Student Activities and Clubs
Find your footing, expand your mindset, and explore your passions in a club!
Clubs and activities meet regularly and are advised by a faculty member. Students lead the creation and organization of the clubs and activities; the list provided here may change or expand from year to year.
Students can dabble in some, many or all of the Upper School’s clubs and activities, and if students want to fully immerse themselves in one, they may be able to use it to fulfill their 40-hour activity requirement. Remember: Each year in Upper School, students must play one sport and participate in one 40-hour activity; students’ 40-hour activity can be an additional sport – or it can be a 40-hour club or activity listed below.
As you will see below, some (but not all) clubs and activities are designated as a “40-hour activity”; students interested in receiving activity credit need not only to fulfill the 40-hour requirements as stipulated by the club or activity but also to receive the approval by the faculty advisor for having done so.
That said, most Penn Charter students participate in several clubs and activities just for fun, not for credit.
A New Chapter - Reading & Wellbeing
Art Club
The Art Club exists to foster a creative space for anyone and everyone, regardless of their level of interest in the arts. The group is instructed in various art techniques and skills, including, but not limited to, photography, film, ceramics, painting, drawing, and design, which students can apply to other school projects, such as the Capstone.
Asian Student Association (ASA)
ASA is a club that provides an affinity space for Asian American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander (AANHPI) students and aims to connect and educate peers on culture, history, and current events. We hope to create this community — through weekly meetings and occasional presentations — to make our AANHPI classmates feel represented and supported.
Black Student Union
*40-hour activity
Explores issues of identity and affinity around race and culture, relevant to students who self-identify as persons of African descent. The group holds discussions around topics in the media, focusing on the ideas of education, celebration and remembrance.
Board Game Club
The Board Game Club is for any student who loves to play, learn about, or even design board games.
Book Club
*40-hour activity
Club members discuss what they're reading at home, what they're reading for school, and whatever is on their mind.
Boys Acapella
Brass Ensemble
Chess Club
Students gather to play chess, hone skills and test new tactics – and then compete against other schools in matches. No prior experience needed!
Chinese Club
Chinese Club is bringing Chinese language and culture to PC with new school traditions and activities for everyone to enjoy. Club activities may include, campus-wide celebration of Chinese New Year, Chinese cooking class, Kung Fu class, holiday snacks, Tai Chi relaxation, art, philosophy, mythology, food tasting, and the Chopstick Olympics!
CHOP Club
Civic Engagement Club
Coding Club
Creative Writing Club
Creative Writing Club has exciting weekly prompts and activities that allow students to express themselves through their writing. There is a rainbow of opportunities for this storytelling community to explore various genres and forms (poetry, prose, songwriting, scriptwriting, etc.)!
Current Events Club
Dance Club
DECA
Drama Club
Ethics Bowl Club
The Ethics Bowl Club meets solely in the fall. We meet several times a week, after school, to prepare for the Regional Ethics Bowl (part of the National High School Ethics Bowl) competition at Villanova in late November.
Fashion and Sustainability
Fiber Arts Club
French Club
In French Club, members will watch movies, eat French treats, bake French goodies, and hang out at various museums! We will host bake sales, play fun games, and learn a lot about French Culture.
GEM
Girls Acapella
Girls Lead
Girls Talk Sports
Gluten-Free Club
Golf Club
Green Club
Guitar Club
Healthy Habits
Jazz Band
Jewish Cultural Alliance
Language Mentorship Club
Math Club
The Math Club meets weekly to practice for contests and expand our ability with challenging problems, which is useful for contests as well as for SAT prep and just increasing our brain power. Members will also be encouraged to take the various contests offered at the school, including Pa. Math League (PAML), Mandelbrot (a contest similar to PAML) and the American Math Contest (AME), and could potentially compete in off-campus competitions. Students may take the contests without attending the practice sessions.
Math Mentorship Club
Medical Club
Microfinance Club
*40-hour activity
Microfinance educates students about microfinance while selecting and monitoring various investments in South American entrepreneurs. This year the club is also partnering with the QuakeMakers Social Entrepreneurship Club to create a small fund to support the ideas of our Penn Charter social entrepreneurs.
The Mirror
*40-hour activity
The Mirror is the PC community newspaper, the oldest school newspaper in America. As a member you will pitch article ideas, write articles and learn basic editing skills. In 1777, Penn Charter student Samuel M. Fox published the first school newspaper in America and Europe while British troops occupied the City of Philadelphia and were billeted in his own school building.
Mock Trial
*40-hour activity
In Mock Trial you will participate in a mock court trial as a witness or attorney. Mock Trial is great for those who want to improve their speaking and writing skills and in general is a great community-building club.
Model UN
*40-hour activity
Model United Nations is a club focused on global politics. We meet once a week to discuss recent political events and we also compete as a team in simulations of the United Nations at a few conferences.
Morgan's Message
Morgan's Message strives to break the stigma surrounding mental health especially in student-athletes. We have weekly check-ins and aim to learn from and support each other as we have conversations about mental health.
Multicultural Student Association (MSA)
This association will be (but is not limited to) a space to freely discuss topics and issues involving the multircultural population in and outside of the PC community.
Penn Charter Ambassadors Club
*40-hour activity
The Penn Charter Ambassadors Program is a group of student leaders who work directly with the admissions office to interact with prospective families. Some of the responsibilities include: providing comprehensive tours of campus, assisting the admissions office during open houses and student panels, hosting students during their visit days, contributing to the PC Ambassadors Student Blog and serving as a representative of the Penn Charter community.
Percussion Ensemble
Premier League Club
Are you a Manchester supporter? Liverpool? Crystal Palace? This is the club for you. Participants discuss the latest happening in the league, watch highlights, and otherwise immerse themselves in soccer’s most exciting league.
Public Purpose Council
Members engage in community service and volunteer projects across the city of Philadelphia. We also provide a space for students to collaborate with others and address social issues within the greater community. Leaders of the Public Purpose Council organize regular meetings, steer fellow Public Purpose Council members and help to organize projects, Day of Service, MLK Day of Service, and larger school-wide service initiatives. The co-clerks for the year are chosen by the body of the Public Purpose Council through Quaker consensus.
Quake Makers Social Entrepreneurship Club
*40-hour activity
Quake Makers is dedicated to bringing entrepreneurship to Penn Charter by helping students start their own real companies, make connections with the Philly startup scene, and learn about business in a hands-on way. Every student who starts a company will have the opportunity to pitch that company Shark Tank-style (with less screaming, of course) to a group of panelists made up of venture capitalists, educators, entrepreneurs and other interesting people at our annual pitch competition for a chance to receive funding for their company.
Quaker Crew
PC proud! Quaker Crew strives to grow school spirit, for athletics and the arts. It is a student-led club that schedules themes for important athletic games and rallies attendance at big arts productions to bring students together and cheer each other on. The club attempts to provide a fun and inclusive experience for everyone at PC.
Robotics Team
*40-hour activity
Robotics meets during Flex and after school to build and test robots as part of the FIRST FTC Program. Work on the current year's robot starts in September. Club members also take part in interscholastic competitions from November through March. Students must participate after school, in competitions, and have faculty advisor approval to earn 40-hour credit.
Rock Climbing Club
Participants will learn the techniques, skills, and safety procedures of climbing. The group will meet three times a week during the spring season at the Stillwagon Climbing Wall at the Graham Athletics and Wellness Center.
Sexuality and Gender Alliance (SAGA)
*40-hour activity
SAGA exists to foster a community for LGBTQ+ individuals and their allies within Penn Charter. The group aims to support LGBTQ+ students, educate the student body on LGBT+ issues, and engage in activism on the behalf of the LGBTQ+ community.
Sailing Club
Ski Club
Sports Analytics Club
String Ensemble
Veterans Service Club
Volleyball Club
Wednesday Weekly
Penn Charter’s news show! The weekly two-to-three minute segments are anchored, written, filmed and produced by students.
Wharton Club
Women in Business Club
This group aims to teach women to excel and stand out in a male-dominated industry. The idea of going to business school or entering the corporate field can be pretty scary, so we have created a safe space where girls can feel confident about who they are and what they want to pursue. Its name notwithstanding, this club is open to anyone.
Writing Mentorship Club