US Student-Athlete Makes Weekly Top-10
March 06, 2018
Look who’s number 6 on this week’s Top-10 Baseball Players of the Week: PCDS Sophomore John Moore! Great work, John, and all of the players and coaches on our sports teams!
Campus News
Save-the-Date to Celebrate
March 02, 2018
Save-the-Date for the 6th Annual PCDS Bridge-the-Gap Celebration! This is the biggest adults-only PCDS event to thank our PCDS families for the many ways they support our School, with a special nod to the Annual Fund. Mailed invitations will arrive to homes near the end of March. Be sure to mark your calendars for this favorite annual event!
In the Zona Features PCDS MS Student
February 27, 2018
Thanks to our friends at In the Zona for the profile of 8th Grader Mirabel Bienert! And, be sure to catch Mirabel along with the rest of the amazing cast performing in the PCDS Spring Musical, Godspell, later this week in Dorrance Auditorium!
Senior-Kindergarten Buddies Bond
February 23, 2018
Yesterday, the Class of 2018 had a Senior-Kindergarten Buddy picnic lunch on Founders’ Lawn. It was a ton of fun, with laughs and lots of play for kids of all ages!
Happy Lunar New Year
February 13, 2018
Happy Lunar New Year! Yesterday, students from the Middle School Mandarin class led the celebration with Chinese songs in the Middle School and Lower School. Middle school students enjoyed a beautiful traditional dance from 11th grader Chloe Chodorow, and Lion Dancers delighted the Lower School with their playful antics.
US Students Visit Border
February 12, 2018
On Friday, sophomores in our Minority American Literature class took a field trip to Nogales, a border city straddling Arizona and Mexico. There, the students met with representatives from the Kino Border Initiative and the US Border Patrol to learn more about the host of issues and challenges along “la frontera.” It was an impactful experience for all!
Make a Difference Day 2018
February 06, 2018
Today’s Middle School Make A Difference Day has been a huge success! 5th Graders did a “Walk for a Well,” 6th Graders volunteered at Children First Academy, 7th Graders supported the needy by working at Feed My Starving Children, and 8th Graders worked hard outside to cleanup sites around Bartlett Lake. Many thanks to the students and teachers for organizing this day and underscoring the impact that all PCDS students can make in the broader community!
MS Science Takes Center Stage
February 02, 2018
Last night, the Middle School hosted an incredible Science Fair, showcasing the hard work and amazing ideas of our students. Many thanks to the students, parents, and faculty for supporting this great event!
Geography Bee Winners Announced
February 01, 2018
Earlier this week, the Middle School held its annual Geography Bee, sponsored by the National Geographic Society. This year’s winner was 8th grader Alexander Ashman, with 8th grader Tommy Jacobs placing runner-up. Alexander will represent PCDS in the state competition later this spring, with the opportunity to continue to the National Geography Bee and a chance to win a $50,000 scholarship! Congratulations to all of the competitors!
Congratulations US Musicians
January 31, 2018Congratulations to the following Upper School musicians who recently auditioned for the Western Regional Music Festival— every PCDS student who auditioned was chosen for either the band or the orchestra, which is a tremendous achievement!
Aaron Bracher, Violin
Zoe Bienert, Violin
Shea Tomlin, Violin
Francesca DeMarneffe,
Cello Kati Dean, Flute
Alicia Wu, Flute
On February 16-17, the students will travel to the music festival beginning with full day rehearsals and concluding with a performance at North Canyon High School. The orchestra performance will begin at 4:30 p.m. and the band performance begins at 5:30p.m. Please plan to come out to support these incredible musicians!
MS Sports Teams Soar
January 29, 2018
On Friday, the Middle School sports teams showed up big during Tournament Day! Congratulations to all the teams, coaches, and athletes, in particular to the 7/8 Girls Soccer and 5/6 Boys Basketball team that each won Championships, and the 5/6 Girls Soccer and 7/8 Boys Basketball teams that finished runners-up. Great work, Eagles!
Congratulations Alex Tam
January 25, 2018
Congratulations to junior and PCDS lifer Alex Tam for being selected to perform in this weekend’s Young Musicians Concert at the MIM. Alex is an accomplished pianist and a stellar academic student— he makes PCDS proud! Be sure to come out and support his performance this weekend! Click here to read more about it.
Congratulations MS Speech & Debate
January 24, 2018
This past weekend, the defending National Champion PCDS Middle School Speech & Debate team competed via special invite at the Columbia University High School Speech & Debate Tournament (as the ONLY Middle School team in attendance!).
Facing competitors from 120+ high schools from 25 states and four countries, our Middle School students fared incredibly well: 15 of the 25 PCDS MS students advanced to elimination rounds, while Yash Wadwekar was the overall CHAMPION in prose and poetry and Alexander Ashman was the RUNNER-UP in original oratory! Congratulations students and coaches on these national successes!
Middle School Spelling Bee: It's a Four-Peat!
January 16, 2018Congratulations to 8th grader Alexander Ashman who won this year’s PCDS Middle School Spelling Bee earlier this week. This is Alexander’s fourth consecutive MS Spelling Bee championship! He will represent PCDS at the regional bee at the Cactus Shadows Fine Arts Center on February 23. Good luck, Alexander!
Below, check out Alexander and runner-up Devin Bansal this year as 8th graders, and four years ago when they were both champion and runner-up as 5th graders! My how they’ve grown!
Tax Credit Thursday
December 04, 2017
Each Thursday in December will be PCDS Tax Credit Thursday to raise awareness of how you can redirect your Arizona state taxes to support scholarships for PCDS students through the Arizona Independent School Scholarship Foundation (AISSF). It’s easy and a win-win for everyone— check out this video to learn more!
PCDS Junior Brings Home Top Honor
December 04, 2017
Congratulations to Alicia Wu for recently representing PCDS and Arizona at the All National Honor Ensembles Concert Band in Orlando, Florida. She was the first chair flute in the country, and spent three days playing with 150 of the other top high school musicians in the country. Congratulations on this fabulous experience, Alicia!
Congratulations US Math Club
November 30, 2017
Congratulations to the Upper School Math Club, which competed in the recent Math League Qualifying Competition. With a team of just five participants, PCDS placed second as a team, and the following students were recognized individually among the 100+ competitors from throughout Arizona:
Sky Travis: 3rd among juniors and 3rd overall
Kelly Culpepper: 4th among juniors and 5th overall
Caden Mikkelsen: 2nd among sophomores and 10th overall
Ethan Cohen: 7th among sophomores and 19th overall
Sammy Travis: 1st among freshmen and 24th overall
PCDS Sets New Record
November 21, 2017
Many thanks to the entire PCDS community for supporting the Annual Turkey Drive this morning. Through your generosity, PCDS will be donating 631 turkeys to the Valley’s needy families through St. Mary’s Food Bank. As today started, St. Mary’s was 500 turkeys short of their goal, and we’re proud to push them over their mark! Click here to read more about our efforts highlighted in the PV Independent.
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
MS Celebrates Diwali
November 16, 2017
The Middle School had a wonderful Diwali Celebration this morning, complete with student presentations, food, traditional dancing, and lots of fun!
PCDS Soccer Takes Front Page
November 14, 2017
Thanks, Arizona Republic, for the cover story of today’s print issue! If you haven’t read the incredible article about senior Jake Sarver and his journey to the game-winning goal of the state soccer championship. Click here to read Jake’s remarkable story.
