JosieHolford

The IBM Selectric Typewriter and Kenyon House: “You must have been drunk!”

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Cross-posted from Josie’s Blog Did you know that Poughkeepsie Day School now has a Fab Lab? It’s short for fabrication laboratory – a place where people tinker, design, code, create, re-purpose, mess about, invent, make  and play with stuff. It’s right off the Chapman Room. It’s in the pilot and prototype stage but we are … Read more

My First and Last Poppy: Evermore and Nevermore

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In Memory of Lance Corporal Frank Herbert Sims. Royal Army Medical Corps who died on 28 January 1919 Age 34 Son of Albert John and Rosa Sims, of Streatham, London; husband of Frances Sims, of 115, Strathyre Avenue, Norbury, London. Father of Edith and Kathleen. With the a brief two hour exception last Friday, I have … Read more

Ready or not, here they come

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After more than a year of preparation we’re as ready as we’re going to be.  This Sunday a team of experienced educators arrive on campus to begin an intensive three-day evaluation of our school. Poughkeepsie Day School is proud to be a member of NYSAIS (New York State Association of Independent Schools).  It’s a great organization of … Read more

Beneath the Surface: The Hokey-Pokey and Jump Jim Joe

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Most Wednesday mornings the lower school assembles in the Chapman Room and parents are welcome.  It’s usually a showcase for the work of the classroom and often includes the opportunity to sing. First the Hokey-Pokey On a recent Wednesday a seventh grader led children, parents and teachers in singing and dancing the hokey–pokey.  It was … Read more

“What do you want to do?”

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Today is back-to-school day for the faculty at PDS and today we are launching Project Innovate: Five Teams with a Mission. The faculty were invited last June to sign up for cross divisional teams loosely organized around five major and interconnected themes: Cultural Competency I Digital Citizenship I Learning and the Brain I Project-Based Learning I Wellness   There was no … Read more

Child Education Magazine – a window on the past

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On my recent visit to England I came across a small trove of Child Education magazines (published by Evans Brothers Ltd. of Russell Square, London) from the early 1960’s. They had belonged to my mother – a regular subscriber – who looked forward to reading each edition. Although she was by then near the end … Read more

Summer Bounty: Three days, three markets

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Blackberries clustered against the sky, heavy and dark as thunder, which we plucked and gobbled, hour after hour, lips purple, hands stained to the wrists. Cider With Rosie, Laurie Lee Three farmers’ markets in the last three days mean a kitchen table overloaded with fresh bounty. No gooseberries or blackcurrants this week but at Arlington … Read more

The One Cool Thing

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I had the privilege last week of working with a great bunch of educators at the NYSAIS Think Tank at the Carey Conference Center in Rensselaerville, NY. The location was perfect, the company inspiring and the work energizing. And facilitator Ann Mellow provided leadership and kept us all moving forward. It was at this event … Read more