USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Worcester > Town annual reports of the several departments for the fiscal year ending December 31, 1856-1861 > Part 44
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SUBURBAN SCHOOLS.
Number of schools, - - -
-
-
12
Number of teachers, -
-
13
Whole number of pupils registered, -
696
Average whole number of pupils, - 462 - 2 -
Average daily attendance, - 362 -
Percentage of daily attendance,
-
-
- .80
The number of suburban schools in 1859 was thirteen ; but the one in Providence street was admitted into the centre district in January 1860 and graded, the assistant taking the primary department, and the principal the sec- ondary.
The Tatnuck school is taught by a male in the winter and by a female in the summer. All the others are under the charge of females all the year. Except in Quinsiga- mond, where the principal has a temporary assistant, but where a distinct primary school ought to be organized, each school employs but one teacher. The South Wor- cester school is too large for one teacher, and hardly large enough for two. It will be greatly improved when it becomes large enough to justify the appointment of an assistant, or the organization of an additional school, for which the house is well adapted.
98
Every change of teachers necessitates a corresponding change in the character of a school. In six of these schools there have been changes of teachers the last year. The changes in some of them have been quite clearly an improvement, while in others the improvement is not quite so clear.
If the schools in the suburbs be compared with those in the centre, it would be difficult to find one which would surpass Miss M. M. Maynard's, in the Pond district, in men- tal activity and independent thought, or Miss M. U. Blanch- ard's, in Northville, in good order, punctual and regular attendance, and the harmony between teacher and pupils. Since these districts are taxed on the same basis as the centre district and their municipal advantages are more limited, the city can afford to adopt a generous policy in respect of their schools to compensate for their losses in other directions.
PRIMARY SCHOOLS.
Number of schools, - -
-
-
-
- 23
Number of teachers, - -
- -
-
-
31
Whole number of pupils registered,
- -
-
-
2,503
Average whole number of pupils, - 1,852 - -
Average daily attendance, -
-
-
1,514
Percentage of daily attendance, -
-
-
.81
These schools have multiplied rapidly. In three years they have increased from seventeen to twenty-three, and the teachers from twenty-six to thirty-one. But rapid as has been the increase of schools it has not kept pace with the increase of the population. To relieve the south part of the city new schools are needed somewhere between Sycamore, and Ash, streets, and another is needed in Pleas- antville to relieve the west. It is hoped that no delay in building will leave the school in Temple street without accommodations when the lease of the house now occu- pied expires.
99
Of the twenty-three primary schools eight are double. Though some of these double schools are among the best in the city, yet it would be an improvement if they could all be made single. The rooms in the Summer street house are not adapted to double schools, and, if one pri- mary school were organized on Laurel hill, both those in Summer street might at once be reduced to single ones, much to the gratification of the present excellent and vig- orous principals of those schools.
Last May the superintendent recommended the division of several primary schools into two grades, one of which should embrace the younger classes, and the other the older ; in the former the teaching to be chiefly oral and the pupils to be allowed more freedom than in the schools where the children were able to engage in the profitable study of books. The experiment was tried in the four schools on Front street and in the two on Thomas street, with very gratifying success. An early application of the principle to all the primary schools will improve their order and increase their efficiency. The greatest caution should be exercised in the selection of teachers for the primary schools. The candidates are always numerous,- more numerous than they would be if only those qualified in heart as well as intellect were applicants. No person, who does not love children,-not pretty children only, or good ones, but all children, even the dirty, the deformed, the degraded, the perverse, and the stubborn,-is a proper person to teach a primary school. To all her acquisitions a good teacher must add a natural fitness for the work, a native aptness to teach, a countenance made always cheer- ful by a perpetually cheerful heart. She must draw from wells within, as well as from wells without, to satisfy the intellectual and moral cravings of her pupils.
1
100
Such facilities as will render these schools so pleasant and attractive that the children will not willingly stay away from them, the committees should unhesitatingly furnish ; and while children of four years are permitted to attend the schools, the committee should see that, if not physically improved, they at least are not physically injured.
The standard for promotion is fixed, and the classes of one school ought not to differ much from the correspond- ing classes in another ; and perhaps they approach uni- formity as nearly as is possible under so great a variety of teachers, among whom are some of the best in the city.
SECONDARY SCHOOLS.
Number of schools, - -
-
-
-
12
Number of teachers, -
- -
-
-
13
Whole number of pupils registered,
-
-
- 928
Average whole number of pupils, -
-
-
-
789
Average daily attendance, - 605 - - -
Percentage of attendance, -
-
-
-
- .88
All the schools of this grade, except the one in Thomas street, are single. Their location is not altogether favora- ble. The want of room in the south part of the city has pushed one of them, which draws its pupils mostly from the vicinity of Ash street, into the Main street house.
These schools are now so located that the first ward has one,-the double school; the second, fifth, seventh, and eighth wards, two each ; the sixth ward, three ; and the third, and fourth wards, none. The only change in their locality made the last year is the removal in May of one school from Thomas street to Main, to make room for the much needed new primary school in that section of the city.
This class of schools has been generally and justly regarded as among the most difficult to govern and to teach. They are difficult to govern because the pupils
101
are at that critical age when they have least reverence for authority as well as least self-respect,-when they have not learned self-control and are impatient of restraint. They are difficult to teach because the pupils have not yet formed habits of study without which the tasks of the school room are particularly irksome. Still our own city furnishes abundant evidence that schools of this grade under skillful teachers are often models of good behavior and accurate scholarship. Here, as elsewhere, the school is a mirror, and its character is the reflection, more or less exact, of the teacher's mental and moral image. As the character of the sky determines the aspect of the sea, so the character of the teacher the aspect of the school.
GRAMMAR SCHOOLS.
Of these there are two grades, the lower, and the higher. The course of study in each extends through two years. The best scholars, however, do not find it neces- sary to be four years in accomplishing the prescribed course, but often complete it in three, and sometimes in two. The generous impulses of active and honest minds are not wisely curbed to the slow and unsteady pace of the dull and indolent. The public can use its wealth more wisely than in teaching the young how to protract the work of three years into four. No undue pressure has been ap- plied to those who have completed the grammar school course in less than the prescribed time. Their study hours in school have not been increased, and they have not been required to study at home. They have been encouraged to choose to do well rather than constrained to do well, and the result has been happy, promoting a. healthful influence in the schools of every grade.
14
102
In the lower grade the number of schools is Number of teachers, - -
-
6
-
7
Whole number of pupils registered, -
-
-
506
Average whole number of pupils, -
-
-
- 352
Average daily attendance, -
-
-
-
321
Percentage of daily attendance, . . -
-
-
.91
There has been no change in the course of study during the year, and only one change of teachers. On the resig- nation of Miss Eliza A. Brigham, principal of the third department of the Sycamore street school, Miss Carrie A. George was secured to fill the vacancy. One of the six schools has two teachers, another, though for the last eighteen months a single school, will probably require an assistant after the annual promotions are made in May.
The committee have been very fortunate in their recent selections of teachers for these schools. They have vin- dicated their right to a place in the front rank of first class teachers. Others may be their equals, but few are their superiors.
Higher grade.
Number of schools, - - 3
Number of teachers, (of whom two are males,)
4
Number of pupils registered, - -
-
273
Average whole number of pupils, -
-
220
Average daily attendance, - -
-
- 211
Percentage of daily attendance, -
-
- .95
Thorough instruction, mild but firm discipline, punctual and regular habits, self-respect, independent thought, and a high moral tone, are elements which the committee look for in these schools, and which being found, attest the skill, capacity and faithfulness of the teachers.
The semi-annual promotions, which serve as a healthful stimulant to both teachers and pupils, have drawn a few scholars from these to the high school and lifted others from an inferior to a higher class, and, in no instance, have been known to work any other than good results.
103
The fact that merit is recognized and rewarded furnishes an innocent and much needed motive to accurate scholar- ship and unexceptionable deportment, and, without creat- ing the necessity for 'new classes, improves the existing classification and becomes a substantial benefit to the school as well as to the persons promoted.
No teacher has left this grade of schools during the year and only one has been added. The crowd of appli- cants at Mr. Hunt's school, in the early part of the year compelled the committee to open a new one. Fully aware of the responsibility of the position, the committee sought among a host for a suitable candidate. The one whom they selected, Miss Eleutheria Manly, entered upon her duties in February and very soon demonstrated the wisdom of the committee's choice and her own fitness for the place. The prominent characteristics of the school are, that the pupils are taught to think ; that the analysis of every problem in arithmetic is rigid, logical and complete ; that it is a school of ideas rather than of words. In geography and history the pupils are encouraged to con- sult all the authorities to which they have access and to arrange their knowledge so that the naming of a particu- lar topic will suggest without further questioning what should be recited on a given subject.
The able assistant in the Thomas street school, Miss Caroline Parkinson, known for many years as one of the best teachers in the lower grade of grammar schools, suc- cessfully maintains in this higher position her well de- served reputation for thorough instruction and conscien- tious fidelity.
The principal of the Thomas street school, Mr. J. H. Newton, who has had charge of the school about eighteen months, has proved himself worthy of the confidence of
104
the committee. His school is making commendable pro- gress, is completely under his control, is both well taught and well governed, and in every particular is steadily and constantly improving.
The principal of the first department of the Sycamore street grammar school, Mr. A. A. Hunt, who has held his position several years longer than any of the other teach- ers of this grade, is so well and so favorably known that anything said of him will be nearly, if not quite, super- fluous. In his power to awaken and maintain a healthful enthusiasm among his pupils he has no compeer in this city. His school is his exclusive business. Under his eye the indolent become industrious, the irregu- lar and careless prompt and punctual, and his classes are so taught that they become familiar with a subject wholly independent of the questions and answers of the text book. His method is conformed to no particular model, but is as original as it is excellent.
One change in the course of study has been made. Physiology has been substituted for physical geography. The reasons which induced the change were first, that greater maturity of mind and the study of other sciences properly precede the profitable study of physical geogra- phy ; and second, that since a large number of scholars leave school altogether after completing the grammar school course, it is extremely undesirable that they should go out ignorant of their own fearful and wonderful struc- ture and of the fundamental laws of health.
CLASSICAL AND ENGLISH HIGH SCHOOL.
This school began the year under auspices not the most favorable. The public were not unanimous in their approval of the action of the committee at their last meet-
105
ing in 1859, and the late principal, Mr. Homer B. Sprague, after being deposed from the executive author- ity, declined to accept the charge of the classical depart- ment for which all the committee, as well as other friends of the school, thought him eminently qualified. The cloud which hung over the school on the opening of the year was soon dispelled. The energetic action of the committee at once filled the vacancy and allayed the excitement. The school has, on the whole, enjoyed a prosperous year. It has had more pupils than in any for- mer year and attained a higher ratio of daily attendance. The statistics compare with those in 1859 as follows :
Whole number registered.
Average whole number.
Average attendance. 176
Ratio of attendance.
No. of teachers.
1860,
-
233
187
.94
6
1859, -
244
159
131
.82
5
The school has not suffered as in former years by fre- quent changes of teachers. Mr. Henry Winn supplied the place of classical teacher till the first of May, when the committee filled it permanently by the election of Mr. James K. Lombard. This was the only change of teach- ers made during the year, except that, on the first of December, the excellent and accomplished teacher of French, Miss Susan E. White, resigned, carrying with her to her new home the best wishes of her pupils, her asso- ciate teachers, and the committee. This permanency of teachers is a great improvement on former years. In January 1860 not a teacher in the school had been con- nected with it a year. Since the promotions in May, the school has been as large as the capacity of the house would permit, and a sixth teacher, Miss C. C. Plimpton, has been employed. The subsequent losses by removals and other causes have been more than balanced by accessions, the largest of which was the class sent up at the beginning
106
of the winter term from the Sycamore street grammar school.
The order and discipline of the school have engaged the attention of the committee, more or less, for several years. License is not liberty, and wholesome restraint is not oppression. How much less restraint than is neces- sary in the other schools is compatible with the highest interests of this may be a question upon which there may be honest differences of opinion ; but in school, as in states, the only liberty worth having is the liberty which is regulated by law. The principal, Mr. Harris R. Greene, and his excellent assistants, deserve much credit for the improvement already effected in this department of the school and for the care taken of the school property. That young man, who has not learned to respect the rights of property, has neglected one of the most important parts of his education. Magnificent schemes of public plunder which startle a nation may sometimes be traced to their obscure origin in the unrestrained abuse of the rights of property in school or college. It is a wise pro- vision of the high school committee which forbids the school house to be used for any purposes without the pres- ence of a teacher.
The course of study in each department, to which the classes are made to conform as nearly as is practicable, has been arranged with considerable care. It is of course susceptible of improvement; and some of the friends of the school have very justly remarked that the course of study in the classical department might with eminent pro- priety be made to correspond to the course which Harvard University, the largest and oldest college in America, has prescribed for those who aspire to enter her classes.
The rapid progress of science and art the last half cen-
107
tury is to be attributed in a large degree to a judicious division of labor. The family physician used to be the occulist, and aurist, and dentist, and surgeon, besides look- ing after all cardiac and pulmonic affections, and minister- ing to his patients in all the diseases to which flesh is heir. The lawyer once might be eminent in all the de- partments of his profession ; but now one is eminent in criminal law, another in civil, another in maritime, and another in international, but none in all. Physicians have learned that the diseases of one part of the human sys- tem,-of a single organ, may profitably employ all the time and all the skill of the ablest man in the profession. Hu- man suffering has been alleviated and human life prolong- ed by the change. The division of labor in mechanics has perfected machinery. No one man makes the whole of a watch, or a rifle, or a steam engine. One mind concen- trated on a particular part perfects that part. The same
law holds in teaching. The teacher of everything teaches nothing well. In attempting too much, he fails in all. It is better to hold an eminent position in one department than a medium one in all. The classes are entitled to the best instruction which the school with which they are connected can give them. To effect this, each teacher should have a distinct and well-defined department, for the condition of the classes in which he should be held strictly and solely responsible.
The classical department, which, by the vote of the board one year ago, was assigned to the assistant, is vir- tually where it always has been, and where many friends of the school still think it ought to be, under the charge of the principal. The number preparing for college is unusually large. The committee trust that the position taken by these young men on entering college will be creditable to both the teachers and the school.
108
The course of study in the English department is now much more extensive and complete than before the class of the first year was required to review the studies of the grammar school. This provision has brought the two schools near enough to meet, a result always desired, and often attempted, but never before accomplished.
The French department, which was resigned at the close of the fall term by Miss Susan E. White, has been placed in charge of Miss Anna U. Russell, an accomplished scholar of large experience, who, in addition to the French, takes charge of the classes in reading and elocu- tion, for which she has superior qualifications.
$
The first award of the Bullock medals was made at the annual examination in May. The generous gift was as timely and useful as it was munificent. The grammar schools have heretofore had more to stimulate the pupils to earnest and vigorous work than the high school. The desire for promotion and the fear of not attaining it, pow- erful incentives to study and decorum in the lower schools, are wholly wanting in this school. The Bullock medals more than supply the deficiency. In future years, the medals will be suggestive and valuable mementoes of happy school days, generous rivalry, and innocent victory.
The medal scholars are worthy of a name in the perma- nent records of the schools. The judges who made the award were :
HON. STEPHEN SALISBURY, REV. MERRILL RICHARDSON, HON. DWIGHT FOSTER, JOSEPH SARGENT, M. D., AND HON. GEORGE F. HOAR.
THE MEDAL SCHOLARS FOR 1860 WERE :
For Excellence in Deportment :
Henry H. Chamberlain, Abby C. Smith, Hattie A. Smith, Joanna C. Woodbury.
109
For Excellence in Classical Studies :
Emma Z. Metcalf, Job Williams, Maria S. Eaton, William H. Drury. For Excellence in Mathematics : .
Mary E. Estabrook, Mary T. Magennis, Helen A. Wilder, Mary F. Sargent.
For Excellence in English Studies :
Julia M. Martin, Fannie E. Mills, Sara A. Moore, Amelia Nixon.
For Excellence in Composition : Edward L. Barnard.
For Excellence in Declamation : John F. Dryden.
For Excellence in Reading : Caroline A. Ballord.
For Excellence in French : Fannie W. Cummings.
For the Committee,
J. D. E. JONES, Superintendent.
GEORGE W. RUSSELL,
SAMUEL V. STONE,
NAHUM H. ANDREWS,
THOMAS MAGENNIS,
MERRICK BEMIS,
J. H. TWOMBLY,
ROBERT L. SMYTH, JOHN C. NEWTON,
OLIVER K. EARLE,
ALBERT W. CURTIS,
TIMOTHY K. EARLE,
DELANO A. GODDARD,
JONAS BARTLETT, JOHN J. POWER,
CHARLES BALLARD,
ASA L. BURBANK,
SAMUEL D. HARDING,
RUSH R. SHIPPEN,
EDWIN T. MARBLE,
WILLIAM WORKMAN,
JAMES HOUGHTON,
JOHN H. BROOKS.
JOHN D. E. JONES, ALEXANDER H. BULLOCK,
WILLIAM W. RICE, Mayor.
15
110
APPENDIX.
Schools.
Teachers.
Salaries.
Registered.
Whole Number
No. of Males.
No. of Females.
to each school.
Av. No. belonging
Av. daily att. in
Attendance.
Ratio of
No. of Teachers.
CLASSICAL AND ENGLISH HIGH SCHOOL.
Harris R. Greene,
$1300 1000
233
85 148
188
176
.82
.94
6
James K. Lombard,
500
400
Clara C. Plympton.
350
GRAMMAR SCHOOLS, Higher Grade.
James H. Newton, Caroline Parkinson.
1000
126
55
71
101
97
.96
.96
2
350
Addison A. Hunt, Elutheria Manly.
350
70
27
43
67 52
66 48
.96 .88
.92
1
GRAMMAR SCHOOLS, Lower Grade.
350
86 121
36 75
50 46
60
55 87
.94 .92
.92
1
66
Charlotte J. Hapgood.
300
Sycamore Street
Carrie A. George.
350
79
35
44
57
55
.94
.96
1 1
Pleasant Street
Harriet M. Walker.
350
77
37
40
52
48
.90
.91
1
Ash Street.
Sarah M. Rogers.
350
82
46
30
52
45
.85
.86
1
New Worcester.
Anna E. Ayres.
350
61
29
31
36
33
.82
.90
1
SECONDARY SCHOOLS.
350
151
91
60
102
87
.85
.85
2
66
250
86
43
43
63
52
.80
.83
1
66
Lydia A. Perry.
325
70
31
39
52
47
.87
.89
1
Sycamore Street
Harriet E. Lamb,
325
81
38
43
55
49
.85
.89
1
Emily J. Clapp.
325
68
36
32
58
53
.93
.91
1
Pleasant Street.
Caroline Hewett,
325
73
41
32
64
58
.90
.91
1
Hester A. Greene.
325
77
36
41
59
51
.88
.86
1
Sarah A. Wheelock, Ellen S. Barnes.
325
70
39
31
54
49
.89
.90
1
Ash Street.
Charlotte N. Follett.
325
74
27
47
56
46
.83
.83
1
Providence Street.
Emma M. Taggart.
300
66
36
30
48
43
.89
.89
1
New Worcester.
Eliza Harris.
300
38
23
15
28
26
.78
.92
1
PRIMARY SCHOOLS.
Thomas Street ..
300
82
37
45
65
56
.90
.86
1
300
79
43
36
61
47
.74
1
Sycamore Street
Sarah W. Clements,
300
84
40
44
74
61
.90
.82
1
Caroline R. Clements, Mary A. Smith.
300
83
45
38
69
53
.75
.76
1
Main Street, South
300
154
70
8-4
91
78
.86
.86
2
250
66
66 North
300
90
47
43
61
53
.85
.871 1
.
Summer Street.
325
74
46
28
50
44
.89
.89
1
66
Anna R. Merrill, Sarah L. Phillips.
66
300
84
38
46
70
57
.88
.81
1
Thomas Street ..
66
Sycamore Street.
1100
77
.27
50
.98
1
Thomas Street ..
66
Ellen M. Hawes, Elizabeth L. Gird,
350
95
.92
2
Thomas Street.
Elizabeth H. Coe, Margaret P. Williams.
Kate A. Meade,
325
Main Street.
66
66
Sophie S. Banister, Rebecca W. Taylor, Sarah J. Newton.
,
Anna U. Russell, Ava Williams, Kate F. Leland,
400
1859 1860
each school.
111
Schools.
Teachers.
Salaries.
Registered.
Whole Number
No. of Males.
No. of Females.
to each school.
each school.
Attendance.
Ratio of
No. of Teachers.
Summer Street, North
66
South
Esther G. Chenery, Charlotte Wheeler, Mary A. Slater, Charlotte Eaton.
$300 250 300 250
141
80
61
104
87
.81
.83
2
Ash Street, East.
Helen M. Shattuck,
300
166
81
85
123
9
.86
.76
2
Mary T. Magennis,
250
151
75
76
120
90
.85
.75
2
Emma L. Brooks,
250
Harriet A. Bigelow.
300
71
34
37
61
50
.86
.82
1
300
169
79
90
122
102
.78 .
.84
2
Lydia M. Wilmarth, H. Josephine Johnson, Harriet Perry.
300
117
66
51
77
58
.72
.75
1
Caroline E. Putnam,
300
164
85
79
124
110
.86
.89
2
Laura L. Newton,
250
Harriet Hathaway,
300
168
91
109
87
.80
.80
2
Martha Hobbs,
300
75
35
40
63
52 52
.70 .74
.72
1
Kate Hobbs,
300
81
28
53
64
53
.76
.83
1
Cornelia M. Draper.
300
89
45
44
72
54
.70
.75
1
Aspacia Tubbs.
200
64
35
29
48
42
.79
.86
1
Rebecca Barnard.
300
76
40
36
61
53
.87
1 1
Annie P. James.
300
83
36
47
41
38
.90
.93
1
SUBURBAN SCHOOLS.
Tatnuck.
William Richardson.
*50
76
43
33
39
32
.88
.83
1
Caroline F. Ayres.
300
93
45
48
63
48
.67
.76
1
Adams Square.
Cornelia Learned.
300
52
33
19
33
26
.78
.79
1
Northville
Melissa U. Blanchard.
300
64
36
28
46
39
.83
.86
1
Quinsigamond.
Tirza S. Nichols,
300
109
53
56
72
52
.64
.73
2
Sarah P. Homer.
13%
Burncoat Plain.
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