Under the Oak 2022, 75th Anniversary

Under the Oak
AUGUST 2022
Celebrating 75 Years
A LOOK AT OUR PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE

OUR MISSION &
CORE VALUES
WHAT WE DO
Inspire learners to boldly and
creatively shape their future.
IDEAS WE LIVE BY
Learner-Centered
Learners are the center of a
dynamic and collaborative
learning, inquiry and
discovery process.
Active Inquiry
Intellectual curiosity through
project-based learning propels
learners to explore multiple
paths to creative solutions.
Bold Thinkers
A deep love of learning and
respect for our community forms
bold, critical thinkers for life.
WHY WE DO IT
To prepare the next generation
of problem solvers for our
complex world.
Can you find Sparky the Dragon? Photo by Kyle McCue.
IN THIS ISSUE
UNDER THE OAK
HEAD OF SCHOOL REFLECTIONS
HEAD OF SCHOOL
Lisa Nagel
6
Lisa Nagel reflects on 75 Years of Duke School
DIRECTOR OF MARKETING &
COMMUNICATIONS
Maryssa Cappelletti
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Michaela Dwyer, Laura Thompson,
Catherine Linford, Lisa Simmons, Claire
Koerner, Cynthia Coward, Dr. Kenneth
Chandler, Nicole Thompson
Kathy Bartelmay, Candy Thompson
DESIGNER
Sarah Dwyer
7
A LOOK BACK ON THE 2021-22
SCHOOL YEAR
An inside look at campus happenings including
project highlights, new leadership team
members welcomed, and a donor spotlight
BEHIND THE SCENES: “DS 75”
WHOLE SCHOOL PHOTOGRAPH
Towards the end of the school year,
the entire Duke School community
gathered on the lower soccer fields
to take a whole school photograph in
honor of the 75th Anniversary. While
there, Head of School Lisa Nagel
lead everyone in a singing of “Happy
Birthday” to Duke School.
Special thank you to the Duke School Facilities Team of Sean Wilmer,
Trent Smith, and Dan Epperson for their help in coordinating the
layout of the cover photograph. Their behind the scenes field design
sketch is pictured above. Cover photo by Kyle McCue.
EDITORS
Lucy Bradshaw
Nancy Joyce
Duke School publishes Under the
Oak annually for its alumni, parents,
grandparents and friends. If you
would like to add someone to
our mailing list, please email
communications@dukeschool.org.
We also welcome news about alumni
for future publications; please email
information to alumni@dukeschool.org.
28
GRADUATION HIGHLIGHTS
Congratulations to the Classes of 2026 & 2022
for their graduations from Lower School and
Duke School, respectively

IN THIS ISSUE: 75 YEARS
OF DUKE SCHOOL
75 YEARS OF INSPIRING LEARNERS
38
44
45
46
62
67
Since 1947: A history of Duke School from the early
days to today
Project Work Since Day One: why Duke School builds
its foundation on this education model
From the Bivins Building to Erwin Road: five benefits of
a Duke School preschool experience
Retrospective of the Duke School archives
Faces of Duke School: Honoring people of years past
that made our school special
Students reflect on what 75 years of Duke School means
to them
STAYING CONNECTED: DUKE SCHOOL
ALUMNI CONNECTIONS
68
Spotlights on Duke School Alumni and celebrating the
Duke School Class of 2018’s high school graduation

Notes from Lisa Nagel, Our Head of School
U.T.O.T Tree Ceremony June 2022
This year marks an
extraordinary
milestone for Duke
School: our 75th
anniversary. A look
back at our history
reveals 75 years of
strength and
dedication to what
defines us today: deep
inquiry, risk-taking,
social responsibility,
and an approach to
teaching and learning
that engages our students authentically with one
another, their teachers, and the world around them.
More than seventy-five years ago, two women,
Wally Reichenberg-Hackett and Dr. Katharine
Banham led the launch of a clinical training
program for psychology students at Duke
University. In 1947, these leaders established
the Duke Nursery School. Throughout her time
with Duke Nursery School, Reichenberg-Hackett
argued passionately about the importance of
childhood and teacher education, writing in her
“Preschool Notes” to parents in 1964 that “the
child’s refreshing freedom of expressing feelings
and emotions, [their] unconcerned and enthusiastic
approach to the world around [them], their curiosity
and vitality, form the core of subject matter….
there is no substitute, no duplication, for
living experience.”
The fortitude, courage, skill, and insight of our
leaders, educators, and parents that shaped our
legacy also formed the cornerstone of our mission
and core values. From our beginnings to now,
we maintain a steadfast commitment to inspiring
learners to boldly and creatively shape their futures
in a nurturing, inclusive environment.
Today, we remain at the forefront of progressive
education, the leading project-based institution
in our region, with a nationwide reputation. Our
students thrive in a setting designed to cultivate joy
and wonder in learning. A Duke School education
equips students to contribute in consequential
ways in our increasingly complex world.
Collectively, we are all part of Duke School’s
amazing story and shared history. So, just as we
welcome you to celebrate our accomplishments
of the past 75 years through this special issue of
Under the Oak, we extend an invitation to our
entire community to join us as we imagine together
the next 75!
Lisa Nagel, Head of School
a look back on the 2021-22 school year...
AROUND CAMPUS
Our school accomplishes so much each year, and the
2021-22 academic year was certainly no exception.
Our community and our shared commitment to staying
safe and caring for each other contributed to another
historic year for Duke School. We saw a return to some of
our school’s rich traditions and developed new, innovative
ways to gather together as we marked two years of
surviving and thriving as a school through the COVID-19
pandemic.
Our shared commitment to living our school’s values
and mission each and every day revealed itself in small
and monumental ways throughout the past year
on campus.
There were so many big and small ways to celebrate
together this year, whether through in-person
culminations, parent talks, coffee carlines, all-school
gatherings, or cheering for our school at a game. But, no
matter the event, our Dragons flourished and always rose
to the occasion.
Join us in looking back at just a few moments and faces
that made this past school year so very special.
6
7

2021-22 SCHOOL YEAR
AROUND CAMPUS
COMMUNITY
EVENTS
Duke School started the 2021-22 school year with record enrollment,
welcoming 503 Dragons to campus on August 25, 2021. Throughout the
school year between classroom activities and culminations, the community
gathered (in many cases for the first time in-person in a few years), to
celebrate traditions that make Duke School so unique.
In the fall in honor of the LGBTQ Center of Durham’s Pride: Durham, the
Parent-School Organization (PSO) coordinated “Pride Day” where Dragons
of all ages wore their rainbows and fourth graders flew our Pride flag at the
front of campus. Kindergarteners spent the first half of the year learning
about counting from 1 to 100 leading up to the 100th day of school, when
their friends and, families stopped by to celebrate their parade.
In the fall and winter, we were able to administer nearly 700 vaccines
(first, second, and booster doses), which was made possible through our
partnership with Chapel Hill Pediatrics.
This past spring, community-wide Earth Day celebrations took over campus
from class outside and scavenger hunts, to visits from reading buddies and
science experiments. Students spent the day learning about how to protect
the environment, cleaning up campus, and enjoying each other’s company.
We gathered together as Duke School families, faculty, staff, and friends at
Parizade for Inspire & Ignite: A Year-End Community Celebration. With the
support of our sponsors the Kalenja Family, friends Georgios Bakatsias of
Giorgio’s Group, and Mark Schmidt of Cyberlux, all proceeds went directly
to Duke School’s tuition assistance program.
Finally, from water balloon fights and field trips, to moments with friends
and teachers alike, eighth graders spent their last morning of school sharing
their special memories with the community at U.T.O.T—such a wonderful
way to wrap up the 2021-22 school year.
2021-22 PROFESSIONAL
DEVELOPMENT: WORKING
WITH DR. DERRICK GAY
Duke School’s professional development
this year centered around equity, justice,
and belonging, and included workshops
led by internationally recognized education
consultant Dr. Derrick Gay. After leading
sessions with our Board of Trustees and the
Leadership Team, Dr. Gay guided faculty &
staff through a session regarding identity and
the perspectives of others.
SHARING
THANKS
Throughout the year, classes across
campus have sent thank you cards
to the staff down the road at Duke
Hospitals. Third graders got creative
in their designs, applying pop-up
construction techniques they learned
in art class!
Special thank you to the Parent-
School Organization (PSO) for their
support and initiatives throughout the
school year, ranging from conference
snacks, parent talks and yoga
classes, to spirit days and community
collection drives.
Duke School celebrated the amazing
faculty & staff during Teacher
Appreciation Week. From teaching
and supporting our students, to
leading this community forward, we
thank them for all they do!
8
9

2021-22 SCHOOL YEAR
AROUND CAMPUS
a day in the life of a dragon...
STUDENT LIFE
2021-22
RETIREES
Tery Gunter
THIRD GRADE
SIMPLE MACHINES:
THE INTERSECTION
OF PROJECT AND
SPECIALS
During their Simple
Machines Project, third
graders investigated how
simple machines can
impact work. While taking
a closer look at levers, a
few students got the idea
to build stomp boards.
With the help of LS
Specials teachers Marki
& John, they constructed
and decorated the new
toys as a project for their
preschool friends to use
on their playground.
BUILDING MUSIC
FOUNDATIONS IN
PRESCHOOL
In preschool, music
classes connect musical
experiences with project
work throughout the
spring. Students try
instruments, create
movements, and sing
songs that relate to their
class’s project topic.
They sang with sombreros
for R&D’s Hat Project,
explored instruments
in the music room with
J&C’s class, tried all kinds
of stringed instruments
with E&E, and improvised
with rainsticks in the
M&M class. In stories and
games, they practiced solo
singing, experimented
with high and low pitches,
and engaged in creative
expression.
IN-PERSON AUTHOR
VISITS RETURN TO
DUKE SCHOOL
LIBRARIES
Fourth and fifth grade
welcomed their first
in-person author visit of
the year. In partnership
with Flyleaf Books in
Chapel Hill, Newbery
Award-winning Author
Kelly Barnhill stopped
by U.T.O.T to share her
writing process, the
secret of 100 drafts, and
what keeps her writing
still.
Her visit sparked some
avid fans and has inspired
many budding writers
across both grade levels.
Explore student
work from Preschool
through Eighth Grade
at Duke School
After 40 years as
a teacher,10 of
which at Duke
School, Tery
has decided
to retire and
enjoy life as a
grandma and
traveler. Our community has benefited
from her passion for math education
and care for every student!
Juliana Thomas
Juliana joined
us for the 2019-
20 school year
after retiring
from Exploris
School in
Raleigh. After
lending her
steady hand and providing such a
robust science program for our Middle
School, she will re-retire.
Edie Poole
Edie will
retire from
kindergarten
this year to
focus on being
a first-time
grandmother.
Edie has been
part of the LS Team since 1996 as both
a classroom teacher and long-term sub
and we will miss her community care
and twinkling laugh.
10
11

2021-22 SCHOOL YEAR
AROUND CAMPUS
MIDDLE SCHOOL ATHLETICS AT DUKE SCHOOL
Go Dragons! Congratulations to all of Duke School’s Fall,
Winter, and Spring Sports athletes (volleyball, soccer,
cross-country, tennis, basketball, ultimate frisbee, lacrosse)
on concluding great seasons—it’s wonderful seeing you
support each other on and off the courts and fields.
KINDERGARTEN & EIGHTH GRADE READING BUDDIES
It’s always a great day in kindergarten when eighth grade
reading buddies come to visit. Throughout the school year,
eighth graders ventured across campus to the Lower School
to visit with and read alongside their Kindergarten reading
buddies. They also spent time on the playground together and
celebrated Earth Day as a group.
REFLECTIONS FROM
THE LOWER SCHOOL
LIBRARIANS
Walk into the Lower School Library, and a colorful
dragon run will greet you, a cheery array of display
books, helpful signage, and even a dragon kite
sailing across the ceiling. But along with that
joyful welcome, we librarians think deeply about
whether each child walking into our library will find
books that act as both “mirrors and windows” for
various aspects of their own identity and those of
others not like themselves.
The phrase “mirrors and windows” was coined
in a 1990 essay by educator Dr. Rudine Sims
Bishop, in which she wrote, “Books are sometimes
windows, offering views of worlds that may be
real or imagined, familiar or strange….Literature
transforms human experience and reflects it back
to us, and in that reflection, we can see our own
“Our books then must reflect our
wider world and all the beautiful
differences encompassed within our
school, our local community, and our
global community.”
lives and experiences as part of the larger human
experience. Reading, then, becomes a means
of self-affirmation, and readers often seek their
mirrors in books.”
It is clear as children develop that finding books
that act as both “mirrors and windows” is critical.
Mirror books allow children to feel seen, heard,
and rooted, while window books develop deep
empathy for another’s life experiences without
ever leaving home. Our books then must reflect
our wider world and all the beautiful differences
encompassed within our school, our local
community, and our global community. Books
have never been just stories. They teach our
children that they belong in this world. They start
difficult conversations. They develop empathy and
can act as critical tools for social justice.
As Lower School librarians, we feel strongly that
this concept of “mirrors and windows” should
not be relegated to recognizing heritage months
alone, but rather that it should be infused within
all that the Lower School Library does. Within any
given week, we librarians make a dizzying array of
decisions regarding books:
• Which books are worthy of ordering to make
the most of our library budget?
• Which books will we read aloud to our library
classes or recommend to teachers for their
read-alouds?
• Which books will we put on display,
recommend to a student, “book talk,” and in
other ways promote within the library?
• Which books will we pull for grade-level
project work or genre studies?
Each of these decisions is examined through
the lens of finding, purchasing, and promoting
“mirrors and windows” books for ALL of our
students, but simple representation is not enough.
We must go a step further and deeply examine
the type of representation in any
given book.
We must ask ourselves:
• Regardless of representation, who is
empowered in this narrative, and what
message does that power dynamic send?
• Who is represented in the illustrations, and
what messages do those illustrations convey?
• Are there underlying stereotypes
conveyed even if there is visual or narrative
representation?
• How does this fit into the fabric of other
narratives and visuals within our library’s unique
collection?
We take these decisions seriously because we
cannot underestimate the power of a story. The
publishing industry is changing rapidly in response
to the greater demand and urgent need for wider
representation. In turn, the world of children’s
literature is more magical than ever. When any
child walks into the Lower School Library at
Duke School, they should find both “mirror and
window” books that invite them to delve deeply
into that magical power of children’s literature.
12
13

2021-22 SCHOOL YEAR
PROJECT SPOTLIGHTS
preschool project spotlight:
EXPLORING THE DEFINITION
OF “HOME” DURING
THE HOMES
PROJECT
Home is where the heart is and for the past
two years it’s also where we worked, ate, slept,
played and relaxed. For our preschoolers,
many of them came to this school year,
2021/2022, familiar with their home, but not
as much with the outside world due to the
pandemic. My teaching partner, Jennifer, and
I decided to start the year off with a project
topic they knew a lot about and thus our
Home Project began.
In project work during phase one, we find out
what our students know about our topic. In
this case, we asked them what a home was.
Not surprisingly, many mentioned safety,
warmth and family in their definitions of home.
Being safe was a more frequent response than
in a home project we did in
the past.
For phase two, we read books about different
types of homes for people including houses
from around the world. We began making
representations of homes from a variety of
materials including blocks, magnetic tiles,
paper-mache, clay and cardboard. Many class
parents visited as guest experts and guest readers to
support our project and due to health protocols, we met
our guests outside. They showed us tools and materials
used to build houses, items used in interior design and
pictures of home renovation projects.
guidelines by having our culmination outside and by
having families sign up for time slots to visit either in the
morning or the afternoon to allow for social distancing.
We used temporary walls to display our work and all who
attended were delighted by the results.
PROJECT SPOTLIGHT:
PRESCHOOL SOIL PROJECT
As the class cleaned out and explored the
raised garden beds on their playground, they
realized that soil would be an interesting topic
to further explore. To kick off the project, each
preschooler shared stories related to soil from
their own perspective and the class collected their
wonderings in a soil web of words to start building
their collective knowledge base. These questions
became a guiding map for the entire project,
adding their learnings from each other and from
guest experts to the word web.
Throughout the project, the class engaged
with field experiences and learned from guest
experts from around the community to continue
building their knowledge. On a series of soil
observation hikes around Duke School’s campus,
these researchers collected soil samples from
four different locations with the help of their
teachers to bring back to the classroom for a
closer investigative look. Applying their learnings
from an environmental science guest expert, these
students documented their observations about
which sample came from which soil layer, noting
color and consistency.
After painting their classroom soil habitat, they
created worms and other animals to live in their
creation. From guest experts who are artists, they
learned how to make bowls out of clay and paint
illustrations of soil layers.
In preparation for their culmination, these Soil
Experts are working on visual representations of
their knowledge to share with their families at
home. During morning centers, they practiced
sharing each phase of their project, from their
wonderings and web to their investigations and
representations, with other members of the Duke
School community. Each soil expert will then walk
their families through each project phase, sharing
both their own studies and those of
their classmates.
Explore Student Work
After learning about people’s homes, we decided to
explore homes for animals. We discovered that animals
use their homes in much the same way people do as a
place to be safe, warm and with family. We took a walk
around campus and through the woods to look for animal
homes and discovered there were many. Trees, holes in
the ground, nests, and ant hills were some of the natural
homes we found. Again, our parents visited to share their
knowledge of coral reefs and caves in the ocean and
farms.
As our project came to a close, we were excited to host
an in-person culmination—the first of its kind since the
beginning of the pandemic in 2020. We followed safety
Our Home Project was a success, and we learned a
new way of presenting and sharing our knowledge that
offered many benefits. By having fewer attending at one
time, the atmosphere was less overwhelming for our
young students and being out of our classroom helped
our class stay focused on their goal of sharing what they
learned. Our future culminations will likely be modeled
after this one.
During our study of homes, we went through the familiar
steps of project work while making necessary adjustments
to keep everyone safe and healthy. At the same time,
we grew as a classroom community and created our own
feeling of home right here at Duke School.
14
15

2021-22 SCHOOL YEAR
PROJECT SPOTLIGHTS
fourth grade project spotlight:
FOURTH GRADE RIVER
RANGERS PROJECT
INSPIRES STUDENT-LED
COMMUNITY ACTION
The Eno River is synonymous with Durham. The
rambling waterway, named for the land’s original
Indigenous inhabitants, snakes its way in and around
our contemporary city; it laps up against suburban
developments, offering an accessible escape for locals
looking to hike, wade, and observe native wildlife. But
the Eno’s proximity to Durham’s ever-increasing popularity
is also what’s lured developers,
especially in recent years, to
propose altering its surrounding
landscape.
During the fall of 2021, local
reporting and advocacy efforts
went public about a local
developer’s plan to construct
nearly 400 single-family homes
and townhouses across 60 acres
of Black Meadow Ridge, just
south of West Point on the Eno.
(Attempts to build on the site
have been successfully blocked
by concerned citizens for nearly
50 years due to environmental
hazards.) The most recent
advocacy group, Save Black
Meadow Ridge, spelled out
these hazards, writing that a
“large sprawling and densely
packed development would
devastate habitats, exacerbate
stormwater flooding, disturb
federally mapped wetlands, and degrade the region’s key
watershed that flows into Falls Lake.”
Then-fourth-grader Alexis Lau took note. After her mother,
Amy Lau (who previously taught fourth and second grades
at Duke School), shared with her the development
plans and the respective protest campaign, Alexis deftly
connected the issues at hand to the annual fourth-grade
“River Rangers” project, which focuses on the nuances
of river systems, ecology, and the interaction between
humans and the natural environment.
The fourth-grade teaching team
of Geoff Berry, Kelia Evans, Beth
Harris, and Tori Morton supported
Alexis in presenting on the issues
— including an original advocacy
letter — to her class during
morning meeting.
“A lot of [my classmates] were
unhappy about it, because the
Eno is a great place to go,” Alexis
said, remembering that many of
her classmates had referred to the
Eno as their favorite river during
the River Rangers project. “We
decided to write more letters and
make drawings and learn about
[the proposed development] more
so that we could fight against it.”
The students sent, as Alexis said,
“a lot” of letters and drawings to
the Save Black Meadow Ridge
group in response to their call
for public comment. The materials are a poignant
representation of what’s at stake; one drawing depicts
a “before,” filled with healthy, verdant trees, and the
“after,” a sparse collection of stumps; another letter is a
passionate defense of preserving wildlife habitats.
More than just adding to the mass of concerned
voices, Alexis said she and her classmates wanted to
demonstrate that young people are concerned and
knowledgeable about these issues, too.
PROJECT SPOTLIGHT:
SECOND GRADE
ARCHITECTURE PROJECT
Second graders spent the winter exploring their
Architecture Project—studying what architecture
means, how structures are created, and who are
some famous architects.
To begin the project, students shared about a
familiar building, like their home or school. After
creating a web of ideas and questions, students
built representations of their stories.
To help answer some of their wonderings, second
graders learned from various guest experts and
conducted fieldwork around campus.
Throughout their research, students practiced
mathematical areas of geometry and
measurement, and took a deep dive into how
architecture has changed over time and
across cultures.
“I think if younger people are involved
in it, then it’s more powerful,” she said.
Alexis and her classmates are, after
all, the ones who will grow up and
face the aftermath of large-scale
developments like this one, should
it be approved. (It’s a credit to
the volume of opposition that this
particular project proposal remains
in limbo; in late July, the Durham
Board of Adjustment will hear public
appeals.) But one thing is already
clear: from a small group of Duke
School students to youth-led climate
justice movements, young people are
approaching timely environmental
issues with verve, matching righteous
anger with creative energy and
holding onto hope. As the River Rangers project teaches
students: it’s not only important to think about how
the river impacts humans, but also how, as humans, we
impact the river — and hopefully for the better.
At the end of the project, students collaborated
to create a 3-dimensional city. Each second
grader planned, designed, and created a
business or structure for the city, and paired it
with a persuasive essay encouraging community
members to stop by for a visit.
16
17

2021-22 SCHOOL YEAR
PROJECT SPOTLIGHTS
Explore Student Work
2021-22 EIGHTH GRADE CAPSTONE PROJECT TOPICS
eighth grade project spotlight:
EIGHTH GRADE
CAPSTONE PROJECT
Eighth graders spent one of their last weeks at Duke
School sharing their capstone project presentations
with family, friends, and Duke School community
members.
Following weeks of finalizing research, identifying
essential questions, interviewing experts, completing
field work, they each designed a full length
presentation to culminate their work.
Topics for their self-lead projects ranged from the
psychology of gaming and pottery to sleep science
and visualization in sports.
To wrap up the week, these researchers hosted a
tri-fold fair to share their self-designed posters.
Well done and congratulations, Dragons!
- Reaching New Heights: Diving into aircraft, rocketry & flight
- Only Time Will Tell, or Can We? Asian
religions and religious change
- Setting the Scene: The technology
and application of cinematography in films
- From Cakes to Kugels: A study of Jewish Ashkenazi foods
- The Balance of Beans:The background and ethics of coffee
- Investing in a Better Future: The ins
and outs of the stock market
- Relax, Breathe, Perform: Harnessing the power of
visualization, meditation, and yoga for athletes
- On Target: The history and modern day uses of archery
- Sleep On It: The science behind sleep research
- The UPbeat: How music effects our mood
- What’s Authentic? Diving into the
authenticity of Chinese food
- Cooking With the Melting Pot: What are the
stories of immigrants and their foods in Durham?
- Digging Deeper: Uncovering the history of dinosaurs
- Sure… But What’s Your Credit Score? Definitions of success;
how they affect the choices we make
- Sour, Sticky, Sweet: What is candy, why do we
like it so much, and what is it doing to us?
- More Than Just Music: How hip hop is used
as an outlet for social commentary
- Ecosystem Overload: The world under the surface
- Just Stringing It: The ins and outs of electric guitars
- Food For Thought: The impact of
veganism and baking made vegan
- Tyranny, Treason & Terror:
Misunderstandings of the Syrian Civil War
- Get Me Outta Here! Escape rooms and
what they teach us about teamwork
- Taming the Madness: Making a mathematical
method for predicting NCAA tournament outcomes
- Cake It Til You Make It: Exploring cake design
- Piece by Piece: The art of mosaic making
- Can You Bottle the Sun? Fusion energy
and how it could change the future
- The Story Behind the Story: How
storytellers craft the tales they tell
- The Thousand Dollar Hoodie: How streetwear
has risen to the top of the fashion industry
- No Bones About It: The occurrence of
ethical taxidermy in contemporary art
- The Past, Present, and Possibilities: The influences of
African-American musical genres on music today
- Can you (s)Pot the Difference?: A Journey Through Pots
- One Fish, Two Fish, Dead Fish, Blue Fish: Marine
life, ecosystems, and the impact of humans
- Warriors of the East: History of the Samurai
- Do the Stats Ever Lie? Can advanced
basketball statistics actually tell us the G.O.A.T.?
- Rotting Your Brain: Are video games
actually bad for the human psyche?
- Don’t Follow the Rules: Exploring illusions and
contradictions that will keep you up at night
- Brick by Brick: Why you never grow out of LEGO
- What Goes On Behind the Drive-Thru Window: The
evolution and controversies of fast food
- Egypt & Rome: A journey through the world of ceramics
- Sushi’s Really on a Roll: The history and
culture of sushi and how it caught on in America
- Invest: It Just Makes Cents: Building
wealth, one investment at a time
- The H Stands for Health: Exploring
the medical uses of herbalism
- Walk It Off: Rehabilitation and
injury prevents for athletes
- On a Dark and Stormy Night: Developing
dynamic characters for effective storytelling
- Not Just Winging It: The intricacies
and ethics of bird photography
18
19

2021-22 SCHOOL YEAR
COMMUNITY NEWS
fifth grade project spotlight:
FINDING COMMUNITY WITH ANIMALS
Fifth grade students studied the relationship between
humans and animals throughout their Animalia Project.
Following their project kickoff, they conducted a reading
frenzy with teacher-curated articles and collaborated with
Lucia, DS MS Art Teacher, to develop animal masks in
art class.
designer got feedback from peers and teachers on their
initial plans. Designers then started building prototypes
of their creative ideas. During an open studio session,
parents and community members stopped by to learn
more about their designs and provided another round of
constructive feedback.
“TEXTURE”: THE EIGHTH ANNUAL
MIDDLE SCHOOL PHOTOGRAPHY SHOW
The Eighth Annual Middle School Photography Show explored the theme of “Texture,” featuring over 45 photographs from
students, teachers, staff, and alumni. The word texture might immediately bring to mind very close up images that leave you guessing
about the subject. But do clouds in the sky add texture? One interpretation of the word describes three types of texture: visual, tactile,
and emotional. These photographers use images to represent what this word conjures for each of them. A brief selection shared below:
During a week-long guest expert blast, they learned from
various animal organizations such as Hope from Coon
Rock Farm and the Duke Lemur Center. After welcoming a
few more specialists, fifth graders worked collaboratively
to explore their driving question, “how can we use design
to better live in community with animals?”
Students used design thinking principles to problem
solve for a local organization of their choosing. Each
In Performing Arts, fifth grade students studied animal
folk tales, as part of their Animalia Project. Using the
animal masks, made in art with Lucia, they worked in
groups to devise some original animal tales of their
own. They invited the preschool students to share a
performance at U.T.O.T, and students took turns as both
storytellers and as actors.
20
21

2021-22 SCHOOL YEAR
THE
ALIENS
IN THE
WOODS
Duck population investigations, synthesizer music, and the return
of in-person middle school theatrical productions at Duke School
Under the Oak Tree — or U.T.O.T, as it’s known in Dragon
parlance — functions as Duke School’s signature outdoor
learning and gathering space. Set where the upper field
meets the woods, the site contains an array of benches
facing a plank-wood outdoor stage. In daylight, the scene
is bucolic, welcoming, dappled with sunlight and shade.
Over a couple of nights last November, though, U.T.O.T
was transformed into something otherworldly as glitchy
synthesizer music rebounded through the woods, fog
swept and rose between the trees, and a spaceship
soared across the canopy, lit by flashing lights. You’d be
forgiven for thinking a real alien invasion was happening,
if not for slight glimpses of familiar faces behind face
masks, large-scale puppetry, and behind two front-stage
microphones where black-clad narrators wove a strange
and poignant tale.
The Aliens in the Woods, the 2021 middle school fall
play, was a landmark event in every way: stewarded
by middle-school performing arts instructor Matthew
Etherington and art instructor Lucia Marcus, the
production was devised from scratch by the students,
who constructed the original story, costuming and props,
and set design. Whereas the middle-school play typically
works from an existing script and is performed indoors on
a traditional stage, Aliens was intentionally site-specific:
a new tale composed for what Matthew and Lucia called
the “special” site of U.T.O.T.
The two instructors also took advantage of what they
described as a sense of openness and flexibility within
the context of the ongoing pandemic. “I knew that I
wasn’t going to find a written play that was perfect for
the situation,” Matthew said. “So we thought, why don’t
we try and devise one ourselves and see what happens?
It kind of gave us a bit of freedom in that we had these
limitations [due to social distancing]. Just as long as we
had the kids engaged in doing something that was fun
and productive — that was the goal.”
Lucia and Matthew both noticed an unprecedented level
of collaboration and shared ownership amongst the
students as they put together the play, which was a more
intensive undertaking than any previous productions.
(Here’s the CliffsNotes version of the play’s plot: Duke
School students begin to investigate the decreasing duck
population in a nearby pond. Their initial inquiry quickly
expands as they learn the ducks are being eaten by alien
refugees from another planet, displaced by their lack of
care for their home planet. By the end, Duke Schoolers
22
23

2021-22 SCHOOL YEAR
COMMUNITY NEWS
and the aliens have reached a new understanding of
each other and of how they relate to and care for the
environments they each call home.) To build the play,
students commandeered a “writers’ room” and hurriedly
work-shopped narrative elements. Everyone was involved
in building the puppets, which ran the gamut from
fantastical, glowing-eyed aliens to mad scientist-esque
approximations of student-researchers. And when it
came time to stage the play for the school community,
everyone had a performance-based role, as opposed
to only some students appearing on stage while others
worked tech behind-the-scenes. As Lucia said, “everyone
was a maker.”
Matthew and Lucia both think the process-based
methods of devised theater will inform their curricula
going forward, regardless of whether they pursue an
original play again for a mainstage production. They, and
the students, were energized by its creative possibilities
and challenges, and Matthew has already observed its
reverberations in more recent classroom work. Studying
Brazilian theatermaker and activist Augosto Boal’s Theater
of the Oppressed, students were working through scenes
in a “more fluid” and more expansive way, Matthew said.
To deepen their collaboration between the performing
and visual arts — and directly inspired by this devised
project — Matthew and Lucia traveled this spring to
the mountains to attend a week-long shadow puppetry
workshop at the Penland School of Crafts in Bakersville,
NC. Professional and creative development opportunities
like these are, Lucia said, another form of “walking into
the unknown together.”
Fittingly, this line would’ve been at home in The Aliens
in the Woods. Toward the end of the play, accompanied
by a live version of Imogen Heap’s eerie, existential
a cappella tune “Hide and Seek,” the larger-than-life
puppet-aliens began to descend upon the audience.
They float-walked up the aisles, bending in to interact
with their families and friends, forming and affirming
a new version of community in the play’s fiction and
in real life.
WELCOMING TWO NEW
LEADERSHIP TEAM MEMBERS
Throughout the 2021-22 school year, two search committees worked diligently with the search firm StratéGenius, to find two new
members of Duke School’s Leadership Team—Middle School Director and Director of Equity, Justice & Belonging (EJB). Committee
chairs Claire Koerner (Middle School) and Cynthia Coward (EJB) reflect on the process and welcome them members to their roles.
Bob Robinson, Middle School Director
A team of six Duke School faculty and staff worked to develop the criteria and
assessment tools for reviewing applications, interviewing candidates, and sharing
our campus with finalists. During this process we worked to be equitable in our
evaluations, thoughtful in our process, and honest with ourselves and each other.
Throughout the search, we met with several strong applicants and were impressed
with their commitment to progressive education and Duke School. Ultimately, Bob
Robinson’s extensive knowledge of the school, a desire to bring the middle school
to the next level, and his ability to lead with integrity and trust of the community
made him stand out from all of the other candidates. We are thrilled to welcome
him as our middle school director for the 2022-2023 school year.
Kimberly Shaw,
Director of Equity, Justice, & Belonging
The Diversity, Equity, Justice, & Belonging (DEJB) Search Committee consisted of
seven faculty and staff members: Ben, Tori, Linda, Keandra, Eman, and Cynthia,
who chaired the committee. The committee began their work by participating in a
DEJB training with StratéGenius, a premier, BIPOC-owned candidate search group
that partners with schools committed to equity practices. The training consisted of
understanding the role of the committee, how bias plays a role in hiring, including
the candidate search and other barriers to recruitment, and learning strategies for
a successful search. From there, the committee met to establish committee norms
and plan the schedule for interviews and meetings.
StratéGenius partnered with Duke School to begin a nationwide search for
candidates. From there, the committee focused on a group of nine very strong, diverse applicants. The committee
met and selected six semi-finalists, then they interviewed the candidates via Zoom over the course of two weeks.
The committee decided on five finalist candidates, and the finalists moved onto the next phase of the interview
process, the on-campus visit. The committee and chair helped coordinate the finalists’ on-campus visits and evening
dinners. The committee members welcomed each candidate with an evening dinner at a local restaurant before
their campus visit, providing an opportunity to get to know the candidate in a relaxed setting. The day-long visits to
campus consisted of finalists meeting faculty, staff, students, and parents, with each group providing feedback based
on their time with candidates. Each group had the opportunity to provide feedback. Based on that feedback and
the committee’s observations, a recommendation was made to Lisa. The DEJB Search Committee worked diligently,
dedicating their afternoons and several weekends to this extensive process. The committee is excited to welcome
Kimberly Shaw to Duke School as our new Director of Diversity Equity Justice and Belonging.
24
25

2021-22 SCHOOL YEAR
MIDDLE SCHOOL
BATTLE OF THE BOOKS
Traditions and friendly competitions return and reshape in Duke School’s Middle School Library
As a kindergartener, Cameron ‘23 noticed Battle of the
Books (BOB) as a middle school club in the yearbook
and claims he knew these were “his people.” Here was
a “sport for people who like to sit inside on Sunday and
read,” he remembers thinking. Fortunately, his experience
on the team this year met his expectations.
Adeline ‘22, one of 13 members of this year’s 7-8th grade
team, echoes the community sentiment as a virtue of
BOB. “I always like reading and talking about books so
this is a cool opportunity.”
Not surprisingly, many BOB team members appreciated
the exposure to new books.
Ananya ‘22 says BOB facilitated her connection in fifth
grade to one of her all time favorite series, Cinder by
Marissa Meyer. This year, she loved the thriller Bloom by
Kenneth Oppel.
Eliza ‘23, who initially worried about overextending herself
by joining, “insta-committed” after her first meeting. “I’ve
read all the books,” she says, which at 23 titles for the
‘21-’22 school year, is no small feat. The most surprising
and fascinating book she read was the non-fiction title
Undefeated by Steve Sheinkin.
To accommodate Covid protocols, librarians and head
coaches Elaine Cameron and Lisa Simmons modified their
approach to BOB beginning March 2020, making it more
informal, meeting exclusively
outside with a smaller team and
competing virtually one-onone
against other area schools,
instead of an all-day event with
multiple teams as was done
pre-Covid.
This year, the long-standing
DS tradition of the 7-8th grade
team competing against a
faculty team returned, allowing
readers to experience their
first in-person competition.
Students narrowly edged out
their teachers in a lively battle
in May.
Eighth grade Language Arts
teacher Lauren Hiner has been
involved with BOB every year
while at Duke School and used
her experience as an assistant
coach to inform her approach
as a competitor, knowing to look for context clues in
questions.
Math teacher Will Newman participated on the faculty
team to encourage students’ passion for reading and
to share his own passion for reading. Science teacher
Cara Karra says she participates to give readers another
chance to compete. “They’ve worked so hard,” she says.
Additionally, the entire 5th and 6th grade competed
against each other in advisories in June, not only building
community around reading, but also allowing 7th and 8th
BOB members to take a leadership role, selecting books
and serving as coaches.
Fifth grade Language Arts teacher Claire Koerner
notes that BOB gives students “a time and place to
be competitive that they otherwise might not have. It
brings students together as a team in a different way
than athletics. This has been especially great for 5th
graders during Covid so they can feel that they’re part of
something bigger than just their grade.”
Ultimately, Elaine says, “Battle of the Books at Duke
School has always been about reading first, being
on a team second, and lastly, getting a chance to
compete. We are rewarded when, at the end of the final
competition, our team is surrounding us asking about
next year’s titles.”
donor spotlight:
FUNDRAISING FOR A
NEW DUKE SCHOOL
ACTIVITY BUS
For many years, current parents Clint and Kylie Harris
along with Harris family grandparent Sandy McCay and
current grandparents Vaughn and Nancy Bryson have
been faithful supporters of Duke School. Their gifts have
made a meaningful impact on our school annually. Still,
both families wanted to leave an extraordinary gift at
the end of the 2021- 2022 school year to Duke School
in honor of their children and grandchildren graduating.
These families saw a need at Duke School and decided
to make a transformative gift that entailed providing the
lead gifts and challenging grandparents to raise matching
funds to make the purchase of a new activity bus a reality.
Thanks to their vision, lead gifts, and the generosity of
96 additional grandparents, Duke School will be able
to purchase a brand new 2023 activity bus, replacing
the retiring 1999 diesel-powered version that has been
a part of the campus fleet for several years. The new
bus will be used for multi-purposes, including but not
limited to field trips and transporting students for athletic
events. Thomas Built Bus Company of North Carolina has
constructed this activity bus with all the peace-of-mind
features that come standard in larger buses. Their buses
meet or exceed all Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards
(FMVSS) for school buses, making them significantly safer
than a typical 15-passenger van. It’s also easy to drive and
maneuver while providing outstanding interior roominess.
The activity bus is an efficient and maneuverable vehicle
packed with all the safety features and sound engineering
of bigger buses. Our goal was to ensure that this new bus
was designed with ample safety features to protect your
children and grandchildren.
Clint and Kylie Harris have been current parents at Duke
School since 2010. Their first child – William – graduated
from Duke School in 2019 and currently attends high
school at Virginia Episcopal School – in Lynchburg,
Virginia. Their second child – Genevieve – graduated in
the recent class of 2022 and will attend Cardinal Gibbons
High School – in Raleigh, North Carolina. In addition,
the Brysons have been current grandparents since 2016,
when their grandson – Vaughn Bryson Moore – entered
Duke School as a 3rd-grade student. Vaughn graduated
in the recent class of 2022 and will attend The Loomis-
Chaffe School, located in Windsor, Connecticut. Both
families know the importance of academics and athletics
and recognized the need to upgrade this aging vehicle.
Dr. “C” Duke School’s Director of Advancement and
Community Engagement worked closely with both
families to secure the lead gifts. He thanks the Bryson
Family, Harris Family, and all of the grandparents who
rose to the challenge by sending in donations to make
this acquisition a reality.
A note from Dr. “C” — I am thrilled to be able to share
this first of many donor profiles over the course of the
next year and the impact these transformational gifts
are making on the entire Duke School community. As
you read about all of the incredible things taking place
at Duke School, I hope you will take great comfort
in knowing that our priority is the well-being of our
community while continuing to deliver an exceptional
educational experience.
26
27

2021-22 SCHOOL YEAR
GRADUATION HIGHLIGHTS
celebrating the achievements of the classes of 2022 & 2026...
GRADUATION HIGHLIGHTS
During the month of the 2021-22 school year, Duke
School gathered to celebrate two groups of students
as they took big steps in their academic journeys: the
classes of 2022 and 2026.
Following their North Carolina Project culmination, Duke
School’s fourth grade class, the class of 2026, gathered
with friends and family to celebrate their moving up to
fifth grade and departure from Lower School.
The two classes gathered at U.T.O.T and Michelman
Commons to share their favorite Lower School
memories—moments ranging from guest experts in
preschool to friendship building on the playground in
third grade. Congratulations, Dragons!
Later in June, the community gathered at U.T.O.T to
celebrate the eighth grade class on their graduation from
Duke School. In a similar ceremony, each graduating
Dragon shared their own special Duke School memories–
one from their time as a student, and one unique
moment with their Kindergarten Budd(y/ies) who were
seated in the front row.
Following the ceremony, the graduates gathered with
friends and family for a car parade through campus,
cheered on by their fellow middle school peers. That
evening, the Duke School community gathered in the
Middle School Gym to formally celebrate each of these
graduates. We look forward to seeing where your journey
takes you next!
Class of 2026
Moving Up Ceremony
STAY CONNECTED:
Join Duke School’s Alumni Facebook and
LinkedIn Groups—forums for reconnection
with former classmates and Duke School.
Interested in updating your contact
information? Email alumni@dukeschool.org
28
29

2021-22 SCHOOL YEAR
GRADUATION HIGHLIGHTS
CONGRATULATIONS, CLASS OF 2022
Class of 2022 Graduation
Celebration on June 9, 2022
Celebrating the Class of 2022 and sharing their high school destinations:
Camelot Academy
Cardinal Gibbons
Carolina Friends School
Cary Academy
Cedar Ridge High School
Durham Academy
Durham School of the Arts
East Chapel Hill High School
Eno River Academy
Jordan High School
The Loomis Chaffee School
Montessori School of Raleigh
Northfield Mount Hermon School
Ravenscroft School
Research Triangle High School
Riverside High School
St. Andrew’s School (Delaware)
St. Mary’s School
Trinity Academy
Trinity School of Durham and
Chapel Hill
Woodberry Forest School
30
31

2021-22 SCHOOL YEAR
GRADUATION HIGHLIGHTS
2022 GRADUATION
SPEAKER:
NED PHILLIPS ‘98
The 2022 Alumni Graduation Speaker Ned Phillips ‘98 reflects
on his time on campus and attributes he built at Duke School
Good afternoon Dragon graduates! My name is Ned
Phillips and I want to congratulate you on this important
and transformative day. I know how exciting it is to be in
your seat because I was there 24 years ago. This gym
wasn’t here but that banner with my name on it was!
You may have seen me wandering around campus with
a camera in the recent months - that’s because I am a
documentary filmmaker and was lucky enough to receive
a call to come back to my alma mater to visit and help
tell the story of this special place which changed my life
and laid the groundwork for where I am today.
I’d like to share a quote from one of my favorite poets,
Charles Bukowski, that has specific relevance to me and
my chosen path but I think will speak to each person here
who is still discovering who they are-
“If you’re going to try, go all the way. Otherwise, don’t
even start. And, you’ll do it, despite rejection and the
worst odds. And it will be better than anything else you
can imagine. If you’re going to try, go all the way. There
is no other feeling like that. You will be alone with the
gods, and the nights will flame with fire. You will ride life
straight to perfect laughter. It’s the only good fight
there is.”
Now I would not advise digging deep into the works of
Bukowski until you are a few years older but the message
stands- find what excites you and pursue that to the ends
of the earth.
Duke School set me on the path to lead a creative life
I once only dreamt of. The thing I love about film is
that for me, it is the culmination of art- visual elements,
writing and music all come together in a way that
creates a unique experience for an audience. Legendary
director Robert Altman once said that “Filmmakers
live a thousand lives” and I began putting those pieces
together the moment I stepped foot onto Duke School’s
old Hull Avenue campus.
In Beth and Melissa’s third grade class I wrote and
performed an Elvis inspired blues song called “Head-lice
Hotel” about the time our entire grade got head-lice. The
song was co written and played on the piano by my best
buddy at the time, Noah Sager, who went on to become,
and still is, a professional jazz pianist.
It was in Meg and Linda’s fourth grade class that I made
my first documentary film - a biographical film about
North Carolina governor Jim Hunt, shot and edited in
camera on a VHS camcorder and set to a John Cougar
Mellencamp soundtrack. Little did I know this first
adventure into filmmaking would become my eventual
life’s calling.
During our 6th grade study of the Middle Ages I
convinced Jane Ann it would be appropriate to put on
a production of the musical Camelot. Despite knowing
that King Arthur is the better role, I campaigned for and
was cast as Lancelot because of his far more dramatic
character arc and general hunkiness. I was never much
of a singer but I can assure you that no one sang “C’est
Moi” with more volume than I did.
As a 7th grader, my rock band “Goats Where They
Shouldn’t Be” had recorded our first demo and was really
taking off. We had a monthly residency at Chapel Hill’s
teen club Street Scene where I was paid 50 dollars a night
on top of all the sprite I could drink. It was actually my
first paid job. I invited the whole class to our headlining
“This space [at Duke
School], which allowed me
to be creative, vulnerable,
curious and supported,
laid the groundwork for
me to move through the
rest of life with confidence
and empathy.”
performance at CenterFest in downtown Durham. The
day of the show I was so nervous I almost bailed out
but my mom reminded me that as the drummer, I was
the heartbeat of the band and I couldn’t abandon my
bandmates. So I sucked it up and went and the show was
a smash.
Jan and Dan’s eighth grade really saw me in an Orson
Welles period, flourishing creatively as I wrote, directed
and starred in a play about Al Capone in prohibition
era Chicago.
One of the most important things to happen in my young
life occurred here at Duke School in the sixth grade. I had
finished a worksheet that needed to be turned in and I
had some time so I started doodling on the edges of the
paper and pretty soon all the blank space was covered
in abstraction. The next day, my teacher Jane Ann
pulled me aside and gifted me a brand new acid free
sketchbook with new colored pencils. She told me that
she loved my artwork and that anytime, whenever I felt
compelled to, I should pull out my sketchbook and draw.
This thoughtful gesture, paired with the encouragement I
got made me feel seen and valued. I knew then it was ok
to be myself and show others who that was.
I truly believe I would not be where I am today had I not
had the experiences Duke School gave me. This space,
which allowed me to be creative, vulnerable, curious and
supported, laid the groundwork for me to move through
the rest of life with confidence and empathy. Ultimately
I was able to build a career for myself based on my own
values, skills and interests.
In my spare time I traveled to Japan, Brazil, New Zealand,
Tanzania and dozens of other countries working as
photographer and writer for an online travel magazine,
where I had a monthly column about being an American
Living abroad. I’ve shot music videos that won the Hip
Hop Film festival in Harlem, I’ve edited television shows
that received Emmy Awards and been through seven
home births while filming a documentary about the last
traditional midwife in Costa Rica.
I tell you this not to boast but share with you what is
possible when you keep an open mind and lean into
your skills and interests. Being back here for a few
days reminded me of what an exciting and important
phase of life this is. I’m so excited for you to go on to
whatever is next, armed with the knowledge and personal
development you have received here. So many of my
classmates, who I am still in touch with, have gone on to
do incredible things and I have no doubt you all will do
the same. You are now part of the illustrious Duke School
Alumni, a distinction that carries weight far and wide! So
thank your parents for all they have done for you during
this time, it’s a sacrifice you won’t truly appreciate and
understand until you’re older. Be kind to and supportive
of your siblings if you have them and when your teachers
offer advice or insight, listen close for it may change your
entire trajectory in ways not yet known.
Having said all that I’ll recall once again the words of
Bukowski - “If you’re going to try, go all the way. There
is no other feeling like that. You will be alone with the
gods, and the nights will flame with fire. You will ride life
straight to perfect laughter. It’s the only good fight
there is.”
Now go and make the rest of us Dragons proud!
Thank you.
A full profile of Ned Phillips ‘98 is printed in the “Staying
Connected: Alumni News” section of this issue, located
on page 71.
Interested in speaking at a future graduation or want
to update us on what you’re up to? Please reach out to
alumni@dukeschool.org—we’d love to hear from you.
32
33

2021-22 SCHOOL YEAR
GRADUATION HIGHLIGHTS
EIGHTH GRADE REFLECTIONS
OLIVER KARRA
HALA ZAFAR
“From my first day in preschool, to
now, I never thought the day would
come where I would be writing this.
Throughout my 10 years at Duke
School I have learned more than I
can count, but what will stick with me
for the rest of my life are the lessons
I have learned and the friends I have
made.
Not only have I learned math,
science, social studies, and language
arts, but I have learned to be a critical
thinker, to push myself to what I am
capable of, and how to take these
lessons to high school and beyond.
I will forever be grateful to Duke
School for what it has taught me and
helping me become the person I
am today.”
JUSTIN SPITZER
“I’m so glad that the past six years
that I’ve been here have had [such]
wonderful experiences. For the
foreseeable future, I’m still going
to be a Duke Schooler, because no
matter where the world takes me,
I will always have something that
reminds me of here.”
LONDON HOWARD
“In my three years at Duke School, I
have learned that you can be yourself
and don’t have to change who you
are just to be accepted. Duke School
will bring out the best in you.”
NOAM COHEN
“For the past nine years, Duke School
has been a home away from home
for me. Since coming to Duke School
in kindergarten, I have always felt
welcomed, even though I was shy
and still learning English.
I feel that my experiences at
Duke School have grown me as a
person, helping me gain more self
confidence. My teachers & my peers
have always been supportive, and
helped me grown academically and
socially...
Duke School has taught me the
power of problem solving and asking
questions. I will always remember
Duke School as the foundation for my
learning.
I will forever treasure the experiences
and the people.”
“I have been at Duke School since
second grade, and I have enjoyed
every moment here. I have so many
fond memories and have made the
closest friends. I am so grateful to
have gone to this school. ”
MARGARET KOONTZ
“I know that Duke School has opened
many windows for me. I now have the
power to speak my mind, and I can
see people differently than I would if I
wasn’t at Duke School. I will come out
with an ability to see that everyone
is different, that everyone has
something that makes them them,
and therefore something that makes
them special.”
34
35

CELEBRATING
75 YEARS OF
DUKE SCHOOL
75 Years. That’s a lot of morning meetings, countless
projects, thousands of culminations, infinite questions
asked, and many gatherings at U.T.O.T.
On our 75th Anniversary, we celebrate not simply the
strength of our School, but the people that have made
this place so special for three-quarters of a century.
We are a group of Upstanders, problem-solvers, and
community-builders.
What we do here matters and has since 1947.
Our community is inclusive, vital, knows how to have
fun, and lift one another up. Every member of the Duke
School family has helped shape the school in their own
way, adding to our traditions and history.
We hope you will join us throughout the year in
celebrating all that makes Duke School a special place
and remain a part of this family as we continue to write
the history of our School for future generations to come.
37

space expanded within the Bivins Building
through the 1960s and 1970s as enrollment
increased, and it added third grade in 1979.
In 1982, Duke University decided to cease
sponsoring the school, which was no longer
used often for observation. School director
Janet Clement and parents, with the
support of Duke President Terry Sanford,
worked to continue the school by securing
a lease for two plots of land owned by Duke
University on Hull Avenue, as well as a loan
for construction.
Duke School for Children opened in 1984.
Its buildings, designed and constructed
in consultation with teachers, contained
classrooms that opened to the outdoors as
well as to common indoor areas.
as well as academic and physical growth,” she said. “It
was exactly what one studies when you go to education
school.”
After several years of parent interest and planning, Duke
Middle School opened in 1992. The campus on Erwin
Road was a former dairy farm surrounded by Duke Forest.
The middle school served students starting in fifth grade
and graduated its first eighth-grade class in 1995.
School leaders preserved the lower school’s focus on
building problem solving and collaboration skills in the
middle grades, along with the structure of two classroom
teachers working with the same group of students
throughout the day.
“In those early days, we were—to degrees wittingly and
to some degrees accidentally—kind of developing what
became the project curriculum,” said Middle School
The school expanded to sixth grade
in the 1985-1986 school year. In
1990, the completion of additional
classrooms, a library, and a gym
allowed for further growth.
Before then, limited space and
resources encouraged teachers
like Candy Thompson, who taught
physical education for the elementary
grades from 1988 to 2018, to be
creative. “I remember doing dance,
especially, on Case Street,” she said,
referring to the dead-end road at the
bottom of Hull Avenue. “So we were
literally dancing in the streets.”
SINCE 1947: A HISTORY
OF DUKE SCHOOL
Thousands of students have passed through Duke
School’s classrooms over the years, many of them at the
nearly 40-acre campus on Erwin Road that the school now
calls home. But the school’s roots stretch back 75 years
to a room in the Bivins Building on Duke University’s East
Campus.
In the late 1940s, researchers at Duke’s Department of
Psychology conceived the idea for a “laboratory” school
where undergraduate and graduate students could
observe normal development in young children. Duke
Nursery School held morning and afternoon sessions with
15 children each.
The nursery school became Duke Preschool in the 1960s
and later the Duke University Preschool and Primary
Program when it expanded to kindergarten and first
grade. School leaders based the curriculum on that of
British Infant Schools, which used an integrated, projectmethod
approach to teaching. The school’s physical
The school’s integrated curriculum
meant that many instructional
themes spanned classrooms as well as subject
areas. “Integrating physical activity with project
work gave me a whole new approach,” Candy
said. “Having a movement theme that tied in
with something they were already learning about
seemed to make a huge difference to the students
and how they bought into it. It really did change
the way I taught.”
The focus on project work was part of what
attracted Curriculum Director Kathy Bartelmay to
the school in the late 1980s, first as the parent of
an incoming kindergartener, and later as an early
intervention reading specialist.
“Duke School just fit the bill for everything—in
staying current with research, educating the whole
child, paying attention to social-emotional growth
38
39

“Duke School just fit[s] the
bill for everything—in staying
current with research, educating
the whole child, paying
attention to social-emotional
growth as well as academic
and physical growth”
Teachers College to hone a workshop approach to
identifying teaching strategies, trying them out, and
meeting regularly in groups to determine how they
were working.
Over time, the middle school shifted to a
departmentalized teaching structure, with each of the
four grade-level teachers specializing in math, science,
language arts, or social studies. “We stopped having two
different classrooms with potentially different programs in
each and having the student experience be of the grade
as a whole,” said Bob.
Teacher-driven improvements to subject curricula and
continuing collaboration with researchers like Katz, Chard,
and The Curious Classroom author Harvey “Smokey”
Daniels have allowed the school to continue building and
innovating its instructional approaches.
Division Director Bob Robinson. Bob joined Duke Middle
School in 1994, first as an after school teacher and soccer
coach, and then as a middle school language arts and
social studies teacher.
In the late 1990s, the project-oriented curriculum grew
with a professional development collaboration with Lillian
Katz and Sylvia Chard, authors of Engaging Children’s
Minds: The Project Approach.
“It’s allowed our overall program, I think, to be really
strong—not just the project work, but how it all fits
together,” said Kathy.
For students, the project-based curriculum and school
culture often have impact beyond elementary and middle
school. “I think with my kids, it was this confidence to
ask questions of other adults and a comfort in doing
so that just serves you well, “said Kathy. “That’s a really
important quality to have in any field.”
Lower school and, later, middle school teachers began
attending weeklong programs at Columbia University’s
In the mid-2000s, school leaders and parents formed a
task force to explore consolidating the lower and middle
schools onto a single campus. “They had experienced
1947
Early 1970s
1978
1982
Duke School, known then as Duke Nursery
School, opens on Duke University’s East
Campus in the Bivins Building with educators
from the Schools of Psychology and Education.
The “Duke School Preschool Scholarship
Fund” is launched with the purpose of
engaging local families and increasing the
diversity of the school.
Margaret Mason joins the
school as the first Director
of Curriculum.
Janet Clement joins the school as our
first Director. She would go on to lead
the school for 17 years.
Our preschool program expands from thirty
to fifty children while maintaining the childcentered,
hands-on approach to learning that
is central to our pedagogy
1963
The school adds first
and second grades to
the program.
1974
Thanks to a partnership between Duke University, its President Terry
Sanford, and parents in the Program, Duke School for Children
breaks ground on a new campus located on Hull Avenue in Durham,
signaling a new chapter of independence for our school.
1984
40
41

kids in both divisions and how there just wasn’t the
seamlessness that they knew Duke School could be,”
reflects Kathy.
In 2009, the lower school moved from Hull Avenue to the
Erwin Road campus.
“The fact that it was on two campuses had a lot of
parents thinking about the school as being two separate
schools—there was a lower school and a middle school,
and it wasn’t Duke School,” said Dave Michelman, who
served as head of school from 2006 to 2020. “So one of
the big challenges was, even before the move, to create
a whole school culture that was Duke School.”
Building that culture involved a re-branding effort—Duke
School for Children and Duke Middle School became
simply Duke School. The school adopted an official
song and poem, Jack Prelutsky’s “Once They All Believed
in Dragons.”
“The proximity [of one campus]
has allowed us to really make the
experience of the school for both
students and parents”
and teachers—a real continuous one, with lots of different
traditions to look forward to participating in,” said Bob.
Despite the changes, some common threads still connect
the 1940s laboratory school, the Hull Avenue lower
school, and the prekindergarten through eighth grade
campus of today. “Duke School is still a school that
challenges students to think and gives them agency,”
said Dave. “Students love being treated like people and
not like cogs in a machine.”
The school also found ways to encourage interaction
among older and younger students. The Kindergarten
Reading Buddies program pairs eighth graders with
kindergarteners to meet and mentor throughout the year,
culminating in sharing special moments and memories
at the end-of-year Tree Ceremony before eighth-grade
graduation. Campus-wide events like Earth Day, Dragon
Fest basketball games, and Fall Festival further foster a
sense of community.
“The proximity has allowed us to really make the
experience of the school for both students and parents—
Moving forward, the school’s curriculum and community
continue to expand the project approach into “looking at
ways that kids can become innovators, both in terms of
seeing problems in the world and developing solutions
for them,” said Kathy.
“Duke School has always committed to educating the
whole child, following kids’ interests, and having a
deep, inquiry-based program where kids’ questions are
honored—but not only honored, where they learn to
refine those questions and develop deeper questioning,”
she said.
1984
1992
1999
2009
Fall 2022
Duke School for Children opens the doors
at the new Hull Avenue campus for students
in Preschool through third grade, adding
additional grades each summer.
Duke School Middle School
campus receives its first
students in the fall.
Janet Clement
Retires as the
School’s Director.
Duke School’s Preschool, Lower,
and Middle schools join together
on an expanded single campus
on Erwin Road.
Duke School celebrates its
75 th Anniversary!
Duke School secures land off Old Erwin Road,
a former dairy farm, that would eventually
house the new Middle School. Jim Colavito
was appointed the first Middle School Director.
1991
Duke School
celebrates its 50 th
Anniversary.
1997
Dave Michelman retires after serving 14 years as Head of School; Lisa
Nagel joins our community as our newest Head of School. Duke School
remains open throughout the COVID-19 Pandemic, offering Bridged
Distance Learning and in-person learning opportunities for our students.
2020
42
43

uilding a community around this education model...
WHY PROJECT WORK?
TOP
5
FOR PRESCHOOLERS
As we celebrate Duke School’s 75th anniversary, I’ve
enjoyed looking back at my personal history with the
school. John Dewey believed that schools must be social
institutions where children are empowered to problemsolve,
which inspired me to teach, so when I later
searched for a school for my own children, Duke School
seemed the only choice. I first came to Duke School as a
parent but remained here as the Curriculum Director.
Duke School’s commitment to helping students explore,
question, investigate, and collaborate was everything
I’d hoped for. When my daughter
seemed disinterested in her first grade
LEGO engineering project, her teacher
Laurie Alexander built on Sarah’s love
of playground time and suggested
she design a new K-1 playground. She
handed Sarah several LEGO people, and
Sarah was hooked. Naming the figures
after her friends Holt and Lilli, Sarah
designed elaborate play structures from
LEGO pieces. The model was completed
30 years ago, but the problem-solving
and persistence Sarah learned
continued to serve her well years later in
her practice as a clinical psychologist.
Since then, Duke School’s commitment
to student agency and problem-solving
has remained constant as we grew and
improved our community. Striving to provide a consistent
preschool-8th curriculum, we formally adopted the
Project Approach, a student-centered inquiry approach
to project-based learning. We also began using the
approach in our professional development. Like the
students we teach, teachers notice areas of their
curriculum that need improvement, create study groups,
and invite consultants to campus to help us refine our
practice. And hoping to make project work accessible to
all children, we created the Educators Institute at Duke
How might
we enhance our
projects so that
students develop the
agency to make
the world a
better place?
School, where educators from around the world come to
campus to learn about project work.
It was through one of those teacher-initiated inquiries a
few years back that we began our work with innovation
and social justice. How might we enhance our projects
so that students develop the agency to make the world
a better place? Professional development included a
deep dive into design thinking and an exploration of
student agency with Upstanders authors Sara Ahmed
and Smokey Daniels. To further this work, Innovation
Director Katie Ree developed our
Innovation Grant program. When
students observed a need at school,
they submitted proposals, which were
reviewed by a committee of students
and administrators and approved or
sent back for further iterations. When
sixth graders Claire and Emma noticed
lunch waste that couldn’t be recycled,
they wrote a proposal to create a
TerraCycling program for their building.
They educated classmates, made drop
boxes, and enlisted drivers to help them
deliver the recycling items to Forest
View School. The girls persisted with
their work throughout the year and
expanded it to the entire middle school
the following year.
As I reflect upon Duke School’s next 75 years, the
challenges of preparing students to tackle the waste in
our environment, global warming, racial injustice, and
other problems feel daunting. But if we stay focused
on the school’s foundational mission and teach children
to notice problems, be daring and persistent in finding
solutions, and work collaboratively with people from all
walks of life to solve those problems, I am optimistic that
our graduates will make their world a better place.
Beginning as a preschool, Duke School builds a strong foundation for our youngest learners. Check out our top 5 experiences in preschool:
1
OUTDOOR LEARNING ENVIRONMENT
As an extension to the classroom, the
outdoor learning spaces provide our
preschool students with the opportunity
to engage and freely explore throughout
their inside and outside learning environments. The
outdoors are considered an extension to learning
and the classroom. Adjacent to Duke Forest, students
explore nature at it’s finest. Exploring forest trails,
exploring and engaging in the natural environment,
students learn about the natural world that surrounds
them. Though project-based learning, students listen
to birds, identifying trees and leaves, and exploring the
ecosystems along Mud Creek.
2
REAL WORLD EXPERIENCES
Through project-based learning, students
are engaged in learning kinetically as
they learn and investigate real-life topics.
To enrich the learning experiences in
our preschool program, guest experts share knowledge
on the topic as students ask questions to acquire
knowledge. Learning experiences afford students to learn
and engage in the world around through project-based
learning.
3
CULTURAL COMPETENCY
Students celebrate their own individual
unique character traits and sense of self.
A culture of respect of one’s similarities
and differences in our preschool settings,
creates a safe, secure, environment for young children to
freely express themselves as unique individuals. Through
the Responsive Classroom (First Six Weeks of School)
and throughout the school year, cultural awareness of
ones, and learning about the world-view of others, is
discussed. Reading culturally diverse books, prompting
in-depth discussions and conversations, exploring these
differences in project-based learning, and incorporating
curriculums of the Anti-Bias Curriculum allow students to
be culturally competent in a diverse world.
4
RIGHT SIZED LEARNING
At Duke School, we recognize that
development is not a race. Children
learn and grow at their own pace;
therefore, in our preschool programs
we guide the individual child and not just the whole
group. Children are exposed to a wide range of learning
experiences which are geared to each child’s individual
learning styles. Considering the various learning
styles and developmental ranges of young children,
differentiation of instruction and scaffolding occurs daily
throughout our multi-age classrooms.
5
ENRICHMENT ACTIVITIES
Preschoolers are able to experience
additional experiences outside of their
classroom with additional experts.
Students are able to learn about art
through use of materials and techniques during art
programming with the art teachers weekly. They are also
engaged in music and movement activities weekly with
our music teacher and they participate weekly in physical
education in the gymnasium, where they work on physical
motor skills in stations.
45

A LOOK AT DUKE
SCHOOL’S ARCHIVES
Take a look back at our school archives as we celebrate all
the moments that have added to the Duke School history,
traditions, and culture of our community over the past
75 years.
Photographs from the early days in the Bivins Building at
Duke University (pictured below and at right) parallel
snapshots through the years up through the present-day
community. While campuses and faces have changed
over the years, foundations such as project work,
collaboration, and community remain as a throughline
throughout Duke School’s 75 years.
Archival materials are courtesy of the Duke University
Archives, the Durham Morning Herald (by Jamie Francis
and Charles Cooper), the Herald-Sun Newspapers.
Special thank you to Spee Dee Que Printing in Durham,
NC for assisting in the digitizing of many Duke School
archival materials. We encourage any with stories about
photographs to email communications@dukeschool.org.
46

On this page: snapshots of classroom life in the Bivins Building at Duke University. Students Amy & Sylvia
share work together the upstairs classroom, Fall 1973 (Top Left).
Bottom Left: The “Duke Preschool Laboratory” (the first iteration of Duke School) was featured in the
September 1967 issues of the Duke Alumni Register. Photographs from this publication by Paul Seder.
48
49

On this page: groundbreaking
ceremonies of Duke School’s campus.
Dorothy Kitchen’s String School students
performed as part of the festivities.
Due to the efforts of parents working in
partnership with Duke University & its president
at the time, Terry Sanford), Duke School for
Children gained independence from Duke
University in 1984.
Pictured Above: Terry Sanford initiates the
groundbreaking for the school where, at
the time, there were 55 students enrolled in
preschool-third grade.
Students took part in the groundbreaking and
ribbon cutting, and learned from architects Jack
Hebrank, Ann McCann, and Roger Barr about
the new construction plans.
50
51

Pictured above: An early class photograph
courtesy of the Durham Herald (estimated around
1987).
Pictured at right: The new school buildings
under construction, viewed from Erwin Road, as
well as the City of Durham road closure notice for
Duke School’s early construction days. Initially,
these facilities hosted the Middle School students
exclusively, while Lower School remained on Hull
Avenue in Durham. Janet Clement and Jim Colavito
(First Middle School Director) stand in front of the
newly constructed Middle School Buildings in 1992.
52
53

Classroom and playground happenings photographed at left, dates unknown. Pictured above: One of the buildings
that comprised the Hull Avenue campus of Duke School. Located here following the gain of independence from Duke
University, Duke School’s Lower School remained on Hull Avenue for a number of years before merging into the singular
campus on Erwin Road. Pictured below: Duke School logos through the years.
54
55

Pictured clockwise from left: Duke School students work on a quilting project collaboratively in the gymnasium; Faculty
& Staff work together to relocate large benches for outside time on the Erwin Road Campus; Kindergarten students
gather in Building A in 2018 to perform their 100th Day of School song for the eighth grade class; The Middle School
community of 2004-05 photographed on campus.
57

Pictured clockwise from left: The 2022 Duke School
third grade class visits Durham City Hall as part of
their Durham: Then and Now Project; students gather
on campus; Duke School students featured in The
Durham Sun in May 1990 for their work encouraging
recycling on campus and in their communities; an
alumni gathering on Erwin Road’s campus; Duke
School Chorus Performance.
58
59

Student life from 2005-2022: featuring
graduation, field trips, field research,
community artwork, and lots of fun.
Pictured below: Former Head of School
Dave Michelman helps with the ribbon
cutting event on Erwin Road—marking
the unification of two Duke School
campuses into one, thus relocating the
Lower School from Hull Avenue to
Erwin Road.
At left: The Duke School for Children
Middle School “Wednesday Express”
newsletter, featuring upcoming events
and community wide initiatives, student
announcements and artwork, political
cartoons, and reminders about the
upcoming school year.
61

FACES OF DUKE SCHOOL
So many individuals have helped shape our school these past 75 years. From our earliest days
on Duke University’s East Campus to our shared campus on Erwin Road, every member of our
community contributed to creating the tapestry of our traditions, mission, and beliefs.
The collaboration that defines our daily work on campus is seen in big and small ways through the
vision, leadership, guidance, and stewardship of the people in the pages to follow. Something that
sets our school apart is that we all have a special place in our history, and we all know someone that
made their mark on us during our time here.
These are just a few of the people who left an indelible mark on our school since our establishment
in 1947. We thank them for their role in making Duke School a special place.
DR. WALLY REICHENBERG-
HACKETT & DR. KATHERINE
BANHAM
Founding educators and
psychologists at Duke University that
helped develop the Duke University
Preschool & Primary Program, which
would go on to be Duke School.
“The child’s refreshing freedom of
expressing feelings and emotions,
his uncensored and enthusiastic
approach to the world around him,
his curiosity and vitality, form the
core subject matter of a laboratory
course. There is no substitute, no
duplication, for the living experience
[of the child.]”
JIM COLAVITO
Jim served as Duke School’s first
Middle School Director from 1992-
1998. Jim passed away recently in
2021.
TERRY SANFORD
Former Governer of North Carolina
and Duke University President
(1970-1985)
“The school has been an integral part
of the Duke community for 35 years.
Duke University has been supportive
of the Duke School for Children
because we believe it is important
to continue the goals and traditions
which have evolved over the 37-year
history of the program.”
-Terry Sanford in a letter to the Duke
Board of Trustees in February 1984
MARGARET MASON
Margaret began as a primary school
teacher in 1978, eventually becoming
the Director of Curriculum.
“I first went to the Erwin Road farm
with Janet Clement and Margaret
Mason in late fall…At the top of
the hill, the cars on Erwin Road, the
smells of cow pasture, and the old
buildings disappeared, and were
replaced by a broad blue sky over
an open field ringed with distant tall
pines. I remember Margaret saying,
‘This would be a wonderful place for
kids. They could…’ and she began
inventing a curriculum”
– Jack Hebrank, Former Duke
School for Children Parent and
Board President
JANET CLEMENT
1982-1999, School Director
“Janet led the Duke School for Children
for seventeen of its most important
years. She had just been hired as school
director when it became independent
of Duke University—a difficult transition
in every way—yet she was able to hire a
superb faculty and then work tirelessly to
keep the school true to its roots. Duke
School for Children’s growth and success
were her life’s work and we thank her”
– David Carman, Former
Head of School
“Janet not only believed in Duke
School’s mission, she lived it. One parent
night, long before cell phones, Janet
got locked in the faculty bathroom.
She pounded and yelled, but it soon
became clear everyone had left campus.
‘I told myself that as the director of
a school that fosters creative problemsolving,
I could figure this out,” Janet
told me the next day. I took apart the
paper towel dispenser and used the
handle as a tool to take the door off
its hinges. It took a long time, but it
worked.’”
-Kathy Bartelmay, Duke School
Curriculum Director
62
63

JANE ANN MCCULLOUGH
DAVE MICHELMAN
STEVE WATERMAN
VICKY PATTON
Duke School Teacher from 1987-2004
A well-known and beloved teacher
in both the Lower & Middle Schools,
known for her teaching about
the emergence of humans, the
development of civilizations, and
her deeply held dedication to Duke
School’s experimental, student-led
learning model.
Served as Duke School’s Head of
School from 2006-2020.
Taught third and fourth grades at
Duke School. Started before 1996
and retired in 2015.
TRICIA NEAL
Former Duke School Parent, helped
Duke School gain independence
from Duke University and longtime
supporter of our school.
“I fell in love with [Duke School.]”
-Vicky Patton
“My teacher Jane Ann pulled me
aside and gifted me a brand new
acid free sketchbook with new
colored pencils. She told me that she
loved my artwork and that anytime,
whenever I felt compelled to, I should
pull out my sketchbook and draw.
Longtime administrative assistant to
Janet Clement, Sandy Gillespie, and
Nicole Thompson.
This thoughtful gesture, paired with
the encouragement I got made me
feel seen and valued. I knew then it
was ok to be myself and show others
who that was.”
-Ned Phillips, Duke
School Class of 1998
JANE SHEARS
Third Grade teacher, 24 years at
Duke School
“Her special connections with
students and families have been
hallmarks of her time on campus!”
DEBBIE MARSHALL
Kindergarten teacher, 29 years at
Duke School
“Every year is an adventure [at Duke
School]...Being able to take cues
from the kids and learning alongside
them is really exciting. By sharing
what we are learning, trying and
finding success with everybody else,
makes us all better. I think it puts
[Duke School] in a unique place in the
community.”
-Debbie Marshall
MARILYN ORNSTEIN
Lower School teacher 1982-2011
ODILE GOULD
Lower School teacher for 20+ years
RICHARD HARKRADER
Former parent & designer/builder of
the original buildings on Hull Avenue
as well as the older buildings on
Erwin Road (G,H,J).
64
65

CANDY THOMPSON
JEAN SARTAIN
HOW OLD DO YOU THINK
DUKE SCHOOL IS?
Madison: “1 million years old!”
Duke School’s first Physical Education
Teacher, 1988-2018; Worked
part-time as multimedia specialist
2018-2021.
Middle School Physical Education/
Athletic Director for close to 20 years.
Retired in 2016 from Duke School
Maggie: “65?” Amelia: “2000 years old”
Harriet: “75! I
remember because we
took the school photo on
the field”
Lawrence: “100
years old!”
“I was surrounded by creativity and
innovation every single day—it’s
simply part of our culture…The most
important factor, however, has been
Duke School’s commitment to lifelong
learning.”
“I have often said that a Duke School
education was the greatest gift that
I could have given my children. We
talk about fostering a love of learning
here, but I saw it in my own children.
The Project Approach, as well as
their amazing teachers, led them to
an intrinsically motivated quest for
knowledge. They were able to pursue
interests and develop control and
ownership of their learning within the
context of those projects.”
-Candy Thompson
CARLA HORTA
First Lower School Spanish Teacher,
started 2008
“Through her creative and interactive
methods, her students not only
learned to speak and understand
the Spanish language, but also
gained an appreciation for Spanish
culture and history. She was an
invaluable member of the community,
caring deeply for her students and
colleagues and worked diligently to
help everyone be successful”
HOW SHOULD WE
CELEBRATE OUR 75 TH BIRTHDAY?
Clementine & Lawrence: “ With
balloons! With a big party, just
like summer camp!”
Mac: “We should
build a trampoline
park”
Lucas: “Make our
own Dragon!
Madison & Maggie: “We
should probably have a
cake! Decorate the school
for a party!”
KIDS REFLECT
ON THE 75 TH
ANNIVERSARY OF
DUKE SCHOOL
We interviewed a few Dragons at the end of
the 2021-22 school year to get their takes on
the upcoming 75 th anniversary celebrations.
From suggestions on party decorations to
predictions for what Duke School will look like
in 75 years, take a look at their responses.
-Candy Thompson
66
PREDICTIONS FOR
THE NEXT 75 YEARS?
“More specials — maybe swim class;
maybe we will change projects by then?
We might have treehouses all around the
school. Will it exist?” -Asher, Elina, Mia, Ellis

STAYING CONNECTED: ALUMNI NEWS
GROVER BURTHEY ‘98
impact across the results of the environment—
particularly climate.”
After graduating from Duke School, Grover
attended Riverside High School and studied
finance at the University of Pennsylvania’s
Wharton School. He interned at PIMCO while
a graduate student at Stanford University and
joined the firm in 2012 after earning his MBA.
“I believe [Duke School] did seed sort of a
continuous desire to be learning,” he said.
“Without developing (1) some confidence and
(2) appreciation for math at a young age, I
probably would’ve had a very different
career path.”
celebrating the Class of 2018 and sharing their post high school graduation plans...
CONGRATS, DUKE SCHOOL CLASS OF 2018
University of California Berkeley
NC State Engineering
George Washington University
University of North Carolina Chapel Hill
Wake Technical Community College
Princeton University
Amherst College
University of Hawaii
University of Michigan
Vassar College
Virginia Tech
Gap Year Prior to College
Wake Forest University
Middlebury College
University of South Carolina
Davidson College
Case Western Reserve University
Duke University
Employment
Wesleyan University
University of Notre Dame
Georgia Tech
STAY CONNECTED:
Join Duke School’s Alumni Facebook and
LinkedIn Groups—forums for reconnection
with former classmates and Duke School.
Interested in updating your contact
information? Email alumni@dukeschool.org
Photo courtesy of Grover
For Grover Burthey ‘98, an early love of math and an
interest in service have sparked a career exploring both
international finance and the halls of U.S. government.
As an executive vice president at investment
management firm PIMCO, Grover oversees a team split
among his office in Newport Beach, Calif., New York,
and London. He often arrives at the office at 5:30 a.m. to
coincide with east coast business hours.
“It’s not for everyone,” Grover said. “It’s a demanding
field. But it’s one where, if you do have a good base in
math, if you like problem solving, if you like dealing with
uncertainty, you can enjoy your job while also trying to do
well for yourself and others, as well.”
Grover oversees PIMCO’s environmental, social,
and governance portfolio, which he describes as
“sustainability-oriented investing.” His job entails
monitoring global financial markets and indicators to help
investors make informed choices, along with assessing
possible impacts from climate change, such as increasing
flood or fire risks and potential regulation of fossil fuels.
“It’s great to be able to work in an industry that’s private
sector, that’s results oriented,” he said. “But hopefully
in the course of our efforts, we can also have a real
In 2017, Grover left PIMCO for two years to
serve as deputy assistant secretary for policy at
the U.S. Department of Transportation.
“I’d always had an interest in public service,”
he said. When a former classmate working at the
department asked if he would be interested in joining,
Grover took the opportunity.
Grover helped the department explore ways to
incentivize investments in infrastructure and reduce
barriers to authorizing new projects. He also administered
grant and loan programs for state and local projects,
including an expansion effort to relieve congestion on
highway 405 in Orange County, Calif., where he now
drives every day.
“The best part of the job was learning about what
different parts of the country viewed as important—
thinking about what works for a town of 50,000 folks
versus one with 750,000 folks,” he said.
Grover said he also learned just how much public
service matters.
“It’s important that smart people, that motivated folks do
try to do some sort of public service where they can,” he
said, whether that means running for office or working
with a local government board. “Having more and
more folks do it—and folks who are doing it with their
own communities and stakeholders in mind—are more
important in terms of what matters at a local level.”
68
69

STAYING CONNECTED
ALUMNI NEWS
ROWAN GOSSETT ‘12
Staring out at a craggy expanse overlooking the Rio
Negro in Argentina’s Patagonia region looking out over
the city of Bariloche, Rowan Gossett ‘12 knows one thing
for sure: she’s on the adventure of a lifetime. Since March
2022, Rowan has been exploring Argentina as part of
her Fulbright Fellowship. She is savoring every moment
to see something new and broaden her already wide
horizons. But exploring her passions and unique interests
is nothing new for Rowan, something she spent much of
her eleven years at Duke School doing.
Since graduating from Duke School in 2012, Rowan has
taken every opportunity to explore her passions with the
confidence and motivation she attributes to her time as a
Dragon with influential teachers at every step of her Duke
School journey.
“Between having teachers who prioritized making
themselves a friendly and open resource for students and
a project-based model that encouraged us to take charge
of our learning while embracing your own creativity,”
Rowan “feels confident designing and executing
projects,” which she knows has played no small part
in her lifelong love of learning, which started in Duke
School’s preschool classrooms.
After graduating high school at Durham Academy, Rowan
studied Human Rights and Latin American Studies at
Columbia University and spent her summers working for
an education non-profit in South Africa. She is taking a
gap year from the University of Texas School of Law to
complete her Fulbright Fellowship in Argentina. “I hope
to pursue my passion for cross-cultural engagement
and foster my academic and personal interest in Latin
American feminist and Human Rights.”
After spending twelve months on her Fulbright, Rowan
plans to finish her legal studies, focusing on immigration
law, children’s rights, and gender justice. Duke School’s
emphasis on collaboration ultimately prepared Rowan
to stay true to herself, noting that she instead relies “on
internal rather than external validation, even in highly
competitive and stressful academic environments.”
A crucial path forged from her years at Duke School is
one of self-evaluation, a skill she hopes future graduates
take with them in the years that follow their time at
Duke School, “they might feel silly or tiring at times, but
knowing how to evaluate your own work critically – and
how to identify your many strengths- will make you a
better learner, team member, and person.”
It’s been 24 years since Ned Phillips began his journey at
Duke School, but with his finely-tuned documentarian’s
eye, he can retrieve detailed anecdotes about his time as
a Dragon like it was yesterday.
He remembers one instance, in sixth grade, when he
finished a test early and began “abstract doodling” in the
margins of his paper. When it came time to turn it in, his
teacher, Jane Ann, called him over; naturally, he thought
he was in trouble.
Instead, Jane Ann praised and nurtured him. “She pulled
out a brand new acid-free sketchbook and set of colored
pencils and gave them to me, saying, ‘Ned, if ever you
feel like you want to draw, no matter what’s going on, just
pull this out and start working,’” he recalled. “That was
very, very transformative for me. I felt seen. She saw my
values and encouraged [my creativity].”
NED PHILLIPS ‘98
Now based back at home in Durham in between filmrelated
travel, Ned recently reconnected with his alma
mater on a video project that documents the wide variety
of daily curricular and extracurricular activities at Duke
School. In his days at Duke School’s former Hull Avenue
campus, handheld video equipment was just becoming
more widely available — no comparison, he said, to
the range of media technology now accessible to all
grade levels and innovatively incorporated into Duke
School’s cross-disciplinary curricula. (“Kindergarteners
are making documentaries on their iPads!” he marveled.)
Likewise, while watching rehearsals for the spring musical,
Ned — who found a creative home in theater at Duke
School — was astonished by the depth of collaboration
between the academic and arts departments and the
expansiveness of the set production.
Though the tools and materials look different today, Ned
recognized the throughlines that continue to set Duke
School apart and empower its graduates to move fully
into the world: its pedagogic emphasis on collaboration,
its respect for student creativity, its commitment to
Project work that models and interrogates real-world
issues and solutions.
The Project Approach “teaches you about long term
thinking, how to plan, and how to be creative as far as
putting different pieces of things together,” Ned said.
“Ultimately, what I do [in filmmaking] is move from one
project to another. To get your brain thinking in that sort
of [project-based] mode early on — it’s huge.”
Photo courtesy of Rowan
This story may sound familiar to those who attended
Duke School’s 2022 graduation ceremony, where
Ned addressed the departing class with an energetic,
affirming speech. As he narrated the wide-ranging,
globe-trotting career he’s built in film and characterdriven
storytelling — international travel magazine
contributor, award-winning hip hop music videomaker,
Emmy-awarded television show editor, documentary
director profiling the last traditional midwife in Costa Rica
— Ned urged the graduates to “keep an open mind and
lean into your skills and interests.” When you embrace
your whole self and all the wild diversity of what compels
you, “anything is possible,” he said.
Ned’s creative and working life revolves around this
form of deep immersion; in his graduation speech,
he excerpted a resonant quote from director Robert
Altman: “Filmmakers live 1,000 lives.” Duke School, Ned
reflected, “laid the groundwork” for this pathway: one
that allows him to contribute his full range of expertise
and interests to projects that tell bigger stories about the
world.
How can today’s graduates find their own channels, their
own pathways? True to form, Ned’s advice to the Class of
2022 offered an encouraging answer: “Find what excites
you and pursue that to the ends of the earth.”
70
71

ALUMNI NEWS
DANA SMITH ‘01
Photo courtesy of Dana
When Dana Smith sits down after parsing interview
transcripts and scientific research papers to write an article
for the New York Times or Scientific American, she may
not be using the story-structuring index cards espoused in
her sixth-grade class at Duke School, but she’s relying on
that toolkit nonetheless. She credits her early instructors
with instilling in her the fundamentals of story-building that
she uses on a daily basis in her current work as a science
journalist.
In true scientist form, Dana describes her beat in the most
distilled terms: “anything related to the brain or body.”
This includes physical health and medicine, including a
large (inevitable) recent focus on COVID-19. But Dana
gets especially energized about what she calls “really
weird bodily science” that we’re only just beginning to
understand, including how gut bacteria and the microbiome
can influence human health and behaviors.
It makes sense that she’s compelled by the wider and
wackier realms of science; after Duke School, high school
at Durham Academy, and college in Los Angeles,
she pursued a PhD in experimental psychology at
Cambridge. But in the process, she realized she
“had a lot more fun writing about other people’s
research than doing her own.” Her time as a
graduate student coincided with a boom in science
blogging, and she quickly picked up public-facing
writing that allowed her to present and expand
beyond her own scientific interests in a new way
(and, shocking her at the time, get paid to do it).
Dana has since worked between freelance
journalism work and staff jobs at science
publications and institutes — including the
Gladstone Institute at the University of California
at San Francisco, where she researched and wrote
on CRISPR, the gene-editing technology, as it was
being developed. She returned to Durham from
San Francisco in May 2020, having realized —
again, thanks to her science beat — that we’d be in
the pandemic for the long-haul, and wanting to be
closer to family.
These days, beyond her regular range of topics,
Dana is thinking about how science journalism can
bolster science literacy: in other words, how to
thread the needle between accurately representing
the iterative and fluid process of scientific discovery
and informing the public with sound, clear
scientific evidence and with their safety and wellbeing
in mind. Covering COVID and its political
ramifications over the past two years has only
strengthened this imperative.
But this is Dana’s life’s work, and she’s confident
as ever to take it on — a strength she can trace
back to Duke School’s supportive environment.
Having such “positive and encouraging” teachers,
particularly for a young woman interested in the
sciences, was revolutionary.
Leaving Duke School, she said, she felt like she
could “do anything and be anything” when she
grew up.
always a dragon...
GRADUATES ON WORKING
AT THEIR ALMA MATER
Five Duke School graduates recently returned to campus in new roles—from classroom teacher
to marketing & communications, these Dragons reflect on their time as a student and what
drove them to come back to this special community to work at their alma mater.
WILL NEWMAN ‘07
Started school in lower
preschool, returned as an
eighth grade Math & Project
teacher in 2018
What is it like to work at your former school? What do
you enjoy most about being on campus?
I often say that the school doesn’t look the way it did
when I was a student, but that it feels the same. While
the school has grown and developed in significant and
impressive ways, the people and ideas on campus remain
rooted in the values the school has always cherished.
The faculty are not just great at teaching but are a
genuinely fun and supportive group to work alongside.
The student-teacher relationships are collaborative in a
way that’s unique to Duke School. Ideas and creativity
are supported and encouraged; nothing has to be done
a certain way just because it’s been done that way in the
past. Most importantly, it’s clearer than ever that Duke
School wants everyone to be themselves on campus,
from the youngest preschooler to the most experienced
faculty and staff.
What is a favorite memory of your time as a student?
Too many to choose just one, but the simulated crime
scene investigation and mock trial from 8th grade and
playing Titanic with Candy in lower school PE stand out. It
also amazes me how much I can still remember about my
peers, teachers, classes, and projects - all signs of a great
place to grow up!
Anything else to share?
Peter Reichert and Carol Olausen were life-changing
teachers in 7th grade - trips to Williamsburg, Sound to
Sea, whitewater rafting, King’s Dominion, and Charleston,
SC were formative experiences in Middle School!
72
73

TAYING CONNECTED
ALUMNI NEWS
What is it like to work at your former
school? What do you enjoy most about
being on campus?
I genuinely love it- I think I would love
working here even if I wasn’t an alum, but I can’t
overstate how cool it is to spend my days with people
I’ve known for almost half my life. There’s something so
special about being able to reminisce with people who
watched and helped me grow into who I am today (or
just people who did it in the same place- even if we
weren’t in the same class).
What is a favorite memory of your time as a
student?
I’ll always have a special place in my heart for Makers
Club; it brought so much good into my life and still
does to this day. Besides that, I’d say the 5th grade
ALYSSA MORGAN ‘17
PEMDAS unit with Lori (she brought in props and acted
like a different character when teaching us about each
letter), and the whitewater rafting and rock climbing on
the Carowinds field trip stand out.
Anything else to share?
Started fifth grade in 2013, returned
as a member of the Technology &
Innovation team in 2021.
I think it’s hilarious that they let me be Sparky three
times even though I was way too short for the costumethe
fabric in the legs would bunch whenever I was in it
because it was made for someone at least 5 inches taller
than me.
TRENT SMITH ‘14
Started school in 2011,
returned as an member of the
facilities team in 2018
What is it like to work at your former school? What do
you enjoy most about being on campus?
The best part of returning to Duke School as an
employee would be the advice I can seek from those who
knew me well from my time as a student. Lucy, Nicole,
Annie, and Brian G are perfect examples of those who
have always been there for me. Not only did they help
me as a student, but even more so now that I’m older
and trying to navigate life as a young adult. Lastly, seeing
my mom every day doing what she does best in the
preschool building is another sweet addition to working
at Duke School.
What is a favorite memory of your time as a student?
8th Grade DC Trip
Anything else to share?
Shoutout to all the OG’s that taught me and are still
shaping young lives at Duke School! Annie, Becca,
Michelle, Bob, Lucy, Brian G, Elaine, Lisa S.
EMMA HALES ‘15
Started school in sixth grade
in 2012, returned as Camp
Counselor & After School
Coordinator in 2018
What is it like to work at your former school? What do
you enjoy most about being on campus?
- I’ve been in this community since I was 5 years
old when my mom started working here. I attended
camps every summer and started here in the 6th grade.
I’ve been with this community so long, that it feels like
my home away from home. Some of the staff I’ve known
since I was a child and they have become an extension of
my family. I enjoy working with children and being in the
place that sparked my passion for it!
ALUMNI NEWS
What is a favorite memory of your time as a student?
Never losing a Middle School Basketball game—Let’s
go Dragons!
Anything else to share?
For my 8th grade project, I studied the impact of Title
IX, the college basketball recruiting process, and what
that entailed. Throughout this project, I interviewed the
Duke Women’s Basketball team’s Director of Recruiting
Operations, Michele Van Gorp in order to learn all that I
could about the recruiting process. The highlight of this
project was when a former WNBA player, Michele Van
Gorp, standing 6’6” tall, entered Building A to attend
my presentation.
What is it like to work at your
former school? What do you
enjoy most about being on
campus?
For most people, the prospect of returning to your
Middle School is something you might unpack with the
help of a trained clinician. But, for me, it was a dream
come true. Returning to Duke School felt like such a
meaningful way to take all I learned, both here as a
student and in the many years since I left, and use it to
better a place that means so much to me. Duke School
today feels so much like it did for me in the 1990s,
the same curiosity, wonder, and sense of belonging
that defined my time here is evident in each student,
teacher, and community member - I am thrilled to be a
part of this special place once again.
What is a favorite memory of your time as a
student?
There are so many- we had a class with 20 extra
students (the infamous ‘bump’ class of 1999,) which
led to many memories during my time here and
friendships I nurture to this day. One memory stands
MARYSSA CAPPELLETTI ‘99
Started in fifth grade at Duke School, returned
the Director of Marketing & Communications
in November 2021.
out, though. After learning of their warmth and
intelligence, we petitioned the Middle School Director
for a school pet- a potbellied pig. Middle School
administrators strongly considered our request but
ultimately denied it.
Anything else to share?
My fifth-grade class (Peter & Bob’s inaugural ‘PeBo
Land’,) produced a full-length production of the novel
“Borgel” by Daniel Pinkwater that a Duffer brother
may have directed. We filmed around campus and
at various Durham 9th street locations (Elmo’s, White
Star laundry, and possibly McDonald’s Drug Store.) My
sixth-grade year was a true highlight- Jane Ann was
a phenomenal teacher, and all the project work and
representations we made that year still linger in my
parent’s attic and hold a special place for me.
74
75

PRSRT STD
US POSTAGE
PAID
DURHAM NC
PERMIT # 112
2022/23 CALENDAR OF SCHOOL EVENTS
AUGUST 2022
NOVEMBER 2022
FEBRUARY 2023
MAY 2023
8/20: Popsicles on the Playground
8/24: First Day of School (½ Day)
8/27: Screen on the Green
11/17: Middle School Play
11/29: Day of Giving
2/9: Parent Speaker Series
2/14: I Love Duke School Day
2/23: Middle School Variety Show
5/11: Parent Speaker Series
JUNE 2023
SEPTEMBER 2022
9/15: New Parent Dinner
9/22: Parent Speaker Series
DECEMBER 2022
12/1: International Potluck
12/8: Parent Speaker Series
12/15: Winter Concert
MARCH 2023
3/9: Parent Speaker Series
APRIL 2023
6/1: Spring Concert
6/3: End of Year Party
6/8: 8th Grade Graduation
6/9: Last Day of School
OCTOBER 2022
10/17: Grandparent’s Tea
10/22: Alumni Gathering & Fall Fest
JANUARY 2023
1/12: Parent Speaker Series
4/20: Parent Speaker Series
4/21: Earth Day
4/27: Art Expo Reception
4/28: Grandparent’s Day & Art Expo