USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Worcester > Town annual reports of the several departments for the fiscal year ending December 31, 1884 > Part 22
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"To the corps, there are appointed yearly on an average twenty or twenty-five new teachers. These appointments constitute one of the most important duties of the School Committee; since upon the character of the teacher, more than upon any other one thing, depends the real success of the schools.
" Within the last ten or twelve years, greater care has been taken year by year in the performance of this duty. The selection rests upon no one man, or two men; it is so systematized that no one could make appointments from mere personal caprice, if he were so inclined. Application for employment in our schools is made to any member of the School Committee, or to the Superintendent of Schools; and the names of all applicants are entered in a book kept for the purpose. Twice a year, in January and in June, there is an examination of these candidates who receive due notice, by the Committee on Teachers consisting of six persons of whom the Superintendent is chairman. This examination is both written and oral, upon the common English branches of study, Methods of Teaching, Psychology, Hygiene, etc. Each candidate is furnished with a printed set of ten or fifteen questions in each of the ten or a dozen branches of study in which they are examined; he writes the answers to these questions, one set at a time, with no possibility of any assistance from any one; each of his papers is designated by a number, and by a number only, which he has drawn upon a card and placed with his name upon it in a sealed envelope. All the papers in each subject are then collected by the per- son in charge; and they are subsequently examined by the Committee and each is marked, to designate its character. The average of the marks of any one person, as designated by his number, indicates the standing of that per- son; and so far no one knows the name corresponding with the number, which makes it much easier to mark impartially. Simultaneously with the writing of these papers the candidates are separately called before the Com- mittee, and examined by each member in the presence of the others; and each member indicates, by a mark previously agreed upon, his opinion con- cerning the fitness of the candidate. This oral test before the Committee
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SCHOOLS .- SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT.
takes account not merely of the literary attainments of the candidate, but also of his self-possession, his appearance, his quickness of perception, and the nature and quality of his thought-in short, every thing which bears upon his ability to teach. In addition to all this, the moral character of the candi- date, the state of his health, and his opportunities for study are known to the Committee, so far as possible, through certificates and testimonials. After the written papers of the candidates have been examined and the results put into tabular form, the Committee meet, unseal the envelopes and place the names opposite the proper numbers; then they each announce the marks they have given to the several candidates; the oral marks of each candidate are then averaged; and this average combined with the standing in the written examination shows the rank. The Committee then decide by vote which of the candidates shall be approved and receive a certificate; and of those so approved they make two classes : the first to be preferred, and the second to be appointed when none of the first are available. From the list of candi- dates so approved, and from this list only, appointments are made by the joint action of the Visiting Committee of the School and the Superintendent ; every such appointment is reported to the Board at its next regular meeting, where objection to an improper appointment may be made; three months later, the person so appointed comes forward regularly under the rules for election for the remainder of the school year, unless he is sooner dropped for some cause by the Visiting Committee and the Superintendent; and at the end of the year objection may be made by any member of the Committee to the re-election of any teacher.
"It will be seen, then, that no teacher is appointed without the direct action of six members of the Committee and the concurrence of the whole; and that no one is retained more than three months without the direct action of the entire School Committee; and if, after all, incompetent teachers are retained, or improper appointments are made, the remedy lies with the rep- resentatives of the people, who are always glad to correct any errors that may be pointed out to them.
" The impression prevails to some extent that none but graduates of Normal Schools can pass these examinations. It is true that graduation at such a school does not create a presumption against a candidate; and that a study of the science of education and the art of teaching, both theoretically and practically, such as is common in Normal Schools, helps one to pass a proper examination-just as the study of Algebra will help one to pass an examina- tion in that study ; but it is not true that a person who is equally well qual- ified is not as likely to be approved.
" This method of examination is not followed strictly in the selection of teachers for the High School, where each vacancy requires a teacher specially fitted in one or more subjects."
PUPILS.
The census for May, 1884, shows the number of children then in the city from five to fifteen years old to be 12,884. The number registered in the day schools is 12,698. There is an
350
CITY DOCUMENT .- No. 39.
increase in the census of 163, and in the school registration of 594. This shows a larger enrollment in comparison with the census than in the year before-a fact which may arise from business depression to some extent, because there is less demand for the work of children in the shops and factories. The aver- age number belonging to the schools is not much above that of the year 1883, only 45 ; and this falling off in the average num- ber in comparison with the whole number is a circumstance which increases the cost per pupil, since provision has to be made for the greatest number, and not merely for the smaller average. The causes for such a decrease are difficult to trace, since they are not uniform. The decrease may be partly due to the hard times, which keep families more destitute and compel more or less irregular work of children a part of the year to help in supporting the family-a different condition from the pros- perous times, when all children who can lawfully be employed find steady work in the mills and shops.
A pupil belongs to school from the time he enters till he permanently leaves. Some time frequently elapses between the time of his actually leaving school and the ascertainment of the fact by his teacher. If the number belonging for five consecu- tive days respectively were 40, 42, 44, 46 and 48, the average number belonging would be the sum of these numbers divided by five, the number of days, which gives 44. But all the cost of carrying on the school continues as if the whole number, 48, were present every day. The average daily attendance is found in a similar way, by dividing the sum of the numbers present each day by the number of days the school has been in session. The per cent. of daily attendance to the average number belong- ing is a little less than 90; that is, for every 100 pupils due at school, 10 are absent every day.
It may appear, and it may be, that this number of absences is twice as large as it ought to be ; but we must consider that all the absence from sickness and stormy weather is included. It is a very easy matter, by a little skilful manipulating, to increase this per cent. of attendance. The high rate occasionally shown by the schools of a town or city is produced either in this way or
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SCHOOLS .- SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT.
else by too much stress upon punctuality. No reward is here offered for a high per cent. in any school. We seek only the simple statement of the facts ; and so long as the progress of a pupil or of his school is not interrupted, he is allowed to be absent if there is a good excuse. Every legitimate effort ought to be made to secure regularity of attendance; at the same time there may be other duties requiring a pupil's time for a day or two. The slight interruption of the school studies may be no permanent injury ; the very effort to make up what he has lost, on his return to school, may be a benefit ; and it may be useful for him to learn, while in school, that no business in life has a smooth and uniterrupted course.
On the other hand, order and punctuality are important; and, unless for good cause, no pupil should absent himself from reg- ular school attendance. This phase of the question has been so emphasized of late years that it needs not to be dwelt upon.
Taking things as they are in a community like this, and carry- ing on the schools upon the common-sense basis of the best pos- sible training in the schools consistent with other duties, abandon- ing, also, all effort to secure a high per cent. of school attend- ance merely for comparison with other schools, or for display in the exhaustive tables of a State Report, it is probable that about ninety per cent. is the natural ratio of attendance to number belonging in school.
HIGH SCHOOL.
The whole number registered in this school is 818. This num- ber includes the graduating and the entering class for the year. The number at the close of the year was 617, an increase over the previous year of 78.
352
CITY DOCUMENT .- No. 39. THE GRADUATING EXERCISES
Took place in High School Hall, Tuesday, June 24th.
PROGRAMME.
MUSIC.
Chorus : - Fair shines the moon to-night (Verdi).
*1. Salutatory : - with Essay ; Hawthorne, and Mosses from an old Manse, Jessie H. L. Knight. John M. Cronin. Alice H. Belding. Eleanor Bryant.
2. Oration : - Henry Esmond.
3. Essay : - What and how to read.
4. Essay : - Wendell Phillips.
MUSIC.
Piano Solo : - Les Adieux (Von Weber).
5. Essay : - L'Allegro, and Il Penseroso.
6. Oration : - Brutus and Cassius contrasted.
7. Essay :- Poetry and Prose - what we gain from them.
Nellie M. Tucker. Marion E. Chapin. Frank L. Dean.
Jennie M. Fairbanks.
MUSIC.
Solo : - Retrospect. Words by Mabel Forehand.
Music from Balch. Fred T. Tateum.
8. Essay : - What I owe to Education.
Maggie L. Walsh.
9. Essay : - Indian Life in Whittier. Emma L. Warren.
10. Oration : - Marc Antony, with Valedictory. Zelotes W. Coombs.
MUSIC.
Chorus : - The Venetian Boatman's Evening Song (Hatton).
Presentation of Diplomas by His Honor the Mayor.
* The Essays and Orations were not prepared specially for this occasion, but are selected from regular class work during the past two years.
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SCHOOLS .- SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT.
CLASS SONG.
Words by MYRA N. MOORE. Music by MABEL FOREHAND.
1.
As to-night we pause a moment On life's busy field of strife, To look back upon our footsteps, To look on to future life, We recall the happy hours Passed with classmates, teachers true ; We look on to our new future Stretching out before our view.
2.
Let us strive to make this future Full of noble deeds and true, Doing to our fellow creatures As we would that they should do. For we all shall have a power, Which will be for good or ill, For the choice is still before us, And it must be what we will.
3.
And though we to friends and classmates Now must say a sad adieu, We will ever cherish for you Thoughts of friendship good and true. Fraught with sadness and with pleasure Is this hour to every heart, And we pray that we may ever Iu life's school act well our part.
CLASS OF '84.
COLLEGE COURSE.
Zelotes Wood Coombs. John Marcus Cronin.
Frank Lincoln Dean. John Kenworthy. John Edwin Smith.
PARTIAL COLLEGE COURSE.
Ralph Wilbur Bartlett. James A. Joseph Donnelly. Leonard Everett Freeman.
John Patrick Leary. David Bigelow Lovell. Thomas Joseph Sheehan. Amy Maude Dodge.
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CITY DOCUMENT .- No. 39.
CLASSICAL COURSE.
Henry Ballou Abercrombie. George Danielson Barber. James Edward Fuller, Jr. Josephine Ehehalt Bauer. Alice Harriette Belding. Eleanor Bryant.
Mary Astley Bottomly. Marion Elizabeth Chapin. Jennie Maria Fairbanks. Kittie Ida Fish.
Alice Hunt. Jessie Louise H. Knight. Clara Mabel Lancaster. Myra Naomi Moore. Helen Augusta Nixon. Mary Elizabeth Tatman. Amy Augusta Tourtellotte.
Nellie Maria Tucker.
Florence Mary Valentine. Margaret Louisa Walsh.
Emma Lydia Warren.
ENGLISH COURSE.
Frank David Hickey. Emily Mary Bauer. Annie Pamela Boynton. Mary Jane Campbell. Edith Maria Clark.
Mabel Forehand. Josephine Lillian Hartwell. Mary Louisa Hastings. Mary Ellen Reynolds. May Caroline Rogers.
PARTIAL COURSE ..
John Bradley Bowker. Fred Thomas Tateum. Louisa Blake.
Candida Carolena Medina. Mary Sanford Newton. Nellie Frances Reed.
Rosanna Veronica Riley.
High Schools have been attacked from year to year by divers writers and speakers, who wish to pose as economists, or as sensa- tional reformers. It has been claimed that the education in these schools unfits boys and girls for the practical duties of life ; again, it has been charged that they are supported in the interest of the rich man ; and again, that they are conducted solely for the benefit of the poor man's family, whose children become by this means, discontented with their lot in life, and unhappy.
Without entering upon a discussion of the question, it may here be noted that it is this very discontent with our present lot and attainments, which leads any of us to advance. If a boy or girl in the High School becomes dissatisfied with his eviron- ment, he will improve it ; and thus society is advanced. If it be said that he would be more happy and contented to remain in ignorance, we can only reply that, fortunately or unfortunately, the primal pair did not begin on the plan that it is better to
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SCHOOLS .- SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT.
remain in ignorance in order to be happy; and there is no alterna- tive for us but to struggle on.
Statistics of this school, printed in the report for the year 1878, show that its advantages are shared, in the same proportion that our streets are used, by the children of people of all grades in wealth, from the man who pays only a poll tax, and the widow who does not pay even that, to the man who owns property by the hundreds of thousands; and by the children of people engaged in every variety of occupation. The same interesting state of affairs exists now.
As to the charge that boys and girls are unfitted in this school for the labor and the duties of life. The very opposite is true ; that is, the wish to engage in active employment at the earliest possible moment, yearly reduces the number attending this school by about twenty-five per cent.
In this connection the following statistics of the class just graduated are of interest.
BOYS.
Entered Sept. 1880. 1st year. 2d. 3d. 4th.
66 4 4 4
5
Total. 83
Left, 33 20 7 2
62
Remaining (in higher class),
4
- 66
-
Graduated,
17
GIRLS.
Entered Sept. 1880. 1st year. 2d.
3d. 4th.
73 1 2
2
0
Left, 19 14 10 1
44
Remaining (in higher class),
1
- 45
33
Total. 78
Graduated,
The total of fifty graduates is nearly one-third of the whole number connected with the class ; and it is quite one-third of those who really belonged to the school, since a number of pupils named in the list had scarcely more than a nominal and brief connection with the school. And the usefulness of the school does not depend upon the number who graduate, as is
356
CITY DOCUMENT .- No. 39.
frequently implied in discussions about High Schools. Thirty- three per cent. of the pupils graduate ; sixty-seven per cent. leave school sooner; but all were well trained so far as they went, and all are better off than if they had been compelled to leave school at the completion of their grammar-school studies. Of the one hundred and eleven pupils who left school before graduating, the following statistics are of interest :-
CAUSES OF LEAVING SCHOOL AND PRESENT OCCUPATION.
.
BOYS.
GIRLS.
Year
1 2
3
4 Total.
1
2
3
4 Total.
Work,
28
15
2
2
47
4
3
0
0
7
For other schools,
2
3
3
0
8
3
1
2
0
6
Moved from the city, Death,
0
0
10
1
Illness,
1
4 2
1
8
Dislike of study,
0 0 0 0
0
7
4
1
1
0
2
Remain in school,
0
004
4
0
0
0
1
1
Advanced,
0
0
0 0
0
0
0
1
0
1
Totals,
33
20
7 6 66
19
14
10
2 45
66
111
PRESENT OCCUPATION.
.
BOYS.
GIRLS.
In school here or elsewhere, 15
10
In Dentistry 2; Art 1,
3
Home,
20
Mechanical work,
21
Married,
5
Clerical work,
23
Teaching,
1
Farm work,
2
Work,
9
Liquor saloon,
1
Deceased,
1
-
-
Totals,
66
45
1
1
0 0
2
4
1
3
0
8
Repeated in Latin Class, 2
1 1 0
4
-
-
- -
-
-
-
111
Four boys entered the Free Institute and are there now. Two girls entered the Normal School. One still there.
June, 1884.
0 12
0
1
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SCHOOLS .- SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT.
THE CLASS OF '84.
Present occupation of pupils who graduated in 1884 :-
Boys.
Girls.
In college,
10
2
In normal or other schools,
1
5
Teaching,
2
Earning wages otherwise,
6
2
At home, but reciting in High School in one or more studies,
8
At home,
13
Abroad,
1
-
-
Totals,
17
33
Of the 21 girls at home, the majority are doing house-work and trying to learn what they omitted when in school.
A fine portrait in oil of Wendell Phillips has been presented to the school, and it hangs in the hall. The following corres- pondence relating to the gift explains itself :-
IN SCHOOL BOARD, June 3, 1884.
The following was read by E. B. Glasgow :-
" To the Committee, Teachers and Pupils of the Worcester High School :
Thinking that the face and form of the late departed friend of humanity, Wendell Phillips, may serve to recall the immortal words of the great orator in behalf of liberty and the rights of men, I take great pleasure in presenting his picture to the High School, hoping that many young people, who from day to day and year to year look upon his features, may learn to be like him, eloquent, generous and brave.
Yours most truly,
H. H. BIGELOW."
For the High School Committee, Mr. Glasgow offered the following, which was adopted unanimously by a rising vote :-
" Resolved, That the thanks of this Board be extended to Mr. H. H. Bigelow for his gift of the portrait of Wendell Phillips placed in our High School; and that the Secretary duly inform Mr. H. H. Bigelow of the action of this Board."
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CITY DOCUMENT .- No. 39.
THE FREE EVENING SCHOOLS.
The number registered in these schools, in most cases persons over 15 years old, is 423. They are in session from November 1 to March 1, two hours an evening five evenings a week. No one is excluded from their benefits who enters with a purpose to enjoy them. The order and discipline is not inferior to the best ยท day schools, not excepting the High School. The method of securing this result was discovered after years of experiment with various plans. Every pupil, on receiving his ticket of admission, is required to make a deposit of $1.00 as a guar- antee of good faith on his part. If any one is really too poor to raise $1.00 for this purpose, it is possible to find men who will be surety for the person .. At the close of the term, or sooner if it becomes necessary for him to withdraw, the money is refunded. All the books and apparatus are supplied free of cost. The school, therefore, costs nothing to the pupil beyond the time spent in it. The amount expended is $3,579.79, or about $11.30 for each pupil. These schools are among the most useful in the city. They enable young men and women to make up the defi- ciencies of their early education at a time when, from wider experience, they are prepared to appreciate their opportunities. The schools are opened as fast as they are needed, and the range of studies is made equal to the demand of the pupils. In painful contrast to these schools as now conducted, are those of a former time when a great crowd of undisciplined men and girls joined them, with no real purpose to learn, and for the mere object of passing away the time which they had not in themselves the resources to fill up ; and as soon as any entertainment presented itself, they were off as long as it lasted, and returned to school only to disturb those who really wished to improve, till the next entertainment offered. It appears that in some New England cities this state of things still continues ; and schools are kept in some of them where policemen are stationed to preserve order. We make no such waste of public money here. It is like casting pearls before swine. Nor is there any need of a law, as has recently been proposed, to compel cities to maintain these schools whether or not there is a constituency to profit by them.
.
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SCHOOLS .- SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT.
It will be unprofitable to organize a school system by night in all respects to correspond to the system of public day schools- a kind of ghostly masquerade-in the vain attempt to do for older men and women what we may succeed in doing for chil- dren at the formative period of their lives. These older people have, as a rule, gone beyond the age when money can profitably be expended upon them. The same amount will be more pro- ductive if expended upon the young, and there is a limit to the expenditure.
Evening schools, as supplementary, are required, and as here conducted they are exceedingly useful. As co-ordinate and co-extensive with day schools, they would be unnecessarily expensive, relatively unprofitable, and poorly patronized. The proposition is chiefly noticeable as a hobby for riding into noto- riety.
THE FREE EVENING DRAWING SCHOOLS.
The number of pupils registered is 216, organized in five classes, with six teachers. These classes meet 30 evenings each between Nov. 1st, and March 1st, and the cost of their main- tenance has been $1,692.28, or $8.78 per pupil.
These schools have grown out of the classes formed 18 or 20 years ago by the Mechanics Association, for the apprentices belonging to that organization. They supply a want recognized in this manufacturing community. They supply very largely whatever real demand there may be for industrial training ; and in the manner of their original organization they hint plainly at the method to be pursued on the subject of industrial training, as will be seen further on.
DRAWING
Is made a regular study in the Grammar schools throughout the course. It is not taught as a fine art at first-to train artists -any more than reading and writing is taught solely as a preparation for a literary career-to make orators and writers. A few children who learn to read and write in the schools may become literary men and women, distinguished authors, let us hope; but the great majority will not become such. And yet reading and writing is recognized as a useful accomplishment for all.
360
CITY DOCUMENT .- No. 89.
So it is with drawing. Occasionally a child will display such talent that he will pursue the study of drawing through the High School, where it is optional ; and, going on from that point, he may become an artist. The majority of pupils, however, will stop far short of this ; and yet the elementary study which they have in the Grammar schools, like reading and writing, will be useful to them in whatever occupation they may choose. The eye is trained to see forms, the details of objects and their rela- tions ; the mind is trained to judge of size, distance, length, both relative and absolute; and the hand learns how to handle a pen- cil so as to make rude representations of things.
Nor is this all. From the most elementary stage to the com- pletion of the course in the High School, this study is carried on in three parallel lines : copying from the flat, drawing from models, and original design. The development of this plan as it appears in the successive stages is interesting as a study in educational method. Designing by the pupil from its first simple steps to something more complete in the higher grades, develops an originality in many a pupil which would otherwise remain dor- mant.
And drawing is the single best study, directly tending to indus- trial education - a subject about which there is wide-spread misapprehension, and of which something will be said below.
FREE TEXT BOOKS.
The furnishing of text books and supplies free to all pupils- even in High Schools, whose right to be maintained at public charge has so lately been questioned - was made obligatory in all the towns and cities of this commonwealth by the last legis- lature. The wisdom or the folly of this act is now therefore beyond question ; and we are concerned chiefly with the opera- tion of the law thus far.
In the first place, the cost of supplying the schools has been about twenty per cent. less than was estimated ; and this cost is incurred the present year for many books that will probably last from two to five years.
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SCHOOLS .- SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT.
Secondly. The advantages to the schools of having all neces- sary material at hand promptly has been apparent. No pupil loses time for want of books.
Thirdly. The children, as a rule, take excellent care of their books-in many cases rather better care than the same children would take of their own property. Of course there are excep- tions to this rule ; but so far as it is true, this is the most encour- aging feature of the law. It proves that the young have not yet lost the feeling that something is due from them to the public. This fine appreciation of what they have received is a promise of good citizenship ; and it should by all means be encouraged. If the children find that everything needful for their school train- ing, even to a pen and pencil, is supplied to them free of cost, let them, all the more, be taught that all this costs the public money ; and that they are under obligation to take good care of the pub- lic property, and to become the self-reliant, self-supporting citi- zens which it is the design of the schools to produce.
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