Figure 1.--This photograph shows a class of so-called "sub-Frosh" (boys who were not yet formally enrolled as Freshmen but who were at the school as late primary-age students, about 13 or very early 14, and were in a shadowy category of essentially pre-entrants). The sub-Frosh were allowed to take some regular upper-level classes if they were intellectually up to the challenge, and they usually became regular students the following year. They couldn't be members of WRA official teams, but they had athletic instruction on their own. Notice that most of these boys wear knickers at 13 although two boys in the front row are already wearing grown-up suits with long trousers. This photo is dated 1930.

Western Reserve Academy for many years only admitted boys, like most British public schools at the time and most private schools. Public high schools were coeducational, but most private schools before World war II were single gender schools. . In Americam terms it was a preparatory school, a private boarding secondary school. That meant grades 9-12 (freshmam, sophmore, junior, and senior). That was the same age range as American public high schools. Some boys started before they formally entered the school. They were called pre-freshman or mor commonly pre-frosh. The ages of the boys were from about 13 to 18 years. Most boys began their fresh year at age 14 years, but there were a few 13 year olds. Most boys graduated when they were 18 years old. There may have been a few 19 year olds. Western Reserve remains an academically elite school, although now it is co-educational. It tended to be very WASP back in the 1930s and 1940s.

Pre-Freshmen

The so-called "sub-Frosh" wre boys who were not yet formally enrolled as Freshmen, but who were at the school as late primary-age students, about 13 or very early 14, and were in a shadowy category of essentially pre-entrants. This helped ease their entry to the school. The sub-Frosh were allowed to take some regular upper-level classes if they were intellectually up to the challenge, and they usually became regular students the following year. They couldn't be members of WRA official teams, but they had athletic instruction on their own. Notice that most of these boys wear knickers at 13 although two boys in the front row are already wearing grown-up suits with long trousers. This photo is dated 1930.

Freshmen

Most boys entered the school as Freshmen at age 14 or 15 and graduated at 18 or 19. Many boys wore knickers during their Freshman and Sophomore years, but there was no school rule about it. Boys wore knickers or long trousers in schooldepending on the wishes of their parents, which is why some more liberal parents permitted long trousers at an earlier age. Knickers however predominated. They were usually worn with patterned knee socks that could to be held in place with garters, but the socks kept falling down and were a constant problem. A few boys wore plain colored long stockings, usually tan or beige, which stayed up more neatly--especially if worn with hose supporters.

Sophmores

Juniors

Seniors

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Created: 3:36 AM 4/5/2008
Last updated: 3:36 AM 4/5/2008