Poughkeepsie Day School Launches GROW Program (Poughkeepsie Journal)

Poughkeepsie Day School launches 'town square' education model
Nickie Hayes Poughkeepsie Journal

Published 5:02 a.m. ET Nov. 12, 2024 Updated 5:02 a.m. ET Nov. 12, 2024

What to know
After the closure, then reopening with reduced enrollment at Poughkeepsie Day School, a committee of long-standing teachers, board members, other faculty and staff, as well as a focus group of parents, former parents and alumni, are rolling out a revitalization plan for the school, dubbed PDS Grow.

After closing in the 2020-2021 academic year due to the financial and enrollment impacts of COVID-19, the non-profit private school reopened for the 2021-2022 academic year. There are now 35 students attending the school in which 175 used to be enrolled.

The PDS Grow plan aims to preserve the values of the 90-year-old school, including their curriculum rooted in alternative learning and emotional intelligence — where children learn to understand and manage their emotions, helping them to communicate more effectively — while setting students up for future success through a "town square" paradigm.

Poughkeepsie Day School Head of School Spiro Gouras said the goal is to increase enrollment to 100 students. That, coupled with the town square model's introduction of local business partnerships will aid the school's financial security, "and we can sustain ourselves," he said.

What to know about PDS Grow plan
Since 2021, when Gouras moved to the area from Brooklyn and began working at the Poughkeepsie Day School, his immediate concern was creating a plan so the school would never have to close again. PDS Grow is that security blanket.

The plan has four key elements: global citizenship, relationships, opportunity and wisdom. Under the town square model, the school serves as a space in which students can have their academic needs and extracurricular activities met under one roof. Teachers are being trained to stick to the historic values of the Poughkeepsie Day School.

Spanish classes now begin from the 3-year-old preschool age, as of this academic year, with Spanish instructor Christian Enrique Sauer. According to Gouras, few schools in the area start a foreign language so early on. Next year, they'll be offering the option to add on a third language, French, for middle school students.

The school will apply for International Baccalaureate (IB) accreditation through Primary Years Programme (PYP) and Middle Years Programme (MYP) in January. If they achieve this accreditation, it will allow them to connect with over 5,800 schools globally, providing opportunities to bolster their curricular offerings.

Alex and Latazia Cannon-Rivera, originally from Orange County and now Poughkeepsie homeowners, have enrolled their 4-year-old, Alejandro, in the preschool program at PDS this year.

Alex Cannon-Rivera said they're elated to see this plan moving forward. He feels it is the school's way of being cognizant of what happened in the past and amending it. "We feel Alejandro really flourishes in an environment that allows him to express himself fully," Cannon-Rivera said. "We really fell in love with the structure — small class sizes, attentive teachers."

What the 'town square' model looks like at Poughkeepsie Day School

"Across the country, there is a big movement towards community schools," Gouras said, "and what that looks like, depending on the demographic, is going to be different." The Poughkeepsie Day School's way of implementing a town square ethos was to bring the expertise from local small businesses in the mid-Hudson Valley to the Boardman Road campus. Gouras said the school wants families to feel this is a place for children to have everything they need."We don't want to be this exclusive place on a hill, so we want to bring people into our campus and be connected," Gouras said.

Partnerships between the school and local businesses are giving the school another means of revenue, and this is also an investment by the businesses to grow in tandem with the school. "You cannot rely on just tuition," Gouras said. The school is committed to keeping scholarships available to those who need it.

On top of this, they are building more connections with other organizations in the community, such as the Culinary Institute, the FDR Home, Ramapo for Children, Stony Kill Farm and Dutchess Outreach.

Poughkeepsie school 'a whole new community atmosphere'
Kerry's Dance Academy is now located at the Poughkeepsie Day School full-time, as is Star 2B. Other partners on their campus include Edge Athletics and North Star Sports. "It's a whole new community atmosphere," Julie Altomari, co-owner of Star 2B said. Star 2B's co-owners, Theresa Podhurst and Altomari, have previously rented the school's James Earl Jones Theater, but now they've become full-time partners with the school, residing on the campus after 5 p.m. on some weeknights.

Star 2B co-owners were happy to continue their mission — providing a safe space and environment for kids to be who they are, as well as musical theater industry education — at the school, with over 150 families involved from across the mid-Hudson Valley.

The town square community they're building is a way for PDS students to get what they need, "all under one roof," Podhurst said. Students from other area schools are also bussed in for the programs.

"It's easy for the parents, especially working parents," Altomari said. Everyone involved in the program, Podhurst said, "just want to see each other succeed."

Looking ahead, Gouras is hopeful for the future."We already have a very healthy level of interest for next year," Gouras said. "We know we're going to grow."

For more information on the Poughkeepsie Day School, as well as all the details of the PDS Grow program, visit their website at poughkeepsieday.org.