Test, test, test and test some more.
There was a great article in last week’s Boston Globe. The authors – Ellen Winner and Lois Hetland – dismiss the idea that arts education produces higher test scores. While it’s true, they say, that students who are involved in the arts do better in school and on the SAT, it’s not about the test scores. Their own research found…
They came by bus, by van, by car, by foot, on bicycle and on crutches. They carried book bags and lunch boxes and precious objects. It was the first day of school yesterday and the energy was cranked up. Now the school has come alive again.
It was the first day of school for ninth grade, fifth grade and all students new to Poughkeepsie Day School. And the buildings were buzzing. The younger children found new toys and places to play and work. And all of them met their new teachers and learned more about what it means to be a part of this community. We…
A tag cloud is a visual presentation of text. It uses word frequency to provide a blink-worthy read of information. It communicates a great deal in a few seconds and provides an instant take. I entered the text of our mission and description et voila! A poetic distillation of meaning. caring citizens collaborative committed community compass construct contribution creative deep…
Poughkeepsie Day School graduates students who: Are intellectually curious, active seekers, users and creators of knowledge Curiosity is the natural stimulus to learning and small children have it in abundance. The upturned Frisbee in the picture below is full of the playground gleanings of a kindergartener at lunch-time. What happens to that curiosity as children grow older? We live in…
Among other key attributes Poughkeepsie Day School graduates students who: Think globally with awareness and understanding of complexity and multiple perspectives That’s in our vision. But how do we pursue global perspectives and teach awareness of complexity? And just how well informed are we about the world and how do we distinguish between what we think we know and what…
A school in a giant submarine with waterproof maps of the underwater world. Private helicopters to fly children to France for their French lessons. Voice-activated pencils. Rocket launch pads to take pupils on trips to distant planets to study the solar system. Canteen robots instead of dinner ladies. Clean toilets, swimming pools, a jug of water in every classroom, enough…
The exhalations whizzing in the air Give so much light that I may read by them. Julius Caesar Act 2 scene 1 The annual Perseid meteor shower was not quite that spectacular but the shooting stars were out last night as our planet sailed through a stream of ancient cosmic dust emanating from the constellation of Perseus. Out in the…
Back in 1967 – the Observer newspaper in the UK organized an opportunity for children to write on the subject: “The school that I’d like”. The results became a Penguin book edited by Edward Blishen and a collection of opinions that provided a trenchant critique of school and school life. The students wrote with freshness, passion and insight and their…
These are words from our mission: Poughkeepsie Day School graduates students who: Know who they are and follow their own compass with optimism and courage Lead and inspire others through example, dedication and commitment to equity and justice This is a part of Tom Brokaw’s commencement address at Stanford University last year: “…welcome to a world of perpetual contradictions, welcome…
That question is one the prompts from the new Tufts University optional essay section. It’s part of its Kaleidoscope program based on the psychometric work of Robert Sternberg who is now the Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences at Tufts. Sternberg’s work has long focused on notions of successful intelligence and creativity. ‘If you want to admit people…
The best parts about the Harry Potter books are all the reminders of the traditional British school story and a childhood spent haunting the children’s library. Hogwarts – like Greyfriars, St. Jim’s, Linley Court, St. Clare’s, Malory Towers and all the rest – is a direct descendant of the early Victorian Rugby School of Tom Brown’s Schooldays. Each school has…
He’s not as funny as Ken Robinson but here is (creative and enterprising) business guru Tom Peters on a rant about the lack of creativity in schools. One piece of advice for employers: Never hire anyone with a 4.0 average.
This July marks the ninetieth anniversary of the start of third Ypres – better known as the battle of Passchendaele . It was an offensive designed to break out of the stalemate of the salient – the bump in the line that bulged around the Flemish town of Ieper, known in French as Ypres and to the thousands of English…