A History of Access

When you walk through Penn Charter's red doors, there's a reason our formal-looking school suddenly feels down to earth. Penn Charter was founded not for some people, but for all people. It was one of the first schools open to children of all religions and races, one of the first to educate girls and to offer financial aid. It was a school for the public at a time when public schools didn't exist. Today, families from more than 100 zip codes in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, from all cultures, faiths and means, are at home here. Penn Charter works hard to make sure that talented students from all income levels have access to Penn Charter. History is often a reliable indicator of the future. This school was founded for the new world, and that is as true today as it was in 1689. We encourage families looking for a superb education for their children to walk through our doors. They are open to all

	1689 William Penn's Charter - William Penn Charter School is the oldest Quaker school in the world, established in 1689 by William Penn. The school that William Penn founded was different from schools elsewhere. Penn wanted his school to offer a new kind of education that would prepare young people to be teachers, merchants, builders and farmers, as well as political and professional leaders. Penn knew that Pennsylvania needed leaders of high moral character, so his school was to include classical languages and literature, not to make preachers of its students but to help them visualize and create an ideal society.
1689 The Treaty Elm - In front of the school stands a direct descendent of the great elm tree under which William Penn is said to have signed a treaty of friendship with the Lenni Lenape. Just like that tree, we are deeply rooted in time-honored human values of mutual respect, equality and community that are not open for compromise. This is who we are. As one of our teachers has said, "That's what I like about coming to school every day. I know that there are some things here that will always be open for improving, but there are some things here that will never change."
	1700 The First "Public" School - Wiliam Penn's unique concept was to create a school of "arts and sciences" open not only to the wealthy but also to students of limited means. The fifth oldest school in the country, Penn Charter was among the first to offer: education to different religions (1689), financial aid (1701), education for girls (1754) and education for all races (1770). Betsy Ross, African-American abolitionist and businessman James Forten, and Roberts Vaux, the man who led the movement for a public school law in Pennsylvania, were all students of the original Penn Charter.
1874 Boys from All Backgrounds - In 1874 a group of schools operating under the original Penn Charter consolidated as a private all-boys college preparatory school, but the original school's public school roots had a lasting impact. Throughout the next century, boys of all faiths and economic backgrounds continued to come together at Penn Charter. Need-based financial aid often made this possible. One alumnus from the class of 1961, an academic star and student leader, speaks for many alumni of his generation when he says: "Without the imagination and gumption" [of a Penn Charter donor] and "the moral and financial help I got to attend the school, I would not have gone on to attend Harvard, and I wouldn't have had the career and the life I've had."
	1920 Accommodating Expansion - Penn Charter was originally a downtown urban school. The search for a campus that could accommodate the academic and athletic needs of an ever-growing student body from a broader and broader radius stretching west and north of Philadelphia and even into New Jersey took more than 50 years. The school's location on School House Lane was worth the wait. We have a green, wide-open campus that is still in the city. That's appealing to a lot of different kinds of families who come here from all over and feel comfortable.
1980 Girls Excel in a New Era - Girls enrolled in kindergarten and first grade throughout the 20th century, but Penn Charter became fully coed again in 1980. The mother of two alumnae says coming to a previously all-boys school may have given her girls an advantage: "My daughters graduated in 2004. It may sound odd, but I think for them it was an excellent education partly because it had previously been all boys. As an all-boys school there already existed the expectation that every student had access to every opportunity - athletics, music, academics, leadership. I think that freed my daughters to challenge themselves, raise the bar and do it all - be softball players, be excellent students, and be involved in the arts. That expectation already existed for boys. It comes from this school, and it shifted to both genders when the school went coed."
	2008 Access for the Youngest - There are many definitions of access. In the fall of 2008, Penn Charter opened its doors to the youngest of students. It's not every day that we get to add a new grade and two dozen students. The program for four-year olds builds on Penn Charter's tradition of Quaker education as well as best practices in teaching and learning for young children. The philosophy: Children learn best when they feel safe, loved and respected. Project-based learning engages the passions and interests of our school's youngest students.

Visionary Leadership

Never a school to rest on its laurels, we're constantly thinking about what's next. And we're fortunate enough to have a leader to take us there. Our head of school, Darryl Ford, is one of the next generation of rising stars in independent school leadership. He is also the parent of young children who attend Penn Charter. Ford's rise to leadership embodies all that Penn Charter has accomplished over the years and the promise of what is yet to come.

A graduate of a Quaker school himself who holds a PhD in Educational Administration, Institutional and Policy Studies from the University of Chicago, Ford was the director of our Middle School for 10 years before becoming head of school. He has said, "What I like about Penn Charter is that with this rich history we could always be looking back, but instead we're always looking forward." Where does he see the school going? "I see our students having additional experiences that really connect them to a global world, whether that's traveling to a faraway place, or trying to adopt a school and build a school building in Cambodia. Or whether it's having more connections with people from around the world coming to us at Penn Charter."

In terms of being the first African-American head of the William Penn Charter School, Ford says, "I am happy that I was selected to lead this extraordinary institution because of whatever talents I bring to the table, but I am equally happy that I come to this schoolhouse every day as an African-American man. I am very proud of that fact."

Now that he is a Penn Charter parent, he says, "I have another perspective of just how wonderful our faculty and program are and how exciting an educational institution this place is. My sons come to school excited every day and they come home excited every day. I understand how special this place is even more now that they are here."