By Alexandra Steyn

The Public Purpose program has an exciting few years planned. Last year, Rye Country Day School was awarded the prestigious Educational Leadership Grant from the Edward E. Ford Foundation. The grant of $250,000 must be matched by funds raised from the RCDS community. The School plans to use the grant to construct, implement, and integrate a four-year Public Purpose curriculum that incorporates RCDS values of community service into several facets of student life.

The process to apply for the grant began in May of 2024, when the Public Purpose team, led by Director of Public Purpose Ms. Drago and Assistant Director of Public Purpose Ms. Morano, alongside Head of School Mr. Dunn, submitted a proposal outlining their initial idea for the grant. Upon notification that they were selected to continue to the second round, the team started to work on a much more substantial application, due in the winter of 2025. The application included a complete written narrative of the grant’s implementation, as well as information about the School required by the E.E. Ford Grant committee. As Ms. Drago explained, since the committee was making a huge financial commitment, “they wanted to make sure we were ready and able to implement the project we were proposing.” In the final stages, the committee visited RCDS in person to meet with teachers, students, Ms. Drago, Ms. Morano, Mr. Dunn, and others, to better understand the School as it functions presently.

In the spring of 2025, the School was notified that their application for the grant had been approved, and the real work began. Ms. Drago described their implementation of the grant as a four-year sequence that will be weaved into the Upper School curriculum so that “every student who goes through RCDS will have a pretty deep Public Purpose experience that’s connected to their academic experience.” Starting in 9th grade with the incoming class of 2030, students will spend time learning about Westchester County, the concept of service, and how to ethically engage in service. Rather than a class, this learning will take place in more informal settings such as Class Meeting. In 10th grade, Public Purpose will be tied into the curriculum as students learn about various issues such as immigration and the environment. For example, in Chemistry, students may learn about water quality in conversation with discussions about access to clean water. By doing so, students’ Public Purpose learning will directly tie into their academic studies. By 11th grade, students will take a more hands-on approach with a self-designed action project, in which they will partner with local organizations and engage with their communities. The sequence will wrap up in 12th grade, when seniors will engage in reflection and mentorship of 9th grade students, as well as think through how to incorporate change-making strategies into their own personal futures beyond RCDS.

Ms. Drago hopes that the four years will mirror the sequence of Community Engagement Fellowship Seminars, which are required of the Fellows who participate in the program and work with local organizations over the summer. “In those, we spend a lot of time understanding the history and ethics of doing service,” she explained. “We think about how to approach things thoughtfully, how to center the needs of the organizations, and how to have a process of reflection to make sure you’re doing the project well.” She plans to carry over the same concepts into the implementation of the grant.

A core idea of the plan for the grant is that students can understand “the root causes of every issue they explore in the four years and to have really deep on the ground work,” as Ms. Drago put it. Tancrede Weinstein ‘27, a member of the Public Purpose Student Leadership Board, was supportive of that idea. “I’m glad that Public Purpose is being integrated into the curriculum,” he remarked, “because I think that while current options for student engagement in Public Purpose are great, there’s room for improvement.” With active engagement throughout their time in the Upper School, Weinstein is hopeful that future students will have a deeper understanding of Public Purpose concepts.

As the program is rolled out starting with the incoming freshman class, it will be interesting to watch the impact of an expanded Public Purpose program in the Upper School. The E.E. Ford Grant promises a bright future for the School’s Public Purpose initiatives, and in all likelihood, it will prove a success over the next few years.