Pre-k through grade 12
260 Boardman Road Poughkeepsie, NY 12603 Tel 845.462.7600 Fax 845.462.7602 www.poughkeepsieday.org
purpose
joy
creativity
possibility
many minds, one world
9 Printed on recycled paper
welcome to Poughkeepsie Day School Every weekday, from September through June, families from all over the mid-Hudson Valley wake up with a shared conviction: They are part of an extraordinary educational community. They come by car, by bus, by bicycle, on foot, from all points of the compass, some from a great distance. What draws them to PDS? You’ll find the answer here—in anecdotes about our students, in their words and in photographs of the day-to-day life of the school. At PDS we seek to develop outstanding students and purposeful global citizens. We stress integrity, compassion and respect in our own community. We teach our students to hold these values as they interact with each other and engage with the world. We model responsible citizenship with our evolving pursuit of sustainable practices. Our community represents a wide variety of families and belief systems. We welcome and respect those differences. As a parent or a student at PDS, your voice is heard and your ideas taken seriously. The heart of PDS is the people and our approach to learning. And a spirit that permeates everything we do. It starts with our mission. At PDS we educate the whole person for the whole world.
curiosity
mission statement Poughkeepsie Day School develops educated citizens with a passion for learning and living. Our community demands integrity, responsibility and mutual respect. PDS graduates students who: • Possess a rich academic knowledge base and are creative,
flexible, independent, resourceful learners for life • Are intellectually curious, active seekers, users and
creators of knowledge • Listen well and integrate, analyze and synthesize
information with practiced skill • Communicate effectively and work collaboratively • Think globally with awareness and understanding of
complexity and multiple perspectives • Exercise ethical discernment • Have compassion and empathy and commit to
their communities • Know who they are and follow their own compass with
optimism and courage • Lead and inspire others through example, dedication and
commitment to equality and justice • Acknowledge the role of Poughkeepsie Day School in
their lives and sustain its legacy
teamwork
The foundation of our
unique learning
environment
The PDS mission endures, even in the whirlwind of demands competing for our attention. What changes are the ever-evolving challenges of the 21st century and our response to them. Our mission keeps us steadily focused on what matters most. We recognize that people with a self-sustaining love of learning and a passion for life are the ones who will adapt and thrive. We give our students room to explore while equipping them with the skills they need to succeed. Our job is to support all of our students as they grow toward their full potential. Creative and critical thinking is more important than ever. Rigid, standardized schooling is obsolete. Today’s institutions, from colleges to corporations, seek flexible, independent and agile thinkers with a highly developed sense of their own abilities. Our curriculum is designed for just such a world. Our collaborative learning environment, with its dedicated faculty and openness to new tools and ideas, provides the springboard for engaged and energetic learners. Our advisory program and exceptional college counseling reflect our commitment to producing graduates who are well prepared.
This is PDS. We invite you to see how we live our mission every day>
Students from pre-k through 4th grade build fundamental skills through love of learning and joyful exploration. The middle school is a place of transition to new levels of social and intellectual maturity and responsibility. The high school program provides the atmosphere and advantages of a small liberal arts college.
active learning and experience Learning by doing is integral to a PDS education. At PDS learners are at the center of the activity. Students don’t take a back seat and coast. Their curiosity fuels the questions. They design the experiments and lead the projects. They take their learning forward, making presentations, analyzing ideas in journals and using technology to communicate and create online knowledge centers. Our students are producers of knowledge to share with others, not just consumers of information. We know that active involvement—intellectual, physical and social—is the key to effective learning. Decades of educational research bears out what we see every day: Confidence and academic capabilities soar when students take on projects that are rooted in lived experience. Our students learn from life. The kindergarten visits Sprout Creek Farm to witness the birth of baby goats in a warm winter barn. Older students test the impact of pollution on a nearby creek, go on an archeological dig, debate economic policy. This is a school where students learn about the world and get involved. PDS makes full use of the surrounding Hudson Valley and the resources of New York City. We welcome emerging technologies that allow students and their teachers to reach beyond the classroom toward a respectful partnership with the world.
SPOTLIGHT
Curious Minds and Creative Thinkers As educators, we know we’re on the right track when a high school teacher’s biggest problem is not how to get students to contribute to class discussions—it’s getting them to stop. In a school where everyone is valued, students feel free to speak their minds, show their enthusiasm and share ideas. Our innovative high school program uses expanded blocks of class time so students can explore subjects thematically and in depth. Our small, seminar-style classes allow everyone’s voice to be heard.
HANDS-ON LEARNING FROM PRE-K THROUGH GRADE 12
Lower school: Kindergarten visits to Sprout Creek Farm, Poughkeepsie
Lower school: Hudson River tugboat ride
Middle school: Outdoor education at Frost Valley in the Catskill Mountains
challenge
<Middle school students push themselves beyond their comfort zones
“I used to think of water as a liquid. I now think of it as a much needed lifesustaining natural resource.” –7th grade student
“Because the classes are so discussion-oriented, you’re able to voice your own opinions and get feedback from your peers and your teacher. It helps me organize my thoughts and what’s going on in my own head.” –11th grade student
Middle school: Museum trips to Storm King Art Center and Dia:Beacon
High school: Comparative religion class tour of regional houses of worship
High school: Law class observation of courthouse proceedings
High school: Geology field study at local outcrops
cultivation of
individual
expression confidence
<Each studentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s gifts are recognized and nurtured
PERSONAL EXPLORATION
speak your mind in a poetry slam
design and build a robot
study violin, sing a capella and collaborate on an original musical
Who are you? What might you become? The student intrigued with international politics has a serious interest in French cooking and loves to act. An accomplished cellist aspires to become a veterinarian. A senior headed for art college plays soccer and loves her advanced calculus class. Our curriculum challenges students to know themselves as unique learners and to develop their abilities beyond their comfort zones. They are encouraged to imagine possibilities, explore choices and take on new roles. A robust core curriculum gains additional strength from individual inquiry. Choice time for younger learners and electives and curricular options for older students offer intellectual opportunity balanced with traditional rigor. From their early years, PDS students are encouraged to evaluate themselves. At collaborative family conferences, they present their work, show accountability for their actions, assess their strengths and draw plans for their own future studies. Small classes and engaged teachers ensure that students are known and respected for who they are. A strong belief in the importance of creativity means learning in and through the arts and the development of imagination for every student.
“Music is my passion and it’s so awesome how much support I’ve gotten from PDS. I’m creating original compositions which I’ll perform with the music faculty.” –10th grade student
SPOTLIGHT
A Dedicated and Talented Faculty PDS teachers see their mission as helping students find a mission of their own. They are dedicated to helping each child succeed. Our culture of collaboration and caring is supported by professional development. A lower school team works over the summer to create a new social studies curriculum. A science teacher joins an English teacher’s class discussion of the book “The Omnivore’s Dilemma.” Middle and high school teachers team up to earn a prestigious grant for a course that explores the Holocaust through its literature and art. Our faculty shares a willingness to innovate, to look ahead to what colleges and universities seek in their students.
articulate your goals at a studentled conference
mount a senior art show
make a movie about molecular structure
conduct independent research in physics
take an extra math class because that is what you love
interdisciplinary and
thematic learning
exploration
<Connecting the dots in a community study
Spanish and art meet
Learning without borders. Our teachers and our curriculum connect arts to science and history to math. We focus on the big questions, broad concepts and interdisciplinary themes. A middle school science teacher, working with an English teacher, challenges students to distill the chemistry of water as a haiku. The same teachers organize a workshop to discuss a nonfiction text with a biology component. Later, students demonstrate scientific understanding when they write expository essays about nutrition. This kind of interdisciplinary learning is routine at PDS. PDS teaches students to integrate their experiences and information so they see the wider context, make connections and, most importantly, ask not only “What?” but “Why?” and “What next?” A yearlong lower school study of the day-to-day life of Poughkeepsie’s Market Street means the experience of the place itself—the bank, the diner, the courthouse, the hotel, the Bardavon Opera House. A Spanish teacher picks up on this theme with the Spanish names for fruits and vegetables at the farmers’ market. An art teacher helps students build jewel-toned squashes and watermelons. “Every year you have to evaluate yourself. I’m always open to hearing about how I can improve.” –8th grade student
For a high school modern European history course spanning 600 years, the teacher addresses the content thematically, to give it more meaning. Students examine the relationship between the philosophies of Locke and Rousseau to consider how these writings influenced the French and American revolutions. It’s all part of the creative life of the PDS mind.
“I have taken part in all sorts of activities, from Shakespeare to basketball, to Model UN and student government to street art classes. The range of options is fantastic.” –12th grade student
SPOTLIGHT
Teamwork and Collaboration We model our curriculum on real life. Learning in the adult world usually involves collaboration and discussion with others—the urgency is in the work itself, not in competition. That’s why instead of a science fair, we have a symposium, where learners share ideas. In a high school drama class, students discover that they improve as public speakers by building on each other’s lines. A middle school digital editing class finds that a multimedia project cannot succeed without students collaborating as director, cast and crew. Behind the scenes or front and center, in a pre-k taking on classroom tasks or at a National Model United Nations presentation by the high school, every contribution is valued.
preparation for college and career Ready for anything, PDS students have the competitive edge. We prepare our students to enjoy a rich and dynamic college experience. Students learn to be self-aware, independent and critical thinkers–exactly the qualities top schools seek. These are the same qualities that lead to success in the world after college. Our alumni passionately follow many paths—in the sciences and the environmental field, the arts, business and as educators themselves. Each year students in grades 9 through 12 follow a challenging college-preparatory core curriculum of English, a second language, history, science, mathematics and the arts. Advanced-level courses and interdisciplinary and supplementary electives intensify the learning experience. Each student focuses on an area of study for further in-depth work and learns to create and manage a full and balanced program. Our exceptional college counseling program starts in 9th grade. The college counseling team knows every student as an individual with unique aspirations. Students are carefully guided through test preparation and the selection and application process. This customized approach gives our students an advantage in the competition for admission to colleges and universities of their choice. PDS issues comprehensive narrative reports, rather than numbers or grades. PDS transcripts showcase our students by providing a detailed picture of their accomplishments. The culmination of the school’s focus on individual excellence is commencement, where every senior has a chance to speak.
“PDS helps students become enlightened citizens of the world community. They emerge as self-reflective teenagers with multiple interests in which the stereotype is flipped on its head. Here, it’s cool to be knowledgeable about the world.”
mastery
–high school history teacher
JOURNEY of alumnus THOMAS Brooks
1982 Graduates from PDS
1986–1990 Receives B.A. in history and M.Div. from Yale University
1993–1998 Senior policy analyst at the Child Welfare League of America in Washington, DC
<College counseling is customized to the individual
Students are carefully guided in charting their own paths
SPOTLIGHT
Rigor Defined
“It’s not about plugging numbers into equations. It’s about getting the concept.” –12th grade student
2001 Receives J.D. from Cornell University
2001–present Director of policy and research analysis at Connecticut Commission on Children in Hartford, CT
Leading thinkers in business and education agree: To compete in the new global economy, young people must develop skills that cannot be outsourced or automated. PDS embraces the qualities that build successful careers: the ability to think independently; work together as a team, lead and influence; adapt to change; initiate and thrive in an entrepreneurial culture; manage and interpret information; and explore great questions. Our classes provide a rigorous grounding in these skills of collaborative problem solving, ethics and creative thinking. In an era of challenges our graduates are prepared to make a positive impact.
2003 Moves with family to Hudson Valley so daughter can attend PDS
2003–2008 Serves on PDS diversity subcommittee and parent liaison group; elected to PDS Board of Trustees
commitment to
community
wonder
<Reading buddies from different grades benefit by learning together
Together we are stronger. There’s a magic to PDS. You can see it when our high school students fill the theater stage with candlelit pumpkins winking in the darkness to amaze the younger children. You can sense it when lower school students stand up to recite the Tennyson poem that officially inducts them into the Eagle Society. You can feel it as the gymnasium is transformed for the Winter Festival, with a blazing sun made by kindergartners serving as a backdrop for high school a capella singers.
“I see myself volunteering for life, maybe starting an activist organization or an animal shelter.” –9th grade student
Assemblies, buddy groups and all-school activities bring students of all ages together in imaginative and meaningful ways. Though organized and led by older students, everyone participates in an annual Peace Makers Assembly that celebrates justice and human rights. Parents, faculty and students reconnect in the fall at the welcome-back picnic, and alumni converge annually on Founders’ Day. Scenes of community like these define PDS and make memories for a lifetime. PDS teaches students to be global citizens. Awareness begins in the lower school with classroom tasks and recycling. It widens in scope as children move through the grades. Middle schoolers organize a dining room composting project, launch a food drive and raise funds for an animal shelter. Service learning is a required and revered part of the high school program. Seniors initiate and complete one-month internships, many with a service component, close to home, across the country or abroad. Our students develop a strong sense of social responsibility, an understanding of the common good and the need to make a difference.
Students take charge of recycling
PDS has long been a force in the NYC AIDS Walk
SPOTLIGHT
Life and Leadership “Don’t sit back and wait for something to happen. Get it started.” That’s the message we give PDS students. On the high school level, students lead clubs and discussion groups. They organize study groups, peer leadership sleepovers and clubs for old-time music, environmental action and poetry. They form groups to play rock music, quidditch and chess. These experiences give them the satisfaction that comes only from conceiving an idea, carrying it out and seeing the results. That do-it-yourself mind-set extends to the curriculum. Students can launch their own independent films or co-teach a specialized class on fashion design or even the history of chocolate. Drawing on real-world models, students develop entrepreneurial expertise that prepares them for success beyond high school.
a respect
for diversity
To know the world—and see yourself within it— is the promise of the PDS mission. An appreciation of complexity is more important now than ever. At PDS seeing the world through the eyes of others starts with the study of First Nations of the Hudson Valley. Then the curriculum expands to encompass the world, from the ancient civilizations to the multiformity of our contemporary global era. Validation of diversity means honoring the individual learner. A strong 21st-century community must include a range of human aptitudes and life experiences. We actively seek to make our community representative of the vibrantly heterogeneous world. We know that people use different strategies to achieve their goals and draw on an array of abilities to pursue their lives. We believe that each learner is unique and deserves the opportunity to succeed. PDS respects exploration and creates a safe place for students to be themselves–and to take intellectual risks. In our classrooms students are not afraid to try something new or express a tentative understanding of an unfamiliar idea. We build confidence and knowledge through high expectations and a personalized approach to learning. Teachers work carefully to advance each student’s development. They write indepth narrative evaluations and work in partnership to establish intellectual horizons rather than assign restrictive letter or number grades. At PDS every student feels at home. We seek to build an inclusive and culturally competent community that honors multiple perspectives just as it seeks the common ground that unites us.
Students benefit from a collaborative relationship with teachers
“When I first came to PDS, everyone was so nice. They included me in their games and I felt like I fit in right away.” –4th grade student
MANY MINDS, ONE WORLD
THINK
SOLVE
INITIATE
LEAD
COLLABORATE
<Global studies are integral to the lower school curriculum
community
SPOTLIGHT
Global Citizenship As the global village shrinks, the challenges facing our planet become shared concerns. Twenty-first century adults must manage the complex nature of the world they inherit. We prepare PDS students for global citizenship. Our curriculum shows how our present is tied to our past. It also looks ahead.
High school student art
Students in a joint middle and high school course form a partnership with an international school. They research and select a global issue, develop a plan to follow through and hold a culminating online conference. They have a great time, and they also learn intensively. They problem-solve, work in teams and communicate across borders. They articulate ideas, think and read with a critical eye and use innovative technology. Exactly the skills set and habitudes that lead to success in our global community.
SHARE
ASSESS
ASK
IMAGINE
NEGOTIATE
ADAPT
COMMUNICATE
Hudso n Rive r
Ma
87 90
Poughkeepsie Day School
Taconic Stat e Parkway
9
Ct
84 9
87
95
campus Poughkeepsie Day School is located on 34 acres of fields and woodlands in the town of Poughkeepsie, New York. The school is 75 miles north of New York City. The facilities include historic Kenyon House, which provides an elegant yet comfortable setting for high school classes, meetings and various school-related activities. The Elizabeth C. Gilkeson Center houses the lower school and middle school and some high school classes. It includes three custom-built science labs, a full-size gymnasium and the 300-seat James Earl Jones Theater. Both buildings are wireless enabled. For directions to our campus, please visit www.poughkeepsieday.org. We are located at 260 Boardman Road in Poughkeepsie, New York. For more information, please call the admissions office at 845.462.7600 ext. 201 or e-mail admissions@poughkeepsieday.org
nJ new York City
95
Poughkeepsie Day School admits students of any race, color, creed, sexual orientation, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs and activities generally accorded or made available at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, creed, sexual orientation, national and ethnic origin in the administration of its education policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs and athletic and other schooladministered programs.
Design: Lesley Kunikis Copywriting: Mary Forsell Photography: Douglas Baz, Matt Carr, PDS Photo Archives
nY
Pre-k through grade 12
260 Boardman Road Poughkeepsie, NY 12603 Tel 845.462.7600 Fax 845.462.7602 www.poughkeepsieday.org
purpose
joy
creativity
possibility
many minds, one world
9 Printed on recycled paper