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120 <br /> Report of the School Principal <br /> To: Mr. Clayton E. Campbell, Superintendent, <br /> School Committee and Citizens of the <br /> Town of Mashpee: <br /> The annual report of the Samuel G. Davis School is here- <br /> with submitted by the principal <br /> Enrollment <br /> Enrollment reached its highest peak in December with <br /> a total of 230 pupils registered in grades k-6. This figure is <br /> { 9% more than has been registered at any one time. Interest- <br /> Ing is the fact that this increase has come with the persistant <br /> rumor that Otis Air Force Base is, "phasing out." School <br /> population increased in the New Seabury-Popponesset area <br /> from 11% in 1969 to 18% in. 1970. Seconsett Island pupils <br /> grew by 496 from less than 1,7 in the same period. The num- <br /> ber of children from Lakeside and Otis Trailer Parks, which <br /> are predominantly federally connected children, dropped in <br /> population from thirty eight percent to twenty two percent. <br /> These figures are significant. They show a trend that our <br /> school enrollment is growing. It is not only affected by the <br /> activities at Otis Air Force Base but is indicative of steady <br /> growth in all areas of our community. <br /> Curriculum Changes <br /> We have tried for five years a nongraded departmental- <br /> ized <br /> r reading and arithmetic program in <br /> grades four to six. <br /> We feel at this time after careful evaluation that it has been <br /> successful. This year in the same grades we have added to <br /> this program, language arts which includes the mechanics of <br /> English, Writing, Spelling, and Creative Writing, especially <br /> in the upper groups. <br /> By the time children reach the fourth grade in most <br /> schools, a teacher has children whose reading ability ranges <br /> from second grade level, to as high as the eighth. This is true <br /> in arithmetic and language arts. Thus the teacher is faced <br /> with the problem of administering instruction to a widely <br /> diversified group. There is not just enough time in the school <br /> day for the best teacher to help .all who need help. In order <br /> to improve arithmetic and reading in the middle grades of <br /> our school we have initiated: <br />