The genesis of “Beyond Empire” comes from a personal place. As a first-generation American of Trinidadian immigrants, who came to the US amidst Trinidad’s independence from the UK, Stephen Bailey finds that it is imperative to trace these stories. The central questions of the course ask, “What is it to move beyond empire? How do people understand themselves in a new context? How do you reacquire or reinvent yourself?” What underlies the curriculum is the belief that through investing in the literary worlds of other cultures, students can be world scholars and compassionate readers.
Stephen emphasizes reading a breadth of literary styles like poetry, fiction, non-fiction, etc. to think critically about how language is used. With challenging material from authors and playwrights like Tayeb Salih and Lynn Nottage, Stephen asks for courage from both his students and himself; the courage to ask hard questions and to listen to different voices and opinions. “That is where true inquiry begins!”
Sixth Grade Food & Identity Unit Kicks Off
Today officially kicked off the Food and Identity Unit for this year’s sixth graders! The cross-curricular program is a D-E tradition for our youngest Middle School students within their MESH (Math, English, Science, and History) classes. “This unit is about building...
Calliope Earns Top CSPA Honors
Congrats are in order for the editors and contributors of the Upper School (US) English-language literary-arts magazine, CALLIOPE! Last spring’s issue was named a 2026 Crown Finalist by the Columbia Scholastic Press Association (CSPA). Being a Finalist means CALLIOPE...
Jazz “Rocks” D-E!
Way to Rock, D-E Jazz Rock! The Upper School’s annual Jazz Rock Winter Concert was performed earlier today to a packed, enthusiastic audience in Schenck Auditorium. Scheduled on the final day of classes immediately prior to winter break, this year’s concert held up...
MS Paper Roller Coaster Expo Recap
The annual 8th Grade Paper Roller Coaster Expo rolled into D-E’s Middle School (MS) Building earlier today! This showcase event was the culmination of students’ hands-on study of (and appreciation for) the laws of physics and Newton’s Laws of Motion. Visiting fellow...
LS Holiday Sing-Along Assembly Highlights
D-E’s annual Lower School (LS) Holiday Sing-Along Assembly yesterday held up to tradition! With festive lights and hundreds of happy smiling families, the LS Gym was transformed into a lively, lovely holiday-esque scene. Students and LS faculty/staff sang seasonal...
TREP$ 2025 Was a Success!
The TREP$ program, which kicked off in September, culminated in the TREP$ 2025 Marketplace, where our sixth-grade entrepreneurs set up shop in the Wharton Lessin Dining Hall to sell the wares they’d planned, received feedback on, prepped, and learned how to promote....
English Department Spotlight
In continuation of a monthly series spotlighting D-E’s community of learners in every department, we had conversations with English Department Chair Mr. Jeremy Meserole, P’26, ’28, ’30, and other English Department faculty, who spoke on topics such as being inclusive,...
D-E Welcomes Visiting Students, CloseUp Foundation for Day of Deliberative Dialogue Conference
D-E recently hosted a daylong civics workshop for a cohort of D-E students and high school students from across the Tri-State area. The day offered a continuation of last month’s Day of Deliberative Dialogue in the Upper School, facilitated by our Office of Diversity,...
US Student Committee on AI (SCAI) Meets to Research AI in the Classroom
D-E’s Upper School Student Committee on Artificial Intelligence (SCAI) is hard at work researching the effects of AI on metacognition (that is, a person’s thought processes).This student group was founded last year and is advised by Chief Innovation Officer Ms. Gross...
Lower School Assembly Celebrates Core Value of Commitment, Neurodiversity, and Differences in Abilities
This week’s Lower School (LS) Assembly “centered on commitment and the strength of neurodiverse and differently-abled communities—a meaningful moment for all of us,” said LS Assistant Principal Madeleine Lopez. In celebrating D-E’s core value of Commitment, students...
