September Update from the Head of School

Dear PDS Community:

It's been an exciting start to the year! I am thoroughly enjoying getting to know your sons. They are enthusiastic, intelligent, and hard-working. Since I am still learning about our school, it allows me to walk the fence line of our school, so to speak, as an observer. I have visited many schools over the years, and I can say that PDS is truly outstanding. It's exceptional in terms of its academic development and achievement, the level of character developed in our boys, and so many levels of support offered to each boy socially, emotionally, and academically. PDS does a remarkable job balancing the whole-child approach. Our educators and staff are outstanding in their development of boys! They are building a foundation for life in these boys.

After the first weeks of school, the boys are settling into routines, happy to be with friends once again, and making new friends, laughing, running, and doing what boys do in an environment that captures their energy and uses it to develop them. They are already adjusting to the good challenges and opportunities ahead of them this year. With most beginning-of-school-year activities and meetings behind us, we are looking forward to the Labor Day weekend for a short respite before fully engaging in the new school year.

I am also still in the process of settling in and growing in my understanding of our school and community. I have always found that the best way to do that is to dive into classrooms and see our boys learning and getting to know each one in their class. After returning from Labor Day, I will be joining one grade each week for a day, starting with 6th grade and working my way down to our youngest PDS boys. On those days, instead of carrying out all the typical duties of an administrator, I will be setting aside time, putting on the garb of a PDS boy, and immersing myself in our classes to get to know your son and understand our boy's experiences throughout the day.

I spend most mornings welcoming our elementary boys to school with a customary handshake at our main entrance, which is the highlight of my day. I also plan to join our early childhood division one day each week after Labor Day, helping our younger boys out of cars and greeting our early childhood families. I look forward to seeing you in the carline each day.

Lastly, thank you for your continued support as we navigate the landscape of COVID and its variants. As we are trying to minimize disruption at the beginning of this year with COVID cases very high, we are pushing our annual Family Cookout and Jamboree to October 30th. Please mark your calendars. We are very excited about this year's Jamboree, and the cooler temps of October will make for a fabulous fall event.

We hope you have a fun and safe Labor Day weekend, and we look forward to seeing your sons back on campus next week.

Have a great Labor Day weekend!

Brad