September 2002

Welcome back! I hope that your summer was restful, energizing and inspirational. I hope that you and your children had wonderful times together and that you return eager to share them with all of us. I look forward to seeing you again and to welcoming you back to school.

We have been busy this summer. Some of the results of our labors will be immediately apparent. You’ll see new computers in the library, the Chapman Room and the Kenyon House lab. You may not notice the additions to many of the classrooms, but they are there, too. We are determined to come from behind to position our children in the forefront of technological literacy and skill.

You also may not immediately notice the increases in our library collection or in our classroom reading resources. You may never see the plan our teachers have developed to improve their own evaluation. The work we have done this summer to assure more careful planning of our curriculum and our co-curricular activities will only become apparent over time. Be assured, however, that they are there. We are equally committed to developing our children’s linguistic and quantitative skills and our own proficiency in guiding their efforts.

Another of the quiet accomplishments of the summer is the groundwork laid by our lower school faculty for the study of the ways children develop literacy skills and of the best ways to help them do that. Our teachers will examine the complex process of becoming literate, attending not only to the steps that all children share, but also to the ways in which individual children differ. A critical characteristic of an effective school and of successful teaching is continuous engagement in the analysis of shared learning processes and of the multiple ways in which each learner is unique. Our teachers excel in this.

Among the most conspicuous accomplishments or the summer is the school playground. This was a project we started a year ago to honor Kathy Corrigan, our former lower school head. Energized by a group of parents, faculty and board members, it came to life this summer. I have to tell you that even after months of discussion and pouring over catalogs and blueprints, I was unprepared for the impact of construction day. I could not believe the spirit and energy that flowed on that hot August day as parents, teachers and kids pulled together make the plan a reality.

Beginning a little tentatively, we each gravitated to tasks that fit our talents. I found that I am great at organizing construction parts, but not much good at reading construction plans. I’m pretty good at short periods of light labor, but better at sustained maintenance efforts like painting the playhouses. What I learned extrapolates to my understanding of my role at PDS. I believe I can lead the school into a strong and secure future. In the details of nuts and bolts construction, however, I’m a much better follower. It’s important to
know yourself!

This was an important revelation. It brought clearly into perspective the many roles that each of us must play if our school is to prosper and to grow. I learned two important lessons from the playground project. First, I learned that sometimes we each must lead, and sometimes we each must follow. Second, I learned that no project is ever finished.

Although we achieved spectacular accomplishments that afternoon, our playground remains a work in progress. There is still much to be done: bicycle paths, benches and tables, bushes and shrubs, facilities that welcome birds and small animals—who knows what else? Each of these tasks requires the participation and commitment of every member of our PDS community. We cannot allow our sense of accomplishment in the initial effort to obscure our responsibility for the follow-through.

In fact, the playground project serves as a metaphor for the greater needs of our school. In every sense, we are a work in progress. Things are never finished. There are always matters to rethink and ways to improve. And, there is no such thing as enough participation. There is no such thing as “I have done enough.” Each of us must embrace the goals of our school and our community, and take responsibility for seeing them through to completion. For some it may mean coming back after the initial construction is finished. For others it may be volunteering in classrooms or on the coaching fields. Some of us may be in a position to add financial support to the programs that make our school so special.

It is critical that each of us determine the ways in which we can contribute to the strength of our school community, and then to do with all of our hearts. Think about it. What are your special talents? How can you best give? Are your doing the best you can? Your children—our children—deserve the best of all of us!

Here’s to a wonderful new school year. Here’s to a renewed commitment to the promise and principles of Poughkeepsie Day School. Together we can make it all that it should be!

Sincerely,

Mary Jane Yurchak