When Friends Select students began the 2021–22 school year, they were welcomed with new learning spaces in the Parkway Building, thanks to the Advance Friends Select: Transformation Campaign.

Head of school Michael Gary pledged to make Friends Select an antiracist institution, and has since moved faculty and staff to join him in working toward the eradication of structures, systems, and policies—both within and outside the school community—that contribute to racism, biases, and white supremacy.

“We believe in the Quaker values of respect for all, simplicity, the peaceful resolution of conflict, and a constant search for truth.” When I read this segment of our mission statement, I reflect on how we are living it during this transformational time at Friends Select School.

Friends Select School is the recipient of a grant from the Gilroy and Lillian P. Roberts Charitable Foundation to support the creation of the Parkway Building’s new lower school art studio that will inspire students in pre-kindergarten through fourth grade to further develop knowledge and appreciation for the arts and their creativity.

Sights on Site, Friends Select’s annual exhibition showcasing site-based student artwork from all divisions, turned its attention to Philadelphia businesses and organizations last spring. The program’s 2021 theme, It’s Monumental, focused on the role of art in public spaces, as students from second to twelfth grade explored the topic of public monuments and created pieces in different mediums, from drawing and sculpture to digital virtual reality.

Satoia Wright’s dream is to offer quality education to Black and brown students from underserved communities. This summer, she’s getting there.