News & Views
A History of Dining at New Canaan Country School
As work commences on the new Susan Haigh Carver ’51 Dining Hall and Commons, the Country School Archives presents a look back at the history of dining here at the school. The exhibit, displayed in the Grace House Lobby, will be open through January 2018.
The roots of dining at New Canaan Country School can be traced all the way back to the original Community School. In the early years, all of the students lived close enough to the school to either bring their lunch or walk home to eat. As the school grew, an important aspect of enrollment was attracting students from communities beyond New Canaan. As programs were enhanced and new curricula were developed, including a sports program, the school day became longer. This, combined with students travelling longer distances to the school, created the need for a lunch program.
Mrs. Macintosh, principal of the Community School from 1933-1936, is credited with increasing the enrollment and also developing the plan for instituting a lunch program. Excerpts, commenting on dining at the school, from two of her reports to parents, are displayed in the exhibit. Other items of interest include, an original 1899 Doric column from Near House, Cafeteria china from the 1930’s and a milk bottle unearthed from a bottle dump along one of the trails in the NCCS woods.
Please make a point of stopping by to see the exhibit. Contact NCCS Archivist, Mark Macrides, mmacrides@countryschool.net, with questions.
New Canaan Country School
New Canaan Country School admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin and are afforded all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, age, sex, sexual orientation, national origin or ancestry, or disability in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, financial aid policies or any other school-administered programs.
