Primary Thoughts
Head of School Blog
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Survey Comments
“I will never forget the first time I visited PDS. I walked through the school’s front doors and was greeted by bright natural light, friendly faces, and the sound of children’s laughter in the background. I knew immediately I wanted to send my children to PDS and haven’t regretted the decision since. As welcoming as
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Survey Results I
As you know, we recently conducted a survey of our parents as part of our 10 year accreditation self-study with the Association of Independent Maryland and DC Schools (AIMS). This piece will be the first of a series that will share survey results. For background, know that we had 83 survey respondents (this out of
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Primary Day’s Revised Mission Statement
You may have noticed if you have been on our website that Primary Day has a new, revised mission statement. Every ten years, when starting its AIMS (Association of Independent Maryland and DC Schools) self-study for reaccreditation, every school is asked to look at its mission statement and determine if it needs some updating. Thus,
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New Year’s Gratitude
Each new year’s I like to make a list of the many things for which I feel grateful. The list is long, and I revisit it and add to it many times over the subsequent days and months. I also make a list of things that truly upset me, and I always find that list
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A Merle-Smith Holiday
As our children put the finishing touches on this week’s Seasons of Light Beako, I was reminded of the light that was embodied by a formative figure in my career, Mike Merle-Smith, whom I met when I was a young teacher at Princeton Day School – my first PDS! Bright, patient, creative, and encouraging, he
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The Need for Light
In this Season of Light, I have found myself increasingly troubled by the fevered rhetoric of our nation’s leaders and what impact that will have on our children. On the one hand, it’s tempting to dismiss, thinking that this is a particular, transient political moment and that our children are young and hence shielded
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Primary Points: A Strategic Plan for The Primary Day School for 2025-26
Parents whose students were enrolled last year will remember being invited to a few “listening sessions” aimed at gathering families’ ideas for the school’s new strategic plan which was formed last year with input also from the faculty and the Board of Trustees. A draft was approved by the Board of Trustees at its October
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A.I. & Parenting
At Back to School Night I made the case that, as parents and educators of Primary Day-aged children, we have the opportunity to avert our children’s paths from the deleterious impacts of phones and social media. As I stated, we need to start implementing the key recommendations of social psychologists who have researched how a
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How Do You Assess Growth?
When my children were small, like many of you probably do, we devoted a door jamb to marking their height at least a couple of times a year. It was always astonishing to come back and note how much taller they had become. If you could, what other types of growth would you like to
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Fostering Transformation
This past weekend, as I read your children’s end of year reports, I was moved, as I always am at this time of year, by all the beautiful transformations that were documented. Thinking and learning styles have emerged as if from a chrysalis. Readers surfaced and moved ever upward. Confidence and social skills blossomed. Maturation