After two extraordinary years of teaching at PDS, Upper School history teacher Mr. Armandt will bid farewell to the Princeton Day community following the 2023-2024 school year to continue his history career.
History and philosophy have intrigued Mr. Armandt since childhood. “I realized that history felt like a second language of sorts.” He recounted, “On top of that, when I started reading philosophers, I realized there were questions I was always asking myself and I felt as though I were having conversations with people who I’d already known for years!”
Mr. Armandt first learned about PDS from his colleague, Ms. Sisson (now Ms. Curtis) at his former school. “She had such incredibly wonderful things to say about the teachers and families,” he recalls, “so when I moved to Princeton I knew I had to check the school out. It didn’t disappoint!”
During his inspirational two-year career at Princeton Day, Mr. Armandt has taught three courses – World Religions in History, Ethics, and Philosophy. “From movies to big tests to projects, Mr. Armandt is really good at listening to the class’s ideas,” said sophomore Leon Zheng, “If we wanted to do a project, he would try his best to incorporate it into his schedule.” Mr. Armandt’s flexibility and willingness to adapt the curriculum to his students’ needs is a key reason why he is so loved within the PDS community. “Mr. Armandt is always nice and understanding,” continued Zheng, “he’s really just trying to help you improve.”
Reflecting on his favorite experiences from his time at Princeton Day School, Mr. Armandt reminisced, “The greatest memory of my time [at PDS] is my time at the History Department Office. We have some truly incredible teachers here and being amongst them day in and day out is thought provoking, hilarious, and deeply meaningful. I’ll miss them a ton!”
Besides teaching three academic courses, Mr. Armandt is a Middle School tennis coach and faculty advisor for the Model United Nations club at PDS, leading the team to win two out of three conferences this year. “He was always on top of the ball, making sure that [the secretariat] was always scheduled for conferences in advance and meeting regularly with the team,” said Senior Natalia Soffer, “All of the members of the secretariat this year had no experience planning for these conferences, but he really made it a seamless process.”
Mr. Armandt seeks to continue his love for history in the future. Next year, he will move to Washington D.C. with his fiancée Gillian, where he will teach Middle School history at Sidwell Friends School. We wish Mr. Armandt the best in his future endeavors!
