Celebrating the Class of 2010
Amy Purcell Vorenberg, Head of School
After weeks of learning how to write and deliver a speech and practicing their class song, their processional and recessional, and individual musical performances, students in the Class of 2010 ended their tenure as TPS students on June 9 in an extraordinary graduation ceremony and began their new relationship with the school as alumni.
Graduation Day is the graduates' day, and so my role that day is not to speak formally but rather to hug and shake hands with the graduates as they receive their diplomas.
What I did do, was put together lines from each of the graduate's speeches (and a line from Mayor Nutter, who was our graduation speaker this year) to create "Word of Wisdom" from the Class of 2010. Read more
A Class of Firsts
by Harry Roth, President, Board of Trustees
A tradition at TPS graduations is an address by the president of the school's Board of Trustees. This year was a special graduation ceremony for Harry Roth, who watched his third son graduate from The Philadelphia School - or as Harry put it, "This is Lisa’s and my last kid coming through the graduation gauntlet at TPS."
Here are Harry's words to the Class of 2010. It is my pleasure and privilege on behalf of the Board of Trustees of The Philadelphia School to say Congratulations to the TPS Graduating Class of 2010. What a thrill it has been for all of us to watch you grow, grow together, and grow up over the years.
We celebrate your graduation and as you leave TPS for something new – we know how well you will do – each of you. How do we know? Read more
In Their Own Words
We 'd like to share a few of this year's graduation speeches with you. Topics chosen by the Class of 2010 ranged from beloved teachers to the Penn Relays to science classes to memories to friendships to the cartoon movie Hercules. Read more
The Story Behind All the Chess Trophies
Betsy Neiva, Director of Auxiliary Programs
For those of you who – like me – don't play chess, it may be difficult to appreciate the significance of the countless chess trophies located throughout our school. Why, you may be wondering, do we have so many, and what do titles like "K-8 U1000" actually mean? Well, having been a chess parent now for the past 18 months, I've learned a lot both about chess lingo and about what these amazing TPS players have accomplished under the unflagging support of their coach, Ross Colby.
This year TPS students competed in two national tournaments: the Junior High Nationals in Minneapolis and the Elementary School National Tournament in Atlanta. In both tournaments our students performed in outstanding fashion. Read more
Anne Clark Retires
by Dan Lai, Junior Unit teacher
As I started to collect my thoughts about what to write as a tribute to Anne Clark on the occasion of her retirement after 19 years of service to The Philadelphia School, I realized that you really can’t write about Anne without writing about food. Prior to her teaching career, Anne was a restaurateur of note in Philadelphia with a cookbook to her credit. Anne took the same approach to her teaching that she took with her cooking. I'd like to share three stories with you: "Fresh Berries in Oregon," "The Carrot Cake," and "Strawberry Heart Tarts." Read more
Diversity Plan Unveiled
This year the Board Diversity Committee (BDC) was hard at work drafting The Philadelphia School's first Diversity Plan. We're now proud to unveil the plan, which the Board of Trustees approved at its May 20 meeting.
The document opens with general principles, in the form of answers to the questions "What is diversity?" and "Why is diversity important at TPS?" It then lays out diversity-related goals and strategies for the school's community, curriculum, and culture. These goals and strategies include many initiatives that are already under way at TPS. They also call for some bold and exciting changes that the BDC will be helping to implement in the coming years.
Preparing this plan has been an inspiring experience for all of us. We're proud of the results and excited to share them with the TPS community. Read more
Click on pa2010.com
by Elizabeth LaBan
Dan Hirschhorn’s business card lists three full-time jobs: reporter, editor and publisher.
“I’m doing a lot,” said the 1998 TPS graduate, who launched his own political news website called pa2010.com just over a year ago. In fact, leading up to the recent primary election, he was working 18- to 20-hour days, traveling all over the state. But he isn’t complaining; it’s exactly how he likes it. Read more
What I Do
by Jeffrey Mordan, Director of Technology
“You’re the A/V guy, right?” a parent once asked me. Actually, I do a bit more.
Over and over, I find that I am trying to explain what my job is to students, parents, faculty, and staff. I think that’s understandable – my job has many facets (educational, infrastructural) and the 2009-2010 academic year was my first full-time year as Director of Technology. Read more
Riddle Me This
By Elizabeth LaBan
Here is a riddle: How do you teach third graders about American history - the good and the bad - including slavery, discrimination and labor strife, without letting the students become bogged down in all the negatives? Here’s the answer: Focus on what has been done along the way to increase fairness and improve people’s lives. Students can then see there is always hope and learn that they, too, can have a hand in making the United States a better place. Read more
Back-to-School Made Easier
We are adding new pages to the school website to organize all the back-to-school materials needed for the 2010-2011 school year.
The first webpage – already launched – is for new families. Called the "New Family Information," the page can be easily accessed from any page in the public section of the website. It includes a timetable for summer correspondence (mostly via the website) and downloadable forms that are required from all families.
The second set of pages is for returning families and will be located in the Parent Portal. This password-protected "Back-to-School" section currently will include the same information that is currently on the "New Family Information" page, but at the end of August, it will add class lists for 2010-2011. Returning parents should use the "New Family Information" page until the Parent Portal pages are online (in early July).
We hope you will check the website regularly over the summer. We will send email alerts whenever there is a new back-to-school posting.
TPSA Events GO GREEN!
by Michelle Niedermeier, Chair, TPSA Green Team
Thank you for going GREEN at the TPSA year-end picnic on June 4. The event was the kick-off to demonstrate our parent association's strong commitment to environmental stewardship by going waste-free. Read more
Wedding Bells
Several TPS staff and faculty members are getting married this summer. Please join us in extending best wishes to the preschool's Lisa Miles, Junior Unit B's Emily McIntosh, kindergarten's Becca Bertrand, and the Advancement Office's Ashley Opalka. Middle School's Missy Lincoln got married the Saturday before school ended and came back to complete the year! Best wishes to the brides and grooms.
