USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Wilmington > Town of Wilmington Annual Report 1947-1948 > Part 8
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In the opinion of the writer the logical solution of our problem is the beginning of a "long haul" plan of reconstruction of the whole school plant. This first step would be the construction of a new high school building along the lines proposed to and voted down by a recent Town Meeting. This would immediately relieve the pressure in the elementary grades and permit efficient organization in classes of somewhere near workable numbers. Following this, consideration could be given to further consolidation of the elementary grades in modern buildings with modern facilities.
As spokesman for the school children in this town for the last twenty years, I want to state, with factual evidence available to prove it, that this town owes its children in excess of $600,000 in comparison with the average cost of educating an equal number of school pupils in the State as a whole during that period. This statement is based on comparative cost per pupil from all sources and does not include State reimbursements which would increase the actual saving to the taxpayers and thereby increase the $600,000 in proportion. To clarify this claim, the following computation is offered for the current year.
SCHOOL YEAR ENDING JUNE 1947
Average per pupil cost in State .. $ 151.77 Average per pupil cost in Wilmington 80.93
Difference in cost per pupil 70.84
Average membership for year 1238
Saving for year 1238 x $70.84 $87,699.92
That is to say, the cost of education in Wilmington last year was $87.699,72 less than it cost to educate an equal number of pupils in the
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average town throughout the State. This one figure alone makes the previous statement look ultra conservative. It is far too modest a total to cover the facts. For one thing, the average number of pupils for the twenty year period was 1186 instead of 1000 and the annual difference in cost was much greater than $30 per pupil. It ranged somewhere between $30 and $70.84 shown for last year.
It is also interesting to note that during the period that State income taxes have been in force this town has been reimbursed by the State sums of from $15,000 to $20,000 each year. The estimated re- imbursement for next year is in excess of $24.000 even if no new legis- lation in aid of education be passed. This sum includes receipts from State and City wards.
If the Senate Bill No. 164 is passed this year, Wilmington will receive from the State treasury more than the total appropriation for schools in 1947, that is more than $120,000. This is contingent on an increase of our per pupil expenditure to at least $110 which would amount to about $154,000 on the basis of enrollment expected next September. The net result, however. can give a decided relief to the tax burden on real property. The law is designed to help towns like Wilmington where school populations are large and valuations com- paratively small.
The basis of this estimate is as follows:
Current school population
1320
Graduating from High School in June, 59
Balance in eleven grades June 30 1261
Estimated first grade in September 145
Membership 1948-1949 1406
State allowance 1406 x $125 $175.750.00
Less $6 per $1000 on $5.955.105 35.730.63
Reimbursement by State $140,019.37
*This is just $3.019.37 more than the budget submitted for 1948.
The "string" attached to this legislation is that none of the State contribution can be used for capital outlay. i.e. to build buildings or acquire new property for sites. It is evident, however, that the town would be able to swing a building program from local taxation and still reduce the tax on real property by virtue of the fact that most of the cost of operation would come from State Aid.
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OUR NUMBER ONE PROBLEM
The most pressing problem connected with our public school system is intimately tied to the enrollment figures shown in two tables following the reports of the superintendent and his associates. In some places the facts are simply appalling. They show conditions in some schools and grades which are absolutely impossible for this day and age.
As a glaring example, see the figures for the Whitefield School. The maxiumum capacity of this school should be 140 pupils, the desirable enrollment would be 120. Instead there were on October 1, 1947, ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY-FOUR children in membership there. Of these 184 pupils 52 were in a room housing the first and second grades with a single teacher. This is an illegal situation, but the teacher in charge felt that she could get better results alone than with the confusion of an assistant trying to teach in the same room. Geographical location of her pupils and difficulty of transportation make transfers from this room all but impossible.
All other rooms in this building are filled beyond capacity for doing efficient teaching. Five grades are in a building built for four.
.In the Center School where the maximum seating capacity should be 160, the maximum teaching capacity 140 and the desirable mem- bership 120, there were 177 pupils. Of these, 129 are in the sixth grade, and in September, if all are promoted, will tax the capacity of 105 seats in the Buzzell School.
The Walker School in October 1947 had a pupil population of 170 with a teaching staff of four. One room has two grades to one teacher. If the fifth grade were not in this building, the conditions would be excellent if not quite ideal. At the West School, Mrs. Eames is strug- gling with 26 first graders and 17 in the second grade in a single room with a great space heater in the floor helping to reduce the oxygen content of the room.
In the Silver Lake group, the first and fourth grade rooms are overcrowded. Even at Maple Meadow the enrollment in the first two grades-in one room-is 40. No first grade should have to get a start under such conditions.
There are 210 seats for the rated capacity of the Buzzell School as constructed. There are 230 children in this school at present. It could be closed tight by a State Inspector of Public Buildings until numbers be reduced to the legal limit.
As for the High School, it was constructed in 1914 to accommo- date 200 pupils. At the present writing there are more than 300 young people being taught there. For years this condition has been pub- licized, more words would be vain repetition.
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THESE ARE THE FACTS. WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO ABOUT IT?
At the request of the Parent-Teachers Association, the School Committee has requested the State Department of Education to con- duet a survey of these conditions in Wilmington. Such a survey is promised before the end of the current school year.
WHAT DO YOU THINK THEY WILL SAY ABOUT IT?
It may seem that the writer is indulging in useless repetition, but statements in the earlier pages dealt in futures. The facts just stated are of conditions NOW.
"TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE" -- a much quoted statement which means-WE MUST GET BUSY NOW.
OUR NUMBER TWO PROBLEM
The clinic for mentally retarded pupils which was held last April revealed a very serious problem which must be solved. At that time some forty-five children in this school system who were three or more years retarded either from lack of mental capacity or of the will to apply themselves to school work sufficiently to attain passing grades. From this group enough pupils for two classes for mentally retarded were found, one for girls and one for boys.
The problem is two-fold: where to house them, and how to find qualified teachers. The housing of the boys' class can be cared for in the North School but we have, as yet, found no adequate place for the girls. As for teachers; there just aren't any who are not employed at high salaries by the larger communities.
An agent of the State Department is to come to Wilmington soon to look over the situation and advise as to procedure so that we may meet the requirements of State law. If we are able to do so these two classes can easily add in excess of $5,000 to our school budget.
STAFF CHANGES
School
Resigned or Transferred Replacement
Buzzell
Mrs. Alberta Mooney Harold C. Driscoll
Mrs. Virginia Erickson
Teresa M. Considine
Center
Kathleen O'Malley
Marie Barrett
Mrs. Helen R. Hunter
Walker Silver Lake
Elizabeth Murphy
Mrs. Grace G. Gallagher
Mrs. Helen Brownell
High School
Mrs. Gertrude Chisholm Harold C. Driscoll Rosemary Daley
Anthony DeTeso Leo Rogers
Joseph Donovan
Geraldine Lynch Margaret M. Hart Olive Littlehale
Ralph 'Ambrose
Mrs. Harriet Leggatt
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Music Supervisor
Mrs. Elizabeth Evans Sullivan Mrs. Mary Kearney
Mrs. Virginia Erickson
CHANGES IN THE ATHLETIC SETUP
Upon the resignation of Harold C. Driscoll from the position of Coach of Athletics for the High School it was found desirable to make a change in our athletic setup. We were able to secure the services of Mr. Anthony DeTeso as head coach and teacher of Social Science. To assist Mr. DeTeso two young men were secured who were to be teachers in the English department and take a part of the coaching burden from him. Mr. Ralph Ambrose and Mr. Joseph Donovan were elected to these positions. Experience would indicate that the change is helpful. One evidence of this is the reduction in time required for practice sessions and the increased number of boys kept on the squads. The cost was increased materially both for coaching and for outfitting the players.
The Parent-Teacher Association
The organization of this group representing all of the schools of the town is a promising sign of progress. Such an association, pro- perly directed and conducted, can do much toward improving the educational opportunities for the children of the town.
Care must be taken that the group be what it is named, a parent- teacher organization. It must be a cooperative endeavor if it is to succeed. It should be remembered that it is for the benefit of neither parents nor teachers but wholly for the good of the school children.
CONCLUSION
May I take this opportunity to thank all of the loyal teachers, principals and supervisors who have tried to maintain high educa- tional standards under difficult conditions.
To the School Committee, I offer appreciation of all cooperation aimed at improving the school system.
1
Respectfully submitted,
STEPHEN G. BEAN,
February 2, 1948
Superintendent of Schools.
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REPORT OF HIGH SCHOOL PRINCIPAL
January 13, 1948
Mr. Stephen G. Bean. Superintendent of Schools Wilmington, Mass.
Dear Sir:
I submit herewith my annual report on conditions at Wilmington High School for the calendar year of 1947. I shall devote most of this report to the period from the opening of school in September to the beginning of the Christmas vacation on December twenty-third.
When school closed in June Mr. Driscoll was transferred to the principalship of the Daniel T. Buzzell School and the Misses Lynch, Hart, and Daly left the Wilmington schools for one reason or another. The vacancies this created were filled by the election of four young men which now gives us six women and six men on the faculty. This balance of the sexes on the faculty is a situation I have looked to for a number of years and now that it has been achieved I hope that we shall be able to maintain it.
The departure of Mr. Driscoll necessitated the selection of a new coach of boys athletic teams. Our school committee realized that no one man could adequately handle squads of forty to fifty boys, there- fore, it decided to select a head coach and give him two assistants. I believe this policy is very sound for the reason that the beginners will get personal attention and develop more rapidly. With one coach all attention must be given to developing a small group to play in the games while the beginners and smaller boys receive little or no instruction, bcome discouraged and frequently quit the squad.
Mr. Anthony DeTeso was elected headcoach and teacher of social studies. Mr. DeTeso was an outstanding athlete at Winchester High School and Tufts College and is a veteran of World War II. When Mr. DeTeso was released from Military Service he returned to Tufts College to complete work for his Masters Degree and while there served as line-coach of the Tufts College Football Team.
Mr. Ralph Ambrose was elected to teach English and assist Mr. DeTeso in coaching the athlete teams. Mr. Ambrose through his participation in athletics is well qualified to teach the fundamentals of high school sports. In addition Mr. Ambrose is a veteran of the last war.
The third member of our coaching staff is one of our own grad- uates, Mr. Joseph Donovan, Jr., who completed his education at Tufts College where he participated in athletics before interrupting his college work to serve in the Armed Forces during the last World War. Mr. Donovan was captain of football at Wilmington High School when
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Jolinny Grimmell, now coach at Northeastern University, began his coaching career with us. When Mr. Donovan came to me last spring to talk over plans for his future I urged him to consider teaching and to apply for a position in Wilmington High School for I believe that we need young men of Mr. Donovan's character and ability in the public schools of America. I am glad that he decided to follow teach- ing as a career, and that he chose to come to Wilmington High School to teach English and assist with the coaching.
I am pleased that the three members of our coaching staff are strongly desirous of establishing a reputation as teachers rather than as coaches. Too frequently coaches concentrate upon the athletic phase of their work and are indifferent to their responsibility as teachers. I am particularly gratified that all three coaches have such a wholesome way of handling the boys on the athletic squads. I have yet to hear any one of the coaches use profanity or sarcasm when working with the boys. In addition, it is noticeable that when a boy makes a mistake his error is pointed out to him in a patient and kindly manner.
It has been my desire for several years to have the same teacher teach both Latin and French, feeling that this would be preferable to having a Latin-English teacher and French-English teacher. There- fore, when the opportunity came in June the School Committee elected Mr. Leo Rogers, a graduate of Harvard University and a veteran of the last war, to teach those subjects. Mr. Rogers attended a Cana- dian University, for the first two years of his college course, where he received a thorough preparation in French and the Classics.
I sincerely believe that we are fortunate to have these four young men on our faculty. From my observation and association with them I am convinced that they are gentlemen in every sense of the word and that they are or will become successful teachers. The pupils have responded to them in a wholesome manner and the general tone of the school is markedly improved.
While I have devoted considerable space to the new mmebers of the faculty I am not unmindful of the faithful and valuable services of the teachers who have been with us longer. Whatever reputation Wilmington High School may have established has been due largely to the work of the teachers in the College Preparatory and Commer- cial Curriculums. In this connection the school has been fortunate to have retained over the years such excellent teachers as Miss Mar- land, Mr. Kambour, Mrs. Webber and Miss Farello. I am in a posi- tion to know and judge their value to the school through my contacts with the colleges and our own graduates. I do not hesitate to give due credit to them, and sincerely hope that they will continue to work with and for the pupils of Wilmington High School for a long time to
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come. The Misses Greenwood, Emmons, and McCarthy while younger in years of service are rendering valuable service, each in her own way, in the training and education of our pupils.
I have given considerable time this year to guidance and testing work with the pupils in the first three years. I plan to give the Kuder Preference Test to all Freshman; and, will follow up with the Terman- McNemar test of Mental Ability, the Thurston Test of Mental Alert- ness, and The Acorn Non-Verbal Test for Sophomores; then, Boston- University Test Bureau will give a battery of five tests to all Juniors. These tests together with the Metropolitan Tests used in the eighth grade will give us a very complete picture of the abilities of our pupils and serve as a basis for intelligent guidance and advice as to educational and occupational plans for their future.
The recent report of the President's Commission on Higher Edu- cation makes some pertinent observations concerning public educa- tion which I shall quote.
"Education is the foundation of democratic liberties. Without an educated citizenry alert to preserve and extend freedom, it would not. long endure. In a real sense the future of our civilization depends on the direction education takes, not just in the distant future, but in the days immediately ahead. High school education must be im- proved and should be provided for all normal youth. It is urgently important in American education today that the age-old distinction between education for living and education for making a living be discarded. One of the most important instruments for accomplishing the purposes of education outlined in this report is an effective guidance and counseling program."
It is a matter of great regret that Wilmington did not vote to build a new high school. not that we shall not have a new building. but, rather that we shall continue to be unable to provide an education for all normal yonth. I feel very strongly that we owe just as much to the non-academic pupil as we do to the few who enter college or to those who follow a commercial career. These non-academic pupils may be just as alert mentally as those who go on to college, and it is neither fair nor democratie that they should be obliged to drop ont of school due to our failure to meet their needs. We should meet our obligation to those pupils and soon.
May I take this opportunity to express my appreciation for the co-operation I have received from the pupils and teachers, and, for the cordial relations existing between the Principal and Superintendent.
Respectfully,
J. TURNER HOOD, Jr.
Principal.
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REPORT OF SUPERVISOR OF ART
North Wilmington, Mass. January 1, 1948
Mr. Stephen G. Bean, Superintendent of Schools, Wilmington, Mass.
Dear Sir:
I have the honor to submit my third report as Supervisor of Art for the schools of Wilmington.
For many years art in the schools of our country was considered the least of school subjects. It was looked upon as a matter of little consequence, a flourish only for those seeking culture. Today its im- portance is recognized and it is correlated with practically all other school subjects. The children of today receiving an art education will be the citizens of tomorrow who will build a better chair, design lovelier dresses, plan finer homes, rear dream cities and produce all manner of splendid handicraft.
Our high school curriculum afforded two periods weekly to free- hand and mechanical drawing. Student poses, still life, nature work and posters comprised our 1947 art course.
Each grade school was visited once in two weeks, at which time I presented model and creative lessons accompanied by blackboard illustrations. The pupils of these grades were particularly enthus- iastic over seasonal and holiday art lessons, at other times posters, figure and nature illustrations completed their course.
During the spring meeting of the newly-formed Parent-Teachers' Association, all schools presented an art exhibit in Grange Hall. Re- veiving favorable criticism was a group of finger-painted studies rendered by grades one and two of our little "Red School of the West." Much patience on the part of the grade teacher is required in a lesson of this type, as each student is garbed in a coverall with sleeves pulled to shoulder height. Enthusiasm was great among these little artists, so much so that paint often extended to their elbows.
Another favorite section of the exhibit was a display from the Center School. Vases, bowls, serving dishes, cups and saucers were modeled by the children from flour, newspaper and water. These ar- ticles were painted, hand decorated and shellacked before gracing the shelves of Grange Hall.
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&
The fourth grade of the Whitefield School showed a series of portraits of all people connected with their school life. The bus drivers, the janitor, the doctor, the nurse, the teachers, a benefactor, the superintendent and the supervisors, none were neglected, each had his portrait on exhibit. Character and individuality were clearly displayed in the work of these young people.
In conclusion I wish to thank you. Mr. Bean for your continued cooperation throughout 1947.
Respectfully submitted.
EVELYN R. ANDERSEN,
Art Supervisor.
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REPORT OF THE SCHOOL NURSE
January 1, 1948
Mr. Stephen G. Bean,
Superintendent of Schools, Wilmington, Mass.
Dear Sir:
Following is a report of the work done by the school nurse during the year 1947.
Highlights
Pre-school Registration and the completion of plans to serve hot soup at the Whitefield School, and orange juice to all children in grades I through IV. indicate a broadening of the School Health Pro- gralll.
The purpose of registering pre-school children is four-fold. First, the school authorities have some idea of the number and location of children to enter school in the Fall. Second, necessary data for school and health records is obtained, thus saving much time and confusion on the first day of school. Third, a conference with the parents, at this time, paves the way for a good home-school relation- ship, which is so important to the welfare of the child. Fourth, the desired outcome of this conference is, that the child will be taken to his family physician for a physical check-up, that defects will be corrected and vaccination and diphtheria immunization administered. This will contribute much toward making the first year of school a happy, satisfying experience.
It is gratifying to report that of the one hundred and forty-one children who entered school last Fall, ninety-eight were registered last Spring. Twelve were repeaters, and ten were registered a few days before school opened. Seventy-two. or one-half of the total en- rollment, were examined by their family doctor. Our objective, is to have every child entering school, registered and physically fit. Interest and co-operation on the part of parents will do the job.
The Whitefield School was chosen to demonstrate the hot soup program, because it has the largest number of bus pupils, whose school day is necessarily long. Lack of space to prepare food in the school building, has made the planning of. this program diffcult. How- ever, the obstacles have been overcome and we are about ready to begin operation. Adequate kitchen space in the proposed new high school, would simplify this problem and make it possible for all schools to liave at least one hot dish each day.
We are grateful to the P. T. A. for initiating and sponsoring this project, to the Wilmington Community Fund, for providing the neces- sary equipment, and the revolving fund, and to the American Red Cross for the loan of two insulated soup tanks.
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Tuberculosis Prevention
The freshman class of the high school, all teachers and janitors, with one exception, were given a chest X-Ray. This clinic was pre- ceded by health education through movies and a quiz on tuberculosis. Suspicious and contact cases continue to be followed in an effort to prevent the spread of this disease.
Diphtheria Prevention
An increase in the number of cases of diphtheria in 1946 was responsible for a second immunization clinic, in the Fall of that year. It seemed wise, therefore, to have a "booster-dose" clinic in the Spring of 1947. All children under 14 years of age, who had not been in- munized within 2 years, were eligible. Three hundred and fifty-one children received a booster dose. As the flare-up of diphtheria seems to have subsided. our regular clinic will be conducted again next Spring.
Mental Hygiene
Maladjusted children present a definite problem in our schools. Sometimes, with the co-operation of home and school, the cause for maladjustment can be found and removed. These children then de- velop normally and make satisfactory progress. Sometimes, aid is sought at a Child Guidance Clinic, and in still other cases, the solu- tion is found through the clinic, made available by the State, for testing retarded children. In all this, we are striving to meet the individual needs of the child, and to aid in developing his particular needs.
Rheumatic Fever
Rheumatic fever is on the increase. The danger of serious heart involvement. and the long duration of this disease, make proper treat- ment and good care imperative and expensive. The newly instituted. State Rheumatic Fever Program, offers diagnostic clinics and hos- pital care to these youthful sufferers. Two new cases have recently been added to our list of nine. One of these has been hospitalized. and the other is receiving treatment at home.
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