The academic year is cyclical.  It begins right after Labor Day, is punctuated by seasonal school events, winds up in mid-June, and pauses somewhat for the summer – before starting all over again.  As a child, I found the predictable framework of the year reassuring – and I still do.  But as an adult, and especially as head of school, I recognize that "business as usual" is a lot more complicated.

I still relish the traditions that mark our school year.  March, for example, featured the Bloodmobile, the middle school play, the sophomore Philadelphia Project trips, the Parent Association Auction, Math Day, International Day and the middle school mini-courses – all recurring activities on the Friends Select calendar. 

It's the unanticipated that tends to keep us all alert, however.  This year, the specter of a swine flu epidemic prompted the school to take on a new public health role, as we provided information community-wide and disseminated a targeted vaccine to the most potentially vulnerable segments of the school population.  Later in the year, historic snow storms encouraged the faculty’s flexibility to modify lesson plans to make up for lost classroom time.  In early spring, incidents in Center City were the catalyst for frank and useful conversations about safety-consciousness in an urban neighborhood.  

So, to paraphrase Oscar Wilde, I’ve come to expect the unexpected and even appreciate how it layers syncopation onto the otherwise steady rhythm of school life.  But while day-to-day events require immediate attention, planning for the future still occupies the lion’s share of my time and consideration.  The strategic plan, completed last fall, outlines Friends Select’s direction through 2015.  It guides many decisions the board of trustees and school administration will make on behalf of the school.  It is a useful roadmap and one I consult regularly.

What decisions are pending this spring?  Primarily, alternatives for expanding classroom and studio space; fine-tuning faculty assignments, based on enrollment figures; and greeting the new lower school director and welcoming him to our community. 

Business as usual?  Rarely. 

The lower school’s Everyday Math program passed with flying colors when independent consultant Conrad Follmer recently observed and provided feedback to teachers in grades 1-5.  “The students were excited, engaged and could explain their thinking,” said Follmer.  “I was blown away by the teachers’ determination to do it right.” 

 
Everyday Math, developed at the University of Chicago in 1990, is one of the most highly researched curriculum programs ever, explained lower school director Michael Zimmerman, who provided a brief explanation of the theory that undergirds it:  “It is a ‘spiral curriculum,’ which means that concepts are introduced in one grade and then expanded upon in subsequent grades,” he said.  “For example, in the earliest grades, the idea of fractions is introduced using manipulatives, such as pattern blocks.  In a subsequent grade, students learn to represent fractions  using numerals.  In a later year, they use a story in words to represent an equation involving fractions.  At each grade level, some concepts are being introduced for the first time, others have been introduced before and are being developed in some significant way, while still others have already been developed, and mastery of these concepts is expected.  The framework of ‘beginning,’ ‘developing’ and ‘secure’ concepts enables teachers to reach students at all levels of understanding.” 

Why did the school invite a consultant to observe the Friends Select teachers?  Follmer, who has worked in 46 school districts and schools, emphasized that the power of Everyday Math depends entirely on proper implementation.  He met with the lower school faculty as a whole in September and came back in March to visit each classroom, spending 45 minutes observing and 15 minutes providing one-on-one feedback.  The value of this approach, said Zimmerman, lies in having an objective expert observer provide a standard against which teachers can measure their implementation of the program. 

After spending two days in lower school classrooms, “validating that their strategies are in line and tweaking anything that was less productive,” Follmer used one word to sum up their overall performance:  “Beautiful.” 

How do middle school girls cope with the trials, tribulations, joys and rewards of early adolescence?  Do they consider themselves assertive or timid?  Smart or dim?  Fat, skinny or just right? How can they become more resilient in the face of life’s challenges?  

 

Nine girls in grades 6-8 are talking about these and other issues every Wednesday for an hour as part of the Strength and Resilience Program for Girls (SRP), a longitudinal study conducted by a team of researchers from the University of Pennsylvania and Swarthmore College.  The study, started 20 years ago, is investigating the effectiveness of the SRP in helping girls identify their strengths and teaching them skills for dealing with a variety of challenges that are common to the early teen years. 

The 10th graders were a little more scrubbed and groomed than usual on March 8, when they fanned out around the city to explore four topics: homelessness, public schooling, animal cruelty and violence during a day-long series of interviews with experts. The day was one element of the Philadelphia Project, a key part of the sophomore year history curriculum.

 

"Philadelphia Project originally started in 2001," explained Steve Rawls, history department chair. "In the aftermath of 9/11, many schools rethought their travel itineraries. Friends Select canceled its Washington, D.C., trip that year and, instead, we had students redirect their focus to research issues in Philadelphia. The program was so successful that we now have incorporated it into the curriculum."

Upper school biology teacher Natalie Mayer and her group of 10 students began their exploration of animal cruelty at the Philadelphia Zoo, where they met with the education director and discussed topics including how the zoo trains employees on the proper treatment of animals and visitor-safety precautions. They also learned how the zoo is involved in many conservation initiatives to protect endangered animals around the planet. The next stop was the Morris Animal Refuge, where a staff member emphasized how the widespread misunderstanding of the responsibilities of pet ownership leads to many pets being abandoned. The third and final stop was at the University of Pennsylvania’s Veterinary School’s shelter program for a conversation with director Michael Moyer.

Each of the four student groups, after further research, developed a resolution that they debated with their classmates on March 19, with the ninth and 11th grades serving as the audience. The animal cruelty group, for example, debated the following resolution: Resolved: Philadelphia is doing enough to help with the issue of animal abuse and neglect in our city.

The 10th graders are no strangers to field research, which is a key element of the upper school’s research sequence in grades 9-11.  For example:

• In ninth grade, students conduct research at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, using a specific piece in the museum’s collection as the focal point for an investigation that culminates in a presentation at the museum to their families and invited guests.
• In 11th grade, the Junior Research Project is an in-depth, multi-source exploration of a selected topic, with a research paper and oral presentation as the final products.

• At the end of senior year, students take the research skills they have developed on the road during three-week, workplace-based senior internships, which also culminate in oral presentations.

One common element in each upper school year is the research students conduct using the resources of the city. Philadelphia offers an abundant supply of primary sources: museums, government offices and other organizations, as well as professionals in diverse fields. Each year, students are carefully coached on how to venture forth from Friends Select and mine the educational riches right outside the doors of the school.