USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Reading > Town of Reading Massachusetts annual report 1931 > Part 8
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Unemployment
The local employment emergency has been met as follows: Early in the Fall a meeting was held with the Chairmen of various Town Boards and with men and women representative of the business organ- izations and social life of the town, at which plans were discussed. Later your Board, acting as the Reading Emergency Unemployment Relief Committee, met with the Chairmen of Town Boards at which time the Boards presented a list of useful projects of public improve- ments which might be done by the unemployed. The Finance Commit- tee transferred $600 from the Reserve Fund. Applicants for jobs were registered and the work was done.
No dole was given. Work was distributed, after careful investi- gation, on the basis of the applicant's need. Forty (40) cents an hour was the wage, high enough to furnish bare necessities, low enough to discourage men from accepting this work in place of better jobs.
A large number of men with dependents have been given employ- ment. In return they did much useful work in parks, streets and other town property. Supervision was by the trained personnel of the various town departments.
In addition to public funds generous private contributions for this work have been received. The unemployment emergency has also increased the number of applications for Soldiers' Relief. We take this opportunity to thank the Board of Public Works, the Board of Ceme- tery Trustees, the Municipal Light Department, Henry M. Donegan, Tree Warden and the Town Forest Committee for providing work for these men.
Filling Stations
Your Board feels that the question of gasoline filling stations is one in which our citizens are vitally interested. In our opinion the proper development of our business sections would be hampered by a further increase of this character of establishments. We decided, there- fore, that no further permits of this nature would be granted within the central business sections of the town.
Motion Picture Theatre
S. Pfau applied for a license to operate a motion picture theatre. A public hearing was held on June 19th. Prior to this the case had been widely discussed in the local press and elsewhere. At the hearing argu- ments for and against the granting of the license were presented by in- terested citizens. After carefully weighing all the questions involved, your Board, believing that it was acting for the best interests of all of the town, refused to grant the license.
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Forest Fire Pump
Pursuant to a vote of the Town at the Annual Meeting, a forest fire pump was purchased. Fortunately there were few forest fires dur- ing the year, but your Board feels that this piece of apparatus may well prove a very valuable addition to the Fire Department in dealing with this menace to the property of our citizens.
Roadside Stands
The increase in Reading's size and its position on the well-travel- led boulevards naturally increases the number of roadside stands. This condition brings a new problem which affects traffic and the general appearance of approaches to our town. To control this problem in the interests of the entire town, your Board regulates the conditions under which it will grant all future Lord's Day Licenses for such stands.
Zoning By-Law
Certain of our citizens vigorously protested the removal of sand and gravel from private property off Lowell St. While it appeared that the owner was well within his rights under the zoning by-law in remov- ing the material, in order to prepare the sand for the use for which it was intended, it was necessary to erect a temporary building. This building had already been erected. After a public hearing before the Board of Appeal, a variation of the zoning by-law was granted to per- mit a temporary continuance of this work.
There followed a demand for a change in the zoning by-laws to better control any future cases of this nature. Your Board referred this matter to the Planning Board for study and recommendation. The result of their deliberations is now before the Town. We are strongly of the opinion that any future changes in the zoning by-laws should be thoroughly investigated before any definite action is taken by the Town and in our opinion the Planning Board is best equipped to make such study.
Your Board has furnished a room in the basement of the Muni- cipal Building for the use of the Planning Board. The building is now entirely occupied.
1932 is the year of the George Washington Bi-Centennial. Each town and city in the nation is taking some part. Your Board has ap- pointed Clinton L. Bancroft Chairman of the Reading Committee.
The work at the Town Forest has been carried on by the Town Forest Committee. Your Board plans to continue this worth-while project the coming year through the medium of the unemployed.
In closing may we express our appreciation to the various Boards and Officers of the Town for their co-operation during the year. W. HOMER MORRISON
MOLLIE A. SWEETSER
ALBERT N. LEMAN
Selectmen of Reading.
ANNUAL REPORT
OF THE
SCHOOL COMMITTEE
OF THE
TOWN OF READING, MASSACHUSETTS
For the year Ended December, 31 1931
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ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICERS
School Committee
Arthur W. Coolidge, 136 Summer Ave.
Term Expires 1934
Mrs. Helen B. Hartshorn, 15 Vine St.
1934
Mrs. Laura S. Gordon, 93 Haven St.
"
1933
Carl M. Spencer, 119 Woburn St.
1933
Logan R. Dickie, Walnut St.
1932
Frank D. Tanner, 54 Howard St.
1932
School Committee Office
High School, Sanborn St.
Telephone, Reading 0180 (Open 8.30 a. m. to 4 p. m. except on Saturdays : 9 a. m. to 12 m.)
Supervisory Staff
Adelbert L. Safford, $3,800, Superintendent, Office Hours : School Days, 9 to 9.30 a. m.
Margaret Hunt, $1,400, Accountant and Order Clerk, Teacher Short- hand and Typewriting, High School.
Abigail H. Mingo, $2,200, Sec. to Supt., Attendance Officer, Dean of Girls, Manager of School Lunches.
Verna L. Wadleigh, $1,900, Testing and Statistics, Special Research Charles R. Henderson, $1,000, School Physician, Consultant in Athletics. Mabel M. Brown, $2,000, Director of Health in the Schools and Nurse. Kathleen P. Hanscom, $1,200, School Nurse and Instructor in Nursing Technique.
Mercie V. Nichols, $1,900, Supervisor Drawing, teaches in Senior High School.
Margaret Whittier, $1,800 Supervisor Music, lower grades, teaches in Junior High School.
Margaret Cameron, $2,000, Supervisor Penmanship, lower grades, teaches in Junior High School.
School Clerks
School Committee : Hope R. Williamson, $728.
Senior High : Myrtle W. Tilton, $1,000.
Junior High : Doris Skinner, $968.
Junior High : Esther Downs, $660.
Highland : Beatrice Bryden, $792.
No School Signals
Fire Alarm 2-2 repeated 3 times Street Lights turned on for 5 minutes 7.30 a. m. for (Senior High School, Junior High School, Intermediate School [gr. 5 and 6], Opportunity School).
8.15 a. m. for Grades 1 to 4 inclusive, morning session.
12.45 p. m. for Grades 1 to 4 inclusive, afternoon session.
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To keep the schools open every school day if possible is the policy of the management. This affords parents the choice either of sending pupils to school or of keeping them at home as the parent considers the conditions warrant in his particular case.
School Clinics
Diphtheria Prevention, by special appointment.
Tuberculosis Prevention, by special appointment. Pre-School, every Tuesday at 3 p. m., at the Municipal Building. Dental, Wednesdays and Fridays at the Grouard House.
Posture, first Monday of each month at the Grouard House. Habit, every Tuesday at the Municipal Building.
REPORT OF THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE, 1931
To the Citizens of the Town of Reading :
The School Committee submits its annual report.
We are returning to the procedure of printing in full the re- ports of the superintendents, the principals and supervisors and refer to them for detailed information regarding the several phases of the school program and its activities.
The Committee has again lived within its budget and has turned back to the Treasurer at the end of the year unexpended balances as follows :
On salaries account $ 145.64
On general account 1,137.37
On agricultural account 129.82
General conditions during the past year have made it appear inad- visable to recommend any building program. Until times are nearer to normal the Committee believe any expansion of plant and any building program should be held in abeyance. Until such a program is determined upon, further work on the development of the lawns and planting at the Highland School should also be postponed.
During the past year the Town acquired the vacant land be- tween the Junior High School and the railroad tracks. With the as- surance thus afforded that this land cannot be built upon by outside interests, or developed to the injury of the school, its actual develop- ment for playground facilities can be undertaken as and when the Town wishes.
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With the special appropriation made available last year, the whole of the Junior High School grounds have been surveyed and permanent bounds fixed and the grounds plotted by Professor Ernst Herman for play and recreational development. The space immediate- ly adjoining the school on the East has been rough graded and partially loamed. The Committee recommend that this project be completed so that it may be put to immediate use for the school and recreational purposes.
During the year the physical education program has been co- ordinated and developed so that it now progressively covers grades 1 to 12.
Dr. Harold A. Carnes found it necessary to resign from the Committee having moved from the Town. He has been a valued mem- ber devoting his energy largely to the Committee on Grounds and Buildings. The present excellent condition of the school plant is a tribute to his work. Frank D. Tanner was chosen to fill the unex- pired term of Dr. Carnes and has assumed the chairmanship of the Sub-Committee on Buildings and Grounds and on Athletics.
Carl M. Spencer resigned as Chairman of the Committee dur- ing the summer and Arthur W. Coolidge was elected to succeed him.
The terms of Logan R. Dickie and Frank D. Tanner expire this year.
Respectfully submitted
ARTHUR W. COOLIDGE CARL M. SPENCER LOGAN R. DICKIE LAURA S. GORDON
HELEN B. HARTSHORN
FRANK D. TANNER
89
REPORT OF THE SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS, 1931
To the Honorable, the School Committee of Reading, Massachusetts :
I hereby submit my nineteenth annual report which is also the thirty-ninth annual report of the Superintendent of the Reading Pub- lic Schools. Notwithstanding the serious financial crisis and unem- ployment situation, during the past year, the operation of the various Reading schools has been carried on as efficiently as usual without serious interruptions or any radical changes in administratiion or in the educational policies pursued in recent years. In this respect Reading has been more fortunate than some other towns and cities in the state. In certain instances drastic cuts in salaries have dis- heartened teachers and disrupted the teaching force; lack of text- books and supplies has hampered pupils in their studies and rend- ered less effective the teachers' efforts; and, in general, the up-keep of the school plant and new additions to provide for increased en- rollment have been curtailed to a serious degree. Undoubtedly, the children in these places have suffered great loss in consequence.
The guiding principle of the Reading; schools is the belief that education in the schools is an indispensable agency in each child's development to a maturity of thought and action that will insure self-support and contentment, a wholesome contribution to community life and a safe and sane participation in "government of the people, for the people, by the people." A distinguished philosopher has called education the key to life. He says: "The community's duty to edu- cation is its paramount moral duty. By law and punishment society can regulate and form itself in a haphazard and chance way only. Through education society can formulate its own purposes, and can shape itself with definiteness and economy. It is the business of everyone interested in education to insist upon the school as the primary and most effective means of social progress. The art of giving shape to human powers is the supreme art."
In these times of depression and necessary retrenchment any step that would render the rising generation less able to cope with its problems of living should be the last to be taken. On the list of necessities that may not be sacrificed in the exigencies of a temporary crisis, the future welfare of the children, physical, intellectual, and spiritual, stands first. Horace Mann in his famous fifth report says : "Due emphasis should always be laid upon the practical side of education. The choicest products of education, however, cannot be estimated in dollars and cents. For the highest and best things in life there is no equivalent in money; they can be attained only by living the higher life."
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The town of Reading has been very conservative in expenditure for the erection of new school houses. Only three of its present buildings could be regarded in any sense as modern in structure or facilities. Of these three the Highland School was first used in September, 1896, over thirty-five years ago; the Senior High School was first used in September 1906, over twenty-five years ago; and the Junior High School was first used in September 1927. All these buildings were built without going outside the legal limit of bonded indebtedness, as is often done in other towns by special legislative sanction for school house construction.
The Highland and High School bonds have all been paid. More than half the cost of the Junior High School has already been paid and the remaining amount will be in the next five years. The tax- payers of Reading have certainly not been burdened by the erec- tion of any expensive, ornate and unnecessary school accommodations during the past forty years.
At the town meeting in March 1893, the town voted "almost unanimously that the School Committee be empowered to hire a Su- perintendent of Schools in connection with the town of Wakefield." Mr. Charles E. Hussey of Natick was unanimously elected to the position and held it for the ensuing six years. In his first annual report Supt. Hussey made the following statement: "With a fixed and progressive policy in school affairs, with unusual unanimity of opinion among members of the School Committee, with good will and assistance of the citizens of the town, with an appropriation always generously granted, there seems no reason why the schools of this town should not change from good to excellent, and assume certain modern methods and additions which the experience of other towns has proved valuable acquisitions to the school curriculum. As a place of residence a first question is asked in regard to schools and if considered only from a selfish point of view modern schools with modern methods are desirable." This policy voiced by Supt. Hussey was firmly established in his time and has been maintained to a marked degree ever since. Within the past month I have heard a Reading citizen, prominent in town affairs for a long time, and holding a position of large financial responsibility say that he thought Reading schools are about the best asset that Reading has to attract new people to take up residence in the town. Some of the excellent features of the Reading Schools may be stated specifically.
For one thing, they have unusual holding power so that the number of pupils in the Junior and Senior High Schools is a much larger percentage of the total enrollment in all schools than is found to be the case in many other towns and cities. Reference to this will be found in the accompanying report of the principal of the Senior
91
High School. The cost of teaching a pupil in the high school is for several causes about seventy per cent more than it is in the ele- mentary grades. Therefore, if the per pupil cost in the total en- rollment of Reading should be compared with the same item in a town having a smaller percentage of pupils enrolled in the high school Reading might appear to a disadvantage, when in reality the fact might be greatly to the credit of the Reading schools, especially if it indicated that Reading schools served the individual needs of the pupil so well that he was enabled to overcome obstacles that in another system might cause him to drop out of school before he reached the High School. For over ten years Reading has main- tained a service for ascertaining the needs of each individual pupil and for making adjustments in his placement in classes, in the con- tents of his curriculum, and in the time allowed him for completing a grade or subject. Standard general tests of mental age and achieve- ment and standard tests in each subject are used as required and a careful cumulative record of results is made, constituting a complete system of child accounting and guidance. More than the entire cost of this service is saved on gifted pupils that are enabled to cover the course in less time than the alloted time or on the slower pupils that are, by suitable adjustments, mentioned above, saved from repeating a whole grade or a whole subject. Although by this system pupils of lesser ability are given a chance for an education suited to their needs instead of being thrust out by non-promotion, the benefit to pu- pils of highest abilities is equally important because they are not slowed up and hampered by other pupils unable to do as difficult work or to progress as rapidly.
Many graduates of Reading High School have made notable records for scholarship in various colleges : many of them have been "on the Dean's List of Superior Students" and in general, graduates of Reading High School have made as good records in college as they did in high school. In general, college preparatory pupils are fitted to pass the College Entrance Board examinations but they are able at present to enter by certificates from Reading High School any college receiving pupils on that basis. About twenty years ago the privilege of certification granted by the New England College Entrance Certificate Board was suspended for a year, due to the principal's yielding to the pressure from parents to certificate for col- lege, pupils whose high school record was too low to justify certi- fication. The certificate privilege was regained the next year. Again in 1924 under another principal not in Reading at present the same thing happened. But the certificate privilege was regained by the present principal the next year and has been retained since. The standing of graduates of the Commercial course is shown by num-
92
erous representatives in the banks, office of the Municipal Light Board, and other business offices in Reading, and by a many times larger number in business offices in Boston and elsewhere. Until the recent business depression no graduate of Reading High School Commercial Course, who passed with a satisfactory record, need be without a job. We could have placed many more. A survey made by the state showed that graduates of our Agricultural course have been successful in a high degree, some in Reading, but many more else- where. Other departments of the school show equally satisfactory results in other lines.
The Reading Junior High School, organized in 1915 as a two-year school, was expanded in 1927 to a three-year school upon occupying the new building by taking over the work of the first year of the four- year High School, which was thereby reduced to a three-year Senior High School. A little removed from the direct pressure of preparation for college examinations the Junior High School has been able to in- troduce many features of a progressive program and is today an out- standing school in New England in its organization, curriculum, teach- ing personnel, methods of teaching, and extra-curricula activities. The principal of the Junior High School elsewhere in this report describes some of the studies in principles of teaching worked out by his corps during the past two years. It is undoubtedly the finest piece of work ever done in Reading schools, although similar excellent work is being done in the lower grades under Miss Wadleigh's direction as described in this report by her.
The Highland School for all the pupils of grades five and six in Reading embodies in its organization and administration the salient features of the Platoon School. which has spread from Gary, Indiana, where it was first organized to all parts of the United States. It has been developed particularly to a high degree of efficiency in Detroit. Asst. Supt. Spain's Manual of the Platoon School is a textbook and guide to standard procedure. Roscoe D. Case of Stanford University says : "In the platoon school is to be found the practice of a philosophy which is in agreement with the most up-to-date and thoroughly tested educational theory, and at the same time is within the range of the financial ability of every school district."
The principal and teachers of this school joined with the Junior High School faculty in the University half-year course being given by Prof. Wilson of Harvard. In this connection each teacher outlined her subject in units of learning defined in terms of what pupils will know or do when the unit is mastered. The making of assignment outlines or work-books, the preparing of standard or objective tests,
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and activities applying the knowledge gained have been given atten- tion. The principal, Miss Wakefield, gives an excellent account of the present status of the work in this school in her report.
The primary schools of Reading, comprising grades one to four, have accomplished a large amount of re-organization and development of new methods in the past two years. Miss Wadleigh's report gives many details of what has been done and the results in standardizing procedures in primary grades. An activity program based on good citi- zenship has been the unifying principle in which the three R's and other subjects are integrated.
There are many other progressive features of Reading schools that might be worthy of mention in some detail if space permitted. The health work carried on by the school physician, nurses, teachers, and the staif maintaining the different health clinics is outstanding in its broad scope and high quality. The several "opportunity" schools for pupils who are slow or handicapped in learning are giving a chance to pu- pils who otherwise would make little progress. All these commendable features of the Reading schools have been built up step by step through a period of years and should be as carefully maintained as other valuable assets of the town.
For other details of the work of the schools I ask your atten- tion to the reports of the supervisors and supervising principals. From a professional standpoint, the year has been in some respects the best of any of my nineteen years in Reading. I feel that all along the line the teachers have made notable advancement in im- proving the quality of the education they are giving the children. I deeply appreciate the time, money, efforts and devotions to an ideal which they have put into this year's accomplishments.
Respectfully submitted,
ADELBERT L. SAFFORD
TEACHERS IN SERVICE, DECEMBER 31, 1931, WHERE EDUCATED, YEAR APPOINTED ALSO ENROLLMENT FOR THE FOUR MONTHS ENDING DECEMBER 31, 1931
SCHOOL
GRADES OR SUBJECTS TAUGHT
NAME OF TEACHERS
GRADUATE OF
Year
Salary
Total
Enrollment
Average
Membership
Attendance
Percent of
Attendance
Senior High .. ..
Principal.
Rudolf Sussmann
*Conn. Ag., B.S. Ag .; B. Univ., B.S. in Educ.
1917
$3600
505
459.00
488.00
94.05
English. ..
Josephine M. Barlow.
*Mt. Holyoke, A.B ..
1928
1900
Con. Eng. Occupations.
Elizabeth A. Batchelder. .
*Salem Normal, Boston Univ., B.S. Ed.
1916
1900
Manual Training
Alfred Boehm. .
*Trade School, Hamburg, Germany ...
1920
2500
Latin.
Lois R. Bradley
Mt. Holyoke, B.A.
1931
1700
English.
Clarissa I. Brown.
*Gorham Normal, Boston Univ., B.S. Ed.
1924
1900
Shorthand, Type., Bookkeeping
Elva A. Buckley
*Bay Path Inst., Boston Univ., B.B.A ..
1924
1900
| History .
A. Imrie Dixon. .
*Ohio Wesleyan, A.B.
1930
2400
Bookkeeping, Penmanship.
Alberta F. Drury.
*Posse Normal, Salem Normal
1917
1900
English.
Helen M. England.
*Radcliffe, A.B., A.M.
1929
1500
German, English an'l Algebr.v.
Helene M. Ernst .
*Radcliffe, A.B ..
1931
1600
Coach, Anc. & World Hist., Geom.
Joseph F. Fitzgeral:ł
*Boston College, A.B.
1930
2100
Shorthand and Typewriting ..
E. Frances Greenhalgh.
*Bay Path Institute and Willimantic Nor.
1914
1900
Mathematics.
Luke Halpin. .
*Bowdoin, A.B.
1922
2600
U. S. Hist., Phys. Ed., Coach
Humphrey B. Howe
*Boston Univ., B.S. Ed.
1930
2100
Biology, Voc. Mathematics.
Lillian H. Jenkins.
*Univ. of Missouri, A.B
1931
1900
Com. Geog., World Hist., Eng ..
Ida C. Lucas
*Boston Unvi., A.M.
1916
1900
Phys. Ed ..
Florence G. Nichols.
*Sargent ..
1929
1900
Music. . .
Samuel A. W. Peck.
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