At the November 19 board meeting,
Princeton Public Schools (PPS) passed
a resolution to join around 200 other
districts nationwide in suing several
of the largest social media platforms:
Facebook, Instagram, Tiktok, Snapchat,
and YouTube. The lawsuit cites the
growth of social media use as a cause for
increasing costs related to “staff time,
disciplinary proceedings, emotional and
social counseling, medical services, and
other costs.”

Although it started with only the
Seattle public school district, the lawsuit
eventually spread nationwide. It comes
as a class action lawsuit: when a group
of people or organizations with a similar
claim sue a defendant (in this case social
media companies) together, represented
by only a few individuals.

“I hope that [we can] make some
positive effects on society,” said PHS
Principal Cecilia Birge. “That’s really
the reason I think we should join, not
particularly ... for dollars with class action
lawsuits [because] law firms keep usually
about a third of the proceeds ... but if we
did get dollars, we could use them to help.”

According to a 2019 study cited by the
lawsuit, social media is strongly linked to
self-image issues. This comes particularly
with the exposure of teenage students to
unrealistic or ideal body presentations,
fostering adverse comparisons.

“This study also showed that ‘adolescents
who engage in high levels of social media
use may experience poorer quality sleep’
and that increased social media use
could be associated with an increased
risk of ‘cyberbullying, which has a strong
association with depressive symptoms.’
Further, the study noted ‘negative body
image’ ... as connected to social media
use,” the lawsuit reads, quoting the study.

According to the psychiatric non-profit
Compass Health Center, U.S. teens
spent an average of 7 hours 22
minutes on a screen per day
in 2024, representing an
increase of nearly two hours
since 2015. Moreover,
one in five teenagers
report depression, and
nearly 32 percent are
estimated to have an
anxiety disorder.

“Younger
generations [are]
switching from
websites to social
media, and you
see the impact
on their mental
health crisis and significant uptick of ...
suicidal thoughts, or negative feelings or
low [self] esteem ... all of these things that
are critical in us being healthy,” said Birge.

PHS administration has taken measures
to tackle rising disciplinary and mental
health issues in students. Assistant
principals and counselors are meeting
more frequently with students to check
in with them emotionally, and PHS has
established a new tier of counseling to
address students’ mental health.

“Each student has a Tier 1 [counselor]
— they deal with schedules. Say you
have a bad day, you need somebody to
help you process things: they’re
there,” said Birge. “Then Tier
2 is for when you start to
have chronic absences or
feel blue for a significant
period of time. We have
three Tier 2 counselors
who manage those kinds
of things.”

In addition,
administrators have
recognized the role
that social media
plays in facilitating
incidents of
harassment,
intimidation,
or bullying.
In response, administrators emphasize
promoting an inclusive school culture
through counselors, assistant principals,
and staff being more accessible to
students.

“[Countering] the negative impact
that social media brings ... needs lots
of education, lots of communication. It
needs students to build self regulation and
resilience. It needs parents’ involvement,
and it definitely needs school intervention,”
said Birge. “So, I think, regardless of the
outcome of the lawsuit, it’s pretty evident
that cell phones [and] social media ...
[will] bring a much bigger negative impact
in all of our lives.”

By participating in the lawsuit, the
Princeton district hopes to seek justice
and reparations from these companies
without resorting to impractical or overly
restrictive measures like banning social
media. This new approach focuses on
accountability rather than elimination,
creating a healthier digital environment
without disrupting students’ access to
technology.

“With all these new technologies ...
there are many companies that just want
to monetize and create dollars from it, and
don’t think about some of the harmful side
effects,” said Bouldin. “I’m hopeful that
something like this [lawsuit] can help lead
to better use of the technology.” 

PPS sues social media giants

On September 1, the Princeton Board of Education
passed a resolution to vote on a bond referendum worth
over $85 million intended to renovate school facilities.
The proposed renovations, if passed in full, would impact
Princeton Middle School, PHS, and each of the four
PPS elementary schools by modernizing aging district
buildings and expanding PPS’s capacity to accommodate
an increasing student population.

The projected spike in student population is a result of
the municipality of Princeton complying with New Jersey’s
affordable housing requirements via the construction of
multiple residential developments across the township,
the largest being those adjacent to the Princeton Shopping
Center. Moreover, on October 18, the state mandated
municipalities across New Jersey to meet specific housing
obligations: Princeton is calculated to currently need 60
affordable housing units, with an additional 276 in total
over the next decade. As such, the district expects an even
greater influx of students, which the BOE purports will
be beyond the current capacity of PPS.

“We, as a community, know that there’s been some
affordable housing mandates and that the ... housing that
Princeton was required to build resulted in about seven
new developments that were approved by the council
and are now underway and being built around town,”
said Beth Behrend, an executive BOE member.

If approved, the BOE’s proposal for a bond referendum
— where the local government asks for a vote from the
public to approve or reject a project — would allow the
government to borrow (via bonds) funding to complete
the project. Princeton Township residents will vote on
this referendum on January 28, 2025. To ensure that the
public has a greater degree of flexibility surrounding
the parts of the proposal they support, the BOE has
divided it into three parts, each of which will be voted
on independently.

“There’ll be three questions on the bond referendum,
and question one has to pass for question two to pass,
and questions one and two have to pass for question
three to pass as well,” said BOE member Susan Kanter.
“Since I’ve been in Princeton, that [hasn’t been] how
referendums have gone out, so it’ll be new to the public
to have that choice.”

The first proposal section, or “question,” would renew
Community Park Elementary facilities and install
small-scale ventilators at PHS, along with a broader
HVAC system. Although the improvements would cost
approximately $37 million, savings from the new HVAC
may total $150,000 to $200,000 annually.

“The renovation will encompass the building’s HVAC
system, including the chillers, the boilers, and the air
handling units,” according to the PPS website. “This work
will bring these outdated systems up to par with those at
the elementary and middle schools."

If the first question were to be approved,
Princeton residents would then vote on the
second question, which costs $38.3 million
and largely consists of changes to PMS
infrastructure. However, this question
would also remodel the Numina Art
Gallery and transform current district tech
offices to be used for student instruction.
The third question of the proposal, worth
nearly $13 million, is focused entirely
on constructing more classrooms and
enlarging existing facilities at Littlebrook
Elementary.

“The school district does not operate
in a vacuum, and we are aware of other
recent impacts to the taxpayer. After much
discussion, the Board and administration
believe that a three-question format is
the best approach to let voters decide
their additional level of investment in
the public schools,” said BOE president
Dafna Kendal.

Behrend and Kanter emphasized that the
state, rather than the municipality, would
pay for significant parts of the proposal;
approximately 15 percent of the question
one and two funds would come from
New Jersey. If all three questions were to
pass, owners of Princeton homes with an
average assessed value of $853,000 would
see an estimated increase of $532 yearly
for 27 years of financing.

BOE members disavowed any form
of advocacy from other members,
emphasizing the importance of voter input
in the January decision.

“Our job is just to put together the
solutions, and we’ve worked really hard on
it for many years, and had some really good
professionals advising us,” said Behrend.
“We’ve had a lot of forums with the public
… it’s been a really collaborative process.
We all learned a lot, and I think we all
feel pretty good about the solutions we’ve
come to, and now putting it out there for
the voters to consider.”

BOE passes resolution to hold $85 million referendum

Following the resignation of
Carol Kelley on October 30 of
last year, the Board of Education
began the process of finding a
new, permanent superintendent
for Princeton Public Schools.
With interim superintendent
Dr. Kathie Foster’s contract set
to expire on July 1, 2025, the
Board aims to make a decision
before then.

To facilitate the search
process, the district hired
School Leadership LLC, a search
consultant firm based in New
York. As lead consultants on the
search, Dr. Marty Brooks and
Rina Beder are responsible for
advertising the job posting and
recruiting candidates who fit the
profile and specifications sought
by the district. These candidates
would then be reviewed and
interviewed by all ten members
of the new Board formed after
the election on November 5 for
a final decision.

Before recruiting potential
candidates and during the
information gathering stage
of the search process, Brooks
and Beder sought input from
Princeton community members
regarding the ideal qualities of
a new superintendent. From
September 30 to October 10,
they conducted a total of 18
in-person sessions, including
one with PHS students, and six
virtual forums with groups like
the Princeton Parents for Black
Children and the Parents Special
Ed Union Leadership, and a
group of three district unions
representing faculty and staff.
The consultants also made use
of an online survey in which 500
community members responded.

“We were really impressed
with the openness and honesty
of everybody that [we] met with.
There’s a deep commitment to
the district’s schools, and that
came through loud and clear,”
said Brooks.

Through the forums, they saw
recurring patterns in the needs of
the community.
Brooks and Beder
then compiled these needs
and feedback for the new
superintendent into six key
specifications. The qualifications,
as per the School Leadership
LLC’s Specification Development
Report, were categorized as
follows: an experienced teacher
with a strong commitment to the
needs of students, a compassionate
promoter of Princeton Public’s
Schools’ mission, a collaborator
who creates strong relationships
with the community, an effective
communicator who readily
shares and exchanges ideas,
a skilled financial manager
who can maximize the board’s
resources, and a visionary who
plans to lead the community to
a higher level of excellence.
These qualities were assembled
into a draft of the profile for the
job sent to the Board of Education
and approved on October 16. The
2024 Princeton Public Schools
Superintendent job description
reflected the community’s input,
and the LLC started recruiting on
October 17.

In particular, the last
specification in the board’s final
job profile describing a “leader
who is excited about becoming
a member of the Princeton
community” was designed to
promote greater stability, given
the high turnover the district has
seen recently in superintendent
and principal positions.

“There has been a lot of change,
so we’re looking for somebody
who is committed not only
to staying for some period of
time but also embedding him
or herself in the community —
somebody who really loves the
place, wants to sink his or her
roots there, and wants to commit
… for the work that needs to be
done as well,” said Brooks.

The Board will conduct a
rolling search, so as the LLC
pre-interviews candidates, it
will continually send specific
individuals who meet the
superintendent profile to the
Board to interview for the
position. Ideally, the Board hopes
to have a candidate by early 2025
since Foster’s contract requires
PPS to give her a 90 day notice
that a new superintendent will
fill her position.

“[Dr. Foster’s contract
requirements] would take [the
Board] back to March [to find
a superintendent]. And in [NJ],
we have an additional step: the
executive county superintendent
has to approve a superintendent’s
contract. So the ideal timing [to
hire someone] would be that the
board announces in January or
February or even early March that
there is a successful candidate,”
said Betsy Baglio, vice president
of the Board of Education and
chair of the superintendent
search committee.

However, the Board cannot
announce a successful candidate
until after the school board
election on November 5, so
actual voting on a superintendent
cannot happen until 2025.
Despite these challenges, the
July 1 deadline will not deter the
Board from selecting the best
possible candidate for Princeton
Public Schools.

“We are going to make sure
that whoever we choose meets
the criteria we’re looking for. So
if we don’t have someone by July
1, as we get closer to that date,
we’ll have contingencies in place.
There has to be a superintendent
on July 1 ... but if not, there will be
someone in that role,” said Dafna
Kendal, president of the Board of
the Education.

PHS searches for a new superintendent

### Mara Franceschi

> "I want everybody to find the joy in learning."

Mara Franceschi, the race’s only
incumbent, hopes to continue her
work to ensure all students can
reach their fullest potential
in public education.

After receiving an MBA from Columbia, Franceschi has worked in finance for ten years. A mother of three with two children at PHS, she has been actively involved in the schools and town since her move to Princeton 14 years ago.

“In the last 14 years ... I’ve been deeply involved with the school ... I was the treasurer and president of the Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) at Johnson Park and then [the PTO Committee]. I’ve also been [an] assistant treasurer at the library,” Franceschi said.

Franceschi plans to utilize her BOE experience to best support quality education in the school district.

“I do think that it’s important to maintain some of the institutional knowledge and experience [of the Board]. I was surprised at how much there was to learn [after being elected], even though I spent a decade before that really involved with the schools ... It’s quite different from just other nonprofit-kind of board experiences,” Franceschi said.

Franceschi emphasized her focus on the district’s budget. She aims to collaborate with other board members to ensure the district remains financially sound, particularly as the student population continues to grow.

“It’s a very difficult fiscal environment with the inflation rate and … costs that have just been going
through the roof,” Franceschi said.

Franceschi feels her mission, along with the rest of the BOE, is to solve these financial challenges so students and educators are able to focus more on education.

“My overarching reason for joining the board is that I am passionate about public school and public school education for all children, making sure that every child reaches their full potential ... It’s not a sprint. It’s a marathon. And I want everybody to find joy in learning,” Franceschi said.

### Ari Meisel

> "There needs to be more opportunities... for people to connect."

Ari Meisel is a business coach and active member of many organizations in Princeton, including the Princeton First Aid and Rescue Squad, the PMS PTO, and the Princeton Jewish Center. After graduating from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, Meisel worked in construction, but after a diagnosis with Crohn’s disease, he was forced to develop a new
living philosophy; he has since made these ideas the foundation of his own consulting agency.

“I did a TEDx talk on the entire experience [with Crohn’s disease], and I’ve replicated my results with a whole bunch of other people … Over the last 12 years, I’ve spoken on stages all over the world, consulted hundreds of different companies and individuals ... and published 12 books,” Meisel said.

Meisel hopes to use his experience in the corporate and nonprofit world to address operational inefficiencies in the district.

“[In PPS] there are a lot of staff who are under-resourced, [such as] guidance counselors [with] a 125 student caseload each,” said Meisel. “That’s a New Jersey standard, sure, but there are ways that
we could be supporting that with free tools and systems, processes that aren’t necessarily in place,”

Meisel emphasized the value of transparency, especially following the dismissal of PHS principal Frank Chmiel and the resignation of superintendent Carol Kelly. He hopes that making the BOE more accessible to community members will help mend a purported lack of trust in the board.

“One of the things I’ve tried to propose to the board is social media. The board doesn’t use
it, and the board should. We have a public meeting once a month, [but] not everybody can do that. There needs to be more opportunities ... for people to connect,” said Meisel. “We need to be in a situation where the community trusts the board ... and [their] decisions.”

### Lisa Potter

> "I believe that my background being an Asian is a strength."

After immigrating from Taiwan, Lisa Potter received an MBA from NYU Stern and a master’s in Human Resources from Cornell and has since gained experience in human resources and operations. A mother of two with a junior currently at PHS, she has been involved with the Princeton Chinese Language School and the PHS Football and Cheerleading Booster Club since her move to Princeton 15 years ago.

“I believe that my background being Asian is a strength — Princeton itself is close to 20 percent Asian, and, to date, there has not been a board member who is Asian-American. I do believe in being an inspiration, hopefully, [and] a role model,” Potter said.

The dismissal of former PHS principal Frank Chmiel initially drove Potter to join the board. Potter believes that her background in human resources would still be invaluable in helping fill other vacancies moving forward, including the position of superintendent. Potter feels that careful planning during the hiring process can help solve some of the retention issues the district faces. She added that developing a sense of security among staff will allow them to voice their opinions and create a better learning environment for teachers and students alike.

She aims to be a candidate who has the humility to recognize such complexity and collaborate with all stakeholders to find the best solutions for Princeton’s students and schools.

“I would encourage the voters to vote holistically ... Having that spectrum [of Board members] because they’re going to bring a slightly different perspective and opinion [is] just going to make our decision making so much more holistic,” Potter said.

### Chris Santarpio

> "I'm very active in the PTO at Community Park Elementary."

Christopher Santarpio is the co-chair of the Community Park PTO. Santarpio received an MBA from Rutgers University and a Bachelor of Science degree from Villanova University. He moved with his husband from Cherry Hill to Princeton in 2020 after enrolling his son in kindergarten at Community Park and quickly became involved with the school.

“I’m very active in the PTO at Community Park Elementary,” said Santarpio. “I started out as a room parent, then organized events such as ‘Steam Day’ for the entire school … where the students go [to different rooms] to have a 15–20 minute conversation or presentation [with groups like] the Princeton [University] robotics club and the rocket club.”

As an experienced PTO co-chair, Santarpio understands PPS’s slate of challenges and opportunities. To address these issues, he plans to implement a greater degree of collaboration with outside organizations like Sustainable Princeton.

“Princeton is such an amazing, special town [with] a wealth of organizations that are willing and want to help out,” said Santarpio. “I think a lot of the challenges that the school district faces can tap into [them] for additional help and support.”

As a parent, Santarpio has experienced communications issues firsthand. He plans to use his experience in supply chain operations to bridge communication gaps and ensure the district is running smoothly.

“I think an idea could be … to create a liaison between the district and [its] third party service providers, and that includes after school with the YWCA or the food services or any other outside vendors,” Santarpio said.

However, before putting his plans in action, as a new board member, he wishes to first understand how the board currently operates.

“I think the first thing, if elected, is just [to] observe [the] proven method that [the Board has] found success in … and identify those gaps [in the method] and improve them. And then that’s when we could tap into the local organizations to see if they could [provide] that knowledge base [not] already in the district,” Santarpio said. 

### Erica Snyder

> "It's really important that you find someone who... has a clear vision."

Director of Cherry Hill Nursery School and co-chair of Community Park Elementary’s PTO, Erica Snyder is another first-time candidate for BOE. Snyder holds a bachelor’s degree in education from DePaul University, a master’s in education technology from East Carolina University, as well as a Certificate in eLearning from Texas A&M University. Having frequently moved due to her husband’s army deployment, she wishes to utilize her experience teaching and working with administrators in multiple districts to help Princeton face its current challenges.

One of Snyder’s main focuses is the search for a new permanent superintendent to replace Dr. Kathleen Foster, who has been interim superintendent since October 2023.

“I think it’s really important that you find someone who wants to stay in the district and has a really clear vision on how to make changes and unite the district from pre-K all the way through 12[th grade],” Snyder said.

Additionally, Snyder plans to address a purported communication gap between the district and parents, particularly by making information about the PPS curriculum more available and facilitating contact between parents and relevant district officials.

“Sometimes it’s difficult to really understand [the] scope and sequence of … the middle school to high school pathway,” Snyder said.

Snyder plans to better support students with knowledge gaps that put them below grade level, particularly black and brown students. She would work to create alternative post-secondary pathways to success for students whose plans do not immediately involve college.

### Shenwei Zhao

> "I really want to hear from students."

Shenwei Zhao, a first-generation immigrant and IT professional, is running on a platform of openness and accountability. Zhao received a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Shandong University, Master of Science degree from Ball State University, Zhao plans to use his backgrounds in both business and IT to help the board.

“I think there are some trust issues ... to be fixed I think the way [the BOE makes] decisions, and then the process they get input from the community, needs to be adjusted,” Zhao said.

Zhao cited the abrupt dismissal of former PHS Principal Frank Chmiel as a reflection of a lack of understanding between administration and students.

“We had a good principal in the school,” said Zhao. “Most people liked him, and nobody really knows what he was punished for. The superintendent left, and most people don’t know [why].”

Zhao believes that the diversity he would bring to the board would improve understanding between the board and Princeton community.

“I’m a first generation immigrant from China. The Asian population in the town and in school … 20 percent or even higher in the school, and I believe there needs to be some representation,” Zhao said. “Even though I don’t really support identity
politics ... I think there are some cultural
values that need to be collected in the decision
making for the board.”

Most importantly, he hopes for increased communication about the student experience. To facilitate this process, he encourages all PHS students to reach out to him.

“One thing that we’re missing as candidates is [recognizing] what [students want] ... The most important thing is the educational goal,” said Zhao. “I really want to hear from students. Regardless if I get elected or not, my message to everyone will be to go back, focus on what our kids need and provide the best environment.

Meet the candidates: 2024 Princeton Public School Board of Education election

Over this coming summer and the next few years, PHS plans to undergo construction to address potential overcrowding and maintenance issues. The need for these changes stem from increasing enrollment numbers in the district, as well as the increasing age of the PHS building itself. 
For the summer construction plans, PHS will be using funding from a previously approved referendum in order to modify older parts of the building. These changes include replacing half of the roof of PHS, power washing the other half, getting new doors and locks for the doors, redoing the entire cafeteria to increase its efficiency during break, modifying the school’s vestibules, improving the building’s wiring and surveillance cameras, and installing proximity readers which require scanning students’ IDs to access different places around the school. 
These changes come in addition to the regular maintenance of cleaning the entirety of the building and painting a new section of the school, both of which occur every summer. However, some changes may take longer than the summer to implement. 
“There’s going to be an update with ... the type of ID that we give and the [proximity readers], so there’s going to be prox readers on the bathroom [and] rehearsal doors ... [but] prox readers are going to happen more around the time between teacher’s convention and next year” Assistant Principal Rashone Johnson said. 
Plans have been placed on hold until the New Jersey Department of Education approves the referendum, but they push for bigger changes within PHS. The referendum would most significantly change the layout of the Numina Gallery and technology office to increase school capacity due to school population growth. Overall, the spaces would be split up such that three new classrooms, one small group room, and two other flexible spaces that could be used for the gallery or instructional work could be made. The corridors surrounding these rooms would become the Numina Gallery, and the technology office would relocate to PMS. In addition to these renovations, the school’s outdated HVAC system would be replaced as well.
“These [construction layouts] are some of the potential plans and nothing’s finalized. We’re still working with the school administrators,” said Matthew Bouldin, Business Administrator and Board Secretary of PPS. 
Tentatively, construction using the referendum will start in November 2025 when the designs are finalized, and construction will be done around December 2027. While there will be major infrastructure changes over the next couple of years, there are also future plans for the building in order to address other potential problems like overcrowding. 
“We put out a report in 2021 as part of [the referendum’s] process which shows a potential addition to the high school if you are facing to the right of where the trailers are right now to the [Learning] Commons ... it could be something in the future,” Bouldin said. 
Bouldin emphasizes that the main focus of these projects is making sure that PHS’s facilities can accommodate students while maintaining optimal class sizes. 
“We can always increase class sizes except for at the very low levels like kindergarten [which] is capped, but pretty much every other grade level, the Department of Education doesn’t have hard caps ... It’s  a combination of improving our facilities but also expanding them to be able to house the students,” Bouldin said.

Coming this summer: PHS Construction

In a Board of Education meeting on March 15, the board announced its decision to extend Dr. Kathleen Foster’s employment as interim superintendent to June 30, 2025. 
However, because Foster is retired, she can only be employed by PPS, Princeton Public Schools, for a limited period of time as per New Jersey state law. Therefore, before the decision can be implemented, the district must receive permission from the New Jersey Department of Education in order to allow Foster’s extension of contract.
Regardless, despite Foster’s relatively recent appointment as interim superintendent since November of last year, she has seemingly brought her past experience as both a teacher and administrator in order to fulfill her role as superintendent. 
“[Foster] has really spent many years [in the educational field]. She led [the Robbinsville school] district with a lot of healing power when they went through traumatic events,” said Princeton High School principal Ceclia Birge. “Now post-pandemic, our district and the whole world has experienced so much trauma, and I really don’t think we could’ve found a better leader than she is.”  		In addition, Foster’s approaches and viewpoints as an educator also help her work with the Board of Education when making decisions.
“Foster has the student first approach ... [Foster and the Board] are all aligned and that’s what’s important,” said Dafna Kendal, President of the Board of Education. “She’s decisive when making decisions but she always considers all viewpoints ... I think that’s an excellent quality for a leader to have.”
Even when basing her decisions on the benefits of the students and the district in general, Dr. Foster keeps everyone who constitutes the greater Princeton community in mind. 
“I think a strength of any leader is the ability to listen and learn ... I learned beside many other people. And certainly, I also really want to make sure that we engage the full community of stakeholders ... listening to staff members, listening to administrators, listening to community members, and most importantly, listening to students,” Foster said. 
However, even with  Foster’s experience, she still faces challenges with her job.
“One of the most difficult pieces is looking at making sure that we keep on track with our strategic planning goals and the long term planning ... There are things that get in the way ... and we have to make sure that whatever decision we’re making [is] for the best interest of our students,” Foster said. 
Despite the challenges, Foster loves what she does and is excited to continue her work until the end of next year.
“I’m thrilled to be [a superintendent]. I love this community,” said Foster. “I love the internal community [of] administrators, the Board of Education, staff, and parents who all care so much about our students. And so I’m really excited ... to be [to be employed for] the next year.”

PPS Superintendent Kathleen Foster to stay an additional year

The PHS Research Team, who were announced NJ State Winners in January, have advanced to the next stage of the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Competition. They now represent New Jersey as one of the ten national finalists, competing for the chance to win $100,000 worth of Samsung products for PHS.
“I mean, [qualifying for nationals] is a really good feeling. We worked really hard. And I think if you track our growth since September, it’s been amazing,” said Hayah Mian ’25, the lead psychologist of the team.
Between winning states and qualifying for nationals, the team has expanded the capabilities of their first prototype, a stuffed armadillo called Che’w that can teach the endangered Guatemalan language of Mam. At nationals, the team will be presenting at Samsung’s headquarters in Washington D.C. on April 29. 
“Our focus back then was just trying to make a prototype work, and I feel like now it’s trying to get the presentation [for nationals] together by working on the script and the video,” said Sofia Son ’25, one of the programmers on the team. “We [also] want to improve on the current prototype we’re going to present with.”
One of these improvements is the development of movement through motors. With the motors, the robot will be able to hug and wave, allowing for more animal-like movements and a more friendly appearance so that a user does not feel stressed or anxious when interacting with the robot. On the programming side, the team has focused on gathering enough language data so that the robot can maintain complex communications with users and vary its answers with AI and machine learning.
“At the moment, the robot is not intelligent. It doesn’t use machine learning or AI because we don’t have enough data,” said Debdeep Sen ’26, another programmer on the team. “Eventually we’ll have neural networks for the language once we have enough data, so it’ll actually understand what you’re saying.”
 In order to get this data, the team has partnered with indigenous Mam-speaking communities in Cajola, Guatemala; Oakland, California; and Morristown, New Jersey, as well as university professors from the University of Kansas and Princeton University.
As the team works on improving the functionality of the robots, they are also increasing the sustainability of their designs, which is one of the main goals of the project. Previously, they had created a stuffed armadillo, Chico, which was scrapped due to issues surrounding the ethics of the manufacturing process and sustainability of their material sourcing. Now, they are collaborating with Fluffmonger, a company that designs environmentally friendly plushies, which are then assembled in local Mam-speaking communities, including in Guatemala.
“We wanted to move towards a locally and more ethically soproduced solution ... and [Fluffmonger] just [sends] us these blueprints for making stuffed animals, and then we stitch [them together],” Son said.
The team uses cloth made from recycled materials and clothes that are hand-sewn by local communities. Post-competition, the team hopes to transform their project into an ethical and sustainable business.
“The plan is for [the project] to become a business model after the competition. Our goal is to teach younger research students and middle schoolers how to build the robots because we want to be able to teach our students digital literacy along with the different languages ... A lot of us in the project are juniors, so [after] next year we leave. We want to keep [the project] going at PHS,” Mian said. 

PHS research team moves on to nationals

Established in 2022, the annual PHS Day of Dialogue aims to promote representation, education, and celebration. The next Day of Dialogue will occur on April 5 during students’ gym periods. Then, multiple clubs representing different identities and cultures, such as Gender & Sexuality Alliance (GSA) and Latino Unidos, will realize the values of the Day of Dialogue using mediums of cultural outreach; clubs will set up their tables with culturally relevant artifacts, snacks, and small performances representing their respective communities.
This year, the Day of Dialogue plans to further emphasize cultural education. To achieve this goal, the group dedicated to creating a more DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) space within PHS, the PHS Diversity Council, has planned for each club to perform activities such as fashion shows or dances at a scheduled time during the event. The organizers hope that this grander presentation of different cultures will allow students attending to gain more knowledge of these different heritages.
For the clubs themselves, many plan to utilize this day to educate students about overlooked aspects of their cultures and challenge potential stereotypes.
“We are going to make a slideshow [that] presents some stereotypes about India, because I feel like people just think [that once they have] seen the Taj Mahal, [they have] seen India,” said Siyona Lathar ’25, leader of the Culture & Heritage of Authentic India club. “But there’s … so much more to see and know [about India].”
In order for the clubs to have enough money to get the materials for the event, the council hosted fundraisers through the PTO and partnered with Unified Spectrum, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to create more career opportunities for neurodiverse individuals. 
“We’re also going to be selling shirts with [the] Unified Spectrum logo to [support it and] fundraise for Day of Dialogue and [the] diversity council,” said Raya Kondakindi ’26, a facilitator of the council who manages and aids the clubs in planning for the day. 
After acquiring the necessary amount of money, the council plans to physically put together the event by gathering attendance sheets and necessary school materials like tables, as well as advertising for the day. 
The Diversity Council hopes that the Day of Dialogue will not only showcase PHS’s cultural diversity but also allow for culture clubs to voice how they want their individual communities to be represented by educating the Princeton community beyond societal stereotypes.

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Avantika Palayekar's Work

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