What was high school like a half-century ago? We have some ideas from class photos and yearbooks, and some glimpses of school life from reports of class trips and the like. But what about daily school life?
Now we have a better and more complete answer. As part of the education major in the 1960s at Rider College (then in Trenton), the students were assigned a Junior Practicum to spend a week in the field at a week at a selected school, speaking with staff, attending classes and events, and learning about how the school was run. The students then wrote an extensive report on the school’s operations and procedures.
Helpfully for us, Edith Kostron Labaw was one such student, and was assigned to report on Central High School in Pennington (where she later was a teacher). She has kindly saved and shared this 70-page report, which includes extensive details on school operations, including official documents and forms, summaries of school procedures, and personal observations.
See the earlier post on the Central High School 1961 Student Handbook for more on school Rules and Regulations, and Clubs and Activities.
== View the full Central High School Practicum Report (PDF) ==
School Overview
From the Report:
Central High School of Hopewell Township, located off Route 69 in Pennington, New Jersey, serves mainly a rural district including the towns of Pennington, Harbourton, and Titusville. The school building is only five years old and has many modern conveniences. The Board of Education is very liberal in providing up-to-date equipment for the departments and books for the library.
Central High School has an enrollment of 631 and a teaching staff of 40. The school day for the teachers starts at 7:50 a.m. and ends at 3:20 p.m. except on Friday when teachers are allowed to leave the premises at 3 p.m. The usual school day is divided into seven class periods, with an eight minute homeroom period and a half hour lunch break. Class periods are forty-eight minutes in length with four minutes between classes.
Practicum Report Contents
- 1 – School philosophy, organization chart, department organization and duties
- 4 – School overview, Bell Schedule, Floor Plan
- 7 – Schedule for author’s week at the school: meetings with staff, observing classes
- 8 – Curriculum, Curriculum booklet, Extra-curricular Program observations, Daily Announcements from Sept. 27
- 14 – Club Schedule (40 clubs), Student Handbook, Business Textbooks
- 18 – Marking System, Guidance Department, Library descriptions
- 27 – Testing Program, Guidance Department appointments and Differential Aptitude Tests descriptions
- 33 – Student Data Form (four years) – Personal, Educational / Vocational Plans, Parent & Teacher Conferences, Test Data, Placement
- 34 – Referral for Psychological Examination form
- 36 – Information forms for evaluating Vocational Training Schools, Occupational Training, Job characteristics, College Admissions; Corridor Pass, Guidance Office Referral
- 46 – College Night program – Presentations from N.J. Dept. of Ed., Rutgers, Cornell, Dickinson, Johns Hopkins, Cedar Crest (Allentown, PA)
- 47 – Forms – High School Program Scheduling Card (punch card), Program Change Permission, Guidance student comment, Interim Academic Progress Report, Record of Progress
- 52 – Developmental Reading Program description, Request for Reading Improvement Course form, Developmental Reading Record forms
- 60 – Unfolding of Lessons – Descriptions of classes including Typing, Bookkeeping, Stenography, General Business Training, Record Keeping, Office Practice
- 68 – Material for Monthly Report form (for teachers) – Professional and classroom activities, project, trips, visits, etc. for monthly report to the Board; Budget Worksheets
- 70 – PTA Newsletter, Sept. 1962 – Discussion groups, Book Fair
School Documents
The Practicum Report has an amazing array of official school documents, as well as the various forms and paperwork that keep a school operating.
The paperwork and forms include the Bell Schedule, the early punch-card Program (Class) Scheduling Card, yellow Corridor Pass, green Guidance Department appointment card, Permission to Change Program, and Record of Progress (to track disciplinary issues).
There’s also the Student Data form, cramming details for all four years of high school onto two pages, starting with 8th grade school and grades; then tracking four years of educational/vocational plans, parent/teacher conference excerpts, and scores from standardized testing; and finishing with college placement and follow-up.
For students with business / vocational plans, there are Information forms with suggested questions for evaluating options for Vocational Training Schools, Occupational Training, and Jobs.
The Report also has extensive information on the Guidance Department, with associated forms for tracking student process, including the standardized testing. All students were given reading diagnostic tests, and work-bound seniors also were given the New Jersey General Aptitude Battery test. Juniors were urged to take College Entrance Examinations and were given the National Merit Scholarship Tests for counseling aid and scholarship screening.
The test types and seasons for testing are: Achievement tests (18 subject tests, May & Dec.), Reading test (Nov.), Aptitude tests (17 tests for different characteristics, mostly Oct. and Nov.), Interest test (Feb.), and Mental Ability (4, Nov. & Jan).
Observations
Selected observations by Edith Kostron from attending school activities and individual business classes:
Assemblies – Assemblies are usually scheduled in the Auditorium, but these are on alternate weeks–one week for Freshmen and Sophomores, the next week for Juniors and Seniors. When all students have to attend the same assembly, it has to be scheduled in the gymnasium because more seats are available there.
Homeroom – Homerooms are set up by grade and alphabetical order. The role was taken, count was taken of students wanting to buy lunch, and announcements were read. A previously assigned student led the morning exercises: Bible reading, Lord’s Prayer, and Flag Salute. The homeroom class of thirty was the largest group of students I encountered in any classes visited. In one class the enrollment was as low as eleven, but classes averaged around twenty-five.
Space Mission – A transistor radio, it turned out to be the teacher’s, was on to follow the space shot, but an announcement was made that radios are not allowed in school, but because of this event teachers could use their discretion. No radios, however, will be allowed during the up-coming World Series. [Mercury-Atlas 8, the fifth United States crewed space mission with astronaut Wally Schirra, was launched on October 3, 1962.]
Bookkeeping class – Teacher caught someone who was not paying attention, made general comment about it, did not mention student’s name. Teacher used a student’s personal experience to explain further about increases and decreases in debits and credits.
Record Keeping class disruptions – One student obtained pass to leave the room during class. One problem child in class, does not pay attention to instructions, clowns around. One student was talking, teacher asked whether he wanted to explain the lesson.
Giggling in Bookkeeping I class – Some girls had giggled during class and were told to be quiet. After class they were called to the front of the room to explain their actions. When the teacher found out the reason for the disturbance she had to laugh too and the whole matter was forgotten.
Typing class speed – The Business Department has set up standards which pertain to all typing classes. In Typing I the students must attain a speed of 30 w.p.m. on a five-minute timed writing with five or less errors and must be able to use parts of the machine correctly. [In Typing II] students are required to type 50 w.p.m. for five minutes with five or less errors.
Stenography II class speed – Teacher began dictating at varying speeds soon after the bell had rung. Students had to read the letters back. Some outlines with which students had difficulty were put on the board. Must be able to take 100 w.p.m. for 3 to 5 minutes to pass the course.
Thanks to Edith Kostron Labaw for preserving and sharing her Junior Practicum report, and for the photos.
== View the full Central High School Practicum Report (PDF) ==
Please contact us if you have additional photos, documents, or information on local schools.
More on Hopewell Valley Schools
Posts on school materials, including yearbooks, graduation programs, and plays.
- See also post on St. Michael’s Orphanage and School
Browse all School materials in the Image Album and Pamphlet Collection:
- Hopewell Schools History Posters – Hopewell Elementary School at the Harvest Fair
- Images – Hopewell Valley Schools Album – Class photos, classrooms, etc. (search by name, etc.)
- Pamphlets – Hopewell Valley Schools – Yearbooks, commencements, etc. (select by town, name, etc.)
Hopewell Valley Schools – History
- Post on Hopewell School Mascots – and the Frog – School names, mascots and logos
- Post on The Timberlane School Name – The Timberlane Drive development
- Post on Learning Your Letters – School Signs – Princeton High School (1919 / 1920)
- Post on Toll Gate and Hopewell Elementary School Centennials (2026)
Hopewell Borough Schools History – Grammar & High Schools
- Post on Hopewell Elementary School History – Hopewell Schools History posters
- Documents on Hopewell Borough Schools – Briefs and Posters
Hopewell Grammar School (Model Ave.) – 1888 – Posts & Materials
- Post on Model Ave. Grammar School Annex – Jewelry, invention, guitars, metalwork
- Post on c1912 Hopewell Grammar School Kids – Photos on Model Ave.
- Post on 1920s Hopewell Teachers – Scott & Scharring-Hausen
- Brief – Hopewell Grammar School Summary Brief (PDF)
- Brief – Hopewell Grammar School Annex Summary Brief (PDF)
Hopewell Elementary School (Princeton Ave.) – 1926 – Posts & Materials
- Post on the Hopewell Elementary School Centennial – history and additions
- Post on Hopewell Elementary School Class Plaques – 1926-1966 – Photos and names
- Post on 1941 Hopewell Elementary School Newspaper
- Post on 1952 Hopewell Elementary School – Graduation program and yearbook
- Pamphlets – 1956 Hopewell Elementary School “Hi-Lights” Newsletters
- Pamphlets – All Hopewell Elementary School Pamphlets – with yearbooks, graduation programs, newsletters
- Brief – Hopewell Elementary School Summary Brief (PDF)
Pennington Grammar School – Posts & Materials
- Post on 1950s Memories of Pennington – Mike Thomsen – Building evolution
Hopewell High School (Columbia Ave.) – 1910 – Posts & Materials
- Post on The Confusing Hopewell Firehouse – and Boro Hall and High School (1910)
- Post on 1917 Hopewell High School Yearbook – “Blue and Gold”
- Post on 1920s Hopewell High School – Commencement / Class Day books
- Post on 1924 Hopewell High School Program and Ads – Senior class play
- Post on 1927 Hopewell High School Diploma & Autograph Book
- Pamphlets – All Hopewell High School Pamphlets – with yearbooks, graduation programs, diploma
Hopewell Valley Central High School(s) (Pennington) – 1929 / 1958 – Posts & Materials
- Post on 1950s Memories of Pennington – Mike Thomsen – Buildings, school days
- Post on Central High School 1962 Practicum Report – School operations
- Post on Central High School 1961 Student Handbook – Rules & Clubs
- Post on Business Classes at Central High School, c. 1966 – Typing & bookkeeping
- Post on Central High School Class of 1966 – 2016 Reunion Scrapbook – Valley Images
- Post on Central High School Curriculum: 1962 & 1976 – Booklets
- Pamphlets – All Central High School Pamphlets – Yearbooks, graduation programs, curriculum
See also the Document Archive for additional historical school materials.
