USA > Rhode Island > Annual report of the Board of Education : together with the Annual report of the Commissioner of Public Schools of Rhode Island, 1875 > Part 10
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So far as they have been introduced, they give the best of satisfaction to scholars, teachers and parents, and have already been adopted by a large portion of the towns in the State, and are being rapidly introduced into the largest and best schools of the cities and towns of the country. -ELISHA F. WATSON, Superintendent.
SMITHFIELD .- Text Books Adopted by the Committee .- Monroe's New Series of Readers ; Sargent's Speller ; Webster's and Worcester's Dic- tionaries : Greene's Grammars ; Quackenbos' Series of Mathematics ; Cornell's New Series of Geographies ; Quackenbos' History of the Uni- ted States ; Payson, Dunton & Scribner's, and Potter & Hammond's Series of Writing Books.
A desire on the part of teachers and pupils to have a change of read- ers, and from the fact that much of the matter in Hillard's series has become familiar with many of the scholars, the committee finally con- cluded to adopt Monroe's series to the fifth number. These have been introduced at wholesale price .- M. W. BURLINGAME, Supt.
WARREN .- In the North and East districts, a change has been made in the readers and spellers, to conform to those used in the village, and when an additional change is made in the arithmetics, there will be uni- formity in all the text books used in the schools of the town .- S. K. DEXTER, Supt.
WEST GREENWICH .- Some changes of text books have been talked of during the past year. Being somewhat averse to frequent changes of text books, I do not think that any sweeping change would be advisa- ble. Perhaps the substitution of Monroe's readers for those now in use would be an improvement .- CHIAS. F. CARPENTER, Supt.
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CONDITION OF THE SCHOOLS.
BARRINGTON .- Improvement .-- How can the condition of our schools be improved is always an open question, and one of the most important that can invite consideration. Nor is it easy to give this question a brief and explicit answer. That improvement is possible in even the best schools in any community, perhaps no one would presume to deny ; accurately to define the means by which this improvement can be se- cured, in many instances demands a high order of wisdom. It is easy to say that correct views of the nature and objects of education, on the part of the public, would prove an efficient means of improvement. If it could be clearly understood that education, in its best sense, consists in developing habits of correct thought and action, it would conduce essen- tially to simplicity and unity of effort on the part of teachers and pa- rents. and could not fail to secure increasingly valuable results. This would tend to do away with much misconception in regard to what is of practical value, by giving prominence to the fact that whatever tends to develop habits of clear, patient, accurate thinking, of industrious, pains- taking application, and of honorable and virtuous conduct, is, in the very highest sense, practical, and will serve as the very best preparation for the duties of every station and pursuit in life. The number of pages read, or the number of lessons recited, is not necessarily the test of pro- gress. What useful power has the pupil acquired or strengthened, is a question of vastly greater importance than the number of pages or of sub- jects he has surveyed, or even the number of facts which he has mastered. To teach the pupil to think for himself, and to express his thoughts with propriety, clearness and force, is to secure for him the highest intellect- ual benefit ; to induce in him habits of integrity and virtuous self-govern- ment, is the highest object to be gained by the discipline of the school and the home. Whenever and wherever these two objects shall be wisely attained and well, then and there will be witnessed the greatest and most important improvement in our system and modes for the in- struction of the young .- I. F. CADY, Supt.
CHARLESTOWN .-- During the year, I have made over thirty visits to the schools. They have exhibited a fair degree of improvement, though irregular attendance and a frequent change of teachers have prevented the best success. The discipline of the several schools for this year has been ordinary .- WM. F. TUCKER, Supt.
COVENTRY .- In reviewing the work of the schools the past year, we see in many of them much to commend. Good order being of the first importance, we have insisted that it must be observed, and the result is that our schools have been better in every respect. Especially among the schools taught by our female teachers this has been the case .- H. L. SPENCER, Clerk of School Com.
CRANSTON .- I am happy to say that the schools under our care have been unusually successful during the year just closed. How far this pros-
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SCHOOL COMMISSIONER'S REPORT.
perity is owing to the careful attention bestowed upon them by the Com- mittee and Superintendent, it would be out of place for me to decide.
No one who visits our various schools now in session. and compares them with the schools of former years, can fail to observe a decided im- provement. It is certainly gratifying to perceive this improvement, let the responsibility for it rest on whom it may .- D. G. ANDERSON, Supt.
CUMBERLAND .- It is believed that the condition of our schools during the year just closed compares favorably with that of any previous year. Most of the districts have been served by experienced and competent teachers, and in such districts the people are satisfied with the progress made. A few instances only of just complaint have been known to the Superintendent. In these instances, the partial failure has been in the direction of proper discipline, and has been mostly the result of inexpe- rience. In a single district, well-deserving teachers have been subjected to unkind and unjust treatment. With slight exceptions, however, the trustees and parents have worked in harmony with the policy of the Committee and the wishes of the Superintendent .-- C. W. BURNHAM, Supt.
EAST GREENWICH .- The Superintendent believes that some advance- ment has been made during the past year ; that the schools, taken to- gether, have improved in grade and character, and, in some districts, more interest is manifested by parents in the Public School .- D. C. KENYON, Supt.
EAST PROVIDENCE .- We would congratulate you upon the fact that your schools are, in all respects, in a better condition than ever before. Changes of teachers are becoming less frequent, good order prevails in all the schools, the best methods of teaching are employed, and a gene- ral interest is manifested by teachers, parents and pupils .- AHAZ BAS- SETT, Supt.
EXETER .- It gives me pleasure in announcing to you that the majority of our schools during the past year, have enjoyed rather more than usual success. This is a great encouragement, especially taking into conside- ration the small amount of money placed at our disposal, upon which we have almost entirely to rely for the maintenance of our schools.
Having decreased one hundred and seventy-nine in child population during the decade from 1860 to 1870, has very materially affected our ap- propriation from the State. Some of our townsmen complain that their children do not make as much advancement as desirable, and that our schools are not, in many respects, what they should be. While I ac- knowledge there is some truth in these criticisms on the management of our schools, I ask, who is to blame ?
Our average length of school year is only about twenty-five and two- thirds weeks, and average salaries of teachers per month only about thirty-two dollars and a half. Can we expect, with so short a school - year, and with no better salaries than we offer to teachers, to favorably compare with other towns that have an average school year of forty weeks, and experienced teachers to preside over their schools, who are professional teachers and are paid sufficiently well to make teaching a profession ?- WILLET H. ARNOLD, Supt.
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EXTRACTS FROM SCHOOL REPORTS.
FOSTER .- The schools of the town generally have done very well the past year. The teachers, with few exceptions, have labored faithfully, and with a good degree of success .- GEO. S. TILLINGHAST, Supt.
HOPKINTON .- The schools, as a whole, have made progress .- S. S. GRISWOLD, Supt.
JAMESTOWN .- In regard to the office of Superintendent, we would like to have it clearly understood that the town leaves the appointment to the Committee, (and the law obliges them to appoint it, if the town fails to elect,) fixes no salary, nor provides any way by which he is to be com- pensated for his labors ; consequently he does not hesitate to say, that as far as that officer is concerned, his duties have been very much neglected. How much the failure in our schools to what we expect of them is at- tributable to this we do not know, but of one thing we are certain,-the schools of this town, considering the amount of money expended to carry them on, are not what they ought to be. Already parents have commenced to send their children to the schools in Newport, now that communication has been made easy, and others will follow unless we endeavor to improve our own schools .- ELIJAH ANTHONY, Chairman and Supt.
JOHNSTON .- In regard to our day schools, I have only words of com- mendation. I believe each and every one has conscientiously and earn- estly tried to do his duty. Each has fully complied, so far as I have been able to learn, with the rules and regulations adopted by this Board. Their houses and surroundings are kept neat and clean, and every expe- dient, as far as known to the craft, has been applied to keep up a regular attendance, and so little complaint has been made by parents and tax- payers in the different districts, that I think very general satisfaction has been given by those under whose care our children have been placed.
Progress in the different schools has been satisfactory, and when the scholars have been inclined to receive them, there have been extra ad- vantages offered by placing at their disposal the higher studies. I be- lieve our teachers have each earnestly endeavored to promote the welfare of each individual scholar, and, as far as possible, by personal observa- tion and supervision, I have seconded their efforts. I base the supposi- tion that they have succeeded, upon the fact that very few complaints from parents and guardians have reached my ears.
I find by my reports that our Fall term schools are most largely at- tended. Winter ranks next, Spring next, the Summer term being the smallest, all of which may be explained by local causes .- W. A. PHIL- LIPS. Supt.
LINCOLN .- From a calm review of the past year, we have great rea- sons for thankfulness. The teachers deserve the highest regards of the Committee and citizens for the faithful performance of their several duties. We believe they have done their work conscientiously and well, and in consequence our schools have made rapid progress, and the seeds have been sown which will spring up into a rich and glorious harvest hereafter. The future is full of hope and encouragement. At no period in their history have our schools been more prosperous, or in a condition, with the few exceptions we have noticed in our Report, so favorable for fulfilling their destiny .- School. Committee.
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SCHOOL COMMISSIONER'S REPORT.
NEWPORT .- The condition of our schools is steadily improving. This is conceded by persons who measure by periods and whose discrimina- tion is from the standpoint of knowledge of the past and present, and who are familiar with schools of other places. We are able to defend our system and its progress for the better, in proportion as we are aided by the influence of the homes represented .- THOS. COGGESHALL, Chair- man.
The schools throughout all the grades, showed and are showing the faithfulness and fidelity of our corps of teachers. I have watched with interest the workings of the various departments during the past year, and in many cases have I noticed instances of self-denial and of interest manitested, rarely found in cities where pecuniary incentives to labor are much greater than in Newport The earnestness of the scholars, the pleasure shown at meeting, testify to the faithfulness and zeal of the teacher .- T. H. CLARKE, Supt.
NEW SHOREHAM .- Improvement in education never has stood in so favorable a light with the people as at the present. A religious wave has passed over the island and the people are changed. Years past, intoxicating liquors have been sold in small quantities. It has been borne away from the island, with all of its bancful influences, and we hope to the shade of oblivion. This has been done by no coercive power of the authorities of the town, but by religious influence and popular sentiment ; therefore having a religious and right thinking community, they will duly appreciate all that is good, and strive to elevate the rising generation by having good school houses, schools and teachers, for one of the elements of Christianity is liberality.
The interested feelings manifested by all of our citizens on the sub- ject of education are tokens that our schools are advancing. The Hon. Nicholas Ball and Darius B. Dodge do much to advance the cause of education on this island. In fact, many others manifest the same noble spirit. We rationally conclude that our schools will be elevated to a higher sphere of improvement .- GILES HI. PEABODY, Supt.
NORTH KINGSTOWN .- Schools have been kept in each of the fifteen districts where school houses are provided. In district No. 8, (Swamp- town. ) no school house has existed the past twelve years. Consequently no school has been kept in that district. The tax-payers and residents of the districts have been frequently appealed to, and earnestly advised to rebuild their school house, so long since destroyed by fire. They have steadily refused to rebuild, and a proposition is now before the Commit- tee to annex that district to the adjoining districts ; and unless some proper effort on the part of the residents of the district is put forth to provide a school house for the district as now established, said district No. 8 will, doubtless, be annexed to the adjoining districts .- School Committee.
In referring to the condition of the Public Schools, in the several dis- tricts, I do not deem it best to speak of them in the way of comparison one with another .- A. B. CHADSEY, Supt.
NORTHI PROVIDENCE .-- The action of the Legislature and the town have crowded upon us changes so hurriedly that I find myself poorly prepared
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to make proposals for the future. The change in town lines throws us into a new manner of support and government of schools, and this most assuredly will require that I do not meddle with propositions for future action, but leave such matters to be managed by our successors as the new order of things may demand.
I do not hesitate to declare that we have passed a year in the school labors which is marked as successful, not alone by the written avowal of a school officer, but by the imprint and influence which the pupils in the town have received in the school-rooms. Impressions have been made which will be felt in the future life, and exhibit themselves in the future character of the children.
Greater care and watchfulness have been used in regard to the culti- vation of their moral and social natures, in connection with the intellect- ual, and the beneficial effects are daily becoming more apparent in the condition of the schools, and in the intercourse of the children.
I do not mean to imply that any new system or theory has been rec- ommended or adopted, but that the teachers have become more assiduous in their endeavors to keep this training in view, and to commingle it with the intellectual, making this more interesting by the connection. Ample opportunities are offered in recitations, and, in fact, in all the interchan- ges of the school room. Many of the teachers have improved these oc- casions in a successful manner .- ANDREW JENCKS, Supt.
NORTH SMITHFIELD .- The school year has been characterized by little beyond the quiet play of the established machinery, attended with the usual results. Yet let no one think lightly of such a work because it is unobtrusive. Some of the mightiest forces of nature are of the same character, unobserved in their onward flow, but in their cessation realized most acutely. So it is with the light, and dew, and rain. A single snow-flake falls gently upon the earth. Who cares for it? But a con- tinued succession of them blocks up the wheels of travel, and to over- come them requires the most prodigious efforts of man. In our schools, during a single year there may have been gathered material and engen- dered force enough, if concentrated into one effort, to build a city. If we may not measure educational efforts by the cubic yard, or gange the forces of the mind by the standard of muscle, who will dare disparage them or say that the present solicitude and ontlay in their behalf is dis- proportionate to their importance .- CALVIN R. FITTS, Supt.
PAWTUCKET .- Our Schools .- During the past year I have made one hundred and eighty-three school visits. I do not deem it wise or proper to compare the work of one teacher with that of another. Neither shall I mention any particular school wherein marked excellence in any branch or branches has been attained, but will simply say, that in gene- ral, the schools confided to my care remain in a satisfactory condition. It must not be supposed from this that our schools have as yet arrived to that point where there is no longer room for improvement, but it may be affirmed with confidence that they compare favorably with those of other cities and towns.
A good degree of order has generally prevailed. In some of our schools, the degree attained has been higher than in others. This differ- euce depends almost entirely, although not wholly, upon the teacher.
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SCHOOL COMMISSIONER'S REPORT.
The good order and deportment of our schools have always been grat- ifying features. The cases of discipline arising in our schools which have been considered of sufficient importance to be brought before the Committee, have been very few.
In passing from the above topic, I would only say, that good order in the school room is of the first importance, and should be secured by the teacher before anything else is attempted ; for I have never seen a good school wherein this object has not been attained .- PHANUEL E. BISHOP, Supt.
PROVIDENCE .- The grammar schools are in excellent condition. There are at present in the primary schools, forty-six pupils to each teacher. It would be better for all could this number be reduced to at most thirty. An experienced teacher is too valuable a public officer to be lightly dis- missed, especially when affection towards the school accompanies success as an instructor.
The primary and intermediate schools contain about six thousand pupils. But two teachers of sewing are now employed to give them social instruction, and this number is plainly not sufficient .- School Committee.
The condition of our schools may, as a whole, be regarded as quite . satisfactory, when we consider the obstacles the teachers have to en- counter in the prosecution of their work. Very many of them are in such a crowded state that it is utterly impossible to teach successfully or satisfactorily. Most of the scholars in the intermediate schools in the First and Ninth Wards cannot be promoted to the Grammar Schools for the want of sufficient accommodations. These must . either remain where they are, pursuing their studies under great disadvantages, or else be transferred to some hired room, if one can possibly be obtained. In either case, injustice is done to such pupils.
The efficiency of our High School, in particular, will be very much impaired, unless measures are promptly taken to furnish a building that shall meet its pressing necessities.
There has been no important change in the' condition of our schools the past term. The results of the examination of the various grades have been in most cases highly satisfactory: The applications to the High School are so numerous and the requirements to enter college have been so much increased, that an additional male teacher is absolutely necessary, in order to maintain the present efficiency and thoroughness of our High School .- DANIEL LEACH, Supt.
RICHMOND .- We are pleased to be able to state that the schools for the past year have been unusually successful, and we return our sincere thanks to teachers and scholars for having done their duty, and hope they may still continue to merit praise. The average shows a large in- crease over last year, which leads us to believe that parents are taking more interest in the schools. Steady attendance is desirable .- ANDREW B. MOORE, Chairman.
Each district has complied with the law in the length of term, having
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kept at least six months school. The spring and summer terms were generally very successful, but the winter terms in some districts have been very much disarranged by reason of sickness on the part of both pupil and teacher, and the extremely cold and stormy weather of the winter months. The consequent result in many of our schools is a small average and little improvement in comparison to what it might have been had the attendance been more regular, but these seem to be una- voidable casualties, and, considering the facts above stated, we feel com- pelled to say that, as a whole, the schools for the past year have done exceedingly well.
We still urge a well-regulated system for our schools. Your attention has more than once been called to the necessity of a regular system for our schools. Why not have a system? Why not commence your schools at a stated time, and close them the same? Your plea has been : " Let the trustees do this ;" but this they will never do. In many cases, trus- tees have but little interest, and whenever it is convenient to call a school meeting or hire a teacher, they will do so. If you, as the School Committee of the town, would establish the basis by saying that all the schools of the town will commence on the first Monday in May, and hold so many weeks, then a vacation of so many weeks, and when the term of vacation has expired all the schools will commence on the same day, &c., through the year, then the attention of trustees would be called to the fact and they would bestir themselves accordingly. Try it and see. We think it would be a step to the higher advancement of our schools .- GILBERT TILLINGHAST, Supt.
SCITUATE .- We congratulate the citizens of the town in view of the the success atrained .- School Committee.
As a whole, the school year has been a successful one. Failures on the part of teachers, or anything approximating thereto, have been but few. On the other hand, the progress made has been most gratifying .- J. M. BREWSTER, Supt.
SOUTH KINGSTOWN .- We believe the schools of the town to be in a much better condition than in years past. A better corps of teachers has been employed, who are quite generally interested in their work, striving to better fit and qualify themselves for their duties. Trustees and parents are taking more interest in the education of their children, and scholars have generally made a very decided advancement. Dis- tricts, too, have appropriated more money for the improving of school houses, &c., and for lengthening ont the school terms, than for many years past.
Be it said to the praise of Divine Grace, that no mortal sickness has come nigh our schools, teachers, or school authorities, during term time. Nor has any of the diseases incident to childhood, in any instant, mate- rially interrupted the progress of our schools .- ELISHA F. WATSON, Supt.
SMITHFIELD .- Upon the whole, we think the schools in Smithfield will compare favorably with the schools in other towns adjoining. But we are of the opinion that four terms of nine weeks each, are better than three terms of twelve weeks each, as the teachers have more space for
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relaxation, and the parents more time to prepare their children for prompt and uniform attendance throughout the approaching term.
Several of the schools in town are very good, none very poor. To have them of the first class, good school houses, proper teachers, with pleasant yards and other appendages, are very essential. These, with teachers who are educated and love their work, will be likely to gain this desirable end .- M. W. BURLINGAME, Supt.
TIVERTON .- The Committee have been gratified by the intellectual quickening and progress, and the healthful moral influence apparent in some of our schools ; while in others there has been partial failure, owing to the lack of a wise and practical co-operation of parents with teachers, or the difficulty of obtaining teachers so well qualified for their work as they should be .- School Committee.
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