Letters to the Editor
Alumni Life welcomes letters from readers. Letters may be edited for length and clarity. Send letters to Montclair State University, Alumni Life Letters, Office of Public Information, 1 Normal Ave., Upper Montclair, NJ, 07043, fax 973-655-7382 or e-mail stliferd@mail.montclair.edu.
Dear Editor:
I read with great interest the letter by Fred Pregger in the fall Alumni
Life, recalling my departure from Montclair State Teachers College (MSTC)
in 1942 and eventual return after the war to graduate in 1947. While rethinking
the “good old days,” I remembered an integral facet of MSTC
that has been forgotten by many and unknown to most—College High
School (CHS).
CHS was a demonstration school of grades 7-12, with only 30 students per
grade, housed in what is now Morehead Hall. The students were carefully
chosen, with special consideration given to faculty’s children and
siblings of enrolled children. The CHS staff included college professors
and the curriculum was demanding. Students often had six hours of homework
per night. Despite its small number, this gifted group of students was
able to publish a newspaper and a yearbook, field a six-man football team
and a basketball team, and engage in other activities.
At the time of its inception, CHS was an integral part of the teacher-training
program of MSTC. College students, all of whom were prospective secondary
school teachers, were expected to complete observations, and by their
junior and senior years frequently participated in the instructional program
as well as brief teaching stints.
Eventually, as the function and purpose of MSTC expanded, College High
became a small and expensive arm of the college and was forced by the
State Commissioner of Education to disband. Unfortunately, all the graduates
of College High became alumni of a non-existent institution and apparently
no comprehensive collection of their records has ever been found. A number
of graduating classes have made special efforts to maintain their identities
throughout the years. For example, the class of 1967 is planning a reunion.
I had the privilege of teaching algebra to this class in 1964. Among the
29 students was my son, who at the time was 14 years old.
I was provided an impressive summary on the accomplishments of most of
the graduates of this class. They include four psychologists, three physicians,
six attorneys, a classics professor, a top chemist for a Fortune 500 drug
company, a successful artist, a Ph.D. college administrator, a corporate
vice president of investor relations, a vice president for business development
for a major medical center, a partner in a major New York investment banking
firm, an IBM software programmer, a senior editor at National Geographic,
a geologist, a human resources consultant and a librarian.
The class of 1967 reunion will take place at the Georgetown Inn in Washington,
D.C. during the weekend of May 7, 2004. For more information, contact
Deborah Waldner Guttentag at dng@yahoo.com
or Harry Sobel at h.sobel@comcast.net.
Max Sobel ’47
Montclair State Professor Emeritus
EDITOR’S NOTE: If you attended College High, please e-mail us
at alumni@mail.montclair.edu and put College High in the subject line.