USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Worcester > Town annual reports of the several departments for the fiscal year ending December 31, 1875 > Part 18
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ABSTRACT OF STATISTICS,
FOR THE YEAR 1875.
I. POPULATION.
Population Census of 1875
49,317
Children between the ages of five and fifteen, May, 1875 7,988
II. FINANCIAL.
Valuation, May, 1875 $49,267,081 00
Increase for the year 81,537 00
City Debt, December, 1875
2,589,700 00
State, county, and city tax, 1875 . 843,761 54
Rate of taxation . .
.0166
Value of school houses and lots
$824,375 00
Other School property
$73,941 96
268
CITY DOCUMENT .- No. 30.
*Ordinary expenses of schools
Per cent. of same to valuation .0028
Per cent. of same to whole tax .163
Repairs of school houses, furniture and stoves 5,353 59
Permanent improvements to school houses $2,841 18
New furniture, patterns, &c. 6,017 78
Rents and insurance 996 56
9,855 52
Less revenue
Expended for all purposes
$152,493 21
Average cost per scholar for all schools, including ordinary repairs . $20 07
Same last year . $20 69
Cost of Evening Schools 2,664 93
Average per scholar $8 51
Cost of Evening Drawing Schools 1,275 00
Average per scholar $8 22
Cost of High School
17,169 15
Decrease $1,079 55
Average per scholar 54 68
Decrease
4 38
III. SCHOOL HOUSES.
Number occupied December, 1875 34
Rooms, not including recitation rooms 155
Rooms rented at. New Worcester 1
Drawing School rooms, recitation and Evening School rooms, additional . 13
Whole number of sittings : In High School 382
Additional space for 180
Grammar Schools, Grades IX-VI 1,901
Secondary Schools, Grades V and IV 1,699
Primary Schools, Grades III, II and I 3,786
Suburban Schools
440
IV. SCHOOLS.
High School, ten rooms 1
Grammar rooms, Grades IX-VI 38
Secondary rooms, Grades V, IV 32
Primary rooms, Grades III, II, I 651
* See detailed statement further on.
$138,001 46
$153,210 57
717 36
SCHOOLS .- SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT. 269
Suburban Schools . 10
Northville, Tatnuck, Valley Falls, Leesville, Blithewood, Bloomingdale, Adams Square, Burncoat, North Pond, Chamberlain.
Evening Schools . 5 ยท .
Washington street for boys; Walnut street for girls ; Summer street, Cambridge street and New Worcester, for both.
Free Evening Drawing Schools, both sexes 4
V. TEACHERS.
Male teachers in High School 5
Female teachers in High School 5
Male teachers in Grammar School 6
Female teachers in all grades below the High School
145
Special teacher of Music, male .
1
Special teacher of Drawing, male
1
Special teacher of Drawing, High School, male
1
Number of teachers in Day Schools 164
Male teachers in Evening Schools 3
Female teachers in Evening Schools 11
Teachers in Free Evening Drawing Schools, male 4
Whole number of teachers 182
VI. PUPILS.
Number registered in Day Schools 8,896
Decrease 58
In Evening Schools 615
In Free Evening Drawing Schools 155
Number registered in all schools 9,666
Decrease 254
Number over 15 years old
1,338
Increase 266
Estimated number in this city in private schools here 1,200
Pupils in State Normal School, this city 99
Average number belonging to public schools 7,143
Increase 86
Average number belonging to Day Schools 6,705
Increase 184
Average daily attendance in Day Schools 6,204
Increase 141
Average daily absence 501
Decrease 81
270
CITY DOCUMENT .- No. 30.
Number at close of Fall term, 1874 . 7,259
At close of Winter term, 1874-75 6,394
Decrease from last year 420
At close of Spring term 6,438
Increase
24
At close of Summer term Increase 134
6,400
At close of Fall term.
7,585
Increase
326
Per cent. of daily attendance to average number belonging Decrease
00.6
Number perfect in attendance the whole year Decrease 78
455
Perfect three terms
567
Perfect two terms 712
Perfect one term
1,768
Number registered in High School 444
Decrease
19
Boys
214
Increase
8
Girls
230
Decrease 27
Number at the close of the year 360
Increase 44
Number of graduates June, 1875
47
Number left the school . 37
Decrease
72
Average number belonging 314
Average daily attendance 308
Average daily absence . 6
Per cent. of daily attendance to average number belonging : 98.1
Average age of pupils, December, 1875 16.6
Average number of pupils to a regular teacher 31.4
92.5
271
SCHOOLS .- SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT.
STATISTICS, WORCESTER SCHOOLS,
ON THE PLAN ADOPTED BY THE
NATIONAL SUPERINTENDENTS' ASSOCIATION,
December 1, 1874, to December 1, 1875.
ESTIMATED SCHOOL POPULATION.
Number between the ages of five and fifteen 9,570
Under six years old . 1,756
Over sixteen years old . 544
Between six and sixteen years of age .
8,000
PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
Number enrolled during the year . 9,666
Average daily attendance in day schools 6,204
School rooms, exclusive of those used for recitation only 155
School rooms used exclusively for recitations 13
Average duration of school in days 205
SCHOOLS OTHER THAN PUBLIC.
In schools corresponding to public schools below the High
School .
1,100'
In schools corresponding to public High School 100
Teachers in said schools of all grades :
Males
25
Females
20
Total . 45
Teachers in public schools :
Males
17
Females
165
Total .
182
Average salary of teachers per month in public schools :
Males
$169 29
Females
52 20
ANNUAL INCOME.
Local tax
$152,493 21
From other sources
717 36
Total
$153,210 57
272
CITY DOCUMENT .- No. 30. ANNUAL EXPENDITURES. Permanent.
Buildings and furniture, etc. $9,855 52
Current.
Salary of Superintendent
3,000 00
Salary of Secretary and Clerk
1,067 25
Salaries of Teachers .
110,345 52
Salaries of Truant Officers
2,016 60
Miscellaneous :
Repairs .
$5,353 59
Fuel .
7,857 69
Janitors
5,585 55
Other
8,128 85
Total
$153,210 57
Current expenditure, per capita, of school population, five to fifteen
$14 98
14 83
Expenditure, per capita, of pupils enrolled in public schools . Expenditure, per capita, of average attendance in public schools Expenditure, per capita, of population between six and sixteen Expenditure, per capita, of population between six and sixteen
21 72
17 92
including interest on value of all school property at 7 per cent.
25 57
REMARKS ON THESE STATISTICS.
The valuation of school property, which was last year . $907,650 95
898,316 96
Has been reduced, chiefly by the fall in the price of lands, to . But the real value of the property for school purposes is no less than before; indeed, it is greater by the amount ex- pended in permanent repairs.
The ordinary expenses of the schools, exclusive of repairs, is A reduction from last year of . . 426 86
138,001 46
Including ordinary repairs, the cost is
143,355 05
A reduction from last year of .
2,399 68
The average cost, per scholar, in all the schools, based upon the larger sum, is . . 20 07
Against a cost the previous year, on the same basis, of .
20 69
The rate of decrease is about the same-a little over three per cent .- as that of the salaries at City Hall for the year 1876, excepting the police.
The High School, which is considered an expensive institu- tion, has cost . 17,169 15
A reduction from the previous year of . 1,079 55
This, divided by the average number belonging to the school, 314, shows a cost per scholar of . 54 68
$26,925 68
SCHOOLS. - SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT.
273
Which is less than the cost last year .
4 38
In the cost of tuition the reduction is still greater :- Teachers' salaries, Dec. 1, 1874 .
14,600 00
Number of pupils in school . 316
Tuition per scholar
46 20
Teachers' salaries, Dec. 1, 1875 .
14,050 00
Number of pupils in school . 360
Tuition per scholar 39 03
Decrease in tuition per scholar . 7 17
In a private school of equal pretensions the charges per scholar would not be less than $40 a term, or per year . 160 00
Against the cost in this school of .
54 68
The financial aspect of schools will be discussed at length further on. The number of
SCHOOL HOUSES
is the same as last year; but the number of rooms occu- pied is greater by seven; and including recitation rooms, by eleven. This includes the rooms finished in the upper stories of several school-houses, and the room hired at New Worcester. It would not only have improved the schools in the neighborhood, but also have been a measure of true econo- my, to have erected, during the past year, the school house on Southgate street, called for by the School Board. The erection of that house, the removal of the old one to Lamartine street for a primary school, and the alteration of the old house at East Worcester so as to provide four good rooms, are matters now before the City Council by your recommendation ; and it is very desirable that these improvements be made the coming year.
When a city has attained its growth, or while it is steadily grow- ing, there is no difficulty in providing necessary school accommoda- tions ; but when there is a depression in business, as at present, it is not possible, in all cases, to predict with certainty whether there will be an increase of pupils in a given locality. There is no doubt, however, that an enlargement of the Pleasant street school house will be necessary within a year or two. The popu- lation in that neighborhood is liable to less fluctuation than in most parts of the city. The highest grade of school in that
36
274
CITY DOCUMENT .- No. 30.
house is the fifth. Pupils from that neighborhood in the higher grades have to be distributed among the surrounding schools ; and when they reach the ninth grade there is no permanent school which they can attend nearer than Dix street or Woodland street. By extending the building on the west end, four good rooms and a basement for a playroom, could be built at a small cost; and there could then be in the house a school of each grade.
No change has been made in the
ORGANIZATION OF THE SCHOOLS,
the past year, except the opening of a new ninth grade at Wal- nut street, and first grade schools at New Worcester, South Wor- cester, East Worcester and Edgeworth street. There were more than three hundred pupils of the ninth grade at the beginning of the fall term, making an average of more than fifty each for six schools. It is not expected that so many of this grade will be found in school next year, and we shall probably return to the original number of ninth-grade schools. The aggregate
NUMBER OF PUPILS
in all the day schools is fifty-eight less than last year; while including the evening schools and the drawing schools there has been a decrease in the whole number registered of two hundred and fifty-four. On the other hand, the average number belonging to the schools, which is the real number for whom schools and teachers must be provided, has increased eighty-six ; and in the day schools, the increase is one hundred and eighty-four; while the average daily attendance has increased one hundred and forty-one-showing a decrease in the daily absence of eighty-one.
This relative increase of the daily attendance to the number belonging, and of the number belonging to the number enrolled, is obviously a hopeful sign. At the close of the Fall term there were in attendance at school three hundred and twenty-six more pupils than at the corresponding time last year. Some of the schools became crowded in consequence ; and a few new schools
275
SCHOOLS .- SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT.
were opened, by which, of course, the expenses of this depart- ment of the city government were unavoidably increased. At the
HIGH SCHOOL
the statistics show two encouraging features : first, an increase in the number of boys ; and second, an increase in the number at the close of the year, though the whole number registered was nineteen less than the year before. Only thirty-seven have dropped out of the school against one hundred and nine, the year before. The average age of pupils in this school is seven months greater than last year. The second form of Statistics is made for the sake of convenience in making comparison with other cities.
THE PER CENT. OF ATTENDANCE.
The object of statistics of school attendance is, in the first place, to show what amount of absence and tardiness is un- avoidable, and what is the consequent loss which the pupils must sustain ; and, in the second place, to furnish a healthy stimulus to avoid further loss. Every parent ought to cause his child to be in school promptly every day when he is well ; he ought also to keep him at home when sick. Unfortunately, in many cases parents are neglectful and indifferent about the punctuality of their children ; and the children, perceiving the low estimate in which regularity of attendance at school is held, in comparison with trifling calls in other directions, come to regard absence and tardiness as of little account, and thus gradually lose their interest in study and in school. The record of attendance shows to what extent this state of things exists; it would be well to distinguish the necessary from the avoidable absence and tardiness.
It is presumed that the teacher makes use of every influence at his command-ambition, the call of duty, the love of appro- bation, the hope of reward, the fear of loss and disgrace or even of penalty, all judiciously applied-to secure good attendance among scholars. Then, when all this has been done, the record
276
CITY DOCUMENT .- No. 30.
is only an exhibit of the facts. But to secure a fine record is not an end in itself ; and when a pupil goes home because he is late, preferring to be absent rather than to be tardy, or when he drags himself to school when he is too sick to sit up, in order to avoid a mark on the record book, then the evil is not less than if he remained at home when he ought to be in school ; and the teacher will take care that his conception of his duty in respect to attendance is corrected. " Schools are not kept in order to secure perfect attendance ; good attendance is sought in order that we may have the best schools."
It will be seen by reference to tables further on that the per cent. of daily attendance to the number belonging to the schools is 92.5. Probably 95 is as large a per cent. as could possibly be obtained in all the grades throughout the city without injury to the pupils; and in almost every school there are a few scholars who, often unnecessarily, reduce the per cent. the other two and a half ; but in order to compensate for these it is not wise to urge the others beyond their ability.
In the High School where the pupils are older, a larger per cent. is to be expected ; it has reached 98.1. Here as else- where, no doubt, a large portion of the absence is chargeable to a few pupils, and much of theirs may have been unnecessary . With the majority, therefore, the attendance is quite as likely to have been more regular than was judicious, as to have been less so. It is certain that, if equally distributed among the pupils, the absence has not been greater than should be expected ; for it is not the object of any public school to secure the daily attendance of every pupil regardless of all other considerations.
It would not be just to construe these remarks as favoring in the least any laxity in respect to the punctuality of pupils able to be in school ; they only claim a wise indulgence for those who may need it.
In a table further on, showing the absence and tardiness for the last nine years it will be seen that the number of tardinesses for each scholar the past year is less than in any other, and the number of absences less than in any year except 1874.
277
SCHOOLS .- SUPERINTENDENT'S PEPORT.
THE COURSE OF STUDY.
A revised plan of studies in the Grammar and Primary schools was prepared, and proof sheets were placed in the hands of teachers at the beginning of the year. By this plan the ground covered by each grade was definitely marked out and, in most studies, divided by subjects into term and half-term work. It was the design to hold a written examination, uniform for all schools of the same grade, twice a term; but this has been accomplished only in part. At the close of the school year the opinion of each teacher was sought on the practical working of the plan. The general response was that, in one or more studies, the class under consideration had not completed the work assigned, for the reason that the requirements of the pre- vious year as laid down in this plan had not been completed.
The committee to whom the matter was referred decided there- fore to defer a further revision till the plan as proposed should continue in operation another year. At the close of the school year, in June, the criticisms of teachers will again be called for and a revised plan will doubtless be adopted, which shall be more in accordance with what is desirable and what is possible.
In the management of schools, next to securing the best teachers, there is nothing of more importance than the wise dis- tribution and order of studies ; and on this very question, as well as on others of vital interest to our schools, there is a wide diversity of opinion among those who are presumably the best informed. By the theory of one, stubborn facts only, and for the most part those cognizable by the senses, should, it would seem, be kept before the mind of a child, in order to exorcise those phantoms of the imagination which so often mislead him ; by the theory of another, the mere facts and the reasoning upon them, are not appropriate for young children ; and the imagina- tion should be cultivated, not suppressed. Between these opposite views there is probably in practice more agreement than appears in the theory ; and it is with the practical part that we have chiefly to do, since the best theory is inoperative, if not well applied. What might or should be done in the schools if all the conditions were favorable, is quite a different thing
278
CITY DOCUMENT .- No. 30.
from what can be done, taking things as they are and must remain. Hence in marking out a course of studies it is quite as important to consider what is feasible as what is theoretically best.
In one of our schools a class in arithmetic have learned all the processes in fractions and can obtain results with surprising correctness and rapidity. It is very doubtful whether they understand thoroughly all the philosophy of these problems ; it is somewhat doubtful whether they are capable of fully understanding them. Now the question is whether they ought to have pursued this study without fully mastering its philosophy ; and here the doctors differ. Whatever may be best for pupils who are able to begin and continue their education at leisure through all its stages, children who can remain in school but a few years, ought to master the fundamental processes of arithmetic, learn to read, spell, draw and write tolerably, and acquire at least a moderate facility in the correct use of the English language-whatever else they accomplish or neglect.
THE SEWING SCHOOL.
This school, in the Lamartine street school-house, meets every Saturday afternoon for about four months in the year. It is com- posed of girls, eight to twelve years old, from the public schools, who are supposed to be destitute of instruction in this useful accomplishment at home. The teachers are ladies who give their time for this object, simply for the love of it; and any one who takes the trouble to inspect the work of this school will pronounce the good accomplished not inferior to that of many a more osten- tatious kind of benevolence. The school began with 37 pupils and closed with 132. The cost of material was $117; the num- ber of garments made, 294; and the average cost of each was 30 cents. The whole cost of the school was about $200; of this sum, $100 was paid by the city, and the balance was contributed or solicited from others, by the ladies who have so generously carried it on.
279
SCHOOLS .- SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT.
The school has been re-opened the present winter with a still larger attendance, and $200 have been appropriated for its sup- port.
Sewing has also been introduced, on trial, under the efficient control of a lady member of this board, into a school of the second grade, with authority to expend a sum not exceeding $25 in making the experiment.
FREE EVENING DRAWING CLASSES
have been opened upon substantially the same plan as last year ; the attendance is not so large as in the previous year, and conse- quently the cost per scholar has been somewhat increased. It should be borne in mind that this school is not a necessary part of the public school system ; it has been opened for the benefit of the manufacturing portion of the community, and is a means of in- creasing the general prosperity of the city ; the city is required by law to maintain it; the school board merely carries it on for this purpose ; but it benefits the other schools, especially through the Free-Hand classes, by the instruction of a number of the teachers.
DRAWING NOT A MERELY ORNAMENTAL STUDY.
All the pupils in the public schools pursue the study of draw- ing, under the direction of a special teacher, because this is a comparatively new study, just as they practice penmanship. Facility in drawing and in perceiving what a drawing represents, is as necessary, for communicating and receiving ideas, as facility in writing and reading what is written. This study was intro- duced in response to a demand for practical studies, and it is emi- nently practical, if only for its direct aid to a pupil in learning to write ; but it has a higher value in opening the eyes to a correct perception of forms, and in training the hand accurately to de- lineate them; and in the more advanced stages, even in our schools, it has developed, in many a child, the creative power of designing combinations for ornament and beauty, that cannot fail
280
CITY DOCUMENT .- No. 30.
to be profitable in the manufacturing industries of the city ; not to speak of the satisfaction that a child so educated retains as a constant companion. What secures the market for the manufac- tures of Great Britain and France ; the fabrics, the machinery, the jewelry, and the countless articles, both useful and ornamen- tal, which we find in our houses ? It often turns upon the artistic design, the element of beauty which those articles have incorpo- ' rated in them-something about them which catches the eye and pleases the fancy. In many an instance a country has found at an international exhibition, that her manufactured products were falling behind in the competition for the markets of the world, and has sought and found a remedy in the cultivation of taste and the art of design among her people. This principle holds true of a municipality ; especially of one dependant largely, like ours, upon its manufactures.
Not one article in a thousand exposed for sale in our shops and stores is destitute of some element, in shape, in color or in other visible feature, that is not essential to its primary and legitimate use. This element, whatever it may be, has been introduced as a tribute to the universal love of beauty ; and it secures the sale of the merchandise. In every manufactory the same is true. A little scroll on a plow-beam or a mowing-machine, the curve in the leg of a lathe or a loom, where a straight leg would be no less serviceable, the carved figure on a stove plate, the narrow red lines on a picture frame, the gilding and the variety of polished woods in the interior of a railway car, the ornamental painting of furniture,-these are a few of the obvious instances under our own eyes and in our neighbors' factories, where taste and beauty contribute to pecuniary profit ; a little reflection will multiply the instances indefinitely. The workmen who contribute the artistic finish command the highest wages. Who are these men ? Where but little skill is required they may be Americans, though we are more likely to find them foreigners. In such a place as the Print Works at Southbridge we are sure to find a European ; it is safe to assume that no one born in this country makes the patterns for the Crompton Carpet Factory in this city ; and these men must be well paid. Not only for creating producers, but for securing good buyers also this finer sense must be cultivated ; otherwise
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SCHOOLS .- SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT.
a community would soon afford a market for every ugly product, fit for barbarians only.
It would be inexcusable thus to refer again to these oft-repeated considerations, were there not now a class of pseudo-economists seeking to raise a cry against drawing as an "ornamental study," when it alone, of all the studies in our schools, directly affects the chief industries of the city.
The cost of instruction in this branch of study, including the salary of the special teacher and a part of the ordinary expense of the schools proportionate to the time consumed, is between four and five thousand dollars, or considerably less than one dol- lar for each pupil.
This pecuniary view is the only one which a mercenary people could appreciate ; but ability to make money is not the only or the chief consideration. A child is not well brought up who has been merely clothed and fed like a favorite pet animal ; it is as bad to starve his mind as to withhold his daily food. In every person there is a sense of the beautiful that craves gratification and needs to be cultivated. All nature has been so contrived as to administer to this want. The graceful foliage of trees and plants, the green fields, the gray rocks, and the blue waters that cover the landscape, the majestic sweep of hills and valleys, and mountains outlined against the sky, and the ever-changing forms of the floating clouds, contribute to the comfort and happiness of man as really as that small portion of the fruits of the earth which he can devour as food, or convert into covering and shelter for his body ; and we wisely spend money through the Commission of Shade Trees and Public Grounds to secure this kind of enjoy- ment.
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