Skip To Main Content
Header

We are delighted to celebrate our 50th anniversary—a year where we will honor the traditions of the past, while celebrating what the future will bring for the TPS community guided by our strategic vision. Our all-school theme for the year, Roots to Branches is a nod to our 50th history, which will guide all of our celebrations throughout the year. We hope you join us for a tremendous year of exciting events where we will:

  • Reflect, on our our 50 year history and traditions

  • Reconnect, with past and present TPS constituents

  • Rejuvenate, the community and build inspiration for the next 50 years

Our History

Once, there lived in the city

Some people who wanted to find

A school where their children could gather,

With city and country in mind

The Philadelphia School Song, Susie Bulova, Carl Goodman, Janet Kalkstein, 1982

In October 1970 two long-time friends, Caroline Simon (Laden) and Lynne Berman, attended the funeral of John N. Patterson, a businessman and leader in the battle for quality education in Philadelphia. Also present at this event was Rudi Lea, who had recently returned from several years of teaching at the John F. Kennedy Bilingual School in West Berlin where he had been immersed in new and exciting educational theory and practice. Devoted to an urban life after growing up in the suburbs, Carolyn and Lynn wanted to find a way to keep families of school-age children in the city. Both were interested in the possibilities of alternative, nonsectarian educational settings for both elementary and high school students. After several more meetings with like minded parents and educators, the idea of founding an innovative, academically challenging school whose diverse student body would use the city’s cultural and educational resources as well as nearby outdoor facilities, as extensions of the classroom, was born.

Read More about The TPS Story

School Prospectus-1970

Founders Lynne Berman and Cal Simon 

50th Anniversary Events

Fall Family Festival

October 22, TPS Garden

Audience: Current Families, Past and Present Faculty & Staff

Alumni Thanksgiving Feast

November 25, TPS Gym

Audience: Alumni, Past and Present Faculty & Staff

Spring Celebration

May 5, Vie @ 600 N Broad St, Philadelphia

Audience: The entire past and present TPS community (21+ only)

Interested in Sponsoring our 50th Anniversary?

Download our Sponsorship Package

Sponsor Now 

Year-Long Root Sponsor