Cecil attended The Curtis School for Boys in Brookfield, Connecticut as a young boy. When he was a student the school was located on Route 25 at the former Goodsell Estate. Fred Curtis and his wife Ida ran it until the late 1920's. The land that made up the Curtis School was called Curtis Crescent. School life in the Victorian era consisted of classes in reading, writing, oral spelling, correspondence (which was practiced on letters home), Latin, French, German, geography, finance and U.S., English, and ancient history. The boys kept individual records of their conduct. On the "debit" side, marks were placed to measure some shortcomings in behavior; on the credit side, record of minutes of actual work were kept. Every debit required five minutes of labor (caring for the schoolhouse fire, sweeping th schoolhouse, cleaning the lamps, filling the coal boxes, etc). Clearing the brush and breaking of stone (for driveway paving) were left to the older boys. Payment was 3 cents an hour or a special treat of a green peppermint candy. The school raised their own fruits, vegetables, and chickens and had milk from their own "tested" cows. At night the headmaster made the rounds to make sure the boys were tucked in and his wife would listen to their prayers. Recreational activities included sleigh rides, ice skating, bicycle rides, picnics, gardening, tennis, Sunday walks, basketball, and even an occasional making of a mud pie. On Sundays students attended the Congregational Church, Sunday School, went on long walks, and read. Closed in 1943, it was turned into the Nutmeg Inn, also called Najjar's Inn. In January 1959 it was destroyed in a spectacular fire. The Brookfield Library was constructed on the site in 1975. The old steps to the dormitory building remain.