Castle Heights Military Academy - Yearbook (Lebanon, TN)

Page 30 text:

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

Page 29 text:

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

Page 31 text:

certain privileges, and he may exchange rating points for furloughs and other privileges he may desire. Reports. The semi-monthly report to parents is part of our careful system for continuous check-up on a boy's scholastic work, physical condition and standing as to conduct. This permits parents to know exactly how their sons are standing from month to month. It indicates the boy's attitude and his progress toward the ultimate success the parent wishes for him. Parents are, therefore, urged to study these reports carefully and to help their sons by appropriate commendation or reproof. We find it occasionally necessary to ask that criticism from the parent, involving some part of the boy? pro- gram of instruction or other matters concerning which the parent may not have first information, come to the Academy rather than to the boy. The feeling on the part of the student that parents and school are co- operating to help him is the best basis for loyalty to both on his part. The report card is complete and easily understood. Besides the grade given in each academic subject, the standing of the boy in his class is given in order that the parent may know just how his boy's achievement compares with that of his classmates. The boy who has the highest academic average is counted as number one in the class. The card also shows the rating of the boy in his complete school life. At the end of each academic month a grade is given in military science and tactics, and demerits received for misconduct are entered. The boy's weight is also indicated. Graduation Requirements. The Castle Heights diploma represents the completion of sixteen units of high school work and is granted at the end of the Senior year. No cadet will be permitted to carry five subjects who has not maintained an average of 80 the previous year. Our curriculum covers the units required for entrance by the best colleges and universities and our graduates are, therefore, prepared for college in the fullest sense of the word. Most colleges require fifteen units for unconditional entrance, specifying certain ones as necessary and others as elective. Our requirements call for sixteen units of which we have made compulsory those specified by colleges as being necessary, but the cadet may make up the remainder from a list of electives. Because of the importance of mathematics as a pre- requisite to successful college work, all cadets who grad- uate from Castle Heights are required to present two full years of credit in algebra. If this credit has been I271 earned prior to entrance to Castle Heights, the cadet must take a special one-half-year course in that subject during his senior year. Cadets who have taken their second year of algebra in this school but whose grade in the subject was below 85 are also required to take the course. This regulation does not apply to those who are working toward the business diploma which does not admit to college. This course is given during the last half of the senior year, and those who take it are granted one-half credit for the work. The final passing grade for the course is 70. The addition of this course does not violate the five-subject rule mentioned elsewhere in the catalog. The Castle Heights diploma represents what the reputable university demands for entrance, and its standard is as high as that of the best preparatory schools. To receive rating as a Senior at Castle Heights a student must have met the following requirements: 1. He must have earned not less than eleven full units of credit before beginning his Senior year. 2. These units of credit must be such as will meet the Castle Heights requirements for graduation at the com- pletion of the Senior year. 3. Castle Heights will accept from the candidate for a diploma not more than twelve units of credit earned at other schools. 4. One full year's scholastic work must be done at the Academy and four full units of credit earned here. Our school offers five different courses of study on the high school level. The cadet should select the one which will best prepare him for the work which he expects to do after his graduation. The requirements in these five courses are given on page 32. Our school will accept by transcript from other ac- credited schools any credits for courses which are oHered here and in addition will accept any other courses which are accepted by the College Entrance Examination Board. Not more than two units of vocational or com- mercial subjects will be accepted as electives for any of the courses of study offered. The courses in the field of Business Administration and in the Junior College department which are given in addition to the regular high school subjects are listed on pages 33 through 39. All colleges and universities which admit on cer- tificates in lieu of entrance examinations accept the di- ploma of Castle Heights. In view of the fact that the entrance requirements of