From his first days as the “new kid” at Carrie E. Tompkins Elementary School to discovering new passions and opportunities at Pierre Van Cortlandt Middle School, fifth-grader Donald Sivin has embraced everything school can be: a place to belong, create, explore, and grow.

When Donald arrived at CET in third grade, one of the first things that stood out to him was the school’s House System, a program designed to build connections among students, faculty, and staff across grade levels.

His House was Acceptance, a fitting introduction for a student entering a new school community.

“We talked about how to be accepting, like, to a new kid,” Donald recalled. “As that new kid, I was petrified at first. But everyone really was so accepting almost immediately. That’s something I will always remember.”

That feeling of belonging helped shape Donald’s experience from the very beginning.

That first year, he joined the CET Kindness Club, and in fourth grade, he spent weeks preparing a speech for CET’s annual Veterans Day celebration, inspired in part by his great-grandfather, who served in World War II.

“My great-grandfather was a veteran in World War II,” he said. “I wanted to make it an incredible experience for all veterans.”

Now at PVC, Donald says middle school has opened the door to even more opportunities to explore his interests and challenge himself in new ways.

“The middle school experience has been like a dream come true,” he said. “We have more freedom in middle school, which I absolutely adore. There are so many great things to do and be involved with here, like Friday Night Stripes, clubs, Destination Imagination, Student Council, and the spring musical.”

In his first audition for a PVC production, Donald landed a featured role in the spring musical Legally Blonde Jr., something he said completely surprised him.

“My mind practically exploded,” he said. “I got the part of Dewey, which is a fairly big part.”

Donald said he especially enjoys comedy and fully embraced the role, experimenting with a gravelly voice and exaggerated physical movements to bring the character to life.

“I love acting and pretending to be someone else,” he said. “Even though I feel really nervous before a performance, when I’m on stage, it feels awesome.”

Music has become another important creative outlet for Donald, particularly through PVC’s Passion Pursuit Project, where students spend the year exploring an area of personal interest.

For his project, Donald wrote and produced an original EP featuring four songs centered around a common theme: hope.

The process challenged him creatively as he worked through writing lyrics, composing melodies, and making detailed editing decisions.

“I spent a lot of time figuring out the right word for that note,” he explained. “Should I do a G sharp? Should I do an A? But eventually I got a pretty good idea of it.”

For Donald, music became a way to express something personal about his own experience.

“I thought about how songs can control your moods. A happy song makes you feel happy, a sad song might make you feel sad,” he said. “All the songs I wrote have the same emotion, hope. The message is that if something bad happens, it will be fine in the end.”

“When I came here, I thought it would be hard to be the new kid, but that never happened,” he said. “Ever since then I knew I should always believe in something.”

Donald says something he appreciates most about PVC is the ability to explore many different interests.

“There are a lot of choices,” he said. “Electives Day, Passion Projects, Band, Chorus, and Strings, languages, and clubs. I also really like Advisory because we get to talk about important things and get to know students in other grades.”

When it comes to academics, Donald says math is one of his favorite subjects.

“I like math especially because Ms. Pegna teaches us the fifth grade curriculum, and sometimes she throws in some sixth grade curriculum, which I like,” he said. “And she gives me extra problems if I finish my work early.”

For Donald, math represents something even larger.

“Math is a universal language,” he said. “I like having the feeling that I can connect to anyone in the world.”

Ms. Pegna says Donald brings inquiry into the classroom every day.

“Donald is a critical thinker and puzzle-solver,” she said. “He likes to ask questions and comes up with strategies to provide solutions and has the ability to make connections and apply them to the real world.”

Innovation and Design with Mr. Molloy is another favorite class, where Donald enjoys building, designing, and creating projects that combine imagination with learning.

One recent assignment challenged students to create short educational films about the states of matter to be shared with fourth graders. Donald’s project featured a helium molecule and a lightning bolt character whose accidental interaction transformed the molecule into plasma.

“My favorite part is at the end when the lightning bolt said, ‘I just wanted to hug him,’” Donald said with a laugh.

Mr. Molloy says Donald’s enthusiasm makes a lasting impression.

“Donald is the student you hope to get,” he said. “He’s eager, excited, and a thinker. He makes us better teachers.”

“PVC has provided Donald with an array of very stimulating and maturing experiences. From classroom work and field trips to elective courses and extracurricular activities, it’s been such a joy to watch him grow as a student and person,” said Donald’s parents. “The community and faculty have created a very nurturing environment for Donald to express his talent and spirit.”

Looking ahead, Donald is excited to continue exploring new opportunities at PVC, including participating in future musicals, meeting new teachers, and eventually studying Mandarin as his world language.

“I enjoy how it’s not a very common language. It’s very diverse. There are no past or future tenses, and most characters have different parts to them. It’s hard, but once you understand a few simple rules, you get it pretty quick.”

From songwriting and math to theater and world languages, Donald has embraced the many opportunities PVC offers to explore new interests, challenge himself, and continue discovering who he can be.