Town of Tewksbury annual report 1956-1962, Part 27

Author: Tewksbury (Mass.)
Publication date: 1956
Publisher: Tewksbury (Mass.)
Number of Pages: 1502

USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Tewksbury > Town of Tewksbury annual report 1956-1962 > Part 27

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Steps are being taken toward placing the faculty on a more pro- fessional basis. For years there has been a tendency to consider the school year as starting some time after Labor Day and ending about the middle of June. This, together with the school year vacations, have made for a restricted teaching time. While such a school year was valid in a rural, agrarian economy, it does not make sense at the present time. There is need for a longer, continuous program of teaching with planned carry-over to the following year.

Two proposals related to this have been presented to the School Committee. The first of these calls for the principals to be placed on

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a 12-month contract basis. Presently principals are hired on a school year basis. It is true that the principals work many hours while school is closed, but this work is on an individual, volunteer basis. It is felt that the calendar year contract will allow much to be done by way of planning and follow-through during the summer months. There will be direction and purpose to the work.

The Committee has adopted this program on an experimental basis for six weeks during the summer of 1958. This is to be evaluated and followed by an annual contract beginning in September 1958. Initially, work will be done in the summer academic program, cur- riculum development, program arrangement, and teacher orientation. Coupled with this will be the opportunity to work with the Superin- tendent in the general administration of the schools by way of develop- ing a background and understanding of the many and varied responsibilities inherent in the functioning of the schools.

A second proposal made to the Committee is to specify the teacher contract year as extending from September 1 to the following June 30. There is nearly a week before opening and about two weeks after closing schools which are now lost to the educational program. It seems valuable to spend time at the close of the school year to take stock of the progress which has been made and the direction in which we are going. This is a time for workshop programs toward improving and refining the curriculum offering and teaching techniques. Similarly, the period just before school opens permits us to get a running start with renewed vigor. It is a period of orientation of new teachers and organization of the faculty of each school. A logical follow-up of the two proposals discussed above is the placing of some members of the teaching staff on a calendar year contract.

A brief look at the financial picture of the operation of the schools should be of interest. Here is a comparison of the Appropriation Request for 1958 as compared to the Expenditures for 1957.

For Instruction

1957 $456,748.26

1958 $518,297.00

Difference +$61,548.74

Instruction, always the major portion of any school appropriation, is involved with such items as salaries for teachers, principals, supervisors, substitutes, school clerks, general instructional supplies and textbooks, and expenditures for various departments such as physical education, homemaking, industrial arts, summer play- ground and academic programs.

For Operation

1957 $79,246.03

1958 $86,266.00

Difference + $7,019.97

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Operation includes the expenses for the day-to-day operating of the schools with items of custodial salaries, coal, oil, water, gas, electricity, telephone, and custodial supplies.

For Maintenance

1957

1958

Difference

$6,512.43

$6,050.00

- $462.43

Under Maintenance are included normal repair of buildings and equipment, upkeep of grounds, cost of labor and materials incident to these items.

For Auxiliary Agencies

1957

1958

Difference

$20,551.42

$23,825.00

+ $3,273.58

Auxiliary Agencies involve such items as libraries, health services, school lunch and other items including transportation. (Because of its size Transportation has been set aside.)

For Transportation

1957 $69,180.56

1958

Difference

$69,980.00

+ $799.44

For General Control

1957

1958

Difference

$26,324.73

$19,650.00

- $6,674.73

General Control includes items such as School Committee ex- penses, Superintendent's salary and travel expenses, central office clerical help, school census, attendance officer, office expenses.

For Capital Outlay

1957

1958

Difference

$11,984.52

$11,990.00

+ $5.48

Capital Outlay includes the cost of major expenditures for new equipment, improvements to buildings and grounds, and various major items for various department needs.

The School Committee also controls the expenditures of funds for maintaining the Tewksbury Stadium (Request 1958 - $2450), Public and Vocational Schools (Request 1958 - $6000 for tuition and trans- portation), and Out of State Travel (Request $400).

The percentage of taxes charged to school expenditures is a gross amount and does not represent net expenditures. The gross amount is

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raised by taxation because the reimbursement do not accrue to the Town in time for the setting of the tax rate in that calendar year. These reimbursements are returned to the general treasury and may be used for such purposes as the Town may see fit. The Public Schools do not have the use of these funds.

These funds do, however, represent sizable earnings. A business which earns a "profit" of over $200,000 on an investment of $736,058 is a very good business. The estimated reimbursement represents 27% of the gross appropriation request. You are actually paying much less for public school education than you think you are.

Estimated Reimbursements to be Applied Against 1958 Appropriation

PUBLIC SCHOOLS

1958 Appropriation Request

$736,058.00

Earnings:

Vocational Household Arts

2,132.00

Ungraded Classes

7,900.00

Transportation

36,985.00

Schools, Chapter 70

150,450.27

Tuition - wards

4,200.00

TOTAL

$201,667.27

Net Cost of Day School from Local Taxation

$534,390.73

PUBLIC AND VOCATIONAL SCHOOLS

1958 Appropriation Request

$6,000.00

Earnings:

Tuition

2,725.00

Transportation

645.00

TOTAL

3,370.00

Net Cost from Local Taxation

$2,630.00

Note that the reimbursement on account of Public and Vocational Schools is slightly more than 50% of the pro- posed expenditure.

On the following pages are further details of the operation of the schools. They are excerpts from the reports submitted to the Superin- tendent. Each of these will help to complete the picture of our activities.

DR. EVERETT G. THISTLE

Superintendent of Schools

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REPORT OF HIGH SCHOOL (Lawrence R. McGowan)

When school opened in September, an unprecedented flood of 518 students were enrolled in grades 9 through 12. By normal attrition, this figure had been reduced to 504 by the end of December. With an eighth grade enrollment of 197 at the present time, an estimated en- rollment of 616 is predicted for these same grades for next September. As the building is overcrowded at the present time, it will be impossible to house a four year high school on one session again unless an addition to the present building or an entirely new building is constructed. Next fall, there will be 419 pupils in grades 10 through 12 alone. On the other hand, a figure approximating 380 will be represented by the combined 8th and 9th grades.

Graduation 1957

On June 7, 1957, 64 students received diplomas from Mr. Francis X. Kelley, Chairman of the School Committee. The two highest ranking students, Linda Read and Walter Thompson, had parts in the program. Awards were made as follows: The Balfour Award for loyalty, achieve- ment, and scholarship, Linda Read; the Larrabee Scholarship medals, Linda Read and Walter Thompson; the D. A. R. Good Citizenship Certificate, Patricia Leahey; the P. T. A. Basketball medals, Patricia Leahey and Robert Allen; the P. T. A. Good Citizenship medal, Mary Jane Farley; the P. T. A. Nurses Scholarship, Carol Martell; the P. T. A. Teachers Scholarship, Patricia Leahey; The Towne Players Scholar- ship, Beverly Ebinger; the Amvets Scholarship, Charles Costa; the Tewksbury Teachers Scholarship, Walter Thompson; the Class of '57 Scholarship, Robert Allen; the Melvin Rogers Athletic medals, Gerald Trull and Franklin Colantunio. Others who took part in the exercises were: Rev. C. E. Southard, Mrs. Howard Woolaver, Mrs. Donald Hunter, Mr. Bruno Bertelli, Mr. Edward Whitton, Mr. Francis Ciar- fella, Mr. Philip DeCarolis, Rev. Joseph H. Leahey, and the under- signed. Music was provided by the school band under the direction of Mr. Theodore Michell, and the Girls' Glee Club under the direction of Mrs. Rita Gilley.

Guidance

With the appointment of a guidance counselor at the secondary level, Mr. Bastable is now able to devote a great deal more of his time to the senior high school pupils. Individual conferences are planned for all seniors and juniors and opportunities are provided for pupils in the lower classes to receive assistance with social and academic problems.

The Lowell office of the Massachusetts Employment Service ad-

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ministered, without charge, to the seniors who wished it a battery of tests designed to reveal vocational aptitudes. As a follow-up, each student was recalled and the results of his or her tests were explained by the director.

Achievements

Among the outstanding achievements of 1957 are:

1. The acquisition of a dual-control car so that our students are now able to receive the actual "Behind the Wheel" instruction. 22 students took and passed the test during the summer; 43 students are presently enrolled in the course. Mr. Charles Hazel is the instructor of both phases of this very popular extra-curricula activity.

2. The school became a member of the National Honor Society. In April, the National Council of the National Education Association in Washington honored our school by granting us Charter Number 6543. In the fall, 14 seniors and 11 juniors became members. The charter members are as follows:

Seniors

Miriam Anderson

Judith Palmer

David Sherwood

Rosemarie DeCarolis

Margery Palmer

Doreen Sonier

Barbara Dunn

John Querze

Joseph Wells

Agnes Geledares

Jay Razin

Eleanor White

Stasia Kohanski

David Sharpe

Juniors

Robert Busch

George Garland

Patricia Overlan

Edward Daley

Brenda King

Cecile Parent

Carol DiPalma

Paula Kuchinski

Grace Sutton

Edward Duffett

Rosemarie Maestri

In order to be eligible, students must have attained an average of 85% for the two years preceding their election to this most coveted and distinguished society. In addition to the scholastic attainment, qualities of leadership, service, and character must also be recognized. Mrs. Jeannie Basile is the faculty sponsor.

3. Courses in Public Speaking and General Typing were added to our curriculum.

4. Although the overcrowded condition places our academic standing in jeopardy, the school retains its accreditation by the New England Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools and the Massachu- setts State Department of Education.

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Athletics

In order to cope with the large number of students now in attendance, our gymnasium has been partitioned off into five separate classrooms. These walls, being of a semi-permanent nature, preclude the utilization of this space for physical education classes, dances, assemblies, or any other form of extra-curricula activity. Although we have had to eliminate our "gym" classes, we are able to continue our three major sports. Neither football nor baseball will be affected by this change, but our basketball squads have to depend upon one of the elementary schools for its practice sessions and foreign courts for its inter-scholastic contests. There will be no other alternative until such time as the school has its own playing surface. Consequently, instead of the desired 100% participation, only about 25% of the student body is now engaged in some form of physical education.

Requirements

Changes which would help to further improve the school for 1958 are as follows:

1. An assistant principal.

2. An assistant secretary or one full time secretary who would handle all junior high school clerical work.

3. Semi-permanent partitions in the gymnasium extended to a greater height. This improvement may not eliminate sounds being produced in adjoining rooms but it would lessen them considerably.

4. A full time nurse and a Dean of Girls.

REPORT OF THE SHAWSHEEN SCHOOL (Harold Hershfield)

The annual report of any organization affords an opportunity for the director of the particular organization to recount the important events and activities of the preceding months and to state his plans for the coming year.

4-H woodworking and sewing groups, under the supervision of four women and the principal, were initiated in January and culminated in an exhibit at the end of the school year, in which the articles which the children had made were displayed and viewed by their parents. The 4-H program is being continued this year with cooking classes to be added for the girls in the near future.

The school newspaper, always a source of many valuable learning

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activities, was issued once a month last year and no important changes will be made during the coming year in regard to this activity.

A basketball league, in which almost every sixth-grade boy and girl is participating, is one of the new activities to be included in the Shawsheen School curriculum. The girls meet once a week from 3:30 P.M. to 5:00 P.M., under the direction of Miss Regis McEnany, a member of the school staff, who has had considerable experience with girls' basketball teams. The boys meet twice weekly, under the direction of the principal, assisted by a student of Tewksbury High School.

Plans for the future include the organization of student govern- ment for children of grade six. Weekly assemblies will be initiated, giving children in various grades an opportunity to present programs in the school auditorium.

The Shawsheen School P.T.A. performed many valuable services for the school children during the past year. In February, a group of women met at the school on three evenings to make colorful capes and hats for the Shawsheen School Rhythm Band, composed of second- graders. The room mothers assisted the teachers whenever school parties were given. In June, the P.T.A. sponsored a dance and party for the fifth and sixth grade children from the Shawsheen School district which was greatly enjoyed by all concerned.

Frequent meetings are being held with members of the teaching staff to constantly improve the curriculum. With the spotlight of public opinion focused on the teaching of science in the public schools, it becomes incumbent upon every teaching staff to put more effort into improving the teaching of this important phase of the curriculum. The faculty of the Shawsheen School intends to do its part by constantly examining its teaching methods and objectives.

REPORT OF THE NORTH STREET SCHOOL (Francis G. Ciarfella)

During the initial months of this calendar year, all persons con- cerned with the education of the children of this community were pressured by the many intricacies associated with the three session school day. In addition to the resulting factors of close scheduling, limited classroom activities, restrictions of effective pedagogic tech- niques, all extra-curricular activities were curtailed owing to split sessions and the use of the auditorium as temporary classrooms.

The situation improved with the opening of the present school year and made possible the organization which fits more closely the situation desired for the pupil. The school now houses slightly more than five hundred pupils heterogeneously grouped in three first grades,

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five second grades, two third grades, one fourth grade, two fifth grades, and one sixth grade class. All pupils receive instruction during a five class hours day.

The removal of the temporary classrooms from the multi-purpose room has made the facilities available for those activities which make for a more full and complete school program. The inclusion of various assemblies, pupil participation programs, as well as indoor physical educational classes is now possible. A more elaborate educational films schedule has been adopted with negligible additional expenses incurred.

A part of a plan to gain more effective use from available materials is the development of a more formally organized school library with both central and classroom location. The central library is to serve the classroom, the classroom library is to serve the pupils. It is hoped that the books in the school library may be supplemented by new purchases and by adding books borrowed from the division of the state library.

A number of revisions were made in the standard routine pro- cedures of processing pupils' records, other necessary records, data, and materials. The recently developed handbook for school clerk proved a valuable aid in the orientation of the new school clerk.

We have been most fortunate in being able to maintain the school plant with little malicious destruction. The community may feel proud of its younger members who have shown a willingness to care for the property provided in the form of this school and its contents. However, there appears to be a process of slow self destruction taking place within this building, evident through the maze of cracks which gradually seem to develop here and there throughout the school.

The roof of this school, in a state which seemed to demand almost perpetual care, has been completely resurfaced. The time and energy expended toward the continuous mopping up may now be expended in other more constructive and productive directions. The absence of the annoyance of leaks in the classrooms and marred bulletin boards should add to an improved learning situation. The hazardous and damaging streams, pools of water, and containers may now be eliminated.

The program of maintenance and preventive maintenance of the school, its heating plant, and other equipment has been evaluated and revised. A change was made in the heating plant by the manipulation and relocation of certain heating controls and by the substitution of certain automatic valves in the service lines as recommended by heating engineers who claim increased efficiency and improved performance of the heating plant.

This school is fortunate in having a staff made up almost entirely of teachers with at least one or more previous years experience. The teachers have consistently shown their ability to maintain a learning process in their pupils during periods of unusual school conditions, such

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as double-triple sessions, flu epidemic, and leaky roofs. They added to their duties the task of improving the entire curriculum. Many are deserving of much more praise and reward than may ever be forth- coming. The value of their efforts can never be known as they deal in human qualities rather than material things. We may have quality schools without quality buildings, but we could not have quality schools without quality teaching.

REPORT OF THE HEATH BROOK SCHOOL (Daniel G. O'Connor)

The Heath Brook Elementary School admitted pupils for the first time on September 4, 1957. In the twenty classrooms were 680 pupils from district #2, while in the playroom three classes totaling 101 pupils waiting for the six room addition to be completed at the Shaw- sheen School were housed. The total enrollment was 781 pupils in a school theoretically designed for 600 pupils or about 30% more pupils than the theoretical pupil load by design.

The Veterans of Foreign Wars Post #8164 of Tewksbury pre- sented the school with its first flag. Flag Raising Day was Thursday, October 3, 1957 at 2:00 P.M.

With the opening of the Shawsheen School Addition in November the playroom was immediately put into use by the Physical Education instructor and the staff as well. The High School Basketball team utilizes the playroom as their practice court and the demand by private organizations for this facility is expected to place this space on a round- the-clock schedule.

Parents of pupils have been active in many ways. When school opened there were no sidewalks provided in the area for the children who walked to school. The Police Department had to schedule three officers to control traffic. Mothers set up teams to accompany the children along the streets. A special word of praise to Chief Sullivan, the officers of the Tewksbury Police Department and the "Walking Mothers" for a job well done.

The School Committee and a Special Town Meeting provided funds which aided in the construction of a sidewalk from the school east to Reagan Road and west to the top of the "dip" near the Patten Road, Shawsheen Street intersection. This being accomplished, the mothers felt it provided protection for the children. However, the children are still accompanied part of the way by the teachers.

A Parent-Teacher Association has been formed and officers have been elected. This group expects to build the school-home relationship

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as Heath Brook has all the aspects of being a neighborhood school and is available to the people which it serves.

Some of the things we are doing this year would have been im- possible under a "double" or "triple" session. For example, the Cafeteria now provides a place for assemblies. Each child will, in the course of a year, be in at least one assembly program.

The following list is to bring to your attention some of the things that can improve the child's living and learning situation at school.

1. That the first grades number 25 pupils per room only. It is my professional opinion that the teacher cannot do the job for each of these 37 children that she could do if her class numbered 25 pupils.

2. That additional professional staff be obtained for the elementary level to serve on a weekly basis in the fields of Art, Music and Physical Education.

3. That funds be made available for a school library.

4. That television be installed in the Cafeteria to provide a teach- ing tool that is being introduced into this area.

5. That a row of trees be planted to act as a wind barrier as cold winds sweep over a field on to the playground.

6. That shades, blinds or drapes be installed in the classrooms in order to provide light control.

7. That cross walks be painted on the roads to protect the children who have to walk to and from school.

REPORT OF THE FOSTER, TOWN HALL AND ELLA FLEMINGS SCHOOLS (Edward F. Pelletier)

For the past three years, the Tewksbury Public Schools have ex- perienced a three platoon system, e.g., morning session, all day and afternoon session. This school year with the opening of the new twenty room Heath Brook School and the division of the town into three dis- tricts, we were able to go back on a single day session in all elementary schools of the town.

During this year, I have had under my direct supervision the Foster, Town Hall and Ella Flemings Schools. The enrollment as of October 1, 1957 of the three schools under my supervision was a total of 403.

The staff of these schools, in seeking ways to meet the individual

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needs of each child and enriching our total program, has initiated many extra-curricula activities, either on a present or long range scale. They are: long range Science program; Speech Curriculum; Bicycle Rodeo; Junior Fire Marshall Program; Mothers' Club; Radio Programs.

At present, a monthly newspaper is published by the sixth grades at the Ella Flemings School, under the guidance of Mrs. Pomerleau and Mr. Papleacos. Also, the Foster School fifth grade classes publish a paper under the guidance of Mrs. Wilkins and Mrs. Alward.

A basketball league for fourth, fifth and sixth grade boys is to begin in January and end in March. This group of boys will also participate in a soft ball league which will begin in April and end in May.

For girls of the fourth, fifth and sixth grade we will have badmin- ton and tennis.

Field trips of an educational nature and a picnic to Canobie Lake on a non-school day for all the children of the Foster and Ella Flemings Schools are planned.

There are also many other activities too numerous to enumerate at this time that are going on or will be done before the close of the school year.

REPORT OF JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL (Ralph W. Brown)

About 50 years ago, the Junior High School appeared on the educational horizon and its growth has spread rapidly since that time. It was created for several reasons, one of which was to group young adolescents with common problems together. Another reason was to supply an exploratory opportunity for young people to taste, as it were, language, shop, business courses before having to commit themselves to a given course that they must pursue.

Everyone is aware, I'm sure, that the Junior High School has had to use the High School facilities. With two families using the same physical plant, inadequate in size for either one of the schools, one can realize that there are many handicaps that must be lived with. I have been amazed and most grateful to see how patiently and how well teachers and students have adapted themselves to the school physical handicaps. Under such conditions, however, it is impossible to provide as full a program as we hope for when a full school day can be pro- vided, plus adequate facilities. With four actual classroom hours daily, it is virtually impossible to provide time for any extra-curricula activity. Despite this handicap, we had about 80 boys out for football with unbounded enthusiasm. They won two of their three games and came

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Town of Tewksbury annual report 1956-1962, Part 27

Author: Tewksbury (Mass.) Publication date: 1956 Publisher: Tewksbury (Mass.) Number of Pages: 1502

Author: Tewksbury (Mass.)
Publication date: 1956
Publisher: Tewksbury (Mass.)
Number of Pages: 1502