FOUNDED 1895 • THE NATION’S OLDEST COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL NEWSPAPER
Volume CXLVII — No. II
Tuesday, November 23, 2021
record.pingry.org
PINGRY EXPANDS
The Future of Pingry at the Pottersville Campus
SARAH GU (IV) & MIRIKA JAMBUDI (V) Last August, Pingry announced its completed acquisition of the Pottersville Campus. This spacious, rural campus — about eighty-three acres and over 100,000 square feet of buildings — contains around twenty buildings and not only provides additional facilities, such as a theatre, an athletics center, housing, a ropes course, a quad, and classrooms, but also for more fun events and consummate learning opportunities. Many administrators expressed their eagerness towards the potential uses and possibilities for the campus. “It’s a really significant opportunity for the school to expand… its program in immersive and experiential learning,” said Board of Trustees member Mr. Jeffrey Edwards ‘78. “Immersive and experiential learning — a phrase frequently used by the people involved––meant an education in which students would be able to apply the knowledge they gained in a traditional classroom in a tactile manner.
“What students remember about their educational experience,” Chief Financial & Operating Officer Mr. Olaf Weckesser said, “tends to be––not necessarily when they’re sitting in a classroom–– but when they’re actually doing a task; when they’re applying the knowledge they actually learned in a very practical way.” Previously, this campus was t h e p ro p e rt y o f t he Pur n e ll School, an all-girls boarding high school. When the school announced its closure in March, the administration began to consider the purchase of the campus. The process was intense; Pingry was in competition with other schools to acquire the campus, and there was a short time to evaluate the advantages and practicalities of such a large purchase. (Nevertheless, the campus did not impact Pingry’s budget significantly — Mr. Weckesser cited that the money came from Pingry’s capital reserves, money saved for a special occasion, as opposed to the operating budgets.) The whole task also required lots of input
from different departments of the school; however, it was ultimately determined that the school was of great value. “The campus looked so inviting, and there were moments of shared excitement. We knew it was going to be a nice campus,” said Ms. Rebecca Sullivan, Director of Experiential Education and Pottersville Programs. While the long-term exact uses of the campus are not exactly clear, there are some short-term plans with a long term vision plan being built: Mr. Ian Shrank ‘71, the Chair of the Board of Trustees, noted that it is often difficult for faculty and staff to commute to the Basking Ridge and Short Hills locations. He mentioned that the existing faculty housing on the Pottersville campus can be used to address the problem, and, together with the dorms, of which there are 100, would provide possibilities for exchange student programs, expert-in-residence opportunities, and more. (It should be noted that Pingry will not be using the Pottersville campus to become a boarding school.) “[The Pottersville Campus] is a place to
interact with the world and have the world interact with us,” said Ms. Sullivan. She also mentioned that the campus’s space, outside of the core academic environment, could promote health and well-being for the community. Head-of-School Mr. Matt Levinson described the use of the campus for Rufus Gunther Day, “engaging the whole K-12 community for the first time, and furthering overall community growth.” Furthermore, Form III students in World History 9 were able to go to the Pottersville Campus to participate in the culmination of their Explorer-in-Residence week with Denis Belliveau, who retraced Marco Polo’s famed travels to China and back without air travel. The day included a trade simulation experience at the Pottersville Campus, with students split up into ten groups representing ten cities along Silk Road as they bargained with each other for goods. Additionally, Mr. Levinson expressed his excitement towards the new Upper School Spring Intensive programming, mentioning the “limitless potential
with experiential education on the Pottersville Campus to offer classes like cooking, or taking advantage of Hacklebarney State Park for an environmental study, which lies adjacent to the campus.” Pingry has always been pushing forward to evolve and improve opportunities for student growth over the years and to maximize community engagement. As a school, it has had many physical moves over the past 160 years, starting with the original schoolhouse in Elizabeth, to Parker Road, Hillside, Short Hills, and then finally the Basking Ridge campus. The Pottersville campus represents a new part of Pingry’s history, which will provide residential opportunities for the first time to students, as well as bringing further experiences to engage with the curriculum and gain a deeper understanding. With each transition has come a myriad of new experiences and resources for students, ultimately driving forward the mission of “Excellence and Honor” for the students, staff, and greater community.
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