The Putney School

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The Putney School
Drone shot of The Putney School.jpg
The Putney School
418 Houghton Brook Road, Putney
,
VT

U.S.
Information
Type Private independent co-educational boarding and day high school
Established1935
Founder Carmelita Hinton
DeanTarah Greenidge
Head of SchoolDaniel O'Brien
Faculty35 full-time, 24 part-time/adjunct
Secondary years taught9th through 12th grades
Enrollment221
Average class size12
Student to teacher ratio6:1
Classes offeredHumans in The Natural World, American Studies, Ceramics, Fiber Arts, Astronomy, Existentialism
Campus size500 acres (200 ha)
Campus typeRural
ColorsGreen, White
MascotElm Tree
RivalDublin School
Annual tuition$74,500
Website http://www.putneyschool.org/

The Putney School is an independent high school 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 12 miles (19 km) outside Brattleboro, Vermont on a 500 acres (2.0 km2) hilltop campus with classrooms, dormitories, and a dairy farm where students are expected to work. [1] Danny O'Brien is the head of school. Putney enrolls approximately 225 students.

Contents

Campus

Animated panorama from the center of the quadrangle on the Putney campus. Putpan.gif
Animated panorama from the center of the quadrangle on the Putney campus.

The original buildings on Putney's campus were overhauled or constructed by Putney work camp attendees, students, and faculty in 1935. [2] The 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. [3] The Field House, which opened in October 2009, was designed as a "net zero-energy building". [4]

There are ten active dormitories on campus. A few faculty members live in each. [5]

Academic program

Then-Director Brian Morgan addresses the graduating Class of 2004. 04Putgrad.jpg
Then-Director Brian Morgan addresses the graduating Class of 2004.

In 1995, The Boston Globe described Putney as combining "a New England work ethic and a strong academic program." [6] It 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. [7]

Describing his time at the school in the 1950s, the experimental essayist Eliot Weinberger said "the kids were mainly the children of hardcore old lefties, classical musicians, folk singers, writers and academics." [8]

Farm work

Putney's small, coeducational farm was "more utopia than school" and it sought to teach "moral values through practical experience and hard physical work." [9] Girls and boys worked together on the farm. [10]

Tuition

Tuition for the 2023-24 academic year was $74,500 for boarding students and $45,400 for day students. [11]

Notable alumni and faculty

Alumni

According to The Putney School 2008 Alumni Directory, alumni of The Putney School include (graduation date shown, where applicable): [12]

Faculty

Some Putney faculty members (subject taught in parentheses) had careers that extended beyond their teaching.

References

  1. ↑ "Putney at a glance". Website. Putney School. Retrieved January 30, 2014.
  2. ↑ Lloyd, Susan M. (1987). The Putney School, A Progressive Experiment. Yale University Press. pp. 21–3, 31. ISBN   0-300-03742-2.
  3. ↑ "Currier Center for the Performing Arts, The Putney School (includes several photographs)". Architizer (Charles Rose Architects). February 22, 2017. Retrieved November 25, 2025. Adding considerable complexity to the project was the large group of trustees, faculty and students who all wanted a say in the building's design and who had strong emotional ties to the campus.
  4. ↑ "Our Field House's Green Features". The Putney School. July 4, 2018. Retrieved November 6, 2020.
  5. ↑ "Campus Map". The Putney School. Retrieved April 30, 2024.
  6. ↑ Cohen, Muriel (January 1, 1995). "Putney - A Vermont School that Dared and Succeeded". The Boston Globe: A42.
  7. ↑ State Board of Education (May 19, 2015), Renewal of approval to The Putney School, Putney, VT to serve students in grades 9-12 (PDF), State of Vermont Agency of Education, retrieved November 11, 2015
  8. ↑ Reddy, Srikanth (2025). "The Art of the Essay no. 4 (Interview with Eliot Weinberger)". The Paris Review. 253. New York. 79. Denise Levertov, whose son was at the school, came often. She was the first poet I ever met.
  9. ↑ Strouse, Jean (1988). "Do Something!". Grand Street. 7 (4). 222. doi:10.2307/25007155. ISSN   0734-5496.
  10. ↑ Reddy, Srikanth (2025). "The Art of the Essay no. 4 (Interview with Eliot Weinberger)". The Paris Review. 253. New York. 79. it was founded in the thirties on a farm, where we all worked, milking the cows and shoveling manure, and it was coed. I loved it there.
  11. ↑ "Tuition and Financial Aid". The Putney School. Retrieved January 5, 2024.
  12. ↑ The Putney School 2008 Alumni Directory. Bloomington, Indiana: University Publishing Corporation. 2008.
  13. ↑ Robidoux, Carol (January 21, 2015). "Olympic Skiing Runs in Lebanon Lawyer's Family". Bar News. New Hampshire Bar Association.
  14. ↑ Poniewozik, James (April 29, 2010). "Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof". The 2010 TIME 100—Artists. TIME. Retrieved March 28, 2014.
  15. ↑ Sherwin, Adam (May 23, 2013). "World's most concise short story writer Lydia Davis wins Booker International Prize 2013" . Independent. Archived from the original on June 18, 2022. Retrieved May 23, 2013.
  16. ↑ "Class of 1964 Obituaries: William Barton Gray". HR 1964.org. Cambridge, MA: Harvard-Radcliffe Class of 1964. 1994. Retrieved November 16, 2019.
  17. ↑ "Felicity Huffman, actress charged in college-admission bribery case, has Vermont ties". Burlington Free Press.
  18. ↑ Aspen (August 30, 2016). "Christopher Lehmann-Haupt '52". putneyschool.org.
  19. ↑ "Elm Lea Circle | Community | The Putney School". www.elmleacircle.com. Retrieved March 27, 2024.
  20. ↑ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Martha Rockwell Olympic Results". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on April 18, 2020. Retrieved February 8, 2018.
  21. ↑ Walker, Shaun (November 24, 2013). "Arctic 30 captain re-evaluates protest methods after Russian jails Veteran Greenpeace skipper Peter Willcox was also captain of Rainbow Warrior – which was bombed by French agents in 1985". The Guardian. Retrieved March 28, 2014.
  22. ↑ Cuerdon, Don (Fall 2015). "Putney Post". Putney Post. p. 23. Retrieved April 15, 2021.
  23. ↑ Bloom, Paul (September 6, 2018). "What We Know About Art and the Mind". The New Yorker. ISSN   0028-792X . Retrieved April 5, 2019.

Further reading

42°59′14″N72°33′14″W / 42.9873°N 72.5540°W / 42.9873; -72.5540

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