In a beloved D-E tradition, this week our Lower School (LS) Kindergarten and 1st Grade students tugged at heartstrings during their Valentine’s Chorus Concerts for families. Hajjar Auditorium was decked with red, pink, and white balloon displays and paper hearts with “I Love You” written in different languages. Directed by LS Music Teacher Ms. Lisa Dove, our Class of 2038 kicked off the programming with performances of “Hello There!”, “Douglas Mountain,” “Hush, Little Bearcub,” Woody Guthrie’s “Mail Myself to You,” and “Love Is,” by Ingrid Michaelson and Jason Mraz. Later that day, our Class of 2037 sang “Jambo!,” a call and response song by Ella Jenkins, the Chinese folk song “Little Silver Moon Boat,” “I’d Do Anything” from “Oliver!”, and Michael Jackson’s “You Are My Life.” First graders concluded their concert by presenting their loved ones with a Valentine’s gift—paintings they’d made inspired by the children’s book “The Red Balloon,” by A. Lamorisse. Of the artwork, Ms. Christine Hanaway Maloney, LS Art & Design Teacher, noted, “Students were asked to consider placement of the horizon line based on their interpretation and creative point of view.” Bravo to our talented LS students and Happy Valentine’s Day to our entire D-E community!

The D-E 360° Lower School Chess Team continues its winning streak with a fantastic showing at the recent Scholastic (K-9) Grand Prix, hosted in the D-E STEM Center. Players came from a wide range of schools across New Jersey and New York, and 28 students from D-E participated. Grandmaster Mackenzie “Mac” Molner stressed that it was the Chess Team’s combined efforts that contributed to such outstanding results. Individual accolades went to Chenning S. ’38 (1st place overall, Unrated Section), Jordan L. ’35 (3rd place, Unrated Section), Elvyn L. ’38 (1st place, Grades K-1 Section), Easton M. ’37 (2nd place, Grades K-1 Section), Nicolai D. ’37 (3rd place, Grades K-1 Section), Oliver Y. ’36 (3rd place, Grades 2-3), Diego H. ’34 (3rd place overall, Grades 4 and up), and Ben G. ’32 (2nd place, 1000 Rated and above).“It was a great turnout from both our school and for the event overall,” said Coach Mac. “It’s nice to see chess continuing to grow at D-E!”

Upper School (US) students in our Economics and Business Finance classes recently took a field trip to the Federal Bank of New York. “While there, they listened to a lecture on basic monetary policy and the role the central bank plays in managing the economy,” said US faculty member Mr. Peter Waltman. Following the talk, students toured the vault where the world’s largest known depository of monetary gold is housed and then enjoyed a celebratory meal at a local Chinese restaurant. “The presentation was not only informative, but also built on lessons we learned in our Macroeconomics and Microeconomics classes, showing real applications of what we learned throughout the year,” said Nathan Peirez ’26, who added that he specifically gained insight into the role of the Fed as “a bank for banks” that adjusts interest rates in response to labor market shifts to attain “maximum employment” and stable prices. The visit to the Fed was a golden opportunity and experiential learning at its best!