Dear Friends of Penn Charter,
In my first few months as head of school, I have been reminded time and time again of why people love Penn Charter. While the strength of the educational program remains central in people's minds as the important work of our school, it is Penn Charter's core values of respect, equality, and reflection, all stemming from our Quaker heritage, that define who we are. Alumni, looking back over six decades or just six months, recall with true feeling the teachers who challenged and nurtured them intellectually and morally. They know and we know that the strength of those student-teacher relationships differentiates this school from others. The shared respect, admiration and engagement are real at Penn Charter, as is the concept of friendship.

This Report of Gifts, indeed, is a special one - one that notes the importance of you, our friends. It marks the end of the remarkable Frameworks for the Future, the most successful capital campaign in the history of the school. While it is our teachers who undertake the daily work of teaching students and helping them to grow, it is you - our alumni, parents, and supporters, our friends - who make teaching possible. At Frameworks' beginning, we depended upon the love and pride that alumni feel for Penn Charter to propel the campaign. We were never disappointed. In fact, we were astounded by the generosity and the palpable spirit of our OPCs - graduates like Ralph S. Hirshorn OPC '56, who is quoted in these pages affirming: "Penn Charter is an extraordinary institution that doesn't leave well enough alone; it keeps getting better." Likewise, the support parents have shown to Frameworks and the mission of the school has been unprecedented, gratifying and inspiring. Wendy Rosen P '11 speaks for many when she says, "I love this school. I love the diversity. And I love the devotion of the teachers."

This winning combination of teachers who deliver an outstanding educational program, and alumni and parents whose generosity propels us resulted in the extraordinary success of Frameworks for the Future. Our endowment has almost doubled over the course of the campaign. Teacher salaries are competitive and professional development resources plentiful. Gifts for scholarship make it possible to maintain the diversity of class, race and talents that is central to the mission of the school. The construction of the Richard B. Fisher Middle School, the renovation of the main building with a new science wing, computer lab, and math and writing centers, the William A. Graham IV OPC '58 Athletic Center, the Kline and Specter Squash Center, and the soon-to-come David L. Kurtz Center for the Performing Arts have transformed our campus. This transformation has been made possible by your generosity and the success of Frameworks.

In his last several years as head of school, Earl J. Ball often spoke to students, their families, faculty, staff and board members about the importance of legacy. For Earl, legacy included both the wonderful heritage of Old Penn Charter and the bequest of resources to future generations so that the work of this school will continue. In addition to leading the Frameworks campaign, Earl and Pam Ball's three decades of service to Penn Charter was their gift to our community. To recognize their commitment and friendship to all, the main stage in our new Performing Arts Center will be named the Earl and Pam Ball Theater.

Interestingly, William Penn himself understood the concept of friendship. Three centuries ago he chose his most trusted friends to be responsible for the oversight of the school he founded. Both masterful and ingenious, Penn also asked his friends to provide the resources for his school, to provide financial support to make education possible for the students who would attend. Graciously, they responded. Like Penn's friends, you, our friends, have responded to Frameworks for the Future, and the William Penn Charter School is changed forever.

Sincerely,
Darryl J. Ford