History

The Putnam Indian Field School is an independent, co-educational preshool for children from toddler through Pre-K years.  In 1971, Fred Wierdsma, a life long Greenwich resident and a teacher at Greenwich Country Day School, founded the Putnam School and, in 1973, he left GCDS to become Headmaster of the new school.  Hoping to inspire the same love of outdoors and nature that he has, Fred created the Smokey’s Bounders Program, an enrichment program offering outdoor adventure and nature study for young children.  Smokey’s is still offered to our students today.  In 1978, Fred merged his school with Indian Field School, a two room, “little red schoolhouse.”   The result of the merger, the Putnam Indian Field School, represents over 70 years of combined experience serving community children.  As Headmaster of PIFS, Fred assumed responsibility for fund-raising to enlarge the school, adding the Connecting and Pre-K classrooms and the kitchen for the 1978 opening. The school grew gradually over the years as the gym, the science and art rooms and additional classrooms were added.   In 2001, Fred officially retired as Headmaster, but continues to head the school’s development efforts. He also takes the children for “nature” classes in small groups.