USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Arlington > Town of Arlington annual report 1908-1909 > Part 10
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well. Would not a simple solution be to do simply as Dr. Butler recommends and cut down the admissions to the college, making the college work simpler?"
"Essential preparation can be given as well in eight as nine years-often better. Duplication of work is wasteful. The chasm yawns, no matter where the break comes between Gram- mar and High Schools. Better let the shock come early enough to be eased somewhat before that youthful period arrives when all have a tendency to leave school.
"The wasted money and time are too valuable a loss. School officials need the money cost of that extra year; the pupil is en- titled to the time ; both often need the room.
"I believe that the six-year elementary course and six-year High School course is ideal. Under such arrangement the whole curriculum would be arranged much to the advantage of the pupil. Our situation, however, is not that. Our eighth grades are in the High School building because there alone have we room for them.
"The colleges must and will get reasonable soon. Sixteen years is enough time to give to a college education. Better give five years to general courses and four to college preparation if any difference is to be made.
"I do not favor the five-year idea. Good schools have no trouble in preparing pupils for college and scientific schools in four years. Why dawdle in this work? Eight years for elemen- tary schools, four for High Schools, and four for college is enough time for a boy to spend in preparing for life."
"We changed from a nine-year to an eight-year system prin- cipally for the following reason :
"Our pupils are admitted from the kindergarten into the ele- mentary schools at the age of five years. Approximately fifty per cent. of the pupils have entered grade one in previous years at an average age of five years, while the remaining fifty per cent. averaged about six years. Under the old system the work of grade one was too advanced for many of the former and too sim- ple for the majority of the latter. Undue forcing in some cases and dawdling in others, among other things, were natural. The average child entering school at five years of age has neither the mental development nor the power to do the average work that the child has who enters at six. Under the new system the work of the sub-primary grade will largely consist of extended kinder- garten work and will be adapted to those who have not the ability to do the work of grade one in one year, while those who are able
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to do the work without injury to themselves will not unneces- sarily be held back.
"In general, it may be said that the change provides better op- portunities for completing the course of study without dawdling or overworking, and, in the majority of cases, in less time than formerly. Besides, it will make it possible to compare our work, grade by grade, with the large majority of cities and towns in the United States which are working under eight-grade systems, and whose pupils are admitted at the age of six years."
"Some pupils can do the work accepted as elementary in eight years, some require nine, the school is better organized on the basis of the abler pupils. The younger pupils also do better High School work."
In our ninth grades the only purely grammar school work now done is included in a sixteen weeks' review of arithmetic, and the continuation of the work in language and grammar. The High School subjects pursued are: Latin (elective), Algebra (24 weeks), and English History. A half-year's High School work, at the least reckoning, is covered in Grade IX. Why not give pupils High School credit for this work?
The additional work to be done in the first eight grades to com- plete the grammar school course is small, and may be provided for without additional strain upon the children. This has been anticipated in part by eliminating from the courses in arithmetic and grammar subjects that are not essential in practice, or of great value for mental development. Further eliminations are possible without sacrificing the practical or cultural value of the course. The plan is economically sound. If this change were made, it would mean that the majority of the pupils would com- plete the work of the elementary schools on an average of a little more than eight years instead of more than nine years as at present, and the Town would thereby save a year's tuition for every child completing the grammar school course. It would bring a still more valuable result in that the boy who is to go to work after completing the High School course may begin his business career a year sooner. This fact should result in keeping many more boys coming from homes of moderate means in the High School until they are graduated.
Moreover, it is the general belief among medical men and stu- dents of education that we force children too early into the routine of school life; that, at the age of five, it would be better for them to play about their homes and in the open air than to be subjected to the confinement of the school room. Many people in Arlington have hesitated about sending their children to school
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at the age of five, and have done so only because of the feeling that, if they did not do so, they would continue through school a year older than the average of the class. The susceptibility to contagious diseases decreases rapidly as the child grows older, and hence the advisability in many cases of postponing the school life until the balance of advantage is clearly in favor of his going to school. If advisable, the age of entering our schools might be raised to five and one-half or even six years.
The report of the Commissioner of Education of the United States contains, among other statistics, the enrollment in the kin- dergartens and elementary schools in certain cities of 8,000 popu- lation and over for the year 1906-1907. This table records 386 cities, and it is interesting to note that of that number 80 have ninth grades, and that of that 80, 31 are in Massachusetts, and that practically the only places having ninth grades are in New England, New York, and Pennsylvania. Time and money can be saved, I am sure, if our school system is changed from a thirteen to a twelve-years' course. I therefore recommend such action as will give us a system that is in line with the best edu- cational thought of the day.
SCHOOL ATTENDANCE. Special efforts are being made this year to keep pupils from leaving school before graduation. Teachers and principals are doing what they can to prevail upon parents to allow their children to remain in school. Immediate notice is sent to the Superintendent when any child leaves school for other reasons than removal to some other town. The pupil who is poor in his work, who learns slowly, who gets discouraged, or who does not behave himself, is the particular one who needs help to lead him into better ways. The school should give help and en- couragement if it would accomplish the work for which it is fashioned. It is perfectly natural for the teacher to wish to be rid of those pupils who are slow or stupid, or badly behaved, but it is almost a crime to encourage such children to withdraw from school and so go out into life handicapped by lack of knowledge and mental development. There are, occasionally, children who have absorbed from the school all that they are capable of getting from it, and further time spent in school would be wasted time. Because we have no motor activities to which such children might devote themselves, and so obtain some mental development, it is perhaps as well that they should leave school. From September to the present time 113 have left school from all the grades. By schools the losses are as follows: High and ninth grade II, Cros- by 33, Locke 21, Cutter 14, Russell 33, and Parmenter I. The reasons for leaving are : Moved to other cities or towns, 76; to go to work, II ; removed to other districts in Arlington, 13 ; failed
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to pass probationery period, 2; to attend private and parochial schools, I ; sent to truant school, I ; too immature for first grade, I. Most of those who have left to go to work have done so be- cause the help was actually needed at home.
This does not mean that our membership has diminished 100. New pupils have been coming into the schools so that the mem- bership for the month of December is practically the same as for the month of September.
SCHOOL ATTENDANCE. The daily attendance of the children in our schools continues to be very satisfactory. The slight falling off in the per cent. for this year (.3 per cent.) is due to the epi- demic of measles last spring. The per cent. of attendance could be raised considerably if the Superintendent of Schools were more liberal about ringing the no-school signal on stormy. days. The question of striking the no-school signal is a difficult one to decide. There are days when there is a heavy rain storm and driving wind, and there are days in winter when there are heavy snow storms and deep drifts, when it is much better for the chil- dren to remain at home. On the other hand, it must be remem- bered that the no-school signal deprives 2000 children of instruc- tion in the public schools. This does not mean, of course, a direct loss, because the work that would have been done on these days, must be done in the regular school course, anyway. I feel, how- ever, that it should not be rung except when the children run risks from exposure to storms. Our New England weather is such a variable quantity that even with the daily weather predic- tions one cannot be sure in the morning what the weather will be an hour later. One is likely to make a mistake of judgment either way. If the Superintendent does not ring the no-school bell, and the weather proves to be bad when the time for going to school arrives, parents are at liberty to keep their children at home. If, however, the no-school signal is rung, and weather conditions improve, so that it would be best for children to at- tend school, there is no way of undoing what has been done. Superintendents on this side of the city on stormy mornings usually call each other up by telephone, and try to decide what is the best thing to do, and then work in harmony.
A spirit of hearty disapproval of tardiness and of tardy pupils has developed in most of our schools, and the matter has there- by been taken almost entirely out of the hands of the teachers and looked after by the class. The pupils look upon a tardy pupil as an offender against the good name of the class. They take great pride in the tardiness record of their respective rooms. No pun- ishment except the disapproval of teachers and classmates is meted out. I can find no records back of 1905-1906, but on look-
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ing over the registers for the year 1904-1905, I find that with an average membership of 1662 there were 3227 tardinesses, which amounts to almost two for every pupil. In the year 1905-1906 with the average membership of 1719, there were 2170 tardy marks, making an average of 1.27. In the year 1906-1907, the average membership was 1778, and the tardy marks numbered 1827, or 1.03 for each pupil. Last year, while the average mem- bership increased to 1883, the number of tardinesses was re- duced to 1418, or an average of 3/4 of one tardiness for every child in the average enrollment. It may be seen that the im- provement has been persistent and steady. The record for this school year to the present time is a great improvement over the corresponding period of a year ago. The Cansby eighth grade has had no tardinesses for the 18 weeks that have elapsed since school opened in September. The Russell fifth grade, the Crosby seventh, and the Cutter eighth have had 16 consecutive weeks without tardy marks. The Parmenter fourth grade has had 14 consecutive weeks, one ninth grade and the Cutter first grade have had 12 consecutive weeks, and the Locke fifth and the Cros- by third have had 10 consecutive honor weeks. These results show what can be accomplished when we have team work- teachers and pupils pulling together for one purpose.
HEALTH. One of the chief duties of the modern school is to care for the health of the child. The heating, ventilating, light- ing, and care of the building are matters of the greatest import- ance. Bright, clean rooms with an abundance of fresh air of the proper temperature promote mental effort as well as good health. The causes which occasion disease may be divided into two groups, constitutional and environmental, but we know that men of vigorous constitution do not always succumb to conditions and diseases due to environment, while those who are weak and have a feeble constitution are not only the first to contract the diseases that enter the system from without, but are also the first ones to contract diseases that arise from within. Inasmuch as the chil- dren of the public schools represent the weak, as well as the strong, come from homes that may be sanitary or unsanitary, or live in sections that may be active or indifferent to the require- ments of public health, it devolves upon the school to take the best of care of the health of the child during the time he is in school. In doing this, we are also educating him in the value of fresh air and clean personai habits.
A breach of discipline is not to be wondered at in a room in which the children cannot get a sufficient supply of oxygen, and therefore cannot concentrate upon the lesson. Inattention, inis- chief, and insubordination are sure to result. The effect upon
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the teacher is equally mischievous, for however amiable and lov- ing she may naturally be, she is likely to become a loveless scold under conditions which render good temper and sane judgment impossible. Most of our rooms are well ventilated and sufficient- ly heated, but it is easy to understand the difficulty of keeping the air pure in a room containing 50 pupils, many of whom come into the room with unclean clothing, saturated with the odors of a kitchen which is never ventilated. The principals, teachers, and janitors must be ever on the alert and pulling together to accom- plish good conditions under such circumstances.
The physical exercises or gymnastics are proving an excellent aid to the good health of our children. In any complete system of education, physical training has an important part, for practi- cally everyone now is coming to realize that in order to develop the strongest mental child it is necessary to develop a strong phy- sical child. During the five hours which the child spends in school on each of the two hundred days of the school year, he must remain in a sitting posture three-fourths of the time. The results of this extended and regularly recurring physical inactiv- ity, during that period of life when the child needs motion to en- hance growth and general vigor more than at any other period of his life, are hindered blood circulation and insufficient respiration. The round-shouldered, gaunt-necked, flat-chested and awkward school child needs carefully chosen exercises to correct his physi- cal shortcomings. The continued and often faulty sitting neces- sitates repeated corrective exercises. Physical inactivity always produces awkwardness, and, therefore, marching and rhythmic exercises, as well as other forms of leg exercise, are valuable in giving ease and grace in handling the body. Not the least val- uable feature of our gymnastic exercises is the thorough enjoy- ment which the children get from them. Visitors from other places frequently remark that our children sit and stand better than they do in most places. With all our efforts here in Ameri- ca, we are still far behind some foreign nations, notably Ger- many and Sweden, in our care for the physical well-being of school children.
Long before the State law made medical inspection obligatory, Arlington had established an excellent system. The report of the school physician will be found appended. The work proceeds without friction. This is due largely to the good judgment of our inspector in dealing with children. His greatest value lies in his success in discovering incipient cases of contagious diseases, and by removing them from school, preventing disease from becom- ing epidemic. Through his efforts pediculosis has been practi- cally eliminated, and children come to school cleaner. The public has faith that the school is a safe place for the children to be in.
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The law demands that the sight and hearing of every child shall be tested annually. The results following the enforcement of this law have been salutary. To many closely associated with the children of the schools, it seems a pity that the law should not be made to include dental inspection as well. The mouth of one whose teeth have not received proper care is a veritable culture tube for deadly bacteria, which later find their way to other parts of the body.
It has been said that 94 per cent. of school children have de- cayed teeth, and that not infrequently cases of tuberculosis can be directly traced to this cause. Medical authorities also claim that an impaired condition of the throat, nose, ears and eyes is the result of lack of proper attention to the teeth. The New York bureau of municipal research in its report states that out of 1442 children examined 74 per cent. were in need of proper dental treatment. The fact that dental "cripples" cannot get the full nutritive value of their food illustrates the dangers that are sure to follow a simple case of tooth rot.
Prominent dentists for some time past have noted the alarm- ing growth of disease among young school children, the origin of which could plainly be traced to neglected teeth, and have at last banded for the purpose of correcting the evil before it spreads. We have noticed that at least two-thirds of the children who are backward in their school work have poor teeth. The importance of this matter is being recognized, and in several towns and cities dental inspection has become a reality, and in several foreign countries it is a national requirement. Paul Gardiner White, D.M.D., to the Boston School Masters' Association, says in part : "Infectious or contagious diseases are now recognized to have their origin in minute vegetable organisms known as bacteria.
"The mouth under the most favorable circumstances, is an ideal incubator for the development of many forms of bacteria. The life-circle of these bacteria demands certain conditions-viz., suitable temperature, moisture, food, and a removal of their waste products sufficient to prevent their own destruction. That all these conditions are found within the oral cavity goes without saying.
"Fermentation, putrifaction and uncleanliness in the oral cavity predominate in and about the teeth, consequently these organs need first attention.
"Good health demands thorough digestion ; thorough digestion demands sound and healthy teeth.
"Dental, gastric, and acoustic, as well as general neurasthenia may often be ascribed to infection from the oral cavity. It is a most unfortunate thing for this country that nine-tenths of the
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people have not the knowledge or the energy to protect the teeth of their children.
"The child is taught to wash his hands, to bathe his body, but the human mouth, the very vestibule of life, is left wholly without intelligent care.
"Nowhere do human beings congregate more closely and con- stantly than in the school room, and nowhere can contagious dis- eases be more easily propagated. Light and air and cleanliness of face, hands, and apparel, on the part of our children are now considered indispensable requirements in nearly every public school throughout the country. But the fact is utterly disre- garded that a single unclean mouth, despite all superficial precau- tions, may vitiate the atmosphere of a schoolroom and become fruitful source of disease. What place more appropriate than the schoolroom, therefore, for instilling into the mind of youth the necessity for cleanliness of the teeth and mouth.
"There is not a disease to which the human body is liable that is not aggravated by an unhealthy condition of the mouth, and many are originally caused by neglected teeth. Health is im- paired, beauty marred, happiness destroyed, and life shortened by the deplorable ignorance of the hygienic laws governing the preservation of these important organs."
If we accept these statements it is clearly our duty to again be among the leaders in the matter of inspection of our children, and arrange for the systematic investigation of the condition of the teeth of the children in our schools.
PLAYGROUND. It is coming to be more and more recognized that the responsibility of a town for the restraint, control, and education of its children is not limited to the five hours a day in school, or to the 40 weeks of the school year. Much of the wak- ing time of children is spent, as it should be, out of doors. In the absence of useful occupation, and the direction of their sports, and without playgrounds to which they may resort, they roam the streets in aimless idleness. It is not strange that they often get into mischief, that they trespass on the rights of property holders, that vicious habits are formed, and their moral standard falls far below what it should be. For these reasons, school authorities and all others interested in social betterment, are everywhere doing what they can to control and give direction to the activities of children during out-of-school hours and vacation periods. Whatever concerns children, either in school, at work or at play, is the subject of public interest and activity. Just now playgrounds for children are receiving special attention. It has been wisely said "The boy without a playground is father to the man without a job." Play is the normal occupation of childhood. It is a well recognized fact that play properly directed
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has an educational and an ethical as well as a hygienic value. Hence there has arisen a widespread movement to provide play- grounds near schools and homes suitably equipped for gymnastics and play, and placed under the direction and control of competent supervisors. Millions of dollars are being spent by municipalities all over the land in fitting out playgrounds. The following act was passed by the General Court of Massachusetts and approved May 12, 1908:
CHAP. 513. ACTS OF 1908.
An act to provide for public playgrounds in certain cities and towns. Be it enacted, etc., as follows :
SECTION I. Every city and town in the commonwealth having a population of more than ten thousand, accepting the provisions of this act shall, after the first day of July in the year nineteen hundred and ten, provide and maintain at least one public play- ground conveniently located and of suitable size and equipment, for the recreation and physical education of the minors of such city or town, and at least one other playground for every addi- tional twenty thousand of its inhabitants.
SEC. 2. Cities and towns may appoint, and determine the com- pensation of a qualified supervisor of each playground, who shall direct the sports and exercises thereon.
SEC. 3. In cities and towns where the provisions of this act are not already satisfied, land for the purpose aforesaid may be taken and the money necessary to pay for such land may be raised in accordance with sections nineteen, twenty and twenty-one of chapter twenty-eight of the Revised Laws; and any land owned by the city or town may be set aside by vote of the city council, or of the board of selectmen, for the purposes of this art.
SEC. 4. In cities and towns which have a populatior. of more than ten thousand, and which have not already satisfie i the pro- visions of this act, the following question shall be placed on the official ballot at the next city or town election :- Shall chapter 513 of the acts of the year nineteen hundred and eight, requiring certain cities and towns to provide public playgrounds be ac- cepted by this (city of town) ?
SEC. 5. This act shall take effect in any city or own to which it applies upon its acceptance by a majority of the voters voting as aforesaid. (Approved May 12, 1908.)
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Through the public spirit and generosity of two citizens of the town, Mr. and Mrs. Henry Hornblower, a playground to be called the Spy Pond Athletic Field is being prepared for the recreation and physical education of the minors of Arlington. It consists of a tract of land containing seven and one-half acres, bounded by the Boston and Maine railroad tracks, Lombard Ter- race, Wellington St., Spy Pond and the Arlington Boat Club property. It is an ideal place for a playground, being near the center of the town, easily accessible, and bordering a beautiful lake. The park is laid out with a baseball field, which can also be used for football, a six-lap to the mile running track, a hundred yard stretch, places for jumping and vaulting, tennis courts, and a sand garden for young people. To make the ground suitable for athletic uses, it was necessary to do a great deal of grading. This was finished and seed sown in the early spring, but because of protracted dry weather a firm sod did not form. It is doubtful if the baseball field will be in condition to use next spring. The tennis courts and the running track. will doubtless be ready for use. The town is to be congratulated on the prospects of having such a fine place for boys to play and sincere gratitude from the whole town is due those who have made our vision of an ideal playground a reality.
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