Friends Select's New Upper School STEAM Building

The momentum of the Advance Friends Select: Transformation Campaign continues with the expansion of Friends Select’s campus across 16th Street. Work is under way on the historic townhome at 1520 Race Street, which will officially become the upper school’s center for Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math (STEAM), with four floors and 15,000 square feet for classrooms, laboratories, and studios.
 

Michael Gary Speaks

The ribbon-cutting ceremony for our new Parkway Building spaces kicked off our academic year with a great deal of excitement. It marked the culmination of the Advance Friends Select: Transformation Campaign, our strategic plan that continues to guide the decisions we are making to ensure dynamic and engaging teaching and learning are happening in our classrooms.

Transforming Student Learning in the Parkway Building

Designed by James Bradberry Architects, Friends Select’s newly transformed Parkway Building spaces are modern and inviting. However, the state-of-the-art design of the new lower school classrooms, art studio, and lobby is deeply rooted in Friends Select’s commitment to excellence in teaching and learning and best practices in education.

Above Board

The past two years have called on us individually and as an institution to 
reexamine long-held assumptions, beliefs, norms, and ways of being. Throughout this issue of Select News, you will read about the ways that Friends Select is thinking and acting differently with increased clarity about our mission.

Branching out as an Antiracist School: Toni Graves Williamson and the Race Institute for K-12 Educators

The Race Institute for K-12 Educators continues 
to provide thorough professional development opportunities for Friends Select educators on their journey to grow their racial identities. The local non-
profit organization—co-directed by director of equity 
and inclusion Toni Graves Williamson—facilitates three-
day workshops to accommodate approximately 20 educators, who each contribute their in-depth and personal experiences in the exploration and processing 
of personal racial identity.

Branching out as an Antiracist School: Heather Fortune

Heather Fortune P’27 was a speaker at both the National Association for Music Education eastern and national leaders conferences in 2021. Her presentation, “Inclusive Ensembles—Come One, Come All,” focused on how to modernize high school ensembles and music programs through a culturally-responsive evolution in music pedagogy.

Branching out as an Antiracist School: Françoise Thenoux

This past fall, Friends Select lower school Spanish teacher Françoise Thenoux presented “Celebrating Our Differences: Unpacking Identity with a Decolonial Lens” at the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) National Convention.

Branching out as an Antiracist School: Lisa White Jones

An FSS educator for over two  decades, physical education and dance teacher Lisa White Jones recently added lower school Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) student engagement facilitator to her roles. In this new position, Lisa will create and facilitate DEI-focused lower school initiatives, assemblies, and affinity groups.  

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