believe it will be, as every such building should, permanently suggestive of improvements in school architecture to those who shall resort there. Last spring Mr. Wm. H. Wells, then principal of the Westfield School, having been invited to superintend the schools in Chicago, tendered his resignation to the Board. This was accepted, but with regret, as Mr. Wells was eminently fitted for the place. After extensive inquiry the Board appointed as successor to Mr. Wells, Mr. John W. Dickinson, who had for some years been an assistant in the school, and who, they think, will fully sustain its previous reputation. The following table, together with the reports of the Committees appended, will fully show the condition of these schools the past year. The teachers educated in them are in constant and increasing demand, and they are gradually, but surely, elevating the standard of teaching in the State. During the year the Secretary has held, under the direction of the Board, ten Teachers' Institutes, at an expense of $350 each, making an aggregate of $3,500. For a particular account of these we refer to the Report of the Secretary. In the judgment of the Board this is a judicious expenditure of money. Of the State Scholarships thirty-six are now filled, and the remaining twelve will be as soon as the law will allow. Sufficient time has not yet elapsed for the formation of a practical judgment on this part of the system. This has been The income of the Todd Fund is about $700. expended on all the schools to supply wants and meet expenses not otherwise provided for. The account of the Treasurer will show how this money has been expended. It is through their Secretary that the influence of the Board. must be chiefly felt. He consults with the Board, appoints and superintends Teachers' Institutes, visits schools, meets the people in public lectures and familiar discussions, and collects and arranges facts. His whole time and energy are given to sustain and improve the system of Education, and to his Report the Board must refer as giving a detailed account of what he does, and of the condition of the schools throughout the Commonwealth. Herewith will be submitted the first Annual Report of the present Secretary, and it cannot be necessary that the Board should ask for it special attention. It is now more than a year since he entered upon his duties under circumstances which promised much for the cause in which he is engaged. He had filled the highest office in the State. In that he had been, ex officio, a member of the Board of Education, and was familiar not only with the details of its operations, but with the sentiments and wants of the people. Subsequently he was appointed a member of the Board, and was acting earnestly and efficiently in that capacity when he accepted his present office. In securing his services the Board felt that they had cause to congratulate themselves and the Commonwealth on the prospect of an economical, efficient, and eminently practical administration of the vital department of education; and thus far their anticipations have not been disappointed. Aided by the counsels of the Board, by the co-operation of the legislature, and by the cordial sympathy of the whole people, we trust he will be able to carry on to perfection what has been so well begun, and that in the department of education, and as the mother of men, Massachusetts will retain in the future the distinguished position which she has held in the past. HENRY J. GARDNER. HENRY W. BENCHLEY. EDWARD OTHEMAN. ISAAC DAVIS. HOSEA BALLOU, 2d. ALONZO H. QUINT. HENRY WHEATLAND. ARIEL PARISH. C. C. FELTON. Report of the Bridgewater State Normal School. The present teachers of this school are Mr. Marshal Conant, principal, Messrs. Leander A. Darling and Benjamin F. Clarke, assistants. During the present term Mr. Edwin C. Hewitt resigned his place as Assistant Teacher, having been invited to take charge of the First Grammar School in the city of Worcester. He was a faithful and successful teacher, and aimed at improved qualifications for his work. He was appointed January 5, 1853, and afterwards became first assistant when Mr. Albert G. Boyden was called to Salem. In the case of Mr. Hewitt, as in the case of others employed in this school, much larger compensation offered elsewhere, and in some respects a wider sphere of labor, induced his resignation and removal. It is very desirable that sufficient encouragement should be offered in the form of salary to secure the best talent in the place of assistants in the Normal Schools. A former pupil of this school, Mr. Benjamin F. Clarke, who, at the time when Mr. Hewitt resigned, was principal of the Hacker Grammar School in the city of Salem, was invited to become an assistant here. He accepted the invitation, and entered upon his duties the first of the present month. Thirty-one pupils have graduated during the year past, viz.: eight males and twenty-three females. All these are now teaching or have taught during the past season, except three females. Two of these failed in health, and one in voice. The number of graduates is small compared with the whole number of pupils, because no regular graduation under the present system of terms has taken place. The average wages now obtained by graduates are for males $45 per month; for females, $5.50 per week. This is an advance on the last year's report, of $5 per month for males, and half a dollar per week for females. The whole number of pupils connected with the school by terms since the last Annual Report, is as follows: 47th term, 30 males, 50 females, 48th 66 22 66 59 66 80 81 7 graduates returned for study this term, to be added, 7 Not reckoned in this number are seven pupils who left during the terms from various causes. The class which entered March 19th, 1856, the commencement of the 47th term, numbered 35-7 males, 28 females. 10 of this class had been engaged in teaching. The Counties and Towns furnishing this class are as follows: Plymouth County, 12.-Plymouth, 7; West Bridgewater, 1; Scituate, 1; Hingham, 1; Hanson, 1; Rochester. 1. Dukes County, 3.-West Tisbury, 3. Nantucket County, 2.-Nantucket, 2. Bristol County, 2.-Norton, 1; Somerset, 1. Norfolk County, 8.-Dedham, 1; Dorchester, 1; Braintree, 1; Canton, 1; Medfield, 1; Stoughton, 1; Weymouth, 2. Middlesex County, 4.—Lowell, 1; Malden, 1; Woburn, 2. Essex County, 3.-Lawrence, 1; Danvers, 2. The class which entered the third Wednesday of September last, being the commencement of the present term, numbered 23-5 males and 18 females. The Counties and Towns represented by this class are as follows: Plymouth County, 3.-Bridgewater, 2; Middleborough, 1. Bristol County, 7.-Taunton,,1; Attleborough, 1; Somerset, 1; Norton, 2; Easton, 1; Berkley, 1. |