through twelve are being counseled; occupational informa- tion is constantly being collected ; placement of graduates is continuing with good success ; follow-up studies are made as needed; and Career Day has become an annual fixture.
The high school graduate of 1951 obtained more money in scholarships than in any previous year. News of the prog- ress of our graduates who continue their training is en- couraging. Especially those with physical handicaps who have been helped by Mr. King of the Division of the Voca- tional Rehabilitation of the Department of Education prove that a physical condition need not hold back in their search for success in this world of ours. The Commonwealth pays for the training of all who are eligible under the law. Mr. William King follows each one through his training and assists in placement upon the completion of the training.
Your Gudiance Director continues to serve as a member of the planning committee for the Massachusetts Association for Mental Hygiene Institute for Teachers. The Commission- er of Education selected him to serve on a state committee to study the life adjustment education for the youth in the Commonwealth.
Parents are urged to present their school problems to the Guidance Director. The information needed to solve problems can be found in the guidance files and a conference is usually all that is needed to solve a problem.
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