Hamden Hall Country Day School - Perennial Pine Yearbook (New Haven, CT)

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aided by the faculty not only in his studies but in his recreation and social contacts with his fellows. With such an organization it is possible to give careful attention to character development and to the physical, social and mental well-being of each student. Every effort is made to help all members of the school to find satisfaction in work well done and in a simple, friendly, Christian way of life. THE art work or creative work is closely integrated with the social science studies, and especial instruction is given in the techniques needed. The fundamental purpose behind the work of the music department is to bring out, develop, and guide the love of and feeling for music which is inherent in every child. Each group in the school has regularly scheduled periods each week for music in addition to the voluntary glee club and orchestra. The work in French begins in the early school years with songs and games and develops through simple reading and composition to formal instruction in the middle and upper schools. THE school recognizes that recreational, social, and aesthetic training is of equal importance with the more traditional subject matter, and should be made a definite part of the experience of all pupils. Opportunity is given to learn the fundamentals of the more organized sports and of many informal games. There is a well-developed schedule of intra-mural contests. Both boys and girls at various school levels have many opportunities to play against teams from other schools. Dramatics is an important school activity, and pupils at nearly all levels have opportunity to participate. In recent years Hamden Hall has produced with great success the Shakespearean plays, As You Like It and Twelfth Night , and the operettas, Mikado and Pinafore . The students in the college preparatory department publish THE HAMDEN HALL PERENNIAL PINE, a year book which contains contributions from pupils in most of the departments of the school. A program of rhythms is offered from the nursery school through the fifth grade. For all classes above the fifth, opportunity is provided for social dancing under excellent leadership, these classes being voluntary. Clubs such as rifling, student editing, photography, cooking, stamp collecting, nature work, sewing, THE WAITING STATION Page Eight

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THE HAMDEN HALL COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL is located on the College Highway about a half mile north of the boundary between Hamden and New Haven. The school, which stands on a hill overlooking Lake Whitney, is surrounded by athletic and recreation fields covering several acres, including a small woodland, a favorite play place. The building is a large, rambling structure which creates a friendly, home atmosphere for efiicient, well lighted class rooms. It contains an adequate gymnasium for indoor sports and a large stage with complete lighting facilities which is much in demand for class and musical projects. A common living room is much used by students and faculty, and scarcely a week passes during the school year that does not find a group of parents gathered before its fireplace. HAMDEN HALL was founded in 1912 by Dr. john P. Cushing as one of the earliest of the country day schools. It had a long and successful career as a boys' school. It is now coeducational and is owned and controlled by the parents of the school who are incorporated as a non-profit organization. All income received is used for the maintenance and development of the school. THE school is organized in five units, each in charge of a supervisor. The PRE-SCHOOL includes the Nursery School, Kindergarten, and Connecting Class. The PRIMARY DEPARTMENT consists of Grades One through Three. The LOWER MIDDLE SCHOOL takes in grades four and live. The UPPER MIDDLE SCHOOL includes the grades from the sixth through the eighth, organized to meet the Secondary Education Board requirements. The UPPER SCHOOL, covering the four years of high school, is organized to meet the requirements of the College Entrance Examination Board. The enrollment is limited in order to give attention to the particular needs of the student. THE main concern of the school has always been the development and integration of the child as an individual. All school activities are planned and carefully coordinated for the accomplishment of this end. Instruction is carried on in small groups. The school program is developed on the principle of a well rounded day. This means that the school balances class room instruction with a noon luncheon and rest and an afternoon period of social activities, sports, and recreation. The pupil is guided and Page Seven

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metal and woodworking, give outlets for many interests. Useful and popular adjuncts to the school are the Brownie organization for girls in the lower grades and the Cubs for the boys. Many of these activities are held in the Log Cabin on the school grounds. Every boy and girl has the opportunity of entering into these extra-curricular activities, thus gaining self-confidence and experience of value in later life. THE country day school aims to afford almost all of the advantages of the boarding school and at the same time has the added virtue that the pupils live at home, the family life is not disrupted, and the teachers and parents may work in closest harmony to secure the most desirable results in the development of every individual child. EFFORT is made to motivate the activities of the LOWER SCHOOLS through the interest and creative instincts of the childen. By such a procedure a maximum of self-control and initiative is developed, and there is a marked absence of strain. The result is that the pupils demonstrate a spirit of happiness and of good will toward each other, the faculty, and the school as a whole. THE members of the faculty have been carefully selected because of their particular qualifications to put into practice the fundamental philosophy of the school, their sympathetic understanding of the problems faced by growing boys and girls, their training, and personality. They are alert to recognize and to guide any creative tendency on the part of the individual pupil, to help him to find himself, and to deal with his limitations as well as successes in a constructive way. HAMDEN HALL is a member of the Educational Records Bureau and ranks high with other private schools in the achievement of its pupils. The results of the Metropolitan and Cooperative tests have been very gratifying in all departments. The scholastic standards of the UPPER MIDDLE SCHOOL are those of the Secondary Education Board, of which the school is a member, and the standards of the UPPER SCHOOL are those of the College Entrance Examination Board. The school prepares students for all academic and scientific colleges, is approved by the New England College Entrance Certificate Board, and is accredited to colleges admitting by certificate. THE success of the program at Hamden Hall is evidenced by the fact that in recent years graduates of the school have been accepted at such colleges as Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Yale, Cornell, Rensselaer, Vassar, Smith, Wellesley, Barnard, and Mount Holyoke. Page Nine