While Princeton Public Schools are in the midst of major construction projects across town (see the article Construction and New Policies Across Princeton Public Schools’ Campuses for details), other Princeton area schools are preparing for the 2026-2027 school year as well. There were not as many physical changes made on other campuses, but there are still exciting things to look forward to as the next year of classes begin.
NEW LEADERSHIP
French American School of Princeton (FASP) is excited for its next chapter, announcing Fabrice Urrizalqui as the next Head of School. A dual French and American citizen, Urrizalqui spent more than two decades at the International School of San Francisco where he built a demonstrated record of leadership, interdisciplinary learning, and a commitment to bilingual education. He succeeds FASP Founder Corinne Güngör, who served as Head of School for more than 20 years.
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY
We can all say Happy Anniversary to Princeton Charter School (PCS) and Princeton Friends Schools (Friends) as they are experiencing major milestone years. When PCS opens its doors in September it will mark 30 years since the inaugural class first entered.
“We feel really proud of our track record over these past 30 years, most recently being renewed by the Department of Education, extending our Charter for the next 10 years. We continue to maintain our founders’ vision while adapting to the needs of the present day, largely due to the incredible staff at Charter,” shares PCS Head of School Lawrence Patton. One of those staff members, Martha Toma, has been teaching French Language and Literature since the beginning.
10 years its senior, Princeton Friends School is celebrating its 40th anniversary with special events on and off campus throughout the year honoring four decades of Quaker, progressive education while looking ahead to the future. The Friends signature interdisciplinary Central Study program selected this year’s theme, Cycles, to invite students to explore renewal, growth, and transformation while reflecting on what has shaped their community over the past 40 years and the possibilities for the generations still to come. This year also marks the expansion of Friends’ preschool program to welcome children beginning at age 3.
MORE CLASSES FOR LITTLE ONES
Beyond Friends, there are even more opportunities for little ones throughout the area. Stuart Country Day School of the Sacred Heart’s Early School has expanded to welcome co-ed children from age 12 months to age 4. At Stuart, the earliest years are built on the belief that children learn best through doing, through dancing, sharing, building, and asking questions that lead them to wonder. Grounded in a Sacred Heart foundation, small classes and teachers who know each child by name help every child feel seen, heard, and included.
There is a new addition at Princeton Academy of the Sacred Heart with launch of the Junior Kindergarten class, designed for boys who are ready for more than a traditional preschool experience. It bridges the gap between Pre-K and Kindergarten by combining purposeful play with age-appropriate academics, social-emotional growth, and opportunities to build confidence and independence. To celebrate this launch, Princeton Academy is offering a limited number of special Founding Family tuition opportunities, an exclusive introductory rate aimed to recognize the families who will help shape the future of the Junior Kindergarten program. At the other end of their age spectrum, five of Princeton Academy’s middle school students have just returned from the 2026 China-U.S. Youth Music & Cultural Exchange Program. The 12-day journey through Changzhou, Shanghai, Nanjing and Beijing provided them an opportunity to expand their musical excellence and creativity while exploring and interacting with a different culture.
And Apple Montessori Princeton has expanded as well, opening second toddler (18 months- 2.5 years) and preschool (age 2-6 years) rooms. Additionally, the toddler area of their outdoor classroom is being completed over the summer, prepared to open this fall. Designed to develop their motor, cognitive, language, academic, creative, and social-emotional skills it will offer messy materials, water, building and garden areas, as well as natural wooden playsets.
MORE OUTDOOR LEARNING
Waldorf School of Princeton (WSP) is also expanding its outdoor learning program with the creation of a new Orchard Farm Manager position. Wayne DePrince will lead the continued integration of Orchard Farm into school life, helping students deepen their relationship with the land while supporting sustainable farming, seasonal learning, and community engagement. Supporting these efforts is Shaylan Kolodney, who joins the school as the new Farm Community Coordinator, helping strengthen connections between the farm, school families, volunteers, and the wider community. Braxton Tanner, the new Garden Teacher, looks forward to guiding students in cultivating the school’s gardens while connecting gardening, environmental stewardship, and experiential learning with the Waldorf curriculum. WSP is also delighted to welcome several other new leaders and educators as it begins its 43rd school year in Princeton.
NEW COURSES AND ATHLETIC DIRECTIONS
There will be some new curriculum and opportunities at Princeton Day School (PDS) this year. In May it launched a new strategic plan, Connection, Purpose, and Learning That Lasts, which focuses on learning that builds over time and carries beyond the classroom, and on creating more opportunities for students and families to connect across the school. This fall, PDS Lower School will introduce a new literacy curriculum that organizes reading around connected texts on subjects like history, science, and social issues, building knowledge from one grade to the next. In the early grades, it will be paired with explicit phonics instruction. Eighth graders will take part in a civil discourse pilot designed to strengthen listening, thoughtful disagreement, and discussion across different perspectives. Students at PDS Upper School will have new opportunities for advanced and applied study, from AP Seminar and Molecular Biology to Financial Literacy and Interactive Media and Game Design.
As Hun School of Princeton’s students enter the 2026-2027 academic year, there are five new course offerings including Data Science, Mathematics of Social Justice, Issues in International Law, Pathways to Leadership and Wellbeing and Performance Psychology. The latter has heightened appeal recently as providing a mental skillset to accompany students’ talent and work ethic proves beneficial in competitions ranging from Science Olympiad to the baseball field.
Utilizing this mental strength and more, Hun’s three-year old volleyball team enters the new season as reigning Mid-Atlantic Prep League (MAPL) and Prep A champions for the first time in program history. Girls Ice Hockey and Flag Football were also added to Hun’s athletic opportunities last year.
Speaking of athletics, there is going to be even more competition this coming year in the MAPL League, as The Peddie School is reintroducing girls’ volleyball for the first time in 20 years. The program will join nearly 50 other teams Peddie is home to, thanks to growing interest from current students and prospective families in recent years. Lea Clarke, former Division I player at Rutgers University, has been hired to coach the new team.
NEW YEAR BEGINS
Usually, the first day of school is after Labor Day. It falls quite late this year, so many schools are opting to start before. Like Princeton Public Schools, Princeton Charter will begin this new school year on August 31. The majority of independent schools are waiting until September. Start dates vary, though most are also opting for an earlier date than usual and opening before the unofficial end of summer on Labor Day.
Lisa Jacknow spent years working in national and local news in and around New York City before moving to Princeton. Working as both a TV producer and news reporter, Lisa came to this area to focus on the local news of Mercer County at WZBN-TV. In recent years, she got immersed in the Princeton community by serving leadership roles at local schools in addition to volunteering for other local non-profits. In her free time, Lisa loves to spend time with her family, play tennis, sing and play the piano. A graduate of the S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, Lisa was raised just north of Boston, Massachusetts but has lived in the tri-state area since college. She is excited to be Editor and head writer for Princeton Perspectives!