No sorting hat was required.
This fall, PCDS Upper School students were divided by advisory into four “Nests”: the Hawks, Falcons, Ravens, and Roadrunners. Each nest includes students from all four grades and will compete for points through games, school spirit, and even low tardy totals this school year.
The program coincides with another change: students will now remain with the same advisory throughout high school rather than switching after sophomore year. Together, the systems are meant to create smaller, lasting communities within PCDS.
Head of Upper School Nick Oviedo said the idea grew from spring conversations with students and faculty about increasing school spirit, attendance at athletic events, and engagement in advisory.
“There was a need to make advisory more engaging—something that could give some love to advisory,” Oviedo said. He initially imagined advisory competitions ranging from dodgeball to punctuality challenges.
Meanwhile, senior and Senate Whip Caden Huckelbridge was reviving a campaign promise he had made sophomore year: bringing a Hogwarts-inspired house system to PCDS. After rewatching Harry Potter over the summer, he drafted a plan and promoted it within the Senate. When the Senate met with Oviedo, their ideas aligned. Dean of Students Mr. Klemp helped connect the competition to PCDS’s new four-year advisory system and adapt “houses” into PCDS-themed “Nests.”
“You get the best out of people in competition,” Huckelbridge said. His ideal system would give students “community, traditions, and a lot of Nest pride.”
Competition began with a high school-wide egg hunt and an advisory name-and-photo challenge. The senior class winner, Mr. McVey’s Roadrunner advisory, named itself “The McVinci Code” and used AI to recreate Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper with advisees’ faces.
McVey valued the challenge because it created “a running gag” his advisory could share throughout the year.
Senior Bella Engilman, a member of the Hawk Nest, said the cross-grade structure could create “more community” and “make [students] closer.” Freshmen Madeline Geer and Hema Gupta, members of the Hawks and Roadrunners, respectively, also called the activities fun. They will experience the new structure throughout all four years of high school, an opportunity they called “great for school spirit.”
Sophomore senators created the scoring system and manage the leaderboard. Although Senate organizes competitions, Huckelbridge emphasized that Nests are independent groups. This year’s senior Senate leaders temporarily head them, but future leaders will emerge from within each Nest.
Mr. Oviedo added a personal touch to the new Nests by giving monthly shout-outs to individual students and commending practices that reflect the PCDS Portrait of a Graduate, complete with Morning Meeting spotlights and prizes. Oviedo hopes these incentives and shout-outs will connect individual achievement to collective pride while making school more enjoyable.
“Everybody has some sort of sense of belonging,” he said. “It’s easier to come to school when you have things to look forward to.”
The traditions are still hatching, but the goal is already clear: give every student another place to belong—and another reason to spread their wings.
