Why I Give: Sandy Dean

Why I give.

The Philadelphia School’s Head of School and administrator for twenty four years, Sandy Dean was, and is, a teacher of teachers.

Since retirement, Sandy keeps her passion for education alive through sharing her time and talents with a host of academic organizations. She served as interim director of the lower school of Friends Select School from 2014 to 2015, and she advises the Park City Educational Foundation on teacher funding allocation. Not only that, she works with preschools in the Park City, Utah area (where she and her husband Mike have spent half their year, enamored with the beautiful landscape and natural elements) and is involved with the Smith Nature Urban Preschool as an advisor.

Even when in Utah, TPS is never far from Sandy’s thoughts. Whether working on her book (releasing in Spring ‘23) about the school from 1982-2006, or talking to her many TPS friends, teachers, and administrators (like current Head of School Lisa Sun), Sandy Dean remains a true TPS tiger at heart.

Sandy’s devotion to the school also extends to her support of The TPS Fund. We asked her why she continues to give to The TPS Fund even after her retirement, and Sandy was quick to speak about the value of the TPS community. “The intellectual and caring environment supported by faculty and staff,

families, and students made each day one that I looked forward to…I am also grateful for my ongoing connections to the past and present and know that the original mission is still alive and well.”

The TPS Fund helps support tuition assistance for nearly a third of our learners, ensures our signature experiential learning style, and provides professional development for faculty and staff, among other facets of the TPS experience. While the projects funded may have changed slightly from when Sandy was Head of School, the TPS spirit runs continuously throughout what donors to the TPS Fund make possible. As Sandy says, “Without these funds we could not have performed The Great Experiment, 1787, an all-school performance at The Port of History Museum in May of 1987 depicting the writing of the United States constitution, or provided material for Lego Logo, and Logo Technic, our Junior Unit physical science and robotics program.”

Though COVID has impacted our theatrical ambitions, anyone who saw the eighth grade Shakespeare plays performed in Lombard yard witnessed the TPS Fund at work! And our strong science program, which began under Sandy’s leadership, has flourished and grown into an award-winning STEAM program and staple of the TPS program.

Sandy encourages others to give to The TPS Fund as well, saying, “Your contribution to the TPS Fund will make equally exciting and essential educational experiences possible, as well as providing for economic diversity. Please give what you can.”

A quote from another leader comes to mind when thinking of Sandy. “A teacher affects eternity; they can never tell where their influence stops,” wrote President John Adams. Sandy has influenced the lives of everyone who has walked through the doors of TPS. To our long list of gratitude the school community shares for Sandy, we add our appreciation for the generous gift of her time in this interview, as well as her contributions to the TPS Fund.

Sandy with Alumni Children L. Fiebach, H. Mozes, and L. Greenberg in The TPS Garden.