We take work seriously at Putney, and the work program is a central part of a Putney student’s experience. We believe in the dignity and relevance of physical work and the importance of students taking responsibility for it.

The Work Program provides a setting in which young adults can further their understanding of the relationships between work, play, home and community life. It offers the opportunity for physical growth as well as meaningful participation in the work necessary to sustain a community. It teaches adolescents the importance of sustained effort by providing physical work in a structured educational setting. In doing so it integrates intellectual and physical labor, thus helping to educate the whole child. The result of participation is empowerment. Students learn how to do fundamental human activities that form the foundation of life and the living of it.

The objectives of the Work Program are:

• To teach students about the value of physical work.
• To instill a sense of self-reliance and the importance of providing for oneself.
• To foster a sense of pride and dignity in work well done and in making a meaningful contribution to the community as a whole.
• To instill a sense of caring for our place and the environment in which we live.
• To provide an alternative setting in which adults can mentor students.
• To teach self-discipline and responsibility towards others through assignment to a variety of jobs.
• To provide instruction in practical life skills: how to manage time andwork on a schedule, call in sick, take direction, resolve problems in the work place, work together with others towards a common goal.
• To provide instruction in specific job skills, i.e. carpentry, cooking, farming, forestry.
• To use the campus as a laboratory in which the students strengthen their understanding of classroom material by application in a real-life setting.

Throughout their stay at Putney, all students must satisfy six basic work program requirements:

• lunch job,
• dinner job,
• barn crew,
• dish crew,
• general substitute,
• and an afternoon job in one of the land-use activities (garden, farm, woods crew, sugaring, saw mill, etc.).

Students take an active role in assigning and supervising work at the Putney School. This student Work Committee consists of seven students (each covering a particular area: barn, general subs, breakfast, lunch, dinner, classrooms and afternoon work activities), who assign each student a job, either two afternoons of two-hour work or six days of 30-40 minute work. These job assignments last for a trimester. At the end of each trimester, students fill out a request for the next trimester’s job.