USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Worcester > Town annual reports of the several departments for the fiscal year ending December 31, 1862-1866 > Part 28
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-- the former is constraint, the latter discipline and education. If children are not taught respect for law and deference to legitimate authority, but are merely supplied with motives to concede, as expedient for the time, whatever is demanded, we hardly need to say that they do not get the education they need,-the mental and moral discipline which will fit them for the stern duties and responsibilities of American citizens.
The general principles of school government are applicable to the family and the state and should be studied by the teacher as carefully and thoroughly as the natural sciences or literature. The thorough education of all the children of the country in these elementary principles during the last forty years would have made the gigantic rebellion from which we now suffer impossible. Many construe the right to question the wisdom of any law into the right to violate or resist it.
This mistake transmitted from parents to children occasions nearly all the serious trouble in the government of schools as tvell as of states. If the minds of all our children were im- pressed with that profound respect for regularly constituted authorities which yields prompt and immediate obedience even to a law of doubtful expediency until it is modified or repealed, the family would be happier, the school better, and society safer. But while the discipline of prompt obedience and cheerful submission to law is an indispensible element in school government, it is quite as necessary that the law should commend itself to the moral sense of the school as just and right. The law should be a statement not merely of what the teacher has authority to require, but of what the teacher ought to require. In the government of children no greater mistake can be made than to ignore their moral sense,
51
which will assert its judgment on all questions relating to their experience. Only that child whose unbiassed moral sense vindicates the teacher and condemns himself is improv- ed by discipline.
RESOURCES AND EXPENDITURES.
RESOURCES.
The resources of the department for the year 1864, were as follows :
Balance in the Treasury January 1st, 1864, $4223.83
Received from the State School fund, 1106.30
Appropriation by city council, 43,500.00
Received from other sources, 40.00
$48,869.13
EXPENDITURES.
Ordinary Current expenses :
Salaries of teachers,
$34,445.34
Salary of superintendent,
1500.00
Fuel,
4745.62
Sawing wood,
373.99
Books, maps, charts, ink, and stationery, 451.90
Printing,
116.43
Making fires and sweeping,
1182.28
Cleaning,
304.98
Repairs and improvements,
2098.00
Furnishings,
769.85
Miscellaneous and incidental, ·
221.72 $46,210.11
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EXTRAORDINARY EXPENSES :
Rent of Temple street house, $300.00
Insurance, 59.05
Furniture in part for new house Mason st., 391.33
" E. Worcester, 1038.63
Dressing rooms, Walnut st. house, 390.51
Basement, Pleasant
714.43
Wall, Summer 66 414.19
$3308.14
$49,518.25
The extraordinary expenses have been larger than was anticipated at the commencement of the year. It was not then the purpose of the board to make extensive improve- ments either in the Pleasant street house or in the Summer street yard. Had these improvements been postponed, or their cost been included in the appropriations, the depart- ment would have had a small surplus to its credit instead of a deficit of $649.12.
Though the expenditures of the department have been largely increased, the ratio of increase has not kept pace with the rise in gold or in the cost of living. The cost per scholar for the year 1864 is twenty-three cents less than the cost per scholar for the year 1856 and fifteen cents less than for the year 1857, and is only nine per cent. more than the average annual cost for the last nine years.
Prior to the year 1859 the average annual cost per scholar was erroneously estimated, for it was found by dividing the aggregate annual expenses of the department by the aggre- gate daily attendance which from sickness and other causes is
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always from ten to fifteen per cent. less than the aggregate membership of the schools. The correct method is to divide the aggregate ordinary expenses by the aggregate average membership of the schools, since it costs just as much to edu- cate those who are constantly members of the schools but are occasionally absent, as those whose attendance is perfect.
The cost per scholar for the year 1864 correctly estimated is $10.18. If estimated as in former years it is $11.67.
In the annexed tabular statement the statistics of each year since 1855 are so arranged that a person may see at a glance the constant and regular growth of the schools, the aggregate annual membership, the average daily attendance, the annual expenses of the department, and the annual cost per scholar both as it was formerly estimated and as it ought to be estimated. The aggregate average membership prior to the year 1859 is not known, but from that time the statistics are complete.
Year.
Average whole number.
Average daily attendance.
Annual Expen- ses.
Cost per Scholar as formerly es- timated.
Actual cost per Scholar.
1856.
2520
$29,992
$11.90
1857.
2815
32,280
11.82
1858.
2919
30,504
10.45
1859.
3824
3140
35,390
11.27
$9.25
1860.
3983
3295
33,497
10.10
8.41
1861.
4023
3468
33,771
9.73
8.39
1862.
4198
3668
34,581
9.43
8.23
1863.
4418
3773
36,383
9.64
8.23
1864.
4537
3959
46,210
11.67
10.18
TEACHERS.
The whole number of teachers in the service of the city in De- cember 1864 is ninety-three, of whom eighty-two are females.
In the centre district, seventy-nine.
In the suburban districts, fourteen.
8
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SCHOLARS.
The whole number of children between the ages of five and fifteen years residing in the city on the first of May 1864 was, according to the report of the assessors, four thousand nine hundred and twenty nine (4929)-a gain in one year of one hundred and nineteen (119).
The number in each ward was as follows:
Ward one, 296 Ward five, 901
two, 650
"
six, 544
three, 687
seven, 692
four, 615
eight, 544
The whole number of scholars who have received instruc- tion in the public schools during either a part or the whole of the year is six thousand four hundred and fifty four (6454).
In the centre district, 5555.
In the suburban districts, 899.
A gain in one year of 146.
The average whole number, that is, the average number occupying seats through the entire year, is four thousand five hundred and thirty seven (4537).
In the centre district, 4014.
In the suburban districts, 523.
A gain in one year of 119.
The average daily attendance, which from sickness and other causes is always less than the average whole number, is three thousand nine hundred and fifty nine (3959).
In the centre district, 3531.
In the suburban districts, 428.
A gain in one year of 176.
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The average daily attendance in the winter and spring terms was 3738
In the summer and fall terms, 3970
The average loss in the daily attendance from all causes is twelve and three-fourths per cent. of the average whole number.
The schools in the centre district educate eighty-eight and a half per cent. of the children, and the suburban eleven and a half per cent.
Of those in the centre district the high school educates 4 6-10 per cent.
The grammar schools higher grade,
6 3-10 per cent.
lower
11 1-10 “
secondary
17 3-10
primary
25
subprimary “
32 5-10
Unclassified schools, day and evening,
3 2-10
A summary of the statistics of the several grades will ap- pear in the annexed schedule.
1 4 AN | No. of Schools.
No. of Seats.
No. of Teachers.
No. of Scholars
registered.
Average No. of
Scholars.
Average attend-
Per cent. of at-
tendance.
Males.
Females.
in years and
months, Jan-
₹ uary 1st, 1865.
High School,
212
6
281
185.
180 .97
104
177
16
7
Upper Grammar,
264
5
395
252
237
.94
168
227
14
1
Lower Grammar,
9
522,10
650
458
420
.92
321
329
13
1
Secondary,
13
754 14
945
708
630
.89
436
509
11
0
Primary,
13 1048 16 1280 1004
885
.88
586
694
9
2
Sub-Primary,
17
1300 21 1778 1308
1088
.83
908
870
6
11
Unclassified,
1
92
4
226
99
91
.92
213
13
14
1
Day & Evening, S
The roll of honor will be found in the appendix.
Average age
Yrs. | Mos.
ance.
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REFORM SCHOOL.
The reform school merits a word here from the reflex moral influence which it exerts upon the public schools, though not strictly one of them, being under the control of another board and maintained as a distinct department. Sending habitual truants to this school imposes a salutary restraint upon those having similar tendencies which have not yet ripened into confirmed habits. The institution is quite as valuable in what it prevents as in what it cures.
OTHER SCHOOLS.
The division of the subprimarics into two departments has proved so advantageous wherever it has been tried, that the principle should be applied wherever the rooms will per- mit it. In Ash and in Sycamore streets the experiment has been tried with the best results for three years,-in Summer , street for one, and should be tried at the earliest practical period in Main street and East Worcester.
In the primary grade a new school is needed in the south part of the city to relieve those in Sycamore and Pleasant streets. The want of a room is the sole and the effectual obstacle in the way of its organization.
One of the secondary schools in Summer street and the one in Temple street were removed to East Worcester at the opening of the new house early in the year.
One new grammar school, lower grade, has been organized in East Worcester, and one of the double schools in Thomas street has been made single, greatly to the advantage of the scholars and of the schools.
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In the grammar schools, higher grade, three of the five teachers have resigned during the year, but the character of their successors is such as to assure the committee that the schools will not suffer by the change.
The committee on the high school have revised the course of study, both classical and academic. The classical course is arranged with special reference to what is required for ad- mission into Harvard University.
Of the condition of the high school the visiting committee have nothing to add to their report made for the year 1863.
For the school Committee. J. D. E. JONES, Superintendent.
JOHN FIRTH,
MERRICK BEMIS,
J. S. WOODWORTH,
FRANK H. RICE,
SAMUEL PUTNAM, T. E. ST. JOHN,. JOHN C. NEWTON, M. S. McCONVILLE, THOMAS M. LAMB,
EDWARD EARLE,
SAMUEL CLARK,
THOMAS EARLE,
T. K. EARLE,
THOMAS MAGENNIS, RUSH R. SHIPPEN,
GEORGE W. GALE,
SAMUEL V. STONE, SAMUEL F. HAVEN,
JOHN J. POWER,
C. W. HAMILTON, JOSEPH D. DANIELS,
GEORGE HOLMES,
JOHN S. BALDWIN,
ABRAHAM FIRTH.
D. WALDO LINCOLN, Mayor.
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ACADEMIC COURSE OF STUDY IN THE
WORCESTER HIGH SCHOOL.
TIME.
Physics.
Mathematics.
English.
History.
Latin.
SUMMER.
Philosophy. 5
Algebra. 5
Reading and Parsing.
3
United States. 3
FALL.
do:
do.
do.
do.
WINTER. SPRING.
do.
do.
do.
Ancient. 00
do.
do.
do.
do.
SECOND YEAR.
SUMMER. FALL.
Chemistry. 3
Geometry. 5
Classics. 2
Modern. 1
First Book. 5
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.
WINTER
Physiology. 3
do.
do.
do.
do.
SPRING.
Botany or Zoology. 3
Trigonometry. 5
do.
do.
do.
JUNIOR YEAR.
SUMMER.
Botany or Zoology.
5
Rhetoric 2 and Classics. 3 do.
Modern. 1
Grammar and Prose Book. 5
FALL.
Astronomy. 5
do.
do.
WINTER. SPRING.
Physical. Geography. 5 do.
2 Etymology and Classics. 3 do.
do.
do.
do.
do.
FOURTH YEAR; NORMAL AND COMMERCIAL.
SENIOR YEAR.
SUMMER.
Geography or Book Keeping. 2 do.
Arithmetic. 4
Intellectual Philosophy. 4 do.
do.
do.
WINTER.
Geography 2
Grammar
4
Ethics. 4
do.
do.
or U. S. Const. 3 or Polit'al Econ. 3
do.
do.
do.
do.
SPRING.
Virgil. 5
FALL.
do.
Modern. 1
FIRST YEAR.
Natural
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COLLEGE COURSE.
TIME.
Latin.
Greek.
Mathematics.
Miscellaneous.
FIRST YEAR.
SUMMER.
First Book. 5
Algebra. 5
U. S. Hist. 3 Reading & Parsing. 3 do. do.
FALL.
do.
do.
WINTER. SPRING.
do.
do.
do.
do.
SECOND YEAR.
SUMMER.
Grammar and Prose Book. 5
Crosby's Lessons.
Geometry. 5
5
FALL.
do.
do.
do.
Ancient History. 1 do.
WINTER.
do.
do.
SPRING.
do.
do.
SENIOR YEAR. ||JUNIOR YEAR. []
SUMMER.
Virgil. 5
Grammar and Anabasis. 5
Ancient Geography. 2 Latin Gram. & Composition. 4
FALL.
do.
do.
Latin and Greek Grammar and Greek Composition. 6
WINTER.
do.
do.
do.
do.
SPRING.
do.
do.
do.
do.
SUMMER.
Virgil. 6
Grammar and Anabasis. 6 do.
FALL.
Cicero. 6
do.
Iliad, 3 books.
SPRING.
do.
do.
SUMMER.
Reviews.
Reviews.
Time divided between Latin, Greek, Ancient History and Geography, and Review of Mathematics. 5
The figures refer to the number of recitations each week.
French may be substituted for Latin in any or all of the three years ; but no change shall be made during any school year.
Every Saturday throughout the course there will be, besides one regular recitation, one exercise in Music and one in Composition and Declamation ; during the first and fourth years one in Writing ; and during the second and third years one in Drawing. Also, recitations in Spelling will be held throughout the course.
Public Rhetorical exercises will take place in the last term of the school year.
Written examinations will be held during the last week of every term.
Reports of the scholars' attainments will be sent to the parents quarterly.
Every scholar will be expected to pursue the regular course; taking three daily studies and only three, unless by special permission.
Completion of the prescribed four years' course and good standing therein will alone entitle the scholar to a diploma.
do.
do.
Ancient History. 3 do.
Ancient Geography. 2 Latin Grammar & Composition. 4 do.
WINTER.
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THE BULLOCK MEDALS.
The Bullock Medals were first awarded at the annual ex- amination in the year 1860. The names of the medal schol- ars for each year are here appended.
1860.
Caroline A. Ballord, Mary E. Estabrook,
Mary F. Sargent,
Edward L. Barnard,
Mary T. Magennis,
Abbie C. Smith,
Henry H. Chamberlain,
Julia M. Martin,
Hattie A. Smith,
Fannie W. Cummings,
Emma L. Metcalf,
Helen A. Wilder,
William H. Drury,
Fannie E. Mills,
Job Williams,
John F. Dryden,
Sara A. Moore,
Joanna C. Woodbury.
Maria S. Eaton, Amelia Nixon,
1861.
Caroline Barnard. Mary A. Harrington,
Henry B. O'Reilly,
Isabella A. Chase,
Henry P. Holmes,
Frederick S. Pratt,
Fannie W. Cummings,
Claudius M. Jones,
Mary G. B. Wheeler,
Minna S. Fitch,
Albert E. Lamb,
Miriam B. Whiton,
Mary E. Greene,
Frances M. Lincoln,
Joanna C Woodbury,
Loise P. Grosvenor,
Alma Morse,
George D. Woodbury.
Charles S. Hall,
Emma S. Morse,
1862.
Anna E. Aldrich,
Lizzie E. Goodwin,
John W. Partridge,
Caroline Barnard,
Charles S. Hall,
Isabella A. Chase,
Esther M. Harrington,
Julia A. Rockwood, Lillian Sanderson, Dexter Tiffany,
Fanny H. Coe,
M. Louise Jenks,
F. R. Firth,
Preston D. Jones,
Mary F. Wentworth,
Mary E. Farley,
Mary A. Metcalf,
Mary G. B. Wheeler.
Eliza F. Forbes,
Emma S. Morse,
1863.
Linnic M. Allen,
M. S. J. Burke,
Eddie H. Greenleaf,
Charles S. Hall,
Louise V. Palmer, Minnie Palmer,
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Walter R. Bynner,
Vashtie E. Hapgood,
Frank R. Firth,
Mary A. Harrington,
Lillian Sanderson, L. Delevan Thayer,
Minna S. Fitch,
William A. Harrington, Carrie P. Townsend,
Sarah E. Goddard,
John W. Partridge,
Mary II. Warren,
Loise P. Grosvenor, Mary E. Partridge.,
1864.
Eliza Barnard,
Mary A. Hakes,
Mary E. Partridge,
Harry Boyden,
William A. Harrington, Julia A. Rockwood,
Walter R. Bynner,
Preston D. Jones,
Walter T. Rogers,
Lizzie N. Eager,
Sarah R. Lathe,
Martha Z. Swallow,
Susie G. Gale,
David Manning,
Carrie P. Townsend,
Emma L. Griggs,
Howard A. McKenney,
May L. Foster,
Minnie Palmer.
REPORT OF THE BULLOCK PRIZE MEDAL JUDGES-1864.
BOARD OF JUDGES : - George Jaques, Rev. Edward A. Walker, Rev. Merrill Richardson, Messrs. Charles A. Chase, and Delano A. Goddard.
The committee appointed to act as judges in the distribu- tion of the twenty Bullock Prize Medals among meritorious pupils of the high school, submit the following report:
The means employed for ascertaining the comparative ex- cellence of the pupils, have been substantially the same which proved so satisfactory last year and the year preceding. It would, indeed, be difficult to devise any plan better adapted than this to secure that equal and exact justice which is due not only to the competitors themselves, but also to their
9
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teachers and the community at large. As, however, the re- ports already published contain a full explanation of the es- sential features of the prize examination, it will be sufficient to state here, summarily, that the foundation upon which the committee rest their dispensation of honors, is the standing of the pupils, as kept by the teachers, combined with the results obtained from a special and very thorough examination of the whole school. This inquiry into the acquisitions of the pupils was conducted by means of printed questions, wherever practicable, and the severity of the test to which the school has been subjected may be appreciated from the fact that, exclusive of the evening devoted to rhetorical exercises, the various examinations, conducted always by one or more members of the committee, occupied fully three con- secutive hours daily, throughout an entire week.
For the competition in drawing, the committee, as last year, arranged a group of objects which the pupils from their seats in front, sketched, as best they could, during the three hours allotted to this as to the other branches of the examination.
Excellence in composition was estimated by a very rigid comparison of the essays written for the occasion. Four members of the committee participated in the unsparing criti- cism to which these literary efforts were subjected, and although there was not a perfect unanimity in the decision, as regards the merits of the several pieces, the honors, dispensed in this department, have the sanction of a strong majority vote in their favor.
The exercises in reading and declamation occupied a public evening in this (Mechanics) Hall. Three members of the committee took notes on the occasion, and are responsible for
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the justice with which the rhetorical prizes have been awarded.
Having proceeded thus far, the committee might have made an equitable distribution of the medals from evidences already accumulated. But the school board has wisely provi- ded that another element should exert a due influence over the disposal of these rewards of merit. Accordingly, the standing of the several pupils, as above ascertained, was weighed against their annual average of scholarship on the school register, and a mean between the two was taken as rank in the prize competition.
. In all the departments of the examination-reading and declamation excepted-the pupils were known to the com- mittee by their school numbers only, so that the entire distri- bution of the awards, down to the lowest honorable mention, was completed not only without any interference on the part of teachers, parents, or other persons, but also before it had been possible for the knowledge of any name to prejudice the de- cision. What the committee have done is wholly their own; and they have given much time and solicitude to the dis- charge of the duty imposed upon them. How far they have acquitted themselves with fidelity and impartiality the teach- ers and possibly a few of the pupils are qualified, better than any one else, to decide. The thanks of the committee are due to Mr. Greene and his associates in the instruction of the school, for their cordial co-operation in the examination; and a word of general commendation, also, must be bestowed upon the pupils for the interest with which they engaged in the prize competition, as well as for the many indications of care and perseverance manifested in their written answers to the
64
various questions. This praiseworthy conduct was particular- ly noticeable in some of the younger classes, where the hope of obtaining a medal could hardly have been a stimulus to exertion.
Of the special service required of the committee nothing remains but to pronounce the names of the successful candi- dates for the medals which the Bullock fund bestows. But the peculiar position from which five individuals-none of them members of the school board-have just inspected the high school, the frequent visits there which have made them familiar with the discipline, the modes of teaching and the acquirements of the pupils, the rigid and protracted examina- * tion upon which this report is based, as well as other reasons, seem almost to require that something further should be said of an institution in which so many families of the city feel the deepest interest.
Briefly, then, the examination in the classical department showed that the pupils are well drilled in the structure and philosophy of the languages which they study, and that they receive, in this respect, thorough instruction from the moment of their entrance into the school.
In the mathematical classes there were no failures. The improvement in Algebra, over last year, was very marked, many of the pupils answering all the questions propounded to them. The examination in Astronomy was quite satisfac- tory, while that in Geometry was even better than in either of the other branches. The written answers to the questions in the mathematical department indicated care and faithful preparation beyond what had been anticipated. The one
65
fault common in all the papers returned was a little want of accuracy and precision of statement.
With one or two exceptional cases the examination in the Normal Course Studies was excellent. The questions pro- posed to the class comprised some of the chief difficulties in English grammar, arithmetic and geography, together with an exercise in map-drawing. The papers returned afforded evidences of careful training in all these branches. Still it would seem that a uniform system of parsing and analyzing English sentences would have contributed to the improvement of the pupils in the difficult, although apparently simple gram- mar of their own language.
The class in drawing was certainly in advance of that of last year. Among the specimens submitted were two or three in which accurate perspective gave evidence of a well- trained eye and hand. A few of the sketches, however, were deficient in a nice appreciation of size, form, distance, propor- tion and correct shading; but great allowance ought to be made for the brief time allotted to the examination in this department, as well as for an unfavorable point of view which operated to the disadvantage of some of the competitors.
Of the compositions a number were very creditable in thought, style and mechanical execution ; but in nearly all the pieces there was more or less of incorrect punctuation and erroneous use of capital letters. These faults, however, are so prevalent in the popular literature of the day that to make them the subject of harsh criticism here would be quite unjus- tifiable.
In the report for 1862, prepared by an accomplished litera- ry gentleman who has since exchanged steel pens for steel of
66
sterner argument, complaint was made of the exaggerated style of the high school declamations. It is a sincere pleas- ure to observe that this offence against good taste has nearly disappeared, and happily, too, without subsiding into that pain- ful opposite extreme characterized as the "wooden style." The recent prize declamations were, on an average, of a high order; not certainly too tame, and yet remarkably free from that ranting and boisterous affectation with which incipient orators are too apt to caricature true eloquence.
The exercises in reading were very creditable, and the com- petition in French was well sustained both in the senior and the other classes.
The committee have made the following award of the Prize Medals :
CLASSICAL DEPARTMENT.
Greek-David Manning, May L. Foster.
Latin- , Howard A. McKenney.
[NOTE-Of the four prizes for excellence in classical studies, one has been forfeited by misconduct not known to the com- mittee when the award was made.]
MATHEMATICAL DEPARTMENT.
Algebra-Martha Z. Swallow.
Geometry-Minnie Palmer, Carrie P. Townsend. Astronomy-William A. Harrington.
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT.
History-Eliza Barnard. Physiology and Chemistry-Sarah R. Lathe. Normal Course Studies-Julia A. Rockwood. Drawing-Walter T. Rogers.
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MISCELLANEOUS.
Composition-Walter R. Bynner. Declamation-Preston D. Jones. Reading-Mary A. Hakes. French-Harry Boyden.
DEPORTMENT.
As it was on the occasion of the first distribution of the prizes, in 1860, so ever since down to the present time, it has been quite impossible to select four pupils prominent for ex- cellence in "every description of honorable and meritorious conduct," from among eight or ten times that number ranking on the school register as "perfect" in this respect. The med- als for deportment, therefore, have been conferred, as hereto- fore, where unexceptionable conduct was found in combination with a near approach to some of the prizes already awarded, thus,-
Geometry-Lizzie N. Eager.
Normal Course and Latin-Emma L. Griggs.
Composition-Susie G. Gale.
Reading, Composition and Normal Course-Mary E. Par- tridge.
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