Amy Meng, Reporter
@amengcourant
Since the high school opened in 1927, it has endured years of academic and physical change that have melded it into the school it is today. While most students are aware of the extensive advancement in digital technology that has improved learning inside the classrooms, the high school’s past is filled with hidden astonishments such as the smoking room, a much wider variety of English electives, and different sports played in PE class. With a bright future both academically and artistically, the high school’s strong basis is built on its nearly-century long journey of evolution and continuation.
Art teacher and former student Maggie Pennoyer, who was a student at New Canaan High School from 1994 to 1998, recalls taking several classes that are still offered to students today. “My favorite classes were Creative Writing, Marine Science, and Studio Art, and I vaguely remember taking a class called Romance In Literature,” she said.
Despite these similarities in curriculum, Ms. Pennoyer has also identified some changes that have been made to the structure of the building since her time as a student. “The cafeteria was divided into two sections: the North and South Lounge,” she said.
Many students may recognize Ms. Pennoyer as an art teacher from Saxe Middle School, but she started teaching art at the high school in 2021. “The caliber of students and faculty have not changed since I left. This has always been an incredible place to learn and teach,” she said.
Ms. Pennoyer’s teaching experience has also changed since she began to teach an older group of students as she has been able to explore more complex topics in the classroom. “Now that I teach at the high school I get to go on a deeper dive into specific mediums,” she said. “The concepts and techniques are on another level, which I enjoy very much.”
Math teacher Jennifer Lee has been teaching at the high school since 1995. Having previously taught at a school in Cape Cod, Ms. Lee wanted to teach at a school in Connecticut, where she grew up. “My first impressions were that the teachers were very helpful, especially in comparison to my previous job. The students seemed very motivated and talented,” Ms. Lee said.
When Ms. Lee first started working at the high school, many aspects of the high school were very different. “When I first started here, they used music instead of bells, and the cafeteria was in the area of the building where guidance is now,” she said.
The emergence of the block schedule during the pandemic has also affected class flow. “The schedule has also changed the ways that we do things. There are different priorities when you have to get things done in 48 minutes versus being able to think and practice for a longer time,” Ms. Lee said.
For Ms. Lee, the advancement of technology has also greatly changed the flow of her math classes. “When I first started teaching, teachers and students did not bring computers or phones to school. We used to have chalkboards in classrooms instead of smart boards or whiteboards, so I think all classes in general, especially math classes, were a lot more lecture-based with students taking notes,” Ms. Lee said.
The introduction of calculators in the classroom has also changed some curriculum priorities. “Calculators have eliminated the need of emphasizing the whole computation aspect of math, so they have allowed us to focus more on concepts,” she said.
In the early days of her high school teaching career, Ms. Lee even taught a computer science class. “It was a bit of HTML and web design, and just the basics,” she said. “Back then, the computer science classes used to be used to fulfill a math credit.”
English Teacher and baseball coach Aaron Gallo, who is a member of New Canaan High School’s class of 1989, has memories of the school’s smoker lounge during his high school career. “There was a smoker’s lounge in the cafeteria during my freshman year where students brought their lunch and smoked,” said Mr. Gallo. “There was a huge doorway to the room, but there weren’t any doors so it was open to the rest of the cafeteria. I don’t think the lounge was banned until I graduated, but it wasn’t a popular place to go.”
As a student, Mr. Gallo enjoyed his geometry, Spanish, and history classes, but the English class system was different than it is now. “There weren’t any honors English courses offered, so the English classes had students of very different academic levels,” he said. “There’s an advantage to having a variety of different students together because the modeling of the stronger kids really pushed the weaker kids to set some goals. But when you don’t have really strong kids in the class, then mediocrity becomes the norm and the peers aren’t challenging others as much as they can.”
Seniors also had a different selection of English electives. “As a senior, I took a Bible-based English class,” Mr. Gallo said. “We used the Bible as literature, so it wasn’t a religious class. I also took an English speech class as an elective, and I once took the class to the gym to give them a baseball pitching speech and demonstration.”
Another significant change at the high school is the addition of a support system which includes guidance counselors, psychologists, and the teachers themselves. “The support that’s available today was nonexistent back then,” Mr. Gallo said. “If you failed, you failed. It was like sink or swim. If you didn’t get your work done, nobody cared.”
Having taught at the high school since 2004, Mr. Gallo has taught a wide variety of English classes with students of different levels. “My philosophy has shifted to me wanting to provide every student with the opportunity to excel, to demonstrate how much they know, and to support them in their weaker areas,” Mr. Gallo said.
Sports director, former health and PE teacher, and former football and girl’s track coach Jay Egan started teaching at the high school in September of 1985. Having taught health and PE classes for a few years and having coached the football and girl’s track teams, Mr. Egan has witnessed the changes of the high school both academically and through sports. For Mr. Egan, there haven’t been many drastic changes to the high school. “It’s always been an extremely positively competitive academic environment, and that’s been consistent for all the years I have been here,” he said.
According to Mr. Egan, the curriculum for PE and health classes has changed, despite consistencies in the overall school environment. “The focus in health class has shifted, like it has in many areas, from the acquisition of knowledge to the utilization of knowledge and skills,” Mr. Egan said. “Now, the transition in health is about how you use the information that you have and what skills you possess and develop in order to help you maintain good health.”
The sports played in PE classes have also changed, from the past’s touch football, softball and basketball games, to name a few, to today’s badminton and volleyball tournaments. “I think that PE has changed from being more transitional sport activities to more lifetime and fitness-related activities, which parallels what society is interested in. We also used to have different levels of fitness testing, which we still have to some degree, but there were more types of fitness assessments,” Mr. Egan said.
Mr. Egan has also observed a tremendous increase in the interest in FCIAC and CIAC games. “Not only are people now able to go to these games but now these events are streamed so the number of people watching these events has dramatically increased. Since COVID, streaming has now become an accepted norm whereas before it was a nice thing to be able to have,” he said.
In terms of the teams themselves, girl’s lacrosse and field hockey are two sports that have become extremely popular over the past few years, according to Mr. Egan. “I would say that there’s been a dramatic increase not only in the interest but also the quality of play in those sports,” Mr. Egan said.
Although many aspects of the high school have changed over the years, students continue to display undying passion in all areas, whether it be academics, sports, or other extracurriculars. The pandemic had also brought along with it beneficial changes to the high school, such as the block schedule that students are now accustomed to and more accessibility to sports games through screening. As students excel in their studies and hobbies, the future for the high school is bright, but it is also important to learn about the school’s past.
