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Girls Lacrosse

The Quakers enjoyed their strongest season in decades in 2026, riding a wave of magic to multiple program milestones. A 7-6 loss to Inter-Ac rival Episcopal Academy on March 19 dropped PC to 2-2 overall, and it was the last time the team tasted defeat for the rest of the year.

Penn Charter responded to the EA setback by embarking on a staggering 24-game win streak, collecting the program’s first Inter-Ac championship since 1999 along the way. PC finished 9-1 against league opponents, a game ahead of Episcopal in the standings, and earned a hard-fought 9-8 win in the regular season rematch against EA on May 1. The two teams met again in the Pennsylvania Independent Schools Athletic Association (PAISAA) championship game three weeks later, with the Quakers claiming a 7-4 victory and the program’s first state title since 2022. Louisville recruit Claire Cho led the way with a team-best four goals. 

Penn Charter ended its season as the No. 4 ranked team in the nation by USALacrosse.com. The Quakers had a plethora of selections on the all-league team, with senior goalie and Boston College recruit Maeve Magarity leading the First Team by being awarded the Inter-Ac Most Valuable Player honor. Magarity, also named to the New Balance All-America Lacrosse Senior Game in July, capped off her PC career with 10 saves in the PAISAA title game. 

Joining Magarity on the First Team were Ana Buckley (Dartmouth), Harbor Campbell (Loyola), Molly Dougherty (Michigan) and Makenna Myers, while Mia DiBenedetto and Lila Marciniak (Northwestern) earned Second Team honors. 

Boys Lacrosse

Following a winless season in 2025, Penn Charter enjoyed immense improvements on the field this past spring. The Quakers finished with an 11-12 overall record, their highest win total in four years, and swept last-place Germantown Academy during the regular season. The program also qualified for the PAISAA Tournament, winning its first round game against Academy of the New Church on May 13 before ultimately bowing out to eventual champ Malvern Prep the next day.

Girls Track & Field

The PC girls followed up their highly-successful winter indoor track season with more accolades in the spring. The Quakers first secured an Inter-Ac championship on May 9 at Episcopal Academy, then followed that up with a PAISAA championship one week later at Malvern Prep. 

Mackenzie Skelly broke the school record in the 1600m by running a 4:45.18 at the Haverford Distance Classic in mid-April. Two weeks later, Skelly and 4x800 relay teammates Abby Downin, Marlie Klein and Gwen Hamilton set a Pennsylvania record by running an 8:49.73 at the historic Penn Relays while earning a second-place finish in the process. 

Senior Michaela Poland was named as the league’s Most Valuable Athlete for the second time in her PC career, headlining the Inter-Ac all-league First Team. Also named to the First Team were Skelly, Hamilton, Taliyah Davis, Tisa Edwards, Logan Lloyd, Zsuzsi Pollock and Keagan Seth. Klein and Downin both were named to the Second Team. 

Boys Track & Field

On the boys’ end, Penn Charter’s season included a fourth-place finish at the Inter-Ac Championships, followed by a seventh-place showing at PAISAAs to conclude the season. At the league championship meet, the PC foursome of Nate Keller, Matthew Furda, Ethan Leggett and Christian Downs broke a school and meet record by completing the 4x100 relay in 42.55 seconds. That same quartet earned First Team all-league honors along with Matthew Dunn, while Lamir Calloway, Jak Kraemer and Andrew Marrone made for the Second Team.

Girls and Boys Track & Field
Then, in late June, as a capstone to such successful seasons, Poland, Lloyd, Leggett and Dunn finished in sixth place in the mixed 4x400 relay at the New Balance Nationals Outdoor, which features alternating legs of two boys and two girls. The PC foursome finished the race, which took place at UPenn’s Franklin Field, in 3:33.76. By virtue of finishing in the top six, the quartet earned high school All-American honors, further strengthening the reputation of both PC track programs. 

Baseball

The Quakers posted an 11-15 overall record, reaching double-digit wins for the first time since 2023. The team was 4-6 against Inter-Ac opponents, good for a fourth-place finish in the league standings. PC also secured a 10-0 first-round victory over Friends’ Central in the PAISAA Tournament on May 15 before sustaining a season-ending loss to Inter-Ac and PAISAA champ Malvern Prep a couple of days later.

Pitcher/shortstop Brice Staples was the team’s lone selection to the Inter-Ac’s all-league First Team, while outfielder Ryan Musial earned a spot on the Second Team. Freddie Master, Augie Turner and Braden Hall were head coach Justin Hanley’s picks for the team’s Coaches Award winners. 

Softball

PC ended its 2026 season in fourth place in the Inter-Ac, with one of the major highlights of the campaign being shortstop Madelyn Bergmann picking up her 100th career hit. Bergmann and catcher Maddie Wray were selected to the Inter-Ac all-league First Team, while Ellie McKernan, who rotated between playing second and third base, and first baseman Elaina Nicolucci secured spots on the Second Team. Wray, senior DP/outfielder Jordan Simon and freshman second base/pitcher Logan Goodheart were the program’s Coaches Award winners. 

Boys Tennis

PC finished 5-7 overall and 2-3 against Inter-Ac opponents during the 2026 boys tennis season, finishing in fourth place in the league standings. The Quakers earned a 6-1 postseason victory against Perkiomen School in the first round of the PAISAA Tournament before falling to eventual champion Haverford School in the next round in a season-ending defeat. 

Simon Zoldan was named First Team all-league, while teammates Nico Addimando, Jonah Serotta and Ramzi Wilkins all nabbed Second Team honors.

Crew

The Quakers secured a pair of top four finishes at the historic 99th Stotesbury Cup Regatta, the world’s largest scholastic rowing regatta that is held annually on the Schuylkill River in mid-May. Vivienne Riley, Sophia Toncich-Mandel, Parker Grimes and Grace Choate captured third place in the Junior Quad event, marking the first time a quad team had medaled in PC program history. Additionally, the senior double team of Hannah Aldinger and Lili DeMartinis brought home a fourth place finish in their race.

Aldinger and DeMartinis were far from finished, as the very next week the duo placed second at the SRAA National Team Regatta in the varsity 2x race. 
 

In October, Upper School students in David Nichols’ Biotechnology class made science glow, quite literally. 

Conducting a transformation lab—a process in which foreign DNA is introduced into bacterial cells, resulting in new genetic traits—students first extracted a gene responsible for bioluminescence from a marine microorganism called Aliivibrio fischeri. A. fischeri helps creatures like the bobtail squid and pinecone fish shine in the ocean depths. 

“These animals share a symbiotic relationship with A. fischeri,” Nichols said. “The bacteria live in pores on their surface tissues, where the host provides nutrients, and in return the bacteria emit a soft blue-green glow. This bioluminescence helps larger organisms attract prey and mates, as well as camouflage themselves from predators.” 

Biotechnology, a new course added to the Upper School science curriculum, is a hands-on experience designed to familiarize students with laboratory techniques utilized in molecular biology, specifically DNA isolation, characterization and manipulation. Students work in teams to collect and analyze data, and then explain the results as a laboratory cohort. 

After long preparation, Nichols explained, students used the transformation process to remove the gene from Aliivibrio fischeri using restriction enzymes and inserted it into E. coli, a common laboratory bacterium that can grow at room temperature via plasmid vectors. “Plasmid vectors are small, engineered pieces of DNA that can be used to insert the genes of interest—in this case, the ones for bioluminescence— and transfer them from one organism to another,” Nichols said. “They often have other engineered genes in them to use as what are called ‘selectable markers.’ These markers make it easier to screen for the [bacterial] colonies of interest.” 

Once transformed, the E. coli was grown on Petri dishes and observed in a dark room. When the plates began to glow, students had visual evidence that the gene transfer had been successful. 

“It’s a fun lab,” Nichols said, “because the proof of concept is right there— you literally see the bacteria glowing in the dark.” 

Senior Zsuzsi Pollock (pictured above, right) shared what sets Nichols’ biotechnology class apart: “I love biotechnology not only because it is a smaller class and we can have more fun as well as learn more, but I also love how Mr. Nichols does not want us to stress over quizzes or tests, but instead allows us to dive deeply into labs and learn through hands-on experience.” 

Penn Charter Summer Camps, on a 47-acre campus, offer engaging, active, creative and fun summers for children 3-17. Day Camp is packed with classic activities that both children and counselors love.

Daily swimming, a talent show for all ages, a cookout, an end-of-summer camp fair, the traditional yellow vs. red rope pull, and making friends in a nurturing environment let children grow and thrive. Sports Camp keeps campers active with varied contests, archery, swimming and day trips. One-week specialty camps offer something for everyone: Perform a musical, fly a drone, build a robot, learn to skateboard, learn to debate with a philosophy professor, improve your Minecraft game, and more. Varsity Camps hone skills in basketball, squash, soccer, baseball and – new this year! – football. And don't miss the Phillies and 76ers Camps. See all the camps!

Register

This year’s Color Day competition brought crowds of parents, family members and alumni to enjoy the friendly rivalry between the Blue and the Yellow teams. The Penn Charter Family Association provided the volunteers and the treats, from burgers to popcorn to ice cream, donuts, hot dogs and tomato pie. 

Congratulations to the Yellow team, winner of the 2026 Color Day! This year marks the 134th year of Color Day - it's a tradition that dates back to 1892.

Thank you to all the people who made this joyful day possible, from the PCFA parent volunteers to the band, faculty and staff, and of course Penn Charter students across every division. You left it all on the field, and we're so proud of you! Check out more photos.

During the month of May each year, eighth grade science students immerse themselves in their annual physics project, the Physics 500, where they brainstorm, design, construct and race a cardboard car.

Using their understanding of forces, energy, torque, simple machines and more, they work in groups of four to brainstorm ideas, draw preliminary designs in their “race journals,” decide on a team name, logo, and slogan, and engineer their cardboard car. In the classroom, they study simple machines. As the project rolls on, students are assigned a “pit” space in the IdeaLab to construct their cars. After receiving their first distribution of cardboard, they move on to making measurements, hypotheses and detailed sketches. Teams build cars using cardboard, glue, and PVC pipes that carry a 25-pound weight with a mannequin driver.

The cars then compete in a gravity-powered distance race where teams face off in elimination rounds until the ultimate winner gets crowned. The goal is to see how far the cars can travel rather than how fast they can go. This year several Upper School students kicked off the event by racing two electric cars they had built from the ground up under the guidance of physics teacher Tim Clarke.

Congratulations to “Space Jam” on winning this year’s Physics 500!

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PC Indoor Track Unleashes a Season for the Record Books

While freezing temperatures and heavy snowfall were battering Delaware Valley residents this winter, a veritable heat wave materialized anytime the Penn Charter indoor girls track team competed.

On March 1, the Quakers’ season for the ages took them to State College for the Pennsylvania Track and Field Coaches Association Indoor State Championship, and, just as in 2025, the team was crowned state champions.

But there was also something different about this season from an already successful program—something inherently more unstoppable and dominant in the team’s pursuit of greatness. School records fell like dominos, while event rankings routinely hovered in the top three, five or 10 at the state and national levels.

Every possible star on a team full of them aligned for this group, and celebrating individual excellence was quickly swapped in favor of the fulfillment of enjoying one another’s many successes. 

“It’s been really fun,” said freshman Mackenzie Skelly, who broke the school record in both the one- and two-mile runs this season, finishing with the fastest times in Pennsylvania in both events. “Knowing that a bunch of people around me have similar goals, it just helps me. We push each other to be our best selves every single day, and it’s been really fun seeing everybody’s goals become reality.”

Skelly has been turning heads as a Penn Charter runner for some time now; in the winter of 2025, she set multiple national indoor records as a middle schooler in the mile and two-mile runs and has continued that excellence into her freshman year. She already has two Inter-Ac Most Valuable Runner awards under her belt on the cross country course, and her 4:49.50 mile-run at the PAISAA Championships in February was not only a PC record, but also the fastest time in meet history. At the VA Showcase in Virginia Beach in January, Skelly’s time of 10:20.57 in the two-mile run was the fifth-fastest in the country.

“A lot of my individual goals have become team-oriented, and I know that’s also true for a lot of the girls on the team,” Skelly said. “Every day we went to practice we moved forward in a positive way. It’s a really crazy feeling to be part of such an amazing team. I remember even as a Lower Schooler I looked up to the team and was so excited to join it. 

“It’s really fun now that I’m a part of it. Opening Instagram and seeing that one of my teammates broke a record, or hearing the audience cheer or chant someone’s name at a meet—it’s been a really fun opportunity to be part of.”

Skelly has plenty to cheer about as it pertains to her teammates. Before Skelly broke the one-mile run school record, teammate and PC junior Marlie Klein had broken the record herself a few weeks earlier, finishing the race in 4:50.04. At the 118th Millrose Games in New York City in late January, the 4x800 relay team of Skelly, Klein and seniors Abby Downin and Gwen Hamilton ran a time of 8:54.12, a Pennsylvania state record. And in the season’s third meet the first week of January, senior Michaela Poland’s time of 56.50 in the 400 broke a PC record and was the top time in Pennsylvania. 

“Marlie has been having a really good season, a real highlight of her junior year, a big recruiting year for her,” Skelly said. “Gwen Hamilton just committed to Penn State, and it’s been really fun watching her excel this season. Beatrice O’Connell is just a freshman but has been [setting personal records] in every single race—it’s really important to me to highlight the successes they have been having.”

After her record-setting 400 run in January, Poland was sidelined for a few weeks with an injury. But instead of pouting over a stall in her progress, Poland put the team first and herself second.

“Even though I was unable to run, being able to go to the meets, support the girls and see younger athletes step up to have these big performances has been really awesome,” Poland said. “It just proved that we have such a strong team with a lot of depth. Being able to help [my teammates], whether that’s helping them work on diving out of the blocks when they start or fixing their high jump approaches has been a really nice part of not being able to run or jump myself.”

The Quakers also excelled in various field events throughout the season. At the Tim Hickey Meet of Champions in mid-February, senior Zsuzsi Pollock broke the indoor school record in shot put with a throw of 34 feet, 5.75 inches; then two days later at the PAISAA Championships, Pollock broke her own record by tossing the shot put 35 feet, 4 inches.

“At the beginning of the season, I was amazed I could even hit 31 feet,” Pollock said. “So to end the season with four more feet is a really big accomplishment. I also do hurdles, and when I set a big (personal record) of 0.6 seconds faster, I knew that I was getting stronger and faster—I now know my abilities can go through a variety of events.”

In addition to Pollock’s success in the shot put, sophomore Keagan Seth established meet and school records in the high jump after recording a height of 5 feet, 4 inches at the PAISAA event. Other season highlights include junior Logan Llyod running a 25.90 in the 200, breaking a PAISAA meet record, while the distance medley relay team of Skelly, Hamilton, Klein and Llyod secured the top PA time and second-fastest time nationally with a time of 11:55.71 at the VA Showcase in January. 

“In the past, we’ve had four or five—maybe eight at the most—athletes that I had to enter in every single event just for us to compete,” head coach Candice Lee said. “We’d have people from other sports come who were really just training to keep in shape. This year everybody was locked in, enjoyed running and wanted to see improvement all while being coachable. They listened and were determined to do their best. 

“Everybody has a passion for excelling, and they want to beat each other’s records while celebrating one another when they do. The whole team has been very supportive of each other, which goes a long way for the culture of the team.”

Now that the Quakers have secured back-to-back state championships, the focus will mostly shift to continuing this dominance outside during the spring track season, although the team does still have a couple of indoor events remaining on the schedule, most notably the New Balance Indoor Nationals in Boston March 12-15. 

“We especially enjoy celebrating each other’s wins,” Pollock said. “It doesn’t feel like a competition against each other; rather, we just motivate each other to keep going.”

“With this team, we’ve had strong performances before (in previous seasons), but this year has just been a dominant season,” she added. “When I have success that I’m able to experience, it’s been really nice being able to share that with everybody else.”

— Ed Morrone OPC ‘04

It’s a dark and stormy night, and you’ve been invited to a very unusual dinner party at Boddy Manor. Each of the guests has an alias—Scarlet, Plum, White, Green, Peacock and Mustard—the butler offers a variety of weapons, and the host is, well, dead. So whodunit? 

Penn Charter staged the madcap comedy Clue, based on the cult classic film and the popular board game.

 "We wanted to choose a show that would be fun and exciting for the audience," director Michael Roche said. The play, he noted, was essentially double-cast. "Since this show is all about timing, we decided to have an understudy cast in case anyone got sick. The understudies rehearsed very often and at times filled in for other actors at rehearsals. Since the understudy cast put in so much work, we decided they should have their own performance for family and friends."

Ninth grader Miles Downin, who played the butler, found the experience to be a great introduction to Penn Charter. "Coming into PC as a new student,” he said, “I thought I would be like a little fish in a giant ocean, but by putting myself forward for the play, I met some of the most amazing, kind and smart people at the school. It wasn't just the people in the cast; it was also the stage crew and costume department. All of these people helped make the play an amazing and successful show that was equally entertaining for the audience and the actors."

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In the summer of 2025, a group of four Upper School teachers embarked upon a VITAL project aimed at establishing a foundation for a student and teacher trip to Japan in March of 2026. VITAL, which stands for Valuing Innovative Teaching and Learning, is a PC grant program that allows educators to be lifelong learners and reflective practitioners. Its mission is to provide faculty with funding for projects during the summer months to allow for the transformation of their craft through research, collaboration and innovation. The ultimate goal of VITAL is to provide students with an outstanding, current and meaningful education. 

The following was written by Ryan Aponte, social studies teacher and Model UN advisor, about a VITAL grant project designed to deepen cultural connections to Japan before 30 students and five teachers embark on a spring 2026 trip to that country. Why is this work important? Because, as the VITAL Japan project states, "students will travel not as tourists but with the mindset of cultural ambassadors. As global citizens, they embark on the opportunity to connect with peers abroad and learn from a society remarkably different from our own." 
 

The particular goal for this group of teachers awarded the VITAL grant – Ben Dziedzic, Joy Lai, Michael LoStracco and myself – was to foster closer relationships prior to our visits to Tokyo Friends School and Temple University Kyoto next March. While our relationship with Tokyo Friends has developed over the past few years, the link with Temple Japan was an exciting addition over the summer. Through virtual meetings with faculty and administration at both institutions, we discussed ways our students can build community with their peers abroad. In addition to brainstorming activities we could share during our time in Japan, we also designed connections we could establish prior to our departure. Examples included sharing introduction videos, exchanging research questions, composing pen pal letters and developing cultural immersion experiences.

Through our VITAL work, the team also sought to enhance our students' prior knowledge of and experience with Japanese-centered topics. We strategically developed internal touchpoints across different courses and departments, with the idea that such curricular foundations would cultivate connections with Japan leading up to and expanding long after our trip in March. We hope that such deliberate planning will ensure the longevity of our relationships abroad and the opportunities within the Japan trip. In addition to utilizing local resources, notably the Shofuso Japanese Garden, Philadelphia Art Museum, Penn Museum and the University of Pennsylvania, we explored ways in which we can bring opportunities to campus through class projects, visiting speakers and student-led workshops.

The culminating product of our VITAL work was the creation of a website, shared below, in which our larger Penn Charter community can learn about curricular highlights and have access to resources for developing connections. The VITAL Japan website is intended to be a living document that will continue to evolve as our community explores Japan. We hope that our work provides the foundation for how our students and teachers will continue to build community with both Tokyo Friends and Temple Japan. 

– Ryan Aponte

VITAL Japan

In the Reggio Emilia educational philosophy, a child-centered approach to learning, the parents and the classroom teacher are considered the primary and secondary teachers of a young child. As partners, they support and guide the child’s development. The third teacher is the child’s environment—the physical space that stimulates curiosity and encourages exploration. 

The new Richard A. Balderston OPC ’69 Lower School embodies this third teacher, offering an environment purposefully crafted to deepen and enrich every child’s learning experience. 

Since Penn Charter’s pre-K to grade 5 students rushed through its doors on Sept. 3, 2025, the Balderston Lower School has served as a wondrous, welcoming space for curious learners of all ages—a teaching and learning community that fosters collaboration, makes the curriculum come alive and redefines possibilities. 

“Our goal is to present kids with tools and experiences and have the students apply them independently,” said Dan Stahl, innovation and design teacher for grades 1-5. “If they can walk out of the Lower School feeling like, ‘I can laser cut, I can 3D print, I can graphic design, I can code, and I can do all of that for a math class or an English class or a social studies class,’ that's a win in our book.” 

“They'll take something that we present in a certain way and then take it in a different direction we never thought of,” added Rachel Evans, who teaches innovation and design along with Stahl. 

It’s easy to innovate with all the tech options in the Idea Lab, including a ChompSaw, laser cutter, 3D printers, Cricut machine, Makey Makey, Hummingbird Robotics, Micro:bit circuit boards, Sphero coding robots, and Lego Education Spike Essential kits. 

Stahl and Evan’s classroom in the original lower school building had some older versions of those tools, too, but they didn’t have space—if the 3D printer was out, the ChompSaw was tucked away—and that made a tangible difference in students’ agency. Now, Stahl said, “students feel like they can solve the problem because they see the tools that are readily accessible for them … it builds resiliency within them.” 

They can also follow their imagination. “When they're working on a particular project,” Evans said, “they get to choose what they’re interested in and where it leads.”

Imagination is Brooke Giles’ specialty. A pre-K teacher for 14 years, she now teaches Studio to both pre-K and kindergarten, and coordinates the Discovery Room, the newest space for multisensory play and experiential education in the early-childhood curriculum—though everyone is welcome to play. 

Influenced by the Reggio Emilia educational philosophy, Studio and Discovery are captivating rooms where children explore and create through art, movement, drama, storytelling and engineering. Until this year, Penn Charter’s pre-K was located adjacent to PC’s campus, in the Memorial Church of the Good Shepherd on The Oak Road. 

For Giles, the proximity and connection to the rest of the Lower School community—for both her and the students in pre-K—are pivotal. “I love being seen again by my former students or the students who didn't know me,” she said. “It’s really good to feel that my connection isn't lost. I want the Studio to be a resource for all the students, no matter what they want to create.” 

Kindergarten students have brought third grade—their buddy class—to the Discovery Room, which was designed for multisensory play and experiential education. “I'm loving that,” Giles said. "They're playing dress up, building with blocks, building giant marble ramps.” On a recent visit, third graders built a push car with Rigamajig, a building and engineering system. It doesn't take the older students long, Giles said, to stop wondering if they are too cool for the Discovery Room. 

Second graders are so intrigued by the Discovery Room that many of the students visit independently. When Giles saw them playing with the Busy River, the small stream just outside Giles’ room that meanders through the playground, she encouraged them to experiment in the Discovery Room. Which materials sink? Which float? Can you recycle materials to build a boat? 

The Balderston Lower School has a connectivity that the former building did not. Spaces that allow for collaboration and gatherings, like the Discovery Room, Friendship Hall and the Activities Room, which opens wide to the outdoor Amphitheater, are only part of it. The physical openness—skylights, hallways with large windows to learning spaces, connected classrooms—translates into community and well-being. 

“Everyone's class is seen, and every teacher is seen,” Giles said, ”and that makes a difference in a student's sense of belonging and community. No one's hidden in this building. We're all very present.” 

The thoughtful design of the Lower School “gives you a glimpse of the magic of what’s taking place,” added Director of Lower School Thu-Nga Morris. 

At a particularly exciting art class in October, fourth graders became graffiti artists. Though the class size was small, graffiti can be big and bold, so teachers Michelle Dowd and Karen Riedlmeier opened up the doors that divide the large art studio—one side outfitted with the tools and technology for 2D art and the other for 3D art such as clay and woodworking. The goal of this project was to teach positive and negative space and shapes, and graffiti was a way to engage the students. 

After learning about famous anonymous street artists Banksy and Blek le Rat, the latter often called the "father of stencil graffiti," students practiced graffiti-style lettering and made their own “tags” (an artist’s stylized signature). Then, on large sheets of paper that Dowd had stamped with a block design to resemble a brick wall, students tried their hand at graffiti. 

Blek le Rat and Bansky “decided their art was worth the risk because they had something important to share that they wanted to make accessible to everyone,” Dowd said. “And that's why I really loved that wall where our students all came together. Each stencil that they drew reflected some part of them, whether their favorite animal or a motif they enjoyed.” 

The graffiti project illustrates the flexible space of the double art room that enables teachers to set up multiple stages of an activity so students can move through the project independently. This, combined with smaller class sizes for specials, Riedlmeier said, “honors children’s natural learning rhythms and patterns.” 

Every feature of the Balderston Lower School was designed to foster a sense of community among students and educators. The building itself is a nod to Wissahickon Valley Park, with its winding form echoing the river valley that is muralized on its walls. The early childhood wing, comprising grades pre-K through one, supports gross motor skills through play and exploration with direct access to the outdoors. Friendship Hall, with its nature-inspired design, lush foliage and student art is a popular place to host faculty meetings and parent coffees. In the spring, students will generate ideas for what to grow in the second-floor terrace garden and then donate the produce to local organizations that support food security. 

“Because it's easier to collaborate—to connect with each other—we're hoping this new environment inspires teachers to pursue new ideas and new projects in support of our students,” said Thu-Nga Morris, director of Lower School. 

Such pursuits are underway. In October, fourth grade students partnered with Emily Brennan’s and John Tralie’s Upper School Advanced Geometry students. Brennan recognized that her class could use the dotted patterns on the Friendship Hall windows—designed to protect wild birds from accidental window strikes—to practice calculating slope and equations of lines. She reached out to fourth grade teachers and proposed a collaboration: Geometry students could teach fourth grade math students how to calculate slope—typically taught in Middle School— using dry-erase markers on the floor-to-ceiling Friendship Hall windows. 

“That was a really fun way for us to enhance our academic program,” Morris said. “It was also a fun way for the kids to build community and connections with each other cross-divisonally.” 

Students and teachers aren’t the only ones who have fun while learning in the Lower School. This year, parents and caregivers have been invited to sign up for MakerLab Mondays. About once a month, Dan Stahl and Rachel Evans offer parents a creative start to their day in the Idea Lab. In October, parent-child teams designed a mini catapult to fling candy pumpkins through a series of challenges. In November, they used the ChompSaw to create a mini parade float and then coded a robot to drive a Thanksgiving parade route. And in December, their assignment was to use simple circuits to create festive greeting cards that light up. Collaborative opportunities like these foster a supportive and engaging learning environment. 

“The power of teaching, learning and the student-teacher relationship has always been at the heart of the Penn Charter experience, and we see that reflected in this building,” Head of School Karen Warren Coleman said. 

“Like others in our community who worked hard to realize this dream, I was so excited about the plans and details of this project. I knew it would advance the mission of the Lower School, elevate learning, widen opportunity. But it wasn’t until our students and teachers and families walked through those red doors that I realized how much the Richard A. Balderston OPC ’69 Lower School would nurture and uplift our entire community.” 

– Rebecca Luzi
 

Read more stories in Penn Charter magazine.

In Penn Charter's Middle School, faculty and staff help students build leadership skills in a number of ways. Middle School assemblies, held each week, are one growth opportunity for students. Each eighth grader prepares a short presentation connected to the school’s annual theme, giving students a chance to explore meaningful ideas and highlight inspiring individuals. Half of the class delivers their presentations live during the weekly Middle School assembly, while the others are recorded and shared during Thursday morning homeroom. At the start of the year, I meet with the grade to introduce the theme, review public speaking guidelines, and encourage students to speak clearly, use meaningful anecdotes, and—most importantly—start early so they feel confident and prepared.

For this year’s theme of integrity and justice, one student chose swim coach Jim Ellis, who challenged racial barriers in a predominantly white sport by building a successful, primarily Black swim team and leading them to Nationals. For more than 50 years, Ellis has helped youth learn to swim and earn scholarships. His work shows how one person can create fairness and opportunity for others. Another student spoke about Ala Stanford, a Philadelphia pediatric surgeon and public health leader who founded the Black Doctors Covid Consortium to bring free testing and vaccines to underserved communities during the pandemic. Her leadership demonstrates that justice means using one’s skills to help others and ensure fairness, especially for those with fewer resources. Both stories show that integrity and courage can create meaningful change in a community.

Our assemblies are an important time to come together to share information, announce upcoming events and milestones, and set expectations for community life. Leading these enables eighth graders to step into leadership roles, feel inspired and inspire others, while also practicing public speaking skills.

-Kerry Howard, Assistant Director of Middle School

On Stuffie Hospital Day, pre-K, kindergarten and first grade students were invited to bring their “injured” stuffed animals to school for necessary surgical repair. The "doctors" held sessions on two different days in the Lower School Studio—one led by parents and the other by upper schoolers. Dressed in white coats or scrubs, the stuffie doctors asked for patient history, diagnosed various rips and tears, and then sewed up their fuzzy patients. Students were then given discharge instructions for their stuffies with details for at-home recovery.

Brooke Giles, Lower School studio arts teacher, has been a stuffie doctor for her pre-K students for years and felt there was an opportunity to expand her “medical practice.” "I love showing the students that the sewing skills we learn in the Studio are life skills, too,” she said. “Last year I had a lot of requests to fix stuffed animals, so I decided to make it a day. One of my students, now in kindergarten, even designed me a logo.”   

The success of the scheduled clinic day prompted Giles to talk to visual and performing arts teacher EvaKay Noone about how her Upper School costume design students could help. “EvaKay, of course, also leaned into the dramatic play of it!” Giles said. 

"It was really fun to be back in the Lower School and see all of my old teachers," said sophomore Gemma Kohles. "The stuffie hospital was such a great idea to connect upper schoolers with lower schoolers. It really brightened my day, and I hope I will have another opportunity to do this again in the future."

Giles wants to make Stuffie Hospital Day bigger and better next year. "I have more ideas for next year, including a few service aspects,” she said. “Just one of the things that the new Lower School building is making possible in expanding the reach of the Studio program."