This year, PDS welcomes Zaneta Chambers, the new learning specialist for both the Middle and Upper Schools. Although she assumes a new role, this is not Ms. Chambers’s first experience with the school.
Ms. Chambers’s journey on the Great Road began when she attended Princeton Day School, graduating in 1995. Throughout her later years, she always kept in touch with the school and its community, serving as both a class agent and Alumni Council member. Because of her connection with the school, she was eager to apply to become a learning specialist at PDS as soon as a position was open. Since childhood, Ms. Chambers has been fascinated by the brain and the unique nature of each individual’s mind. She was determined to help students learn the way their brains learn best.
Having previously taught down the road at Princeton Academy of the Sacred Heart, as well as other schools which primarily focused on a lower and middle grades, Ms. Chambers was initially overwhelmed by the different learning environment in the Upper School at PDS. “Everyone seems to be so serious, and I honestly miss the whimsy and joy I often experienced in lower school,” she remarks, noting the stark contrast between the two environments. Still, while in the unfamiliar learning environment that is the Upper School, Ms. Chambers often finds joy in moments when students take a break from the stress of schoolwork, her favorite instance being the time when hats were distributed across the school for all to wear.
As a learning specialist, Ms. Chambers’s job is to ensure that teaching and learning in a school are connected. “[Ms. Chambers] is really good at organizing and helping to accommodate my needs in the classroom,” Junior Luke Nolte says. “It has helped me significantly because I was able to advocate for what I needed.” Ultimately, the goal is to minimize challenges facing students when it comes to learning; to meet this end, Ms. Chambers serves as a bridge between students and teachers, helping instructors to adjust the curriculum to each individual student’s needs. With the school year in full swing and the stress of schoolwork mounting, feel free to take a moment to greet or sit down with Ms. Chambers the next time you see her walking down the hall!
