Typically, when someone references a classroom, we imagine, at the very least, a physical space with walls, windows, a ceiling, desks, and an instructor. But the newest SRDS classroom can be found in a virtual reality headset through the inaugural Virtual Reality Classroom, the first initiative of our new Center for Technology & Computer Science (CTCS), headed by Dr. Kevin Merges, SRDS’s Chief Global Impact Officer.

Students in SRDS's Business and Entrepreneurship classes know what to do when they arrive in the classroom each day. The first order of business is to update their Excel spreadsheets with data regarding the current price of gold, the Dow Jones Industrial average, gross domestic product indices, current unemployment percentages, the Consumer Price Index, 2-year and 10-year treasury yield, and just for fun, data on how bitcoin is doing that day.

As parents, we want our children to be upstanders, not bystanders, meaning that if they see a problem or an injustice, they should step in, get involved, and ask how they can help. In the case of Sahil Polepalle and Devraj Dhupar, both members of the Saddle River Day School class of 2025, they have learned that lesson well. 

Engineers, architects and every parent who has ever built Legos, a block tower or a marble run with their kids knows that a strong foundation is required in order to build a stable structure. The educators at Saddle River Day School know this too, which is why such care has been put into building a high quality PreK program for our littlest learners.

Science Department Chair, Dr. Vanessa Robinson exemplifies a philosophy of education that focuses on empowerment and self-sufficiency. Spend a few minutes with her, and you'll see that she's dedicated to teaching with an emphasis on long-term learning and growth, utilizing her own research project on fruit flies as her teaching tools.

Every big idea starts with a question. A “why” or a “how” or an “I wonder…” that leads the questioner through a process of brainstorming, testing, evaluating, and revising that will eventually, with effort and a little luck, lead to an answer that solves a problem, improves a process, or discovers something brand new. This process, called design thinking, is embedded into the pedagogy and curriculum of each subject taught at Saddle River Day School, in ways that are often discernible, and occasionally imperceptible.