Spring Intensives

Our Spring Intensives effort holds the key to unlocking both the time and resources needed to advance a variety of Pingry’s other strategic initiatives. In fact, according to our Experiential Education Vision Report from 2018, “No single major initiative can more effectively build toward the aspirations of the 2018 Strategic Plan than the development of a minimester.”  Not surprisingly, Pingry’s Strategic Plan includes the specific directive for us to “investigate, for all three divisions, and propose an academic calendar change, including models for a minimester.” After nearly three years of work that bridged professional development efforts on experiential education, course design, and research on best practices, the implementation of Spring Intensives is now underway. Our first offerings will now be available to Form III-V students in the Upper School starting in May 2022.

This will be a “minimester” academic period lasting for 11 days (May 26-June 10).  Courses will be team-taught by 2-3 faculty members, and students in Forms III-V will be taking just one single class during this time. All students in Forms III-V will participate, as will all full-time Upper School teaching faculty. The school day will continue to run from 8:30 a.m. until 3:30 p.m., and the block schedule will include a mix of both class time (5 hours daily) and shared flex time (2 hours daily). Courses will be experiential by design—learning by doing—and open to students from all three grade levels, with a maximum class size of 16 students. Course selection preferences will be prioritized by seniority, but we will hold up to six spots in each Spring Intensive for both Form III and Form IV students. Guest speakers and visiting experts will be part of many course experiences, as will local travel, day trips, and use of our new Pottersville Campus grounds and facilities. Spring Intensives will be graded on a Pass / Fail basis, and each student will produce a deliverable (final project, something unique to the course, etc.) for collective presentation to the entire Upper School community during an “Exhibition of Learning'' celebration on the final day of the school year. Students will have their choice of nearly 40 different interdisciplinary classes that will not be the focus of traditional Pingry coursework.

In summary:

• Spring Intensives is a "minimester" academic period that lasts 11 days
• Students in Forms III - V will enroll in only one course during that time
• Each Spring Intensives Course is taught by 2-3 faculty members
• There are approximately 40 different courses to choose from
• Any course can have students from all three grade levels
• Many courses have local travel and day trips as part of the experience
• Many courses utilize visiting experts and guest speakers
• In Spring Intensive courses students learn by doing
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Spring Intensives Co-Chairs:

• Mr. Brian Burkhart
• Ms. Rebecca Sullivan

Spring Intensives Design Coaches:

• Ms. Melody Boone
• Mrs. Jill Law '04
• Dr. Pamela Longo
• Ms. Stephanie Mygas 
• Mr. Brad Poprik
• Ms. Kathryn Smoot
• Mrs. Anne Changeux 
• Ms. Shelley Hartz
• Dr. Gillian Johnson
• Dr. Danielle Mirliss 
• Mr. Gilberto Olvera
• Ms. Olivia Tandon