1972-Annual Town Report - Laserfiche WebLink

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113 therapy, for tutorial work and for the development in time of an arts and media center. The Nurse's Office has been refurbished and refurnished. Necessary repairs to the roof and other parts of the building are also being made to assure that this facility will be in good physical condition throughout. To the end that our schools may also grow in both the quality and quantity of education that is offered and not in size only, let me in the remainder of this report share some basic concerns with all of Mashpee's citizens. First: I believe that the traditional self-contained classroom approach to education can no longer meet the educational needs of our society. Every child learns in different ways and at different rates. The individual needs of children differ too. So, while it is obviously necessary to provide all children with certain basic skills such as reading, writing, and arithmetic, — and while every child needs also to learn to relate to, work in, and play with groups of children, — the learning experience itself, together with the cur- riculum, needs to be as individualized as possible. To achieve this goal the traditional concept of grades must be changed as well, because this familiar structure is simply too rigid and constricting to allow for the broad spectrum of individual needs and differences. Mashpee's school administrators and teachers seem to be com- mitted with me to these methods of individualized, continuous progress education. Both immediate and longer range objectives are being formulated already and will be presented for public study and discussion soon. Second: Regionalization with Falmouth is a needed and im- portant step, of value to both Falmouth and Mashpee. If the voters of the two communities approve the Regionalization Charter, as I hope they will, there should result both a substantial improve- ment in the quality of education offered to Mashpee pupils at the middle and high school levels, and considerably more value for dollars expended by both towns. The Regionalization Committee deserves sincere public appreciation and close attention to its pro- posals. Third: Communication between citizens and school depart- ment officials is very essential in this period of rapid growth and change. While some "growing pains" may be inevitable, the prob- lems created by a lack of communication can surely be avoided. To assure this the quarterly newsletter known as "The Mashpee