Town of Wilmington Annual Report 1937-1938, Part 5

Author: Wilmington (Mass.)
Publication date: 1937
Publisher: Town of Wilmington
Number of Pages: 348


USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Wilmington > Town of Wilmington Annual Report 1937-1938 > Part 5


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It is possible to continue with such facts for pages and pages but to what end? When all is said there is the eternal barrier to doing what needs to be done, our good old friend TAX RATE. There is no doubt at all that this is a subject of grave consideration. It is hard to bear because it is direct and has to be met in a lump sum. We pay plenty of taxes but most of them are so indirect that we do not realize that they are being paid. Most of our municipal taxes have to come from real estate. It is the tribute you pay for being a prop- erty owner. It seems an unfair burden and one that should have re- lief.


To help secure such relief a bill is to be presented to the current session of the General Court designed to make the State assume a greater share of the cost of education and to make it possible for


97


towns like Wilmington to have more adequate financial support for its schools. If and when this bill comes up for hearing, this town should be well represented at the hearings, because it has much to gain from such aid.


In covering the program of the schools during the year it can be truly said that an excellent work was done in consideration of the financial handicap under which the administration labored. That the year ended with some bills still unpaid was to be expected. The only other alternative would have been to close the schools sometime early in December. This would not have been a saving in the end because we would have had to make up the time in June and July. It would have shifted tbe burden to the next fiscal year.


HOUSING


This town has two very serious problems of school accomodations to face. It is well known that the High School building has long ago reached its normal seating capacity. The building of the Buzzell School had little relation to this fact. That new school only solved the problem of caring for the seventh and eighth grades. There is still the need for caring for the increasing enrollment in the high school grades.


The present building was completed in 1914 and was designed to accomodate 200 pupils; not to seat that number, but to provide facil- ities for them as required in a high school. Many changes have taken place in secondary education in the twenty-three years which have passed. The education of this day is more complex in its re- quirements than at that period. Then as now however there was a very important adjunct to a successful school which was neglected. Some provision was made for an assembly hall for a school of the capacity of ours but the provision for physical education was always inadequate. There was a so-called gymnasium, but it was of very limited value be- cause of its size and height. As the school has grown to over 300 in en- rollment it has become progressively necessary to improvise classrooms to accommodate the increased teaching corps, with the result that we no longer have a place where the whole student body can be gath- ered as a unit. We are denied this necessary facility for the unifica- tion of the school spirit and morale. At the same time there is no ade- quate place to hold indoor athletic contests and the various social func- tions which are such an important part of the student activities in a modern high school.


98


Several building committees have endeavored to forestall the pres- ent audition but to no avail. Ample warning has been given that the present congestion was sure to come. It is only a question of time before another period of part time organization of the school will be necessary. If we are to meet legal requirements this will mean a very long school day with a corresponding increase in cost of transporta- tion.


The following table will show the increase in high school enroll- mnent and the total school enrollment during the past ten years.


Year


Total


Enrollment


High School


Enrollment


Number


Graduated


1928


902


153


19


1929


1002


155


18


1930


1018


183


19


1931


1081


192


23


1932


1107


200


34


1933


1133


219


30


1934


1114


256


33


1935


1155


285


43


1936


1193


290


41


1937


1242


306


45


1938 estimated 1280


326


58


.


These figures show that the high school enrollment has doubled in this decade. What may happen in the next is highly problematical but, the indications are that within the next four years our high school en- rollment will be in excess of four hundred because there are now four hundred twenty-four pupils in the four upper elementary grades. These enrollments continue down thru the grades, there being five hundred and five pupils in the four lowest grades. The first grade is still increas- ing in Wilmington in spite of the general report of a decline in the birth rate. The enrollment figures shown in the tabulations given later in this report will bear thoughtful consideration.


Conditions in the Silver Lake section of the town present an even more pressing problem than that in the high school. In the portable school of two rooms in that section two teachers are doing their best to present the fundamentals of education to one hundred seven children. In one room made up of grades one and two the enrollment is sixty- three. From every standpoint it is manifestly impossible to teach this


99


number in one group. They cannot be seated together at one time. Laws of safety and sanitation would not permit that we confine so large a group in the space available. It was absolutely imperative to divide this school unit and have them come in two groups, or transport part of them elsewhere. The latter could not be done effectively because the one available place, the Whitefield was already overcrowded in the first two grades. The teacher of this group volunteered to lengthen the school day and curtail her lunch period so that each grade would get as nearly three hours of school time as possible. This is by no means an ideal arrangement, but it was the only thing to do under the circum- stances. I do feel that these children are better off under these condi- tions than are the forty-eight in the first two grades of the Whitefield School where the teacher has to keep two grades operating at the same time.


This condition will spread to the third and fourth grades of this school next September. There are sixteen in the present fourth grade who will leave this school in June. Their space will be taken by twenty-nine from the present second grade. This twenty-nine with the twenty-three in the present third grade will make a class of fifty-two, which is too many for a single group. Thus in September, unless ade- quate action is taken, the whole school will be on a part time program.


In addition it should be noted that there are from this section two hundred three pupils in grades below the high school. Of these forty- five are in grades seven and eight in the Buzzell School and forty-one in the fifth and sixth grades in the Center School. This leaves a bal- ance of one hundred and seventeen pupils of the first four grades who should be cared for in or near the Silver Lake School. There would of course be a relief to congestion on the bus if the fifth grade pupils could be provided for. This would necessitate a four room unit instead of two rooms now available.


The thinking people of this section have been very patient and con- siderate. They have cooperated heartily and have shown a willingness to accept temporary hardship but they should have immediate consid- eration.


I recommend that at least one more room be provided in connec- tion with this school, a portable if need be, something better if possible.


Transportation of school children is a perennial problem in this town of widely scattered homes. The law requires that any child liv- ing more than two miles from his school of attendance be transported. This means that we must have transportation at least as complete as at present for high school pupils alone and as much more as the lack of elementary schools within a mile and a half shall necessitate. In re-


100


cent years the increase in school enrollment has been largely in sec- tions remote from the center of the town. This means increased num- bers demanding bus service. The only way of avoiding a further in- crease in service and of relieving the present crowding is to have more school accomodations in the more densely populated parts of the out- skirts such as the Silver Lake section and the section between Shaw- sheen and Burlington Avenues. Thought should also be given to the section of the town bordering on the Reading and North Woburn lines especially on and near Lowell and West streets. At present the White- field School is the unit which receives the overflow from all these sec- tions. That is, we transport children from one end of the town to the other. It sounds foolish but it is in practice unavoidable.


In the following table is shown the normal capacity and the present enrollments in the various elementary schools.


Grades


Capacity


Enrollment


South


I-III


42


19


West


I-II


42


38


North


Special


18


18


Silver


Lake


I-IV


84


107


Maple Meadow


I-V


84


78


Walker


I-V


168


171


Whitefield


I-V


168


162


Center


V-VI


168


142


Buzzell


VII-VIII


215


211


Total


989


946


This table would indicate that we can still accomodate forty-three children before reaching full capacity loads. In fact however this is not true because the seats are in buildings and grades where they are not economically usable. It is also true that serious parental objections would arise if we tried to shuffle children around so as to fill all avail- able seats. This is one of the difficult problems faced by your school authorities; this endeavor to use all available school accommodations and maintain peace in the community at one and the same time.


Any man on the street will tell you it can be done, but none want to try to do it and be held responsible for it. Moreover nothing can be settled for more than one year. Conditions change so from June to September that planning is all but impossible. For example; last June one hundred forty-nine pupils were in the first grades. In September there were but one hundred nineteen of these in the second grades. In


101


September one hundred fifty-three entered the first grades instead of the hundred thirty-five expected. In the seventh grades of last year there were one hundred five pupils. When this class enrolled in the eighth grade in the fall it numbered ninety-four. These examples can be duplicated all through the school system. That is why it is so dif- ficult to plan from year to year.


Teaching Personnel


The changes in the staff in the High School will be found reported in the report of the principal.


In the elementary schools there were several new faces and some transfers.


Miss Bertha Elmstrom of Medford succeeded Miss Elizabeth G. Giles in the Buzzell School and Miss Caroline Brady was transferred from the Center School to grade eight in the Buzzell building. Miss Grace Boehner of Lawrence to Miss Brady's place in the Center sixth grade. Miss Harriet Donehue was transferred to the Walker School to succeed Miss Ann Merritt who resigned. Miss Carol Brink of Woburn was elected to take Miss Donehue's place in the Maple Meadow School.


The position of Supervisor of Physical Education left vacant by the resignation of Miss Margaret Bradley was filled by Miss Anne Mullane of Lawrence. Miss Mullane had a record of previous experience in the schools of California. Her work for us has been excellent and on the same high plane to which we have been accustomed.


Special Activities


This report should include some mention of the excellent work be- ing done by the so-called Special Teachers.


In the Music Department a marked growth in interest and accom- plishment has been shown for the past five years. Its results appeared in the very superior concerts given under the direction of Miss Cara- bello during the year. In both vocal and instrumental ensembles a high- ly commendable performance was given. The type of music attempted is worthy of special note.


Mrs. Shirley Gulliver has continued her very satisfactory direction of the work in Art. The results of the department have received very favorable comment at the various public exhibits of the same.


102


Under Miss Mullane the success of organized athletics for girls has maintained our usual high standards. Field hockey was resumed after a year of absence from our program and as usual resulted in a season without defeat. The current basketball season bids fair to be a reason- ably successful one.


Mr. Driscoll in his second year as coach of the high school boys pro- duced a team which showed marked improvement over the results in re- cent years. In consideration of the scarcity of material for football the results were very good indeed. Several conditions peculiar to Wilming- ton seem to render it impossible to get an adequate football squad from the school.


In basketball the team is also holding its own. Here again the lack of material effects the success of the team. The school is large enough in numbers to provide a much more representative group of athletic candidates. The same adverse conditions obtain here as in football. One of these is the distance boys have to walk after practice.


CONCLUSION


In conclusion I would like to quote the old adage that "You cannot make bricks without straw," that is, if we have the usual annual in- crease in school population it will require more money to support them. The increased appropriation asked for this year is the cumulative re- sult of several years of stringency. Books and apparatus will wear out and the time comes when much must be replaced at once. Increased numbers calls for increased teaching staff and additional housing facil- ities.


To all of my associates who have given me their most loyal cooper- ation, teachers, school committee and others I offer appreciative thanks.


Respectfully submitted,


STEPHEN G. BEAN,


Superintendent of Schools.


103


AGE-GRADE DISTRIBUTION


5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21


T


I


45 78


25


3'


1


1


153


II


..


26


56


27


4


3


116


III


21


73


25


5


4


128


IV


12


54


19


10


1


1


1


98


V


18


60


17


7


2


2


106


VI


7 54


23


18


5


107


VII


2 17


58


21


11


4


4


117


VIII


15


41


19


16


3


94


Sp.


..


18


T.


.......


45 104 102 115 102


96 118 130


61 35 7


4


937


IX


2 12 52


16


15


1


98


X


2 12


31


14


4


1


64


XI


12


45


16


5


78


XII


11


29


17


2


1


60


T.


300


.. ......


....


..


G. T. ..... .. 45 104 102 115 102 96 118 132 75 99 66 89 50 23


2


1 1237


..


...


..


...


..


SCHOOL-GRADE DISTRIBUTION


-


II III IV V VI VII VIII IX


X XI XII


Sp.


T.


South


10


4


5


19


West


18


20


38


North


18


18


Silver Lake ....


34


29


23


16


102


Maple Meadow


.. 25


12


23


18


78


Walker


30


37


40


26


38


171


Whitefield


36


14


37


38


33


162


35


107


142


D. T. Buzzell ....


117


94


211


High


98


64


78


60


300


Total


....


.......


153


116


128


98


106


107


117


94


98


64


78


60


18


1237


........


Center


.....


..


.... .....


ROSTER OF SCHOOL EMPLOYEES


Date


NAME


POSITION


Home


Appointed


Stephen G. Bean


Superintendent


Wilmington


1924


J. Turner Hood, Jr.


Principal H. S.


Wilmington


1928


George G. Kambour


Mathematics


Wilmington


1930


Francis Whittle


Science


No. Reading 1937


Harold Driscoll


Social Science & Athletics


Lawrence 1936


Laura N. Marland


English and History


Ballardvale


1919


Edna Thornton


English and Dramatics


Amherst


1935


Alice Hathaway


Latin and English


No. Wilmington 1932


Baldwin Steward


French and English


Winthrop


1936


Gladys Alexander


Commercial


Tewksbury


1923


Sara Hume


Commercial


Melrose


1937


Carl Harvey


Commercial


Wilmington


1936


Anne Mullane


Phy. Ed. Supervisor


Lawrence


1937


Shirley H. Gulliver


Drawing Supervisor


Newton


1929


Angelica Carabillo


Music Supervisor


Hartford, Conn.


1935


Sylvia Neilson


History and Geography


Wilmington


1933


Margaret Delaney


English and Geography


Lowell


1932


Caroline Brady


Mathematics and History


Woburn


1936


Bertha Elmstrom


Geography and Drawing


Medford


1937


Doris Groesbeck


English and Music


Lawrence


1935


Alyce O'Brien


Mathematics and History


Rockland


1936


John W. Crediford, Jr.


Principal Center


Hamilton 1930


Grace Boehner


Grade VI Center


Lawrence


1937


Desire Goldsmith


Grade VI Center


No. Wilmington


1936


Anna P. Watters Henrietta Swain Olive Oman Sybil Weiberg


Grade V Center


Medford


1936


Principal Walker


Wilmington Wilmington


1893 1933


Grades III & IV Walker Grade II Walker


Reading 1927


Grade I Walker


Lowell


1935


Principal Whitefield


Greenwood


1922


Gr. II & III Whitefield


Wilmington 1918


Barbara Purbeck


Grade I Whitefield


Medford 1936


Olive Littlehale


Grade IV Whitefield


Tyngsboro


1934


Lena M. Eames


West


Wilmington


1927


Ruth S. Maynard


Special Class


Pepperell


1929


Ruth Kidder


South


Wilmington


1936


Mildred Rogers


Silver Lake


Lowell


1935


Nathalie Towle


Silver Lake


Gloucester


1935


Carol Brink


Maple Meadow


Woburn


1937


Helen Patten


Maple Meadow


Reading


1926


Esther Nichols


Nurse


Wilmington


1922


E. C. MacDougall


School Physician


Wilmington


1932


Charles F. Perry


Janitor High School


Wilmington


Ernest Cail


Janitor Buzzell School


Wilmington


Herbert F. Johnson


Janitor Center School


Wilmington


Wilson Thompson


Janitor Walker School


Wilmington


Roland Hinxman


Janitor South School


Wilmington


William White


Janitor West School


Wilmington


Harry DeLoriea


Janitor Whitefield


Wilmington


Edward E. Brooks


Janitor Silver Lake


Wilmington


William Babine


Janitor Maple Meadow


Wilmington


Roger Buck


Janitor North School


Wilmington


Harriet Donehue A. Estelle Horton Lena Doucette


REPORT OF HIGH SCHOOL PRINCIPAL


Wilmington, Mass. January 21, 1938.


Mr. S. G. Bean Supt. of Schools,


Dear Sir:


I submit herewith my ninth annual report as Principal of the Wil- mington High School and my fifth report dealing with the administra- tive supervision of the seventh and eighth grades, now housed in the Buzzell School. The major part of this report will be devoted to a dis- cussion of matters affecting the high school since the details of in- struction in the Buzzell School is, by agreement, more intimately as- sociated with your field of work than with mine.


This year there were several changes in the teaching force of the two schools. Miss Thelma Roscoe of the Buzzell School resigned early in the year to be married and was succeeded by Miss Elizabeth Giles of the Center School. Miss Giles, in turn resigned in June to accept a position in Marblehead. Miss Bertha Elmstrom, a graduate of Boston University, with the Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees, and a specialist in the field of geography was engaged to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Miss Giles. Miss Myrtle Colson, a teach- er in the eighth grade of the Buzzell School resigned to accept a posi- tion in the Junior High School at Dedham. This vacancy was filled by transferring Miss Caroline Brady from the Center School.


Mr. Charles Holbrook of the High School, teacher of Science and Assistant Coach of Athletics, left us to accept a position in Vermont Academy as teacher of Science and coach of skiing. Mr. Holbrook is one of the finest beginning teachers with whom I have had the pleas- ure of associating, and I regret very much that we were unable to keep him. in Wilmington. Mr. Francis Whittle who holds the Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees from Boston University was employed to take over Mr. Holbrook's work. Mr. Whittle was recommended very highly by the Science Department of Boston University where he had been a teaching assistant. In fact, his superiors there wrote that Mr. Whittle was the best teaching assistant they had had in recent years. Mr. Whittle very soon demonstrated to us that he merited all of the good things written about him. Not only is he a capable teacher, but he


108


is also a competent and thorough going coach of Athletics, and as such is a welcome addition to the faculty of the school. Miss Alice Stanton of the Commercial Department left us to teach in the High School at Framingham. Miss Stanton was a good teacher and in addition was our efficient bookkeeper for all pupil organizations. Miss Sara Hume, a graduate of Salem Teachers' College with one year's experience in the High School at Littleton was elected to succeed Miss Stanton.


The athletic situation in Wilmington High School is rapidly im- proving. The girls field hockey team reorganized, after a year of idle- ness, had another undefeated season. The football team, after going through two seasons without once enjoying the thrill of victory, com- pleted the schedule with victories in half of its games. Both boys' and girls' basketball teams have played good ball under serious handicaps. Our baseball team had one of its best seasons in recent years. We were fortunate in having an unusual school-boy pitcher in Frank Had- ley, and as a result were able to defeat teams from larger schools. The spirit of the school has improved noticeably. We had two stimulating rallies during the fall season, and had the enthusiastic support of many adult friends of the school.


With one exception, facilities for teaching the various sports is de- plorable. The football practice field is two and a half miles from school with no means of transporting the players; the same condition exists in baseball. Our basketball court is so inadequate the visiting teams ob- ject to playing there and as a result we are obliged to hire the Grange Hall for our games. This is a handicap in two ways: first, our players practice on a court with a low ceiling while they play all games on a court with a high ceiling; second, due to the expense of hiring Grange Hall the receipts at home games are not sufficient to make the sport self-supporting. Girls' field hockey, due to the kindness of the Park Commission, has the use of the Common for practice and for home games. This is an excellent field, and the success of our teams is due, in no small part, to our access to it.


Football was renewed three years ago through the help and inter- est of the Wilmington Athletic Development Association and the kind- ness of the citizens of Wilmington who contributed toward the expense of outfitting our first team. The sport has been kept alive by the inter- est of the School Committee which has so generously allotted a part of its meager funds to purchase necessary equipment. The gate receipts collected at home games played on the open field at Town Park do not begin to cover the cost of maintaining the sport. If the time should come when the School Committee is unable to continue its financial as- sistance the school will be forced to drop football from its athletic program.


Mr. Carl Harvey has assumed responsibility for arranging assembly programs this year. We are continuing assemblies under severe phys- ical handicaps. The gymnasium, so-called, is used for assembly pur-


109


poses and will accommodate but half of the school at one time. This means that every program must be repeated if the entire school is to receive the benefit. I look forward, hopefully, to the time when Wil- mington will be in a position to give us a room that will be large enough to serve the dual purpose of an Assembly Hall and Gymnasium. I sin- cerely believe that the acquisition of such a room would materially ben- efit the school.


The high school building is more congested than ever before and we have resorted to every expedient to care for the enlarged enroll- ment. We shall be obliged to return to the two platoon plan of educa- tion in Wilmington High School in the near future.


Our enrollment has increased each year until it exceeds three hundred. Classes have grown larger and in a number of cases have had to be divided into two sections. I believe another teacher should be added to the staff in September to instruct the additional class sections which I have every reason to expect we shall have at that time.


I inaugurated the plan last year of requiring Seniors, whose work was unsatisfactory, to stay after school for assistance each day until their work was satisfactory in all subjects. This plan was so success- ful that I have continued it this year. Next year I hope to enlarge the plan to include the Juniors.


I am convinced that the greater part of the failures in high school are unnecessary. I should like to see the School Committee adopt a rule to the effect that whenever it is necessary to instruct a pupil in more than the required sixteen subjects to insure his graduation that such pupils be required to pay to the town the sum of $25. for each additional subject so taken. This sum would reimburse the town for the need- less expense to which it had been put. If such a plan be adopted I as- sure you that the parents would see to it that the pupils seized the opportunity to acquire an education and, further, that failures would be reduced by three fourths or more.


If finances will permit I should like to have program bells installed in the typewriting room, the gymnasium, and on the outside of the building. I know that all of the teachers would appreciate it if clocks could be placed in the class rooms.


In closing I want to express my appreciation of the teachers in the High and Buzzell Schools and of the work of my building assistants- Mr. Kambour and Miss Delaney. I am indebted to you, Mr. Bean, for your good counsel and friendly guidance. I am grateful to the School Committee for its interest in the schools and its sympathetic under- standing of the difficulties under which we are' working.




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