The Putney School, in collaboration with three other leading progressive schools, has been named one of four recipients of an educational leadership grant from the Edward E. Ford Foundation to create a visionary program that aims to change the landscape of how teachers prepare for their profession. The idea for such a program was born [...]
A Senior Exhibition is an opportunity for any senior who is in good academic and disciplinary standing to design and complete a two-month independent project, ideally interdisciplinary, culminating in a body of work that will be exhibited. Students are expected to create projects that draw upon the breadth of their educational experiences at Putney. There [...]
The Putney School’s Field House has qualified for 83 U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) points, achieving a platinum rating, the highest offered. With this certification, the Field House is now the only net-zero energy, LEED Platinum independent school building in the United States. According to the USGBC, “LEED [...]
Rory ’11 presented his March Work Term in assembly this week. He did work on this photo that may likely appear in a Ken Burns film on the Roosevelts. How cool is that? We’ll let him tell the story of how that happened, what else he did there, and how the opportunity presented itself when [...]
Elena ’13, Callie ’11, Sarah ’12, and Lyssa ’12 spent most of their free time a couple of weekends ago working in the Molecular Genetics lab to determine the differences between breeds of cows and families of cows, based on the protein components of milk. They were also asking how feed changes impact the protein [...]
Pete Stickney has suspended his regularly scheduled U.S. History class syllabus to study the events unfolding these past weeks in North Africa and the Middle East. Students were assigned countries involved and asked to present them to the class. Of particular interest are details on U.S. military and economic aid, gross national product, per capita [...]
Chemistry class, under the auspices of Kat Brown (in the striped shirt), is a great place to learn why things blow up. Or, more concisely, to observe single and double replacement reactions. Some are relatively slow, as when using little balls of aluminum foil to tease copper out of a copper sulfate solution through oxidation. [...]
Math Department Chair Wing Mui teaches, among other things, Calculus and Survey of Computer Science. Some math teachers can explain one concept 27 different ways, and then have the patience to explain it the 28th way, or until the student finally sees the light. Wing has a gift for getting it done in the first [...]
Ancient History is a popular class among the ninth and tenth graders who take it here. Lorne Johnson is the teacher and he kept the class riveted for a solid 60 minutes in that deadly post-lunch-slump slot last Thursday afternoon. Lorne tied together the reading assignment on Confucian ideals of an ordered society (freedom, justice, [...]
After a year of monitoring, The Putney School’s net-zero Field House has used 48,374 kWh of electricity while the sun-tracking photovoltaic cells that power it have produced 51,371 kWh. That’s nearly 3,000 more kilowatt hours of energy produced than the building used. That’s exciting news, especially at the latitude of Putney, Vermont. Designed by Maclay [...]
Imagine 220 students doing two 24-hour projects each (or, for a few heartier souls, one whopping 48-hour project) and you’ve scratched the surface of the Project Week experience at The Putney School. Twice per year, we eschew notions of regurgitating information back to teachers and challenge students to take the knowledge they’ve gained farther. This [...]
Project Week has grown from ten days to two weeks in the fall with the new trimester schedule, but the name endures. We’re at the midway point and things are starting to come together. Marie ’11′s cow assembly project is starting to look like a cow. We’ve seen the Rubens’ tube rocking out to “Freebird.” [...]
Project Week is the culmination of each fall and spring’s classes and activities. Instead of final exams, students invent ways to further explore what they’ve learned in their classes. In many ways, it’s the core of progressive education. Today is the third day of what has now expanded into a full two weeks of exploration [...]
Theater Intensive is what the name implies. Every year, a handful of the most advanced theater students get a chance to explore writing, directing, or performing plays that are often a bit more mature than what you find on most high school playbills. Morgan ’11 and Angela ’11 dove into Win/Lose/Draw, three plays within a [...]
It’s 10:30 p.m.—a half hour after in dorms—and nearly a dozen students are milling about in the dark, using red-lensed flashlights to preserve their night vision. No need to call the dean of students, it’s only Glenn Littledale’s Introduction to Astronomy class and they’re here with permission. Actually, they’re here with Glenn, science teacher and [...]
Sing is an institution at The Putney School. Originally held Friday nights, Sing now occurs every Thursday morning in lieu of assembly. For 35 minutes, nearly everyone is present and, well, on the same page. There is power in singing the same songs together. There is joy. There is release. Sing is good. But, this [...]
The times, they continue to change. It’s been a long time since Putney School students first protested in the name of civil rights, but they’ve been to lots of similar gatherings since then. On Friday night, 44 students and an assortment of faculty, including the director, loaded onto a charter bus and headed south to [...]
The focus of this trimester’s junior seminar, held during Tuesday morning’s conference period, is Ethics and Leadership, which is being taught (although “facilitated” almost describes it better) by Dean of Students Ben Freeman and Director Emily Jones. It’s an exercise in learning how to identify and focus one’s ethics, then motivate others to help you [...]
Brattleboro Climate Protection and the Brattleboro Energy Committee are pleased to announce the three recipients of the 2010 Sustainable Business Awards – a food supplement manufacturer, private secondary school, and medical care facility. The three award winners are New Chapter, Inc., The Putney School, and Brattleboro Memorial Hospital. These awards are given annually to Brattleboro-area [...]
Starting in the fall of 2010, Putney will follow a trimester academic schedule. What was the process? This change from our current schedule was the result of a full year and a half of study, research, discussion, and planning. Faculty and students together created a list of priorities and goals for the new schedule. Top [...]
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