SoLo: A Learning Laboratory - posted: January 31, 2012

By Elizabeth LaBan

The Philadelphia School has brought a favorite children’s pastime into the classroom: learning about construction. With this year’s all-school theme of building and structure,

and all the actual construction that has been going on with the new entrance and the new property, it was an easy choice.

“It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity to have a project so close up,” said Amy Vorenberg, head of school, adding that one of the most amazing things the students are learning from the theme is that one thing (a messy construction site) can be turned into another (a brand-new school entrance or an entirely new building). “It has been a fabulous adventure across the ages." Please read on.

Missing Our Country Campus - posted: January 31, 2012

By Ariel Gyandoh, Advancement Assistant

It's been nearly two months since classes have been out for their weekly visits to the Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education, our country campus. Each year our visits end right before Thanksgiving and resume in early April after spring break. I recently asked some of our students, “What do you miss about the Schuylkill Center? Do you have a memory of being there that you would like to share?” My first interviewees were first and second graders. Please continue.

SoLo Work Moves Indoors - posted: January 31, 2012

For the longest while, SoLo, our new property at 25th and South Streets, was a set of two-dimensional plans that asked the TPS community to "imagine - just imagine."

What a thrill it is to see the project in three dimensions! The Early Childhood Education Center, which will house our preschool and kindergarten students beginning next fall, now has walls and a roof! Please continue to see more photos.

Community Service Projects - posted: December 16, 2011

• Annual Coat Drive - Once again the First Week Community Service Initiative collected gently worn, clean, and warm winter coats for distribution to several local shelters and social service organizations. Some of the children's coats go to school nurses who are often faced with children who come to school without coats. Last year one of the nurses was able to give a child a choice of coats, and the child was so happy to "pick out " her own coat. We are a fortunate community, and we thank everyone who participated in the drive. TPS parents delivered more than 125 children's and adult coats. Special thanks to organizer Laureen Ryley.

• MANNA Pies - The Student Council sold 36 pies for MANNA. Thank you to our pie purchasers, who are supporting the important work of MANNA, which prepares and delivers delicious, nourishing meals, along with counsel and hope, to people at acute nutritional risk from life-threatening illnesses. Congrats to the Student Council for raising $900 for MANNA.

• Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service - For more than a decade, the TPS community has spent the day making 500 sandwiches for residents of several Philadelphia-area shelters.

A Literary Legacy - posted: December 28, 2011

[Judith Parker joined the Middle School faculty of The Philadelphia School in August 1983. As mentioned in Amy's article, this is Judith’s final year at TPS. The organizers of the TPSA Book Fair asked Judith to compile a list of books – a reading legacy that will be shared with TPS students, past, present, and future. - Editor]

by Judith Parker, Middle School teacher

Many of these books were on my father’s 1923 reading list from the Gilman Country School in Baltimore and/or were on the reading lists of my childhood, and I read and re-read them. Others were written far more recently, but all of them are true “classics.” A classic book, in my definition, is a book that has a timeless, enduring value. However, there are many different kinds of classics. Some open new worlds for us; many show us how to develop grace under the inevitable stress that being alive brings with it and empower us to deal with situations that may be difficult; and some show us ourselves and give us a mirror to look into to understand our own lives.

This list is missing many, many excellent books, in part because I did not want to include the great books that are already read at The Philadelphia School. If, in the future, D’Aulaires’ Mythology, Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, or Twain’s The Adventures of Tom Sawyer or The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn are no longer read here, please add them immediately to this list! Please continue.

Phase I of Construction Project Complete! - posted: October 07, 2011

The Philadelphia School held a ceremonial Ribbon Cutting on Thursday morning, October 6, to celebrate completion of a new and beautifully landscaped entryway to the school at 25th and Lombard Streets. State Senator Larry Farnese and City Councilman Jim Kenney were on hand to watch two of the school’s youngest students – both granddaughters of the school founders – as they cut the bright red ribbon and led their fellow students into the new vestibule.

Construction continues apace at the school’s new property at 25th and South Streets, where an Early Childhood Center for preschool and kindergarten students and a Multipurpose Performance Space will open in September 2012.

Alumni Profile: Sarah Federman '01 - posted: December 01, 2011

by Elizabeth LaBan

Sarah Federman likes to be outside.

The 2001 TPS graduate has long been interested in science but being inside a lab all day didn’t appeal to her. So she tweaked her plan a bit. She is currently in her second year of pursuing a master’s in forest science at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Science and plans to go on to pursue her Ph.D.

Sarah's focus is on habitat fragmentation and gene flow as it relates to large scale land use issues. She is studying the fruit of a particular palm tree that grows in regions of Peru and Brazil and trying to figure out how wild harvesting or, more simply, the unorganized picking of the fruit, can affect the genetic make-up of the trees. Please continue.

Contemporary Artist Visits TPS - posted: December 01, 2011

by Claire S-A., 7th grade student

One of the things that makes The Philadelphia School great is the opportunity that we as students get to expand our knowledge and experience. On Wednesday, November 16, artist Perry Milou visited TPS to do an art workshop with students in grades 1 to 8. Perry is a contemporary mural artist working in Philadelphia. Please continue.

Author Visits Kick Off Winter Book Fair - posted: December 07, 2011

Each December, the parent association of The Philadelphia School organizes a Winter Book Fair, featuring this year's new children's books as well as all-time classics.

The fair was kicked off by two author visits. Acclaimed author and illustrator David Macaulay visited us via Skype. He spoke to our 4th, 5th, and 8th graders about his career and showed them his process of drawing, from the earliest sketches for his book City: A Story of Roman Planning and Construction to the final product. Warm and funny, he held up his slipper when asked about the benefits of his job – his studio is in his Vermont home, so he doesn't need to wear real shoes to work.

Please continue.

Puerto Rico 2012 - posted: September 24, 2011

The 8th grade Spanish trip, which takes place each March, is an important culminating experience for students at The Philadelphia School. In Puerto Rico, they not only only put their Spanish skills to use but also see first-hand the cultural and environmental sites they have learned about in the classroom. They attend classes at an independent middle and high school on the campus of the University of Puerto Rico.

The annual Puerto Rico trip allows our eighth graders to use their Spanish language skills as they connect with people their own age in an authentic learning experience and stretch themselves as both learners and global citizens.

Take a look at a brief itinerary.

Day 1 San Juan. Guided sightseeing.
Day 2 El Yunque Caribbean National Forest & Luquillo Beach. TIme in the outdoors.
Day 3 School Visit. Classes with seventh through twelfth grade students from an independent middle and high school on the campus of the University of Puerto Rico.
Day 4. Fajardo. Nature center visit and Biluminescent Bay excursion.
Day 5. 7 Camuy Caves. Guided excursion and boat ride.