Pembroke Hill High School - Raider Yearbook (Kansas City, MO)

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Board of Trustees The maior functions of the Board of Trustees are the direction of finance and the determination of school policy. The school administration then car- ries out the policy established by the Trustees. The Board this year consists of fifteen members selected from parents of students, alumni, and people in- terested in the welfare of Pem-Day. The Board of Trustees is divided into many different committees such as committees of scholarship, athletics, en- trance, building, etc. There are committees for every school function and it is through these various com- mittees that the Board operates. These committees also establish the standards of the school. The Trustees employ the headmaster who directs the school and is answerable to the Board. This is the Trustees' only direct contact with the educa- tional branch of the school since they are not con- cerned with the employment of the faculty or ad- ministration staff. The Trustees also set tuition and assessments and approve the budget compiled and submitted by the Business Manager of the school. Through its power to allot funds and to censor the budget, the Board is solely responsible for the direction and status of the school's fiscal affairs. This year, besides carrying out its usual duties, the board has accomplished two noteworthy proi- ects. The first was the planning and execution of Pem-Day's Fiftieth Anniversary Dinner. At the din- ner, which approximately 700 people attended, the contributions of the faculty and staff of Pem- Day were recognized. The second proiect, accom- plished by the Board this year, was the completion of the plans to expand the physical- plant of Pem- Day in order to take care of the present number of students more efficiently. This latter proiect involves a fund raising drive, called the First Century Fund Campaign, to obtain the 5600,000 needed to ac- complish the building program. The plans for the campaign have been completed, and the drive will last all summer and end in the fall, by which time it is hoped the necessary money will have been secured. During the summer the members of the Board of Trustees, alumni, and others will personally con- tact friends of the school to solicit the necessary funds. If all goes well, the building proiect will be- gin in the spring of 1961. The plans for expansion include a winter sports building and improved over- all athletic facilities in order to allow more boys to participate in winter sports and to concentrate student activities better than is presently possible. Besides better athletic facilities the Board has de- cided to begin work on several other building projects at the some time. These include a new junior school building, an enlarged dining room and kitchen, a separate library building and other improvements.

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Headmaster The headmaster is responsible only to the board of trustees. He is in general charge of all school functions. Under the heading of academic respon- sibilities, he is responsible for what is to be taught, he is responsible for the students learning what is to be needed in college, and he is responsible for the teachers doing their best iob. He is in general charge of all athletics, grounds and buildings, transportation, public relations, admission, and business. He is responsible for where the money comes from, where it goes, and that there is enough of it. In the fund raising campaign this summer, the campaign was o.k.ed by the board of trustees after which it was dumped into the lap of Mr. Schwartz. All checks must be signed twice, once by Mr. Jones, and once by Mr. Schwartz. In the absence of one of these men, it could be signed by a mem- ber of the board of trustees after a meeting has been called. He hires and supervises the entire faculty, occasionally dismissing them. He takes an active part in personal, social, and scholastic guidance. ln connection with this, he surveys all boys' records prior to signing their report cards, writes notes, and signs them. This setup could be run in an impersonal manner, much like a' large cor- poration. Should this occur, the friendly atmosphere of the school would im- mediately leave being replaced by a fear of the headmaster by faculty and students alike, a dread of classes, and a mass production of eggheads. The school belongs to four various organizations, which help to advance the norm of all schools involved. The A.C.S. lAssociation of Central States, and the A.S. fAssociation of the Southwestl, meet regularly to discuss common problems and their solutions. The I.S.E.B. llndependent School Education Boardl has this function and also makes out standardized tests with an independent school's norm. The E.R.B. fEducation Records Bureaul makes out standardized tests only. We do not take the I.S.E.B.'s tests but do take the E.R.B. tests. Mr. Schwartz also belongs personally to the Country Day School Headmasters Association since he was invited in 1957. This select organization of T50 members has meetings once per year. Periodically, Mr. Schwartz visits various colleges. The purpose of this is to establish a personal relationship with that college, rather than being a mere name. This enables Mr. Schwartz to use a personal pull for a student that he feels will do well, but that the college is dubious of. It also enables Mr. Schwartz to determine what the college wants in a student. While Mr. Schwartz is on these various jaunts, the school is a body without a head. All checks must wait for his return, and each department head runs his own department. The department head of the upper school is Mr. Dundas. Mr. Schwartz's personal schedule is: 8:00-8:30, faculty meeting, 8:30-8:45, chapel. From 9:00- l2:45, he handles details and interviews, as he does from 1:30-3:30. From 3:30-4:30, he has con- ferences and catches up on H'is mail. He usually trundles home at 5:30. The faculty meeting follows a weekly pattern: Monday, upper school, Tuesday, middle school, Wednesday, lower school, Thursday, fourth, fifth, and sixth grades, and Friday, calm his hectic nerves. There is an average of five or six conferences per day, each one taking from ten minutes to an hour. The telephone is constantly ringing in the office, and regardless of who it is, he cannot just cut him off. Peter A. Schwartz has served as headmaster of Pem-Day since 1953. Upon graduation from Princeton University, Mr. Schwartz became assistant to the Dean of the College, and to the Dean of the Faculty for three years. He then went to the Chicago Latin School for four years, teaching Eng- lish, Latin, and History. Mr. Schwartz has had additional administrative experience having been associated with the Hun School in Princeton as assistant headmaster and the position of headmas- ter of the Allendale School of Rochester, New York for five years. The school's record showed marked progress during his soiourn there.