The Putney School


The Putney School is an independent high school located in Putney, Vermont. The school was founded in 1935 by Carmelita Hinton on the principles of the Progressive Education movement and the teachings of its principal exponent, John Dewey. It is a co-educational, college-preparatory boarding school, with a day-student component, located outside of Brattleboro, Vermont. Emily Jones is the current director. The school enrolls approximately 225 students on a hilltop campus with classrooms, dormitories, and a dairy farm on which all of its students work before graduating.
The school emphasizes academics, a work program, the arts, and physical activity. The school's curriculum is intended to teach the value of labor, art, community, ethics, and scholarship for individual growth.

Campus

Most of the buildings on the school's campus were partially or completely built by Putney students and faculty, with the exception of the most recent additions, the Michael S. Currier Center and the Field House. This Currier Center is a departure from Putney's customary white, colonial-style architecture, instead using stone and concrete walls in an angular design. It is used for dance, music, movie-making and visual-art presentations. The Field House, which opened in October 2009, was designed as a "net zero energy building".

Academic program

In 1995, the Boston Globe described the school as combining "a New England work ethic and a strong academic program." The school is a member of the Independent Curriculum Group and in 2009 received a 10-year accreditation review by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges.

Notable alumni and faculty

Alumni

According to The Putney School 2008 Alumni Directory, alumni of The Putney School include :
Some Putney faculty members had careers that extended beyond their teaching.
In The Freshman, character Clark Kellogg, played by Matthew Broderick, says that his father is an English teacher at The Putney School.