Castle Heights Military Academy - Yearbook (Lebanon, TN)

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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, 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 how 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 bow to study. Every cadet owns and uses as a text 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 YOUNG SCIENTISTSIN THE MAKING L

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,va . pqi!,fi::..a ARY INTERIOR OF RUTHERFORD PARKS LIBR At Castle Heights the classes are kept small in order that each pupil may receive the maximum of personal 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 three-hour period which is devoted to help for pupils who are having academic difliculty. 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 in accordance with his achieve- ment record which is secured from his former school. If, after a trial in advanced courses, it is evident that a i241 boy has failed to master fundamentals in the previous 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 boy's 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 parent 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

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VIEWING N ATURE'S MARVELS 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 be 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 mentality is at its best, keen and alert. A class period is fifty-five minutes in length-forty minutes being given to recitation and fifteen minutes to supervised study and explanation of the next day's assignment. l26l Examinations. Examinations are held twice each year, just before the close of the fall and spring terms. The passing mark is 707g This grade is computed on a basis of two-thirds for daily grades and one-third for examination. No examination grade below 50, however, will be averaged with the daily grades. Monthly tests are given to every boy and in most classes weekly tests are likewise given. Thus we have a constant means of checking up on a boy's work and a fair basis of deciding upon his grade. Through our carefully planned system of review a stu- dent does not find these tests irksome, and their value from the teaching standpoint can scarcely be over emphasized. In case of a failure a cadet, within reasonable limita- tions, has the privilege of re-examination. Re-examina- tions are given only to a cadet who has done the prescribed amount of additional study. Rating System. Castle Heights believes that a boy lives his life just as completely during his school days as he ever will in his adulthood, and for that reason we employ a rating system that is designed to make life in school parallel as nearly as possible later experiences. Duty, obligations, rights, and privileges are the keynotes. In life a person cannot be judged solely by one ability or achievement, therefore in the Academy the cadets are rated not only by their academic achievement but also by all other phases of their cadet life. The chief function of the rating system is to reward a boy who does well in the various activities which make up a well-rounded cadet life by permitting him to earn special privileges by his achievements rather than to punish him when he neglects to do what the school expects of him. Ratings are based on the number of points a student receives out of a possible total of one hundred which are distributed as follows: academic 40, deportment 20, military 15, attendance 15, and activities 10. Activities include athletics, work on the school paper, on the debating team, in the glee club, and in other worth- while extra curricular activities. Bonus points may be earned by boys who receive no demerits or who do special work in activities or any other meritorious school enterprises above and beyond what the school requires of him. These bonus points are added to the general standing of a boy which determines his rating. Cadets are rated as A, B, C, D, or E students according to the number of points they have earned. These ratings are run every two weeks, and for each class rating the cadet receives a certain number of rating points. The higher ratings automatically give the boy