Transformation

Last week I found this huge moth attached to my back screen door. It was several inches across and a beautiful fluorescent green. It’s a luna moth (luna actius) and quite common in deciduous wooded areas of north America. I had never seen one before. And by morning it was gone. Last Monday – in … Read more

Problem-solving is what you do when ….

Problem solving is what you do when you don’t know what to do. – Alinda. That’s just one of the things we learned yesterday at the new teachers orientation in Kenyon. Each teacher had five minutes to present a lesson to the group. These were videotaped and the playback classes used as a starting point … Read more

Who knew?

Who knew that behind the east bookshelf in the back of the Kenyon library there was another lovely window? And that underneath the mustard colored carpet was a parquet floor just waiting to be cleaned and polished? They will certainly be lovely features for the new faculty-student center for the high school.

Mid July Update

Solar panels, wind turbines, solid waste fuel, electronic generators and all manner of imaginative and greener ways to power cars, boats, tanks, military transporters, barges and trucks The task for the first and second grade was to imagine a vehicle powered by an alternate fuel source. And then build the model. With the rise in … Read more

Kids Know Things

Solar panels, wind turbines, solid waste fuel, electronic generators and all manner of imaginative and greener ways to power cars, boats, tanks, military transporters, barges and trucks The task for the first and second grade was to imagine a vehicle powered by an alternate fuel source. And then build the model. With the rise in … Read more

Ground Broken

I came to work after a drilling at the dentist to the joyous sound of jackhammers at work. The posts are in, the fence erected and the Gilkeson enhancement project is underway. The fence surrounds the front of the building where the new science labs will be. The backhoe is already at work. The playground … Read more

Keep the Connection … Expand the Horizon

Children are natural learners. It’s what they do. And the learning is joyful and the thirst for knowledge, understanding and mastery of skills insatiable. The primary task of school is to keep that connection with joyful learning vibrant and intact. The second task is to expand the horizons of learners – to provide opportunity, to … Read more

Farewell

The end of the school year and an express train filled with events, final exams, feasts, pageants, displays, presentations, performances, ceremonies, farewells and of course graduation commencement. Read more about graduation from The Poughkeepsie Journal I took this unofficial picture of the graduating class at the outdoor adventure trip last September.

School goes wild

Graduation was on Wednesday and all the students were gone by the end of the day. And then the rains came and the leaks in Gilkeson began. An investigation of the roof indicated raccoon damage –  teeth and claw marks. All fixed now. These pictures are of a raccoon on the Kenyon House roof this … Read more

Summer Drama: Powerhouse Apprentices

Nice article about two PDS students in the Poughkeepsie Journal Students to study theater at Powerhouse Hannah and Wiley, rising seniors, have been selected to participate in the Powerhouse apprentice training program at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie this summer. Read more Wylie and Hannah were seen recently in American Life in the James Earl Jones … Read more

Kindergarten Collectors

It was part of a math number and counting project and then both kindergarten classes brought in their personal collections to share. Glass beads, shells, coins, cards, model cars, photos of India, quarters and stamps. And the stamps included this one honoring the teachers of America issued on July 1st 1957. I had this one … Read more