{{Use American English|date=August 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}} {{Infobox school | logo = Poughkeepsie_Day_School_Logo_as_of_2025.png | logo_size = | seal_image = | seal_size = 150px | seal_alt = | image = | image_size = | name = Poughkeepsie Day School | founded = {{start date and age|1934}} | type = Independent, Private | head_of_school = Spiro Gouras | enrollment = 36 students | grades = Pre-K–8 | caption = | ratio = 7:1 | faculty = 15 full- and part-time teachers recruited nationally | city = Poughkeepsie | state = NY | country = USA | coordinates = {{coord|41.659495|-73.88851|region:US-NY|display=inline,title}} | campus_type = | campus_size = 35 acres | website = {{URL|http://www.poughkeepsieday.org/}} }} '''Poughkeepsie Day School''' is an independent, progressive, coeducational school in the mid-Hudson Valley serving students from a broad region of New York and Connecticut from pre-kindergarten through 8th grade.
==History== Founded in 1934, it was initially located at Hooker and South Grand Avenues in the city of Poughkeepsie, where it began with 35 students and three faculty members. The school outgrew that facility, and in 1963, it moved to premises on the Vassar College campus at 39 New Hackensack Road. The school eventually outgrew that facility and in 1998 acquired two buildings from IBM on Boardman Road.
One was a former IBM briefing center, built in 1963, which the school named the Elizabeth C. Gilkeson Center in honor of Elizabeth Gilkeson, director from 1935 to 1949.<ref name="PDShistory">{{cite web |author=<!-- not stated --> |date=2024 |title=Our History & Campus |url=https://poughkeepsieday.org/about/campus/ |publisher=Poughkeepsie Day School |access-date=March 6, 2025}}</ref>
thumb|left|300px|The Clarence Keynon House, photographed in 1913, the year of its construction. Poughkeepsie, NY.The second is the historic Clarence Kenyon House, built between 1909 and 1913 and designed by the architect Percival Lloyd.<ref name="Ghee">{{cite book |last1=Ghee |first1=Joyce |last2=Spence |first2=Joan |date=1999 |title=Poughkeepsie, 1898-1998: A Century of Change |publisher=Arcadia Publishing |isbn=978-1531601560}}</ref> The Kenyon House was part of the former Helen Kenyon estate, known as Cliffdale. In 1944, IBM purchased the 217-acre estate for temporary use as a research and engineering laboratory connected with its wartime work at Plant No. 4 in Poughkeepsie. The estate had earlier been owned by New York lawyer Andrew Boardman, who bought the property sometime before the American Civil War and gave it the name Cliffdale.<ref name="NYT1944">{{cite news |title=Cliffdale Estate Bought BY IBM; Kenyon Property Near Vassar Will Be Used for Research by Poughkeepsie Plant |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1944/07/02/archives/cliffdale-estate-bought-by-ibm-kenyon-property-near-vassar-will-be.html |work=The New York Times |date=July 2, 1944 |page=21 |url-access=subscription}}</ref>
In 2000, the school's theater and auditorium was dedicated in honor of the actor James Earl Jones, who funded its construction and whose son Flynn attended the school in the 1990s and early 2000s. The dedication predated the renaming of New York City's Cort Theater as the James Earl Jones Theater by 22 years. Jones and his wife, the actress Cecilia Hart, supported the school with fundraisers at the Bardavon 1869 Opera House, including a 1998 reading from A. R. Gurney's Love Letters alongside the actress Mary Tyler Moore.<ref name="Jonesobit">{{cite news |last1=Kennedy |first1=Mark |last2=Barry |first2=John |title=James Earl Jones, acclaimed actor and voice of Darth Vader, dies at 93 |url=https://www.timesunion.com/hudsonvalley/culture/article/james-earl-jones-actor-dies-upstate-new-york-19753409.php |access-date=March 6, 2025 |work=Albany Times-Union |date=September 9, 2024}}</ref> Other notables whose children or grandchildren attended the school include folk singer Pete Seeger, actors David Strathairn and William Sadler, singer/songwriter Graham Parker, and the jazz drummer Jack DeJohnette.<ref name="dv">{{cite news |last1=Reakes |first1=Kathy |title=Private School In Area Attended By Children Of Celebrities Will Close After 86 Years |url=https://dailyvoice.com/new-york/cortlandt/schools/private-school-in-area-attended-by-children-of-celebrities-will-close-after-86-years/786955/ |access-date=25 February 2021 |work=Cortlandt Daily Voice |date=22 April 2020 |language=en}}</ref>
In April 2020, the school announced plans to close, citing a decline in enrollment and shrinking revenue, brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, a coalition of parents, teachers, and alumni developed a plan to keep the school open and to place it on a more financially sustainable path.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Sparks |first1=Leonard |title=Dutchess School May Close After 86 Years |url=https://highlandscurrent.org/2020/05/01/dutchess-school-may-close-after-86-years/ |access-date=25 February 2021 |work=The Highlands Current |date=1 May 2020}}</ref> The school reopened for the 2021–22 academic year with lower tuition and a smaller enrollment, and remains open and operational as of the 2025-26 academic year.<ref name="reopen">{{cite news |last1=Cordero |first1=Katelyn |last2=Santistevan |first2=Ryan |title=Poughkeepsie Day School plans to reduce tuition as it reopens, change locations in future |url=https://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/story/news/education/2021/02/23/poughkeepsie-day-school-plans-reduce-tuition-reopens/4535527001/ |access-date=25 February 2021 |work=Poughkeepsie Journal |date=February 23, 2021}}</ref> The school accepts applications from new students for grades pre-K through 8, with rolling admissions throughout the year.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.poughkeepsieday.org |title=Poughkeepsie Day School}}</ref>
In 2022, the Town of Poughkeepsie explored a plan to purchase the school's property on Boardman Road and consolidate town offices. In June 2023, the town put that plan on hold.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gross |first=Hank |date=2022-01-13 |title=Town moves forward with plan to consolidate offices |url=https://midhudsonnews.com/2022/01/13/town-moves-forward-with-plan-to-consolidate-offices/ |access-date=2022-11-17 |website=Mid Hudson News |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Gross |first=Hank |date=2023-07-04 |title=Poughkeepsie Day School to stay put |url=https://midhudsonnews.com/2023/07/04/poughkeepsie-day-school-to-stay-put/ |access-date=2023-08-24 |website=Mid Hudson News |language=en-US}}</ref>
In January 2024, the school announced the launch of a new high school program called the Navigator Institute, focusing on three core values: service, engagement, and self-efficacy.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Press release: Poughkeepsie Day School Launches Navigator Institute, A New Kind of High School Program |url=https://www.dcrcoc.org/news/details/press-release-poughkeepsie-day-school-launches-navigator-institute-a-new-kind-of-high-school-program-01-16-2024 |access-date=2024-01-28 |website=www.dcrcoc.org |language=en-US}}</ref> It is scheduled to launch with the incoming ninth grade class in September 2028.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Navigator Institute {{!}} Poughkeepsie Day School |url=https://poughkeepsieday.org/high-school/ |access-date=2024-09-12 |language=en}}</ref>
The school officially became an International Baccalaureate (IB) candidate school for the IB Primary Years Programme (PYP) and Middle Years Programme (MYP) in January 2025, with plans to become an authorized IB World School by September 2027.<ref>{{Cite web |title=International Baccalaureate® Candidacy {{!}} Poughkeepsie Day School |url=https://poughkeepsieday.org/ib/ |access-date=2025-01-26 |language=en}}</ref>
In April 2026, the Town of Poughkeepsie closed on the purchase of the Elizabeth C. Gilkeson Center from Poughkeepsie Day School for $6.35 million. The town announced plans to relocate Town Hall to the building, while the school planned to move its operations to the Kenyon House on the same campus. Under the arrangement, the school was expected to retain access to facilities in the Gilkeson Center, including the James Earl Jones Theater and gymnasium.<ref name="Hayes2026">{{cite news |last=Hayes |first=Nickie |title=Poughkeepsie closes on Gilkeson Center to resolve decades of facility issues |url=https://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/story/news/local/2026/04/24/poughkeepsie-town-hall-police-court-building-day-school-moving/89700724007/ |work=Poughkeepsie Journal |date=April 24, 2026 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |url-access=subscription}}</ref>
==Accreditation== Poughkeepsie Day School is accredited by the New York State Association of Independent Schools (NYSAIS), and is a member of the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) and the Independent Curriculum Group (ICG).
==Notable alumni and attendees==
* Molly Baz * Ivan Cash<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2014 |title=Poughkeepsie Day Compass Magazine |url=https://www.mypds.org/public/resources/uploads/Compass_2014_1448048622.pdf |website=Poughkeepsie Day School}}</ref> * Celeste Dupuy-Spencer<ref>{{Cite web |date=2011 |title=Poughkeepsie Day Compass Magazine |url=https://issuu.com/pdsenroll/docs/compass-fall-2011}}</ref> * Douglas Elmendorf<ref name=":1">{{cite web |title=Compass Class Notes |url=http://www.poughkeepsieday.org/uploaded/photos/Alumni/Class_Notes/Compass_2013_ClassNotes.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402142804/http://www.poughkeepsieday.org/uploaded/photos/Alumni/Class_Notes/Compass_2013_ClassNotes.pdf |archive-date=2 April 2015 |website=Poughkeepsie Day School |df=dmy-all}}</ref> * Virginia Page Fortna<ref>{{Cite web |title=PDS Compass Magazine 2012 |url=https://www.mypds.org/public/resources/uploads/compass-pds-2012_1448048431.pdf}}</ref> * Tom Finkelpearl<ref name=":0" /> * Lauren Holmes<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |date=2003 |title=Poughkeepsie Day School Currents Magazine |url=http://www.poughkeepsieday.org/about_files/Currents/Currents_2003.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051001074817/http://www.poughkeepsieday.org/about_files/Currents/Currents_2003.pdf |archive-date=2005-10-01 |access-date= |website=Poughkeepsie Day School}}</ref> * Jonathan Keltz * Swati Khurana<ref name=":1" /> * Lucy Knisley<ref>{{Cite web |date= |title=Poughkeepsie Day School Class Letters Spring 2004 |url=http://www.poughkeepsieday.org/alumni_files/docs/classnotes_spring_04.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070308034850/http://www.poughkeepsieday.org/alumni_files/docs/classnotes_spring_04.htm |archive-date=2007-03-08 |access-date= |website=Poughkeepsie Day School}}</ref> * Gavrik Losey<ref name=":0" /> * Noah Lyon<ref>{{Cite web |date= |title=Poughkeepsie Day School Class Letters Fall 2005 |url=http://www.poughkeepsieday.org/alumni_files/docs/classnotes_fall_05.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070308124453/http://www.poughkeepsieday.org/alumni_files/docs/classnotes_fall_05.htm |archive-date=2007-03-08 |access-date= |website=Poughkeepsie Day School}}</ref> * Jeh Johnson * Lee Miringoff, founder of the Marist Poll<ref name=":0" /> * Lee Knox Ostertag<ref name=":0" /> * John R. Ross<ref name=":0" /> * Jonathan Russell<ref>{{Cite web |date=2001-03-12 |title=Poughkeepsie Day March 2001 Class Notes |url=http://www.poughkeepsieday.org/life/life_classnotes.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010408103020/http://www.poughkeepsieday.org/life/life_classnotes.html |archive-date=2001-04-08 |access-date= |website=Poughkeepsie Day School}}</ref> * Jonah Sachs * Pril Smiley<ref name=":2" /> * Ingeborg von Zadow
== Notable faculty and staff ==
* Sally Luther<ref>{{Cite book |url=http://archive.org/details/womenofminnesota0000unse |title=Women of Minnesota : selected biographical essays |date=1998 |location=St. Paul |publisher= Minnesota Historical Society Press |isbn=978-0-87351-367-8}}</ref> * Eric Person<ref>{{Cite web |title=Jazz Camp Faculty |url=https://poughkeepsieday.org/jazz-camp/faculty/ |access-date=2022-04-14 |website=Poughkeepsie Day School |language=en}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * [http://www.poughkeepsieday.org/ Official website] * [https://poughkeepsieday.org/about/ About]
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Category:1934 establishments in New York (state) Category:Education in Poughkeepsie, New York Category:Educational institutions established in 1934 Category:Private elementary schools in New York (state) Category:Private high schools in Dutchess County, New York Category:Private middle schools in New York (state)