By Smarty Guest Blogger Dr. Glyn Cowlishaw, Head of School, Providence Day School
Just about every independent school maintains they are global; they have a page on their website stating so! At Providence Day School we are — and have been –committed to Global Education for well over a decade.
Our students will graduate into a rapidly changing and vastly different world. They will undertake numerous career paths, working in jobs that are not yet even created. To succeed in the future, our students will need academic excellence, to be fully immersed in a diverse, technologically-driven environment, all ensconced within a global perspective.
At Providence Day School we expect our students to excel in science, math, and reading while understanding global economic, political and cultural forces and their connections. By offering five languages in our curriculum, our students can communicate and collaborate at an international level allowing them to address global needs. In short, we nurture and develop global leaders. 
Our fully integrated TK-12 curriculum focuses on rigorous academics infused with a global perspective. Beginning in TK when our youngest students “visit” China, Kenya and Germany for a month, and culminating in 12th grade when students provide solutions to global issues of their choosing, we emphasize developing into a Global Citizen. Our ‘PD Passport’ aligns knowledge, skills, and character traits enabling a global citizen to graduate and ‘be the change’ they wish to see in the world.
Our graduates are ready, willing, and so very able to make a difference in the world as global leaders!
So, how can you be sure that this is not merely one of those statements I mentioned at the beginning of this piece? Providence Day School has strategies in place that differentiate us from ‘the rest.’ 
We are one of only a handful of schools in the nation that supports a separate and distinct Global Studies Diploma that is academically rigorous and that develops our students to be empathetic problem-solvers and active global citizens. Our faculty has the opportunity to participate in a Global Educator Certificate program, because we believe great teachers never stop learning! Our TK-12 World Language program encourages and then demands high proficiency that fosters cross-cultural communication in a variety of languages.
PDS is the only school regionally to belong to Global Connections and Round Square International. These two organizations connect us with more than 175 global partner schools. Our global footprint is real, actively engaged, and continually expanding.
A global perspective is not a statement at Providence Day School — it is a way of life. We believe the school community should promote global awareness and connections to the world and local community. The very essence of our DNA is a TK-12 curriculum that integrates social responsibility, integrity, diversity, technology and global perspective.
Dr. Cowlishaw in an international educator who has led schools in the United Kingdom, Kuwait, and Egypt. He earned his B.Ed. from the University of Reading (UK), his M.Ed. from the University of Leeds (UK), his Ed.S. from The Citadel (SC) and his Ed.D. from South Carolina State University. Dr. Cowlishaw also served as a Visiting Fellow at the Klingenstein Center at Columbia University (NY).
Providence Day International student travel locations:
– Argentina
– Australia
– France
– Canada
– Italy
– Israel
– Japan
– Spain
-Singapore
– Switzerland
– India
– China
– South Africa
– Tanzania
– Belize
Providence Day School
5800 Sardis Road
Charlotte, NC 28270
(704) 887-6000
website
facebook
twitter: @ProvidenceDay
