USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Reading > Town of Reading Massachusetts annual report 1943 > Part 12
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Elementary Schools at Work
All the Elementary Schools have taken advantage of the war crisis to develop an increased appreciation of civic training. Each school has had its own student organization which has been active in helping to keep lawns free from paper, distributing morning milk to the various rooms, providing monitors for corridors and entrances, acting as hostesses at the lunch periods, attending to the shrubbery about the school, and especially in sponsoring the sale of war stamps and bonds.
Some of the interesting developments in Elementary Schools may be listed as follows :
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4. A development of an excellent program of elementary science in the second grade of the Prospect St. School. This program included learning a great deal about plants, weather, animals, climate and the like.
2. School newspaper at the Pearl Street School, One of the sixth grades took entire charge of publishing the school paper. Material was contributed by all the classes. It was edited and made up by the pupils themselves.
3. Supervisory meetings with the Supervisor of Art have contrib- uted greatly to the development of effective methods in this department. Under the direction of the Supervisor, the teachers are instructing pupils to express themselves through art with excellent results.
4. Music in the Elementary School has gone ahead steadily. The elementary choruses and glee clubs are doing excellent work. These activities have been aided, considerably by a consistent plan of classroom music instruction covering the last four years.
The Elementary Schools have given general achievement tests and tests of general ability at various times during the year. The Pintner-Cunningham Test was given in the first grade, the National Intelligence Test in the second grade, The Riley Test in the third grade, and the Terman Test in the sixth grade.
Out of 160 first grade pupils tested, the probable learning rate varied from that of a child 4 years 1 month old to one 9 years 9 months old. This shows the range of ability to learn of pupils in the first grade and indicates the problem facing our teachers to meet the different in- dividual needs of pupils in our schools.
A similar situation was indicated by the results of the sixth grade general ability tests given last March. Here the low score was equiva- lent to the probable learning rate of a student 11 years old and two months, and high score equivalent to one 16 years old and 10 months. The average, which was equivalent to the learning rate of students 12 years old and 8 months, was one-half year or six months above the actual average age for sixth graders. The results of tests in reading, arithmetic, and social studies show our pupils were achieving better work than the average published scores on the tests indicated.
Highland School was fortunate enough to receive a large number of books for a library which was dedicated to Miss M. Grace Wakefield, former Principal of the school. This memorial library has made a great difference in the school. It is used throughout the day for both reading and study. Teachers are in charge of the room for short per- iods during the day. The library started with an initial number of 700 supplementary books to which many have been added during this year.
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The Reading Public Library cooperated with the school by lending it 500 additional books at various intervals throughout the year. It also furnished the services of a specialist in children's literature.
The Reading Schools have been fortunate to supplement its in- struction in the classroom by excellent visual material. Through the moving picture, strip film, stereoptican material, and the projection of pupil-made charts and pictures by our opaque projectors, pupils have obtained a richer background with which to understand their school work.
Use of moving picture films and distribution of other materials has been worked out in an excellent way by the Director of Visual Education, Miss Dorothy Allard. Added to this service, Miss Allard has organized a group of ten lectures covering all phases of visual education. This course has been offered free to the teachers in the Reading Schools.
The Office of Defense Transportation required us to revise our transportation system for schools. Because of the restriction on the use of gasoline and automobile tires, the Government reduced the use of school busses. To meet this situation, it was necessary to make a complete revision of our school transportation schedule. Permission to receive bus passes was limited to pupils living two miles or more from schools, though additional pupils might be included provided they lived along the route of the bus and that the limit of the bus capacity was not exceeded. It was further necessary to omit the transportation from school to home and return at the noon hour. To keep a large number of children at the school building to eat lunches at noon, it was found desirable to shorten the noon hour by 30 minutes, the afternoon session beginning at one o'clock rather than one-thirty. Both Highland and Pearl Street schools organized their teaching staffs so that this lunch period could be as profitable as possible for the pupils involved. In Pearl Street School about 200 pupils stayed on an average; at High- land School about 65. Tables were constructed in both schools and a regular routine of lunch period procedure was inaugurated. After the lunch period was over, the teachers on duty supervised the playground activity of the pupils who remained for lunch. This fall it was possible for the School Committee to get a temporary certificate for an addi- tional bus to be run during the winter months. This bus permitted some of the pupils from the south side of the Town to be transported to Highland and to Pearl Street schools. In assigning pupils to this supplementary bus, preference was given to the children in the first two grades over those in the third and fourth grades. Some pupils in the fifth grade were transported, but it was found impossible to add the sixth grade pupils to this list. The supplementary bus will be discontinued on April 1, 1944.
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REPORT OF MUSIC DIRECTOR
Some progress has been made in instrumental music in the High School, and a Boys' Glee Club and a Girls' Glee Club added to the High School program. The temporary sound-proofing of the doors on the Music Room has helped some in keeping the sounds of the instruments confined to the Music Room, though there is a definite need of com- plete sound-proofing of the interior of the room. The purchase of phonograph records for music appreciation has aided the program.
In the Elementary Schools the Music Supervisor has given 5 of the 6 Seashore Tests to all the fifth and sixth grade pupils. These tests in- cluded evaluating a pupil's sense of pitch; sense of intensity ; sense of consonance, tonal memory ; and sense of rhythm.
The scores of these tests show the following results :
Number of pupils getting better than average scores on five
Seashore Tests
Pitch
Intensity
Consonance
Tonal Memory
Rhythm
Gr. No.
No. % above ab. ave. ave.
No.
No. % above ab. ave. ave.
No.
No. % above ab. ave. ave_
No. No. % above ab. ave. ave.
No. No. above ab. %
ave. ave.
5 158
63
40
159
93
59
157
71
45
152
41
37
149
82
55
6 176 106 60 174
101
58
178
75
42
172
60
35
172 107
62
These scores mean that the pupils in grades five and six have nor- mal musical ability, and in the sixth grade a majority have better than average musical talent, as evident by the 60% above-average score in the sense of pitch and 62% above-average in the sense of rhythm.
Pupils ranged from 0 to 100% on their results in each test. The im- portant outcome of the testing was finding out those individual children who had musical ability and had not been aware of it. The score which these pupils made has helped the Music Supervisor give advice to par- ents whether or not to arrange for, or continue, instrumental music in- struction for their children; and what instruments individual children would find profitable to take up.
Any parent wishing to find out the individual scores of her boy or girl, and to get advice concerning his or her musical ability, should con- sult the Elementary School Music Supervisor.
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ART INSTRUCTION
During the past year the Supervisor of Art has given emphasis to op- portunity for children to express their own ideas with art material. Her work is based upon the idea that art is not a specialized skilled subject, designed for the talented pupil, but can properly enrich the enjoyment of all through release or expression in whatever materials the pupils may desire to use. The art program is planned to develop this natural expression of the pupils.
The Art Supervisor has expressed her aims for the year as provid- ing through material of instruction, a' s'elf-expression on the part of pupils in the many activities which the school provides. These include decoration for school events, working on posters, outdoor sketching, murals, field trips, exhibits from art museums, lectures by outside people, lantern slides, window displays, and the organization of child exhibits.
HEALTH
During the school year the health program has progressed admir- ably under the direction of the School Nurse. She is constantly in the schools checking diseases, answering emergency calls, and planning ex- aminations for children, besides organizing the various clinics which are held in the Reading schools.
Besides this work, the School Nurse made 382 home visits. The School Nurse's day begins at eight o'clock and continues many times without interruption until five or six o'clock at night.
This year a survey was carried on by the School Nurse in coopera- tion with the dentists of the Town. The plan was to examine the teeth of all children in the schools. Obviously this could not be completed in one year, especially when such a shortage of dentists exists. Each den- tist gave a dental examination free of charge to every child who came to him accompanied by the parent or some responsible older person, and who presented to him a blue dental examination card. On this card the dentists check the following items :
No dental defects.
Dental defects which were present have been cared for.
Dental defects present.
Treatment has been started and definite appointments made to assure the correction of all defects.
Treatment is needed, but no provision is made for it.
When these cards were returned, a letter was sent to the parents following up the examination. Each teacher was then furnished with a copy of the latest manual on dental health, from which the classroom teacher gave lessons on the care of teeth, periodic visits to dentists, and
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general supervision at home to preserve dental health. The School Nurse has summarized the results of this survey as follows :
Number of cards given out to pupils 460
Number of cards returned 371
Number of children having no defects 182
Number of children requiring treatment 189
Number of children actually received treatment from dentist 162
This gives 85% of the number of pupils who required dental treat- ment as having actually received this treatment.
Appreciation should be given to the dentists of Reading for their cooperation in the valuable survey and the help which they have given in treating children's teeth at a time when it would probably cut down the more serious dental troubles which would have occurred had the treat- ment not been given or the condition diagnosed.
There still remains a need for more appreciation and support of the Dental Clinic held in the Superintendent's office two days a week.
The Chadwick Tuberculosis Clinic which is held by the State was very successful. At its meeting last February, test X-rays of all the children who had been followed annually were checked at that time. There were 21 children attending this Clinic.
At the Pre-School Registration in March, 231 children attended the clinic, and as a result a definite increase in the percentage of children entering school with remedial defects corrected occurred.
The School Nurse held the annual diphtheria immunization clinic last year. One hundred and thirty children were immunized at that time.
This last year, because of the shortage of doctors, we were unable to give the annual physical examination to all the pupils in the schools. A plan was worked out with the School Nurse and School Physician to examine the pupils in Grades 1-3-6-9-12, and those who were engaged in active sports. In addition to this, examination of feet was made for all children following the new law passed last year by the General Court.
By December the pupils of the twelfth and ninth grades had had com- plete physical examinations. An analysis of the defects found and the number of pupils having each defect is given below:
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-
Junior High Senior High
Total
Number of pupils examined
145
154
299
Number of pupils with reported defects
110
68
178
Defects Noted :
Nutrition
3
1
4
Posture
73
8
81
Skin
25
10
35
Teeth
28
11
39
Nose
1
2
3
Cervical glands
2
3
5
Thyroid glands
0
1
1
Heart
4
4
8
Feet
51
37
88
Spine defects-Posture
5
2
7
Spine defects-congenital
1
0
1
Total defects
193
79
272
Attention is drawn to the large number of posture, skin, teeth, and feet defects found among the Junior High School pupils examined. To meet this situation, the School Nurse has developed a Reading School Posture Program which is similar to the program in operation once in the schools and which she advises reinstituting as soon as possible. Last year there was an abnormally large number of cases of rheumatic fever which have evidently been well treated. The pupils having this diffi- culty are no longer confined to their beds.
Because of the increased amount of sickness last year and the inter- ruption of continued child care in many homes due to working parents, the School Nurse has had an extremely large burden carrying out the health program. She has already suggested a plan for the development of a central health committee in the schools to bring in the aid of the teachers.
THE WORK OF THE VISITING TEACHER
During the past year the Visiting Teacher has made 516 home con- tacts and conference appointments in her program of working out with parents, teachers, and pupils, the special problems of maladjustment, whether in the school or in the home.
Very often the readjustment of a pupil, or parent and pupil, takes a number of visits during which there must be built up a confidence in the Visiting Teacher's advice to all. Much time must be devoted to each individual case. The objectives of the Visiting Teacher's program this year have been as follows :
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1. To develop in every adult with whom the child has relations an appreciation and understanding of the methods which are most liable to bring about an adjustment of his problems.
2. To help parents realize that the most important thing in the life of their children is the kind of attitude developing in the home, of parents for child and and child for parents, and that these attitudes are more important than comfortable surroundings and other material values. In working with child difficulties in school, an appreciation of the positive and constructive attitudes of the teacher, and the importance of the parents' attitudes to- ward the school are all necessary to bring about a complete un- derstanding of the problems.
Working along this way the Visiting Teacher has come to what may be called "results" in specific cases she has handled since September, 1943. A tabulation of the number of pupils affected is given after the classification of each result.
Definitely happier child 8
Improved adjustment in class room 9
Better cooperation from home 17
Better understanding on the part of parents 31 Better understanding on part of teacher 7
Increased responsibility on part of pupil for his own adjustment 22
Cooperation with outside agencies 12
This work, to be sure, is not new to the Reading schools as one may check by reading the reports of ten to fifteen years ago written by Mrs. Abigail Mingo and Mrs. Josephine Fowler. These reports describe in- teresting cases and the work of a home visitor and social worker, much like the work of the present visitor.
Due to the large increase on the demands of the School Visitor's time, it was found necessary to obtain assistance in her work, especially that part of it involved in checking absences and truancy. We were fortunate to obtain the service of Mr. Warburton Murray who has had a considerable background in legal study.
STUDENTS PURCHASE WAR STAMPS AND BONDS
During the year, each school has been active in sponsoring war stamp sales and bond drives. Stamp sales have been scheduled each week and special drives were staged at frequent intervals.
The Reading school students have made an enviable record by con- tributing generously to the purchase of stamps and bonds. This record may be summarized as follows: The High School purchased $4,248.10 worth of war stamps and bonds and received the citation from the Gov -
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ernment for credit of purchasing a field ambulance. Besides this, the High School also purchased one jeep. The Junior High School pur- chased $5,100.00 worth of stamps and three jeeps. Highland's record showed the purchase of $5,544.05 worth of stamps and bonds and also three jeeps. Pearl St. School contributed $4,497.00 and money for two jeeps. Pearl St. School was also cited by the Government for the pur- chase of a field ambulance. Prospect St. School purchased $1,651.30 worth of war stamps and bonds and Lowell St. School $2,507.30 and one jeep. Chestnut Hill School contributed the amount of $1,411.00 for the purchase of war stamps. The total contributions of school pupils amount to $24,958.75, ten jeeps, and two field ambulances.
The Junior High School, Highland School, and the Lowell St. and Chestnut Hill schools each flew the Minute Man Flag as evidence that 90% or more of their pupils were contributing regularly to the purchase of war stamps.
INCREASE IN WORKING PERMITS
The number of working permits issued this year totalled 568 over against 517 last year. The most noticeable change was the increase in the number of girls over 16 applying for permits this year, which showed 308 girls against 180 last year, and the decrease in the number of boys over 16, which was 318 in 1942 against 201 in 1943.
SUPERVISORY STAFF MEETINGS
Under the direction of the Superintendent of Schools, monthly sup- ervisory staff meetings have been held with principals, supervisors, and teachers especially interested in the topic at hand. These meetings have been scheduled for 7:30 at the School Committee Offices.
The following discussions were developed :
1. The work of the Visiting Teacher.
2. A better understanding of pupil behavior and discipline.
3. Evaluating pupil progress.
FUNDAMENTAL PROBLEMS FACING THE SCHOOLS
During the school year, Superintendent, Principals, and faculties, struggled with various problems within the school system which have taken a great deal of time and energy. Some of these are due to the difficulties in running a school system during a period of world crisis. Others are due to needs which have long been felt.
Retention of High Standards
With the many demands on the time and efforts of teachers and pu- pils in cooperating in war projects, such as scrap drives, rationing, spe- cial war programs, and the like, there is a possibility of relinquishing
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some of the standards of our work which were held to during peace- time. The teachers, however, have met this situation and have incor- porated into the courses of study, materials suggested by the Govern- ment, constant discussion of the significance of the world situation polit- ically, economically, and militarily, and have used interest in these things to heighten the attainment of pupils in such requirements. This has been done in face of the fact that teachers have been constantly un- der personal strain. This strain has not only been due to their concern for relatives and friends participating in the war-and the desire to par- ticipate in it more actively themselves-but also to anxiety in meeting their own obligations and continuing their chosen work.
Retention of a Teaching Corps
Fundamental to the kind of service education can render in a com- munity, is the quality of the teachers in the schools. Reading has been fortunate to have instructors carefully chosen for their ability to develop the work of pupils to a high standard. Continuity of this instruction is vital to the service the school system renders the Town. War has neces- sarily disrupted this continuity, but the numbers of teachers leaving Reading in the last two years to accept higher paid positions in larger school systems has disrupted it more.
This has been particularly true in the High School. In 1942, twelve out of 25 teachers left the High School. This was a turnover of over 48% in one year. Three teachers left for better positions; five joined the armed forces ; two were married; and two resigned for other reasons.
In 1943, when the faculty was reduced to 23 teachers, ten left, mak- ing a turnover of 43% in that year. Of these ten, five left for better positions; three joined the armed forces; two left to be married. In the last two years, therefore, 22 teachers left the High School faculty, representing a turnover of 46%. This has been a handicap which only constant and careful study and work on the part of principals and de- partment heads have been able to overcome.
In the Junior High School, one teacher left for a better position in 1942, and in 1943, two left for the same reason. Two left to be married. At Highland School, one left for a better position in 1942, and one in 1943. In 1942 also another teacher left for another reason. At Pearl Street School, three left in 1942 and four in 1943. Four of these seven teachers gave reasons of marriage for their leaving, one for a better position, one died, and one left for other reasons. In Chestnut Hill School, we lost one of our most experienced teachers to take a position in a larger town. This gives us a total of 16 teachers in the last two years leaving for better paid positions; eight to join the armed forces ;
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ten to be married; and five for other reasons. Two have died. No school system can long serve to its best capacity when it has a turn- over of 40% of its personnel in two years.
Loss of good teachers, however, is not confined to Reading, and a knowledge of this makes the future look a little darker. Since Decem- ber 7, 1941, 200,000 teachers have left their classrooms throughout the Country, and the normal schools have dropped off 60% of their enroll- ments. Last year, the struggle for teachers in towns of 2500 to 5000 pop- ulation was unprecedented. It has been reported that over 2000 schools had to close because the school authorities were unable to obtain teach- ers. It is possible that a similar condition may strike towns the size of Reading next year.
These figures have been given to show the citizens of Reading the actual condition facing the continuity of instruction in our schools, and the need to make teaching in Reading sufficiently attractive financially to retain our excellent teaching corps. The School Committee and the Town have shown appreciation of the financial burden which teachers have had to meet by making possible temporary adjustments on their basic salaries. But this alone will not guarantee the retention of our personnel, particularly since other towns and cities are entering into such keen competition for teachers' services. It is recommended that a thorough study of the salary schedule be undertaken with a view to making teaching positions in Reading more attractive. Such a study leading to a revised schedule would do much to give our teachers a feel- ing of professional permanency and security. The conclusions must, of course, be within the Town's ability to support.
Urgent Need for Better High School Facilities
During the present war crisis, the Reading High School has not been able to meet the demands placed upon it to train youth for the armed forces, as it could have met them had its facilities been better. Only half the pupils in the High School can take advantage of the physical education development, so needed in pre-induction training. The High School had not developed Vocational Education to the place where it could take advantage of Federal funds to purchase machines to train our youth for advanced pre-induction instruction. The High School has confined itself, however, to those things it could do well, that is, the academic subjects. In order that our young people may take full advan- tage of training in a large number of fields, increased facilities must be planned for as soon as possible.
If the increase in school population in Reading after World War I indicates to any extent a like increase after the present World War,
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