USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > West Bridgewater > Town annual reports of the selectmen, overseers of the poor, town clerk, and school committee of West Bridgewater for the year ending 1906-1909 > Part 8
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In the Center primary, provision has been made to admit more heat to the small room that has to be used for recitations when the school has two teachers.
The present and future need of more accommodations at the Center must be evident to all who have observed the increase of population along the line of the electric road, and also in other sections of the town.
It is for reasons of general convenience of access for the pupils of all sections; of greater advantage in grading and instruction; and of economy in the care of the premis- es, that your committee has decided to recommend the erection, this summer, of a four room building on the lot at the Center, to be ready for occupancy in September.
The excellent lot secured for a new building in the North district can be held until such time as the increase of pupils there demands larger accommodations.
From present indications the old building will have room for all pupils below the sixth grade, for two years or more ; ànd, although the committee would like to have the change made now, justice to the whole town calls for a building at the Center.
While the North school is continued in its present location, pupils residing in the east part of the district have less distance to travel than they will have when the new lot is occupied and the pupils from the west part are brought nearer the building.
With the increase of pupils in town and consquently of the teaching force, it has become necessary to ask for larger appropriations in several departments.
The cost of fuel is constantly becoming greater, and with a new building at the Center the amount needed will be much larger. Under "Support of Schools," allowance has been made for extra fuel, and also for the additional teacher employed at the Center.
At the March Town Meeting the committee will pre- sent their estimates for the cost of a school building of
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four rooms at the Center, and ask for an appropriation for the same.
School officials in several country towns where similar buildings have been erected, have been consulted and the plans of these buildings examined, so that our new build- ing may be satisfactory in internal arrangements and out- ward appearance, and may provide for the needs at the Center for many years.
We recommend the following appropriations :
Support of schools, $5,300 00
Conveyance of pupils, 650 00
Text books and supplies, 300 00
Superintendent's salary, 250 00
Incidentals and furnishings,
150 00
Official expenses, 150 00
Medical inspection,
50 00
General repairs,
200 00
Special repairs, (painting),
300 00
Respectfully submitted,
A. S. LELACHEUR,
M. K. CROSBY,
C. P. HOWARD,
L. H. TOWER,
W. E. FAY,
S. H. MARSHALL,
School Committee.
SIXTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS.
To the School Committee of West Bridgewater, Mass.
I herewith submit for your consideration my fifth annual report as Superintendent of Schools.
TABLE OF STATISTICS.
Population of the town, census 1905,
2,006
Number of schools, IO
Number of regular teachers required, I2
Number of different regular teachers employed during the year,
I5
Number of special teachers,
2
SCHOOL CENSUS.
1 906
1907
Number of boys between 5 and 15,
175
196
Number of girls between 5 and 15,
170
192
Total,
345
388
Number of boys between 7 and 14,
129
Number of girls between 7 and 14,
I37
Total,
246
288
.
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SCHOOL RECORDS.
Year ending June, 1906
Year ending June, 1907
Number of pupils enrolled,
329
352
Number of pupils enrolled be- tween 5 and 15,
324
348
Number of pupils enrolled be- tween 7 and 14,
234
259
Average membership,
313.55
348.36
Average attendance,
289.49
322.30
Per cent. of attendance,
92.61
92.52
Number of different pupils
in attendance during the year,
404
Total expenditures for school purposes,
$8,391 98
Cost per pupil, based on average membership,
24 II
Total cost of schools for the year (exclusive of
repairs and permanent improvements), $7,525 22
Cost per pupil, based on average membership,
21 62
Taxation cost of schools for the year (exclusive of repairs and permanent improvements), $6,308 53
Cost per pupil, based on average membership, 18 12
ATTENDANCE BY SCHOOLS, YEAR ENDING JUNE, 1907.
Whole No. of Pupils Registered
Average Member- ship
Average Attendance
Per Cent. of Attendance
Center Grammar
42
39.04
37.27
95 46
Center Sub-Grammar
66
57.41
53.50
93.17
Center Primary
53
43.16
39.58
91.49
Cochesett Grammar
32
27.20
25.60
94.40
Cochesett Primary
40
37.32
34.84
93.37
Matfield
39
33.43
31.23
93.42
Jerusalem
29
25.71
23.21
90.13
North
31
25.94
23.47
90.47
South
3I
24.65
23.11
9375
East
43
34.50
30.49
88.30
I6
The tables given above show that the average mem- bership of our schools has increased a little more than eleven per cent. during the past year. The per cent. of attendance remains practically the same from year to year, being slightly above the average for the State. It should be our aim, however, not merely to maintain our attend- ance on a par with the general average, but to place our- selves well in the lead. This can be accomplished, if each patron of the schools can be made to feel the importance of regular school attendance for his children. Conditions in the country are not so favorable for high records of at- tendance as they are in the city, where close proximity to school houses, good roads, and closer supervision through the machinery of a city school system become important factors in the problem. Yet the less favorable conditions of the country may be offset by the absence of distractions incident to city life and by contagious interest and enthusi- asm on the part of the teacher, coupled with the intelligent co-operation of the horne.
Our records show that much of the absence is caused by sickness, either of the pupils themselves or of some member of the household. Yet there are times when we feel that the reasons offered are not sufficient justifi- cation for the absences which might have been avoided by a little more thoughtful planning.
There are other occasions on which home duties may properly take precedence over the claims of the school. These are and should be of rare occurrence, and the reason for absence thus occasioned should be communicated to the teacher at the earliest moment possible, to avoid mis- understandings and suspicion that the pupil is unlawfully absent from school. Parents will always find the school authorities ready to excuse these necessary absences on the receipt of sufficient evidence to justify such a course of action.
-
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TEACHERS.
During the past year there have been several changes in our teaching force. These changes are shown in the following table :
RESIGNATIONS.
School.
Teacher. Date.
F. Ethel Whitney
June
Cochesett Primary
Florence L. Nelson
December
North
Bessie C. Fuller
June
East
Edith A. Lavalette
June
APPOINTMENTS.
School.
Teacher. Date.
Cochesett Primary
Florence L. Nelson
September
North
Gertrude A. Pierce September
East
Nettie M. Woodbury September
Center Primary Ass't.
Laura E. Crocker
September
As was stated in my last report, we have been fortun- ate in retaining our teachers for a longer period than most towns of our size. But the experience of the past year has taught us that, unless we stand ready to increase teachers' salaries, we are likely to be subjected to the in- convenience and actual loss occasioned by changes in the teaching force. The supply of good teachers is not keep- ing pace with the demands made by the schools, and we must expect that larger towns and cities will draw upon us more and more as the years go by.
The selection of teachers calls for a knowledge not only of the school to which the teacher is to be assigned, but also of the community in which the school is situated; it demands also a more or less accurate knowledge of the
18
candidate's personality, character, education, and prepara- tion for teaching. Even after all these elements have been carefully considered, mistakes will be made and the teacher assigned will prove a misfit.
A new teacher, however competent she may be, will never quite take the place of her predecessor, nor would it be well if she could. She must be given time to impress her own personality upon the school and to demonstrate her fitness, or lack of it, for the position she is occupying. Justice to the school, as well as to the teacher, demands that she be given the hearty support of school officials and school patrons, and that she be exempt from unjust com- parison with her predecessors in office.
ADDITIONAL SCHOOL ACCOMMODATIONS NEEDED.
In my report of one year ago a table was given show- ing the average membership of the different schools for a period of ten years. In this table it was shown that there had been an increase of more than 43 per cent. for the given period. The following table will show the gain we have made since 1904.
-
AVERAGE MEMBERSHIP OF ALL THE SCHOOLS.
Statistical year ends in June.
I 904 28I
1905
307
1 906 313
1907 348
Nov., 1907 373
It will be seen that since 1904 the gain in average membership has been 92 pupils, or more than 32 per cent. The figures here given show only average membership, but in our plans we must base our estimates on the great-
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est number of pupils enrolled as members of the schools at any one time, a number considerably larger than that re- presenting the average membership.
Nearly every school in town has shared in this rapid increase of membership until today but two of our ten schools enroll fewer than thirty pupils each, while several are badly over crowded. With all the demands made upon her by the modern school system, no teacher should be asked to care for more than thirty or thirty five pupils in a school of more than three grades; yet five of our present teachers are working under just such unfavorable condi- tions. In fact, those who have given the matter serious consideration and have studied the actual problems of the school room are pretty generally agreed that the numbers given above should be the maximum even in schools of but one or two grades each.
We are endeavoring to improve conditions by a plan of consolidation. This plan as applied to the upper grades has passed the experimental stage and has become the established policy of the school officials. Furthermore, it is justified not only by necessity arising from lack of accommodations in the outside schools, but also by the advantage of better grading.
At the Center, conditions are approaching the ideal. At present, grades eight and nine are under the charge of one teacher, while grades six and seven are each large enough to justify the employment of a teacher for each grade. At the opening of school next September it will probably be necessary to regrade the schools at the Center, as the two upper grades will contain too many pupils for a single school. The probable solution will be to assign grade nine and part of grade eight to one teach- er, the rest of grade eight and all of grade seven to anoth- er, while a third teacher can care for grade six. This will leave grades one to five to be cared for by two teachers, two grades and one-half being assigned to each teacher.
20
The distribution of work outlined in the preceding paragraph seems to be the best solution of the problem before us. Such a distribution probably will not necessi- tate the employment of additional teachers during the com- ing year, but will demand additional school rooms. Of the five teachers at present employed in the Center schools, two are obliged to conduct classes in hall-ways temporarily fitted up as class rooms. One needs but to step into one of these small rooms to be convinced that they are wholly inadequate for the purpose for which they are being used. Over crowded, ill ventilated, and with little or no opportu. nity for blackboard work, these hall-ways are but poor apologies for school rooms.
We have used these make-shifts for two years or more until the continued increase in school population has convinced us that the time has come to ask for additional accommodations in the form of a new school building, con- taining at least four rooms of standard size.
To erect anything less than such a building would be short-sighted policy, for, if the building were ready for occupancy today, we should use three of the rooms at once, and a fourth would be needed within two or three years.
The location of the proposed new building is a ques- tion that has called for thoughtful consideration. After a careful study into the present and prospective needs of the schools, the committee and superintendent are unanimously of the opinion that the new building should be erected on the lot at the Center, room being made for this purpose by moving the primary building This building could then be held in reserve for any emergency that might arise.
Locating the new school on the lot at the Center would mean a saving in janitor service, as one person could easily care for both the old and the new buildings; it would mean a great saving in the distribution of books and supplies; it would give the superintendent and special teachers time for closer supervision; and finally, centraliza-
tion of pupils means better grading, better schools, and therefore greater returns to the tax payer for the money invested in education.
INDUSTRIAL EDUCATION.
On June 7, 1905, Governor William L. Douglas ap- pointed nine persons to constitute a Commission on Indus- trial and Technical Education. On the second Wednes- day in April of the following year this Commission, after careful and thorough investigation, presented its report to the Legislature, submitting at the same time a bill em- bodying its recommendations, which bill was later enacted into law.
Among the conclusions arrived at as a result of public hearings and special investigations by this Commission the following may be of special interest :
"For the great majority of children who leave school to enter employments at the age of fourteen or fifteen, the first three or four years are practically waste years so far as the actual productive value of the child is concerned, and so far as increasing his industrial or productive effi- ciency. The employments upon which they enter demand so little intelligence and so little manual skill that they are not educative in any sense. For these children, many of whom now leave school from their own choice at the com- pletion of the seventh grade, further school training of a practical character would be attractive and would be a possibility if it prepared for the industries."
In regard to the part that public schools may have in developing industrial education, the Commission recom- mends "that cities and towns so modify the work in the elementary schools as to include for boys and girls instruction and practice in the elements of productive industry, including agriculture and the mechanic and
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domestic arts, and that this instruction be of such a char- acter as to secure from it the highest cultural as well as the highest industrial value ; and that the work in the high schools be modified so that the instruction in mathe- matics, the sciences and drawing shall show the applica- tion and use of these subjects in industrial life, with special reference to local industries, so that the students may see that these subjects are not designed primarily and solely for academic purpose, but that they may be utilized for the purposes of practical life."
A considerable number of our boys and girls leave school at the age of fourteen to become wage earners, entering, in · some cases, employments in which there are but few opportunities for promotion. Inasmuch as many of these pupils leave school of their own accord, it is safe to say that they might be retained for two or three years longer, could they but feel that the training of these addi- tional years would result in increased efficiency and a cor- respondingly greater earning capacity. To tide them over this critical period of unrest, the period from fourteen to sixteen, by some form of training which shall give them a . better start in lite is the problem which confronts educa- tors today.
A generation or more ago the boy or girl found in the duties of the home ample opportunity for training the hand and for the development of the inventive faculty. Under the conditions of modern life, with all kinds of labor saving devices so common, these opportunities no longer exist in many homes, and substitutes must be found for them in the curriculum of our common schools.
In connection with the work in drawing our pupils are being introduced to some forms of manual training, but only in a very elementary way. With the increased facili- ties offered by additional school accommodations it is hoped that the way will be opened for the introduction of sewing, basketry, weaving, and wood-working. All of these
23
are possible with comparatively little outlay as the exper- ience of other towns proves.
In the town of Raynham we have recently introduced basketry. The pupils of the grammar grades have already made pencil baskets of rattan reed and are now at work upon waste paper baskets. In addition to this, they are acquiring some knowledge of the use of tools. All of this work is done with no instruction save that furnished by the supervisor of drawing to the regular teachers, who in turn pass it on to the pupils under their charge. While some of the work is crude, much of it is very creditable and indicates that the pupils are gaining in manual dexterity.
It is my recommendation, therefore, that in our plans for the next school year we make provision for one or more forms of manual training which shall give our pupils some insight to the needs and demands of industrial life.
MEDICAL INSPECTION.
In accordance with the recommendations of the school officials, the town voted at its last annual meeting to raise and appropriate the sum of fifty dollars for the purpose of medical inspection in our public schools. Acting under the appointment and direction of the school committee, Dr. E. S. LeLacheur has served as school physician during the past year.
It is gratifying to report that the inspection has been carried on in a wise and tactful manner and that parents have on the whole co-operated in our endeavor to detect and remedy physical defects. In the test of sight and hearing it was found that while in most cases the hearing was normal, forty three of the pupils examined, or about twelve per cent., had defective sight.
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Attention is called at this point to the report of the medical inspector, which gives in detail the number of differ- ent diseases from which pupils were found to be suffering. Many of the diseases and troubles of childhood have been ignored or neglected and passed over with the sentiment, "The child will outgrow it."
A physician, who is also a well-known writer on educa- tional subjects, commenting on this cruel and foolish sen- timent says, "One may well doubt whether a child ever outgrows a physical limitation. When the period of young manhood or young womanhood dawns, bringing with it the conquering power of new vigor and virility, a child may seem to throw off limitations of preceding times and to 'outgrow' them. But invariably echoes of the same limita- tions are heard years later, when, with the waning of strength, these again present themselves.
"The individual is no longer able to sustain, without self consciousness, the inharmony which has always ex. isted, although for so long a time the system was able to endure the burden and hold itself against it without apparent discord."
Firmly convinced that medical inspection has already commended itself to the parents and guardians of the pupils in our public schools, and that it will meet with still greater approval as the work becomes better known, we ask that an appropriation of fifty dollars be made at the coming town meeting to defray the cost of inspection for another year.
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REPORT OF THE MEDICAL INSPECTOR.
To the School Committee and Superintendent of Schools in the town of West Bridewater.
It gives me pleasure to present the following report. The work entrusted to my care is comprehensive in its scope and interesting in its developement.
The method pursued in the initial examination of each child was, first to ascertain the past history of the child's health, the number and nature of the ailments the child had already sustained, inquiring how recently each had been sick, how often each had been absent throughout the past year and for what reason. At this point the teacher was most helpful, and the intelligence displayed even by many of the small children in remembering all the ail- ments of their lives was quite remarkable. Next followed the examination of the present condition of the pupil, necessitating an examination for any symptoms of infec- tious diseases, diseases of the eye and ear, (other than the test of sight and hearing), diseases of the nose and throat, especially for obstructions, diseases of the bones and joints, diseases of the skin, diseases of the teeth, general diseases, nervous and mental defects. At the first examination about 74 per cent. of the pupils were in normal heatlh while the remaining pupils were affected by the following :-
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DISEASES.
Total No.
Advised
Treatment
INFECTIOUS :-
EYES :- Error of refraction, I I
EARS :- Otitis media (Inflammation of middle ear) 3 3
NOSE AND THROAT :- Adenoids,
3
3
Enlarged tonsils, 28
IO
Slightly enlarged tonsils,
23
Deflected nasal septum,
4
2
SKIN :- Eczema,
3
I
BONES AND JOINTS :-
GENERAL DISEASES :- Rheumatism,
2
Shortened leg from infantile paralysis,
I
Anaemia,
6
4
Slightly Anaemic,
5
Enlarged cervical glands,
3
Probably specific,
I
I
Boils,
I
Frequent urination,
I
I
TEETH :- Badly decayed,
5 3
NERVOUS AND MENTAL DEFECTS :-
Defective speech, (stammering)
3
Backward,
4
Mentally deficient,
I
Lack of muscular co-ordination,
I
-
99 29
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Many of these cases I intend to keep under observa- tion by occasional visits to the schools. Many of them have already improved, especially the tonsilar cases, as many cases of apparently enlarged tonsils were temporary, due to colds and sore throats at time of examination. In several of the throat cases where I have advised surgical treatment, the parents have had them operated on with success.
Six special visits were made at the schools by request of teachers; one to attend an attack of epilepsy, another an injury to the knee induced by a fall, another for German measles, and again for special examinations for suspected diphtheretic throats.
All office visits were gratuitous, and a number availed themselves of this provision.
I have thought it best to keep a careful health record of each pupil, including a history as to past ailments, con- dition at time of examination, and also comparisons with subsequent examinations.
I am greatful for the courteous assistance given me by the teachers, and gratified at the interest shown by the parents and their appreciation and ready acceptance of all advice tendered; while to the Superintendent of Schools and members of the school committee, I extend my thanks for their earnest co-operation.
Respectfully submitted,
ELLIS S. LELACHEUR, M. D., School Physician.
West Bridgewater, January 7, 1908.
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DRAWING AND MUSIC.
Excellent work continues to be done in these two departments under the direction of our competent supervi- sors. In their efforts to bring the work up to the present high standard they have been ably assisted by the regular corps of teachers, upon whose efficiency the success of the special teacher has depended in a large degree.
The attention of the citizens is called to the work in these two departments, and a cordial invitation is extend. ed to all to visit the schools while the special teachers are conducting classes in their respective subjects.
HOWARD HIGH SCHOOL.
The enrolment at the Howard High School remains practically unchanged from year to year, though the in- crease in school population should, in the near future, be reflected in a larger membership in the High School.
Excellent as is the course of study, the fact is be- coming evident that a very considerable per cent. of our grammar school graduates do not find it sufficiently broad to cover their needs. This statement is borne out by the fact that for a term of years not more than sixty per cent. of these grammar school graduates have entered the High ' School at all, while of those who have entered not more than twenty-five to thirty per cent. have stayed the four years and graduated. Of those who never enter the school, or who enter but do not graduate, it is safe to say a large part would complete the course could they but feel that it contained for them studies which would be of immediate value in their life work.
I would respectfully call the attention of the trustees to that portion of the report on industrial education in which it is recommended "that the work in the high
29
schools be modified so that the instruction in mathematics, the sciences and drawing shall show the application and use of these subjects in industrial life ;" also "that all towns and cities provide by new elective industrial courses in high schools instruction in the principles of agriculture and the domestic and mechanic arts."
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