Castle Heights Military Academy - Yearbook (Lebanon, TN)

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INTERIOR OF RUTHERFORD PARKS LIBRARY attention during the recitation period. If the boy has had trouble with his lesson during the class period in the morning, he is subject to being called back in the afternoon for special work with his instructor. In this manner the instructor does not permit a boy to pass over material which he does not understand without employ- ing all possible means of helping him master it. On Saturday morning there is also a special period which is devoted to help for pupils who are having academic difficulty. Each evening there is a supervised study period during which the instructional staff is available for private help. Academic Placement. Castle Heights will put your boy where he belongs and where he will do the best work of which he is capable. Wherever possible, the cadet will be classified according to his previous achievement and his record on standardized achievement and aptitude tests. lf, after a trial in advanced courses, it is evident that a boy has failed to master fundamentals in the pre- vious school, he will be required to repeat subjects in which his deficiency is so great that he cannot satisfactorily carry the advanced work. The final decisions in granting previous credit in such cases will be determined by the results of nationally standardized tests covering the ma- terials of the course in question. There will be no attempt to hasten a boyls graduation to suit an ambitious parent or to delay his graduation to indulge a lazy boy. His work is checked daily and weekly, and a written report from the Headmaster goes to the patent semi-monthly. The matter of making the system fit the boy rather than the boy fit the system is up for continuous study, conference, and decision. There are many factors in starting a boy toward suc- cess with his books, which are not always taken into consideration by the parent. One of these is the per- sonality of the boy's roommate. Another matter is the various lengths of time it takes different boys to do the same amount of work. Then, again, some boys have difficulty with some subjects but not with others. Not all boys are equally ambitious and studious. All boys are not equally intelligent. We are constantly working and studying to meet these problems in the most modern,

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W,-' sag I ROOMMATES SOLVE DART THREE. Aims. The aim of the Scholastic Department of Castle Heights Military Academy is not only to prepare a boy for college but to train him in those habits of study, industry, and perseverance which will enable him to remain in college after he has entered. Our work in the classroom is aimed not only to teach subject-matter acceptably but to develop character, as wellg for no boy succeeds in college without a firm foundation in both. We accept at Castle Heights only those boys who give promise of meeting our moral, intellectual and physical standards. Age. The minimum age requirement for a boy to enter Castle Heights is seven, The Junior School em- braces the grades from the first through the eighth. Four years of high school work are offered in the Senior School with Senior R.0.T.C. training, which is of great advantage to the boy who is anxious to secure military training leading to his commission. While our four-year course, plus a post-graduate year, A KNOTTY PROBLEM g . gcAo!a.4lfc is admirably adapted to give the boy his secondary school education in conjunction with the building of a sound body and the development of character, there is no question but that even a single year here is of great advantage. We should, of course, prefer to enroll all our students in their freshman year and carry them through to graduation, but the many one, two and three- year students who have profited to such a great extent by what Castle Heights has offered in the past, indicate the desirability of sending your boy here, even for a brief course. Personal Attention. The student at Castle Heights really gets personal attention. It is probably generally known that hundreds of boys in the public school sys- tems are willing to study, and do study, but fail to make passing grades. It is possible that lack of proper class- ihcation originally, and personal attention and re- classification later, is the real cause of their trouble. At Castle Heights the classes are kept small in order that each pupil may receive the maximum of personal

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successful way, and our efforts have met with marked success in the great majority of instances. Until the remedy is found, special attention is given the attitude and work of every cadet who is not passing in his subjects. The boy is encouraged in the classroom and during the study hour. The instructors are patient and persistent. They interview boys outside of study hours, explain matters to them, and help them. The boy who asks for extra assistance receives it. If the boy, for any reason, does not ask for help he needs, this help is given of the teacher's own volition during certain as- signed hours whenever the boy fails in his work. Boys Taught How to Study. Practically every good preparatory school devotes considerable attention to teaching boys bow to study but it is our honest belief that we obtain more than the usual degree of success by emphasizing the most modern methods. We actually teach boys how to study. The basis of our work is a pamphlet written by the Headmaster of Castle Heights entitled Learning How to Study. This text embodies the most modern methods of learning how to study, how to concentrate, and how to memorize. An earnest effort is made to familiarize every student with these methods and to see that he applies them in his daily study. Through these methods of study and through our carefully supervised evening study period of two hours and a half, we feel that we establish in a boy habits of study which lead to good marks in his work with us and later success in college. Amount of Work Required. All cadets are re- quired to take four regular subjects, not including spell- ing and military science, unless special authority to do otherwise is granted by the Headmaster. No boy will be permitted to carry five subjects unless he has made a B average during the preceding semester, nor will a cadet be granted a Castle Heights diploma who does not earn four full credits during his senior year regardless of how many credits he may have previously earned. The Academy encourages parents to confer with the Headmaster concerning the choice of course of study for the boy and any special arrangements it might be to his advantage to have made. However, after a boy has been assigned to a certain subject, the Academy reserves the right to say whether or not he will continue in the course or he allowed to drop it. The reason for this rule probably needs no explanation. The academic day is so planned as to get the best out of the boy. All classes are held before lunch when his YOUNG SCIENTISTSIN THE MAKING