USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Westford > Town of Westford annual report 1927-1931 > Part 21
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87
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 1930
at 1 o'clock in the afternoon, then and there to act upon the following articles, viz .:
1st. To hear the reports of the Finance Committee, other Commit- tees, Boards and Officers.
2nd. To determine the compensation of the Tax Collector.
3rd. To appropriate money to meet the cost and expenses of the following named departments, officers and purposes:
1. General Government.
2. Police Department.
3. Fire Department.
4. Hydrants.
5. Sealer of Weights and Measures.
6. Fish and Game Warden.
7. Forest Fires.
8. Fire Extinguishers.
9. Town Forest.
10. Tree Warden.
11. Moth Department.
12. Health Department.
13. Cattle Inspector.
14. Highway Purposes.
15. Board of Public Welfare.
16. Soldiers' Benefits.
17. School Department.
18. Vocational Tuition.
19. Public Library.
20. Care of the Common.
21. Lighting Clock.
22. Band Concerts.
23. Commemoration of Memorial Day.
24. Publishing Town Reports.
25. Cemetery Commissioners.
26. Electric Lights.
27. Liability Insurance
28. Fire Insurance.
29. General Loans.
30. Interest on General Loans.
31. Interest on Revenue Loans.
32. Outstanding Bills December 31, 1929.
88
33. Reserve Fund under Section 6 of Chapter 40 of the General Laws.
4th. To see if the Town will appropriate the sum of $400 and elect a director under the provisions of Section 40-45 of Chapter 128 of the General Laws.
5th. To see if the Town will vote to install additional street lights as follows:
4 Gould Road.
3 Main St., Westford.
1 Cold Spring Road.
3 Francis Hill Road.
12 Keyes Road.
8 Stony Brook Road.
28 Griffin and Acton Road.
1 Lincoln Street.
6th. To see if the Town will vote to purchase a Ford Car for the Police Department, and act in relation to same.
7th. To hear the report of the Selectmen upon the matter of hy- drants on Maple Street, and act in relation to the same.
8th. To see if the Town will vote to authorize the Selectmen to enter into a contract with the Westford Water Co. for three additional hydrants on the Forge Village Road; one on Lincoln Street; one on Central Street; two on North Street and one on River Street.
9th. To see if the Town will vote to raise the compensation of elec- tion officers.
10th. To see if the Town will vote to accept the deeds of land from Regina Thifault and Victorine Page, and also from John A. Healy, located upon the southerly side of the Groton Road, for the purpose of widening and straightening said Groton Road.
11th. To see what action the Town will take relative to the removal of the building and fence recently erected by the owner of the adjoining premises upon and across a portion of the highway known as the Keyes Road, and obstructing passage over and along said Road, and act in relation thereto.
12th. To see if the Town will vote to provide suitable quarters for Westford Post No. 159 of the American Legion, and appropriate money therefor.
89
13th. To see if the Town will vote to authorize the Treasurer, with the approval of the Selectmen, to borrow money in anticipation of the revenue of the current financial year.
14th. To determine the manner of collecting taxes for the current year, also the rate of interest on taxes remaining unpaid at a time to be fixed by the vote of the Town, and when and how said taxes shall be paid into the treasury.
And you are hereby directed to serve this warrant by posting up true and attested copies at the Town Hall and each Post Office in said Westford, seven days at least before the time of holding said meeting.
Hereof fail not, and make due return of this Warrant, with your doings thereon, to the Town Clerk, at the time and place of holding the first meeting aforesaid.
Given under our hands this twenty-fourth day of January in the year of our Lord Nineteen Hundred and Thirty.
BURTON D. GRIFFITH, WILLIAM R. TAYLOR, MARK A. PALMER,
Selectmen of Westford.
ANNUAL REPORT
OF THE
SCHOOL COMMITTEE
OF THE
TOWN of WESTFORD, MASS.
WESTF
OWN
C
1729. ¢
€
RPORATED
2
SEP
FOR THE
Year Ending December 31, 1929
3
Organization, School Committee
Axel G. Lundberg .Term expires 1931
Albert G. Forty
.Term expires 1931
Arthur G. Hildreth, Chairman Term expires 1930
Harold Harrington
Term Expires 1930
Eva F. Wright, Secretary Term expires 1932
Edward Spinner Term expires 1932
SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS
Harold D. Sylvester, M. E. E. - B. S. Ed., Westford, Mass. Tel. Residence 144 Office 133 Westford Academy. Office hours 8.00 to 9.00 A. M.
COMMITTEE ON TEXT-BOOKS
Eva F. Wright, Westford, Mass. Tel. 56
SUPPLY AGENT
Harold D. Sylvester
TRUANT OFFICERS
John Sullivan, Forge Village, Mass.
Willard H. Beebe, Graniteville, Mass. Charles Edwards, Nabnasset, Mass. J. A. Healy, Graniteville, Mass. Everett Miller, Westford, Mass.
SCHOOL PHYSICIAN
Cyril A. Blaney, M. D. Westford, Mass. Tel. 26
SCHOOL NURSE C. Veronica Payne, R. N. Westford, Mass. Tel. Residence 112-13 Office 41-3 Town Hall.
4
REPORT OF SCHOOL COMMITTEE
-
Citizens of Westford:
We submit our annual report together with reports of the ex- ecutives of important school activities.
The elementary schools are in excellent condition. At the Nab- nassett School there is over crowding which if it materially increases will soon require an addition to the building.
The committee temporarily discontinued the Parkerville School. It was deemed better to transport the few pupils attending there to the Frost School.
In Secondary Education the town faces a real problem. The thirty- five percent increase predicted last year materialized. A still greater increase looms for 1930-31. This means more teachers, supplies and transportation. It also means a more complex schedule and an en- riched curricula that will prepare these pupils for the life that they must live.
Many citizens criticise us for furnishing transportation to High Schools pupils. They allege that it increases the cost of education without educating. In the past education had its drudgery, the long walks to school were just that. Motor transportation makes it pos- sible to take the drudgery out of education at nominal cost.
As a result of increased enrollment educational costs for next year will materially increase. We respectfully ask for the sum of $73,200.
Respectfully submitted,
ARTHUR G. HILDRETH, Chairman.
5
REPORT OF SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS
To the School Committee and Citizens of Westford:
I herewith submit my third annual report as Superintendent of the Westford Public Schools.
Through the conscientious efforts of our teachers the instruction in our schools is constantly improving.
The enrollment in our schools has increased and resulted in a crowded condition in our Elementary Schools.
NABNASSET SCHOOL. We are using the teachers' room and the girls' basement as classrooms. The attendance at this school has increased so that two extra rooms are needed now.
Under the direction of Mr. Larson, Principal, a Parent-Teacher Association has been formed at Brookside. Several interesting and educational meetings have been held and worthwhile speakers obtained.
The Association has also purchased a piano for the school.
SARGENT SCHOOL. Because of the crowded condition we have divided grades VII and VIII at the Sargent School calling for an extra teacher. It is not a wise plan to cut the time of grade eight in half, by having two grades in a room, the last year of their preparation for High School.
CAMERON SCHOOL. There are 43 pupils registered in grade one. This is too' many for a first grade teacher, so an assistant teacher has been added to the force. A basement room is being used as a classroom.
The four upper grades of this school have been working for a year under the departmental plan and it has been proven by means of tests that the pupils are getting more out of their work through this plan and are coming to High School better prepared.
FROST SCHOOL. We had an assistant teacher for grade one and two to take care of the crowded condition in this room and used the supply room as a classroom.
Beginning January 1st the instruction in grades V, VI, VII and VIII will be organized on the departmental plan. The supply room will have to be used as a recitation room for this group and the assist- ont teacher, now in grade I-II will become an instructor here. This will leave a load on the primary teacher but there is no room in which another assistant could work. It is necessary to organize the upper grades of this school on the departmental plan to help prepare the eighth grade for High School.
6
HELPING TEACHERS. In all there are five helping teachers. These teachers are graduates of Lowell Normal, two year course, who have entered the Normal for a third year course. As part of their training they must do twelve weeks of actual teaching under a Superintendent selected by the Principal of the Normal School. The only expense to the Town is the daily trolley fare. It is costing about $10.00 a week for five teachers or $2.00 each per week. These girls have given excellent satisfaction and made it possible for us to carry on a teaching program that would cost $125.00 per week if regular teachers were employed, two at Nabnasset, one at Sargent grade VII, assistant to first grade teacher at Cameron and one at the Frost School.
WESTFORD ACADEMY. Westford Academy is steadily growing. June 1928 there was an enrollment of 94 while in September 1930 there will be an enrollment of 180, an increase of 91 per cent. This will necessitate having more teachers and increased High School transportation in the fall of 1930. There will be 45 more children to transport to the Academy in September 1930 than in June 1930.
The State Department of Education requires one teacher for every twenty High School pupils enrolled.
If the proposed law, which requires that every child remain in school until 15 years of age becomes effective we shall have a much larger enrollment at the Academy.
Section 21 of Chapter 71 of the General Laws provides that all towns and cities in which, in any calendar year, 200 or more different minors under 16 years of age were employed, under employment certificates or home permits, while schools were in session, shall es- tablish and maintain continuation schools.
Seventy-eight employment certificates were issued during 1929. If this number increases to 200 we shall be required to maintain a continuation school in addition to our present schools.
We have 128 pupils registered at the Academy this year. Of this number 83 are taking the Commercial Course. Where in Westford or the surrounding towns shall we find positions for these people? Many of these children will find it impossible to find a position in the field for which they have trained. Parents should give more attention to the courses their children are taking at the Academy.
We should offer a General Course which would include Domestic Science and Manual Arts. At present we are offering two courses College Preparatory and Commercial.
It does not cost any more to transport a pupil to the Lowell Vocational School than it does to Westford Academy. Many of the pupils at Westford Academy would profit by the type of training of- fered at the Lowell Vocational School. Why not be fair to these boys and girls and give them the same opportunities we are offering the College Preparatory and Commercial groups? Half of the tuition is paid by the State, which makes the total cost less than that of the Academy pupil.
-
7
In a recent article it was reported that no person would be given a license to drive an airplane who was not a High School graduate or its equivalent.
A number of our graduates have endeavored to enter aviation and found they could not because they had not had Solid Geometry nor Trigonometry. These subjects are being offered this year for the first time. They are required for entrance to many engineering col- leges and technical schools.
In the complex life of today a working knowledge of Trigonometry is as desirable for any one who professes to think in present day af- fairs as high school algebra was ten years ago, and is as vital to a working culture as simple rhetoric was formerly.
We are using the Assembly Hall every day as a Study Hall. It was part of the original plan to use this room as a study hall, gymn- asium, and assembly hall. Below is the number of pupils in the room each period of the day.
Period
I
II
III
IV
V
IV
VII
Number of pupils
36
60
33
32
45
. 48
62
If a boy or girl is to keep pace with the times he or she must have a high school education.
Our Normal Schools are requiring three years instead of two and it is only a question of time when the course will be four years.
Young people may argue that they have sufficient training to meet future requirements. It is difficult to forsee what these require- ments may be. Because of rapidly changing standards, people are ever confronted with situations they could not have forseen a decade ago. .
It is hard to say when a boy or girl has had sufficient training. Training usually increases opportunities as well as incomes. It would seem a wise policy to be liberal in estimating the amount of educa- tional training required rather than be forced to acquire it at an age when they are less susceptible to it.
Yesterday we rode in the ox cart and horse drawn vehicle-today in the high speed motor car and airplane. Yesterday we plowed with sticks and oxen-today with tractors and multiple plows. Yesterday the candle was our only means of illumination-today electricity "floods the earth." Yesterday we sent out communications by mes- senger-today we send them by air-mail or wireless. Yesterday we attended the community entertainment of questionable quality-today we sit in our homes and enjoy every type of entertainment over the radio. Yesterday we read news a week old-today it is broadcast as it is happening.
Education has brought our yesterdays into our todays. It has enabled us to think "What was" in terms of "What is."
8
ARE WE PREPARING THE PUPILS IN OUR SCHOOLS TO MEET THE NEEDS OF TODAY ?
Will the subject matter and methods of fifty, twenty, ten or even five years ago meet the needs of today?
Every type of industry and profession is keeping up with the ever changing scientific developments and needs.
If the schools of twenty years ago are good enough for our children why is not the means of transportation, communication, and living of twenty years ago good enough for modern business and us?
Why train children in methods of ten or twenty years ago and then expect them to make a success in the working world which is twenty years ahead of the schools?
THE TRUE TEACHER. The true teacher finds her crowning opportunity in revealing to her pupils some appealing career, some impelling purpose which shall be to them what teaching is to her.
Her aim should be to arouse within her pupils a desire to learn rather than to teach so many pages of a text book. The future of the child is of far more importance than the subject matter.
EVERY CHILD IS GOOD FOR SOMETHING. IT IS UP TO US TO FIND OUT WHAT THAT SOMETHING IS.
Thomas Edison was considered a dumbbell by his "teachers."
A doctor does not take one look at a child and prescribe for him if he is ill. We call a doctor whom we know has studied and had ex- perience in the particular thing we think is troubling the child. Are we as particular in the teachers we permit to prescribe for the future of our children? The doctor makes a careful study giving tests and trying experiments until he finds the cause of the illness and the remedy to be applied.
Subject tests, intelligence tests and mechanical aptitude tests are being given and studied to ascertain, if we can, the pupils' abilities and to serve as a guide in directing the pupils towards the fields in life where they will be most successful.
We are fortunate in having a group of teachers who have studied the testing program, understand the meaning of I. Q. and are trained in the use of this material in guiding pupils.
If a pupil does not make progress by one method of instruction should he be dropped? If a pupil is a discipline problem should he be dropped? If a pupil is interested in his work he will not be a discipline problem. His work can be made interesting for him. Our methods must ever change to meet the needs of the individual pupils, each of which is different. One pair of shoes will not fit all the pupils in the schools, neither will one method of instruction.
The school of today is not a collection of rooms in which we hear "re-ci-ta-tions" but a number of laboratories in which we are helping and training the pupil to meet his Life's problems and work.
9
We cannot promote children from one grade to another until they have satisfactorily completed the work of the grade they are in. We cannot promote them to make way for those that are to follow. In the end, if they were promoted, they would receive the same diploma as those who have done their best, which would not be fair. Pupils have graduated from our High School with this type of diploma and thought it all they needed to enter college, only to find out they were not prepared and have had to spend one or more years in preparatory schools after graduation from our High School.
This is unnecessary. There is no reason why a High School with a teaching force such as we have today cannot prepare a pupil for college if the pupil will work and the parents cooperate.
A pupil will not be allowed to graduate who has not completed the full amount required by the School Committee for Graduation.
If our schools were faced with the task of educating for today alone it would be a sufficiently difficult undertaking. They have the added responsibility of educating for tomorrow.
What the best and wisest parent wants for his own child, that must the community want for all its children.
Respectfully submitted,
HAROLD D. SYLVESTER, Superintendent of Schools.
December 31, 1929.
10
SCHOOL CALENDAR Westford, Massachusetts. 1929 - 1930
FALL TERM
Weeks
Days
Begins-All Schools. September 9th, 1929. Ends-All Schools. December 20th, 1929 15 71
DAYS OMITTED- October 25th-County Convention.
November 11-Armistice Day. November 28-29-Thanksgiving Recess.
WINTER TERM
Begins-All Schools January 6th, 1980. Ends-All Schools March 28th, 1930. 11 55
DAYS OMITTED- February Recess-February 22 to 28, 1930.
SPRING TERM
Begins-All Schools March 31st, 1930.
Ends-Grammar Schools. June 13th, 1930 Academy-June 24th, 1930.
10 48
11 55
DAYS OMITTED- Spring Recess-April 18-26, 1930.
May 30th, 1930-Memorial Day.
SUMMARY
ACADEMY 37 181
GRAMMAR 36 174
GRADUATION DATES
Cameron School-June 10th, 1930. Wm. E. Frost School-June 11th, 1930. Sargent School-June 12th, 1930. Nabnassett School-June 13th, 1930. Westford Academy-June 25th, 1930.
SCHOOL WILLIAM E. FROST
SARGENT SCHOOL
Grades Taught VII-VIII VI-V IV-III II-I VII-VIII VI V IV
TEACHERS IN SERVICE 1929-1930
Teacher Percy L. Rowe, Prin. F. Ruthe Hewitt Ruth P. Tuttle Edith A. Wright James H. Fitzgibbons Prin. Lillian G. Wright Gertrude Provost
Where Educated Castine Normal Ohio University Lowell Normal Hyannis Normal Salem Normal Lowell Normal Lowell Normal
Home address Chelmsford, Mass Harrisburg, Pa. Westford, Mass. Westford, Mass. Beverly, Mass. Westford, Mass. Graniteville, Mass. Framingham Normal Westford, Mass.
III
Mary M. Reynolds
Lowell Normal
Lowell, Mass.
II
George Wilson (Mrs.)
Nasson Inst
Forge Village, Mass.
Lowell Normal
Hyannis Normal
Lowell, Mass. Groton, Mass. Graniteville, Mass. Lowell, Mass.
V
Olga Alice Remis Margaret Carney Ruth A. Walker
Lowell Normal
Lowell, Mass.
III
L. W. O'Clair (Mrs.)
Louise E. Thompson
Lowell Normal
Lowell, Mass. Graniteville, Mass.
E. Lillian Sutherland
Lowell Normal
Lowell, Mass.
Varner T. Larson, Prin.
Farmington Normal Monson, Maine.
Gertrude Donahoe
Lowell Normal
Lowell, Mass.
William C. Roudenbush, A.B., Prin.
Williams College Westford, Mass.
Westford, Mass.
Mary L. Robinson (Mrs.) Ph. B. Univ. of Chicago Philip C. Roberts B. A.
Barbara A. Faxon, A. B., M. Ed. Radcliffe College
Irene L. Weston (Mrs.) Marjorie E. Smith B. B. A.
Pamelia Perry (Mrs.)
C. Veronica Payne Harold D. Sylvester, M. E. E., B. S. Ed.
Bay Path Institute Boston University Braintree, Mass. New Eng. Conservatory Forge Village, of Music; Lowell Normal Mass. St. John's Hospital Graniteville, Mass.
Boston University Westford, Mass. Union College, Oswego State Normal, Yale
CAMERON SCHOOL
I VII-VIII VI
Ann Harrington
Peter F. Perry, Prin ..
Lowell Normal
Lowell Normal Hyannis Normal
Forge Village, Mass.
II
K. Evelyn Healy
Lowell Normal
I Special VIII-V-VI-VII
NABNASSETT ACADEMY
IV-III-II-I
MUSIC SUPERVISOR SCHOOL NURSE SUPT. OF SCHOOLS
Univ of Maine Westford, Mass. Mattapan, Mass. Lowell, Mass.
IV
Lottie Blodgett (Mrs.)
12
GRAMMAR SCHOOL GRADUATES June 1929
-
William E. Frost
Ada Margaret Cutting
Gwendolyn Frances Gallagher
Ethel Mary Mann
Evelyn Margaret Millis
Mary Augusta Wilson
William Leo Healy
Lester Leroy Herrington
Richard Lawrence Hildreth
Stuart Hildreth
Albert Sedleski
Claude Hildreth Wright
Sargent School:
Naida Belida
Elizabeth M. Benoit
Catherine Borodowka
Nellie Charasko
Adrie M. George
Peter Denisevich
Annie Kovalchek
Donald G. Gower
Florence R. LaCroix
Gilbert F. LeDuc
Annie Rosko
Annie Smith
Albert Richard
Alphonse Sullivan
Cameron School:
Clara Athorn
Nora Blott
Firnande Boucher Rita Dudevoir
June Weaver Ovid Byron
Chester Gaderie
Victor Daly
William Kelly
Victoria Kazeniac
Joseph Sedoch
Dorianna Lamy Mildred Leclerc
Elizabeth B. Tuttle
Dora Wolkovich
Stephen G. Beskalo
Lawrence J. Charlton
Fred Poznick
Annie Sudak
Genevieve Orr Jacqueline Spinner
Margaret Haley Alice Flanagan Nellie Harachko
Leo Supple
Nabnassett:
Thyra Nelson Catherine McGlinchey Margaret Monette Harlene Knowlton Pearl Smith Mae St. Onge
Olive Swanson Frances Harris Albert Lavigne Armand Durealt Marco Moreno
REGISTRATION WESTFORD PUBLIC SCHOOLS 1929-1930
SCHOOLS
.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Totals
Academy
53
35
23
18
129
Sargent
34
35
31
33
27
31
23
22
236
Cameron
43
34
30
31
40
18
31
14
241
Wmn. E. Frost
17
20
11
17
14
16
15
22
132
Nabnassett
9
12
9
9
11
3
9
11
73
Totals
103
101
81
90
92
68
78
69
811
SCHOOL BANKING Lowell Five Cent Savings
Amount
1928
$ 2,046.82
1929
1,393.66
$ 3,440.48
.
..
14
REPORT OF WESTFORD ACADEMY JANUARY 1st, 1930
Mr. H. D. Sylvester,
Superintendent of Schools,
Westford, Mass.
Dear Sir :- Following is my eighteenth annual report as principal of Westford Academy.
Faculty, 1929-30
William C. Roudenbush, Principal, Latin and French.
Philip C. Roberts, Mathematics, Physics, United States History. Mrs. Mary L. Robinson, English.
Mrs. Irene F. Weston, Stenography, Book-Keeping.
Miss Barbara Faxon, Chemistry, General Science, Biology.
Miss Marjorie Smith, World History, Typewriting, Commercial Geography, Commercial English (Freshmen) Commercial Law.
Athletics
The Academy is still a member of the Northwest Middlesex In- terscholastic Baseball League comprising the towns of Acton, Ayer, Groton, Littleton, Pepperell, Westford. The season of 1929 did not prove much of a success judged by the games won. Westford won only two games of nine played.
Our basket-ball season opened December 4, 1929 when we defeated Groton High School in the Academy gymnasium 16 to 15. We also won the return game at Groton December 11, by a score of 19 to 14. The Girls' Team defeated Groton girls at the home game, but were beaten at Groton.
The Lowell Suburban Basket-ball League opens its schedule Jan. 10, 1930. The towns comprising this league are Chelmsford, North Andover, Littleton, Westford, Wilmington. The complete schedule is as follows:
Jan. 10 Chelmsford at North Andover. Wilmington at Littleton.
Jan. 17 Littleton at Chelmsford.
Westford at Wilmington.
Jan. 24 Wilmington at North Andover. Westford at Littleton.
Jan. 31 Chelmsford at Westford. Littleton at North Andover.
Feb.
14 North Andover at Chelmsford. Littleton at Wilmington.
1
Feb. 21 Chelmsford at Littleton. Wilmington at Westford.
Feb. 28 North Andover at Wilmington. Littleton at Westford.
1
15
March 7 Westford at Chelmsford. North Andover at Littleton.
March 14 Chelmsford at Wilmington. Westford at North Andover.
Billerica was a member of the Suburban League, but has been forced to withdraw for lack of a proper place in which to play. The games of the league will all be umpired by official referees, Mr. Markham, and Mr. Ratchin, who are recommended by the Y. M. C. A.
There will be girls' games as well as the boys' games wherever the respective contestants have both teams. Mr. Roberts is Academy coach for the boys, Miss Smith for the girls.
The Senior and Junior boys competed in the "All Student Track Meet" in May 1929, and for the seventh successive year received state honors in their class. Victor Denisevich received a special certificate of honor for individual scores.
Pro Merito and Tadmuck Club
The following members of the class of 1929 were elected to mem- bership in the Pro Merito Society: John Barretto, Alan Bell, Marian Day, Mildred, Healey, Greta Lindberg, Bertha Mardas, Sarah Norton, Gilbert Payne, Belle Sylvester.
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