USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > Norwell > Town of Norwell annual report 1930-1939 > Part 42
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By way of constructive criticism, it is worthy of note that the Norwell school student was entirely unaware of the fundamentals of good posture. Also, many of the students revealed various degrees of flat feet. These were the essential facts presented to the school officials. Definite steps were taken immediately for launching an organized program of physical and health education as an integral part of the school curriculum. It is expected that this project will gather momentum and produce definite dividends, particularly when the younger classes benefit by successive exposures to physical edu- cation.
It was necessary to give daily examinations in the grades of the Central School following a few isolated cases of Scarlet Fever. Adequate precautions were taken and there were no serious complications.
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TOWN OF NORWELL
There was an outbreak of Mumps during the month of December in the Ridge Hill section, but this was of no serious consequence.
A total of forty-eight visits to the schools has been required. These varied from single problems to the full morning sessions for the routine examinations.
Under the medical report it might be well to call at- tention to Tuberculin tests carried out in the High School by the state. Follow-up X-rays and chest exam- inations did not reveal any active cases.
I would like to express my sincere appreciation for the enthusiasm and cooperation of the administration, and particularly of the school nurse, Miss Roe.
RAYMOND G. VINAL, M.D.
109
EIGHTY-EIGHTH ANNUAL REPORT
1 :
SCHOOL DENTIST
Superintendent of Schools Norwell, Massachusetts
Dear Sir :
I am pleased to present the following figures showing in brief the work in the dental clinic this past year. Number of fillings in permanent teeth 327
Number of fillings in temporary teeth 199
Number of extractions in permanent teeth 11
Number of extractions in temporary teeth 61
Teeth treated 24
Number of cleansings 150
Number of completions 147
Since school opened in September we have completed the fifth grade. The work is now being done on the sixth and seventh grades-the sixth being almost completed. Before the end of the school year I hope to complete all grades up to the High School. The mornings are spent mostly on the first four grades and at the present time the first and second grades are nearly 100%. I am in- debted and wish to express my thanks to the Red Cross Chapter, School Committee and the Visiting Nurse As- sociation for their assistance in furnishing equipment and helping to establish our new office.
Respectfully submitted,
WILLIS B. PARSONS
110
TOWN OF NORWELL
SCHOOL NURSE
:
The following is a report of the School Nurse from January 1, 1937 to December 31, 1937.
Number of visits to school (including visits made with school dentist and physician) 367
Number of inspections (throat, teeth, skin, hair, scalp) 69
Number of inspections (sanitary)
33
Number of children excluded during year :
Chicken pox 1
Scarlet fever 8
Mumps 27
Scabies
1
Impetigo 6
Pediculosis 10
Number of visits made to home of school children .. 203
Number of children taken home from school 47
Number of children with physical defects 243
Number of children having physical defects cor- rected 96
Number of children in grades 6, 9, 11, having Von Pirquet test 58
Number of children reacting to test 6
Number of children X-rayed 6
Number of children having physical examination as a result of X-rays
Number of children in grades 5-10 having cars tested by audiometer 60
Number of children found to have defective hear- ing 10
111
EIGHTY-EIGHTH ANNUAL REPORT
PRE-SCHOOL CLINIC '
Number of children examined at clinic 30
Number of children having physical defects 23
Number of children having defects corrected 19
Respectfully submitted,
CATHERINE A. ROE
112
113
NORWELL TEACHING STAFF
Name
Yrs. exp. Sept. 1937
Education
Yrs. att. be- yond High School
Degrees
Subjects taught
Leonard Allen
6
Farmington, B.U.
41/2
B.S., M.Ed.
Alma Ames
0
B.U.
4
Rodman Booth
8
Designer's Art
4
Alice .Brown
10
Hyannis
4 summers 2
Grade 5
Phillip Daggett
10
Bowdoin, B.U., Univ. Maine
41/2
A.B.
Principal 5-12, Soc. Science
Henry Farr
71/2
Bowdoin, Harvard
6
A.B.
Soc. Science 7-12
Marion Gowdey
0
Radcliffe, Fitchburg
6
A.B., B.S.Ed. Math. 7-12
Marion Hurley
9
Tufts
4
A.B.
French, Latin 9-12
Choris Jenkins
4
Framingham
4.
B.S.
Cooking, Sewing 5-12
Edith Robertson
0
Lowell
4
Grades 3-4
Ella Osborn
24
B.U.
1/3
Grades 3-4
Florence Pinson
21
Salem Normal
2
Grade 6
Willard Spalding
12
B.U., Harvard, U. of N. H., Wesleyan
M.Ed.
Pansy Stetson
21
New Eng. Conservatory
4
Music 1-12
Norman Sipple
0
B.U.
4
B.S.
Science 7-12, Phys. Ed.
5-12
Lois Turner
- 18
Bridgewater, Burdett, B.U.
31/2
Commerce 9-12
TOWN OF NORWELL
English 7-12 Grades 1-2 Art 1-12
Grades 1-2
Grace Cole
13
Bridgewater
B.B.A.
Superintendent
EIGHTY-EIGHTH ANNUAL REPORT
ENROLLMENT
Grade
Center Primary
Ridge Hill
Total
1
16
14
30
2
18
12
30
3
19
18
37
4
11
15
26
5
39
64
59
123
6
35
7
33
8
- 33
9
20
10
27
11
25
12
25
237
123
360 Total number of pupils in town
114
TOWN OF NORWELL
HIGH SCHOOL PRINCIPAL
To the Superintendent of Schools Mr. Willard B. Spalding:
I present my report for the Norwell High and Gram- mar School for 1937.
Since the Norwell schools are fairly well established in the new building, it is my purpose to report on the progress that has been made, and the things that we hope to achieve.
Our enrollment this year is 234. This is 4 more than last year. Below is a table by grades.
Grade
Enrollment 1937
5
38
6
34
7
34
8
32
9
20
10
27
11
25
12
24
I am pleased to announce that the tendency seems to be for more and more graduates of Norwell High School to attend institutions of higher learning. We have grad- uates in the following schools :
Bridgewater State Teachers College
Tufts
Mass. Inst. of Technology
Portia Law
Mass. School of Art
Middlesex
University of Maine
Brown
Boston University
Wesleyan
115
EIGHTY-EIGHTH ANNUAL REPORT
In addition, several of our pupils are attending trade and night schools.
For those who do not plan to go further to school we must do all that we can. In a school the size of ours it is impossible to teach them a trade. Our desire is to train them so that when they come in contact with vari- ous situations in life, they will react favorably and in- telligently.
We have instituted a Club-list program which I be- lieve is worth while, and which (has been) very satis- factory to date. The list of Clubs available to pupils is as follows: Aviation, dramatic, French, first aid, vo- cations, and the 4H. Those who do not find anything in the Club program to interest them, are given an op- portunity to read or study. An especially chosen group is given work in remedial English.
We have also instituted a system of school govern- ment. This group called the Student Council is made up of twelve elected members-four from the senior class, three from the junior, two from grade ten, and one each from grades nine, cight and seven. They meet every two weeks with an adviser and discuss student problems, and plan ways by which the school can be improved. The training that they get from planning .their own affairs is very valuable, as are the plans that they adopt.
Our program in Physical Education is much broader than ever before. We now have instruction in grades 1 through 8, and many of those in upper grades partici- pate in athletics. Soon we hope to have inter-class bas- ketball for those who are now left out of the athletic program.
Some time in the future, I hope to be able to do something with the room designed for manual train- ing. Several of the teachers in the system have a fun-
116
TOWN OF NORWELL
damental knowledge of the use of the simple tools, and others know something about some skills that should be helpful and instructive. I hope to be able to work in a period per class per week, without interfering with the schedule of assigned work.
Through the student council we have purchased a radio with a phonograph attachment. This has been used so far for recreation, but eventually it will be used for educational purposes.
In conclusion: this very excellent modern building has been erected for the betterment of the pupils of Norwell. Our task is to see that it is used so that they will derive the greatest possible good, and become bet- ter citizens for having had the opportunity to attend the schools of Norwell.
Respectfully submitted,
PHILBROOK DAGGETT
117
EIGHTY-EIGHTH ANNUAL REPORT
SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT
To the School Committee of the Town of Norwell:
The retention of good teachers is of primary impor- tance to any school system. In Norwell there are four- teen teaching positions. The teachers in these posi- tions who continue to perform good service should be retained in the schools. Constant shifting of teachers is upsetting to the pupils and is sure to result in in- efficient schools. No teacher who is beginning does his best work during the first two years of his service; during this time he is getting experience at the expense of the children in the schools and does not contribute nearly as much to them as he is able to do after he has been in service for that period of time. Unfor- tunately teachers who come to Norwell are not remain- ing in the schools for a longer period. The following table shows the turnover from 1932 to 1937 inclusive :
School
Position
Number of teachers employed
Ridge Hill
Grades 1 and 2
1
3 and 4
2
Center Primary
1 and 2
3
3 and 4
.1
High and Grammar
5
1
6
1
Principal
2
English
4
Mathematics
3
History
3
Commercial
1
Science 2
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TOWN OF NORWELL
Domestic Arts
Total 28 3 1 .. Foreign Language 1
Out of the fourteen teaching positions in Norwell, six are held by the same persons who were employed in 1932. In the other eight positions there have been a total of twenty persons employed in the past six years. This is an average tenure of 2.4 years per teacher. This clearly indicates that some steps must be taken to in- sure the retention of teachers for a longer period.
The first step is to pay salaries which will make the positions attractive to teachers. A beginning salary of at least $1,000.00 to women teachers and of $1,250.00 to men teachers is needed. It should be possible to pay annual increments until a maximum of $1,700.00 is reached by women teachers and $2,000.00 by men teachers. Such a salary schedule would enable the town to retain the teachers who were doing good work for much longer periods of time.
Table of Comparative School Costs for year ending June 30, 1937 :
1 2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Norwell
1,519
14
356
18,086.81
106.18
62.90
* 144.13
172.38
Pembroke
1,492
13
314
18,611.00
119.66
95.05
90.79
157.50
Marshfield
1,625
14
382
22,144.02
120.88
85.00
113.53
190.49
Duxbury
1,696
17
397
27,342.97
122.45
100.20
127.10
184.29
1 .-- Population.
2 .- Number of full time teachers.
3 .- Number of pupils.
4 .- Amount spent for teachers' salaries.
5 .- Cost per pupil.
6 .- Cost per pupil grades I-VI.
7 .- Cost per pupil grades VII-IX.
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EIGHTY-EIGHTH ANNUAL REPORT
8 .- Cost per pupil grades X-XII.
*Indicates unusually large amount because of cost of transportation and Rent at Hanover High School.
Notice the extremely low cost of elementary education. The State average per pupil in grades 1-6 is 85-17.
Notice the amount spent for salaries in relation to the number of teachers employed.
The second step is to make the same salary schedule effective in elementary and high school for teachers of the same training. Teachers who have four years of training, with a degree, should have the opportunity to earn the same pay, whether in the elementary school or the secondary school. The establishment of such a: schedule for salaries would enable the town to get the best teachers available for any position. It would also encourage those teachers who are now in service to study and to acquire a degree, for there would be ade- quate financial return to them for the cost to which they would be put. This would insure well trained teachers in the formative years of a pupil's schooling where adequate training is so important.
The third step toward the retaining of good teachers is allowing women teachers to marry and still retain their positions. We must keep in mind that schools are operated to educate our children, not to help solve the problem of unemployed school teachers. If Nor- well is unable to keep its teachers for long periods of time by paying adequate salaries, then it must take other steps to make the position of teacher an attrac- tive one. The permitting of teachers to marry and to still retain their positions is one of these other steps. We have ample evidence at hand from our present teaching force to show that married women make su- perior teachers. They have been the backbone of the Norwell schools for some time and represent five of the six teachers who are still employed in the same
120
TOWN OF NORWELL
positions in the town as they were filling six years ago. Without them, there would have been twice as great a number of new teachers employed during that time.
We have been using the new high school building for a long enough time to know it from an adminis- trative and educational point of view. It is a beautiful place in which to teach. The improvement in the phy- sical surroundings has made a marked improvement in the attitude of the children toward their school. The morale has changed considerably from that which was present in the old building. The rooms are always well ventilated and warm in contrast to the conditions which were common in the past. Teachers and pupils alike are warmly appreciative of the generosity of the townspeople in building such a fine school.
The needs in the building at present are compara- tively minor ones. The unfinished portion of the cellar under the offices should be devoted, in part, to a storage room. This would mean the cementing of a portion of the floor and the building of a fireproof wall. The cost of this would not be large. It is necessary to re- move much of the material which is now stored in the manual training room to a storage place which is fireproof in order to eliminate any fire hazard.
More dishes are needed in the cafeteria and a closet space for storing them should be built. At present it is impossible to serve meals when all of the school are together without borrowing considerable equipment. If this equipment is purchased it would also help those organizations who use the high school cafeteria for supper meetings.
The lighting in the study hall on the third floor should be improved by the replacing of the present fixtures with larger ones so that it will be possible to get ade- quate light for study purposes.
121
EIGHTY-EIGHTH ANNUAL REPORT
The library should be equipped with modern refer- ence material in order to make it practically usable. There should be included in this material an Encyclo- pedia Britannica, an unabridged dictionary with a stand, a single volume reference book such as the Lin- coln Library, a set of the Book of Knowledge for the use of the younger students, a large atlas, and a large mounted globe.
In each room the architect wisely provided space for reference material in particular subjects. There should be some provision for special texts in each room so that teachers and pupils who are working on a par- ticular problem might refer to authority at the time that such reference is needed rather than postpone the work until the material is at hand.
The exterior wooden ends of the building should be given another coat of paint this year in order to keep them in shape. The contractor who built the building recommended that this be done this year and there- after each three years.
The domestic arts department and the commercial department take care of the development of vocational skills for girls. Nothing is being done for the boys. We have a room which was intended for a shop. At present it is used as a storage place for odds and ends. This shop should be equipped and a teacher employed to teach general shop work to boys. I will not review all the reasons which make this desirable for they were included in the report of last year. They are equally true today.
There has never been any permanent record of the work of pupils in the elementary schools of Norwell. Teachers know nothing about the work of the class in the previous grade except what they learn by word of
122
TOWN OF NORWELL
mouth. There should be a system of records for trans- mitting from grade to grade the accumulated informa- tion about each child. This record should include the attendance, scholastic record, age, place of birth, par- ents' names and address, a list of the defects in a child's training which need particular attention, a list of the activities in which the child has taken part, and similar data which is important to the complete understanding of the child.
We have spent considerable time in school teaching facts and skills which can be classed as "fundamentals." The practice of these skills always takes place in con- tact with other people. Children are sent out of school equipped to do certain things as well as the school can equip them. Their failure to do this successfully is usually due to a failure to understand the problem of human relationship on the job. Employers complain of the lack of morale in their force, of the lack of those traits of character which make for adequate perform- ance of a set task.
The possession of skills and abilities is valueless un- less the possessor is able to get a chance to use them. Too often the failure to get this chance is due to a fault in personality or in character. The schools must take the necessary steps to create right attitudes toward other persons and toward the job that is set for the worker. This year the teachers have been studying, at teachers' meetings, methods of learning more about each child in school, with a view toward helping each child toward becoming an integrated well-rounded per- son. We have made a beginning only. It is my hope that the future will lead to a fully developed program for helping children to learn to meet other persons graciously and intelligently in all situations.
This year we are trying to teach each child to know and recognize the trees, flowers, birds, and rocks which
123
EIGHTY-EIGHTH ANNUAL REPORT
are common to this locality. It is hoped that each pupil will be able to recognize these when he is playing in the fields of Norwell and that he will become inter- ested in knowing as much as possible about his own immediate environment.
Physical training is necessary to the proper devel- opment of each child. We are attempting to do some- thing in this respect, but we can make little progress in the time available. Each child in school should have the opportunitiy to have two periods of physical instructions each week. This would be possible with the addition of another woman teacher who could take half of the science program carried at present by Mr. Sipple. This would allow her to take the girls in the school during part of the day and would give Mr. Sipple time to take the boys in periods when he is now teaching. As I have pointed out in the past, the reim- bursement system under which the town receives money is such that additional teachers cost the town only $225.00 out of the first thousand. It would be possible to add a teacher at a net cost of this amount.
The high school principal and the superintendent of schools are the two highest paid employees of the school department. At present they are forced to spend nruch of their time doing work which could be per- formed easily by a clerk at little pay. The time of the educational administrators should be spent in visiting the schools and in supervising the work there. To re- quire them to spend time during school hours in writ- ing letters, keeping records, and in tabulating figures is inefficient and wasteful. In addition to this need, it must be evident to persons who have tried to call the High School on the telephone that it is extremely diffi- cult to get an answer. Townspeople and officials need- ing to get in touch with teachers and pupils would be
121
TOWN OF NORWELL
readily served by a clerk who could often give the re- quired information without calling the teacher from class or the principal from his work.
The ground in front of the building at the High School should be graded and the cellar under the house and barn which are shortly to be removed should be filled in. It may be possible to have this done by the W.P.A. I believe that a project should be filed to take care of this.
Summary of Recommendations
1. Better pay for the teachers of Norwell.
2. Placing elementary and secondary teachers on the same salary schedule.
3. Allowing teachers to marry and retain their posi- tions.
4. Storage space in the High School.
5. New dishes for the cafeteria.
6. Adequate lighting for the study hall.
7. Reference material for the library.
8. Room libraries.
9. Painting of the wooden ends of the high school.
10. Manual training.
11. Elementary record system.
12. A physical training program.
13. A permanent clerk at the high school.
14. Grading the front of the high school building.
Please accept the sincere appreciation of the teachers and myself for your kindly advice and cooperation dur- ing the past year.
WILLARD B. SPALDING, Superintendent of Schools
125
EIGHTY-EIGHTH ANNUAL REPORT
SCHOOL COMMITTEE REPORT
To the Citizens of Norwell :
During the year 1937, we suffered the usual number of changes in our corps of teachers. Miss Betts, Centre Primary, grades 1 and 2 joined the teaching staff of Belmont, her home city, at a considerable increase in salary. Mrs. Jones, Ridge Hill, grades 3 and 4 retired from teaching. The resignation of these very efficient teachers is deeply regretted by the Department.
Of the High School staff, Mr. Turner, science teacher accepted a better position elsewhere and Mr. Fellows, mathematics teacher, resigned in November to further his education by travel. Mr. Norman Sipple, a graduate of Boston University, replaces Mr. Turner and Miss Marion Gowdey, a graduate of Radcliffe, teaches the mathematics and coaches the girl's basketball team.
Bids for fuel were received as follows :
1. Bunker A oil for High School.
All bids were quoted as "Market price, at present $2.05 per bbl. not to exceed $2.30 per bbl." and were submitted by the following:
Cities Service Co. Standard Oil Co. of N. Y.
Penn Oil Co. through its local agent Rockland Coal & Grain Co.
2. No. I and II oil for Ridge Hill Primary.
John S. Fitts
No. 1 oil $.0734 per gal. No. 2 oil .0634 per gal.
126
TOWN OF NORWELL
Albert Culver
No. 1 oil $.091/2 per gal. No. 2 oil .081/2 per gal. Ramsay Oil Co. No. 1 oil $.08 per gal. No. 2 oil .07 per gal. Rockland Coil & Grain Co. No. 1 oil $.091/2 per gal.
3. Coal for Centre Primary.
John S. Fitts, $10.75 per ton Rockland Coal & Grain Co., $11. per ton
Contracts were awarded as follows:
Coal John S. Fitts
Bunker A Oil Penn Oil Co.
No. I and II Oil John S. Fitts
For the first time in many years Norwell has a resi- dent practicing physician in the person of Raymond G. Vinal, who because of that fact, was elected school physician. His very thorough physical examination, with the consequent report of his findings, resulted in rearrangement of the High School schedule, to admit the teaching of physical culture.
Mr. Sipple, who is especially trained to handle this work, now has regular classes with the boys in the High School building, and also visits each of the Pri- mary buildings once in two weeks to supervise a defi- nite program of physical training.
We confidently expect that the playgrounds back of the High School building will be finished some time in
127
EIGHTY-EIGHTH ANNUAL REPORT
the late Spring or early Summer, as the extension to the W.P.A. project has been accepted and the money allocated. The question now arises as to what if any- thing shall be done with the grounds in front of and at the side of the building.
These grounds have been surveyed and a plan drawn to fill the area inside the driveway, fill the cellars when the buildings shall have been removed and make a parking space. It is necessary to have this survey, if the townspeople wish to apply for a project to do the work and it may be let out to bids more intelligently when surveyed, if it is desired to do the work by con- tract.
The Committee trusts something may be done with the grounds but does not wish to urge anything which the town cannot afford.
In view of the fact that the transportation has been furnished at a very low cost and that the service has been satisfactory, the School Committee renewed the bus contracts for the same price.
We have inserted an article in the warrant calling for $175 to pay for the lighting and heating of the High School Building for use by all organizations or societies of the town, for athletics, games, suppers or other large gatherings at time when the building is not in use by the students. Since many taxpayers must pay their share of the cost of the building yet will never receive any direct benefit from its use for school purposes, the Committee felt it only fair to grant its use as a com- munity center. Consequently at a mecting of the School Board, rules governing its use and a scale of rates were established, for use solely by town organizations for such functions as could not be held in Cushing Memo- rial Town Hall with a higher rental than that asked for the town hall.
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