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

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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 Romeo and Juliet , 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, metal and woodworking, give outlets for many interests. Useful and popular adjuncts to the school are the Brownie organization for the girls of the lower school and the Cubs for the boys. A number of these activities are held in the Log Cabin on the school grounds. In order to be of service to the community in this World War, many students have enrolled and completed training under faculty supervision at Hamden Hall as First Aiders and Canteen Aiders of the Red Cross, and as messengers and airplane spotters in Civilian Defense. 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. -I THE WAITING STATION Page Seven

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A Q4.Q,,.:a' il A J. A 1 W t 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 efficient, 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. In 1926 Dr. Herbert H. Vreeland, jr., now a colonel in the U. S. Army, became head of the school and continued in this capacity until the present Headmaster, Mr. E. Stanley Taylor, took charge in 1933. It is now coeducational and is owned and controlled by the parents of the school who are incorporated as a non-profit, tax-exempt 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 Kindergarten and Connecting Class. The PRIMARY DEPARTMENT consists of Grades One through Three. The LOWER MIDDLE SCHOOL takes in grades Four and Five. The UPPER MIDDLE SCHOOL includes the grades from the Sixth through the Eighth, organized to meet the Secondary Education Board require- ments, 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 aided by the faculty not only in his studies but in his recreation and social contacts Page Six

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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 child. Effort is made to motivate the activities of the lower school through the interest and creative instincts of the children. 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 demon- strate a spirit of happiness and of good will towards each other, the faculty, and the school as a whole. THE members of the faculty have been selected because of their particular qualifications to put into practice the fundamental philosophy of the school, their sympathetic under- standing 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 indi- vidual pupil, to help him to find himself, and to deal with his limitations as well as his success 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 Achievement 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. Incidentally, the work done by the Eighth Grade at Hamden Hall has been recognized by colleges and other preparatory schools as meeting the requirements and standards of the first year of college preparatory work, and the work of the Preparatory Department of Hamden Hall is designed to fit the students for the colleges of their choice. It is approved by the Connecticut State Board of Education, the New England College Entrance Certificate Board, the United States Department of Education in Washington, D. C., 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 not only been accepted by such colleges as Massa- chusetts Institute of Technology, Yale, Cornell, Oberlin, Swarthmore, Rensselaer, Vassar, Smith, Wellesley, Barnard, and Mount Holyoke, but also have been able to maintain honor grades in these institutions. THIS spring six Seniors, in competition with a large number of boys from other schools in this district, successfully passed the V-5 Naval Aviation examinations. As cadets these boys are granted the privilege of continuing their studies in colleges at the expense of the United States Government. Page Eight