Putnam patriot., 1915-11-26

Forty-three pupils who attend the school are from out of town, forty one from Pomfret and two from Thomp- son. The tuition fee is S45G0 per year.
 Last years graduating class mum. bered only slxtcen. Of these one is at college. one at the trade school, one at Exeter, two at Normal school, one teaching music, cfour working in of- fees, and five at home. It is pleasing to note that the school oilers courses specially deeigned to m et the needs of all these classes O. students, not ex- cepting those who remain at home.
 could mol discover the reason for the small size of the graduating class last year. The present senior cless numt ITS over forty and the figures for the other classes show that n large per oentage Of the pupils are remaining in attendanee during the entire eou se.
 The spirit of the students and the tone of the school are admirable. The pupils esk que tions pertinent to the lessons and discuss points in way which shows the eultiv sion of inde pendent thought to much greater de gree than Is usal in High sehools
 Student Activity
 The school maintains d debating so eiety, an ofenestra and Two gl6e clubs; track and base ball teams, and besket ball teams for both boys and girls.
 A somewhat unique feature of the school Is the student council of three members from each class This coun. ci approves Of athletic arrangements and makes recommendations with re- gard 10 discipline and problems of general school in rest
 Teaching
 The faculty consists of the principal and two men and five women teachers. The teacher Of mechanical drawing and the teacher of physics are engaged in the work of the trade school as well es of the high school. The teaching which I observed was with one or two exceptions of a nigh grade. The sal aries paid, while not high, are good and 1t IS gratifying to see that the pee pie of Putnam are getting proper re- turns for the money spent in the quail ity of the service rendered by the teachers.
 Some of the clssses are, however, too large for the teachers to do as effective work as they should. l should recom- mend the appointment of an addition al teacher and the reorganization of some of the classes, especially those iu science, into smaller divisions. At the same time in my opinion il would t9 we'll to relieve the drawing teacher, who has more than his share of work from the work in history and mathe- matics which he is now doing.
 Course of Study
 The course of study presents a com prehehsiye scheme adopted to meet the varied needs of the community iu en admirable manner. The successful working out of the scheme is made possible to a large degree by eftiliation with the trade school,
 Four courses are offered, lsee attach. ed outlinel the general, the eoopera- tive, the college preparatory, and the commercial. Of these the commercial is not differentiated rom the general until the third and fourth years, and the cooperative extends over the first two years only.
 The cooperative course requires the attendance of the pupils eiecting it at the trade sehool during the afternoon up to 5.SG, As these pupils have regu- lar high school work of an amount equivalent to that of those who elect the other courses, ahd have, in addi- ton home study to prepare for these lessons, the question may be raised whether they are not being ever bur pen,J.