Germantown Friends School

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Germantown Friends School
Germantown Friends School.jpg
Location
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31 West Coulter Street
Germantown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Information
TypePrivate
MottoBehold, I have set before thee an open door.
Established1845; 176 years ago (1845)
Head of schoolDana Weeks
Faculty87 Full Time 24 Part Time
GradesK–12
Enrollment1021
Athletics conferenceFriends School League
MascotTiger
AffiliationReligious Society of Friends (Quaker)
Websitewww.germantownfriends.org

Coordinates: 40°01′58″N 75°10′18″W / 40.03278°N 75.17167°W / 40.03278; -75.17167 Germantown Friends School (GFS) is a coeducational independent PreK-12 school in the Germantown neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the United States under the supervision of Germantown Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). It is governed by a School Committee whose members are drawn mainly from the membership of the Meeting and the school's alumni. The school's current head of school is Dana Weeks.

History[]

Germantown Friends School was founded in 1845 by Germantown Monthly Meeting which had grown in size and stature in the Philadelphia Quaker community during the previous several decades. The school was founded in response to a request of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting. Until the early 20th century, Germantown Friends was a "select" school, meaning that only the children of Quaker parents were admitted. Germantown Monthly Meeting was an Orthodox meeting and valued classical education. Athletics and the arts were still considered, as they had been since the founding of the Society of Friends in the 17th century, a diversion from the essentials needed by young people.

Athletic traditions[]

Germantown Friends School teams are nicknamed the Tigers and compete in the Friends Schools League (FSL).[1] In 2008, the boys' track team won the High School Boys' Distance Medley Championship of America at the Penn Relays. The relay's time of 10:11.54 was the second fastest high school Distance Medley Relay in the nation at the time, and the fastest in Pennsylvania. In 2009, the boys' cross country team finished second at the Nike Cross Nationals Northeast Regional Championship, qualifying for Nike Cross Nationals. A rivalry exists between GFS and Friends' Central School, who compete with each other for possession of the Felsen Cup, named after an administrator who has worked at and given much to both schools. Another rival is Penn Charter School, whose campus is adjacent to Germantown Friends' athletic fields. However, Penn Charter is a member of the Inter-Academic League, de-intensifying this rivalry. In 2017, the boys' track team won the Distance Medley Relay with a time of 10:14.85 at the New Balance Outdoor Nationals.

Academic and extracurricular activities[]

Since 1993, Germantown Friends has been divided into four divisions, Early Childhood, the Lower School (K-5), the Middle School (6-8), and the Upper School (9-12). Students in each division school attend weekly Meeting for Worship.

The school has a choir, the GFS Choir. Other activities include the 9th Grade Musical, the Dionysia (an Ancient Greek dramatic festival performed by 10th grade Ancient History classes), the Latin III Debates during the annual "Classics Day," and a Writers Assembly, showcasing pieces by writers from the Middle and Upper School.

A graduation requirement at Germantown Friends School is the requirement that each junior complete an independent project, known as a "Junior Project." During this project, students have the opportunity to pursue some independent but intellectually rigorous activity in the local community or elsewhere in the world. If completed in January, students are given the month off to pursue the project, although they must go through a proposal process and present written and oral accounts of their work afterwards. Students must pay for at least half of all project expenses out of money the student earned through work (rather than by means of a parental allowance).

Commencement in recent decades has taken place at Arch Street Meetinghouse in Philadelphia. The ceremony begins with an instruction concerning Meeting for Worship by a Quaker member of the graduating class, followed by a meeting. At present, GFS does not calculate GPA for purposes of class ranking, and therefore no Valedictorians or Salutatorians are selected. Instead, the graduating class elects one faculty member and one member of its own ranks to give addresses after the conclusion of the meeting. Following the addresses, the Head of School speaks and then awards diplomas to each member of the graduating class.

Notable alumni[]

  • John "Skip" Barber, 1954: Racing Instructor.
  • Emily Bazelon, 1989: Journalist (Slate, New York Times), Truman Capote Fellow at Yale Law School.
  • Eric Bazilian, 1971: Musician and songwriter of the band The Hooters.
  • Henry Bean, 1963: Film director, script writer.
  • Jesse Biddle, 2010: Left-Handed Pitcher selected by the Philadelphia Phillies 27th overall in the 2010 Major League Baseball Draft.
  • Sandra Boynton, 1970: Cartoonist, songwriter, and best-selling author.
  • Sarah Chang, attended but did not graduate: Violinist.
  • Owen Chamberlain, 1937: Discoverer of the antiproton and Nobel Laureate in Physics for 1959.
  • C. West Churchman: Philosopher, System Theorist and a founding father of Management Science.
  • Walter Cope: Architect known for academic buildings.
  • Kathryn Davis, 1964: Novelist.
  • Erica Armstrong Dunbar, 1990: Historian and author, National Book Award Finalist.
  • Garrett Dutton III, aka G. Love, 1991: Musician and front man of the band G. Love & Special Sauce.
  • Michael Friedman, 1993: Composer.
  • William Newport Goodell, 1926: Artist, craftsman and educator
  • Janet Brown Guernsey, 1931: physicist
  • Nathaniel Kahn, 1981: Filmmaker. Writer and director of My Architect, a film about his father, Louis Kahn.
  • Stacy Levy: Sculptor.
  • Ted Mann (journalist), 1998: Reporter for the Wall Street Journal, credited with breaking the Bridgegate controversy involving New Jersey governor Chris Christie.
  • Tom Myers, 1976: Nominated for two Academy Awards.[2]
  • Scott Pagano, 1996: Video artist.
  • Saul Perlmutter, 1977: Astrophysicist; winner of the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on the accelerating universe.
  • Mortimer Sellers: American philosopher
  • Sam Smith: Author, editor, journalist.
  • Merrie Spaeth: Political public relations consultant; appeared in the film The World of Henry Orient while a sophomore at GFS.[3]
  • Dan Sterling, 1989: Television producer
  • Makiko Tanaka: Japanese Foreign Minister, 2001–2002.
  • Michael Grant Terry, 2001: Actor (Bones).
  • Rebecca Traister, 1993: Journalist (New York Magazine, Elle)
  • Daniel Spielman, 1991: Sterling Professor of Computer Science at Yale, Macarthur Fellow
  • Ira Wolf Tuton, 1997: Fretless Bass Player Yeasayer
  • Elizabeth Gray Vining: Newbery Medal winner and English tutor to Emperor Akihito of Japan during his early adolescence.
  • PJ Vogt, 2004: Journalist, Host of Reply All podcast
  • Kristen Welker, NBC News journalist
  • Santi White, aka Santigold, 1993: Musician.
  • Dan Wolf, 1976: Massachusetts state senator, founder of Cape Air
  • William Wright: Author

Entertainment[]

  • The main character from the TV series Twin Peaks, FBI Agent Dale Cooper, supposedly grew up in Germantown and attended Germantown Friends School (as created by director David Lynch, who spent many years in Philadelphia).[4] They were also referenced in The Goldbergs' spinoff show, Schooled, in the fifth episode of the first season, "Money for RENT."

References[]

  1. ^ "Welcome to Adobe GoLive 6". www.friendsschoolsleague.org.
  2. ^ "Tom Myers". IMDb.
  3. ^ "The Girls of Henry Orient", Time, May 15, 1964
  4. ^ Frost, Scott: The Autobiography of F.B.I. Special Agent Dale Cooper: My Life, My Tapes, page 1, Pocket Books, 1991.

External links[]

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