Penn Charter Admissions Brochure 2018

A SCHOOL FOR THE NEW WORLD

Founded in 1689

PENN C HARTER

Welcome to a

SCHOOL FOR THE NEW WORLD. Penn Charter is the fifth-oldest school in America and the oldest Quaker school in the world. Our core principles—mutual respect, equality, community —are endlessly renewable and fearlessly modern.

We were among the first schools to offer education to people of different religions (1689), financial aid (1701), education for girls (1754) and education for all races (1770).

William Penn chartered his school to meet the demands of the new world. That spirit guides us today, when the world is constantly made new.

We offer a classic education for young people, renewed, refined and remixed every day, every year, by the kind of people you’ll meet in this book.

ALEX IS A SEVENTH GRADER FROM MT. AIRY. HE PL AYS BASKETBALL, FOOTBALL AND L ACROSSE, AND IS A MEMBER OF THE GREEN CLUB AND THE DIVERSIT Y CLUB.

“We’re in this together.”

MEETING FOR WORSHIP, PART I

THE SERMON

At Meeting for Worship a while ago I spoke about living with integrity. I was thinking specifically about equality, about how it’s important to treat each other as equals.

Maybe you won a championship, maybe you didn’t get a great grade on a test—you’re still my friend, we still have things to learn from each other. We’re in this together.

In English, we were reading a novel called The Gospel According to Larry. And we were given the assignment to write a sermon about a problem in today’s world. I wrote about how teenagers classify what’s popular and unpopular on social media. If someone likes something, and then a lot more people like it, and then you like it—instantly it’s popular. But then you’re not really thinking for yourself.

You’re just following. That’s not how I want to be.

ADAPTATION The basic idea of the Green Club is: Let’s adapt. Instead of doing what we’ve always done, let’s find new ways to sustain life on the planet. I’m part of a team that grades the recycling program at the school. We check all the bins, measure their use, see if people are using them properly.

I feel like everything I learn here—in class, in clubs, in sports—will apply to the real world.

MEETING FOR WORSHIP, PART II At the last Meeting, I was thinking about how amazing it is that we can all sit in one room and be quiet for 40 minutes.

OLIVIA LIVES IN CENTER CIT Y AND IS IN FOURTH GRADE. THE MOST RECENT STORY SHE WROTE WAS ABOUT A HOMESC HOOLED GIRL AND HER SURFING DOG.

“It’s all up to you.”

KEEP ON GOING

THE COMMUNIT Y

My dog is a lot like me. She’s fun, with a keep-on-going personality. She’s a Chinese breed, a shih tzu. I was just reading a huge encyclopedia of dog breeds. I try to memorize the breeds.

Everybody belongs here. The school community includes everybody—we’re all a huge community with the teachers, and the teachers help us to be a better community.

THE OXYGEN LINE

I’m curious about stars, how they are just up there and they never fall. Actually, what I’m wondering is how there is oxygen down here, but not in space. Where does the oxygen stop? Is there a line where it stops?

SURFING

I never get tired. I like to do a lot of fun stuff like rock climbing and triathlon and surfing. Surfing—it feels like you’re just coming up and the waves are just pushing you, pushing you all the way to the sand.

THE STORY

I like to write poems and I like to write stories. I write about different things, a lot of stories about dogs. It’s not like reading a book; you can’t change what you’re reading.

But when you write the story, you can make the characters say whatever you want them to say. It’s all up to you.

FPO

COREY KILBANE TEAC HES REGUL AR AND ADVANCED C HEMISTRY IN THE UPPER SC HOOL AND ADVISES SCIENCE AND MAKER CLUBS.

“Chemistry… art… it’s all connected.”

KNOWING AND DOING

CURIOSIT Y

My students made a concussion detector you can wear as a headband, and it works. In the process, they read medical journals, programmed the device, did the math to return the data it collected, wrote promotional materials, created a video. They were excited not just to know things but to do things.

There’s a curiosity among teachers here. Since we started work with the Smithsonian and the 3D printer, a bunch of teachers have designed things for 3D. They’re willing to try something a little bit different and interested in moving out from there.

BUC KET LIST

We’re working with PC’s Center for Public Purpose on a STEM project at a school in an underserved neighborhood, and our kids are serving as teaching interns, working with those students and really making it happen. So it becomes more than just robotics. We’re moving them from just being helping hands to being helping minds.

The Pando Forest in Utah is on my bucket list. The forest has 40,000 aspen trees and they look like separate trees. But every tree is genetically identical – it’s the same organism, and all the roots are interconnected. Education is like that: You might think you have chemistry over here, art over there, but it’s all connected.

HELPING HANDS, HELPING MINDS

AYANNA IS A TENTH GRADER FROM MT. AIRY. SHE PL AYS SOCCER, BASKETBALL AND SOFTBALL FOR PC. SHE’S INTERESTED IN ENGINEERING, BUT IT’S STILL PRETT Y EARLY.

“I want the hardest challenge.”

INDEPENDENCE

INTENSIT Y

You’re expected to think independently here. Teachers aren’t chasing after you. They help you learn how to learn—and then you come to class and apply what you’ve learned, or find a way to apply it outside of school.

But we also do a lot of group work. We collaborate, help each other, try to solve problems together.

That balance makes sense to me.

I started playing varsity basketball in eighth grade.

It was tough, but it was definitely worth it. I like that intensity. I like the chance to bond with a team, to work hard, to work toward a goal.

C HALLENGE My hardest class is advanced chemistry. Every year I’ve been challenged to push myself in science. That’s what motivates me to learn. I want the hardest challenge.

That’s how people grow.

THE REAL WORLD The attitude here is: Everyone respects everyone. You don’t see bullying here. You see people learning to be individuals, together. That’s the norm. That’s how to behave in the real world.

BUILDING You make a lot of connections here. Science, history, Chinese. It can blow your mind. The other day I was thinking about how much time and effort it takes to build and maintain a civilization. It’s a huge challenge.

And you know how I feel about challenges.

MIC HAEL IS A TENTH GRADER FROM VOORHEES, NJ. HE PL AYS SOCCER AND TENNIS AND IS A MEMBER OF THE CURRENT EVENTS CLUB. SOMETIMES HE PL AYS THE DRUMS IN HIS BASEMENT, SO HIS FAMILY CAN’T HEAR HIM.

“You don’t have to limit yourself.”

FORWARD

ONSTAGE

I started playing the snare drum in fourth grade, and it just kind of grew from there. Now I play in the percussion section in the band. I like playing music that’s a challenge; it helps me get better. You get confused, you make a mistake—and then you learn and go forward.

Playing onstage in Kurtz—that’s a very different experience. The building is beautiful, so it’s inspiring.

But it’s also intimidating. Everything counts. That’s why I love being part of an orchestra: You’re not alone.

Everyone contributes, everyone helps.

GOALS

One of my favorite classes right now is chemistry.

The elements, the compounds, the sublevels of electrons—it just amazes me how all these things can be part of the world. In every class, I’m learning something new.

I’m interested in visual art, too—photography, animation. With art, you’re trying to create something new, something different. It’s a chance to explore. You don’t have to limit yourself. And then what happens is you discover new goals; you do more than you actually think you can. That’s a feeling—a skill—I want to have with me for the rest of my life.

ELEMENTS

LEIGH IS A SENIOR FROM LOWER MERION. SHE’S THE EDITOR IN C HIEF OF THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER, THE MIRROR, AND CAPTAIN OF THE SOCCER, SQUASH AND L ACROSSE TEAMS. SHE’LL START HER FIRST YEAR OF COLLEGE AT DARTMOUTH IN THE FALL.

“Make history.

No excuses.”

LEADERSHIP

THE REC

My leadership style is to lead by example. I hold myself to really high standards, I work hard at every detail. But I’m also pretty vocal. I try to be encouraging, inspiring. On the field, in the newsroom—I want people to get involved.

I spend a lot of time in the Writing Center. I’m a peer tutor there, but also a lot of my friends hang out there—a lot of my teachers, too, like Mrs. Moses.

She knows me in and out of the classroom, she knows my family, we can talk about anything. That’s one of the reasons I asked her to write a college recommendation.

DOGPILE In soccer we won PCGA Day, we won the Inter-Ac, and then we won the state championship. Three dogpiles in one week. Our idea was to make history—no excuses.

And we did it. At the end of the week, I wrote the headline for the Mirror: “Girls Soccer Makes History.”

THE GIRL NEXT TO YOU The truth is, preseason was rough. Our coach knew what it took to win, and she pushed us to get to that level. What made the biggest difference is that we started playing for the girls next to us, not just for ourselves. We played for the school, for the program.

ZUCCOTTI Mr. Zuccotti—I’m in two of his classes right now, history and philosophy. He used to be a lawyer, so the debates are very, very lively. He’s the kind of teacher who makes you want to be a teacher. I’ll always love learning—and teachers like Mr. Zuccotti are a big reason why.

AN INTRODUCTION TO PENN C HARTER

Roots We are rooted in a living tradition of deep reflection, enlightened service and purposeful engagement.

OVERVIEW

We pursue excellence, innovation and collaboration in every endeavor, academic, artistic, athletic.

Established in 1689 by William Penn

We advocate for the life of the mind, for the simultaneous expansion of the mind and the life.

Rigorous, vigorous college preparatory curriculum

We believe in the Quaker testimonies of community, equality, integrity, peace, service, simplicity, social justice and stewardship. We know from experience that these principles are an engine of progress.

FACTS

Quaker, coeducational, pre-K–12 independent school

44-acre campus in East Falls, Philadelphia 143 classroom teachers, 74% with advanced degrees

We believe that joy is at the heart of education.

965 students, from more than 100 zip codes in metropolitan Philadelphia

We believe that curiosity is at the heart of joy.

52% boys, 48% girls 31% students of color

We stand together for what we believe. We stand apart when we’re morally obliged to do so.

Our beliefs, our principles, the things we value—these are nothing if they are not put into action, applied to the wider world. This is the work we do every day.

16 students in average Lower School class 17 students in average Middle and Upper School class Languages taught: French, Latin, Mandarin, Spanish 225 Upper School student leadership positions Independent Study, AP, Advanced and Accelerated courses

We meet here as equals. We look each other in the eye.

We ask ourselves to be worthy of the new world—to be its inventors, its explorers, its pioneers. This is our charter; this is our future.

1:1 laptop program, grades 4–12 35% of students receive financial aid 100% of students attend four-year college

LOWER SC HOOL We see social development and academic development as integrated parts of a whole education. We bring different disciplines and skills together— because that’s how the world works. Most of our classes run on a workshop model: Teachers set out a challenge, then students work individually or in groups to meet it. Always, our teaching is driven by the voices of our students: their questions, their ambitions, their stories. We see the Lower School as an incubator for hope, courage, resilience.

MIDDLE SC HOOL We seek out teachers who, by training and by temperament, embrace this time in a child’s life—its opportunities and awkwardnesses, its radical growth and radical instability. We teach balance, a life that integrates academics, arts, athletics, service and more. We teach leadership, starting with student-initiated clubs (recent examples include Knitting Club, Chinese Club, Green Club). We’re willing to reinvent ourselves. We recently implemented an innovative, sophisticated sixth-grade math program; and we regularly incorporate new technology into our teaching.

UPPER SC HOOL There are the tangibles: a curriculum that reimagines a classic college preparatory program, alumni/ae doing meaningful work and taking leadership roles in communities around the world, a recording studio, beehives, wetlands, long-standing service learning courses. And there are the intangibles: students who see outside themselves, who see beyond the obvious, who see themselves as change agents. A community where reflection is a rigorous process, where respectful social discourse is the norm, where your education stands for something.

HOW TO FIND US We’re in the East Falls section of Philadelphia: close to nearly everything, but not in the middle of it. We have lawns and playing fields, separate buildings for the Lower, Middle and Upper Schools, and generous facilities for arts and athletics. If you’re from the city, we’ll feel hushed and expansive.

If you’re from the suburbs, we’ll feel pleasantly cosmopolitan. Either way, we’ll probably feel like home.

HOW TO REAC H US We’d love to hear from you.

215-844-3460, ext. 103 admissions@penncharter.com

MUC H, MUC H MORE For detailed, updated descriptions of our facilities, programs, curricula, and faculty and staff, please visit us online.

www.penncharter.com

WWW.PENNC HARTER.COM