When my late husband, Tony, was interviewing for various head of school positions in the spring of 1991, I’ll never forget his reaction to PDS when he returned home from his interview there. It was “I can’t believe what I just experienced today,“ and all in a good way. He loved the progressive ethos of the school, and felt that the administration, faculty and staff were singularly focused in their dedication to the students while employing a most collaborative work style in their efforts. Tony felt that PDS was the school that most “walked the talk” of their philosophy and orientation to education. Of the many fine independent schools where he had interviewed, he was most excited about the prospect of working at PDS.

In Tony’s first month at PDS the school was notified by Vassar College that its long-term lease on its building at 39 New Hackensack Road would not be renewed. This was a most unexpected turn of events and Tony and the board of trustees were immediately thrust into the urgent scenario of locating a new physical plant to house PDS and financing such an endeavor. It quickly became a factor of Tony’s tenure at PDS that, once he chose to engage with the challenge, it would fall to him to be the director that oversaw this very consequential change of chapter in the school’s history.

As it happened, IBM had significantly downsized its Poughkeepsie presence in the early 1990s and the buildings on Boardman Road became available. Kenyon House was fortunately in “move-in” condition and PDS was able to move its upper school and most administration into that building within a short time of having identified its suitability. The current lower and middle school building was another story. There was much retrofitting necessary for this building and new construction of both a theater space and a gym as well. In the interim, it was necessary to split PDS between the two locations.

A major strength of Tony’s leadership lay in his ability to pull people together to work energetically for a common cause. Another was his ability to dream big: what some folks refer to as the “vision thing.” In making the move to the new Boardman Road site and in retrofitting the Gilkeson Building, both skills were vigorously and continually tested. Tony was able to rely on the strong support of his board of directors, chaired during those years by Vincent DeBiase (Noah ’02) and later by Robert Strauss (Bo ’08 and Shelby ’10). Together with the architectural and planning expertise of then-current PDS parents John Storyk (Keaton ’05 and Corbett ’09) and Mitch Markay (Lachlan ’05 and Griffin ’08) and the generosity of James Earl Jones and his wife, Ceci, (Flynn ’01) to fund the construction of the James Earl Jones Theater, everyone’s vision became reality.

An historian by background, Tony was quite conscious of how communities of endeavor (such as PDS) evolve over time. As a master teacher, the hat he most enjoyed wearing during his decade at PDS, Tony sought to make PDS community members aware that they are a part of an ongoing legacy of progressive education. As he saw it, key to the process of keeping PDS vibrant and meaningful (because at PDS, there is always “process!”) must be the conscious and continual examination of the ideals and goals upon which the school was founded.

The Day School was a central part, even an anchor at times, of my family’s daily life from 1991 to 2008. Although “education” is the mission of any worthy school, the core values of PDS revealed themselves to us over the years as being about far more than achieving academic goals. Three aspects stand out:

1. Developing the capacity to listen with intensity and discernment to teachers for their wisdom and guidance, to colleagues and peers for their collaborative insight and especially to ourselves in order to find and remain connected to our creative spark and purpose. This awareness also created a greater attunement within our family with regard to our parenting and teaching roles.
2. Passion for learning and intellectual curiosity for its own sake. This caused Nick, Matt and Kathryn each to take risks with their choice of courses during their college careers and enlivened their learning at the time. Their subsequent career/creative choices are now informed in ways that extend far beyond the parameters of their official majors.
3. The value of community, expressed as genuine care, concern and compassion for those around us, whether within the PDS community or in various community settings rippling outward. The Buccelli family received a huge outpouring of love and support from throughout the PDS community during Tony’s illness and extending for years after his passing as Matt and Kathryn grew up and graduated from PDS. There remain no words to fully express our family’s gratitude for all the acts of kindness we experienced during those challenging years. PDS became an incredible support system for our entire family, which laid the foundation for our healing and re-emergence into thriving next-chapters.