Mizzentop Day School to Celebrate 20th Anniversary in 2017
by William Taylor
The 2017 – 2018 school year will be a landmark year for Mizzentop Day School in Pawling. Over the next 12 months, the school will be celebrating its 20th anniversary, welcome in a new head of school, expand its offerings to the community and invest extensively in facilities improvements.
Pawling native Lisa Daniels founded Mizzentop in 1998 when she saw a need for educational options for area students. The school uses an academically enriched curriculum with a differentiated learning approach that caters to the learning styles of each child. With small class sizes and a caring, supportive faculty and staff, Mizzentop nurtures and develops students so they can move on to high school well prepared for success.
The Living Values curriculum acknowledges that our children are more than students: they're citizens. First developed by an international coalition of educators along with UNICEF, these twelve values – including respect, tolerance, peace and simplicity – are embedded into the curriculum and integrated throughout the school. In implementing the Living Values, the Mizzentop community has consistently supported local charities including The Pawling Resource Center, The Ryan McElroy Foundation, The Ty Louis Campbell Foundation, The Poughkeepsie Children's Home, and The Putnam Humane Society.
The school's inclusion program is based upon these values and ensures that Mizzentop maintains a culturally inclusive community, as well as an economically diverse community through scholarship offerings and financial aid.
For the next school year, Mizzentop will continue its inclusion of the greater Pawling community through extracurricular programs open to the public. We look forward to hosting another successful Hour of Code this December as part of our initiative to increase access to Computer Science education in the community. Evan Kanouse, Director of Technology, is currently developing additional technology enrichment programs for non-Mizzentop students to enjoy. The ever-popular American Girl Tea Party will also return again this fall. The school is also planning to offer Mandarin classes and fencing lessons after school. For more information or to register for these and other programs, email events@mizzentop.org.
This year, Mizzentop was proud to announce the appointment of Karin Shultz as Head of School. After an aggressive three-year turnaround effort led by outgoing head Laura Kang, the school is poised to continue to grow and thrive under Karin's leadership. Shultz has been Mizzentop's middle school math teacher and division head since 2006 and was named Assistant Head of School in 2015. "Our school saw great challenges over the last few years," says Karin Shultz. "I am so proud of the way our community came together to revive Mizzentop so that we can continue to serve future generations of children. It will be an honor to serve as the leader of this important institution."
Shultz has coached countless children on field hockey and lacrosse teams at both Mizzentop and in Pawling leagues. Karin's husband, Chris, is owner of Liberty Trucking with his father, Lee. She also has two children: Matthew, who is entering his sophomore year at Trinity-Pawling School, which is a close friend to Mizzentop; and her daughter, Ellie, who will be in seventh grade at Mizzentop this fall.
This summer, plans are underway for two major capital improvements to the school's campus. Thanks to the support of Putnam County Savings Bank and the property owner, The Peale Center for Christian Living, work will begin on a complete repaving of the school's parking lot, courtyard and driveways. Upon completion of the project in late August, Mizzentop will host a ribbon cutting ceremony and allow children to "break in" the new pavement with bicycles, tricycles and scooters. At this time the public can also tour our newly renovated facility.
"It has always been Mizzentop's goal to serve our students and the greater Pawling community," says Karin Shultz. "We are thankful to this community for always supporting our school, and we believe our relationship with Pawling will only grow stronger in the years to come."
Mizzentop Day School is located at 64 East Main St. in the village of Pawling. Information on all of Mizzentop's programs can be found at www.mizzentop.orgor by emailing admissions@mizzentop.org