Head of School Report

Annual Meeting June 3th 2013

Welcome to ….

2012-2013

A Few Highlights of the YearBut before we do, just a

reminder …

It’s not over yet…..

Major accomplishment of the year: NYSAIS Decennial accreditation visit and full reaccreditation.

•A year long intensive self-study 2011-2012

•Close scrutiny by the visiting committee October 2012 – all aspects of program, policies and practices

•NYSAIS Commission on Accreditation approval January 2013

“A school that lives its mission”

Two major 2012-2013 capital projects

Athletic Fields enhancement and Middle School Learning Community

Middle School Learning Communitycompleted Summer 2012

Middle School Learning Community

Featured at:•NAIS Annual Conference 2013 and by

•Fielding Nair International in their upcoming book:•The Learning Building -- How Smart, Agile School Buildings Create Smart, Agile Kids.

Clay infield being delivered. Ready for play Spring 2014

Canstruction Jr. Hudson Valley

• Five teams, five schools• Local partnerships• Poughkeepsie Galleria• Program integration –

math, design, science humanities

• 5975 pounds of food• Food Bank of the Hudson

Valley & The Queens Galley of Kingston.

Poughkeepsie Day School’s Award Winning “Melting Snowman”

Innovation CelebrationNovember 2012

Trustee Roundtable: May

Remembering Teddy Hoe

1923- 2006

Four decades of volunteer service to PDS as trustee, parent, and grandparent

Theater and Dance – an incomplete list

• Around the World in 80 Days

• Front

• Cases of Mistaken Identity

• The One and Only Ivan

• Lower School Dansicle – Social Movements

Athletics

Soccer Cross-Country Basketball Baseball Softball Ultimate Frisbee

Athletics

• Soccer – 4 teams

• Cross Country –Basketball – four teams

• Baseball

• Softball

• Ultimate Frisbee

AthleticsSoccer and Softball Champions

• 70 high school students played on a high school athletic team

• That’s over 60%

• Also: 5th/ 6th & 7th/8th teams.

Field trips and excursions – just a sample

From Sprout Creek Farm and Market Street, Poughkeepsie to up and down the valley, across the river, over the river, on the river and in the river.

• Boston

• New York City

• Nature’s Classroom

• Washington, DC

• Ireland

Professional Development:John Hunter at PDS – November 2012

•The World Peace Game

•Movie screening:

World Peace and Other Fourth Grade Achievements

Professional Development and Community Outreach: Alfie Kohn May 2013

Professional Learning and Leadership – just a sample

• NYSAIS – Emerging Leaders Institute, Beginning Teachers Institute, New Division Heads Workshop, Admissions Directors, Teaching with Technology

• NAIS – Speed Innovating• NYSCATE – E-Portfolios• Martin Institute for Teaching Excellence (Memphis)• NYSAIS Summer Think Tanks on Professional

Development and STEM to STEAM (and Learning by Doing)

Community Connections – just a sample

• Hudson Valley Lego League tournament site

• Keep the Music benefit concert for Catherine Street Community Center and Healing Haiti

• Community Service with local organizations including Queens Galley, Vassar Warner home, Heart Street, Poughkeepsie Farm Project, Community Family Development, the Lunch-Box, Catherine Street, more….

• Athletics and league play

• Employee Service• Partnerships: ICG, NYSAIS, NAIS, NACAC, WAC

etc.Online and virtual community connections legion.

Enrollment

• We were at 283 on opening day last year• Total enrollment on track date-to-date • The admissions office is very active right now and

while we do have room in many grades we are close to full enrollment in others.

Financial Assistance

• Currently 98 of 286 students receive some financial assistance with tuition and this represents 17% of the operating budget.

• Working hard to keep a PDS education affordable for as many of our families as possible. Many grades did not see a sizeable tuition increase or indeed any increase this year.

Become a PDS Ambassador

••Word of mouth is the most effective

•Your school needs you to tell your friends and neighbors about PDS

Annual Fund

• OUR GOAL: 100 % Parent participation(Of 1,100 NAIS schools only 37 had 100% parent participation

in 2011-2012)

Poughkeepsie Day School Parent Participation

• 2010-2011 = 47%• 2011-2012 = 60%• 2012-2013 = ???• Right now – June 3rd – just under a month to go = 55%

Field trips, athletics uniforms, sports equipment, library supplies, theater costumes, robotics software, music, technology and all the expenses small and large that make

up the PDS difference – Thanks to the Annual Fund.

We appreciate gifts of any size.

“A person’s a person no matter how small.”

– Dr. Seuss

It’s the same with gifts to the school.

Capital Giving

Two very generous and wonderful capital gifts in support of:

•Gilkeson renovations and the

•Athletics FieldsThis means support for the expansion of library and arts/ technology changes and the addition of a great new scoreboard as an additional enhancement to the athletics upgrade.

We have many other exciting projects in mind. Please come and talk to us.

Spring Benefit Auction

It was a wonderful party and we raised money.

Thank-you donors, sponsors, attendees, underwriters, co-chairs, and all the scores of people who made it a great night out.

50 % proceeds to Capital Projects

50% to our Endowment Funds

School Finances – The Great Balancing Act

Three basic levers of the school economy:

•Tuition is the main source of revenue•Compensation (salaries/ benefits) the biggest expense•“Efficiency” (doing more or as much with the same or less) the third variable•Also rans: Fundraising, After-School and Summer Programs and Campus Rentals.

The Economic Outlook from NAIS

Trends:

•Healthier job market but flat income

•Families still recovering from the economic crisis

•Unsettled housing market

•Tighter family and school budgets

•Deferred educational spending

Board report -- Copyright PDS 2012 35

New Web Site Launched last Summer

Active Social Media Page(You don’t have to use social media to keep up but if you are - please like, follow, friend and retweet)

Media GallerySome stats: Last month – May 2013

5,884 visits by 2,734 people

1,940 – 34% - were first time visitors

Two Projects coming up for completion

MUSIC

DANCE

LIBRARY

GARDEN Athletic Fields completion and

NEW Learning Spaces

New spaces to:

Play a musical instrument

Sing Read

Tinker Research

Dance Build

Make Create

Engineer and Practice

LEARN and GROW

• Chrome Books for the 4th and 5th Grades

• High School Tech Challenge class

• New learning spaces for all three divisions

Strategic Plan 2013

2007 Vision 2020 – read it now – seems almost quaint – such is the speed of change.

But that plan served us very well in spite of the economic recession and downturn of 2008 and beyond.

Community wide and inclusive process.

Team of twenty: trustees, teachers, administrators – thirteen of them current parents.

Mission>

Values>

Program Commitments>

= Student Outcomes

Not a Road Map but a Compass

Please stop waiting for a map. We reward those who draw maps, not those who follow them.

- Seth Godin

This strategic plan is about the future: The future of Poughkeepsie

Day School students and the future of the school

In a world of change our plan

Answers the questions:

Why School?

Why PDS?

Our work was guided by our answers to leading questions:• What are our mission and our values?

• What is our identity as a school and whom do we serve PDS?

• What are our learning outcomes for students?

• What is the relationship at our school between students, teachers and knowledge?

• What is the PDS design for learning

• What is the PDS difference and why does it matter?

Why Poughkeepsie Day School?

Because:

PDS Design for Learning

Mission & Core Values

Mission & Core Values

Independent Entrepreneurial Individual

EngagedGlobal Citizen

InnovativeProblem finderSolution seeker

Self-evolving/directed/Sustaining Learner for Life

Bold Navigator

Empowered Creative Contributor

Environmental Steward

Self-awareness

IntegrityContribution

Connection Curiosity

CourageWonder

CollaborationCreativity

The End

Thank you