Princeton Day School is thrilled to welcome back our alumni community on May 18 and 19 for Alumni Weekend. Even if the weather isn't cooperating, we have a fantastic program with many opportunities to reconnect with fellow alums, faculty, and friends. Be sure to check the Alumni Weekend page for up-to-the-minute information on activities and venues. As is the tradition during the weekend, we will present our alumni awards for service, achievement, and outstanding young alumni; and we will induct a new member into our Athletic Hall of Fame.

All parents are invited to attend the final Parents Association meeting of the year on Wednesday, May 23 at 8:15 a.m. in the Lisa McGraw '44 Skating Rink. Sarah Graham, Princeton Day School's Director of College Counseling, and her team will discuss the college counseling program at PDS as well as admission trends she has noticed from the past year. Ms. Graham will also be ready to answer any questions about the college counseling process at the end of the presentation. In addition, the PA Governing Board Slate of 2018 - 2019 will be sworn in at this meeting. This is a not-to-be-missed meeting, and all parents are encouraged to attend.

Spring is here, and our magnificent Princeton Day School Middle School musicians are sharing their talents with the community in three concerts this month. On Monday, May 14, the MS strings players performed their concert, which included the talents of Allegro Strings, MS Chamber Players, and Sinfonia. Selections ranged from the Puerto Rican folk song "Que Bonita Bandera" to songs by Vivaldi and Beethoven to "Kashmir," the Led Zeppelin classic. Here are some photos from the concert.

In exciting ice hockey news, Nic Petruolo '18 and Tyler Coffey '18 were recently selected in the United States Hockey League (USHL) junior league draft. Nic Petruolo, who verbally committed to play Division I Ice Hockey for Union College last fall, was selected 46th overall by the Fargo Force. Click the headline to read more.

Princeton Day School theater director Stan Cahill announced that the Upper School fall production of Evan Placey's "Girls Like That" won two New Jersey Theatre Awards: Outstanding Achievement in Technology and New Media and Outstanding Achievement in Education and Outreach.

Twelve senior members of Princeton Day School's faculty and staff have shared plans to retire in June. This profile of Upper School history teacher Eamon Downey is the second in our series on these long-serving and much beloved faculty and staff members. (The first profile is of Middle School history teacher Hank Bristol '72, which you can read by clicking here.) Click on the headline to read the profile of Mr. Downey by Howie Powers '80, History Department Chair.

Congratulations to the Princeton Day School Chess team, who competed at the 2018 National Elementary (K-6) Championship in Nashville, Tennessee, on May 11 through May 13. Chess teacher Bonnie Waitzkin reported, "Our K-1 Under 500 rated team of Ethan Fede, Sloane Schwendinger, Arav Munjal, Akshay Pillai and Aditya Pillai was fourth team, and Ethan Fede tied for third place with 6 out of 7 wins."

With their 9-3 win over Hightstown, the Princeton Day School Boys Lacrosse team has become the first team to "three-peat" as Mercer County Tournament Champions. This win is especially sweet this year due to the grueling schedule the coaches and team took on with their move up to NJISAA Prep A. Plus, the win commemorates the end of an era as coaches Rich D'Andrea and Rob Tuckman will retire from the program after this season.

The Princeton Day School boys and girls varsity lacrosse teams are having incredible seasons culminating in two big games for championship titles on Thursday, May 10 and Monday, May 14. First up, our boys team will take on Hightstown High School at West Windsor Plainsboro North to compete in their fourth straight Mercer County Tournament final on Thursday at 5:00 p.m. On Monday, at 4:30, the girls varsity team will face Morristown Beard on home turf for the Prep State Championship title. This would be the girls' fourth consecutive Prep B title. Click the headline for more. Go Panthers!

Congratulations to Caroline Lee, Upper School English teacher, who recently collaborated with Angela Duckworth, the New York Times bestselling author of Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance and Anders Ericcson, internationally renowned researcher and author of Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise, on a new Playbook for Character Lab called "Expert Practice." Character Lab, founded by Angela Duckworth and educators Dave Levin and Dominic Randolph, aims to research and create new ways to help all students develop character. One way it does this is by creating Playbooks, "ready-to-use" resources that target specific character strengths. Click the headline to read more.

Congratulations to the cast and crew of the Princeton Day School winter musical, "Bat Boy!" for earning four nominations from the Paper Mill Playhouse Rising Star Awards. Director Stan Cahill announced the following nominations: Student Achievement Award: Hope Ammidon, Assistant Director; Student Achievement Award: Rakesh Potluri, Assistant Lighting Design/Master Electrician; Student Achievement Award: Aaron Baseman, Production Art and Design; and Outstanding Performance by a Chorus.

Twelve senior members of our school's faculty and staff have shared plans to retire in June from Princeton Day School. As Head of School Paul Stellato wrote in the most recent issue of the Journal, "Consider the impact of a group whose years of service on our campus reach into the hundreds, whose guidance, care, and direction have enriched the lives of thousands of students, parents, colleagues, and friends, and whose influence on the course and culture of our school can be measured in her unbridled prosperity, her national retuptation, and her unwavering optimism." Here are stories of these esteemed members of our faculty and staff as told by their colleagues. Mr. Hank Bristol '72, by Beth Yakoby, Middle School History teacher.

The second annual PDS Day of Giving is May 11, 2018. The Day of Giving is a community-wide effort to inspire alumni, parents, parents of alumni, faculty, and friends to come together, celebrate our school, and provide essential support to the Annual Fund, which benefits our students and teachers every day. Learn more here.

The 2018 Bridges Program culminated in a 7th grade on-campus retreat on Tuesday, May 3 under sunny skies on the Pagoda Fields. Director of Wellness Dr. Candy Shah shared that the Senior leaders planned activities that promoted cooperation, communication, problem solving, and team building in an active and fun way, and the 7th grade students spent all afternoon engaging in the same social and emotional skills they learned about all year.

By high school students, for high school students is the motto of the two Upper School groups--the Energy and Climate Scholars and the EnAct (Environmental Action) Club--who have organized the second annual Student Climate Change Conference, which will take place on campus May 12 from 12:00 to 5:30 p.m. Free and open to all high school students and faculty, the event will feature student presentations on all aspects of climate change (policy, water, food, agriculture, technology), a nonprofit fair, a range of outdoor activities, and a keynote address by Maya K. van Rossum, the Delaware Riverkeeper and noted environmental activist.

Princeton Day School is pleased to invite the community to attend the culminating recitals of our 2017-18 Jacobson Music Scholars.

Eric Chen, violin: May 7, 6:00 p.m.
Hallie Hoffman, voice; Clara Love, violin; Naveen Bhatia, guitar: May 16, 4:00 p.m.
Kaito Mimura, violin: May 31, 4:00 p.m.
All recitals will take place in the McAneny Theater.

Princeton Day School was honored to welcome alum Adam Bromwich '92, via Skype, to join an Upper School STEAM course on Monday, April 30 and talk with students about his work as Senior Vice President of Security Technology and Response at Symantec, the world's leading cyber security company.

On May 1, Princeton Day School will celebrate the start of spring with the Maypole dance performed by our second grade students on the lawn behind Colross. A rich and deep tradition, the Maypole celebration stretches back to Miss Fine's School, established in 1899. Members of the School's Alumni Board, Linda Maxwell Stefanelli MFS '62, Barbara Rose MFS '64 and Paris McLean '00, together have written a history of the tradition at Miss Fine's School and Princeton Day School.

On April 23--incidentally, the birthday of William Shakespeare--Princeton Day School senior Emily Trend had the opportunity to perform at the 35th Annual National Shakespeare Competition at Lincoln Center in New York, and was named a finalist. Only seven finalists were named from the 55 students from around the country who competed as the culmination of a year-long competition hosted by the English-Speaking Union (ESU). Emily qualified for the national competition by winning the regional ESU Princeton Branch Shakespeare Competition in February.

Princeton Day School is delighted to welcome alumna Kelsey Burns '10 to campus as our final 2018 Imagine the Possibilities artist on April 26 and 27. Kelsey is a dancer, choreographer, and teacher, and has completed fellowships with the Newington-Cropsey Foundation, the Gibney Dance Center, and the Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation Observership Program. She has taught at the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance and Princeton University, and was formerly an internationally ranked salsa dancer.