Poughkeepsie Day School is an independent, co-educational school serving students in the mid-Hudson valley in pre-K through 12th grade.Together with families we sustain a reflective, ethically driven and dynamic learning community.

Poughkeepsie Day School develops educated citizens with a passion for learning and living. Our community demands integrity, responsibility and mutual respect.

Poughkeepsie Day School graduates students who:

• Possess a rich academic knowledge base and know how to think as creative, flexible, independent, resourceful learners for life
• Are intellectually curious, active seekers, users and creators of knowledge
• Listen well, and integrate, analyze, and synthesize information with practiced skill
• Communicate effectively and work well collaboratively
• Think globally with awareness and understanding of complexity and multiple perspectives
• Exercise ethical discernment
• Have compassion and empathy, and commit to their communities
• Know who they are and follow their own compass with optimism and courage
• Lead and inspire others through example, dedication and commitment to equity and justice
• Acknowledge the role of Poughkeepsie Day School in their lives and sustain its legacy
  

Our program is intellectually demanding and innovative. It is interdisciplinary, inquiry based and experiential. We are committed to inspired teaching, joyful learning, caring relationships and the appreciation of difference.

Important assumptions gird our educational practice. They include:

• Our strength is in our community, our values and our relationships to one another and the world.
• Learning flourishes in collaborative environments that honor effort, enterprise, ingenuity, risk-taking and persistence. Learners thrive when they invest hope, energy, time and imagination.
• We value the individual journey. We know that students grow and learn at different rates in different ways toward different destinations.
• Learning is for everyone and learning is for life. The world needs citizens with the skills, the drive and the disposition to work with others to solve vital problems of great complexity.
• Our students will live in a future that we cannot predict. Thoughtful, dedicated teaching is a vital contribution to the common good. Balancing continuity and change requires ongoing review and revision; evolving technologies and emerging research advance our teaching. We are committed to professional growth and sustainable practices.
• We don't have all the answers and must continually strive to pursue our mission, aspire to our vision and serve our diverse constituency.

Approved by the Board of Trustees 1-8-07

View a PDF version of this statement.