Learn about the many educational philosophies and opportunities available in the Hudson Valley even while facing an unexpected challenging time. Find the school that best understands your student’s educational path while keeping safety a top priority.
How have you managed to remain on track with the focus of your school under the current circumstances?
Experiential learning at The Darrow School may look different in the current environment, but kindness, caring, and community remain central features of the Darrow experience. Darrow continues to be dedicated to providing every student with the kind of authentic learning and community experiences that define a Darrow education — even if it has to be done virtually. Darrow teachers are taking great care to help their students remain grounded and connected to the larger Darrow family while consistently asking: What do our students need right now — not just as students, but as human beings living through unprecedented times and how can we best give it to them? As Head of School Andy Vadnais says, “Darrow remains a wonderful school community focusing on project-based learning and staying connected even though we have to do it virtually.”
The Darrow School
110 Darrow Road
New Lebanon
518.794.6000
www.darrowschool.org
How do you incorporate education into your dental practice?
My team and I are committed to keeping our patients informed and making sure they know the full scope of their dental health through our years of experience, staying progressive with continuing education courses, and utilizing advanced technology. I want our patients to know our approach is comprehensive and understand the mouth/body connection. Now more than ever, we are looking for ways to improve or maintain our physical health — it’s important to know your mouth is a contributing factor to your overall health. Science now also shows our physical health has a strong correlation to our mental health and wellness. Smile confidence is real! Beautiful smiles aren’t just about veneers and Hollywood looks…sometimes simple things like whitening, re-contouring, bonding, etc., can make a world of difference. Gaining and maintaining optimal oral health – and your natural teeth and smile – for your lifetime is at the core of dental health.
Richard K. Whalen, DDS
Dental Design Studio
46 Fox St, Suite 3
Poughkeepsie
845.452.7653
www.dentaldesignstudio.net
In what ways does Dutchess Day School personalize classroom learning?
At Dutchess Day School, students learn in classrooms full of books and materials with which to explore, discover, and invent. Teachers understand the needs of children at different stages of development. Multiple reading teachers allow lower school readers to work at the pace and level of challenge that is right for them. Within the small class sizes, many opportunities for choice engage students’ varying interests and learning styles; they may choose a topic for writing, an instrument to take lessons on, a language to study, or a subject for a science experiment or history project. Students show what they have learned through presentations, written essays, speeches, debates, drawings, sculptures, reenactments, skits, and musical performances. An in-school activity period presents opportunities to pursue individual interests from robotics to fly fishing to a capella singing to Model UN.
Dutchess Day School
415 Rte 343
Millbrook
845.677.5014
www.dutchessday.org
How does Mountain Laurel Waldorf School support lifelong learning?
Waldorf Education prepares the child for the ever-changing world through lifelong learning. At Mountain Laurel Waldorf School, we offer a developmentally appropriate, experiential approach to education. Our teachers integrate the arts and academics for children from preschool through 8th grade. The aim of the education is to enable them to fully develop their unique capacities. Waldorf students cultivate their intellectual, emotional, and physical capacities to be individuals certain of their paths and to be of service to the world.
Mountain Laurel Waldorf School
16 S Chestnut Street
New Paltz
845.255.0033
www.mountainlaurel.org
How has Our Lady of Lourdes School responded to the COVID-19 pandemic?
In March, when Our Lady of Lourdes’ confirmed its school building would close and shift to remote learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the administration and faculty quickly and successfully planned a smooth transition. Already utilizing state-of-the-art technology tools, such as Canvas Learning Management, GoGuardian, Loom, PlayPosit, and Labster, Lourdes seamlessly moved classes online over a matter of days. Following CDC, DOH, and NYSED guidelines, we moved forward to reopen this fall with a synchronous instructional model that offers a choice of fully remote or hybrid, consisting of two cohorts of students attending in-person instruction on alternating days. As Principal Catherine Merryman notes, “We are confident that we have taken the necessary steps to provide a safe learning environment for our students, faculty, and staff and we can continue educating the ‘whole’ student: spiritually, intellectually, physically, and emotionally.”
Our Lady of Lourdes High School
131 Boardman Rd
Poughkeepsie
845.463.0400
www.ollchs.org
Part of ensuring future success includes helping make college more accessible. St. Thomas Aquinas College partners with RaiseMe, a College Access Program to motivate students and provide a clearer pathway to higher education. The offering enables students in high school with the ability to earn micro-scholarships or incremental, achievement-based merit scholarships directly from STAC as they progress through high school. Signing up is free at www.raise.me/join/stac. Michael DiBartolomeo, vice president for enrollment management, adds, “St. Thomas Aquinas College is proud to partner with RaiseMe in an effort to make access to higher education more affordable. By identifying qualified students early in the recruitment process through RaiseMe, we can help them achieve their goal of a high-quality education.”
St. Thomas Aquinas College
125 Rte 340
Sparkill
845.398.4100
www.stac.edu
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