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Note: This is an introduction to a series of articles on National Association of Independent Schools’ Trendbook. Throughout the year, Friends Select administrators will give an in-depth look into a specific trend, and describe what Friends Select is doing to stay abreast of that trend to ensure the school’s health and vitality for years to come.
In October, I asked members of Friends Select’s Administrative Council (AC)* to read and reflect upon a recent publication of the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS). Called Trendbook, the book provides analyses on contemporary topics for healthy and sustainable independent schools. These topics include, among others, demographic changes, economic trends, consumer attitudes, and school financial operations.
Members of AC each were assigned to read one or more sections of the book and to present their findings back to the full group. This exercise led to provocative discussions about NAIS prognostications and about the degree to which our school meets the challenges of the present and the future. For example, Friends Select is relatively avant garde in its commitment to global studies (evidenced especially by the InterSession program), and to prudent financial management, yet might explore more vigorously its programming in social media. We are quite adept at creating partnerships with our neighboring institutions on the Parkway and in the city, but could explore complementary on-line programming.
Each section of Trendbook suggests action steps for schools to consider, many of which we have already adopted. We are reinvigorating the focus and work of our diversity committee; engaging a fuller community in volunteer opportunities; offering early language instruction; and expanding the scope of data analysis in all areas of the school. NAIS challenges schools to anticipate trends; to embrace change, using new approaches to contemporary challenges; to differentiate themselves among peers; and to provide different skill sets to students for the demands of a new century.
Our school is indeed a thriving community, largely because we have anticipated and continue to remain open to trends that create an enhanced teaching and learning environment.
*Administrative Council (AC): twelve individuals who are responsible for both academic and non-academic daily operations of the school. Jesse Dougherty, director of upper school and assistant head of school for international studies; Kendall Cameron, assistant director of upper school and upper school dean; Terry Kessel, director of middle school and assistant head of school for professional development; Ed Rhee, dean of middle school; David Wood, director of lower school; Amy Segel, assistant director of lower school; Michael Noonan, business manager; Christine Jefferson, director of development and alumni/ae relations; Colleen Puckett, director of marketing and communications; Roger Dillow, director of enrollment management; Sherry Claypool, director of upper school admission and admission programs; and Rose Hagan, head of school.
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Have you ever seen a full glass of water where the surface is exactly at the rim of the glass, hugging the edge? If you add one more drop of water then the tension breaks and the water overflows. It takes that one last drop of water to make it happen. Or to cite a well-known idiom: it took the final straw to break the camel’s back.
These are apt analogies, especially when speaking with young people about their role in building community. Children already understand the analogy of the quilt - a fabric of individual threads (or panels) that make a whole – and they understand the value of the individual contribution in creating a larger fabric. The inherent and possibly more humbling lesson is that it wasn’t merely the last drop of water, or the last straw, or even the last point scored in an athletic event that is most significant; it’s the contribution of each drop, each piece of straw, each point scored that matters in the final accounting.
Individual contributions count. In stewarding our environment, in providing service, in electing our leaders, in speaking our voice. And here at school, in supporting the enterprise of our collective work. Here’s an example: we planned to open the new school year with 522 students, but on the first day, 552 were enrolled, largely because individual people recommended our school to other families, or someone gave a tour that resonated with a new family, or someone made a defining phone call to advocate for Friends Select.
I’d like to say thank you to each and every one. Whether your individual gift is advocacy, labor, or resources, it matters to us. Each gift is important, whether it’s the first one or the last. Each gift is a contribution to a larger effort and builds a strong, healthy and viable community.
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October Message
A Visit from the Ocean Doctor by Rose Hagan, Head of School
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 If you’ve never heard of the Ocean Doctor, then you should go here to learn about the exciting expeditions and research of Dr. David Guggenheim. Guggenheim’s work often takes him to the Gulf of Mexico, along the coast of Central America, where he studies marine biology preservation and its impact on the globe.
On October 5, Guggenheim returns to his hometown – Philadelphia - to visit Friends Select, a stop on his “50 Years – 50 States – 50 Speeches Expedition,” a journey of outreach, education, and discovery. His project is designed to bring speeches and multimedia education programs about the oceans to schools in all 50 states.
The Ocean Doctor will be spending the day with students and is scheduled to speak in the evening to a public audience. His visit is timely and will orient upper school students to a new area of the globe as this year’s InterSession theme focuses on Central and South America.
Last spring, to prepare for his visit, Natalie Mayer’s eleventh and twelfth grade Advanced Biology class and Christa Quint’s sixth grade science class used Skype to communicate with the Ocean Doctor, who was at sea among the Faukland Islands, completing the last leg of his 25-day expedition from Cape Horn, South America, to the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa.
Do meet him on October 5, 7:00 p.m. in the Blauvelt Theatre. I hope you will join us!
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There was an outward bound component to an education course that I took at St. Louis University many years ago. It involved spending a few days in the woods: hiking, camping, orienteering, and journaling. There was one assignment I remember in great detail. Partnered with another student, I was given 8 small sticks – about 3” long – and some string and instructed to use those materials to create a small pathway, 2” wide and 12” long. With our noses to the ground, we inched along and recorded our observations of both animate and inanimate objects that lay in the path.
An hour later, we moved on to the second part of the assignment – eliciting universal truths from the microcosmic world we had just recorded. I recall that one universal truth was about the interdependent relationship between the microcosm and the macrocosm, or about the value of life in all things, regardless of size. Whatever lessons – in the abstract – I was to gain from that experience, I began to understand more fully in my daily commute to school.
I walk three blocks to Friends Select each morning passing the Atria retirement center, Moore College of Art, Academy of Natural Sciences, and the Four Seasons. It occurred to me that each day I walk the equivalent to the path I created in the woods more than 20 years ago. Both are microcosmic representations of a larger system, but the analogy stops there. Then, I was apart from the experience. I was above it, outside of it, as observer and recorder. Now as a pedestrian, I am part of the experience. I am in it, as participant.
Traditionally, schools - including universities - teach us to objectify knowledge, sort it, classify it, dissect it and analyze it, all the while developing a sense of self as apart from it. Even when we study humankind through anatomy, psychology, anthropology and history, we maintain an objective distance, as if we were superior to the knowledge, rather than of it.
At Friends Select, we invite students to be in their knowledge as a part of it, rather than apart from it. In the book To Know As We Are Known, Quaker author Parker Palmer suggests that a depth of knowledge comes only when we adopt a position of humility and are in a relationship with the known world. Here, students are immersed in the known world and directly engage in personal ways with their learning. They are walking in the knowledge.
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June Message
Cum Laude Society: The Best Kept Secret by Rose Hagan, Head of School
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Here at Friends Select, we have a talented, diverse group of students who perform on stage, create music, construct art and compete in sports. And, in many ways throughout the academic year, these students are acknowledged and applauded. Another opportunity that acknowledges excellence in academic subjects is induction into the Cum Laude Society.
Based on three Greek ideals: Areté (Excellence), Diké (Justice) and Timé (Honor), our school’s Society holds an induction ceremony every May. Each year we invite an alumnus or alumna to speak, and students ask a faculty member or fellow student of their choice to introduce them—making for a very personalized experience.
This year’s induction ceremony was an enjoyable occasion energized by the introductions of eight new members. The keynote speaker was alumnus Gabriel Kuriloff ’96, CEO of Arise Academy Charter High School, whose life and career have embodied the ideals of our community.
I so enjoy the traditions that mark the end of our school year, and the Cum Laude ceremony is one reoccurring event that I’m most fond of. It is indeed a moving experience for those inducted and those who attend. Equally gratifying is that inducted individuals come back years later and pass on the best of what they’ve learned to new generations of Friends Select students.
2011 Cum Laude Inductees
The 2011 senior class Cum Laude inductees are Dylan Woloszczuk, Drew Colman, Mariah Burke, Yvonne Hyde-Carter and Emily Johnson. The eleventh grade inductees are Michael Gomella, Lauren Lamb and Alina Drufovka.
These students joined a fellowship of faculty scholars at Friends Select: Head of School Rose Hagan; Ralph Reinwald, upper school math teacher; Jim Brubaker, upper school physics, astronomy, electronics and computer science teacher; Brian Warburton, upper school chemistry teacher; Wendy Buckingham, upper school English teacher; Abbi Smith, upper school math teacher; and Steve Rawls, upper school history teacher.
About Cum LaudeThe Cum Laude Society was founded in 1906 at a private school in Maryland. It was to be only in "schools of superior academic quality" and only in boys schools at first. Now there are 338 chapters in the United States, most of which are in independent schools. The Friends Select School chapter was established in 1962.
To read Gabriel Kuriloff's keynote speaker remarks, click here to his blog.
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Note: This is the fourth in a series on the inherent and unique value of education at Friends Select School.
As an intergenerational school community with students ages 4 through 18, Friends Select School aims to provide a safe environment for the cognitive, emotional and physical development of students. Our nuanced view of safety extends from lower school when a student’s entire universe may encompass home and school, to upper school, where a broader sense of a sometimes dangerous world makes safety within our community even more precious.
From the earliest grades, faculty help students grow into capable, independent individuals by emphasizing several consistent messages:
It is safe to voice an opinion. Beginning with Meeting for Community in lower school, children learn to express their views in a setting that welcomes and respects divergent beliefs. In later grades, worship sharing and advisory groups provide students with a forum for exploring even highly-charged topics.
It is safe to try new things. Going out on a limb is not just tolerated at Friends Select: it is written into the curriculum. With a program that emphasizes research and presentation, beginning with Becoming an Expert in third grade and continuing through Search Projects in middle school and formal research projects in upper school, students are strongly encouraged to take on new challenges. With acknowledgment and support from their teachers, Friends Select students indulge their passions or follow their muse outside the classroom.
It is safe to fail. Few educators would go as far as Winston Churchill: “Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.” But Friends Select faculty help students view mistakes in a new way— as a chance to problem solve creatively, gain new knowledge and venture forward.
It is safe to interact with adults. At Friends Select, there is safety in knowing adults as individuals and learning the distinction between deference based on title and respect based on authentic human relationship.
Foundational to Friends Select’s emphasis on safety is the guiding belief that children have a right to be protected by caring adults as they grow toward adulthood. Of course, no school can shield children completely from the harsh realities of life. Indeed, such overprotection would not be in their best interests. But as educators, we can, to the very best of our ability, create a very special safety zone in which children can learn and grow.
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March Message
21st Century Education By Rose Hagan, Head of School
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Note: This is the third in a series on the inherent and unique value of a Friends Select School education.
What do we mean when we say “21st century education”? According to Anne Shaw, founder and director of 21st Century Schools, it is bold. It breaks the mold. It is flexible, creative, challenging and complex.
Intersession at Friends Select School 2011: the Middle East, embodied all of these qualities and more. Held January 31 through February 4, InterSession immersed the entire upper school learning community in a non-Western area of the world. For one week, regular classes were suspended while faculty and students studied, together, the complex realities of a region’s culture, its peoples, geographies, politics, religions, languages, arts and architecture, and governments.
We did so, not as armchair travelers, but as full participants in our own learning. We listened to university professors and other experts on the Middle East give sophisticated lectures on topics as varied as Islam: Truth and Stereotypes to The History of the Arab-Israeli Conflict to Middle Eastern Art: Past and Present. We viewed an American-made film about Iran as well as Iranian and Israeli films; danced to, played instruments and attended a performance of traditional Middle Eastern music; and learned to sing, speak and write phrases in Hebrew, Arabic and Farsi.
InterSession 2011: The Middle East from Friends Select School on Vimeo.
Students worked collaboratively in small, faculty-facilitated teams on group mapping presentations, engaged in lively discussions and wrote substantive reflections in personally issued field books.
In the midst of it all, the Arab world began to rise in revolt. Several of our speakers and one of the musicians was from Egypt, through which our community got a searing, personal view of the situation on the ground. Throughout, we viewed “real time” reporting on the conflict from the Al Jazeera English, CNN and BBC networks.
On Wednesday of that week, we held a public debate on the extraordinarily prescient topic, Is Democracy Necessary in the Middle East? One of our expert panelists, Professor Eric Davis, penned an op-ed piece on this very topic the following week in the Inquirer, and on his blog, The US must think "democracy" in the Mideast, where he credited Friends Select for being the original venue for his talk.
InterSession was transformative to many. In the words of one 11th grader, “I’ve been lazy about the way I’ve educated myself. I realize now that I’m in a school that gives me these opportunities and I’ve made a promise to myself that I am not going to be lazy about my learning any more.” InterSession opened his eyes in a way he didn’t anticipate. (For more student reactions to InterSession, see this month’s upper school article.)
The National Association of Independent Schools identifies “seven survival skills” for the new century: analytical and creative thinking and problem-solving; complex communication skills, oral and written; leadership and teamwork; digital and quantitative literacy; global perspective; adaptability, initiative and risk-taking; and integrity and ethical decision-making. InterSession required our students to employ all of these skills—truly a model of 21st century education.
Read Jewish Exponent article on InterSession here.
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Note: This is the second in a series on the inherent and unique value of a Friends Select education.
George Fox’s advice to the earliest Quakers—“walk cheerfully over the world answering that of God in every one”*—was articulated in mid-17th century England in an environment of religious rigidity and intolerance. Yet his words remain remarkably cogent, even centuries later, and help guide community life at Friends Select School. In fact, Fox’s phrase has been incorporated into the school’s mission statement. We interpret the phrase broadly, recognizing its applicability in many modern contexts. And, there are many ways that the school brings the abstract concept of walking cheerfully into daily practice.
With a modern sensibility, we might imagine Fox as an early environmentalist, suggesting that we leave a light footprint as we “walk over” the natural world. At Friends Select, our collective efforts to be responsible green citizens include environmental education at all grade levels, frequent energy saving modifications to the building, and several student-generated clubs and activities.
A closely related interpretation suggests that “walking cheerfully” is a directive to help others, a value Friends Select expresses by expanding students’ awareness of societal challenges, helping them devise solutions, and directing them to take direct action through community service. (Often, students go beyond the school’s community service curriculum. Last summer, two students independently ran a basketball tournament and raised $1,500 for a community center in North Philadelphia. Several other students founded a club to support maxillofacial surgery.)
Walking cheerfully over the world also implies a communal spirit and non-provincial world view. Friends Select reflects these ideas with an emphasis on building a strong school community, while simultaneously considering its role and responsibilities in the larger context of the city, country and world. The school has launched the upper school InterSession program to help reinforce this sense of global interconnectedness through an intense, week-long exploration of one region of the world each year.
Clearly, “walking cheerfully” can be a tall order. But is it difficult to remain faithful in today’s world to Quaker principles first articulated 300 years ago? Not really. George Fox’s words are timely, even prescient, for Friends Select, as the school prepares students to walk out of its gates ready to contribute as responsible world citizens in the 21st century.
*…Be patterns, be examples in all countries, places, islands, nations,
wherever you come, that your carriage and life may preach among all
sorts of people, and to them. Then you will come to walk cheerfully over
the world, answering that of God in everyone; whereby in them you may
be a blessing, and make the witness of God in them to bless you.
–George Fox, 1656
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December Message
Cultivating a Culture of Aspiration by Rose Hagan, Head of School
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In our culture, there’s a tendency to think of our lives as a declarative sentence, one with a period at the end. There’s a tendency to think that real-world experiences begin when we settle into a profession, assume a mortgage and start a family. And there's a tendency to describe ourselves almost solely as the profession we choose. Period. End of sentence.
At Friends Select, however, we prefer to think of people as run-on sentences that are never completed and to which no period is ever affixed. Instead, we encourage continual exploration, learning, growth, and even reinvention within the safety of our community.
While people can develop intense interests at any points in their lives, sometimes aspirations take root very early. Stuart Land, director of alumni/ae programs, tells a story from his years as a third grade teacher about a student who was reluctant to go outdoors for recess. Instead, this boy preferred to stay in the classroom, where he constructed a television news desk from which he “broadcast” the weather and local coverage, with the help of a few classmates. “It was clearly his passion,” Stuart told me, “so I just stayed out of the way.” Ted Greenberg ’92 is now the New Jersey Shore bureau reporter for NBC 10 and has come back to Friends Select several times to speak with students about his career.
The halls of Friends Select are full of aspiring musicians, engineers, athletes, artists, business owners, animal behaviorists, chefs and photographers. The list of dreams goes on and on.
All of our students, even those who know what profession they will follow, are in the process of lifelong discovery. Friends Select teachers pay close attention to their students; notice natural abilities; and help students identify and articulate what excites them. Teachers never say, “This is what you will become.” They say, instead, “Let us join you on the journey.” Friends Select is a safe environment, where students can try many things – Mandarin, crew team, drama, year abroad - to name a few. If they stumble, they are not defined by their missteps. Teachers and students alike send the clear message that it is great to try new things, and it’s okay to fail; there is always a safety net of supportive adults and a peer culture of caring classmates. And, there is always the next endeavor, like another clause in the run-on sentence.
It may be somewhat counter cultural to suggest that students deserve to own their individual aspirations. Moreover, some parents find it challenging to give up their own dreams and expectations for their children, even when these aspirations are not a good fit. A parents’ future attorney may, in fact, be drawn to the visual arts. A passionate aspiring chef may prefer culinary school to a more traditional college or university.
The obvious question – “Who owns the aspiration?” – inspires us at Friends Select to honor children as individuals who chart their own journeys. Still, teachers, working closely with families, give students the skills to make important decisions and offer appropriate guidance along the way. And always, we believe that aspirations are the core of personal revelation and guide us in the act of becoming who we are at the end of the journey.
Note: This is the first in a series of columns on the inherent and unique value of education at Friends Select School.
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October Message
Got Questions? Quaker Quest Has Answers by Rose Hagan, Head of School
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Families new to Friends Select School -- and many who have been here a while -- may be curious about what it means to be a Quaker school. What happens at Meeting for Worship? Why is silent reflection so integral to Quaker practice? What are the Quaker testimonies? A series of meetings this fall will answer these and other questions.
The Monthly Meeting of Friends of Philadelphia (often called the Arch Street Meeting) is sponsoring Quaker Quest, a series of informational workshops on three consecutive Sundays: October 24, 31 and November 7. Each workshop will run from 1:30-4:00 p.m. at the meetinghouse at Fourth and Arch Streets. Billed as an informal introduction to Quaker faith and practice, the series will explore three topics: Quakers and the Spiritual Life, Quakers and Peace/Social Justice, and Quakers and the Family. Each Sunday workshop will begin with greetings and a snack, followed by three short presentations, a smaller group session, a larger group discussion, a brief Meeting for Worship, and an informal reception.
Andrew Anderson, a former FSS trustee and clerk of the Arch Street Meeting, is helping to coordinate Quaker Quest. He explains that speakers will provide an introduction to Quaker practice by talking “from the heart” about their own experiences. “These will be informal, family-friendly events for anyone who is curious about Quakerism. The series is suitable for people middle school age or older, and we are providing childcare for younger children.” (Parents can call 215-625-0627 and leave a message to reserve child care.) There is free parking on-site.
Quaker Quest also is a chance to visit an historic building that is home to one of the two Meetings that oversee Friends Select School. (The other is Race Street Meeting, also called Central Philadelphia Monthly Meeting, housed at a meetinghouse near 15th Street, where the school community typically gathers for Meeting for Worship.) The Arch Street building was designed and constructed by architect Owen Biddle in 1804 on land originally donated by William Penn as a Quaker burial ground. The modest brick building has an unadorned, but light-filled, central room lined with wooden benches. It is the oldest and largest Quaker meetinghouse in the world.
Head’s Note:
* Next month, look for the annual column by Joseph Ronan, president of the Friends Select School Board of trustees.
* Beginning with the December issue, I will use this space for a series of columns that focus on the inherent and unique value of education at Friends Select School.
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Within an educational community, a new school year invites reflection about change. We develop institutional goals for the year, improve methods and refine programs. And, for many of us – students, teachers and parents – we look at opportunities for personal change as well. Such opportunities are indeed one of the many ways an independent school – and especially Friends Select – provides value to families.
Some parents express concern about excess in their lives. Excess that strikes at our economy, erodes the natural environment, invites extravagant consumption, and approaches our children through e-networks, questionable popular culture, and even obesity. Some parents look to community institutions, such as schools, to be countercultural and to maintain a direction toward “true north” – a state of embracing simplicity in the face of excess.
At Friends Select, we invite children and their families to create change in their personal lives, to be other-focused (rather than self-focused), to practice simplicity about possessions, to respect the environment, and to exercise good decision-making about or on the Internet. We invite children and families, oddly enough, to engage in revolution, as an antidote to excess. We move toward the true north of simplicity, and hence toward sustainable habits of mind and engagement, one child at a time.
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