USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Worcester > Town annual reports of the several departments for the fiscal year ending December 31, 1887 > Part 20
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25
323
SUNNYSIDE.
COMMITTEE.
TEACHERS.
GRADE.
Dexter, Dexter,
Mary A. Morrissey, Carrie A. Thompson,
VI-IV III-I
WINSLOW STREET.
COMMITTEE.
TEACHERS. GRADE.
Ballard,
J. Chauncey Lyford, Principal.
Ballard,
Sarah M. Averill, Assistant,
IX
Ballard,
Mary A. Drake,
VIII
Ballard,
Jessie M. Nichols,
VII
Ballard,
Eva E. Stone,
VI
Drennan,
Octavia H. Vaughan,
V
Drennan,
Julia E. Greenwood,
V
Drennan,
Ella E. Goddard,
IV
Drennan,
Ida M. McCambridge,
IV
J. H. Kelley,
Emma G. Goodwin,
III
J. H. Kelley,
Hattie L. Partridge,
II
J. H. Kelley,
A. Calista Hale,
I
CHANDLER STREET.
TEACHERS.
GRADE.
Miss Barnard,
William H. Bartlett, Principal.
IX
Miss Barnard,
Jennie L. Higgins,
VIII
Miss Barnard,
Helena M. Kalaher,
VII
Miss Barnard,
Nettie A. Murray,
VI
Hughes,
Mary E. Convery,
VI-V
Hughes,
Eliza J. Seaver,
V
Harriet E. Maynard,
IV
Anna M. Murray,
III
J. H. Kelley,
Mary L. Haselden,
II
J. H. Kelley,
D. Isabell Newbury,
I
J. H. Kelley,
Ada E. Mason,
Carrie L. Maynard,
WOODLAND STREET.
TEACHERS. GRADE.
Parker,
Joseph Jackson, Principal. Alice E. Meriam, Assistant,
IX
Parker,
Marietta Knight, 66
IX
Parker,
Ann S. Dunton,
VIII
Parker,
Mary M. Lawton,
VIII-VII
Parker,
Carrie R. Clements,
VII
Miss Barnard,
Martha T. Wyman,
VI
Miss Barnard,
Emma F. Brown,
VI-V
Miss Barnard,
Susie A. Partridge,
V
Miss Barnard,
Sarah J. Melanefy,
IV
D. J. Kelley,
M. Rosalie Goddard,
IV
D. J. Kelley,
Maggie I. Melanefy,
III
D. J. Kelley,
Carrie F. Meriam,
III
D. J. Kelley,
Maggie A. Flaherty,
II
Lovering,
Emma Buckley,
II
Lovering,
Carrie A. Hildreth,
I
Lovering,
Cora A. Cooley,
I
COMMITTEE.
Miss Barnard,
Clara Manly, Assistant,
Hughes,
J. H. Kelley,
J. H. Kelley,
COMMITTEE.
Parker.
324
CITY DOCUMENT .- No. 42.
WASHINGTON STREET.
COMMITTEE.
TEACHERS.
GRADE.
Souther, Souther, Souther,
Charles T. Haynes, Principal. Ida L. Gaskill, Assistant, M. Louise Rice, Assistant,
IX
IX
LEDGE STREET.
COMMITTEE.
TEACHERS. GRADE.
D. J. Kelley,
Charles C. Woodman, Principal.
D. J. Kelley,
Margaret M. Geary, Assistant,
IX
D. J. Kelley,
Emma L. Cowles,
VIII
D. J. Kelley,
Maria P. Cole,
VIII-VII
D. J. Kelley,
Kate A. McCarthy,
VII
Moriarty,
Daniel H. Casey,
VI VI
Moriarty,
Frances M. Athy,
V
Moriarty,
L. Elizabeth King,
V
Sanford,
Mary E. D. King,
IV
Sanford,
Fanny A. Williams,
III
Sanford,
Carrie E. Howe,
III-II
Sanford,
Hannah M. Kickham,
II-I
Sanford,
Mary E. Joyce,
I
MILLBURY STREET.
TEACHERS.
GRADE.
Moriarty,
Francis P. Mckeon, Principal.
Moriarty,
Ella J. Lyford, Assistant,
IX
Moriarty,
Mary A. Rourke,
VIII-VII
Moriarty,
Elida M. Capen,
VII-VI
Taft,
Hannah Sheehan,
V
Taft,
Hattie S. Putnam,
IV
Taft,
Carrie H. Wilmarth,
III
Warner,
Mary L. Gafney,
II
Warner,
Julia A. Riley,
I
Warner,
Julia A. Quinn,
I
THOMAS STREET.
COMMITTEE.
TEACHERS.
GRADE.
Thompson,
Harriet G. Waite, Principal.
VIII
Thompson,
John F. Lynch,
VI
Thompson,
Mary E. Fitzgerald,
VI
McCafferty,
Hattie G. Gates,
V
McCafferty,
Mary E. Houghton,
V.IV
McCafferty,
Ella A. Casey,
III
Nihill,
Belle H. Tucker,
III-II
Nihill,
Addie E. Sprague,
II
Nihill,
Nellie M. Rood,
I
Nihill,
Jennie C. Clough,
I
Moriarty,
Alice G. McMahon,
COMMITTEE.
Thompson,
Anna P. Smith, Assistant,
SCHOOLS .- SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT.
325
EDGEWORTH STREET.
COMMITTEE.
GRADE.
F. Brown,
VII
F. Brown,
F. Brown,
Abbie A. Wells,
V
F. Brown,
Louise F. Clark,
IV
Ratigan,
Lucia N. Jennison,
IV
Ratigan,
Fransess D. Martin,
III
Ratigan,
Lilla Ingalls,
II
Ratigan,
Estella V. Rolston,
I
Ratigan,
Selina P. Ahlstrom,
I
WALNUT STREET.
COMMITTEE.
TEACHERS.
GRADE.
J. H. Kelley,
Nellie C. Thomas, Principal,
VIII
J. H. Kelley,
Kate A. Meade,
VII
J. H. Kelley,
Ella M. Macfarland,
VI
J. H. Kelley,
Mary L. Norcross,
V
Swan,
Kate A. Coughlin,
IV
Swan,
Mary E. McCormick,
III-II
Swan,
Mary L. Seavey,
I
OXFORD STREET.
TEACHERS.
GRADE.
McCafferty,
Ella L. Dwyer, Principal,
VIII
McCafferty,
Mary A. Hathaway,
VII
McCafferty,
Lucy Lewisson,
VI
McCafferty,
Mary F. Harrington,
Parker,
Mabel B. Tew,
IV
Parker,
Mary F. Barker,
III
Parker,
Florence S. Waite,
II
Parker,
Catherine T. Nevins,
I
SYCAMORE STREET.
COMMITTEE.
TEACHERS.
GRADE.
Nihill,
Charlotte H. Munger, Principal,
VIII
Nihill,
Janet Martin,
VII
Nihill,
A. Teresa Timon,
VI
Nihill,
S. Lizzie Carter,
V
Thompson,
Hattie S. Hagen,
IV
Thompson,
Sarah W. Clements,
III
Thompson,
Ida A. E. Kenney,
II
Thompson,
Eliza J. Day,
I
FREELAND STREET.
COMMITTEE.
TEACHERS.
GRADE.
A. Brown,
M. Ella Spalding, Principal,
VIII
A. Brown,
Emma M. Plimpton,
VII
A. Brown,
Ida F. Buxton,
VI
A. Brown,
Madge H. Coughlin,
V
A. Brown,
Myra H. Baker,
IV
Tolman,
Jennie M. Tainter,
III-II
Tolman,
Addie T. Banister,
I
22
-
COMMITTEE.
TEACHERS. Ella E. Roper, Principal, Anna T. Cavanough,
VI
326
CITY DOCUMENT .- No. 42.
NEW WORCESTER.
COMMITTEE.
TEACHERS.
Georgianna M. Newton, Anna B. Ranger, Rebecca H. Davie,
GRADE. IV-III II I
SOUTH WORCESTER.
COMMITTEE.
TEACHERS.
GRADE.
Hughes,
Carrie A. George, Principal,
VIII
Hughes,
Ellen M. Boyden,
VII
Hughes,
Edward A. Quinland,
VI
Hughes,
Mary O. Whitney,
V
Hughes,
Lydia W. Ball,
IV
Lovering,
Nellie Hinsley,
IV-III
Lovering,
Mary C. Paige,
III
Lovering,
Maggie A. Mahony,
II
Lovering,
Mary McBride,
I
QUINSIGAMOND.
COMMITTEE.
TEACHERS,
GRADE.
Tolman,
Richard H. Mooney, Principal,
VIII-VII
Tolman,
F. May Prentice,
VI
Tolman,
Annie W. Newell,
V
Tolman,
Jeannie E. Sanderson,
IV
Nihill,
Mary A. Winter,
III
Nihill,
Alice V. Phelps,
II
Nihill,
Mary G. Smith,
II-I
Nihill,
Carrie M. Sweetzer,
I
PROVIDENCE STREET.
COMMITTEE.
TEACHERS.
GRADE.
Souther,
Benj. W. Kinney, Principal,
· VIII
Souther,
Thomas J. Higgins,
VII
Souther,
Anna G. Foley,
VI
Souther,
Julia A. Bunker,
V
Swan,
Margaret F. Hagan,
IV
Swan,
Sarah J. Newton,
III
Swan,
Mary C. Smith,
II
Swan,
Margaret L. Walsh,
I
GAGE STREET.
COMMITTEE.
TEACHERS.
GRADE.
Drennan,
Ella W. Foskett, Principal.
Drennan,
Nellie F. Saunders, Assistant,
VIII
Drennan,
Annie Brown,
VII-VI
Drennan.
Jennie E. Maloney,
VI
Drennan,
M. Ella Clark,
V V
Adams,
Marion C. Tucker,
Adams,
Kate C. Cosgrove,
IV
Adams,
Sarah W. Hay,
IV
Adams,
Mary J. O'Connor,
III
Thompson,
Maggie E. Magone,
III
Thompson,
Ellen F. Fallon,
II
Tolman, Tolman, Tolman,
SCHOOLS .- SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT.
327
EAST WORCESTER.
COMMITTEE.
GRADE.
Guerin, Guerin,
Guerin,
Nellie G. Gillicuddy, Mary A. Carney,
I
LAMARTINE STREET:
COMMITTEE.
TEACHERS. GRADE.
Swan,
Owen H. Conlin, Principal,
Swan,
Emma P. Brewer, Assistant.
VII
Swan,
Mary J. Sullivan,
VI
Swan,
Louise A. Dawson,
V
Swan,
Aloysia Radcliffe,
Swan,
Ellen T. Shannon,
IV
Taft,
Mary E. Russell,
IV
Taft,
Mary A. McGillicuddy,
III
Taft,
Abbie F. Hemenway,
III
Taft,
Ellen G. Daley,
II
D. J. Kelley,
Agnes J. O'Gorman,
II
D. J. Kelley,
Mary C. Morrissey,
I
D. J. Kelley,
Annie G. Thompson,
I
D. J. Kelley,
M. Jennie Hart.
ADRIATIC.
COMMITTEE.
TEACHERS.
GRADE.
Ratigan,
Emma A. Porter, Principal,
VII-VI
Ratigan,
Eudora E. Hay,
VI-V
Ratigan,
Elizabeth E. Chapin,
Ratigan,
Abby B. Shute,
IV
F. Brown,
Cora A. Baldwin,
III
F. Brown,
Mary M. Bowen,
III-II
F. Brown,
Etta T. Whalen,
II
Dexter,
Alice L. Bainbridge,
I
Dexter,
Mary J. Campbell.
ASH STREET.
COMMITTEE.
TEACHERS.
GRADE.
Warner,
Mary J. Mack, Principal,
VI
Warner,
Mabel Piper,
V
Warner,
Nelly F. Monroe,
IV
Hughes,
Kate A. Fallon,
III
Hughes,
Sarah A. Boyd,
II
Hughes,
Marina H. Tucker,
I
GRAFTON STREET.
COMMITTEE.
TEACHERS.
GRADE.
Guerin,
Bridget T. Carlon, Principal,
V
Guerin,
Kate A. McLoughlin,
IV
Guerin,
Margaret J. McCann,
III
Souther,
Carrie M. Adams,
II
Souther,
Katharine A. Hackett,
I
Minnie A. Davis,
I
·
· Souther,
TEACHERS. Anna T. Kelley,
II
I
328
CITY DOCUMENT .- No. 42.
SUMMER STREET.
COMMITTEE.
TEACHERS.
GRADE.
Sanford,
Mary A. Gauren, Principal,
V
Sanford,
Elma L. Studley,
IV
Sanford,
Anna T. Smith, III
Sanford,
Alice Chapin,
II
Sanford,
Agnes R. Stewart,
I
SALEM STREET.
COMMITTEE.
TEACHERS.
GRADE.
Taft,
Minnie F. Whittier, Principal,
IV
Taft,
Mary O. Whitmore, III ·
Taft,
Addie M. Blenus,
II
Taft,
Nellie J. Carlon,
I
UNION HILL.
COMMITTEE.
TEACHERS.
GRADE.
McCafferty,
Etha M. Stowell, Principal,
IV-III
McCafferty,
Anna D. Stowell,
II-I
MASON STREET.
COMMITTEE.
TEACHERS.
GRADE.
Drennan,
Mary E. Pease, Principal, Effie L. Bennett,
I
SUBURBAN.
COMMITTEE.
PLACE.
TEACHERS.
Miss Barnard, Ballard,
Northville,
Joanna F. Smith.
Tatnuck,
Edith M. Harding.
Myra N. Moore, Asst.
Warner,
Jamesville,
Ada D. Saunders.
J. H. Kelley,
Blithewood,
Susan R. Hartwell.
Guerin,
Bloomingdale,
Lizzie M. Urban, VIII-V
Guerin,
Bloomingdale,
Josephine E. Bauer,
IV-I
Souther,
Adams Square,
Olive G. Davidson.
Souther,
Adams Square,
Edith M. Rolston.
A. Brown, Tolman,
North Pond, Chamberlain,
Etta M. Thayer. Fanny R. Spurr.
Guerin,
Lake View,
Minnie A. B. Chase, VIII-V
Guerin,
Lake View,
Hattie M. Ruggles, IV-I
Warner,
Valley Falls,
Ann Foskett, VI-I
A. Brown,
Greendale,
A. Louise Penniman.
IF
Drennan,
Burncoat Plain,
Hattie L. White.
Tolman,
2
329
SCHOOLS. - SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT.
DRAWING. TEACHER. Jeanie Lea Southwick. Annie N. Sinclair, Assistant, High School. COMMITTEE.
Messrs, Parker, Tolman, J. H. Kelley, Taft and Ballard.
MUSIC. TEACHER. Seth Richards.
COMMITTEE.
Messrs. Lovering, D. J. Kelley, Drennan, Miss Barnard and Adams.
EVENING SCHOOLS.
COMMITTEE. Miss Barnard, Messrs. Thompson, McCafferty, Moriarty, Souther, Guerin, F. Brown, Hughes and Ballard.
TRUANT OFFICERS.
Henry E. Fayerweather, 105 Summer St. Michael J. English, Brackett Ct.
SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT.
To His Honor the Mayor, and the School Board of Worcester:
In conformity to your regulations, I submit the following as my Twentieth Annual Report ; and by these regulations this report, which it is the duty of the Superintendent to prepare, becomes the Report of the School Board to the public, and the school authorities of the State.
ABSTRACT OF STATISTICS, FOR THE YEAR 1887.
-
I. POPULATION.
Population, Census of 1885 68,383
Population Jan. 1, 1888 . 78,937
Children between the ages of five and fifteen, May, 1887 .
14,048
II. FINANCIAL.
Valuation, May, 1887 . $59,465,575 00
Increase for the year 4,868,986 00
City Debt, December, 1887, less Cash and Sinking Fund . 1,967,352 70
State, city and county tax, 1887 1,050,114 73
Rate of taxation. $.017
Value of school-houses and lots
1,026,650 00
Other school property .
124,241 45
*Ordinary expense of day schools . 227,653 14
Per cent. of same to valuation . .0038 Per cent. of same to whole tax .21+
Repairs of school-houses, furniture and stoves 9,986 20
$237,639 34
*See detailed statement in Secretary's report.
331
SCHOOLS .- SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT.
New furniture . $652 65
Windows at Belmont St . 184 67
Alterations, and heating at Dix St. 7,580 41
$8,417 73
Cost of evening schools 4,265 54
Expended for all purposes
$240,363 41
Average cost per scholar for day schools, including ordi- nary repairs.
$21 19
Average cost for all schools, including ordinary repairs . Same last year .
$20 07
Cost of evening schools
4,265 54
Average per scholar
11 17
Cost of evening drawing schools
1,414 65
Average per scholar 8 43
Cost of High School.
26,728 62
Decrease.
112 69
Average per scholar.
39 51
Decrease. .
2 53
Expended by City Council for new school-houses.
23,320 98
III. SCHOOL-HOUSES.
Number occupied December, 1887 .. 47
Rooms, not including recitation rooms .. 285
Drawing-school rooms, recitation and evening-school rooms, additional 4 Whole number of sittings :-
In High School. . 736
Grammar schools, Grades IX .- VI 3,577
Grammar schools, Grades V .- IV .. 2,942
Primary rooms, Grades III .- II .- I . 5,277
Suburban schools. 679
IV. SCHOOLS.
High School rooms . 19
Grammar rooms, Grades IX .- VI. 70
Grammar rooms, Grades V .- IV . 59
Primary rooms, Grades III .- II .- I 97
Suburban schools. 15
· Northville, Tatnuck, Valley Falls, Jamesville, Blithewood, Bloom- ingdale (2), Adams Square (2), Burncoat Plain, North Pond, Chamberlain, Lake View (2), Greendale.
Evening Schools :-
Belmont Street, Dix Street, South Worcester, Providence Street, New Worcester and Quinsigamond, for both sexes . . 10
Washington Street, Lamartine Street and East Worcester, for boys; Walnut Street, for girls.
Free Evening Drawing Schools, both sexes.
6
20 87
332
CITY DOCUMENT .- No. 42.
V. TEACHERS.
Male teachers in High School . 9
Female teachers in High School . 11
Male teachers in Grammar Schools 15 Female teachers in all grades below the High School . 242
Special teacher of Music, male
1
Special teachers of Drawing, females 2 Number of teachers in Day Schools. 280
Graduates of the Worcester Training School, or of a State Normal School . 191
Male teachers in Evening Schools . 23
Female teachers in Evening Schools 23
Teachers in Free Evening Drawing Schools, male . 6
Whole number of teachers. 332
VI. PUPILS.
Census of children 5 to 15, May, 1887 14,048
Number registered in Day Schools . 13,649
Increase . 386
613
In Free Evening Drawing Schools
217
Number registered in all the schools 14,479
Increase 666
Number over 15 years old
2,449
Increase . 333
Estimated number attending in private schools
2,500
Pupils in State Normal School, this city
164
Average number belonging to public day schools Increase
23
Average daily attendance in day schools
9,726
Increase .
245
Average daily absence
1,048
Decrease
222
Number at close of Fall term, 1886
11,019
At close of Winter term, 1886-87
10,734
Increase from last year 90
At close of Spring term .
10,634
Increase .
188
At close of Summer term
10,343
Increase .
191
At close of Fall term
11,425
Increase .
406
Per cent. of daily attendance to average number belong- ing 90.2
Increase .
2.
10,774
In Evening Schools .
SCHOOLS .- SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT.
333
Number perfect in attendance the whole year .
212
Increase .
96
Perfect three terms
546
Perfect two terms
892
Perfect one term .
2,248
Number registered in High School* Increase 79
1,038
Boys .
514
Increase
54
Girls .
524
Increase
25
Number at the close of the year
748
Increase .
53
Number of graduates, June, 1887 .
105
Number left the school .
166
Average number belonging
676.5
Average daily attendance .
655.3
Average daily absence .
212
Per cent. of daily attendance to average number belong-
ing .
97.1
Average age of pupils, January 1, 1888
16.7
Average number of pupils to a regular teacher .
33.8
THE BULLOCK HIGH SCHOOL LIBRARY AND APPARATUS FUND.
OFFICE OF THE CITY TREASURER, WORCESTER, MASS., December 19, 1887.
To A. P. MARBLE, EsQ.,
Supt. of Schools.
SIR :
As Treasurer, ex officio, of the Bullock High-School Fund, the undersigned presents the following statement of receipts and pay- ments, on account of said fund, during the financial year ending on Wednesday, Nov. 30, 1887.
Balance, December 1, 1886,
$1,503 39
Receipts during the year,
60 06
Total,
$1,563 45
Payments during the year,
36 69
Balance, November 30, 1887,
$1,526 76
*The year includes both the graduating and the entering class.
334
CITY DOCUMENT .- No. 42.
The receipts were for dividends on sundry savings bank de- posits, held in the name of the City of Worcester, Trustee, and the payments were on account of books purchased for the High- School Library.
Respectfully Submitted, WM. S. BARTON, City Treasurer.
NOTES ON THE STATISTICS.
The school census has increased by 253. The increase in the school registration has been 666 for all the schools ; and for the day schools alone this increase is 386. The ordinary expense of day schools has increased by $18,253.75, while the per cent. of this expenditure to the valuation remains unchanged. The per cent. of school expenditures to the whole city tax has increased by about .005.
The cost per scholar for day schools, including ordinary re- pairs, is larger by .76; and for all the schools this increase is .80. This increase is due in part no doubt, to the cost of text-books. The cost of evening schools has advanced by $371.26, while the cost per pupil, owing to the larger attendance, has fallen from $13.71 to $11.17. In the evening drawing schools on the other hand, the cost has advanced by $267.19, while the cost per pupil has risen from $7.88 to $8.43. In the High School the cost has decreased by $112.69 ; and the average cost per pupil has fallen from $42.04 to $39.51.
The amount expended for new school-houses is $23,320.98. This includes a part of the cost of the new house, not yet completed, at Adams Square, and the cost of the new house at Jamesville.
There are 280 teachers in the day schools, an increase of three; and of these 191 are graduates of some Normal school. There are 46 teachers in the Evening schools ; but part of them are not employed all of the four months during which the schools are in session. Only six teachers are employed in the evening drawing schools.
335
SCHOOLS .- SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT.
The average number of pupils belonging to the day schools is only 23 in excess of last year. This is a different figure, it is to be noted, from the entire registration ; the latter including those pupils who work, out of school, a part of the year. The daily attendance has increased by 245; and the number at the close of the Fall term, 1887, is larger by 406 pupils. Of course this large attendance at a given time is the standard for which teach- ers and rooms must be provided. The per cent. of daily attend- ance to the average number belonging to the schools is 90.2, an increase of 2 per cent. That is to say, nine out of every ten pupils are present at school every day. Considering the various causes, sickness, and other duties, which necessarily detain pupils from school occasionally, the attendance is on the whole quite satisfactory. No doubt there are pupils here and there who are absent unnecessarily ; and these ought to be spurred to greater punctuality. But, on the other hand, it should be borne in mind that there are times when it is the duty of the child to be absent from school; and the spurring should not be allowed to affect him.
COMPULSORY ATTENDANCE.
The means for compelling the attendance of pupils at school are as complete as they can well be made. The law enjoins this attendance, or an equivalent, between the ages of eight and four- teen. Children cannot obtain the necessary certificate which allows them to be employed, without this attendance; and two efficient truant officers are employed to look after the delin- quents. And further, the parent or guardian who neglects to send a child to school is liable to a fine; and the employer of a child without the school-certificate is also finable.
With a certain small class of pupils these means are necessary and effective in securing their attendance; and by the use of these means these children are compelled to stay in school when they would rather be at play, or ranging about the street ; and these, after a time, often learn to love the school and no longer need the restraint.
336
CITY DOCUMENT .- No. 42.
THE CHIEF RELIANCE.
But with all these appliances for securing school attendance, the chief reliance is the influence of the teacher in making the exer- cises of the school profitable and pleasing, and the influence of the parents who desire for their children the best that is within their reach. To these influences, the good attendance is chiefly due. And the influence of the teacher is not directed specially to this end; it is not by doing things for the mere purpose of interesting pupils that interest is secured. It is rather by so pre- senting the subjects of study that they will enter the minds of the children and stimulate thought and mental activity. Picture- books, stories, games, sports and all sorts of amusements-these for the purpose of occasional variety or relief from too much strain may be useful ; but their influence is short-lived ; they soon become irksome; the novelty disappears; and when it dawns upon a child that he is being entertained merely, he loses interest in the very employments which attracted him when they were new. These things like condiments should be used sparingly.
On the other hand real solid work, hard study, and the real business of the school will most interest and attract pupils, if only the subjects of study are adapted to the age and capacity of the child, presented in the right way, and given in suitable amount. It is not interesting to a child, and it is not profitable, to sit with little to do, and to look on, while the teacher does all the work for him-or attempts to do it all, for he cannot really do it. Such a course, too much advocated by certain excellent peo- ple, is better adapted to secure intellectual laziness than to pro- duce mental growth. The whole effort and aim of the teacher is, in all he does, to so present the subject of study, to so illustrate it, to so adapt it to each member of his class, that the pupil will apprehend the underlying thought and act for himself ; and as soon as a child perceives the pleasing activity of his own thought, and discerns the product of that thought, there is a conscious pleasure to him in this activity, not less real and not less enticing than the gratification there is to a child in the bodily activity which displays itself in play. The important aim is to secure this pleasurable and attractive mental activity. Herein consists the
337
SCHOOLS .- SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT.
very acme of the teacher's art. This result may never be com- pletely attained ; and this is only saying that there are but few teachers who are perfect ; but the result may be approximated ; and to such an approximation among our teachers, is due the good attendance at school and the fair degree of progress which the children are making.
It may be worth the while to illustrate the kind of interest which is here referred to, by specific examples-not that any example can be followed literally ; nor that any rules can be laid down ; but that the principle may be understood.
In the elementary geometry there is a famous proposition-the pons asinorum-to prove that the square of the hypothenuse of a right angled triangle equals the sum of the squares of the two sides. By dint of hard study, drudgery, mental toil, a student once learned to demonstrate this proposition, and the only de- light he felt was the joy of victory in overcoming a difficulty. Later he discovered a method of proof, quite different from the first, by which the same proposition could be demonstrated; this was a surprise and a delight to him ; he then sought other proofs, not only of this proposition, but different proofs for others. It thus happened that the surprise into which his teacher had led him illumined and lent a charm to the study of geometry which it never lost for him ; and it set his mind at work as it had never worked before. The study was no longer dry; the boy never wanted to skip that lesson any more.
It is not in the study of geometry alone that such a revelation occurs under the stimulus of good teaching; in geography, in English grammar, in arithmetic, in history, and even in elemen- tary reading, the same thing is happening ; and any good teacher will recall the bright scintillations of awakened intelligence which have almost daily greeted the faithful and judicious presentation of any subject, to almost any class, and in every school. One day it will be one pupil, and another the next, and the oftener it has happened before in case of any child, the oftener it is likely to occur again. And there are thousands of children in this city who have such an intelligent interest in their studies that they will not willingly be absent from school even when
338
CITY DOCUMENT .- No. 42.
they are sick ; and they weary their parents, and wear out all the family cyclopædias with the questions which these studies call forth.
There is no study in our schools which need be dry, uninter- esting or unprofitable ; and none of them are so generally, because generally the studies are well taught.
THE TEACHER MAKES THE SCHOOL.
The word of praise implied in the last paragraph will doubt- less be remarked with contempt by a class of people whose main stock in trade is disparagement of the public schools. Those people are accustomed to point out certain deficiencies in knowl- edge, or in ability to do, in individual pupils. Sometimes they will propound a set of questions in arithmetic, in grammar, in geography or history-subjects which young children have studied more or less-and then they will parade the tables of per cents, as if that were a criterion of what the schools are doing in de- veloping the mind, and in upbuilding the character of children ; and as if all the deficiencies so shown would prove that the school system is wrong, and that it ought to be reformed, after the plan of the individual critic. Especially severe are these critics upon any one who does not join in the hue-and-cry against the schools, or who sees in them great value and usefulness, while admitting and seeking to cure their defects or deficiencies. When we are told that the " schools have sown the seed, not of moral health, but of civil death," it is time for some one to utter a protest; and that kind of talk forms the staple of certain writers and speakers who have the ear of the public to some extent ; and, unfortunately, even educational journals assuming to be in the interest of public education, sometimes make that kind of talk the chief burden of their song.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.