USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Westford > Town of Westford annual report 1896-1901 > Part 29
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22d. By request of the citizens of Graniteville and Forge Village, to see if the Town will appropriate the sum of Fifty Dollars ($50) for the purpose of distributing books from the Public Library in these two villages, and act in relation to the same.
23d. To see if the Town will vote to choose the Tree Warden hereafter by ballot, and act in relation to the same.
24th. By request of the School Committee, to see if the Town will raise and appropriate money for painting the School House at Graniteville, and act in relation to the sanie.
25th. To see what action the Town will take to comply with the order of the County Commissioners on relocating and widening School Street, so called, and act in relation to the same.
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26th. To see if the Town will raise and appropriate the sum of Two Hundred Dollars ($200) to repair the bank wall to the arch bridge opposite Marden's Mill, at Westford Depot, and act in relation to the same.
And you are directed to serve this warrant by posting up true and attested copies at the Town House and each Depot in said Westford, eight days at least before the time of holding said meeting.
Hereof fail not, and make return of this warrant with your doings thereon, to the Town Clerk, at the time and place of hold- ing the meeting aforesaid.
Given under our hands and seals, this first day of March, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred.
SHERMAN H. FLETCHER, GEORGE W. HEYWOOD, WESLEY O. HAWKES,
Selectmen of Westford.
ANNUAL REPORT
OF THE
SCHOOL COMMITTEE
OF THE
Town of Westford, Mass.
FOR THE
SCHOOL YEAR ENDING, MARCH 2, 1900.
WEST
FC
NMOI
O
C
1729.
ORPORATED
2
SEP
LOWELL, MASS .: COURIER-CITIZEN COMPANY, PRINTERS. 1900.
SCHOOL COMMITTEE FOR 1899-1900.
A. R. CHOATE, Chairman. Term expires 1901
W. J. SLEEPER, Secretary. ."
66
1900
G. H. HARTFORD, Secretary pro tem. 66
6. 1900
FRANK H. HILDRETH ..
.. 1902
ELBERT H. FLAGG 6
66
1902
*ARTHUR WRIGHT. 1901
Superintendent of Schools, A. S. THOMSON. Residence, Littleton Common, Mass. *Deceased.
T
ANNUAL REPORT.
Citizens of Westford:
The School Board has been deprived of the services of two of the members a great part of the past year. The efficient Secre- tary, Dr. W. J. Sleeper, who has served you so well and faithfully, was obliged to visit other climes in an endeavor to regain his health, which is in a precarious condition, owing to the great demands made upon him in his profession. Mr. Arthur Wright was able to meet with the Committee but seldom the past year, consequently we missed his advice and the benefit of his experi- ence in school matters, and he was suddenly stricken with a fatal illness near the close of the year 1899. By vote of the Town last March the School Committee were authorized to close the Long-Sought-For School and transport the children to a graded school; a petition was received from the parents, asking that the children be taken to the Centre School, and it was granted by the Committee. A contract was made with Mr. Hiram Dane to transport all pupils under the Eighth Grade from that vicinity (and he has performed his part of the contract to the entire satisfaction of the Committee) at an expense of $7.50 per week, which is a saving to the Town, and gives better advantages for education to the children than can be had in an ungraded school. Nashoba Schoolhouse has been repaired inside and 15 seats were got to replace the wornout ones, at an expense of 75 cents per seat, about one-third the cost of new ones, which will answer the purpose just as well. The furnace at the Centre Schoolhouse is not of sufficient heating capacity to properly heat the building, and some different arrangement should be made before next Winter. It had to be repaired last Fall, also the fur- nace in the Graniteville Schoolhouse. The furnace in the Forge Village Schoolhouse is a menace to the safety of the children, and it should be removed and placed in a cellar dug for that pur- pose and the storage of fuel. Several of the schoolhouses need painting, especially the Graniteville building.
-
The following rules, adopted by the School Committee and the Trustees of the Academy, went into effect September Ist, 1899:
I. Students in the Academy whose average rank during any term in any prescribed branch of study shall fall below 60 per cent. shall thereafter be considered as special students, and not entitled to diplomas of graduation; provided, however, that one special examination shali be granted to any student desiring to regain his position in his class.
2. Reasonable time shall be granted for making up work lost by any student through illness or necessary detention from school.
Mr. Thomson, our efficient Superintendent, has resigned, to accept a position at Weymouth. Too frequent change in Superintendents is not beneficial to the district than is the frequent change of teachers, and we regret the loss of his services, as he is doing good work. Mr. H. E. Richardson, Superintendent of Schools in Agawam, Mass., was elected to fill the vacancy, to begin his duties April Ist, 1900.
A. R. CHOATE, F. H. HILDRETH, E. H. FLAGG, G. H. HARTFORD. School Committee.
5
FINANCIAL STATEMENT.
INCOME.
Balance unexpended from 1898. $ 369 93
Appropriation 6,000 00
Mrs. Gates Lockhart returned. 5 38
From State on account of Superintendent of Schools 250 00
Income Massachusetts School Fund. 359 18
$6.984 49
EXPENDITURES.
Teachers, fuel and janitor service. 6,712 32
Balance unexpended
$272 17
APPROPRIATIONS RECOMMENDED.
Schools $6,000 00
High School pupils at Westford Academy 1,500 00
Text books and school supplies. 600 00
Text books and supplies have been furnished as follows: Westford Academy for High School.
$120 38
Centre Grammar, Eighth Grade.
108 26
Centre Intermediate 80 70
Centre Primary
23 56
Minot's Corner
7 58
Parkerville
14 44
Nashoba
13 81
Forge Village Grammar
49 63
Forge Village Primary
24 31
Graniteville Grammar.
61 88
Graniteville Intermediate.
26 34
Graniteville Primary B.
24 44
Graniteville Primary A
II 05
Wright
7 II
Nabnassett
12 96
Stony Brook
16 93
HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS IN WESTFORD ACADEMY.
$1500 00
Appropriation Paid Westford Academy $1500 00
6
TEXT BOOKS AND SCHOOL SUPPLIES.
Appropriation $600 00
Expended for text books.
$588 09
Received for books sold, turned into the treasury
IO 46
Net expense
$577 43
EXPENSE OF SUPERVISION.
Salary paid by town
$783 85
Rebate from State. 625 00
Net cost to Town
$158 85
REPORT OF SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS.
To the School Committee of the Town of Westford:
Gentlemen :- The passage of another year makes it my duty to report to your honorable body, and, through you, to the peo- ple of the Town of Westford, the progress made by our schools during this period.
Heretofore the report which the School Committee has made to the State has covered a fiscal year from March to March. Hereafter it will cover a school year, from September to June. This change in method is suggested by the State Board of Education, in a document sent by the Secretary of the Board to the various School Committees of Massachusetts. From this letter the following paragraphs are quoted:
"The new school census (Chapter 496, Acts of 1898. Sec- tion 13) is to be taken for the first time in September, 1899. It is recommended that, in all towns and cities that do not already require it, school registers shall be opened and enrolment lists begun at that time, and that thereafter school attendance facts shall be determined for a school year beginning at that time. The attendance facts for a majority of the children in the State are already determined for such a school year. In 1895 most of the towns and cities in the State, through the chairmen of their School Committees or their Superintendents of Schools, expressed themselves in favor of such a school year. The change is feasible and desirable and the time is ripe for it.
"In the school returns to be made to the State Board of Edu- cation, on or before April 30, 1901, it is desired that school attendance data from every town and city shall cover the school year that ends in June, 1900. Towns and cities that can report on or before April 30, 1900, attendance data for the school year ending in June, 1899, or on or before April 30, 1899, attendance data for the school year ending in June, 1898, are requested to do so.
"If, in changing to the new school year recommended, there is a duplication of returns to the State because of the overlapping of school years, there is no objection, so long as the returns made cover a full year.
8
"Money returns of school expenditures must be made up, as heretofore, from the fiscal years of the towns and cities, whatever those fiscal years may be. The fact that money returns and attendance returns do not, and, under the present conditions, cannot cover precisely the same year throughout the State, does not materially impair the usual conclusions that are drawn from the relations of the one set to the other."
The school census was taken in September, 1899, as is now required by the State. At the end of this report may be found a tabulated statement, showing the enrolment in each school, both for the year beginning September, 1898, and ending June, 1899, and for the Fall and Winter terms of the present year.
The following is a statistical table, showing the returns of the last school census; and the enrolment and attendance in the schools from September, 1898, to June, 1899. According to the census of September, 1899:
Number of boys in Town between 5 and 15 years .. .. 215
Number of girls in Town between 5 and 15 years. . .. 223
Total 438
Number of boys in Town between 7 and 14 years. . . Number of girls in Town between 7 and 14 years. .
197
207
Total 404
Whole number enrolled in all the schools in year 1 898-1899 505
Whole number enrolled in all the schools between 5 and 15 years. 466
Whole number enrolled in all the schools between 8 and 14 years. 331
Whole number enrolled in all the schools over 15 years 34
Whole number enrolled in all the schools under 5 years 5
Number of public schools.
17
Number of teachers required.
Number of different teachers employedl during year. .
18
Aggregate number of weeks that schools have been kept
600.4
At the last Town Meeting the Town was asked to increase the appropriation for schools four hundred dollars, which was readily voted by the citizens of the Town. This extra appropri-
9
ation was given that there might be thirty-six weeks in a school year. By practising economy this has been accomplished. In the present school year there were eleven weeks in the Fail term, twelve in the Winter term, and there will be thirteen in the Spring term. There are sufficient funds to make this possible. Reckoning from the time that we opened the schools last Febru- ary and began this financial year, up to the close of the present term, we have had thirty-eight weeks of school, but we have had the benefit of part of two portions of the Massachusetts School Fund. Considerable expense has been saved to the Town by closing the Long-Sought-For School. A.s nearly as I can esti- mate this amount is seventy-five dollars. With the same appro- priation for another year a school year of thirty-six weeks can be maintained easily.
The School Committee, acting on the vote of the last Town Meeting; closed the Long-Sought-For School and took means to transport the pupils to the Center. After some time spent in securing bids for the job of transportation, Mr. Hiram Dane was employed. Mr. Dane has driven a good wagon and has done the work very satisfactorily. This is a long and difficult route over which to transport the young children, and considerable school time has been lost by a few, but I believe that, on the whole, the children have done better than they would have had they remained in their little school. The subject of transporta- tion is taken up later under a special head in this report.
Continuing in the order in which events occurred during the year, I would speak of the improvement made in the school buildings during the summer. Slate blackboards were placed in placed in each of the larger schools. By adding a few each year we shall soon have our schools well supplied with blackboards of a superior grade. Many of the outlying schools are in much need of better blackboard surface. I would recommend to the Committee the advisability of fitting up these schools with more usable blackboards. Though I believe that a few of the very small outlying schools could be closed to good advantage, yet as long as these schools are kept open they should be main- tained in the best possible manner. There is an excellent black- board finish known as "slate tagging," which is inexpensive and durable.
10
Before the close of school last Spring an effort was made to ascertain how many pupils would attend the Center Grammar, or "Eighth Grade School." It was estimated from the replies given by the pupils who were eligible to attend that there would be about forty pupils in the two grades, seventh and eighth. This number could have been accommodated in the present room, but many came who had said that they did not intend to go to school any more. The room was overcrowded. This necessitated moving the seventh grade back to the Intermediate room, and the fourth grade from the Intermediate to the Pri- mary. This arrangement made a very large Intermediate School, which was, for a time, troublesome to handle. The upper room in the Center Building is not well adapted for so large a school. The room is small and the ceiling is low. When forty pupils are seated in this room it becomes over- crowded.
The same problem of too many pupils for the room will pre- sent itself next September in the Grammar Room of the Academy. Last Fall, as has been said, it was necessary to take the seventh grade out of this room; next Fall the eighth grade alone will overreach the present seating accommodations. As nearly as I can estimate there will be forty eighth graders next year. Should the Academy Board decline to allow extra seats to be placed in the present room, the above difficulty will present itself. In this case one of two things will be necessary: either the pupils who should come from Graniteville to the eighth grade will have to be accommodated in their home school by the establish- ment of an eighth grade there, or more school room will have to be provided at the Center. If it could be demonstrated, as it is evident to one who watches the progress of the pupils, how much better work is done by them when they attend the Center School, it would never be permitted that the last year of the Grammar Course, which prepares directly for the Academy, should be spent in a local school.
Westford has a problem to settle in increasing the capacity and improving the buildings of the schools in the villages. The time is not far distant when an addition to the present building or increased school accommodations of some sort at the Center will be necessary. I have examined the old Academy Building,
11
and, though in its present condition, with no cellar under it, it is not a proper place for a school, it seems to me that this building could be fitted to accommodate one or two schools with very little expense. Perhaps an addition upon the Center Building would be more lasting and more satisfactory.
The heating arrangement of the Forge Village School is very poor. If more of our citizens would visit the lower room in this school while the children, over forty in number, who attend this school, are present, the heating and ventilating sys- tem would speedily be renovated. There should be a cellar put under the schoolhouse and the furnace put in it. We will never have a civilization of a higher moral tone until we have a more healthy and vigorous one. Most of the ill health of the present generation, and the consequent moral degeneration, is due to bad sanitary conditions. The last place in the world where this evil should exist is in our schoolhouses.
The Graniteville building is well arranged, but could be much improved by a coat of paint. It is a mistake to let our school buildings go with an untidy appearance and into a state of decay for lack of paint.
These school problems must be met by the people of West- ford, and I would urge them to unite and stand by the best interests of the schools. There can be no better investment than this. The schools are the great uplifters of civilization, and the people who are interested in the improvement of our schools should attend the Town Meeting and solve some of the problems before them.
During my term of service in the Town I have studied carefully the progress made by pupils in our district schools. comparing it with the work of pupils in the better graded schools. In a few cases I have seen bright children, with a nat- ural aptitude for study, make greater progress in the district school. A double promotion can be more easily given with few in the class. With the great majority of children we do not get nearly as much work done in our district schools as is done in the better graded schools. The training and culture of the dis- trict school is far inferior to that attained in the larger schools. The incentive which a larger class gives is wanting in a small school of many grades. It is the spirit of emulation which
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prompts many to exertion; take away this spirit and pupils who do not possess scholarly tastes grow lazy and inattentive. I have watched pupils while away their time through the seventh grade, making very little effort to make headway. Before these same pupils had been in the eighth grade three months, under the stimulus of a large class of boys and girls of their own age, they have taken a new hold of work, and have astonished all by their energy and ability. I am not advocating closing up all of the district schools of this Town; but it does seem to me unwise that a school of seven pupils, within a mile and a half of a good, well graded school, which could easily accommodate this num- ber, should be kept open.
Within the last two years I have materially changed my mind in regard to the educational benefits of a district school. Since I had attended one in my youth, and had taught one for some time, I was somewhat favorably disposed toward the dis- trict system; but our district system today is not what it was twenty or thirty years ago. The causes which have brought about these changes are well explained by G. T. Fletcher, Agent of the State Board of Education :----
"District Schools Fifty Years Ago .- The question of the consolidation of schools has for many years received the atten- tion of educators. Conditions pertaining to changes in the population and the wealth of communities as well as the increas- ing educational demands of the times have rendered necessary a certain centralization of forces for economy and efficiency in school work. Fifty years ago a large percentage of the people of Massachusetts belonged to the "original stock," and lived in country towns. District, schools were numerous and large. Seldom did a school register less than twenty-five pupils; not infrequently seventy-five were enrolled during the Winter term, ranging in age from four years to twenty-one. An attend- ance of forty or fifty pupils was a common occurrence. Many of the schools were taught in Winter by college students,-often the brightest young men from the rural communities, whose example was a stimulus to the boys of the district to get an edu- cation. In the Summer, the teacher was often a young woman from the country academy, whose scholarship and character were an inspiration to the children. The district school was a
13
centre of interest and influence in the rural community. The range of studies was narrow, but the few branches then taught are regarded today as fundamental in a broader system of educa- tion. The independent thinking and the individual doing of pupils, whose age gave maturity to mind, were educating. The school was a "consolidation" of numbers and ability sufficient for the educational needs of the times. Similar conditions exist in a few country towns now, and such schools may we'l be nurtured by Town and State in the place of their native growth. A home life of frugality, simplicity and industry is a potent factor in the upbuilding of body and mind. But there were many poor schools then, as there are now.
"Changes that have come to the District Schools .- Within the last fifty years great changes have been wrought in social life and conditions. The increase of population and wealth in cen- tres of commerce and manufacturing is both a cause and a result of an exodus of the farming population to the cities and large towns.
"In many rural communities farms were abandoned, or only the 'old folks' left at home, to pass there the remnant of their days, while the farm constantly depreciated in value. The young, vigorous element of the population left home to work in store or factory. Families remaining in the "hill towns," or coming to them, had few children; and, as a result, the schools became small, the local interest in them often decreasing in the same ratio. These changes came in different degrees of severity to different towns. Those most favorably situated for farming purposes 'held their own,' to quite an extent, in adult popula- tion and wealth; but the number of children constantly lessened. and the schools, though not generally reduced in number, were reduced greatly in attendance. Occasionally schools were united, to increase the number of pupils, or a Winter term was held at the centre of the town, for the older pupils of all the dis- tricts. Just when and where consolidation on a sinall scale began we cannot tell. The cause and the fact of a beginning are both evident. There came to the people, slowly at first, a realiza- tion that the interest, economy and efficiency that had in many cases characterized the large schools of former days were want- ing. The struggle to retain the same number of schools as when
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the adult population was greater, the property valuation was twice as large and the town had three times as many children of school age, was as painfully evident then as it is now. The school had been the common centre of interest, and the thought of its closing was a shock to the people. No wonder a deep- seated feeling existed, and still continues, that home interest and property valuation would suffer from the discontinuance of the local schools.
"People are now coming to see that educational advantages are not represented by the number of near-by schoolhouses. From one of the annual reports of Dr. Harris, U. S. Commis- sioner of Education, we quote as follows:
"It has been frequently demonstrated and is generally con- ceded that it would be better both on economical and on peda- gogical grounds to unite the many small and weak schools of a township, dispersed over a large extent of territory, into a few strong, well-equipped and well-conducted graded schools, located at convenient points."
The prize reading which was held in the eighth grade last June aroused considerable attention. I think the contest increased the interest of the pupils in the important subject of oral reading. Every effort should be made to promote clear, distinct, and thoughtful reading. It is not our object to have an elocutionary display, but simply to have pupils readily and easily get thought from the printed page. If a child gets the ideas of all author it is seldom that he cannot express that mean- ing in his oral reading. We have some loyal citizens who might endow the schools with a few hundred dollars, the income of which should be used in presenting prizes to the best reader in the eighth grade. This means would insure an interest in oral reading and in speaking, and would have a desirable effect on the reading throughout the Town.
A slight change has been made in the course in geography. We propose to make a more extended study of local or town gecgraphy. When geography is properly taught the child is- first led to observe his immediate surroundings. The conditions of the atmosphere, the natural phenomena, forms of land and water are all studied with reference to the objects themselves. The points of compass, relative situations and distances, the real
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significance of a map, may all be taught with reference to the town and village in which the school is located. The school- rocms should be well supplied with globes, and maps, and other illustrative materials, in order that when the pupils pass from the consideration of their immediate environments to that of places at a distance, their understandings may be assisted by these sym- bolic representations. After the local geography is finished the study of the earth, as a whole, is taken up. Each pupil has a small paper globe, which he rotates and revolves, and sees the grand divisions in their proper relations. Here, in the first year of the study of geography proper, and in the fourth year of the child's school life, we give him a clear conception of this great round earth, its motions, its warm and cold belts, its forms of land and water. From this point the study of the grand divi- sions is taken up according to the topical method.
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