Princeton Day School
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Princeton Day School is a private coeducational day school located in Princeton Township, New Jersey. The school has a "Princeton, New Jersey" mailing address. 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 372 as of the 2005-2006 school year. Dr. Judith R. Fox is the current Head of School.
An average of nearly 20 percent 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 percent of the PDS graduating classes is accepted to Ivy League colleges, Stanford, Duke, University of Chicago or MIT. Approximately 95 percent of the Class of 2000 attend colleges rated “Most Difficult” or “Very Difficult” by Peterson's Guide[1].
In September of 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 of 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.
The school is a member of the National Association of Independent Schools, New Jersey Association of Independent Schools and the Association of Delaware Valley Independent Schools.
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[edit] History
In 1899, 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.
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. The two schools merged 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.
Today, Princeton Day School enrolls about 900 boys and girls in Junior Kindergarten through Grade 12. The school continues to blend the best of both Miss Fine's and Princeton Country Day schools -- including the annual Maypole Dance originally reserved for upper schoolers at Miss Fine's and now performed each spring by PDS second graders.
[edit] Administration
- Head of School: Judith R. Fox
- Head of Upper School: Carlton Tucker
- Head of Middle School: John P. Ora
- Head of Lower School: Dina Bray
[edit] Facilities
The Princeton Day School Campus/Upper School has the following facilities:
- 6 Soccer/Lacrosse/Field Hockey Fields,including a state-of-the-art synthetic turf field
- 1 New Turf Field
- 2 Football Fields
- 2 Softball Fields
- 2 Baseball Fields
- Ice Rink with 4 Locker Rooms
- Weight Training Room
- 3 Gymnasiums
- Additional 2 Locker Rooms fully renovated in 2006
- Full Music Wing
- Woodshop, with Architecture Classroom
- Photography Lab, with 2 Dark Rooms
- Ceramics Room
- Additional 2 Visual Arts Rooms
- Planetarium
- Campus Center Cafeteria with Snack Bar
- 400+ Seat Theater
- Two Amphitheaters, Indoor and Outdoor
- Three Computer Labs
- Drama Classroom
- 5 Upper School Science Classrooms
- 4 Upper School Foreign Language Classrooms
- 4 Upper School Mathematics Classrooms
- 4 Upper School English/Literary Arts Classrooms
- 4 Upper School History Classrooms
- Three Libraries
- 20+ Middle School Classrooms
- 15+ Lower School Classrooms
- Lower School Music Wing
NOTE: Princeton Day School is currently undergoing a $24 million construction project which began in February of 2006. The new construction and renovations are scheduled to be completed in September of 2007 and include doubling the size and adding a variety of new technologies to their middle and upper school libraries. A new art center will house studios for architecture, ceramics, painting/drawing, woodworking and photography. The school's music facilities will be expanded to include a state-of-the-art recording studio and new practice areas to accommodate a growing choral and instrumental music program.
[edit] Clubs/Activities
Some popular extracurricular activities at PDS include:
- The Outdoors Club
- Athletic Association
- The Spokesman (school newspaper)
- Cymbals (literary magazine)
- The Link (school yearbook)
- Community Council (student government)
- Performing Arts Program
- Performing Arts Program Tech Crew
- Model United Nations team
- Mock trial team
- Debate Club
- Amnesty International
- The Moadon
- Le Cadavre Exquis
- Science Olympiad Team
- The Science Club
- The Student Ambassadors
- The EnAct (environmental action) club
- Cricket Club
- Conservative Club
- Libertarian Club
- Judiciary Committee
- India Club
- Spanish Club
- French Club
- SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions)
- Oreo Cookie Gambling Club
- SysOps (Student Computer Administrators)
- Peer Group
- Tour Guides
- Junior State of America
- Science League Team
- Lower and Middle School Destination Imagination Teams
- Lego Robotics Team
[edit] Sports Teams
Middle and Upper School Sports teams at PDS include:
- Fall: Boys Football, Boys and Girls Soccer, Girls Tennis, Boys and Girls Cross-Country, Girls Field Hockey
- Winter: Boys and Girls Basketball, Coed Squash (upper school only), Coed Fencing, Boys and Girls Ice Hockey, Girls Volleyball
- Spring: Boys Baseball, Boys and Girls Lacrosse, Boys Tennis, Girls Softball, Coed Golf(upper school only) , Coed Figure skating (upper school only)
[edit] Notable alumni
- Trey Anastasio - Singer and guitarist for Phish.
- Mary Chapin Carpenter - Country music singer-songwriter and guitarist.
- Chris Conley - Lead singer of Saves the Day.
- Patrick Kerney - Professional football player and Pro Bowl defensive end for the Atlanta Falcons.
- Tom Marshall - Phish Lyricist.
- Lyle and Erik Menendez
- Holden Scott - Author of Bringing Down the House.
- Christopher Reeve - Late actor, director, and producer. He was best known for his role as Superman in multiple films[2]
- David Soloway - A member of Saves the Day.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Princeton Day School home page
- Princeton Day School Community Council home page
- National Center for Education Statistics data for Princeton Day School
