Memories: “…one cannot get another set.”

You see, there are all those early memories; one cannot get another set; one has but those. Willa Cather, Shadows on the Rock I sometimes think of Cather’s words when I visit the classrooms or the playground or attend the performances and events at PDS. It is there that our teachers are helping students build … Read more

Dancing and Drumming

First there was an intensive and interdisciplinary study of Ghana and West Africa including geography, science, history, literature and art. Then there was the division-wide theater presentation based on folktales. The trip to the Bronx Zoo was the end point of a close animal and ecology study where each student became an expert. And then … Read more

Ancient and Modern: Αρχαίος και σύγχρονος

Friday evening was Greek Fest time for the fifth and sixth grades – the full costume culmination of an intensive humanities study that encompassed history, literature, and art. Η Παρασκευή βράδυ ήταν ελληνικός χρόνος Fest για τις πέμπτες και έκτες τάξεις – το πλήρες αποκορύφωμα κοστουμιών μιας εντατικής μελέτης ανθρωποτήτων που κάλυψε την ιστορία, τη … Read more

Change Again

Within the past 50 years, we’ve seen our country move from an industrial economy to an information-based economy. Now, early in the 21st century, it appears we are shifting to an innovation-based economy, one that requires what the psychologist Robert J. Sternberg calls “successful intelligence,” a three-point foundation of analytical, practical, and creative skills. In … Read more

Insects and Villains

If there was a villain in the Animal Tails of African Tales Lower School show it was perhaps the mosquito. Here, to provide some balance on behalf of the world of insects and their all-important place in our biospere, is biologist E.O. Wilson. His plea on behalf of his constituency – the insect world – … Read more

A Grand Grandfriends Day

Some came from New York City and much further – including Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas and Denmark. Other came from closer to school but all were welcome at the annual Grandparents and Special Friends Day. We gathered in the dining room for breakfast and after brief remarks of welcome our visitors went to classes and … Read more

My Life as the Ink Monitor and How Not to Introduce 1:1 Laptops

Technology is always disruptive. Think of the introduction of the printing press, or the combine harvester, or the mechanical looms that destroyed a way of life for cottage industry weavers. Some of them took to frame breaking and gave us the unfairly derisive term of “Luddite” for those who resist technological change. Technology as disruption … Read more

Disruptive Change in School: How Technology Ruined My Childhood

Technology is always disruptive. Think of the introduction of the printing press, or the combine harvester, or the mechanical looms that destroyed a way of life for cottage industry weavers. Some of them took to frame breaking and gave us the unfairly derisive term of “Luddite” for those who resist technological change. Technology as disruption … Read more