Winter 22 Periscope

Winter 2022

balance

In This Issue PAGE 1

Head’s Column PAGE 2

Traditions Old and New PAGES 4

Curriculum Connections PAGES 12

Alumni and Community News BACK COVER

50th Anniversary PS1 in the News

THE PERISCOPE Volume 32, Number 1 Editor: Amanda Perla Designer: Mary Cay Walp PS1 Pluralistic School 1225 Broadway Santa Monica CA 90404 (310) 394-1313 (310) 395-1093 fax To learn more about our school, visit our website www.psone.org

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HEAD'S COLUMN BY JOEL PELCYGER

Connection & Community In this topsy-turvy world—where uncertainty abounds—where what we crave most is consistency and familiarity—where talk of a return to normal begs the question of the necessity for change and progress … it certainly seems appropriate that the faculty and staff decided upon BALANCE as the theme for this school year. You will read many different approaches to balance in this issue of PeriScope. Here is mine, written from the perspective of 51 years at PS1!

producing capable and connected citizens, and an inclusive community where parents were seen as partners in a child’s education.

For more than fifty years, PS1’s educational philosophy has shaped young students into leaders and independent thinkers. Pluralism is at the core of everything we do as we provide students with the tools to create a more compassionate world. It’s infused into every aspect of learning, curriculum, activity, program, constituency, and ... yes, community.

I see independent schools consisting of three basic components: a school, a business, and a community. All three require constant attention. At various times, in various ways, and depending on the position you hold at the school, each lens can rise in prominence.

Many schools tout the strength of their community, but when you dig deeper, you may likely find that it wasn’t a foundational value. At PS1, it’s baked into our identity and origin story. You see it in everything we do, from daily recess with different classes, to volunteer parents on campus (pre-COVID, and hopefully again soon), to the all-school camping trip where the younger kids have older student buddies. Kids are mixed in new classes every year, each class having a two-year range, so they really get to know one another (those their own age as well as those both younger and older). We are known for this approach and people gravitate to us because of it.

For the institution, the three must be kept in balance. Based on the feedback we have received over the past fifty years since Ellie and I founded PS1 Pluralistic School, the community piece is our cornerstone. That is where the heart and soul and purpose of a school emerges; where you ensure a school’s culture is visible, obvious, and sustainable.

For PS1, it’s as simple as putting pluralism in our name and as complicated as intentionally designing every aspect of school life, from the hiring process to the curriculum to the physical campus to the empowerment of parents and EACH child, to embody that culture—hook, line, and sinker. For pluralism is empty when not seen through the lens of community. We work collaboratively— CELEBRATE THE MANY; BUILD ONE!

We are the only school in the country founded on the philosophy of pluralism, E Pluribus Unum (Out of Many, One).

From the start, the school built an environment that encouraged personal reflection and social interaction on a scale made available and natural to young children.

We quickly acquired a reputation for

We have long been a school where everyone knows your name. Elementary schools need to be small enough so each child can develop a sense of belonging and big enough to appreciate variety and difference. All faculty and staff have specific duties interacting with students throughout the day so that they are not perceived by students as strangers.

Physical space is cultural capital. PS1 gives children the space to learn, literally. Students have the run of the campus. No place is offlimits to them, so they feel both empowered by their freedom, and completely at home while at school. By the time they graduate, they know each and every nook and cranny on campus—they leave with the knowledge that they have mastered an environment as they ready themselves to head off to middle school.

As I see my 51-year tenure as Head of School coming to a close at the end of this school year, I have (barely) begun to go through some old papers. I found a list compiled by the faculty and staff twenty years ago in 2002 of the benefits and practice of fostering conscious connection for our students (see Fostering Conscious Connection for Our Students on page 10).

Does this seem familiar to what you or your child experienced as a student when they attended PS1 in any decade? I hope so. Ten years ago, we summarized connection and community in a revised mission statement which included both pieces: FITTING IN IS ABOUT BEING YOURSELF. The goal is to feel and know that you fit in; a sense of belonging; I MATTER!

Consistency is our middle name. The values and purpose remain the tie that binds as different people in each generation reify those values and make them personal.

Together, over five decades, we have found a system that works to both empower children and sustain community. Children matter—so do adults. It is a delicate balance to demonstrate trust in and respect for each child while providing the framework and guidance within which they can best operate.

To keep the values and purpose front and center in perpetuity for the next fifty years (and beyond), the Board of Directors has established a Founders Fund for Educational Pluralism in Ellie’s and my name. We are both honored. It is time to start spreading the news about how schools, and the time that young people spend in them, can help set the course for our country to live up to its aspirational motto of pluralism for all children. You will be learning more about the Fund in the coming weeks and months.

—Joel Pelcyger, Head of School

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Traditions Old & New

PS1 Serves PS SERVES, the after-school enrichment program conceived and grown through the efforts of our service-minded students, families, and staff, continues to thrive in 2021–22. Each year we deepen our relationship with the nonprofit The People Concern through ongoing education about and service to our community partners.

The fall session included the most successful drive yet for socks and underwear, led by students. Residents of Turning Point received the donations and were grateful for this act of compassion from our PS1 community.

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50th Anniversary Speaker Series We were thrilled to welcome Mick Ebeling as the inaugural speaker in our 50th Anniversary Speaker Series: To Discover Different Perspectives, Start with 1 Conversation. Mick presented in the MPR to a limited capacity, COVID-safe audience and the livestream was available for participants to watch virtually.

As a career producer and filmmaker and now founder and CEO of Not Impossible, along with being a current and alumni PS1 parent, Mick shared his story of how

he harvests the power of technology and story to change the world, one person and one story at a time. Mick inspired listeners with the question, “Who is my one?” Mick and Joel also shared in a dialogue about the philosophy of pluralism.

Future speakers include Pulitzer Prizewinning AP Journalist, and former PS1 teacher, Martha Mendoza on February 9, and Activist and Philanthropist (and current PS1 parent) Valarie Kaur on May 4.

Thanksgiving Circle

Fall in a Basket

Our annual Family Festival presents a joyful opportunity to come together as one pluralistic community as we celebrate the fall season. This year’s “Fall in a Basket” theme was a huge success! Our volunteers created and distributed baskets of goodies including a tie-dye kit, books, a 50th-anniversary bookmark and book light, popcorn on the cob and molten lava chocolate cake mix, and even a hand-made PS1 board game called “PS1derland.”

This annual celebration is such a meaningful annual tradition when we express our gratitude together in the multi-purpose room. This year, with students and staff on campus and parents participating virtually, we gathered to read quotes of gratitude from all of us in the PS1 community. A highlight this (and every) year is the community sing-along to Simple Gifts, as we emphasized the spirit of our annual kickoff to the holiday season.

Life After PS1 We welcomed back 14 PS1 alumni on October 12 for Life After PS1. Alumni students from a range of high schools returned to talk about their experiences in middle and high school, discuss how

PS1 set the foundation for their education, and share how they continue to be #PS1inspired. The audience was moved by their personification of PS1’s Portrait of a Graduate.

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NS O I T C E ONN C M U L U CURRIC

balance

An interview about the theme of Balance through our approach to Social Emotional Learning (SEL) with Nancy Harding, Ph.D., Assistant Head for Teaching & Learning, and Genevieve Mow, Child Development Specialist.

NANCY: When you think of our theme of Balance this year, do one of the five CASEL

(the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning) competencies: Self-Awareness, Self-Management, Social Awareness, Relationship Skills, and Responsible Decision-Making, stand out as a starting point for SEL work with our students?

GENEVIEVE: Balance through an SEL lens means alignment . . . how can we support connection, care, and competency? For our students, the first steps are self-awareness and self-management. This means learning how to identify our feelings, building an emotional vocabulary, and then having the ability to manage those emotions, thoughts, and actions in different situations. This is called, “Name it to Tame it.”

NANCY: Can you give an example of how you

balance working with students of different ages and developmental needs?

GENEVIEVE: In SEL, the content of

specific skills differs along with adapting developmental tasks as children mature. These competencies remain constant throughout each student’s seven-year experience at PS1. For example, in the Youngers Cluster, we discuss how to identify and express emotions, and how to regulate those feelings.

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In the Bridge Cluster, we build on the work in Youngers, and focus on the reciprocity of relationships meaning cooperation, sense of community, and awareness of the impact of one’s behaviors upon others.

We continue to build our skills in the Middles Cluster and focus more on social awareness and social independence. In the Olders Cluster, we focus on reliability, trustworthiness, independent-mindedness, and critical thinking.

It’s important to note that SEL is not a straight line and that each competency is fluid and organic across all Clusters.

NANCY: What is one piece of advice you would

give our community to help us to maintain social and emotional balance in our lives and in the lives of our children?

GENEVIEVE: Partnership is key . . . when the

school and families work together to support the social-emotional learning of our children, we can shepherd them through both their academic and social development. When we work together, we can build balanced connections that reinforce social-emotional skill development. SEL learning is more effective when the themes extend into the home. I am grateful for the opportunity to partner with parents in the PS1 community to support SEL growth.

Orange

Yellow

YOUNGERS CLUSTER

YOUNGERS CLUSTER

YOUNGERS CLUSTER

LUCIA • GINA

HOLLY S. • MEGHAN

BONNIE • MELVA

Red students have been spending time studying nature. Through planting, observing, role-playing, and gardening, students are getting a first-hand look at balance. Students learned about the needs of plants and how there has to be a balance of resources in order for them to survive.

For instance, if a plant gets too much or too little water or sunshine, it will not thrive.

With two students playing the part of plants, we acted out a nature simulation. The rest of the students played the parts of either water or sunlight. The plants would select their needed resource—water or sunlight—and if the plant got what it needed, it would grow and expand the plant population. We pointed out that when plants get what they need they can thrive and help more plants grow.

As our plant population grew bigger and bigger, the students noticed the resources were being used up. As soon as the resources were gone, students quickly realized the plants weren’t getting what they needed and could die. This was an interactive way to have students learn about balanced needs in nature.

As we continue our studies in life science, we will focus on the relationship between plants and insects and the delicate balance they have in nature.

Through planting, observing, role-playing, and gardening, students are getting a firsthand look at balance.

Orange students are busy planning, building, and constructing while keeping the concept of balance in mind.

Have you ever seen an indoor playground?

In Orange, big blocks are stacked and arranged to form playground favorites from seesaws to obstacle courses to slides. It is understood that balance plays an important part in the successful construction of these objects and in how we teeter, totter, follow a path without straying, and move down a slide. Sometimes, what we make falls apart or doesn’t work. We use that as an opportunity to try again with a new arrangement! On the next rainy day, Orange will have its own play structure ... in the classroom.

Can you move a marble from place to place without touching it? Orange students can.

Thoughtful choices are key when arranging ramps, tunnels, chutes, drop-throughs, and supports. Without a balanced route, the marble will immobilize. Our goal is not only to have a marble travel successfully, but to have all participants play a role in the final construction. Again, we may have to change our thinking to make a fully balanced structure. We have learned to make marble runs using small blocks and now use what we know about balance to arrange big blocks and put together a jumbo version.

Our goal is not only to have a marble travel successfully, but to have all participants play a role in the final construction.

The students in Yellow have been witnessing the miracle of life before their very eyes.

Lifeless hard seeds are beginning to sprout and students are learning that nurturing each seed to grow requires careful thought and attention. How much water is too much?

Can a seed have too much sun? How much soil is the right amount? Striking the right balance between all the different variables is key. Our scientists are experimenting, adjusting, and observing as they tend to their seedlings in order to make sure all of its needs are met so they can grow and thrive. While only time will tell if our planting experiments prove to be successful, our little seeds are also teaching us valuable lessons about life. We are learning that there is no one recipe for gardening success.

Every seed is different and what works for one, may not work for another. We are also learning that seeds will sprout in their own time, just like us. When we spot the first signs of a green sprout poking through the soil we will know that balance and harmony have been achieved and a new miracle has begun.

When we spot the first signs of a green sprout poking through the soil we will know that balance and harmony have been achieved and a new miracle has begun.

CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS | YOUNGERS CLUSTER

Red

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CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS | BRIDGE CLUSTER 6

Green

Blue

BRIDGE CLUSTER

BRIDGE CLUSTER

BILLY • DANIELLE

MCKENDREE • MAREN

Students in the Green Class are completing a family heritage project where they researched the origins, meaning, and stories of their family’s surname. They are also learning how family dishes, remedies, languages, beliefs, clothing, celebrations, and games are elements that make up their own identity.

Children come to school to grow in their academic and socialemotional competencies. Both areas need to be fostered through a well-balanced curriculum. Since coming back to in-person learning, we have focused on fostering this balance by prioritizing certain social-emotional competencies.

Students shared their research with their peers through class presentations and via Google slides. The balance of embracing one’s identity, respecting each other’s identities, and finding commonalities amongst our classmates has encouraged mutual respect and connection in our community.

During the Green class’ Goals time, students focus on building their skills in cooperation, communication, and responsibility. Students work in small groups to teach and learn skills in a topic of interest to them (mixed sports, parkour, art, etc.). Every few weeks, students make a detailed written plan of what they will be teaching. Students take turns practicing leading their group in working on a skill, while the others practice being respectful learners.

In participating in this project, the aim is for students to: • Develop positive social identities based on their membership in multiple groups in society.

• Develop language and historical and cultural knowledge that affirm and accurately describe their membership in multiple identity groups.

• Recognize that people’s multiple identities interact and create unique and complex individuals.

• Express pride, confidence, and healthy self-esteem without denying the value and dignity of other people.

Enabling these skills meets the Learning for Justice’s Identity Anchor Standards. This balance of embracing self and the stories of others has created a safe and vibrant learning environment in our class.

Embracing self and the stories of others has created a safe and vibrant learning environment in our class.

Students also have directed social-emotional lessons in small groups every week. In these groups students focus on community and connection-building activities, strengthening empathy, and appreciating diversity. In addition, our students practice their selfawareness and identify emotions through working with the mood meter and activities like “name it to tame it.”

Students focus on community and connectionbuilding activities, strengthening empathy, and appreciating diversity.

Indigo

Violet

MIDDLES CLUSTER

MIDDLES CLUSTER

KAYLA • PETE

KELLY • ANGI

Students ultimately discovered that with understanding and a clear plan of action, it is possible to create balance between the human and natural worlds.

The Violet classroom’s current writing project titled Character Trait Stories challenges students to achieve a balance in creating the elements needed for dramatic storytelling. After exploring new character trait vocabulary with dictionaries, students developed fictional characters with dominant personality types (whimsical, fearless, droll, etc.).

Either in pairs or individually, students chose four of these characters. Then they mapped out a dramatic story involving a surprise event or encounter for their characters (lost in the woods, stranded on an island, camping trip, etc.) and learned to plot their narrative writing by honoring story elements such as introduction, rising action, climax, and resolution. The practice allows them to conceive their story in a compelling and balanced way with intriguing characters to tell wonderful tales that flow and engage the reader.

They mapped out a dramatic story involving a surprise event or encounter for their characters (lost in the woods, stranded on an island, camping trip, etc.) and learned to plot their narrative writing by honoring story elements such as introduction, rising action, climax, and resolution.

CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS | MIDDLES CLUSTER

We began our study of mapping by determining the cardinal directions in the classroom and exploring a bird’s eye perspective.

Students worked in groups to measure classroom items and chart them on a piece of graph paper, then created symbols on a key, and began thinking about the concept of scale. As we expanded our study to include the physical spaces within the PS1 community, students considered how design and architecture (human-made structures) blended with green space to create a balance between the natural and human worlds. Students then selected an area of the school to map (the 12th St. yard and Euclid patio) and began measuring and recording their findings. As a culminating project, students used Popsicle sticks, pipe cleaners, card stock, aluminum foil, Model Magic, paints, and hot glue to create a scaled model of the yard and patio on the floor of the Indigo classroom. After the model was complete, students reflected on their own environmental impact and the importance of nurturing and protecting green space in urban environments. This interdisciplinary project combined mathematical concepts such as scale, measurement, fractions, and ratios with the scientific investigation of local plants and animals.

Students ultimately discovered that with understanding and a clear plan of action, it is possible to create balance between the human and natural worlds.

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CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS | OLDERS CLUSTER

“Why do we seek balance and how do we achieve it?”

In a year when balance is the school’s theme, the Olders Cluster constructed this essential question that guides our curriculum for the year. Read on to see how this essential question is reflected in each class’s book clubs.

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Olders 5

LIANNE • HOLLY F.

JOHN • MADELINE

In Olders 4, we have used our reading program to explore the concept of balance at a variety of levels. Our book clubs this semester centered around student-led reading groups focused on dystopian book series. Each child has an active role to play in their discussion group by first advocating for reading assignments that allow them to balance their time and complete books in the series according to teacher guidance, while also being mindful of responsibilities and demands on their time outside of class. These small groups at the beginning of the year also allow students to practice finding a balance between expressing their thoughts and listening to and building upon the ideas of others. This collaborative process has made room for rich conversation and promoted consideration of balance in another way; when things get out of balance. We’ve dug deep into the role of dystopian settings in these books, characters and archetypes, the variety of complex conflicts we see, the use of symbolism, life lessons, and most recently, how authors of dystopian fiction often use the genre to provide critiques about the real world. Students noticed that in these worlds, things have gone awry and characters are often seeking to restore balance. For example, students in one group noted how creatures in their book were separated and distrustful of each other and hypothesized about the story’s connections to racism in the real world; another group saw similar issues in their book but felt like the message might be more connected to individuals who choose to play divisive roles in society and further drive groups apart. The students are thinking deeply and having provocative discussions as they seek to better understand imbalance and maintain or restore balance in their own world.

Students are thinking deeply and having provocative discussions as they seek to better understand imbalance and maintain or restore balance in their own world.

In Olders 5, we had the theme of balance in mind as we selected our first round of books for book clubs. So much of what creates equilibrium for children is a sense of belonging. In each of our four books, this is what compels the main characters. In both Star in the Forest by Laura Resau and Home of the Brave by Katherine Applegate, it is the immigrants’ experience that informs this quest and, ultimately, it is friendships that allow for a sense of balance through belonging. In The Misfits by James Howe, the specific social challenges of middle school are front and center when a group of students who feel outcast put together a political party with the platform being the end of name-calling and an environment of acceptance. Clive Barker’s The Thief of Always, is a fantasy where young Harvey Swick learns to rely on his inner strength to find his way out of the dark forces in a house of dreams that turns into a house of nightmares. As our own students navigate a second year in the shadow of the pandemic, the literature we selected gives students a forum to explore their own sense of belonging as they seek ways to achieve social-emotional and academic balance in their lives.

As our own students navigate a second year in the shadow of the pandemic, the literature we selected gives students a forum to explore their own sense of belonging as they seek ways to achieve social-emotional and academic balance in their lives.

CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS | OLDERS CLUSTER

Olders 4

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SPECIALISTS

Art

Music

LINA

VIRGINIA

The Art Room at PS1 seeks balance by allowing each student to feel safe, have fun, and be themselves. We focus on creating a nurturing and calm environment so that children can use their imagination to their fullest. The term “balance” reminds us to look at the whole child as an artist. When students feel good about themselves, they do their best learning and are more likely to take risks as they create.

CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS | SPECIALISTS

Taking risks allows for growth as an artist.

When you take more risks, you are more likely to make more mistakes. But in art, as in education, making a mistake is not failing.

Instead, making a mistake encourages a student to come up with solutions and ultimately to learn new things. We can’t learn without mistakes and we can’t thrive without balance in our lives.

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Keeping “balance” in mind, the classes have focused on identity this fall in the Art Room. Youngers worked on a project titled “How Do I See Myself As An Artist At School, At Home, In My Community, and In The World?” For this project, they made selfportraits with pastels using new drawing techniques. Bridge students put themselves in the shoes of an oceanographer and drew sea creatures in the Midnight Zone on black paper. Middles created watercolors of landscapes in California, and Olders created a sculpture of themselves and earth with clay and made sure to highlight a quality they have.

Making mistakes when creating art should be seen as a wonderful opportunity to grow both as an artist and student. By pushing through these mistakes and continuing to create, magic can, and does, happen!

Fostering Conscious Connection for Our Students (from page 1, Head’s column)

• • • • • • • • • • • •

When teaching the PS1 musicians about composition and improvisation, we use a pyramid model, with each musical element nestled above the one before. Steady beat provides the foundation for tempo and tone. Ostinato is the ever-present repetitive rhythm pattern that carries the momentum of the music. The top of the pyramid is the space where melody and improvisation dance above the musical frame set beneath.

In music, there is always balance. It is not always immediately detectable, but it is a necessary force in the distribution of rhythm, the relationship between notes in a chord, and the progression of chords in a song. A quiet moment counters a forte, a forte reengages our ears and mind.

As in music, balance is an ever-present force in our lives. We depend on the steady beat; the pulse, the march forward. We have our routines, our traditions, our dependable patterns like the repeating rhythm pattern that is an ostinato. The necessity of improvisation in our lives, which may be a response to the experience of living through, and carrying on in the pandemic era has produced fascinating, compelling, and unique “melodies.”

A sense of community A feeling of self-worth, pride Develop problem-solving, social navigation and collaborative skills A feeling of safety and security in social situations Each individual recognized for their strengths A safe and comfortable place for risk-taking Not afraid to make mistakes Knowledge and recognition of the whole child Curriculum that is kid-inspired Happy kids, with friends Individuals are cared for and are cared about Students feel heard

Library

P.E.

The Studio

CHRISTINA

PEDRO

CHRIS

Balance is our school-wide theme for the year, it is, as well, a synonym for both harmony and proportion. And this is what we can find in a book—the harmony and proportion of a well-told story.

Balance is defined as an even distribution of weight that enables someone or something to remain upright and steady. Balance is often an overlooked skill not practiced during physical education. Yet, maintaining and improving balance is essential for all students and benefits their athletic performance during games.

The PS1 Studio considers the balance of STEAM in every project. Our program is inclusive; it’s not just for the engineerminded students or tech-driven students.

It’s also for the students who embrace the arts and humanities.

There is a saying in the world of Libraries— that a Library Collection should encompass the entire range of Human Knowledge. The skills we work on during Library Time are listening, along with empathy and sympathy and understanding, curiosity and wonder.

We enter a magic space when we share a story, and I hope that magic translates as an abiding love for books in every child.

This is just one more way of saying that a fullness of being comprised of selfawareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, responsible decision making—are all tempered by empathy and a sense of belonging. Books do that really well.

• • • • • • • • • • • •

At PS1 physical education is also a wellbalanced program that offers many team sports and non-competitive games.

Students are taught to display interactive skills such as leading, following, and making decisions. Cooperative skills include following directions, respecting and accepting individual differences, participating in a team setting, and reaching a common goal.

We balance our program on choices, skill lessons, supportive and inclusive activities, and fun. Students have the opportunity to work at their pace and with confidence, understanding that each person has a different set of skills and abilities.

Balance helps improve one’s overall performance in physical education, sports, and life.

Personally-invested relationships between faculty and students Focus on helping rather than competing Emphasis on citizenship Individuals learn to trust in a compassionate environment All voices are valued A sense of recognition See learning as a life-long quest & don’t burn out Strong interpersonal skills Inclusive environment Accommodate to different learning styles Parents know that their kids are cared about at school Students believe they have something important to contribute

In the lower grades, students are learning about design and engineering through the balance of life science ideas. This semester our younger students are building beautiful tabletop Popsicle stick planters for local California plants and flowers.

In our older grades, students are learning about the phenomenon known as phototropism. Students are designing a maze for a climbing plant, such as beans or peas. Then they record their findings daily to see if their plant can find its way to the top of the maze and reach the sunlight. This is a great “Design-Build-Test-Learn” experiment for discovering the differences between living and non-living things.

Our students are a balance of engineer and artist. They follow a design process to ask, imagine, plan, create and improve, to identify a need, solve a problem, and acquire knowledge about the natural world around them.

• Well-equipped to deal with situations outside of school (feel secure in any social setting) • Many avenues for success • Respect for all skills, not just academic • Understanding different points of view • Builds an independent child • Differences acknowledged and celebrated • Engaged and stimulated students • Gain lots of valuable information on how to be/live in the “real world”

CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS | SPECIALISTS

At PS1, we are devoted to Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) as a process in which our students learn to understand themselves, achieve goals, and support community. The Library program this year is developed around SEL core competencies, and each class and cluster has focused on aspects of self and identity.

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Alumni Corner Makai Andrews, Class of 2010

Halle Jacobs, Class of 2011

Mattea Sokolow, Class of 2017

Hoshi Matthew Kozan Palevsky, Class of 1997

Delaney Simon, Class of 2002, with Joel and Brad

Dylan Vecchione, Class of 2011

The PS1 Alumni Association

Hoshi Matthew Kozan Palevsky, Class of 1997 Kozan was ordained as a novice priest in early 2016. Since 2017 he has served in various roles at Upaya Zen Center, including President, Resident Director, Practice Mentor and Dog Walker. Kozan co-leads a number of Upaya programs each year and hosts practice interviews with residents and members of the greater sangha. He also serves on Upaya’s Board of Directors.

Before moving to Upaya, Kozan worked as a social and political activist, organizing largescale civic engagement on issues ranging from climate change and political corruption to criminal justice reform and workers’ rights. In the spirit of engaged Buddhism, Kozan continues to serve as the Chairman of CleanChoice Energy, which delivers renewable energy to thousands of families in the United States, and as a board member of New Energy Economy, an environment and consumer advocacy nonprofit in New Mexico.

PS1 FACULTY & STAFF REUNION PS1 faculty and staff from every decade were in attendance at PS1’s Faculty & Staff Reunion in August!

Memories and updates were shared over a game of trivia led by Trivia Mafia who divided teams according to when each person worked at PS1!

It was a great time for both current and former staff and faculty!

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Delaney Simon, Class of 2002 Delaney and her husband, Graeme, recently visited PS1! Delaney is currently living in Italy and working for the United Nations.

Veronica Crow, Class of 2010 Veronica was recently accepted into the Ph.D. program for Biological Systems Engineering at Washington State University. She is excited to research thermochemical conversion, bioenergy and bioproducts, biochar production, and the interaction between biochar and soils.

James Wauer, Class of 2007 and Reanna Wauer, Class of 2010 James is teaching high school in Boston, Massachusetts, while Reanna is attending graduate art school in London, England.

Aidan Fite, Class of 2009 Aidan is studying for his MD at Tufts University School of Medicine. He has recently worked as an emergency medical technician with Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and as a patient advocate. His mom, Lauren, may be familiar to many in our PS1 community as she serves as our Health advisor and on our Coronavirus Task Force.

Madeline Holtzman, Class of 2009 Maddie is attending Loyola Law School. She received her B.A. in Psychology and African American Studies from Loyola Marymount University in 2019.

William Line, Class of 2010 William is working toward his Master of Engineering in Financial Engineering at Cornell University.

Makai Andrews, Class of 2010 Makai is studying for her Master’s Degree in Social Work at the University of Denver.

Halle Jacobs, Class of 2011 Halle recently graduated Cum Laude from Barnard College and she made the Dean’s List all four years. After graduating, Halle elected to pursue her passion of being a backcountry wilderness guide. Before college, Halle enjoyed backpacking trips with her father and thrived in the National Outdoor Leadership School’s programs at Archer School. Halle completed her Wilderness First Responder’s Certifications and worked this past summer for Lasting Adventures, guiding families and kids on wilderness trips in the Yosemite backcountry. Coincidentally one of the families she guided is a current PS1 family!

Grad/Alumni Party Seventh and eighth grade alumni recently joined us on-campus for the Grad Alumni Party.

Alumni Care Packages

Dylan Vecchione, Class of 2011 Dylan embarked on an incredible adventure at sea. He was on board the Scripps Institute of Oceanography research ship headed to the Southern East Pacific Rise where he conducted metagenomic and marine microbiology research half way between French Polynesia and Peru. He was away for two months on a National Science Foundation funded scientific joint team from the University of Washington and MIT. Delaney Michaelson, Class of 2014 At Barnard, Delaney has participated in two fellowships with BUILD and Citizen Assembly, allowing her to continue her environmental activism work at Columbia and the greater NYC region on reducing food waste.

Last summer, she was hired by Dan Treglia, a professor at University of Pennsylvania, to work on a social policy project focused on homelessness, how COVID has exacerbated inequalities, and the bereavement of children.

Additionally, she is interning with GOOD and UPWORTHY to provide youth input on consulting proposals.

When asked about her experience at PS1, Delaney responded, “[PS1] expanded my collaborative, creative, and efficiency skills to be able to achieve all my aspirations.”

Justin Yu, Class of 2015 Justin graduated from Windward last spring and is now attending Washington University in St. Louis. During his time at Windward, Justin helped develop and run a service project to build computers with underprivileged students. He also participated in two medical internships and three medicine/science related summer courses from Johns Hopkins.

During the pandemic, Justin joined and has since been working at a cryptocurrency startup (founded by two of his classmates).

Class of 2014 and 2015 alumni parents came to campus to stuff care packages for alumni students in early December. Many students received their packages just before their first round of college finals!

Max Haimes, Class of 2016 Max was recently named a National Merit Semi-Finalist. He is eligible to compete for one of 7,500 scholarships as one of the highest scoring students in the United States in the preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test.

Lorenzo De Felitta, Class of 2017 After PS1, Lorenzo attended Harvard-Westlake for three years, then took the CHSPE exam to complete high school early. He is now enrolled at Santa Monica College.

In recent years he has become plugged into local social justice work surrounding homelessness. Lorenzo is currently an organizer with Streetwatch L.A., a grassroots all volunteer homeless outreach collective. He is in the beginning stages of founding a nonprofit (alongside a formerly unhoused friend) called Day One L.A. that will connect unhoused people and formerly incarcerated people to basic services, including mail, supplies, showers, and laundry, as well as employment and government aid.

Upon reflecting, Lorenzo says, “I hope my journey so far inspires young people looking towards middle and high school to think outside the box, a way of thinking PS1 cultivated in me, and explore what they are drawn to, especially when it overlaps with helping their community.”

Mattea Sokolow, Class of 2017 Mattea announced that she has verbally committed to swim and study at the University of Michigan in the fall.

PS1 PGEB REUNION PS1’s Parents Guild Executive Board members from throughout the years came together in September on campus! “Then and Now” pictures and old yearbooks were shared over drinks on our Euclid yard.

We’d like to give a special thanks to alumni parents Andi Holtzman, Cathy Watts, Kimberly Tinsley, Rochelle Siegel and Jennifer Gaynor for helping to make this reunion happen.

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PS1 in the News We’ve been proud to have PS1 and Joel featured in many media publications this fall. Visit our website to read and access all of these news features.

“Community Highlights: Meet Joel Pelcyger of PS1 Pluralistic School,” Voyage LA Magazine LA City Guide NOVEMBER 16, 2021

VoyageLA’s mission is to “build a platform that fosters collaboration and support for small businesses, independent artists and entrepreneurs, local institutions and those that make our city interesting.” In doing so, VoyageLA wants “the stories we share to help give our big city a little bit of that small town community charm, where people know each other and their stories at a deeper, more personal level.”

PS1 Featured on Macaroni Kid OCTOBER 8, 2021

Alumnus Farid Adibi sets the stage for this feature, as he credits his early education at PS1 Pluralistic School for his academic and professional ambitions, his leadership skills, and the formation of his media company “LeftMiddle-Right,” which offers multiple perspectives on contemporary issues. Now a junior at George Washington University, Farid reflects on his time at PS1, in connection with PS1’s mission to help students understand themselves both as individuals and as members of larger communities.

PS1 Featured in The Argonaut and Playa Vista Direct SEPTEMBER 7, 2021

PS1’s 50th anniversary is celebrated in the August issue of The Argonaut and Playa Vista Direct. Read about the long-standing mission and philosophy that has helped PS1 achieve this incredible milestone!

PS1 Featured in Santa Monica Daily Press OCTOBER 21, 2021

PS1 has a spotlight in the Santa Monica Daily Press!

The article features the school’s 50th anniversary and its steadfast commitment to Pluralism in education.

Community, Connection and Commemoration are the three pillars of this celebratory year. We have already hosted several joyful alumni and alumni parent reunions as we honor this landmark time in our school’s history.

Check the website for upcoming events and celebrations this winter and spring and make sure to follow PS1 on social media to stay connected!

www.psone.org/celebrate50