Mission Statement, 1999
Quaker principles and practice guide Penn Charter, a Friends school by birthright and conviction. Within a diverse community we engage students in a stimulating and rigorous educational program. We foster academic discipline, intellectual curiosity, and spiritual growth to prepare our graduates for higher education and for life. We develop students to act in a moral, civil, and responsible manner.

Statement of Philosophy, 1992
William Penn Charter School is a Friends school, both by birthright and by conviction. Established in 1689 by members of the Religious Society of Friends in response to a charge by William Penn, the school continues its commitment to Quaker spiritual and educational testimonies. A coeducational, K-12, college preparatory school, Penn Charter is committed to training the mind, quickening the spirit, cultivating the aesthetic, and developing the body.

The school is grounded in the Quaker belief that there is "that of God" within us all, a Divine Spark, which when nurtured can illumine our lives. Weekly Meeting for Worship is central to the life of the school.

Because we value the unique worth of each person as an expression of that Divine Spark, we are committed to a school where everyone - student, teacher, and staff alike - treats one another with respect. We affirm each individual's responsibility to the larger community and we embrace the deeply held concern of Friends for honesty, justice, compassion, simplicity, and the peaceful resolution of conflict.

We seek to be a richly diverse school community: racially, religiously, economically, ethnically, and socially. In our curriculum, we work to widen our embrace of a plurality of cultures and to celebrate the voices of both women and men.

We strive to nurture the special gifts and abilities of every student while honoring excellence in all endeavors: academic, artistic, and athletic. And, since we believe that all persons have the capacity for growth, we are committed to a rigorous yet patient pursuit of the truth. Within a traditional curriculum of liberal arts and sciences, we seek to develop an atmosphere of trust and exploration.

We look to arrive at decisions in a searching manner and recognize that we are strengthened whenever members of the community can find it possible to share in the process of corporate decision making.

As our students move through Penn Charter, we seek to instill in them a sense of independence and responsibility and to sensitize them to the world of want and deprivation, providing them opportunities to serve others.

We reaffirm William Penn's founding tenet that, "Good instruction is better than riches." The capacity within each of us for continuing revelation dictates that learning must be ongoing and endless. Thus, as our students prepare to depart Penn Charter, we endeavor to assist them in the process of identifying the next step that will best meet each one's individual needs. We strive to imbue each with the ability and the will to pursue learning beyond institutional walls.

We recognize that our philosophy includes goals that challenge both as an institution and as individuals. As a result, we are led to a process of continuing search and introspection so that we may better understand what it is that we are called to do.