Summer 2005 - Hood College

Summer 2005
Hood Magazine 9
“We hope to extend the hours
and curriculum components for fouryear-olds,
upgrade the technology for
videotaping college students as they
learn to teach, and implement expanded
parent programs,” Hosford said.
The lab school, one of 100 child
education laboratory schools remaining
in the nation, opened in the home of
Annie Brunner Kemp Maples ’13, who
lived on Upper College Terrace, a few
blocks from campus.
“A nursery school was a new concept
at that time,” said Samuel W. Maples
Jr., of Frederick, whose three children
attended the school in the mid-1950s.
“I wasn’t in the first class, but I
remember walking across the alley to
the school from our home on West
College Terrace,” recalled Betsy McCain
McAlpine ’51 of McLean, Va., a member
of the Board of Trustees and the
granddaughter of Hood’s first president,
Joseph Henry Apple. “I was probably
two at the time.”
Within a few years the nursery
school was well established as part of
the College’s curriculum. In 1936, Hood
converted Westview Terrace, a two-story
brick building built in 1921 as a residence
for the vice president, into a child
development laboratory school.
Nancy Pearre Lesure of Frederick,
one of the many neighbors and friends
of the College who attended the 75th
anniversary celebration in April, enjoyed
her tour of the school.
“My father, Dr. A. Austin Pearre, was
the college doctor and we lived in
Westview Terrace from 1932 to 1933,
before it was converted into the lab
school,” she said.
Dorothea Ranck Hunter of
Pittsburgh, Pa., wrote, “I was raised in
Frederick and on the Hood campus as
my father, James B. Ranck, taught history
there from 1928 to 1967. My
brother James and I were among the
first students at the nursery school.
Mother used to tell how the Hood students
observed us, especially because we
were twins.”
The Ranck twins were classmates of
the Bowers triplets: Sally Bowers
Proffitt ’53, Grayson R. Bowers and
Martin Bowers Jr. Today, Martin and
his wife, Natalie Colbert Bowers ’52,
live on Dill Avenue; their back yard
overlooks the lab school playground.
“Miss Prall was so excited when we
enrolled our son,” said Natalie. “She
said, ‘He could be the first child of a
former nursery school student!’”
Another neighbor, Albertine
Hodgson Baker ’49, retired principal of
Frederick’s Parkway Elementary School,
enrolled her four children before they
were born.
“It was quite the thing in the ’50s to
send your child to the school, but it was
difficult because the school had a long
waiting list. As soon as we made our
‘verification’ trip to the doctor’s office
our next stop would be a visit to Miss
Prall to enroll our ‘expected’ in the nursery
school class three years in the future.
The school provided a positive environment
where basic cognitive and social
skills could be developed in a friendly
and relaxed atmosphere,” she said.
The interaction among parents, children,
students and teachers is one of
the strengths of the lab school, according
to Monica O’Gara, clinical instructor.
“Parents feel supported and grow in
their role as their child’s most important
teacher. Hood students have an
opportunity to see and practice everyday
how a community of learners can
respond to engaging curriculum and a
nurturing atmosphere at the early
childhood level.”
“We have wonderful memories of the
school from when our daughter was
there in 1987,” said Arthur and Julane
Anderson of Frederick. Their daughter
Phoebe is now a member of the Class
of 2007.
Aldan T. Weinberg ’75, professor
of journalism at Hood, penned a
humorous article, “Please Pass the
Nails, Lady,” for Hood Magazine.
He admits that he remembers little
of his preschool experience.
“I do remember that they let me
drive real nails into a real block of
wood using a real hammer.”
According to the National
Association of Laboratory Schools,
lab schools have a commitment to
educate children and educate
prospective teachers; a direct result
is that the children in laboratory
schools receive an outstanding education
from master teachers.
Certainly Onica Prall was a master
teacher, highly respected and
greatly beloved by those who knew
her. In 1971, the lab school was
renamed in her honor, the only
building on campus named for a
member of the faculty.
Perhaps Barbara Cummings
Stacks summed it up best when she
wrote: “With every teaching opportunity,
I think about that little lab
school and say, ‘Thank you for
inviting me to play.’”
Joy Derr M.A. ’93 is director of development
communications and former editor
of Hood Magazine.