USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Tewksbury > Town of Tewksbury annual report 1933-1938 > Part 46
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Transportation has been somewhat of a problem, with the busses filled to capacity and making as many trips as possible, they have not been able to get all the children to school on time. It has been the policy of the committee that no child should have to walk more than one mile. With the increase in the number of children the one mile limit will have to be extended or another bus added
During the summer the well at the High School was driven to a depth of one hundred fifty feet, we now have an adequate supply of excellent water.
The floor of the High School hall has been relaid and bleachers capable of seating two hundred have been installed, these bleachers can be removed for out of door sports.
Painting has been done and repairs made in all schools and the buildings are in good condition.
Respectfully submitted,
MAY L. LARRABEE, Chairman, J. HARPER GALE AUSTIN F. FRENCH, Secretary.
.
The School committee recommend the sum of $57,530.00 be appro- priated for the schools for 1939 based upon the following budget:
Elementary Schools
Superintendent $ 877.00
Supervisors 1,020.00
183
1
Teachers
17,500.00
Janitors
3,060.00
Transportation
4,200.00
Fuel
1,400.00
Books & Supplies
1,400.00
Health
1,500.00
Insurance
143.00
District
150.00
Miscellaneous
500.00
Repairs
1,000.00
$ 32,750.00
High School
Teachers
$ 14,250.00
Janitor
1,300.00
Transportation
2,900.00
Fuel
700.00
Supervisors
720.00
Books & Supplies
1,550.00
Miscellaneous
2,000.00
Equipment & Repairs
1,000.00
Insurance
360.00
$ 24,780.00
$ 57,530.00
184
REPORT OF SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS
To the School Committee, Tewksbury, Massachusetts.
Madam and Gentlemen:
I have the honor to present this, my ninth, Annual Report of the Superintendent of Schools.
It has been suggested that I confine my report to about half of the space usually devoted to this matter in the volume entitled Annual Town Report. I take it that this is for reason of economy and shall act accordingly, in so far as my personal share of the material is con- cerned. I have not limited my associates in their presentation of the work of their departments of the school system. I direct your atten- tion to these as worthy of consideration as evidence of the returns you are receiving for that part of your tax dollar which goes for education.
If space were available I had intended to break down the figures in our school expenditures and show what is devoted to various parts of the school system. From these figures some interesting comparisons could be shown. This would require too many pages of the report at a good price per page and would probably not justify the expenses.
In general I am glad to be able to state that the schools are in the best working condition that I have seen them for several years. There is a better spirit of harmony in all of the teaching staffs than has sometimes been the case, and the general average of the quality of teaching done has been raised during the year.
I believe one of the greatest improvements during the year has been in the quantity and quality of the work done in connection with school health and hygiene. This work has been systematized and car- ried thru most efficiently. Excellent work has been done in a more widespread addition of something hot to the cold lunches brought by the majority of the school children. Reference to the report of the school nurse will show the numerous valuable clinical advantages which have been given a wider application than we usually have se- cured. The report of the School Physician gives further evidence of the growth in this department.
185
This current school year we have for the first time given serious attention to music in the High School. In previous years music was given incidental attention in such time as could be squeezed from the schedule of an already overworked music supervisor. In September Miss Angelica Carabello was employed to give a full day each week to vocal and instrumental music in the High School. The results of her work may not show fully this year. It takes a little time to produce glee clubs and choruses which function smoothly. Until more people enter high school who have had some training in instrumental music it will be difficult to produce an orchestra or band of any size. I pre- dict however that before June 1939 we shall see some promising results from Miss Carabello's work.
Another innovation during the year was the addition of field hockey to the program of physical education or sports for the High School girls. This is a fast competitive game played out of doors, and it is one of the finest forms of exercises and team play for girls. This game is growing in popularity. It is one of the standard major sports for girls in the large public and private schools of the country. It has the merit of being a game not too expensive for the smaller schools to support. Miss Moran, a newcomer to the faculty has been coaching the teams with excellent results both from the competitive angle and that of pupil interest and participation.
Great credit is due all of the coaches of various athletic teams for the excellent records made by their charges and for the good, clean sportsmanship shown by the teams. The record of victories has been so good that I feel that it is well for us to remember that every school has its lean years and that the public must not expect an un- ending series of victorious seasons. It is equally important for all to recognize that the athletic program is but an incidental part in the whole high school program. Care must be exercised that the athletic tail shall not wag the educational dog. We must ever keep in mind that sports are carried on for the benefit of the pupils rather than to provide a Roman holiday for the populace or to serve as an advertis- ing medium for the town.
No consideration of the program of physical education would be complete with a tribute to the untiring zeal and energy of those who directed the construction of the new athletic field. It is a superior piece of work both in conception and execution. It is superior to the facilities to be found at many of the small colleges. This and the new bleachers in the gymnasium gives the school enviable facilities for this element of the school activities. I hope that the young people will show appreciation of such unusual blessings by giving due care not to abuse them.
186
TEACHING CORPS CHANGES
Matrimony has made serious inroads into our teaching personnel during the year. Miss Mary Watson of the Foster School and Miss Catherine Sullivan of the Shawsheen School completed their careers as teachers in June. In November Miss Shaw of the Shawsheen School staff followed their example. Mrs. Winifred Colbath succeeded Miss Watson as teacher of the third grade in the Foster School, Miss Eliz- abeth Hill of Lawrence followed Miss Sullivan as principal of the Shawsheen and Mrs. Ruth Lyons, a former teacher in the Foster School took up Miss Shaw's work in Shawsheen. All of these are teachers with records of successful experience.
Overcrowding of classes made necessary the addition of two assistants to the staff. Miss Mary Katherina of Tewksbury took over a class made up from the overflow of the third and fourth grades in Foster School. Late in the fall it was found necessary to give Miss Reynolds of the Shawsheen School some assistance with her excessive- ly large class of first and second graders. Miss Mary Carboine, a re- cent Lowell Teachers College graduate was placed in this position.
The one other change in the elementary school came as a result of the resignation of Miss Elizabeth Hoar from the seventh grade in Foster School. Her successor is Miss Dorothy Ward an experienced teacher who came to us from a successful career in Connecticut. Miss Ward is a Massachusetts girl.
In the High School two vacancies were created by the advance- ment of Mr. Donald Dunnan and Miss Agnes Phillips to large fields. Mr. Dunnan was elected to the combined offices of Principal of High School and Superintendent of Schools for the town of Burlington with the task of organizing and supervising the building of a new high school added for good measure. Miss Phillips was elected to a posi- tion in the Commercial Department of the Framingham High School.
As a result of Mr. Dunnan's resignation Mr. Donald McSheehy was transferred from his position as instructor in manual arts to teacher of science. Into the position left vacant Mr. Roland Bourdon, a Fitchburg trained man, was inducted. Mr. Bourdon has had several years of experience in his field. Miss Phyllis Moran was elected to succeed Miss Phillips in the commercial department.
Mr. Lawrence McGowan was promoted to head coach of football and baseball succeeding Mr. Dunnan. His first season in this position was eminently successful. His good sportsmanship during the foot- ball season deserves commendation.
The resignation of Miss Marion Adams brought to us Mrs. Leahy for a short time as Supervisor of Music. Mrs. Leahy was elected to a
187
full time position in her home town and was followed in September by Mrs. Alice Sturtevant who took over the work in the elementary grades. As stated above, a special teacher of music was added to the High School staff in the person of Miss Carabello who was elected because of the superior type of results she had secured in the neighbor- ing town of Wilmington.
INCREASED ENROLLMENT
A comparison of the enrollment figures for October first of the current year with those of the year before shows an increase of 58 pu- pils in the elementary grades. Fortunately the increase was spread around in various grades so that no insurmountable difficulty was ex- perienced. There is some crowding however, and there are many classes too large for securing the best work. The graduation of the present eighth grade will relieve the pressure somewhat in the ele- mentary schools only to transfer it to the high school which is at pres- ent filled in excess of its rated capacity. The school where the great- est increase and worst crowding occurs is the Shawsheen at South Tewksbury. In this building there was an increase of 31 pupils over last year's enrollment. There were 188 pupils in this building of five classrooms. One of these rooms has a maximum seating capacity of 25 pupils. It is evident that the other four rooms averaged more than forty pupils each. If there were but one grade in these rooms the condition would not be so bad, but three of them are rooms of two grades. At the present time there are 48 pupils in grades one and two and the same number in grades six and seven. A further complication of the problem in this section is that increase or decrease in numbers is unpredictable. During any year there are variations of from 10 to 20 pupils in the total enrollment. It is never possible to plan during the summer for any room in the building. If the present tendency con- tinues it may not be long before it will be necessary either to build ad- ditional rooms on the Shawsheen School, or to remove the eighth grade to the Foster School, or some other building.
Conditions are threatening in the Foster School. During the past summer it was found necessary to do a considerable amount of moving of furniture in order that some of the larger classes might be seated. It was also necessary because classrooms would not accomodate the numbers assigned to them to create an overflow class from the third and fourth grades which has been seated in one end of Pickering Hall. This necessitated the employment of another teacher. This same condition will probably continue for several years. It is evident that any marked increase in enrollment will call for additional rooms in the Foster School or elsewhere.
188
From the evidence given above it would seem advisable that an investigation be made as to the best solution of the problem. It is my opinion that if additions to our school plant become necessary, the place for such addition would be to the High School. By creating a six year high school administrative unit, all housed under one roof, it would be possible to remove the seventh and eighth grades from the overcrowded schools and allow for any expansion in the six ele- mentary grades.
CONCLUSION
To the School Committee and to all of my associates who have worked so faithfully to make this a highly beneficial year for the school children of Tewksbury, I extend sincere thanks.
Respectfully submitted,
STEPHEN G. BEAN
Wilmington, Massachusetts January 12, 1939.
Supt. of Schools.
..
189
REPORT OF THE HEADMASTER TEWKSBURY HIGH SCHOOL January 1939
Tewksbury High School began its fourth year in September, 1938, and during the first term had a record enrollment of 240 students. This represents an increase of 5 over the registration for September 1937, and an increase of 26 over the figures for September 1936. The 240 stu- dents who have registered so far this year are divided by classes as follows:
Freshmen
75
Sophomores
57
Juniors
61
Seniors
40
Post Graduates
7
Total Registration 240
The division of students according to the courses for which they registered was as follows:
Commercial.
92
Nurse's Training 11
College
44
Teachers College 8
General
42 Home Economics
4
Manual Training
32
Post Graduates 7
The above figures show that nearly one-half of the students in the school are preparing for business careers, while about one-quarter of them are planning to enter higher institutions after completing their high school work. Each year there is an increase in the number regis- tered in the Nurse's Training course, a fact due no doubt to the prox- imity of the State Infirmary.
During the summer of 1938 it was necessary to fill vacancies caused by the resignation of Mr. Donald Dunnan and Miss Agnes Phillips. Mr. McGowan took over Mr. Dunnan's position as Football Coach, and Mr. McSheehy succeeded him as teacher of the Sciences. To replace Mr. McSheehy who had been the Industrial Arts teacher, Mr. Roland Bourdon, a graduate of Fitchburg Teacher's College, was engaged. Mr.
190
Bourdon has had several years experience in the teaching of Industrial Arts and came to Tewksbury from the Rutland, Vermont, High School.
Miss Phyllis Moran, a graduate of the University of New Hamp- shire, and an experienced teacher of the Commercial subjects, was en- gaged to take the place of Miss Phillips. In addition to teaching Short- hand and Typewriting, Miss Moran teaches Freshman English and is coach of the girl's Field Hockey Team.
Miss Angelica Carabello was engaged as Music Supervisor to suc- ceed Miss Leahy who resigned in June. The new Music Supervisor made a remarkably fine record in the Wilmington school system last year, and in a few months has already infused a new spirit into the Tewksbury High School glee clubs.
In June, 1938 the High School held its second Annual Commence- ment exercises, and forty-two young graduates attired in the traditional caps and gowns were awarded their diplomas. A complete list of the 1938 graduates follows:
Frank Bargardo
Frances French
Rita Manning
Ruth Bean
Walter Fuller
Helen Mullin
Thomas Berube
Wilmer Garlick
John O'Neill
Jeanette Blouin
Chester Heald
Agnes Otto ,
William Blue
Paul Houlihan
Natalie Patten
Laura Bonugli
Alexander Ivas
Connie Perivolotis
Blanche Boumel
Florence Jones Joseph Kane
Eleanor Prescott
Betty Byron
Margaret Kane
Marion Rogers Irene Roper Norma Snay
Mary Cooney
Rosella Lipomi
Rita Cote
Thomas Mackenzie
Sophie Szurley
Eugenia Farwell
Loretta MacLellan
Ruth Traveis
Leonard Foy
Rosamond Mann
Jeny Wojtkiewicz
SPECIAL HONORS
Valedictory, Rita Cote
Salutatory, Thomas Berube
The May L. Larrabee Scholarship Awards RITA COTE, THOMAS BERUBE
The Melvin Rogers Baseball Award WALTER FULLER
The Melvin Rogers Football Award JOSEPH KANE
The Sons of the American Revolution History Medal RITA SULLIVAN
191
ยท
Walter Cogan
Leonard Keough
Jean Pike
Marion Bruneau
The Balfour Award for Loyalty, Scholarship, and Achievement JOSEPH KANE
Faculty Award to Outstanding Girl Athlete IRENE ROPER
The Constitutional Sesquicentennial Medal RITA SULLIVAN
The Parent-Teacher's Association Citizenship Award NATALIE PATTEN
JUNIOR USHERS
Arlene Olson, Virginia Scammell, Gerald Keough, Allan MacLellan Class President, Joseph Kane Class Marshall, William Blue
Mr. Nathan Hamblin, Headmaster of Punchard High School in An- dover, was the Guest Speaker, and Mr. Austin French, Secretary of the School Board presented the diplomas.
The development of scholarship is the first aim of any school, and it has been a source of satisfaction to the Headmaster and Faculty to have each year show an improvement in the class work of the stu- dent body. As a constant incentive toward this end the school requires that a student secure 80 credit points to earn a diploma, and maintains 70% as a passing grade in all subjects. In addition, no student is eligible for participation in school athletics unless he or she is passing three of the four subjects required. To insure adequate review work, Mid-Year and Final Examinations are conducted and the student's record on these term examinations has an important bearing on final grades.
Every six weeks at the end of the regular marking period an Honor Roll is compiled including all those whose marks have averaged over 80%. There is also a Special High Honors list for students who have averaged over 90%. Space will not permit the listing of the entire Honor Roll for the past school year, but worthy of special mention are the following students who were consistent members of the High Honors group:
Rita Cote
Meyer Abrams
Irene Cote Martin Haas
Frank Simonitz Rita Sullivan
Mary Lisay Wilmer Garlick Agnes Otto
Natalie Patten Dorothy Ballas
Francis Emmons
Irene Roper
192
In June of 1938 Tewksbury High School was awarded for the third year the Class A certificate issued by the State Department of Educa- tion.
Miss Betty Trickey joined the Faculty in September as a cadet teacher and her services which were volunteered have been of great value to the school.
In a review of the period since the last report special mention should be made of some of the outstanding events and achievements in the varied phases of school activity.
Under the auspices of the Lowell Council of the Parent-Teachers Association the school's Business Law class presented a program called, "Ignorance of the Law is no Excuse" over WLLH in October. This program consisted of a typical class discussion and was the first of its type to be broadcast by any school in this vicinity.
This year a special schedule was inaugurated for Mondays which will allow every student to avail himself of the opportunities offered by the Art and Music courses.
The school paper, the Hi-Lights, is being published regularly under the direction of Miss Maguire, and unlike most small school literary enterprises continues to keep its assets more than its debts.
The Senior Play for 1938 "Gold in the Hills" was produced under the guidance of Miss Phillips and provided a fine evening's entertain- ment for a capacity audience. Work in dramatics for the present school year is being carried on by Mr. Bourdon.
Assembly programs were held at frequent intervals during the year and provided varied forms of entertainment and instruction In keeping with the current trend toward more visual education, the school subscribed to the "Chronicles of America" a series of historical films produced and distributed by the Yale University Press, and these were of great value as a supplement to the regular text-books of the history classes.
With the cooperation of the State Department of Physical Educa- tion and Miss Edith Haines, R. N., the School Nurse, an elaborate series of Physical Fitness tests were given to Tewksbury High School stu- dents. The addition of Miss Haines to the high school faculty has been of great value in the promotion of health practices among the students.
Under the direction of the Home economics teacher, Miss Dutton, the Boys Cooking Class is continuing for the fourth year, and is one of the most successful extra-curricular activities. The Behave Yourself class in manners and social customs which was begun in 1936 is an- other popular extra-curricular activity.
193
The boys in the Manual Training department under the direction of Mr. Bourdon have built a new tool-room and many new benches for their work-shop, besides a number of articles for use in other parts of the school. As in other years Mr. Wiley has found time to do much valuable carpentry work in addition to his many other janitorial duties.
On Columbus Day a huge crowd gathered for the Dedication of the Tewksbury High School stadium, and no one could fail to be impressed by the athletic plant which is markedly superior to that of any school in this vicinity. The entire project embraces a stadium with a capacity of nine hundred, baseball and football playing fields, baseball bleachers and dug-outs, and a completely equipped field house.
The physical equipment of the high school building has been aug- mented during the past year by the addition of portable bleachers which will seat two hundred in the auditorium, a bookkeeping machine, and a vacuum cleaning apparatus.
The sports high-light of the school year 1937-38 was the winning of the Suburban Championship by the Tewksbury High School Basket- ball team. Coach Frank Maria, assisted by Charlie Hazel, developed in his first year as director of the team, a strong combination which set a new standard of play in the Suburban League and brought to the school its first basketball championship. Two of the Tewksbury boys, Llewellyn Webster and Joe Kane, were honored by being selected for the All-Suburban team. The outlook for the 1939 basketball season is promising with both teams having an excellent chance to win League honors. The boy's team seems well qualified to defend its 1938 title, and the girl's team coached by Miss Chandler and Miss Scoboria is expected to be among the League leaders.
Coach Lawrence McGowan and his assistant Charlie Hazel were successful in guiding Tewksbury's 1938 Football team to its first Subur- ban Football Championship. In recognition of the fine work of this team, five of its members were named to the honorary All-Suburban Football eleven. The boys who were selected for this honor were Captain Ken- neth Fitzgerald, George Bowden, Gerald Keough, Philip Burgess, and Allan MacLellan.
Under the direction of Coach Phyllis Moran, Tewksbury formed its first Field Hockey team ,and with the resumption of outdoor sports in the spring a regular schedule of interscholastic games will be played.
Tewksbury High students are fortunate in having their own tennis courts and many have availed themselves of the opportunity to learn the game under the direction of Mr. McSheehy. The second Annual Tennis Tournament was contested in late October with the Boy's Cham- pionship going to Llewllyn Webster and the Girl's Championship to Virginia Scammell.
194
Special mention should be made of the great debt which the school owes to Charlie Hazel who ever since the opening day in 1935 has vol- unteered his services as an assistant coach and has been an important factor in the success of the school's teams.
In closing I wish to thank the members of the School Committee, Superintendent Stephen Bean, the members of the High School Fac- ulty and the entire student body for the complete cooperation which they have given me in directing the destiny of the school during the past three and a half years. In addition to that the complete and un- qualified support of the citizens of the town has been not only a vital factor in the school's success but an incentive and compensation for those of us connected with the school. Such success as the High School has had is clearly the result of concerted effort toward the same goal, and there is no reason why we cannot keep Tewksbury High School a leader in all phases of school activity.
Respectfully submitted,
WHITMAN PEARSON
Headmaster.
.
195
ENROLLMENT DATA FOR 1938
TABLE I Age and Grade Distribution October 31, 1938
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
T
I -
26
31
6
2
1
66
=
20
39
6
1
1
67
=
22
31
14
2
1
70
IV
17
31
16
8
2
1
2
77
V
19
30
12
3
5
2
1
72
VI
8
31
10
10
3
1
63
VII
17
35
12
3
1
68
VIII
1
17
45
14
6
5
88
T
26
51
67
56
65
58
69
68
73
22
9
6
1
571
IX
1
13
23
16
11
4
68
X
16
28
9
1
1
55
XI
4
16
23
14
1
1
59
XII
2
9
18
7
1
1
2
40
P. G
2
2
1
5
T
1
13
43
62
52
39
11
3
1
2
227
GT
26
51
67
56
65
58
69
69
86
65
71
58
40
11
3
1
2
798
196
TABLE II Teacher-Grade Distribution October 31, 1938
GRADE
1
11
111
IV
V
VI
VII
VIII
1X
x
XI
XII
P. G.
T
ROLLO
41
41
CUNNINGHAM
40
40
COLBATH
37
37
KATHERINA
9
9
18
BLAKE
38
38
PIPER
42
42
FLYNN
33
33
WARD
38
38
HOWARD
42
42
TOTAL
329
REYNOLDS
23
22
45
LYONS
18
24
42
LAMBERT
22
22
HILL
22
25
47
RINGER
32
32
TOTAL
188
LYNESS
2
5
6
6
19
HERSEY
8
8
5
14
35
TOTAL
57
PEARSON
68
55
59
40
5
227
G. TOTAL
66
67
70
77
72
63
68
88
68
55
59
40
5
798
19'
REPORT OF THE MUSIC SUPERVISOR
January 10, 1939
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