USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Arlington > Town of Arlington annual report 1926 > Part 18
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Inspections
Stores and Markets
747
Fish Markets
190
Lunch Rooms
312
Bakeries
185
Ice Cream Parlors
112
Fruit Stores
118
Soda Fountains
173
Chain Stores
560
Miscellaneous
22
Total 2419
326
ARLINGTON TOWN REPORT
Other Inspections
Barber Shops
92
Theatres, etc. 37
Manicuring Parlors
52
Miscellaneous
32
Total 213
Two hundred and eight complaints requiring investi- gation were received and adjusted.
Upon requests of physicians, hospitalization for per- sons afflicted with communicable diseases were provided as follows :
Scarlet fever
17
Measles
1
Mumps
1
Patients placed in State Sanatoria
9
Total
28
Tenements inspected upon completion of renovation after recovery or removal of persons afflicted
with communicable disease 4
Legal settlements investigated 32
2
Respectfully submitted,
WILLIAM H. BRADLEY,
Agent.
REPORT OF MILK INSPECTOR
To the Board of Health, Arlington, Mass.
Gentlemen: I herewith submit my report as Milk Inspector for the year ending December 31, 1926. At a meeting of the Board of Health held April 5, 1926, the following regulation relative to milk was adopted:
-
Infant Boarding Houses inspected
327
BOARD OF HTEALTII
OFFICE OF THE BOARD OF HEALTH
Arlington, April 5, 1926.
Chapter XIX of the Rules and Regulations of the Board of Health is hereby amended by adding the follow- ing regulation thereto and said regulation is hereby made and adopted :
REGULATION 21
No person, firm or corporation shall sell, exchange or deliver or have in his or their custody or possession with intent to sell, exchange or deliver in the Town of Arling- ton, milk drawn from any cows that have not been tested within a period of one year by a tuberculin test as ap- proved by the Director of Animal Industry, and found not to react thereto. This regulation shall not apply to pas- teurized milk or milk intended for pasteurization, and shall take effect on and after January 1, 1927.
A True Copy, Attest :
WILLIAM H. BRADLEY, Clerk.
As a result of the adoption of this regulation 90% of the 13,000 quarts of milk consumed daily in Arlington is Pasteurized. The remaining 10% is from tuberculin tested cows and is sold raw. The per capita consumption is practically one pint, which corresponds favorably with the average of other milk consuming areas in the country. High solids and fat content together with low bacterial counts have prevailed throughout the year. In connection with my position as Milk Inspector I attended the Annual Meeting of the International Association of Dairy and Milk Inspectors held in Philadelphia, also legislative hear- ings on matters pertaining to milk held at the State House in Boston. A summary of the year's work follows :
328
ARLINGTON TOWN REPORT
Licenses issued :
For sale of Milk from stores 175
For sale of Milk from vehicle
48
For sale of Oleomargarine
45
Total
268
Taken from vehicles on street
253
Taken from schools
10
Samples of Milk
Analyzed.
Total 267
Samples of Ice
Taken from Manufacturers and
Cream Analyzed
Ice Cream Parlors 11
Inspections of Milk Plants 24
Respectfully submitted,
ALFRED W. LOMBARD,
Inspector.
REPORT OF INSPECTOR OF SLAUGHTERING
To the Board of Health, Arlington, Mass.
Gentlemen: 'I herewith submit my report as In- spector of Slaughtering from January 1 to March 31, 1926.
Number of Calves slaughtered 668
Number condemned
28
Number of Goats slaughtered
41
Number condemned
0
Number of Sheep slaughtered
145
Number condemned
0
Total 882
Twenty-seven inspections, requiring eighty-two hours and fifteen minutes.
Respectfully submitted,
CHESTER L. BLAKELY, M. D. V., Inspector.
4
Left at Laboratory
329
BOARD OF HEALTH
REPORT OF INSPECTOR OF SLAUGHTERING To the Board of Health, Arlington, Mass.
Gentlemen: I herewith submit my report as In- spector of Slaughtering for the year ending December 31, 1926.
Number of Calves slaughtered
202
Number condemned
15
Number of Goats slaughtered
38
Number condemned
0
Number of Sheep slaughtered
58
Number condemned
0
Total 313
Seven inspections, requiring twenty-two hours and twenty minutes.
Respectfully submitted, WILLIAM H. BRADLEY,
Inspector.
REPORT OF INSPECTOR OF SLAUGHTERING
To the Board of Health, Arlington, Mass.
Gentlemen: I herewith submit my report as In- spector of Slaughtering from April 26 to December 31, 1926.
Number of Calves slaughtered
2481
Number condemned
58
Number of Goats slaughtered
12
Number condemned
0
Number of Sheep slaughtered
351
Number condemned
0
Total 2902
Seventy-three inspections, requiring two hundred and eighty-two hours.
Respectfully submitted, ARTHUR TAYLOR, Inspector.
REPORT OF THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE
The School Committee organized for the year, ac- cording to its rule of procedure, on March 3, 1926. For the first time in a period of over seven years, the Com- mittee began its work for the year without the presence and help of one of its most valued members, Mrs. Dallin. Her talents and her singularly fine equipment for service to the schools were recognized by all of us, and it was with the keenest personal regret that we recognized her right to retire because of the pressure of other duties. The Town will always be in her debt on account of a long and faithful service, distinguished by insight and intelligent understanding of school problems. The place left vacant by Mrs. Dallin's re- tirement was filled by the election of Mr. M. Norcross Stratton. In June, 1926, Mr. Bradford E. Swift, whose term of service on the Committee began in March 1925, resigned: At a meeting of the Joint Committee of the Board of Selectmen and the School Committee, held in September, this vacancy was filled by the election of Mrs. Joseph W. Downs.
During the year progress has been made in the re- organization of the school system and this work is going on as fast as means and circumstances will permit. It is a result of a thorough analysis of the schools and courses of study by the Superintendent. Last year we gave a great amount of time and discussion to the re- modeling of the school rules. At present the Committee is preparing a similar revision of courses of study, with a view to the elimination of non-essentials. In schools, as in business organizations, periodic stock-taking is necessary for efficiency.
330
331-
REPORT OF SCHOOL COMMITTEE
The no-school signal on stormy days, discontinued by vote of the Committee last year, has recently been restored, because of the general desire on the part of citizens for such a signal. It is likely, however, that the Committee will have to ask the Town to provide additional apparatus in order to give fair notice to all parts of the Town alike. A recent test appeared to show that of the homes represented in the schools an average of about 16% in the whole Town failed to hear. the no-school signal while in the Locke district there were 116 families or about 35% of the school registra- tion that failed to hear the signal.
The School Committee during the year 1926 has had a busy year, as is inevitable in the conduct of a school system that includes 203 teachers, 5058 pupils, and thirteen school buildings, including two portables in temporary use. The recent growth of the population of the Town-nearly 50% in the last six years-has been nowhere more evident than in the increase in the work of the School Committee and the Superintendent of Schools. The increase in school enrolment in the last five years has been 1500-an average of 300 per year; the total increase in the preceding five years was only 327. It is clear that so constant an enlargement of all our classes has meant an equally constant demand for more teachers, more class rooms, and more equip- ment. We are still in arrears of the demands upon us in point of equipment, of necessary repairs, of accommo- dations for pupils, and of adequate salaries for our teachers. We believe that the citizens recognize this fact and will meet any reasonable program intended to guarantee to the children of Arlington the sort of teach- ing and educational opportunities to which they are entitled. We ask that citizens, who wish to be assured that the school system is being economically conducted, compare the figures in the record of the growth of school enrolment for the past five years with those of the budget for the schools in the same period.
. 332
ARLINGTON TOWN REPORT
So far as new school buildings are concerned, it is evident that we must expect to provide each year for several years to come one new building or one addition to some one of our buildings now in use. There are no present signs of abatement in the growth of the popu- lation of Arlington, and we cannot with safety let the school enrolment get a bit farther ahead of the schools and seats provided for it than it is at present. This, our most pressing problem, is in the hands of the Com- mittee on Additional School Accommodations, ap- pointed last March by the Moderator. Great relief will come to us as soon as the Junior High East is ready. Within the next three years an addition to the High School will be necessary. The Committee urges upon the citizens the desirability of providing separate High Schools for boys and for girls.
Respectfully submitted,
/
ALEXANDER H. RICE, For the School Committee.
-
REPORT OF SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS
January, 1927.
To the School Committee and
Other Citizens of Arlington:
Herewith is respectfully submitted the fourth an- nual report since the duties of Superintendent of the Arlington School Department were assigned to me. During the last four years the annual reports have not been burdened with many tables, graphs and statistics as is often the case with such reports, but an effort has been made to confine them to statements of the progress, accomplishments and needs of the depart- ment, including only the attendance records required by Town vote. For this reason it is believed that an at- tempt to show by a few comparative tables just what the recent rapid growth of the Town has done for the School Department and what has been accomplished in spite of such conditions will be met with some toler- ance, if not with considerable appreciation and interest. In general the statements in this report will be grouped under the following five topics :
I. Recent Rapid Growth of the School Department.
II. Economy in the School Administration as Re- flected in Comparisons of Enrolment and Appropriations ..
III. Overcrowding and the Retarded Building Program.
IV. Other Unfinished Work and Immediate Needs.
V. Progress and Improvements Resulting from Changes and Additions to the Work
333
334
ARLINGTON TOWN REPORT
I. RECENT RAPID GROWTH
What has happened to the School Department as a result of the rapid growth of the Town during the last five years can be learned from the ten-year enrolment table shown below. This indicates that the increase in enrolment from 1921 to 1926 was 1496 students against an increase of 327 during the previous five years from 1916 to 1921-nearly five times as many additional students in the same length of time.
1
TABLE I. TEN YEAR TABLE SHOWING ENROLMENT INCREASE
Schools
Fall of 1916
---
Fall of 1917
Fall of 1918
Fall of 1919
Fall of 1920
Fall of 1921
Fall of 1922
Fall of 1923
Fall of 1924
Fall of 1925
Fall of 1926
-
Crosby
617
699
696
710
689
616
701
800
- A911
547
560
Hardy
389
496
Cutter
327
345
354
354
334
385
426
475
488
540
573
Locke
613
643
638
632
623
676
D594
B667
522
535
577
Peirce
191
226
255
Russell
324
334
321
326
323
321
316
336
389
393
408
Parmenter
195
199
215
226
208
218
191
203
197
193
185
Parmenter Junior High
264
Junior High Center
495
441
452
508
484
E342
496
488
505
C617
429
Junior High West
225
378
367
370
424
510
High
664
654
623
639
674
779
F564
562
647
763
801
Totals
3235
3315
3299
3395
3335
3562
3666
3898
4220
4627
5058
A Prior to building of Hardy School
B Prior to building of Peirce School
C Prior to organization of Parmenter Junior High Unit
D Decrease due to transfer to Cutter
E Decrease due to organization of Junior High School West
F Decrease due to transfer of 9th grade to Junior High School
1
.
TABLE II-ECONOMY IN ADMINISTRATION TEN YEAR TABLE COMPARING ENROLMENT WITH APPROPRIATIONS
1916
1917
1918
1919
1920
1921
1922
1923
1924
1925
1926
Enrolment at
time of Budget making
.3235
3315
3299
3395
3335
3562
3666
3898
4220
4627
5058
Appropriation Exclusive o f Outlay
$116670
$140845
$163109
$184084
$257309
$289839
$324524
$331569
$351845
$400410
$456820
Percent of increase in Enrolment from 1916 to 1921 is 10%
Percent of increase in appropriation from 1916 to 1921 is 148%
Percent of increase in Enrolment from 1921 to 1926 is 42% Percent of increase in appropriation from 1921 to 1926 is 58%
337
REPORT OF SCHOOL COMMITTEE
The above tabulations are planned to show the com- parisons of two five year spans, but a better idea of the work and results of the present administration can be obtained by a comparison of the enrolment and cost of 1926 with the same items for 1922, at which time the work of the present Superintendent began in Arlington.
FOUR YEAR TABLE (1922-1926)
Enrolment
Cost Exclusive of Outlay
1926
5,058
$ 456,820.00
1922
3,666
$ 324,524.00
Increase
1,392
$ 132,296.00
Percent of Increase
38
40
The above tabulation shows that for the last four years the increase in appropriations has been only slightly more than the increase in enrolment.
To many this may not seem like an unusual accom- plishment, but its force can be appreciated by a study of the following tabulation for the four year period im- mediately preceding, in which it is shown that the cost increase was nine times as great as the enrolment in- crease.
FOUR YEAR TABLE (1918-1922)
Enrolment
Cost Exclusive of Outlay
1922
3,666
$ 324,524.00
1918
3,299
$ 163,109.00
Increase
367
$ 161,415.00
Percent of Increase
11
99
There is a great deal of comment at present in many localities on increasing school costs and the extrava- gance of school administrations. It may be that much of it is justified, but it is important that Arlington realize that what many other places are now beginning to think and talk about was actually undertaken by the Arlington School Department four years ago and has since been continued.
338
ARLINGTON TOWN REPORT
III. OVERCROWDING AND BUILDINGS
1. Elementary Schools :
TABLE SHOWING OVERCROWDING TENDENCIES IN SPITE OF RECENT BUILDING OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS
Schools
No. of regular class rooms
year
No. of class groups. school 1926-27
No. of Prosp. class groups fall of 1927
Minimum Maximum
Crosby
16
16
18
or
19
Cutter
16
17
19
or
20
Hardy
16
16
16
Locke
16
17
18
or
19
Parmenter
7
7
7
Peirce
8
9
11
or
12
Russell
12
13
13
or
14
91
95
102
or 107
The above tabulation shows that we already have four more classes than regular class rooms in the ele- mentary department of the school system, and that next Fall we will have from eleven to sixteen more classes than class rooms. It will be observed, however, that the condition is such that an addition to the Peirce School would relieve the crowding at the Peirce, Cutter and Locke Schools. I would recommend, therefore, that plans which would make available for use an eight room addition to the Peirce School, not later than the fall of 1928, be undertaken immediately.
The relief to the Cutter School from the Peirce School addition will be only temporary, because of the fact that the Cutter School district is building up so rapidly. It will probably be necessary, therefore, to arrange for the building of an eight room school in the Brattle Street section, not later than September, 1929.
339
REPORT OF SCHOOL COMMITTEE
2. Junior High Schools :
TABLE SHOWING OVERCROWDING IN JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOLS
Schools
No. regular Class rooms
No. Class Groups Fall of 1922
No. Class Groups Fall of 1926
No. Class Groups Fall of 1927
Junior High Center
13
15
12
14
2 (portable)
2 (Indus.
Class)
3 (Indus. Class)
Junior High Parmenter
-
-
8
9
Junior High West
12
12
15
18
27
27
37
44
In the Fall of 1922 there was an even balance be- tween the number of Junior High School class rooms and the number of class groups, there being at that time twenty-seven available class rooms and twenty- seven classes. At that time the Junior High Schools were understood to be well filled, and the principal was in the habit of referring to them as crowded. Since that time there has been an increase of ten class groups, and for the Fall of 1927 there is already in sight an in- crease of sixteen class groups over 1922, with no addi- tional rooms provided except the extremely temporary makeshift at the old Parmenter property. This means that next Fall there will be sixteen more Junior High School class groups than we have proper class rooms to accommodate. By the Fall of 1928, when we may reasonably expect Junior High School East to be ready for occupancy, the total number of Junior High School groups, according to the number of classes already in our elementary schools, will be at least forty-six, which is nineteen more than regular Junior High School class rooms available. This will serve to show without doubt the imperative need of a twenty class room Junior High School in East Arlington.
The above statements make obvious the fact that the Junior High School situation must be distressingly
340
ARLINGTON TOWN REPORT
overcrowded. In Junior High School West there are fifteen groups in a twelve room building and one-room portable. This means that every available space, whether suitable or not, must be used for class rooms. Academic classes are being taught in the cooking room and the wood working shop, amid surroundings and equipment not adapted to the work, and without needed equipment which cannot be accommodated under the conditions. Use must be made also of the auditorium and teachers' room for academic classes. None of these rooms is adapted to academic class work.
In Parmenter-Junior High School, a branch from Junior High School Centre, use is being made of rooms in three different buildings, none of which is adapted to a Junior High School program. A two room port- able, four rooms and two basement rooms in the old frame. building,-a basement room, a second floor room and an attic room in the New Parmenter building are all needed to accommodate the work of this Junior High School unit. This sounds bad enough, but a better con- ception can be obtained of the conditions under which students and teachers work if this organization is likened to a seven story building with two rooms on each of four levels and one room on each of the other three. The amount of climbing in such a building would illustrate exactly what the Parmenter Junior High School pupils have to go through each school day. These facts together with the fact that the equipment of these rooms and all other accommodations in this organization are sadly inadequate, cause us to insist' that Junior High School East should be made available for use as soon as it is possible.
Since Junior High School West will be so badly overcrowded next Fall that it will be necessary to have a double organization with the upper classes in the morning and the lower class in the afternoon, and since this school will doubtless be overcrowded even
341
REPORT OF SCHOOL COMMITTEE
after the erection of Junior High School East, it will be necessary to arrange for an eight room addition to this building, not later than September, 1929, which is in the. same year as an eight room building in the Brattle Street section will be needed. This doubling of building projects in 1929 is due to the nearly two year delay in the Junior High School East building.
3. High School :
An idea of what is to be expected in the High School organization within the next few years can be obtained from the following facts :
The present enrolment at the High School is 800;
The capacity of the present High School is be- tween 850 and 900 pupils;
The present enrolment in the Junior High Schools is 1200, the lowest grade of which is only three years removed from the sophomore year of the High School. If it is fair to expect that the additions from out of town will balance the number of pupils leaving school, there will be 1200 students in the High School by the Fall of 1929, or certainly by 1930, which will force a double organization, with the upper classes in the morn- ing and the lower class in the afternoon, unless addi- tional High School accommodations are provided by that time.
IV. UNFINISHED WORK AND IMMEDIATE NEEDS:
In the last annual report attention was called to several needs under the heading of unfinished work. Unfortunately, little progress in these items has been accomplished since the necessary appropriation or au- thorization has not been obtained. The following needs sound, therefore, much like repetition of a portion of last year's report, but since they are important it is necessary for me to bring them forward :
342
ARLINGTON TOWN REPORT
1. Addition to the Corps of Supervisors :
We have full time supervisors for Art, Music, Phys- ical Training and Special Classes, also part time super- visors for Household Arts, Mechanic Arts and Penman- ship, but the Superintendent of Schools, in addition to his other numerous duties, is expected to supervise all other subjects in all the schools. The size of the de- partment requires, in order that this general supervision may be carried on effectively, that a supervisor for ele- mentary school work be provided to assist the Superin- tendent; and later a supervisor of secondary school work should be appointed to attend to the correlation of all the subjects between the Junior High Schools and High School, as well as the uniformity of work between the Junior High Schools themselves and later, between the two High Schools, when another is in operation.
It is not relief from the supervisory work that the Superintendent wants but assistance in supervision so that after the needs of a certain class or grade have been discovered and a program to improve the situation has been outlined by the Superintendent, some of the details can be cared for by an assistant in order that the Superintendent's attention can be turned to discovery of other needs and to formation of a helpful program to fill those needs.
2. Improvement of Salary Situation for Teachers :
Some progress has been made along this line re- cently but not enough has been done to avoid the danger of which warning was given in last year's report: "Un- less something is done to improve the situation, the re- sult will be reflected in the teaching personnel and the Arlington School Department will be in danger of being forced into a back seat from its present position among the foremost school departments of the Common- wealth."
343
REPORT OF SCHOOL COMMITTEE
We believe that our present maximum salary figures of $1600 for Elementary, $1800 for Junior High School and $2000 for Senior High School teachers are adequate general maxima, but we believe also and we recommend that some plan of salary payment beyond the maximum should be established by which teachers may earn an advance in salary beyond the general maximum rate and by which Arlington may retain the services of the most desirable teachers in spite of higher maximum rates elsewhere.
3. Improvement of Playgrounds :
Last year a beginning was made on the improve- ment of the lot back of the High School building and it is hoped that a larger amount may be appropriated this year as the space is greatly needed by the High School Physical Training and Team groups of both girls and boys.
The Junior High School West playground is not only in unsatisfactory condition, but it is in dangerous condition and should be put in order as soon as an ap- propriation can be made for the purpose.
The Peirce School is sadly in need of an adequate playground and the Locke School is even more in need of better playground space. An appropriation should be made each year until these schools have play spaces fit for the play activities of the pupils.
V. IMPROVEMENTS FROM CHANGES AND ADDITIONS
1. The work of attendance has been greatly im- proved by the acquisition of the services of a Super- visor who is splendidly equipped by training, initiative and judgment to render unusual service to the Depart- ment. She is giving great assistance, not only in the supervision of attendance, but also in the allied fields of guidance and adjustment.
344
ARLINGTON TOWN REPORT
2. The course of the Junior High School Indus- trial Class has been improved and extended by the as- signment of several additional teachers for this work, one for academic subjects, a second for industrial work for girls, and a third for industrial work for boys.
3. The last step in revision of the Household Arts course has been taken-instead of sewing being re- quired as formerly in grades IV, V and VI, and elective for the remaining six years, instead of cooking being re- quired in grade VII and elective thereafter, we now have sewing required in grades VI and VII, elective for the remaining five years, and cooking required in grade VIII and elective for the remaining four years. This plan not only makes a course with better continuity but it tends to retain the interest of the girls in the upper years of the work, where there is the better equip- ment for teaching the subjects.
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