Kew Forest School - Blotter Yearbook (Forest Hills, NY)

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THE BLOTTER degrees at 89 colleges and universities and others are studying at 41 colleges, today. Several are work- ing for their doctorates and Elizabeth Knight Pat- terson, Bryn Mawr Ph.D. '41 and Suzanne van Dyke Beatty, Sigma Xi, Michigan Ph.D. '46, have earned theirs. The Phi Beta Kappa list includes: Catherine Lewerth Almirall, Smith '33, Frederick H. Bruenner, Princeton '41, Carol Ann Hawkes, Barnard '433 Margaret B. Knapp, Wellesley '36, Marie E. Mesrobian, Barnard '41, Juliet Auman Metcalf, Ohio Wesleyan '41. Many graduates are lawyers, physicians, nurses, welfare workers and teachers. Margaret B. Knapp and Diane B. Holt have taken the vows and are now Nuns in the order of Sacred Heart. Mother Margaret Knapp is teaching in the Convent of Sacred Heart, Lake Forest, Illinois and Mother Diane Holt in the Con- vent of Sacred Heart, Overbrook, Pennsylvania. A strong faculty staff has characterized the school from the beginning and many members have been on the staff for many years. Mrs. Milli- cent D. Oram joined the staff in 1922, Mrs. Blanche A. Burd and James L. Chamberlain in 1924, James L. Dixon and Mrs. Lucy Allen Smart in 1925. Dr. Dixon was the head of the History Department until 1941, In 1935, he became Asso- ciate Headmaster. In 1944, he earned his Doctorate in Education. Mrs. Smart, who had lived in the community since 1917, became Assistant to the Headmasters and Librarian, when she joined the staff in 1925. Mr. Catlin, Dr. Dixon, and Mrs. Smart are on the roll of Phi Beta Kappa. The XX X X QA Xx X :Sf 1 .'Qi 7 i1X N, gf L xv - , -xiii-R-X39-i:??'.. Xxkwsxii, ..:.f:cts,-.-5-,MugE XTEAB-,. -'vfxs rdxaaxxi I ly In III nv na ,Haw-4 xg , QEX T ' 2 ., x, I ' Q .X . , . - s . X 'QXQ Q - . ' X ' S X 'Nbvu N - N- wx ' S i it is C 'S XQ . gf P- f XNXMXQ ky t ..-1f'f 4S Q F Y Xxxxxxmaxqxdas-11-' .5 5 ,Q sn ,gxg gx X 1 is 1 2 S ' , N in BD S3359 f ,R ....xqN,- A Q Ep gf ssv -' it ,-N,,:..,. i Nr N . T .isibk V E Xa. Y xy X XQNXX Q Z R Eiga? f complete current faculty list appears elsewhere in this volume. Of all those who have taught in Kew-Forest School, not one has been more beloved than Vera E. Harif, head of the French Department, from September 1934 to June 1939. Her association with Kew-Forest School was terminated by her untimely death, january 3, 1942, at Tucson, Ari- zona. Mlle. Harif was beautiful, physically and spiritually. Through inheritance, education and travel, she was a gifted linguist. Her gracious and charming personality will always be held in pre- cious memory by those who knew her. An Organ - A Tribute to Mr. Catlin's Memory It was a dennite loss to Kew-Forest School and to the cause of education when, after a lingering illness, Mr. Catlin died September 20, 1935. In his memory a Hammond organ was presented to the school in 1936 by pupils, teachers, alumni and friends. This instrument adds to the reverence of the regular High School Assembly programs and it forms an important background to all Com- mencement programs. In 1928, Catherine Lewerth, a Junior in the school, designed and drew a seal in which she embodied the motto, Ad Summum, and these immediately became the oiiicial seal and motto for the school. Dr. Dixon, then a member of the teaching staff, wrote the otlicial school song in 1927: All Hail to Thee, Kew-Forest, which has been sung at every Commencement since that time. In 1928, Nedra Gullette, '29, wrote Cam Alma Mater, sung by the Seniors at every Commence- ment. At the suggestion of Doris Clarke, '33, Seniors began to lead Friday morning High School As- semblies in the winter of 1933, a custom that has been continued through the years. In the fall of 1931 a committee of Mothers, one from each grade, met at the home of Mrs. Elton W. Clark, mother of three girls in the school and with Mrs. Smart designed a school uni- form. As fashions change the skirt becomes longer or shorter, the waist line narrower or wider, but in the essentials the uniform has remained the

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U THE BLOTTER 9635 Spofg in fgtl Sfigfovp of 3QeQ- ovegf Scgoof URING the period of World War I, Guy Hinman Catlin and Louis Durand Marriott used courage, faith, experience, when they planned, built and finally opened the doors of Kew-Forest School, September 21, 1918, on Union Turnpike, in the young community of Forest Hills. Each earned A.B. and A.M. degrees, each had taught many yearsg Mr. Marriott had had the important experience of being the Administrator of his own school in Connecticut. The first section of the building, erected in 1918, was adequate for the fifty-four boys and girls who were the first pupils. The girls who asked for admission were a surprise to the Founders for they had one idea,-a boys school. So many girls applied it was impossible to turn them away. The school program, from the beginning, therefore, was planned for coeduca- tional classes from Kindergarten through High School and the lirst Commencement was held at the school in 1921. There were broad steps that formed an imposing front entrance to the building and from these one walked down a willow tree .L IW! Ill III L lll lll IIH Ill r Ill Ill r , ' ' Ill lll Ill - :llIlllllwllllllwllllllwllgwllllulllllllllll- shaded path to the country lane, Union Turnpike. Many surrounding acres furnished free play grounds for the pupils, in addition to the two acres of the school property. In 1921, the present High School building was erected. A tremendous physical change to the building and grounds came in 1932, when the construction of the Grand Central Parkway took fifty feet of ground and the attractive entrance steps from the front of the school and thirty-five feet from the grounds on the Austin Street side. From that pe- riod, the corner of the building, where Lower School and High School sections join, has fur- nished the main entrance way. The increased popu- lation, due to the construction of subways, and many apartment houses, made imperative the erec- tion of a high, durable fence around the school grounds, in 1935, for the protection of younger children. High Ideal for Academic Standing From the beginning, the administrators have had a high ideal for the academic standing of the school. The realization of that ideal is fairly well proven by the following facts: C15 The College Entrance Examination Board has used the school continuously since 1926 as a center, Q25 The Mid- dle States Association has accredited the school since january 1, 1928, f5j Since 1956, the school has been a member institution of the University of the State of New York, as of High School grade, and Regents examinations are regularly conducted here in january and June. The Library, an essen- tial part of any academic institution, was organized and classified according to the Dewey System and completely catalogued in 1925-26 by Mrs. Lucy Allen Smart, Assistant to the Headmasters, a for- mer college librarian. With steady growth since that time and with decided increase in the last seven years, the Library is an integral part of the school. A Among the 494 Alumni, many have earned

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THB BLOTTER same through the years. The girls are dressed economically, and in good taste, with their minds free for studies and not centered on what dress will be worn on the morrow. School Becomes Non-Profit Corporation On April 4, 1941, Mr. Marriott, Headmaster, mailed a letter to the parents stating that he had decided to retire and to close the school. In this way, Mr. Marriott brought to an end a distin- guished educational career. Meeting the crisis, a group of fathers of pupils met at the home of George O. Niddrie, April 18, 1941, and decided to make plans to continue the school. On june 20, 1941, a non-proht corporation was formed and on July 1, 1942, the complete ownership of the school property was acquired by the new cor- poration. A Board of Trustees, twenty-one mem- bers, have skillfully and unselfishly carried the responsibility of the corporation since that time. Judge Nicholas M. Pette, President, George O. Niddrie, Vice-President, Theodore M. Newhouse, Secretaryg Dr. Marlo P. Bates, Treasurer and Dr. Dixon, Headmaster, were the first corporate officers and these remain the same except that the Vice- President and Counsel is now Arthur H. Wheaton. In June 1941, Dr. Dixon, who had been Associate Headmaster since 1935, was appointed Headmaster by the Trustees and Mrs. Smart was appointed Dean. Among the outstanding innovations of the pres- ent administration is a remedial reading clinic, under the direction of a trained teacher, Mrs. Louise V. Smith. The pupils' eye movements are trained, the span of recognition is increased and the time of fixation is decreased. Because, in the process of education, rapid and comprehending reading is so important, the remedial reading clinic is a significant addition. There are new outdoor playground and indoor equipment for kindergar- ten. Two teachers are in charge, each of a morning and an afternoon group. Primary One room has been newly equipped. Sterilizing ultra-violet rays have been installed in the rooms of the youngest children. Visual education has this year become a reality, through the gift, from the Kew-Forest School Association, of machine and screen that make possible sound films. The Kew-Forest School Association of parents and teachers has been most generous to the school in the seven years of its existence, under the leader- ship of Mrs. Edmund W. Fitzgerald, Mrs. Charles A. Hersey, Mrs. George A. Orr and Mrs. M. M. Taylor, Presidents. In the program of the school one of the high spots of the year is Commencement, when, since 1926, an imposing academic processional is com- posed of Faculty members in gowns and hoods, Senior girls in white dresses, Senior boys in white tuxedos and black trousers. In following Com- mencements these features have been added: a color bearer, a small boy and girl in white academic gowns, carrying the diplomas. A profusion of flowers, choral music accompanied by the organ, three Senior speakers and a guest speaker all help to make a harmonious whole. Until 1926, the Commencement wasbheld at the school, simply and charmingly. Nine Commencements have been held in the Church-in-the-Gardens. Including this one of 1948, fourteen will have taken place in the Community House of Forest Hills Gardens. Mrs. g