USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Westford > Town of Westford annual report 1937-1941 > Part 22
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being the second Monday in said month, at 12:00 o'clock noon for the following purposes:
To bring in their votes for the following officers:
FOR THREE YEARS
One Selectman
One Member of the Board of Public Welfare
One Assessor
Two Members of the School Committee
One Member of the Board of Cemetery Commissioners
One Trustee of Public Library
One Member of Board of Health
FOR ONE YEAR
Moderator Constable Tree Warden
The polls will be open from 12:00 o'clock noon to 8 P. M., and to meet in the Town Hall at Westford Center on the following
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 1940
98
at 1:00 o'clock in the afternoon, then and there to act on the following articles, viz:
1st. To hear the reports of the Finance Committee, other Commit- tees, Boards and Officers.
2nd. To determine the salary and compensation of elected Officers and such Officers and Officials as provided by law.
3rd. To appropriate money to meet the cost and expenses of the fol- lowing departments, officers and purposes:
1. General Government.
2. Town Hall.
3. Police Department.
4. Fire Department.
5. Hydrants.
6. Sealer of Weights and Measures.
7. Fish and Game Warden.
8. Forest Fires.
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 Common.
21. Commemoration of Memorial Day.
22. Publishing of Town Reports.
23. Compensation insurance.
24. Fire Insurance.
25. General Loans.
26. Interest on General Loans.
27. Interest on Revenue Loans.
28. Cemeteries.
29. Electric Lights.
30. Reserve Fund.
31. Bills Outstanding December 30, 1939.
4th. To see if the Town will vote to authorize the Town Treasurer with the approval of the Selectmen, to borrow money from time to time in anticipation of the revenue of the financial year be- ginning January 1, 1940 and to issue a note or notes therefore,
99
payable within one year, and to renew any note or notes as may be given for a period of less than one year in accordance with Section 17 of Chapter 44 of the General Laws.
5th. To see if the Town will appropriate a sum sufficient to pay the County of Middlesex as required by law on account of assess- ments levied on the Town for its share of the principal of the Middlesex County Tuberculosis Hospital Funding Loan, Acts of 1932 bonds maturing in 1940, issued in compliance with Chapter 10, also for the Town's share of the cost and interest on said bonds due in 1940, also for the care, maintenance, and repair of said hospital for 1940, including interest on temporary notes issued therefor in accordance with sections of Chapter 111 of the General Laws applicable thereto, and including Chapter 400, Section 25 G (6) (a) of the Acts of 1936, and for all other ex- penses in connection therewith, determine how money shall be raised, or in any way act thereon.
6th. To see if the Town will vote to appropriate the sum of $300.00 for the care of the Whitney Playground.
7th. To see if the Town will appropriate money to meet the expenses incurred in connection with the W. P. A., or other similar projects.
8th. To see if the Town will vote to transfer and appropriate money to the Road Machinery Account.
9th. To see if the Town will vote to appropriate the sum of $100.00 for Tax Title Expenses.
10th. To hear the report of the Committee appointed at the Special Town Meeting held May 26, 1939 relative to the advisability of setting aside part of the Martina A. Gage land as a recreational area; or of selling certain parcels thereof, and act in relation to same.
11th. To see if the Town will vote to authorize the Selectmen to enter into a contract with the Westford Water Company for one addi- tional hydrant on Pleasant St., near the residence of Mrs. Cath- erine Elliott.
12th. To see if the Town will vote to appropriate the sum of $400.00 for Band Concerts for the current year.
13th. To see if the Town will vote to appropriate the sum of $50.00 to be expended by such Town Safety Council as may be created and appointed by the Board of Selectmen, for the purpose of making our highways more safe for travel thereon.
100
14th. To see if the Town will vote to install additional street lights as follows:
One on Prescott Street
Five on Tyngsboro Road
Nine on West Street
Two on Hartford Road
One on Carlisle Road
15th. To see if the Town will vote to appropriate the sum of $10.00 for expenses of the Finance Committee.
16th. To see if the Town will vote to appropriate the sum of $400.00 and authorize the Welfare Department to purchase a new tractor for the Infirmary. The amount received for the sale of the old tractor to be applied to the purchase price of the new one.
17th. To see if the Town will vote to appropriate the sum of Eleven Hundred Dollars ($1,100.00) in settlement of the action of Frederick A. Raymond, P.P.A., against the Town of Westford, which action is pending in the Superior Court of Middlesex County, Numbered 117569 on the docket.
18th. To see if the Town will vote to appoint a Committee to draw up a code of Building and Zoning By-laws for the Town of Westford to be submitted at the next Annual Town Meeting.
19th. To see if the Town will vote to instruct the Welfare Board and the Board of Health to require that all doctors handling Town Cases carry Physicians' liability or malpractice insurance as a justifiable protection to the Town.
20th. To see if the Town will vote to appoint a committee to study the Fire and Forest Fire Departments with a view of improving the efficiency and economy of said departments, and that the committee make a report of its recommendations at the next Town Meeting.
21st. To see if the Town will vote to instruct the selectmen to permit the serving of alcoholic beverages in Public Buildings and on Public Lands.
22nd. To see if the Town will vote to authorize the Selectmen to pur- chase an Automobile from the appropriation for the Police De- partment and also authorize the Selectmen to turn in the old police car for an allowance to be applied to the purchase price of the new car.
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And you are directed to serve this warrant by posting up true and attested copies thereof 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 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 31st day of January, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and forty.
ARTHUR M. WHITLEY, ARTHUR L. HEALY, CYRIL A. BLANEY,
Selectmen of Westford.
A true Copy: Attest
Constable of Westford.
Annual Report
OF THE
SCHOOL COMMITTEE
OF THE
TOWN of WESTFORD
F WEST
TOWN
F
INCORPO
0
1729. e
PORATED
3
SI
For the Year Ending December 30, 1939
104
ORGANIZATION-SCHOOL COMMITTEE
Eric J. Anderson, Chairman Term expires 1942
George P. Gibbons Term expires 1942
Edward C. Buckingham Term expires 1941
James P. Mulligan Term expires 1941
Albert G. Forty Term expires 1940
Mrs. Dorothy E. Chandler, Secretary Term expires 1940
SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS
Roger K. Poole, Westford, Mass.
Tel. Residence 155 Tel. Office 133 Westford Academy Office Hours 3:30 to 4:30 P. M.
SCHOOL PHYSICIAN
Dwight W. Cowles, M. D., Graniteville, Mass. Tel. 70
SCHOOL NURSE
C. Veronica Meagher, R. N. Westford, Mass.
Tel. Residence 185
Office 50-4 Town Hall
105
REPORT OF SCHOOL COMMITTEE
Citizens of Westford:
I hereby submit my annual report as Chairman of the School Com- mittee for the year 1939.
There were no changes in the personnel of our committee this year, as George P. Gibbons and Eric J. Anderson were re-elected.
A new superintendent, Roger K. Poole, was elected to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Robert W. Barclay. Mr. Poole was formerly principal of the Junior High School in West Brookfield, Massachusetts. He is a graduate of Tufts College, and received the degree of Master of Education from Boston University.
There were two major repairs made by the Committee this year. The William E. Frost School was painted, and new toilets were in- stalled in the girls' and boys' basements at the Sargent School.
We respectfully request the sum of $65,000 for expenses to operate the public schools this year, and $400 for vocational tuition.
Respectfully submitted,
ERIC J. ANDERSON,
Chairman.
106
REPORT OF THE SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS
To the School Committee:
I submit herewith my first annual report as Superintendent of the Westford Public Schools, through you, to the citizens of Westford. Since my connection with education here began only last August, it is fitting that I confine myself in this report to the latter half of the past year and, more significantly, the future. May I pay tribute, first of all, to Westford's teachers who, through their wholehearted spirit of cooperation and their professional receptivity to constructive sug- gestion, have encouraged me constantly in my part of this great re- sponsibility we share with the mothers and fathers of Westford? Sim- ilarly, I am grateful to the Westford School Board for its open-minded- ness towards, and its judicial examination of, each educational question as it has arisen. Because I believe that the first and greatest respon- sibility of a superintendent of schools is the quality and efficiency of the educational process itself-that is to say, what we shall teach, and how we shall teach it-this report will deal primarily with educa- tional matters and only secondarily with the ever present financial problem.
Course of Study
By far the greatest need in our system today is that for the building of a vital, farseeing, and dynamic course of study in all grades and in all subjects of the curriculum. This is an Herculean task and under the best conditions will take several years to accomplish. The work will not be finished when the new course of study is printed since, to keep it alive and valuable, it must be in a constant state of revision and growth to keep it abreast of changing needs and trends in education. To be vital, a course of study must be democratically con- ceived and have built into it the ideals, wisdom, and experience, not only of a leader but of the teachers who are going to carry it into suc- cessful operation. The task of building involves research study into what those states, cities, and towns who are leaders in the field of education are doing, and also a critical survey of the actual needs of Westford boys and girls which are different in some respects from the needs of any other group, anywhere.
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We are already at work on this significant undertaking. Three committees of approximately twelve teachers each, volunteers, have started on the construction of a course of study and all that this implies, in the three fields of reading and English, mathematics, and social studies, which term includes such subjects as history, govern- ment, and geography. By next January we hope to have a tentative outline ready to test in actual operation. This will contain not only a standardized syllabus of what we shall teach, and when we should teach it, but also detailed suggestions as to the most efficient and in- teresting techniques for the actual teaching procedures. In successive years we hope to cover all remaining phases of the curriculum and by that time it will be none too soon to revise and improve what we have already built. The gain in effectiveness of our education which should result from this undertaking will be of great importance.
Testing Program
We need some objective means of measuring the exact degree of success which we are achieving in our schools. We need to know, rather than to estimate or guess, just how much each individual child has accomplished, what things he has learned well, and what things he has failed in. It is not enough to know that Johnny doesn't read very well. We need to know exactly whether his reading trouble is due to poor mechanics, a scanty vocabulary, or poor comprehension. If we have this diagnosis it naturally follows that we can teach to overcome the recognized difficulties. A program of annual achievement tests which are diagnostic in form, correlated with intelligence tests, would make it possible to go a long way toward more effective education for each individual child in our schools. Most up to date school systems use such a program. Because these tests are standardized on the basis of thousands of children elsewhere, they would answer definitely the question as to how effective the brand of education we are providing is. They would act as a separate check on the accuracy of each teacher's marks. Incidentally, poor teaching will show up so that the need for improvement by the teacher will be obvious to her. The cost of this program will be small but the benefits will be far reaching.
Basic Subjects
Since early times education has grown from a comparatively simple procedure to the complex structure that it now is. However, no modern educational system is much stronger than its work in the three basic subjects, reading, writing, and arithmetic. Let us take stock briefly of our situation with respect to these three.
The Committee has wisely purchased, in the near past, the ma- terials-books-for the first four grades of a first class modern reading
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system. I believe they intend to complete the purchase in the coming year by acquiring the books for the fifth and sixth grades. Emphasis is placed on reading as the one most important work of the primary and probably the intermediate građes.
The arithmetic books now in use are a varied miscellaneous lot and must be replaced with new modern books immediately. A study of the many new textbooks available has been going on during the past year and will continue until a decision is reached, probably by summer this year. This purchase has been allowed for in the new budget.
In writing, it seems, we are doing the least effective work of the three basic subjects. The handwriting of our boys and girls is poor in general. This, I believe, is neither their fault nor that of those in au- thority. It is only recently that a writing system has been made avail- able which develops natural easy legible writers by encouraging each individual child to perfect his own individual style. It is my sincere recommendation that Westford take advantage of this innovation by adopting it, as several of the nearby towns have already done.
High School Curriculum
Our normal average boys and girls who stay in school until they graduate from the Academy deserve a curriculum more fitted to their needs. Our present high school curriculum fills the needs of a future college student or stenographer adequately we hope. But what does it provide for the boy or girl who fits into neither of these classifications -the boy or girl who is going out to work at whatever job he can get and who will soon marry and have a home to support and manage? I am not suggesting that we provide a vocational education-the cost is beyond us and it is now obtainable in a nearby city. But I do hope that by change rather than by expansion we can provide, in the near future, courses which will be more socially useful in fitting our youth to cope with the everyday problems it must certainly face.
Visual, Safety and Health Education
Visual education is one of the newest techniques for making the learning process interesting and vital. We have the beginnings of a fine program already started. Laboratory demonstration apparatus, sound motion picture projectors, maps, posters, charts, and a micro- projector give us the tools to work with. It is fitting that I recognize here the spontaneous effort by the teachers, pupils, and parents of this town who have united in a drive to procure, for the elementary schools, the finest type of motion picture projector available.
The schools maintain a consistent campaign against carelessness which results in accidents. This fall we have emphasized two phases
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of highway safety. We are teaching boys and girls to walk on the left hand side of the road thereby facing oncoming traffic whenever it is necessary for them to walk on the road. Children are learning that "two-on-a-bike" is dangerous. Eternal vigilance and perseverance are the price of success here. Coasting in the winter and swimming in the summer furnish particular hazards against which we must fight. Frequent firedrills are carried out in all the schools with the emphasis on careful planning and orderly exit rather than speed which might result in tragedy under panic conditions.
In the program of professional general teachers' meetings which are held at regular intervals throughout the school year we are working to develop a health program for the various grades which will be a real service to the community. The school nurse and physician carry on their work quietly and efficiently. Nine teachers from the five schools have completed the course in senior first aid given by the American Red Cross at Graniteville this fall. The new telephones in the elementary schools might well save their cost if, through them, precious time is saved in the case of an accident, in getting the doctor or nurse.
School Cost
As a prelude to the financial section of this report may I emphasize the point that getting more value for the same money is just as truly thrifty as reducing the cost itself? It is more spectacular to reduce the total cost, but scarce wiser, in an educational system that is already bereft of those features which would be classed as good but not abso- lutely essential. May I rededicate the office of superintendent of schools to a policy of elimination of all waste, careful purchasing of necessary textbooks and supplies, and above all, to a program of supervision and improvement of instruction which will draw out the fullest value from our annual expenditure for schools.
The total expenditures for the schools in Westford for the fiscal year 1939 was $65,981.33. Reimbursement from the State of Massachu- setts under Chapter 70, for tuition and transportation of state wards, and tuition from the Town of Tyngsboro, amounted to $9,275.45. This leaves a net cost from local taxation of $56,705.88. In order to give a basis for comparison with costs elsewhere, the statistics in the remain- der of this paragraph are taken from the Annual Report of the Depart- ment of Education, Commonwealth of Massachusetts for the school year 1938-1939. Figures quoted are all from Group III in the State Report, which group is composed of 110 towns having less than 5000 population and which maintain high schools. Westford is, of course, included in this group, and may be fairly compared with it. Westford's cost per pupil in the net average membership of her schools, based
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on her total expenditure for education derived from all sources, was $83.82 as compared with $95.48 which is the average for all towns in the group. On this basis, Westford's cost per pupil was 90th in the group of 110 towns. These figures definitely indicate that a policy of rigid economy has been adhered to by the Westford School Board.
Maintenance of School Plant
From a brief survey of the enrollment figures of the Westford Schools in recent years it would appear safe to forecast that there will be no problem of overcrowding in the near future with the ex- ception of the Academy which is not adequate for its present enroll- ment. Most of our buildings are old. Under these circumstances it would seem wise to continue and to standardize a plan, already in partial use, of reconditioning -- painting specifically - the exterior or interior of one complete building each year. This would mean a cycle of nine years between redecorations which is none too frequent to keep our already old buildings in a state of good preservation. May I recommend that this nine year plan be adopted. Unless a definite long term plan is made there is a tendency toward letting the interiors get more and more shabby and unattractive for the children who use them. Pleasant attractive surroundings help to make learning easier.
The deplorable sanitary conditions that have existed in the Sar- gent School have been corrected by the installation of new toilet fix- tures and plumbing and adequate ventilation. Also, during the past year, the Frost School has had a coat of paint on the outside. Another is needed. The walks in the various school yards have been tarred and gravelled where needed and all are in good condition at the present time. The playground at the Sargent School needs to have the surface finished and seeded to make it fill the purpose for which it was provided. The swings and seesaws at the various schools represent a considerable investment and it would appear to be good business to buy the replacement parts necessary to put them in working order.
In the Academy there is immediate need for sheet metal hoods over the chemistry laboratory benches and an exhaust fan to carry off noxious gases manufactured during the regular class experimenta- tion. At the present time these gases permeate the whole building and are both injurious to health and nauseating.
Telephones
Telephones have been installed in the Cameron, Sargent, and Nabnassett School buildings. An extension telephone has been added to the superintendent's office phone and it is located in the office of the principal of the Academy. The benefits that should accrue from
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this action include: (1) immediate location of, and contact with, the school nurse and physician, (2) more efficient service of supplies from the school department office, (3) quicker contact with the superin- tendent in emergencies large or small, (4) more accurate information service at the department office, (5) closer cooperation and syn- chronization between all the schools. Citizens can help by refraining from calling the schools during actual school hours except in case of emergency. It is felt that the telephones will justify their cost many times over if they prevent even one accident from becoming a tragedy.
Nursery School
The nursery school at Forge Village is not operated by the West- ford School Department but as an independent W. P. A. project. The School Department maintains a nominal supervision only over this project but has extended the school nurse service to include a regular periodic inspection. These facts are given here to avoid any misunder- standing in this connection.
Thanks
On behalf of the children and teachers I wish to extend thanks to the Abbot Worsted Company and the C. G. Sargents Sons Corporation for their Christmas checks which have contributed largely toward making our traditional school Christmas parties the happy occasions that they are.
Personnel Changes
During the summer the resignations of Miss Mary I. Bohenko of the Academy, Miss Emma Goucher, Miss Gertrude Provost and Mr. James H. Fitzgibbons of the Sargent School, and Miss Caroline Weaver of the Frost School were accepted. Miss Anne M. Sughrue was elected to teach in the commercial department at the Academy. Miss Margaret Curley and Miss Muriel A. Thornton were elected to fill the vacancies at the Sargent School. Miss Rita Edwards is at present teaching in the Frost School. All four are doing good work.
Guidance
To bring up a family of children happily and well is the great challenge that all parents face. The reward for success in this task is the privilege of watching the children develop into adults who have high ideals, sound personalities, and the habit of industry. Before this goal is attained many baffling problems must be faced and wisely solved. Your superintendent of schools wishes to be of service to the parents of each and every boy and girl by assisting them to handle
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successfully each major and minor difficulty in which a child is in- volved. The schools can and will be glad to help if parents will give them their confidence. With this objective in mind, and in order to provide an opportunity for unhampered conference and consultation, regular office hours from 3:30 to 4:30 on school days will be held by the superintendent during the coming year. Also, the superintendent is on call by telephone at any time and will be glad to call on any parents who wish his help but who find it impossible to use the regular office hours. Those parents who come for help will continue to find a courteous and understanding attitude awaiting their problems.
Respectfully submitted,
ROGER K. POOLE,
Superintendent of Schools.
REGISTRATION-WESTFORD PUBLIC SCHOOLS October 1, 1939
SCHOOLS BY GRADES
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
P. G.
Total
Academy
52
66
46
35
199
Wm. E. Frost
13
18
14
16
20
18
27
24
150
Sargent
21
24
23
17
12
21
28
21
167
Cameron
26
28
22
26
42
23
27
18
212
Nabnassett ..
9
3
15
6
5
5
43
-
-
-
-
69
73
74
65
79
67
82
63
52
66
46
35
771
REPORT OF SCHOOL CENSUS October 1, 1939
MINORS BY AGE GROUPS
5-7
7-14
14-16
Total
Girls
55
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