Discover Primary Day at our last Open House of the season on Sunday, January 11, 2015 from 1:00-3:00 pm. Refreshments and childcare will be provided while you explore our unique school. There are opportunities to talk with faculty, parents, and alums while learning more about our signature programs: Phonovisual, World Languages, EcoWonder & STEM, Technology, Balanced Literacy, Math, and Art & Music. If you are unable to attend this Open House, please call 301.365.4355 to set up an individual tour of the school.

We were honored to have both the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center Color Guard as well as many veterans attend our annual Patriotic Music Program this year. Students sang "My Country 'Tis of Thee," "The Army Goes Rolling Along," and "Anchor's Away" among other patriotic choices. Please visit Primary Day's YouTube channel to view a few snippets.

Elsas, Marios, gorillas, and more were at Primary Day today for Halloween. We celebrated with a Spooktacular Beako and Parade!

On October 1, 2014, our renovated music room was dedicated to Mr. Bennett Boskey, former Board of Trustees Chair and devoted champion of Primary Day. The children sang a special song in honor of Mr. Boskey which was recorded and will be presented to him along with a thank you card signed by all the children and staff.

Mr. Bennett Boskey was quietly at the helm of The Primary Day School since its beginning years. Although he was in the background, his mark was indelibly stamped on the school. He served on the school's board from 1954 until 2012 and was the Chairman for many of those years. 

In 1954, Mr. Boskey was a young attorney with a general law practice and a friendship with Robert C. Diegert, Chairman of Primary Day's Board of Directors. Mr. Diegert asked "a favor" of Mr. Boskey, following which Mr. Boskey became a member of the Board of Directors and legal counsel to the school. Mr. Boskey provided much needed legal guidance and direction to Mr. Diegart and Mr. David Yerkes, the architects of the original school building. Mr. Boskey helped them with the organization of the school as a nonprofit corporation, the acquisition of the land, the funding of the building project, the arrangements for construction of the school and the establishment of a foundation to support the school (because the school was turned down by local banks because it was a "single purpose building").

According to Mr. Boskey, the school, having no assets, could not secure a bank loan for the construction of the building. Even while many parents, trustees, and friends of the school were discouraged, Mr. Boskey and his friends were undeterred, determined to find a way to build the building that PDS children deserved. With Mr. Boskey's leadership in 1954, a small group of parents, along with a friend of the school, guaranteed the loan that made it possible to proceed with the construction of the school building. So, Mr. Boskey was one of the individuals responsible for Primary Day's existence today. It is notable that Mr. Boskey and his beloved wife Shirley, whom he has survived, did not have children.
Mr. Boskey never wavered from his commitment to Primary Day. He led every major decision since he assumed the chairmanship of the Board, decades ago, until 2012.

Primary Day is forever indebted to Mr. Boskey for his love for the children of Primary Day and for his life-long devotion to this wonderful school.

It was the perfect day for Pig's Party on the playground at Primary Day! Each year our Pre-K students celebrate learning the first sound on the Phonovisual Chart with a parade, pink and purple polka dotted hats, pink pasta necklaces, pounding on percussion instruments, pizza, popcorn, and popsicles.

We had a blast at Field Day this year! Children were treated to freeze dancing, soccer, balloon-popping, pizza box relays, the 50-yard dash, basketball, sidewalk chalk, bubbles, silly string, the Good Humor Truck and more. Thanks to Ms. Perez, all the faculty/staff, and parent volunteers for making this such a wonderful culminating year-end event!

Second Graders worked for weeks on their autobiographies. They enjoyed sharing them with family and friends this morning at their Authors' Tea. What amazing and hilarious journeys they have had!

The First Graders’ exploration of countries around the world came to a close last week with their International Program. This year's program featured folk tales from different countries. They performed skits of "Jamie O’Rourke and the Giant Potato" (an Irish folktale), "The Gifts of Wali Dad" (an Indian folktale), "The Four Dragons" (a Chinese folktale about how the four rivers in China are formed), and "A Caterpillar’s Voice" (an East African folktale that suggesting that you don’t have to be big in stature to have a lot of courage). Each group of performers then sang a traditional song from that culture. Following the production the children enjoyed an international feast, featuring the cuisine of the countries studied.

Our Kindergartners delighted their audience with "Viva Mexico!," a musical culmination of their unit on Mexico. The program included dances, presentations and songs in Spanish and English. A fabulous tapas feast followed the program. 

Our Phonovisual Specialist, Lynn Najaka, is the 2014 recipient of The Washington Post Agnes Meyer Outstanding Teacher Award. The Award is given annually to only one private school teacher in the DC area who exemplifies excellence in their profession. Agnes Meyer, a staunch supporter and defender of education, was the wife of Eugene Meyer, who purchased the Post in 1933. The award recognizes excellence in teaching and encourages creative and quality instruction. It is given to educators who contribute in substantive ways to the improvement of education in the Washington metropolitan area. 

Lynn is featured in The Washington Post Magazine Education issue. Additionally, she will receive a monetary award and will be honored at an awards ceremony at The Washington Post on Tuesday, May 13. In response to winning the award, Lynn writes “It is such an honor to share my love of learning with the students and families at Primary Day. I am truly honored to have been nominated for this award by Primary Day and am so humbled to have won.” Please visit the Washington Post website to read more about the award and Mrs. Najaka.

As a culminating activity in their study of Colonial America, our Second Graders participated in Colonial Trunk Day activities. Colonial Trunk Day, coordinated and staffed by Second Grade parents , included a display of historical artifacts followed by a wide range of hands-on-activities: candle making and wallpaper printing; writing with quill pens; grinding coffee and corn; making butter and tasting Johnnycakes; playing colonial games; and creating corn husk dolls.

We were treated to a special performance by Tammy Turner today at our Peace and Freedom Beako. Tammy is a local recording artist who has performed all over the world. She performed "What A Wonderful World" with the help of the students and accompanied the whole community on our final song, "We Shall Overcome." 

We had a wonderful time showing off our school to Grandparents and Special Friends on Friday!

In conjunction with their study of Native Americans, our Kindergarten students took a field trip last week to the National Museum of the American Indian. They had a wonderful time and particularly enjoyed their time in the ImagiNations Activity Center!

Witches, goblins, ghosts, and more were at Primary Day this week to celebrate Halloween. We had no tricks, only wonderful treats!

Please join us for Beako's Book Fair and Fall Festival. The Book Fair is held on October 24 (2:00-3:15pm), October 25 (8:00-9:00am and 2:00-3:15pm), and October 26 (10:00am - 2:00pm). The Fall Festival is on October 26 (10:00am - 2:00pm).  You may register for the Fall Festival in advance either by sending your form and check to school or online by October 21, 2013. 

Beako has been making the rounds with Mrs. Geppert this week to meet/remeet all the students and to remind them about his Golden Rule!

PDS's Backpack Project went off without a hitch! In late spring, with parents' and staff's gracious donations, children helped to fill 30 brand-new backpacks with school supplies. On August 28, with the support of 4 of our students as well as a few older siblings, PDS, along with the Backpack Project, Inc., helped to personally give 30 students from Ketchum Elementary School in Washington DC, their very own brand new backpack. The Ketchum students and staff were thrilled with our donation and indicated that we were the first school whose students actually participated in the distribution of the backpacks. We look forward to supporting the Backpack Project, Inc. again next year.

The Second Graders had a wonderful time with Valerie Tripp, author of many American Girl books. Ms. Tripp shared stories of her life, explained the writing process, and encouraged our young writers. It was quite a treat!

As the culminating activities in their study of Colonial America, our Second Graders enthusiastically participated in Colonial Day activities and presented a Colonial Music Program.

The Colonial Days, coordinated and staffed by Second Grade parents , included a display of historical artifacts followed by a wide range of hands-on-activities: candle making and wallpaper printing; writing with quill pens; grinding coffee and corn; making butter and tasting Johnnycakes; playing colonial games; and creating corn husk dolls.

The Second Graders arrived at school on Thursday, dressed in colonial attire for their Colonial Music Program.   The audience delighted in the presentation of colonial songs, dances and childhood singing games.

According to our teachers,the children had a wonderful time writing Seuss-inspired poetry and enjoying Seuss treats on Friday!

Pre-K made Green Eggs and Ham to celebrate Dr. Seuss’ Birthday. First Graders measured with nonstandard units using their feet to go with The Foot Book! Second Graders and their Kindergarten book buddies celebrated Dr. Seuss’ birthday by reading books, making Thing and Thing 2 hats together, and snacking on one fish two fish red fish blue fish…Swedish fish of course! Fun was had by all!

Spirit week is in full force. Everyone has gotten in on the action on Sock Day, Primary Colors Day, and Pajama Day.Tomorrow is Disco day and we can't wait to see the outfits that come through the door! We're sure to be wowed.

After a fabulous week of hunting, setting traps, and learning all about the Primary Day building, our newest students found those wily Gingerbread Men. Now there is nothing left to do but eat them!

Primary Day students, parents and faculty recently delighted in "Viva Mexico!," a musical culmination of the Kindergarten unit on Mexico.  The program included dances, presentations and songs in Spanish and English.   The Kindergartners celebrated with a Mexican feast following the program.  Art projects completed during the unit included woven placements, vases containing paper flowers, the outfits the children wore during the program, and cactus paintings, pyramids and parrots which served as stage decorations. The unit also included Spanish lessons, the study of Mexican culture, geography, agriculture, customs and money. Another favorite activity was the Fruit Market created at school, where the children ordered a wide variety of fruit, in Spanish, and paid for their order in pesos.

The Second Grade study of France culminated in a musical production, “La Tour de France”.  As four “tourists” traveled the French countryside they encountered “French citizens” who eagerly shared their culture.

The students led us through the Bordeaux region where we learned how grapes are grown, then visited a nearby café; traveled on the Train a Grande Vittesse to the Provence Region, visited the Cote d’Azur, basked in the beauty of the flowers in Grasse, and marveled at the Sur Le Pont d’Avignon, the bridge across the Rhone River.  Then it was off to Giverny, to see where Claude Monet painted his “Gardens and Water Lilies” Series.  The finale of the program was a visit to a French classroom where the Second Graders demonstrated their acquired French vocabulary during a delightfully energetic song.  Following the program, students enjoyed a buffet containing favorites of French cuisine and everyone delighted in viewing the Second Graders’ artwork in the halls, inspired by Monet and Matisse.

Primary Day students participated in activities this week in celebration of the 100th day of school.  As bundles of strawstransitioned from groups of 9-tens and 9-ones into a single straw in the hundreds place, related events and activities took shape within each classroom and throughout the school, among them: the Pre-Kindergarten classes made eye glasses out of the number 100 to wear during their celebration; each Kindergartener brought 100 pieces of their favorite snack to add to the class buffet, then selected a portion of the mixture to enjoy at snack; First Graders wrote their favorite 100 words and participated in the 100 Olympics; and Second Graders completed 100 multiplication problems and used 100 as the inspiration for creative writing exercises.

Our Primary Day students and faculty recently enjoyed a day with visiting author, Candice Ransom.  Ms. Ransom, the author of over 115 children’s books, explained to the Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten children how she used childhood memories of growing up on a farm as the inspiration for her picture books focused on transportation.  The First and Second Graders learned how Ms. Ransom’s interest in history fostered her creation of the Time Spies series.  The students asked insightful questions about the writing process, shared artwork they created based on two of Ms. Ransom’s books and related their own experiences as budding authors.