USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Westford > Town of Westford annual report 1914-1919 > Part 13
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Term expires 1918.
SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS.
FRANK H. HILL, Littleton, Mass. Telephone 36-3 Littleton.
COMMITTEE ON TEXT BOOKS.
CHARLES O. PRESCOTT,
JOHN P. WRIGHT.
SUPPLY AGENT. FRANK H. HILL.
TRUANT OFFICERS.
JOHN A. HEALY,
JOHN A. SULLIVAN.
SCHOOL PHYSICIAN.
CYRIL A. BLANEY, M. D.
7
REPORT OF THE SCHOOL COMMMITTEE.
TO THE CITIZENS OF WESTFORD:
We herewith submit the following report for 1915:
All the school buildings seem to be in good condition; the exterior of the William E. Frost School having been repaired and painted during the past summer.
It seems to the Committee that the time has come when some form of manual training should be introduced into our school course, and we call special attention to that .part of the Superintendent's Report which deals with this subject.
During the past three or four years, at the William E. Frost School, sewing has been taught to the girls and basketry and brass work to the boys very successfully under the direction of the Woman's Club, and recently in the same school, through the generosity of a friend of the school, a class in cooking has been started with very gratifying results. The enthusiasm shown by the sixteen girls taking this latter course indicates with what favor such subjects are received by the pupils. It is the hope of the Committee that carpentry and cooking can be intro- duced into the course of study at the Academy during the coming year.
8
FINANCIAL STATEMENT.
AS APPROVED BY THE SELECTMEN.
Balance from last account. $ 1,325 37
Appropriation, Common Schools 10,450 00
Appropriation, High School.
3,100 00
Appropriation, Superintendent
573 75
Appropriation, Text Books.
750 00
Appropriation, School Physician
100 00
Appropriation, Repairs and Miscellane- ous.
1,000 00
Received form Mass. School Fund.
1,103 82
Received from State on acct. Supt of Schools
531 25
Received Tuition from Town of Tyngs- boro.
100 00
Received Tuition from Town of Groton. .
14 00
Received for glass broken 1 35
- $19,049 54
EXPENDITURES.
Trustees of Westford Academy
$ 825 00
Teachers .
8,938 00
Transportation
2,726 60
Fuel :
812 16
Janitors and cleaning .
1,032 25
Drawing
225 00
Music.
300 00
Superintendent of Schools .
892 50
School Physician
100 00
Text Books and Supplies
750 99
Repairs and Miscellaneous.
1,002 49
Attendance Officers
20 00
Balance on hand.
$17,624 99 $1,424 55
9
REPAIRS AND MISCELLANEOUS.
ITEMIZED ACCOUNT:
Joe Wall, stock and labor $ 200 90
Hanley & Co., supplies 11 62
Catherine A. Hanley, Issuing Educational Certificates. 11 20
Abbot Worsted Co., repairs
3 96
J. L. Chalifoux, supplies 5 00
E. L. Burland, repairs.
2 00
The Brownell Mason Co., repairs
43 22
Ribbon for diplomas 2 28
M. B. Raynes, accompanist at graduation . .
2 50
Wm. Sutherland, stock and labor 1 65
Blodgett & Co., supplies
10 80
James Stanley, repairing clocks
4 30
H. C. Doughty, supplies
19 00
Rumford Supply Co., supplies
4 53
J. Healy, labor
3 25
A. W. Tuttle, carrying supplies
5 30
Thos. H. Murphy & Co., stock and labor
14 10
F. R. Furbush, stock and labor 6 00
Oliver Typewriter Co., repairs 6 00
E. L. Hill, clerk for Superintendent
55 22
J. E. Knight, stock and labor 28 38
3 96
J. Carpentier, stock and labor 2 75
Walter C. Wright. 35 78
E. W. Wood, care of piano 6 00
Supplies for Superintendent 15 04
Butterfield Printing Co. 13 50
I. H. Knight, stock and labor 10 50
Clara A. Smith, supplies. 5 00
P. H. Harrington, stock and labor 73 10
John Spinner, stock and labor 14 25
Union Sheet Metal Co., repairs 19 95
Express and freight
10
Wm. Sargent, stock and labor $ 9 00
Wm. C. Rondenbush, supplies . 5 00
Chas. O. Prescott, making report to State. 6 00
Royal Typewriter Co., supplies
10 00
H. S. Stiles, repairs 7 50
J. A. Healy, labor.
25 63
J. A. Healy, sidewalk at Cameron School . 37 94
Alex McDonald, gravel .
3 50
A. W. Hartford, advertising 2 00
Wright & Fletcher, supplies
17 52
Edmund Baker, repairs.
30 34
Westford Water Co., water rates
207 02
-$1,002 49
Respectfully submitted,
For the Committee, CHARLES O. PRESCOTT, Chairman.
11
REPORT OF THE SUPERINTENDENT
GENTLEMEN OF THE COMMITTEE :-
Following is my sixth report, the twenty-fourth in the series of such annual reports.
Several changes in the teaching force since the last report must be recorded. Miss Marion C. Moreland of the Academy resigned to go to the Girls' Latin School of Boston, and Miss Mabel I. Osborne, formerly a teacher in the Shirley High School, was secured to fill the vacancy. Miss Letitia V. Ward, of the Cameron School, asked for a leave of absence to date from the beginning of the spring term, 1915, on account of ill-health. In view of Miss Ward's excellent and faithful and long service in
this school, the leave was granted. Miss Edith M. Forster, assistant in the William E. Frost School, was placed in Miss Ward's position, and has continued to serve as principal of the Cameron School to date. Miss Forster's place in the William E. Frost School was not filled during the spring term, but at the opening of the fall term, 1915, Miss Bertha McCoy, a Westford girl, a Normal School graduate, and a teacher of experience, fortunately was available for this position, and was secured. Miss Mary A. Dunn, of the Sargent School, was granted a year's leave of absence, to begin with the opening of the fall term, 1915, and Miss Leonita Jantzen of Lowell, a graduate of the Lowell Normal School, received the appointment to Miss Dunn's position during her leave of absense. Miss Myrtle Fletcher, having resigned at Parkerville to accept a position in Hudson, Miss Ethel M. Beal, an experienced teacher, was appointed to this school. Miss Bernice E. Staples succeeded Miss Marion Taylor as Supervisor of Drawing. Of the five vacancies recorded, two were caused by resignation, two by leave of absence, and one by the transfer of
12
a teacher to another position within the Town. Thus, four teachers only in a force of nineteen are new teachers, not a large percentage for a country town within easy distance from larger and wealthier communities paying higher salaries and offering other inducements in the way of fewer grades, longer school year and systematic increases of salary for continued service and successful work.
The report of the principal of Westford Academy is so com- prehensive that I need add only my approval of the work done in the several departments of that institution.
With many holidays coming in term time, with several conventions and an occasional visiting day, the school year is all too short. I recommend that the week containing Thanksgiving Day be a vacation week, thus saving two days to the schools. Another day might be saved by beginning the school year of the elementary schools the Monday following Labor Day, and extending the closing of the schools one week later into June.
The subject of manual training has been taken up and dis- cussed at several committee meetings within the year. While it would be desirable to have this subject introduced in the seventh and eighth grades throughout the Town, the cost of three or four well-equipped rooms, and the expense of teaching in so widely separated schools seem to justify the rejection of any such plan at present. The only point where pupils from all sections meet is the Academy. One question to consider is whether or not the introduction of manual training into the Academy will attract pupils from Forge and Graniteville who would otherwise leave at the age of fourteen to go into the mills. The next question is whether or not pupils who will go to the Academy, anyway, will care for or profit by such a course. As I see the situation, pupils who have not had manual training in the grades will not be attracted to go on into the Academy by such a course in that school. The mills will continue to absorb them, as heretofore. In answer to the other question, I will say: as the majority of the boys who will attend the Academy as a natural continuation of their grade work will go from the Academy to the farm, it is especially desirable that they should receive some training in
13
woodwork that will give them greater efficiency with their hands and keener judgment for the many problems of building and repairing that will more and more demand the attention of the successful farmer of the future. The farmer who can do for himself the many odd jobs that he has heretofore paid another for doing, will, to that extent require so much less profit from his farm products to make both ends meet. To my mind there is no doubt of the value of such work in its bearing upon the occupation of the farmer as an attractive and profitable business. Should such a course be introduced, it should be compulsory for the entering class of boys who intend to follow agriculture as a profession, and, at the beginning, at least, should be offered only as an elective to the remaining upper classes. I believe that an appropriation of two hundred dollars would be sufficient to carry this project into effect the first year, providing a suitable room can be secured in which to carry on the work, and recommend that such an amount be asked for at the next annual town meeting.
It will be necessary to continue the present appropriation for text books and supplies, as recommended in my last report. The increase is due, in large part, to the demands of the com- mercial course in the Academy, as many pupils are electing that course, and the books and supplies are different from those used in the academic department, in which department books are needed only to complete sets already in use.
In Forge Village and Graniteville, a system of part time work for pupils who are anxious to get to work in the mills might be effected by co-operation of the school and the mills, to the advantage of both. The pupil would get in eighteen weeks during each additional school year, whereas, otherwise, he would drop out of school completely; and the employer would get a worker with a constantly developing mind, and, therefore, one with increasing, instead of diminishing, broad intelligence, and more efficient application. I earnestly recommend that something of this nature be attempted in the near future. This would remove one of the objections to the introduction of manual training in the William E. Frost School, as it would, in a way,
14
provide vocational training in the mill sections as a substitute for the manual training in the center of the Town.
The School Savings Bank System, introduced a few years ago as a means of carrying out the plan of teaching thrift, while not a failure, has fallen short of our expectations by reason of the difficulty in making the collections in the several schools and putting them to the credit of the pupils in the bank. Since the subject of Thrift is authorized by the State, and since it is quite as important in its effect upon the future welfare of the pupil as other subjects in the school program, I feel that it is not asking too much to have the expense connected with this subject borne by the school appropriations. I, therefore, recom- mend an appropriation of fifteen dollars to make this plan success- ful.
An increasing foreign population requires a more effective and constant interpretation of the laws of truancy than heretofore demanded. I recommend an additional truant officer, with enough leisure time to attend promptly and vigorously to all reported cases of truancy. I recommend further, that, when explanation of the law and a return to school of the offender shall not result in permanent attendance without reasonable excuse, that the offending parent be taken to court for a clearer understanding of the law of truancy, and that the truant officer, in receiving his appointment, shall be assured of our moral support in such an emergency.
I ask the committee and the townspeople to consider the erection of a building in the rear of the school grounds at Westford Center wherein the following subjects may be taught: manual training, sewing and cooking. I offer, as a suggestion, the plan whereby one public spirited citizen shall be invited to construct and equip a room suitable for manual training within such a building, another, a suitable room for cooking, and a third, a room for sewing. This would relieve the Town of much of the expense attending the introduction of such courses under the management of the school committee, and would be a monument to the credit of such public-spiritedness. It would be gratifying if this recommendation should come under the eye of some citizens
15
who are amply able to do this, and who would be willing to offer such assistance on condition that the Town would erect such a building.
I am interested in a Home Work System of Awards devised to bring about a closer co-operation between the home and school. The system would add somewhat to the expense of administration, and impose an added burden upon the teachers. The result, however, must show a contribution of benefit to our present efforts in the teaching of Thrift, Efficiency, Art, Hygiene, Music; and a more positive vocational guidance, inasmuch as qualities and aptitude, so little recognized under our present system of education, must come out into the open under this treatment. The plan is to give credits for home work of various kinds. I will cite a few of the different kinds to make the meaning of the plan clear.
WORK.
CREDITS.
Building fire in the morning
1
Milking cow .
1
Currying a horse . 2
Mending a chair
4
Making biscuits
2
Getting an entire meal.
6
Wiping the dishes
3
Bathing
6
Washing, ironing and starching own clothes worn at school. 20
For each $1.00 deposit in Savings Bank
10
Clean hands, face and nails at school
3
Retiring before 9 o'clock.
1
Sleeping with window open
1
There are certain rules to be observed, chief of which are such rules as help in carrying out some important and desirable school regulations: Pupils who are absent without proper excuse from parents will lose 10 credits, for instance. Or, a certain number of credits will add a certain percent. to his rank.
16
The expense comes from the printed awards issued, samples of which I will submit to you as soon as received from publishers.
Without, in any sense, finding fault, I would like to express the opinion that school-barge drivers should very promptly heed the signal of automobiles coming up behind, and leave a large margin for such automobiles to pass. Also, that they should do a little more than their share toward dividing the road with an approaching automobile. The human instinct is to keep and take what belongs to one. But in the case of barges carrying school children, the human instinct would not be justified in taking any chances of a mistake on the part of the other driver. They are charged with the protection of the children, not with the assertion of their legal rights-of-the-road. I am writing this in all my reports as the expression of a principle, not as a complaint against any driver in any town.
The usual special reports and tables of statistics are submitted for your consideration with the request that they be printed as a part of the school report of this Town, as formerly. The only recent law that I wish to call your attention to is as follows, and relates to Public Evening Schools:
EDUCATIONAL LEGISLATION OF 1914, CHAPTER 590.
An act relative to the maintenance of Public Evening Schools :
Any town may, and every city and town in which there are issued, during the year from September first to August thirty- first, certificates authorizing the employment of twenty or more persons who do not possess the educational qualifications enumer- ated in section one of chapter forty-four of the Revised Laws, as amended, shall maintain, during the following school year, an evening school or schools for the instruction of persons over fourteen years of age, in orthography, reading, writing, the English language and grammar, geography, arithmetic, industrial drawing, both free hand and mechanical, the history of the United States, physiology and hygiene, and good behavoir. Such other subjects may be taught in such schools as the school committee considers expedient. (Approved May 29, 1914.)
17
I will add the following comment on this law as printed in Bulletin No. 8 for 1914, of the State Board of Education.
The purpose of this statute is to require that opportunity for evening school instruction shall be offered in towns and cities where there are a large number of illiterate persons over sixteen years of age employed during the year.
According to the opinion of the Attorney-General, the year mentioned above "from September first to August thirty-first" refers to the year beginning Sept. 1, 1913, and continuing to Aug. 31, 1914.
In concluding this report, I wish to thank the committee for their continued and helpful support during the entire year.
Respectfully submitted, FRANK H. HILL,
Superintendent of Schools.
Westford, December 27, 1915.
18
REPORT OF WESTFORD ACADEMY.
January 1, 1916.
MR. F. H. HILL,
Superintendent of Schools.
DEAR MR. HILL:
The annual report of Westford Academy is as follows :---
The enrollment, at present writing, is twenty-three boys and twenty-five girls. Since September, 1915, three boys, all from the Freshman class, have left school, one of the three owing to a serious illness. Two girls have left, and two others entered during the winter term just closed. It is of interest to report that two girls of the graduating class of 1915 have returned for special work; also, that a member of the Sophomore class is satisfactorily assisting Miss Young in conducting the class in Penmanship.
The Academy graduated one of its largest classes at the June Commencement, twelve girls and two boys. Three girls of this number had completed, in three years, the credits necessary for graduation. Nearly all of those who had. attended the Academy four years, made a good percentage of credits above the number required for diploma.
We now have the equipment for outdoor basket-ball, provided for by subscriptions from the Academy pupils, plus a small sum received from the Town. The boys helped in the work, so that no outside labor was hired.
19
Some interest in football was manifest in the late fall, and a game was played here with Littleton High School. But the boys were all new to the sport, and a one-sided score was the result. However, there are still echoes from Littleton of a certain fifty-yard run.
The Tadmuck Club held an Educational Conference in the Unitarian Church, October 19, 1915, under the direction of the State Chairman of the Education Department of Women's Clubs. On this occasion, three girls of the Academy, Miss Elva Judd, Miss Beatrice Hosmer, and Miss Carolyn Precious, read very acceptable papers on the general topic, "The Value of Vocational Education in the Home." This opportunity offered to the girls to prepare something original and give it before a public audience, we highly appreciate, and thank the President of the Tadmuck Club for the suggestion.
Arrangements have been made with Mr. Irvin Lewis Potter of Boston to give a Shakespearian reading at the Academy some time in February. Mr. Potter has the highest testimonials from prominent schools where he has read. Whereas the reading is planned especially for the benefit of the school, the public at large will be free to attend.
For the first time during our principalship, we have lost by death one of our former pupils, Edward Read, of the class of 1914. His sudden and untimely end came as a shock to those who had known him, to his principal and his schoolmates. He was a' promising boy and a useful career seemed ahead of him when he met death by accidental drowning.
Through the generosity of the Academy Trustees, we an- nounce the following prizes which will be awarded to the winners at the coming Commencement.
PUBLIC SPEAKING.
A prize of $5.00, or its equivalent, shall be awarded to the boy and the girl who, in the opinion of three impartial judges, shall best render in public contest a declamation occupying at least seven minutes' time. The number of contestants shall be
20
limited to ten (five boys and five girls) to be selected by the faculty in such manner as they choose. This contest shall take place sometime during the Spring term.
ESSAY.
A prize of $5.00, or its equivalent, shall be awarded to that member of the Senior or Junior class who shall, in the judgment of the faculty, write the best essay of at least one thousand words on some given subject. This essay shall be finished about the middle of April.
STENOGRAPHY.
A prize of $2.50, or its equivalent, shall be awarded to that student who shall most accurately transcribe from his shorthand notes, two out of three passages to be dictated by the teacher of stenography.
TYPEWRITING.
A prize of $2.50, or its equivalent, shall be awarded to that pupil who shall exhibit the greatest speed and accuracy in a ten minute typewriting test given by the teacher of typewriting.
READING.
A prize of $2.50, or its equivalent, shall be awarded to the member of the Freshman class who, in the opinion of three im- partial judges, shall excel in reading a passage of English prose on sight.
ORAL THEME.
A prize of $2.50 or its equivalent shall be awarded to that member of the Freshman class, who, in the opinion of three impartial judges, shall excel in giving an oral theme based upon
21
any subject chosen by judges from an assigned book which shall have been read by the pupils before the contest. The Reading and Oral Contests to be given some time during the Spring term.
It is of course hoped that these prizes will be an incentive to effort along the lines they suggest. If they do not prove so, they fail of their purpose.
Miss Marion C. Moreland resigned from our teaching force, to take a position in the Girls' Latin School, Boston; her depart- ment is now in charge of Miss Mabel I. Osborne, a graduate of Brown University, class of 1914. Miss Marguerite Young still continues as head of the Commercial department, and the work of the school progresses harmoniously in its various phases.
Respectfully submitted, WM. C. ROUDENBUSH,
Principal of Westford Academy.
22
REPORT OF SUPERVISOR OF MUSIC.
MR. FRANK H. HILL,
Superintendent of Schools,
Westford, Mass.
DEAR SIR:
My report for the music department of the schools of West- ford I present as follows :
No change has been made in the method of presenting this subject in the grades, but pushing hard along the same lines is having the desired effect. The children are showing a decided gain in tone quality, which is the most essential. I am glad to be able to note this in the Frost School especially. In my weekly lessons I have never omitted the voice drills, very uninteresting to the teachers, and by some considered unnecessary, but carry- ing untold good to the children nevertheless.
The Victrolas have all been paid for now and a good selection of records may be found in every grade school. We have records suitable for the kindergarten game, the folk-dance, illustrations showing the use of different instruments of the orchestra and band, records by famous artists both instrumental and vocal, and exact imitations of all the songs of our native birds. This last should be of great help in teaching the children to recognize the different bird calls in the Spring.
I hope some time a Victrola will be added to the Academy, it would be such an assistance to be able to illustrate every period and development in the history of music. Much more money should be spent on music in the Academy before it can be raised to the standard I hope to see it reach and a Victrola would do much toward this.
23
A little entertainment once a year gives us money with which to add to our collection of records. A simple operetta by the Frost School, a musical entertainment with the school Victrola and some outside talent at the Sargent School and an exhibition of Folk-Dances, songs and choruses by the children of the Cam- eron School furnished the entertainments for last year.
I wish to thank the teachers and superintendent for their help in carrying on the work of my department, also the parents and friends for the kindly interest they have shown in attending our entertainments.
Respectfully submitted, MARY B. RAYNES,
Supervisor of Music.
24
REPORT OF THE SUPERVISOR OF DRAWING.
TO THE SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS,
Westford, Mass.
The reasons for teaching drawing in the public schools have been so well stated in previous reports that I will review them only briefly.
Drawing, the only universal language used by men of all ages and all nationalities, is taught because it trains the eye and hand to work together, and enables the child to express his thoughts with pictures better than he can with words in many cases. Drawing is the basis of working drawings and decoration, and, as such, has a recognized place in all the trades.
I have been in Westford so short a time that I will not attempt a report of work. We are getting acquainted, and I wish to thank the teachers and pupils for their hearty co-operation.
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