Principal Feature: 6 Months in with Dr. Pew
Jake Bernstein ’29
Since joining in 2010, Dr. Pew has done almost everything at the NYC Department of Education (DOE). He has served as a teacher, dean, principal, and assistant principal before joining Bard in the middle of the 2024-25 school year. A San Jose native, his path has taken him to many degrees including a PhD from the City College of New York (CCNY) graduate center in Urban Education and here to BHSECM where he is wrapping up his first full semester as principal. He was kind enough to take time to sit for an interview with the Bardvark. Please also note that due to his busy schedule, Dr. Pew was only able to answer a few questions.
Starting off, what in your 15 years as an educator in the DOE, where have you taught and managed, and what made you want to become a teacher in the first place?
I first started at P.S. 165 as a 6th-8th grade Special Ed teacher in an ICT classroom then went to the School for Global Leaders on the Lower East side and taught self contained special ed. I then went to Mather High School taught ICT Special Ed and became a Behavior Dean at that school for 4 years. I then went to Frederick Douglass Academy ll in Harlem as Assistant Principal and worked at Quest to Learn in Chelsea as an Assistant Principal as well before joining Bard in late April 2025.
Thank you. Moving on, how does Bard compare to other schools you have taught at or managed?
Bard is an incredible place, it is exciting, and its students are some of the most academically advanced I have ever been around. It has some of the best teaching I have ever seen. It also feels like a place where people want to be, in other schools, there is always a group of people that hate the school and will complain about everything, the teachers, the facilities, the homework, etc. I see that everyone loves this school because it's hard to get into. No one forgets how special the place is, and people value the school and the institution as a whole.
What is one piece of advice you have learned during your time as a teacher that you want to share with our readers?
When Leon Botstein (President of Bard College) was here he said we take joy seriously. At Bard college, faculty have great love for their craft even when students are not present. We take great joy in the work that we do and we find joy in things assigned to do.
What's one thing you've learned in your first semester here at BHSECM?
I feel like I have deepened my understanding of the fact that listening is important and we should take listening seriously. It is why we have town halls, listening to faculty open doors, listening to people and is why I think of myself as a man of the people.
Thinking back to the incident that took place with the hate speech in the bathroom stalls, do you believe that hate speech should be dealt with differently than other vandalism?
Yes, hate speech impacts large groups of people, and we know better than this. We have learned about these bad things since childhood and we know better. At its core hate speech seeks to diminish large groups of people and goes against the existence of BHSEC. It is also plain reckless because Bard is not an easy school to get into.
Wrapping up, what else do you want the readers of the Bardvark to know?
I would like people to know that love belongs in a school, people who love the school, love the students, and love the work they do belong in a school. Sometimes I have heard other principals say we should check our love at the door, I think love is critical to work. We have to love the content we share, the work we do, the students we teach, and the institution as a whole.
Some answers have been edited for brevity and clarity.
