Princeton Day School

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Princeton Day School
Pdslogo.jpg
Semper Luceat
"May It Always Shine"
Location
Princeton, NJ, USA
Information
Type Private, day, K-12
Established 1899
Head of School Paul J. Stellato
Faculty 115.1 (on FTE basis)[1]
Enrollment 890 (as of 2005-06)[1]
Student:teacher ratio 7.7[1]
Campus 103 acres (0.42 km2)
Color(s) Blue/White
Athletics 22 Interscholastic Sports
Athletics conference Patriot Conference
Mascot Panther
Average SAT scores 650 verbal
650 math
660 writing  (2008)
Website School website

Princeton Day School is a private coeducational day school located in Princeton Township, New Jersey. The Princeton Day School currently enrolls 904 students in grades junior kindergarten - 12. The largest division is the Upper School (grades 9-12), with an enrollment of approximately 400.

As of the 2005-06 school year, the school had an enrollment of 890 students and 115.1 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 7.7.[1]

An average of nearly 20% of Princeton Day School seniors over past five years have been honored as semi-finalists or commended scholars in the National Merit Scholarship Program. Annually, approximately 20% of the PDS graduating class is accepted to Ivy League colleges, Stanford, Duke, University of Chicago or MIT. Approximately 85 percent of the Class of 2007 attend colleges rated “Most Competitive” or “Highly Competitive” by Barrons, and 16 percent attend Ivy League institutions.[2]

In September 2005, the school launched the public phase of a five year $50 million capital campaign, "Investing in Excellence" to support new and renovated facilities and increased endowment for faculty salaries and financial aid. As of August 2006, $40 million in commitments had been received, including an $11 million gift for financial aid, the largest gift ever made to an independent co-ed day school.[citation needed]

The school is a member of the National Association of Independent Schools, New Jersey Association of Independent Schools[3] and the Association of Delaware Valley Independent Schools.

Contents

[edit] History

Founded in 1898, Miss Fine's School in Princeton prepared girls for college with a curriculum including English, French, Latin, history and mathematics, at a time when women were not expected to attend college, and when only one out of eight children in America went to school at all. For years, the institution was, quite literally, Miss Fine's School; in addition to serving as Headmistress, May Margaret Fine taught all the subjects but French, maintained an individual interest in her students, and even "tended the furnace....often leaving in the middle of Latin class to do it."[4]

"A large shapeless figure [with] a pile of white hair dominated by a bun on the top, which usually slid over to the side of her head by the end of the day,"[5] Fine was, despite her appearance, a loved and respected figure. John Finley, editor of The New York Times during the 1910s, wrote of her, "So was the school under her wise and gentle rule a place where happy children grew into her spirited likeness."[4] Fine retired in 1931 and died two years later.[6]

In 1924, a group of parents established an elementary school for boys on Bayard Lane, next to Miss Fine's School. The boys' school was known as Princeton Country Day School (PCD). The school soon moved to an independent campus with purpose-built buildings at 171 Broadmead in another section of Princeton not far from Palmer Stadium. It has large playing fields across the street for football and soccer. In the winter, there was skating occasionally on Carnegie Lake nearby and daily ice hockey at Baker Rink. In the spring, there was an annual school fair. The school had an excellent academic reputation and most graduates went on to New England boarding schools for secondary education. The buildings and campus of PCD are now part of Princeton University and used as a nursery school.

Princeton Country Day merged with Miss Fine's School in 1965 to become Princeton Day School. Princeton Day School's campus along The Great Road in Princeton opened in 1965, thanks to the contributions of Dean Mathey.

[edit] Traditions

Over the years, Princeton Day School has enjoyed many traditions that no longer take place. These include an Upper School pie-eating competition that continued until the eighties, an annual sophomore-junior canoeing trip, intended to bridge the gap between two grades that traditionally do not share many classes, and legendary English teacher Anne Shepherd's wreathmaking assembly. The wreathmaking rite started in Miss Fine's School in 1900, and since, by the 1980s, participation in the event had dwindled, it was cancelled. A December 1982 article in PDS's student-run newspaper, the Spokesman, explained that “This [announcement] raised such an uproar that, by popular demand, the [assembly] was given one last chance.”[7] By the 1990s, though, wreathmaking was gone, indicative of the passing of certain traditions over time. (Another tradition that began at Miss Fine's, the annual Maypole Dance, actually continues today, though it is now performed by second graders instead of Upper Schoolers.)

New traditions have joined the Maypole Dance in recent years, including the annual Powder Puff game, a fiercely competitive flag football match between the junior and senior girls that has been held since 2004, and Dr. Seuss Day, a day of boisterous noise and frosted cake in the otherwise tightly-run Upper School library. Two of PDS's most celebrated current traditions are the Halloween Parade, and Blue & White Day.

[edit] Halloween Challenge/Parade

For at least 20 years (beginning by 1984 at the latest, and ending in 2003), the senior challenge, or the Halloween Challenge, had been a yearly PDS tradition. A collection of four Halloween-themed skits performed by each Upper School grade in front of the extended Lower School, Middle School and faculty each Halloween, the competition was introduced each October during announcement period, where the seniors would unexpectedly take control of the microphone and issue a public challenge to the other three grades.

The skits usually took the form of elaborately-scripted adaptations of well-known ghost stories or mysteries, including, memorably, "The Raven," Where the Wild Things Are, and a version of Michael Jackson's Thriller featuring then-Dean of X Harvey Lee moonwalking. Though the winner was chosen by supposedly impartial judges, the senior skit invariably won; when, in October 2002, sophomores won what turned out to be the final Challenge, the Spokesman declared it “a stunning upset.”[8] It was only the third time since 1988 that seniors had not won the Challenge.[9]

The Halloween Challenge was officially canceled that April, in an “announcement [that] was followed by a collective groan and boos from the audience.”[10] It was replaced with a similar type of competition, a Halloween-day parade where the grade with the best costumes won. Then-Community-Council-president Kyle Hogan ’05 explained that “skits in the past few years have deteriorated to the point where they not only lack school spirit, but they are blatantly inappropriate,” citing the senior skit, which had featured senior Pete Rossi stripped down to only a bowtie and his underwear.[10]

[edit] Blue & White Day

On Blue & White Field Day, an all-school athletic competition held each spring, PDS students often carry a fierce 24-hour sense of patriotism for their color, painting their faces blue or white and engaging in acts of playful discrimination against the opposing team. Popular Blue-White events include "The Big Race," which involves students in each grade from JK through 12, a faculty balloon toss (for which students serve as rowdy spectators), and the freestyle sack race.[11]

Blue & White Day was founded by beloved Physical Education teacher Kim Bedesem;[12] when Bedesem died in 1993, it was decided that each subsequent Blue & White Day be dedicated to her. Each year, the Blue & White Day t-shirts distributed to students and faculty have the name “KIM” hidden somewhere in the design.[13] While Bedesem created Blue & White Day in its present form in the 80s, similar events existed at Miss Fine's and PCD as much as 60 years earlier. James Howard Murch, PCD’s first Headmaster, was remembered by his successor for “the pleasurable relish with which he took to interpret[ing] the decimal-splitting rivalries of the Blues and Whites.”[5] Miss Fine’s School (whose school colors were voted Blue and Grey by the Class of 1918)[14] had “similar challenges" in which Blues and Greys competed.[12]

The Upper School (grades 9-12) returned to Blue and White Day in 2006 following over a decade's hiatus from the event. Their re-entry into the morning part of the activities was later expanded to include other Blue/White competitions in the Upper School during the rest of the school year.

[edit] GudgeFest

GudgeFest, a lawn-chair-throwing competition created by Upper School Latin teacher Connor Walker in May 1993, was recently a wildly popular event at PDS; the 2001 turnout was “around 100 people,”[15] and the following for the event has been referred to as “cult-like.”[16] Competitors and spectators alike making the trek to the Colross Lawn are rewarded by an array of refreshments—famously, root beer floats and Nilla wafers. GudgeFest’s intent is, in Gudgel’s words, “to explore the Gudge in all of us....It’s [also] a spring into summer ritual, [and] it takes the pressure off of students. They’ve just finished the AP’s and everything is so structured and it [has been] since the time you were five years old. This is unstructured.”[15]

This lack of structure has historically led to dangerous results, such as when, at GudgeFest 2000, a student’s chair came close to hitting Upper School religion teacher David Freedholm. Since 2005 Gudgefest has not occurred due to a lack of student interest in planning the event. However, 06-07 Community Council President Hugh Wynne created a committee dedicated to planning the event. The group, called the GudgeFest Renovation, has been able to resurrect the tradition and plans to hold another GudgeFest in spring 2007. The revived event was originally called We Beat A Friar, a mnemonic for memorizing the Latin subjunctive endings, but the name was changed to Saturnalia and then Party-cus after some objected to the choice. The event successfully happened this spring with Juan Carlos Melendez-Torres winning the competition.

[edit] Honor Code

The PDS Honor Code was approved in a school-wide referendum in 2006. The current Code, the product of many years of work by successive Council administrations, was the focus of intense debate after being formally introduced to the Upper School in fall of 2005. Entering the philosophical fray were those who thought the school did not need an Honor Code, those who thought each student should be required to sign the Code, and many people holding different positions in between. The referendum held by Council in January 2006 ended in a compromise: each student at PDS would be bound by the Honor Code, but they did not have to physically sign it. The PDS Honor Code reads:

To learn honorably is to live honorably.

In order to foster the development of our community of learners, I will:
-uphold personal and academic integrity,
-respect myself and others,
-act responsibly and lead by example,
-be honest in my own work,
-and embrace the values expressed in this code.

[edit] Powderpuff Football

One upper school tradition is the annual Powderpuff Football game. The game is played by the girls of the Junior Class against the girls of the Senior Class. Typically, each team is coached by the Junior Boys, and the Senior Boys respectively. The game usually occurs in the beginning of November. The last game was played on November 13th, 2009, in which the Junior Class (Class of '11) won a thrilling come-from-behind victory, by a score of 14-13.

[edit] Administration

Paul J. Stellato was appointed as Head of School indeterminately from the 2008-2009 school year on. On November 7, 2007 The Board of Trustees announced that the committee voted unanimously to approve Paul J. Stellato as the next Head of School at Princeton Day School. His official term began July 1, 2008. Mr. Stellato was the Headmaster of North Cross School in Roanoke, Virginia before joining the PDS community. John Ora, the Head of the Middle School, also left after the 2006-2007 school year, to take a job as the Head of School at another independent school in California. Warren Gould, who is the head of Academic Affairs at Princeton Day School, became the Interim Head of the Middle School, giving way to Steven Hancock for the 2008-2009 school year and beyond.

  • Head of School: Paul Stellato
  • Head of Upper School: Carlton Tucker
  • Head of Middle School: Steven Hancock
  • Head of Lower School: John Weaver

[edit] Facilities

Princeton Day School recently completed a $24 million construction project which began in February 2006. The new construction and renovations a were completed in September 2007 and include doubling the size and adding a variety of new technologies to their middle and upper school libraries. A new art center houses studios for architecture, ceramics, painting/drawing, woodworking and photography. The school's music facilities have been expanded to include a state-of-the-art recording studio and new practice areas to accommodate a growing choral and instrumental music program. Currently, PDS's facilities include:

  • 6 Soccer/Lacrosse/Field Hockey Fields,including a state-of-the-art synthetic turf field
  • 2 Football Fields, 2 Softball Fields, and 2 Baseball Fields
  • Ice Rink with 6 Locker Rooms
  • Weight Training Room
  • 3 Gymnasiums
  • Additional 2 Locker Rooms
  • Full Music Wing with 7 Soundproof Rehearsal Rooms
  • Woodshop
  • Architecture Studio
  • Fine Art Studio
  • Film Studio with Green Room and Computer Lab
  • Photography Lab with Dark Room and Computer Lab
  • 2 Ceramics Rooms
  • Planetarium
  • Campus Center Cafeteria with Snack Bar
  • 400+ Seat Theater
  • Two Amphitheaters, Indoor and Outdoor
  • Three Additional Computer Labs
  • Three Libraries
  • Bookstore
  • Dance Studio
  • Printing Room for School Newspaper
  • 14 Science Labs
  • 50+ Classrooms

[edit] Clubs and activities

Student-run publications at Princeton Day School include the Spokesman, an award-winning Upper School newspaper published eight times a year, which uses a staff of 19 editors and two faculty advisors, and its Middle School sister publication, the Spokeskid. A yearly literary and arts magazine called Cymbals is also published, along with the annual yearbook, the Link.

The wide array of clubs offered in the Upper School at PDS(many of which are created by a student's or group of students' initiative) include the Outdoors Club, a Model United Nations team, the Mock trial team, the Debate Club, Amnesty International, The Moadon, the International Affairs club, the Nigerian Culture Club, the Science Olympiad Team, the Science Club, the EnAct (Environmental Action) club, Garden Club, the Cricket Club, the Conservative Club, the Libertarian Club, the Hippie Resurgence, the Interact Club, the India Club, the Spanish Club, the French Club, SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions), the Gay-Straight Alliance, The Oreo Cookie Gambling Club, the Building Project Subcomittee, the Harry Potter club, the Slavic Nation, the Philosopher's Guild, the Veganism Club, the Mountain Appreciation Club, the Running Club, the Junior State of America, and the Science League Team. The Lower and Middle schools offer, among others, Destination Imagination and FIRST Lego League teams.

Students also participate in Peer Group, and Tour Guide programs, serve on the Community Council, Student Ambassadors Committee, and Judiciary Committee, and become SysOps (student administrators for the computer and email systems).

[edit] Sports teams

Recent News:

  • Boys Cross-country won the 2009 Prep-State Championships
  • Girls Tennis won the Prep-State 2009 Championships
  • Girls Tennis won the Prep-State 2008 championships
  • Girls Soccer won the Prep-State 2008 championships
  • Boys Fencing won the Prep-State 2008 championships
  • Boys Cross-Country won the 2007 Patriot Conference Championship on October 10, 2007.
  • Football won the 2007 Crusader Bowl on November 9, 2007
  • MS girls field hockey went undefeated(both teams)
  • MS girls volleyball went undefeated

Middle and Upper School Sports teams at PDS include:

state championships

  • Boys Ice hockey: 1980-81 1988-89,1989-1990 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006
  • Coed Figure skating: 2000, 2001, 2006, 2008
  • Girls Ice hockey: 1998-99, 2001-02
  • Girls Softball: 1993, 1996, 2006
  • Boys Tennis: 1980, 1981, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2005, 2006, 2007,2008,2009
  • Girls Basketball: 1990, 1995, 2000
  • Girls Lacrosse: 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1995
  • Boys Football: 1973, 1974, 1975, 1980
  • Boys Lacrosse: 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1980, 1981, 1985, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996
  • Boys basketball: 1973-74, 1974-75, 1975-76, 1977-78, 1979-80, 1984-85, 1991-92, 1994-95

1996-97, 1998-99

  • Baseball: 1971, 1972, 1977, 1991, 1992, 1998, 2001
  • Boys Cross Country: 1974, 1978, 1979, 1991, 1992, 2002,2009
  • Boys Soccer: 1971, 1973, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1986, 1992
  • Golf: 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995
  • Fencing: 1995, 1996, 2008
  • Girls Soccer: 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1989, 1993, 1994, 1997, 2002, 2008
  • Field Hockey: 1976, 1978, 1981, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1992, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998
  • Volleyball: 1977, 1982, 1983, 1993, 1994
  • Girls Tennis: 2002, 2008, 2009

[edit] Trivia

 Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. (December 2007)
  • Coats and ties for male students were required until 1969, when the PDS Administration relaxed the dress code. T-shirts and denim, though, remained barred until 1994, when the Administration, according to the Spokesman, “effectively abolishe[d the] dress code under pressure from Community Council.”[14]
  • An independent school newspaper, The Observer, was founded by a group of PDS students in 1973 and was published for several years, in an attempt to provide more honest and uncensored coverage than a school-sponsored publication like the Spokesman was able to offer. The two publications engaged in a competition which seemed at times to be decidedly less than friendly; a front-page article in the May 19, 1975 Spokesman was devoted to pointing out a mistake the Observer had made in a recent issue, stating, "Like Chicken Little thinking that the sky was falling, the Observer assumed that the ravine was being filled in."[17]
  • The indie-punk band Saves the Day, whose members include Princeton Day School alumni Chris Conley and David Soloway, was formed by Conley and classmate Bryan Newman while both were still students at PDS.[18] After landing a deal with Equal Vision Records, the band's first album, Can't Slow Down, was recorded over winter break of Conley and Newman's senior year. The pair graduated from PDS in June 1998 (with Conley delivering the student Commencement speech),[19] and Can't Slow Down was released that August.

[edit] Notable alumni

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d Princeton Day School, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed July 26, 2008.
  2. ^ "FAQ For Prospective Upper School Parents", Princeton Day School. Retrieved on 2007-12-21.
  3. ^ School Search, New Jersey Association of Independent Schools. Accessed July 29, 2008.
  4. ^ a b “The Light That Ever Shines,” by Alice Jacobson and Laura Rogers. The Inkling, January 1962. Reprinted in the 1999 Centennial issue of The Spokesman, 2.
  5. ^ a b Selden, William K. From These Roots: The Creation of Princeton Day School. 1991.
  6. ^ "MISS MAY M. FINE, EDUCATOR, IS DEAD; Founder and Director for Last 34 Years of Girls' School in Princeton". The New York Times.. 1933-11-15. http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30B17F63C5516738DDDAC0994D9415B838FF1D3. Retrieved 2007-01-11. 
  7. ^ “Wreath-Making: A Waning Tradition,” by Matthew Kilgore. Originally published in The Spokesman, December 1982. Reprinted in the 1999 Centennial issue of The Spokesman, 15.
  8. ^ "Sophomores Win Challenge in Upset,” by Ian McCue. The Spokesman, November 2003.
  9. ^ Sophomores' Thriller Upsets Traditional Balance at Challenge,” by Erin McCormick. The Spokesman, November 2001.
  10. ^ a b “Parade Replaces Challenge,” by Adam Savitzky. Spokesman, May 2004. 1, 5.
  11. ^ “Blue Claims Victory on Field Day,” by Kalla Gervasio. The Spokesman, Summer 2003. 10.
  12. ^ a b “Why No More Blue-White Day in US?” by Caroline Binder. The Spokesman, March 2001. 8.
  13. ^ "Longtime LS Teachers Miller, Atiram Leave PDS,” by Somy Thottathil. The Spokesman, Summer 2001. 5.
  14. ^ a b Timeline from the 1999 Centennial issue of the Spokesman.
  15. ^ a b "Gudgefest a Lovefest,” by Nate Smith. The Spokesman, May 2001.
  16. ^ “Return of the Nerd,” by Alex Realmuto. The Spokeman, May 2002.
  17. ^ “Despite Rumors, Ravine Unfilled,” by Alex Zaininger. Originally published in the Spokesman, May 19, 1975. Reprinted in the Spokesman, May 2005, 7.
  18. ^ "MUSIC REVIEWS; These Guys Don't Cover Pete Seeger. They Rock.". The New York Times.. 2006-04-23. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B04EED8143FF930A15757C0A9609C8B63. Retrieved 2007-01-12. 
  19. ^ "Triumphant Seniors Bid PDS Farewell," by Julia Stahl and Gabe Kuris. The Spokesman, Summer 1998. 1.
  20. ^ Phish History, accessed December 6, 2006.
  21. ^ a b Kallas, Anna. "HER PREP SCHOOL IS NOTABLE FOR ITS NOTABLES - Christopher Reeve and Mary Chapin Carpenter walked the same halls - oh, and so did the Menendez brothers.", Dayton Daily News, June 1, 1997. Accessed December 3, 2007. "Chris and I went to the same private school in New Jersey - Princeton Day School - as did Mary Chapin Carpenter and the Menendez brothers, but more about them later."
  22. ^ a b "A perfect world Princeton's Chris Conley puts life's imperfections in perspective", Home News Tribune, March 26, 2004. Accessed August 1, 2007. "Saves the Day - also Eben D'Amico, bass; David Soloway(Whose mother is a middle school English techer), guitar; and Pete Parada, drums - was formed in the halls of the Princeton Day School high school in the mid-1990s."
  23. ^ Around the League, The Star-Ledger, December 17, 2006. "Atlanta's Patrick Kerney, despite being on injured reserve, is talking to the team about a contract extension that would keep the Newtown, Pa. native and one-time Princeton Day School player with the team for the rest of his career."
  24. ^ Interview: Tom Marshall's Tales, Mockingbird Foundation, accessed April 22, 2007. "Tom Marshall ("TM"): It began as a band called Utalk, with me, Trey, Peter Cottone on drums and Matt Kohut on bass. We're all friends from Princeton Day School -- back in the 70's/80's."
  25. ^ "TEACHER RECALLS CONFRONTATION WITH MENENDEZ BROTHERS' FATHER", Long Beach Press-Telegram, August 26, 1993, accessed April 22, 2007. "Patricia Cross, 57, said she encountered a belligerent and demanding Jose Menendez as she was leaving the Princeton Day School in New Jersey after the father and his wife, Kitty, failed to show up for a conference."
  26. ^ Evans, Timothy. "Ex-Princetonian finds book was in his genes", The Star-Ledger, July 18, 1996. Accessed August 1, 2007. "'Publishing is a huge game,' said the 1987 Princeton Day School graduate."
  27. ^ Biography of Christopher Reeve: September 25, 1952 - October 10, 2004, accessed August 28, 2006.
  28. ^ The Woman at the Washington Zoo: About Marjorie Williams, accessed January 13, 2007.

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Private High Schools and Prep Schools in New Jersey
Blair Academy · Christian Brothers Academy · Delbarton School · Dwight-Englewood School · Gill St. Bernard's School · Hun School of Princeton · Kent Place School · Lawrenceville School · Morristown-Beard School · Newark Academy · Oratory Preparatory School · Peddie School · The Pennington School · The Pingry School · Princeton Day School · Ranney School · Rutgers Preparatory School · Seton Hall Preparatory School · Saint Benedict's Preparatory School · St. Peter's Preparatory School · Wardlaw-Hartridge School
v • d • e
New Jersey Association of Independent High Schools

Coordinates: 40°21′43″N 74°41′26″W / 40.362075°N 74.690603°W / 40.362075; -74.690603

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