I T ’ S ALL H ERE PRINCETON DAY SCHOOL
Upper School
BY THE NUMBERS • 425 students • 52%/48% female/ male student ratio • 42 new students entering 9th Grade • 57% of US students identify as students of color • 300 applicants to 9th Grade • 87th Average SSAT Percentile of Admitted Applicants, Class of 2025 • 26% of US students receive need-based financial aid • 60 faculty members • 75% of faculty hold advanced degrees
• 47%/53% faculty female/male ratio • 8 to 1 Upper School student/teacher ratio • 12 students average class size • 326 student innovators learn in the Wellemeyer STEAM Center • 82 student writers, editors and artists produce the Spokesman, Cymbals and the LINK yearbook • 36 seniors mentor 108 9th graders through Peer Group student leadership program
• 26 Writing Center mentors spend more than 980 hours assisting their peers • 317 scholar-athletes compete in 14 sports • 212 performers and musicians grace the McAneny Stage • 45 clubs offer opportunities to get involved in everything from Model UN to student ambassadors to a capella groups • SAT Average Score: 690 Reading/Writing 710 Math
• ACT Composite Average: 30
WELCOME TO THE UPPER SCHOOL! Princeton Day School is known for academic excellence and intellectual rigor, but the student experience here is so much richer and deeper than that. Creativity and curiosity drive our students and faculty to find new ways to learn and to teach every day. Connections between Grades 9-12 and across our three divisions mean that as Upper School students, you have opportunities to lead, mentor and still share in the fun of all-school events. A culture of compassion and a deliberate approach to student well-being create a school experience that cultivates character in our students, together with a sense of confidence, optimism, and hope. We celebrate people here. Our powerful academic program and student-centered approach to the structure of the school day create the space to do more here. We surround you with outstanding faculty, great programs, and breathtaking facilities. Then, we encourage you to sample broadly and dig deeply. High school is an opportunity to try new things and expand your interests. Here, you will be encouraged to play a new sport, join a theater production, and grow your mentoring skills as a peer leader. These opportunities and so many more await you. High school is also about building capacity for what comes next. Princeton Day School graduates read insightfully, write clearly and persuasively, speak confidently, listen intently, and collaborate effectively. These skills are honed and tested within a proven curriculum infused with purposeful advising at every grade level; interdisciplinary study; global travel, awareness, and exploration; integrated science, math, arts, and technology programs; and comprehensive health and wellness programs. Step on our campus—and I hope you will—and you’ll sense our momentum.
Paul J. Stellato Head of School
ACADEMIC OVERVIEW ADVANCED CURRICULUM BY DEPARTMENT • Mathematics: AP Calculus AB, AP Calculus BC, AP Computer Science A, AP Computer Science Principles, AP Statistics, Advanced Topics in Math • Sciences: AP Biology, AP Chemistry, AP Physics C: Mechanics
STEAM PROGRAM An extensive STEAM program at PDS includes the premier Wellemeyer STEAM Center and an innovation-centered interdisciplinary curriculum offering among the highest number of independent school STEAM courses in science, technology, engineering, the arts and mathematics.
ARCHITECTURE PROGRAM
• History and Religion: AP Comparative Government, AP European History, AP US Government and Politics, AP Art History, AP Human Geography • Classic and Modern Languages: AP French Language, Advanced French Literature, AP Spanish Language, Advanced Topics in Spanish Literature, Chinese V, AP Latin, Ancient Greek • English: All English elective courses are taught at the advanced level. Many of our juniors and seniors sit for the English Literature AP exam.
Our renowned architecture program prepares our • The Arts: AP Music Theory, graduates to enroll at top college architecture and Advanced courses are offered across engineering programs, including Cornell, Washington University, Carnegie Mellon, Notre Dame and Tulane. visual, design and performing arts.
GLOBAL STUDIES PROGRAM The Global Studies Program is comprised of three tenets: globally-focused daily curriculum, school exchange programs and international travel programs. These include the School Year Abroad (SYA), Chewonki Semester School, High Mountain Institute School, School for Ethics and Global Leadership, the Conserve School and school-sponsored travel to Japan, China, India, Italy, France, the Bahamas and the United Kingdom.
Students have the opportunity to take classes at Princeton University.
UPPER SCHOOL SIGNATURE PROGRAMS EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING The Research Experience (REx) program for science-based independent study and summer internships; exceptional Sustainability and Energy & Climate Scholars programs; Jacobson Music Scholars independent study program; the ThinSat PDSPrinceton University satellite space launch partnership; our Global Travel and semester away programs; an extensive selection of interdisciplinary study courses; one of the nation’s top Model UN programs; award-winning PDS Visual and Performing Arts productions including regular invitations to perform in Scotland’s world-famous Fringe Festival. MENTORSHIP Appointed via application processs and trained extensively, PDS seniors develop meaningful mentoring and role modeling relationships with younger students. A key student leadership experience at PDS includes seniors mentoring 9th graders in the Peer Group program. Student Council is chosen by election and students commit to year-long programs of action designed to strengthen and enhance the school community, while Peer Tutoring by qualified seniors and juniors is offered to all Upper School students in the Writing Center and SiMs Center (Success in Math and Science). CLUBS AND ACTIVITIES Extracurricular clubs and activities abound with more than 40 groups and new initiatives regularly being organized. In many clubs, students are selected by faculty and peers for leadership positions, including Mock Trial Team, the Spokesman (student newspaper), Model UN, a capella singing groups, Science Olympiad Team, Student Ambassadors, and affinity groups. GUIDANCE Every student in the Upper School has a faculty advisor with whom they check in daily. Advisories are organized as small groups and build trust and meaningful rapport over the course of the Upper School experience. This primary contact is important in helping students navigate high school’s inevitable highs and lows, including health and well-being issues. Weekly meetings occur with agendas that cover academic and social life in the Upper School. A class dean is dedicated to the freshman class and spends the year focused on helping ensure a successful transition to Upper School for the 9th graders. Starting in 10th Grade, a class dean is introduced who will guide their class for the remaining three years.
ARTS RECENT HIGHLIGHTS THEATER
ATHLETICS
• Outstanding High School Theatre Program, Northeast Region, Stage Directions Magazine • Outstanding Musical Production, Paper Mill Playhouse Rising Star Awards • Outstanding Acting Ensemble, Montclair State University Theater Awards • Outstanding Performance by a Featured Ensemble Member, Honorable Mention, Paper Mill Playhouse Rising Star Award DANCE
• Performances at 92nd Street Y Dance Up Series for High School Choreographers • Performances at Grounds for Sculpture Outlet Dance Project Festival MUSIC
TEAMS
Baseball • Basketball • Cross Country • Fencing • Field Hockey • Figure Skating • Golf • Ice Hockey • Lacrosse • Soccer • Softball • Squash • Tennis • Volleyball FACILITIES
Our new Princeton Day School Athletic Center adjoining the Lisa McGraw ’44 Skating Rink opened in September 2020 and features a community-sized commons, a field house with two multi-purpose courts, four international squash courts, new meeting and changing room facilities and much more!
PDS PANTHERS COMPETE FOR THESE COLLEGE TEAMS Amherst College • Boston College • Boston University • Bowdoin College • Brown University • Bucknell University • Christopher Newport University • Colby College • Connecticut College • Cornell University • Dartmouth University • Dickinson College • Duke University • Emory University • Franklin & Marshall College • George Washington University • Gettysburg College • Goucher College • Hamilton College • Harvard University • Hobart and William Smith College • Howard University • Kenyon College • Lafayette College • Lehigh University • Massachusetts Institute of Technology • Michigan State University • Middlebury College • Muhlenberg College • New Jersey Institute of Technology • New York University • Princeton University • Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute • Rochester Institute of Technology • Skidmore College • Stevens Institute of Technology • Susquehanna University • Swarthmore College • Trinity College • Tufts University • University of Chicago • University of Connecticut • University of Miami • University of Notre Dame • University of Pennsylvania • University of Vermont • Vassar College • Villanova University • Wake Forest University • Washington University in St. Louis • Washington and Lee University • Wesleyan University • Wilkes University • Williams College • Xavier University
• Students have participated in the following: – Central Jersey Music Educators Association (CJMEA) Honor Band – NJ Performing Arts Center Jazz for Teens – CJMEA High School Regions Chorus – CJMEA Honors Chorus – Julliard Pre-College Program FINE ARTS AND DESIGN
• National Scholastic Arts Awards: 80 Awards, including 20 Gold Key and 60 Silver Key and Honorable Mention Awards in Writing and Art, including Photography, Painting, Drawing and Illustration, Architecture and Industrial Design Association of Woodworking & Furnishings Suppliers (AWFS) • Fresh Wood Competition, Las Vegas: Gold and Silver Medals • Professional gallery exhibits
Princeton Day School’s award-winning theater program offers seasonal dramatic and musical performances and opportunities to travel to the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland to perform an original work.
SELECT GUEST SPEAKERS < P oet Laureate Tracy K. Smith • PBS Open Mind host Alexander Heffner • renowned Civil War scholar and author James McPherson • scholar and author Dr. Cornel West P’18 • professor of animal science Dr. Temple Grandin • clinical psychologist and author Michael Thompson • Dr. Deane Marchbein of Doctors Without Borders • NASA astronaut and professor Dr. Michael Massimino • evolutionary biologists Drs. Peter and Rosemary Grant • historian and author James West Davidson • renowned podcast host Leon Neyfakh • award-winning poet and educator Willie Perdomo • acclaimed novelist Yaa Gyasi • basketball star Davon Reed ’13 • poet Deborah Landau • multiple awardwinning authors and illustrators including Grace Lin • Melissa Sweet • Laurie Halse Anderson • Sophie Blackall • Christina Henriquez
Amherst College: 5 Bard College: 17 Barnard College: 8 Bates College: 5 Boston College: 24 Boston University: 45 Bowdoin College: 4 Brandeis University: 21 Brown University: 14 Bryn Mawr College: 6 Bucknell University: 39 University of California, Berkeley: 10 Carleton College: 3 Carnegie Mellon University: 12 Case Western Reserve University: 28 University of Chicago: 11 Colby College: 16 Colgate University: 14 Colorado College: 7 Columbia University: 14 Connecticut College: 17 Cornell University: 25 Dartmouth College: 8 Dickinson College: 20 Duke University: 14 Elon University: 18 Emory University: 19 Franklin & Marshall College: 21 The George Washington University: 34 Georgetown University: 25 Georgia Tech: 7 Gettysburg College: 21 Hamilton College: 13 Harvard University: 5 Haverford College: 8 Howard University: 6 Johns Hopkins University: 16
Learn more at pds.org
PRINCETON DAY SCHOOL 650 Great Road Princeton, NJ 08540
Lafayette College: 23 Lehigh University: 30 McGill University: 8 University of Miami: 26 University of Michigan: 20 Middlebury College: 11 Muhlenberg College: 27 New York University: 52 Northeastern University: 42 Northwestern University: 5 University of Notre Dame: 11 Oberlin College: 18 Pennsylvania State University: 61 University of Pennsylvania: 15 University of Pittsburgh: 40 Princeton University: 25 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute: 19 Rice University: 8 University of Richmond: 14 Skidmore College: 35 University of Southern California: 19 Stanford University: 5 Swarthmore College: 8 Syracuse University: 38 The College of New Jersey: 30 Trinity College: 19 Tufts University: 21 Tulane University: 16 Union College: 10 Vanderbilt University: 9 Vassar College: 7 University of Vermont: 31 Villanova University: 45 University of Virginia: 18 Wake Forest University: 21 Washington University, St. Louis: 17 Wesleyan University: 5 College of William and Mary: 15 University of Wisconsin-Madison: 21 Yale University: 8
Photos: Michael Branscom, David Bremer, Christine Cantera, Nancy Erickson, Rachel Eliza Griffiths courtesy of Blue Flower Art, Corbin Gurkin, Matt Pilsner
SELECT COLLEGE ACCEPTANCES (2016-21)