Lower School Handbook

Please report absences and any dismissal changes to SchoolPass by 1:00 pm. Any changes past 1:00 pm, please email the Lower School office (lsdismissal@penncharter.com) and your child’s homeroom teacher. You may also call the LS office by phone at 215-844-3460, ext. 118.

Arrangements can be made for homework assignments and books to be picked up after school, or to be sent home with another student who lives nearby.

If an absence is due to a non-Covid illness, a doctor’s note is required for longer than three days. If the absence is fewer than three days, a doctor’s note is not required.

In the case of a communicable illness, a doctor’s note is required before a student may return to school, regardless of the length of the absence. (Scroll to the Health Services section for more information.) 

If parents know in advance that their child will be absent for one or more days for reasons other than illness, a parent note explaining the reason for the absence, regardless of the length of the absence, must be brought to school. Please do not plan non-essential absences (e.g. vacation trips) during scheduled school time. 

The Lower School Auxiliary Program is available to all Lower School students. It operates from 3:00 pm to 6:00 pm every regular school day. Parents may contract on a full-or part-time basis.  

Children in grades pre-K to 2 will be escorted from their classrooms to the After-School Program, and children in grades 3-5 will be dismissed from their classrooms.

The goal of the program is to provide children with a relaxing and enjoyable afternoon. There will be a variety of activities, including outdoor play, arts and crafts, stories, music, "homework time," computers, and games. Nutritious snacks are provided every day.

Enrollment information is available here. Email the Auxiliary Programs Administrator with questions.

Each year, every Penn Charter family is asked to make a voluntary contribution to the Annual Fund. The Annual Fund provides unrestricted support that the school can designate where it is needed most. Money raised during one academic year is used for education programs in the next academic year to ensure fiscal responsibility and not spent in excess of available funds. Contributions are vital to the success of our academic programs and are tax deductible. The Annual Fund represents more than six percent of the school’s annual operating budget. A robust fund is critically important to fulfilling Penn Charter’s vision.

Our school day will begin at 8:00 am. Students may arrive as early as 7:30 am for Morning Care. Morning Care is free to families and is supervised by our faculty.  Pre-kindergarteners can be dropped off at the Pre-K entrance, and teachers will escort them to the Big Room. Kindergarten through fifth will go to the front field playspace and gymnasium in the GAC (pool building) during inclement weather. 

Classes begin promptly at 8:05 am. Students arriving after this time will be marked late and should report to the LS front office to sign in and share dismissal plans.

Carline
Carline begins at 7:45 am. Faculty will be present to open car doors, greet our students, and make sure students arrive at the playground or classrooms.

Pre-Kindergarten Carline Details
Parents and/or caregivers should walk pre-Kindergarten students to the pre-K building entrance each morning. There is one entrance to the pre-K. This is the door closest to the corner of Stokley Street and West Coulter Street with the pre-K sign. Adults say their daily goodbyes at the pre-K entrance. Children are then escorted into the building by a pre-K teacher. 

Kindergarten through Fifth Grade Carline Details
Kindergarten through fifth grade will use the School House entrance and be dropped off in front of the Kurtz Performing Arts Center. Faculty will be present to open doors for students and transition them to the playspace or classrooms.

Please respect our neighbors by not parking in front of any driveways. Families can park on either The Oak Road or Stokley Street.  If parking on Stokley Street, please do not park on or near the bend on either side of the street (corner of Stokley & Coulter). Please be careful as cars and buses can come quickly around the corner at Stokley Street.

Bills for tuition are sent out in July and November. We offer several payment plans that will fit your needs. Please contact the Business Office for more information. Tuition bills also include a request for a contribution of 5 percent of your child’s tuition to the Teachers’ Retirement Fund. 

The flat fee for Lower School supplies for the year, as well as charges for contract lunches and transportation, is included on the November billing statement. 

Bills for the After-School Program are issued at least three times a year, at the beginning of each trimester. Additional drop-ins or add-ons are billed at the end of each trimester.

If you would like to celebrate your child’s birthday in school, you are welcome to contact your child’s teachers to come and read a favorite book for a celebration of life. We ask families not to distribute birthday invitations at school. When planning celebrations, please take extra care to avoid situations that will cause misunderstandings (for example, inviting all of the girls in a class except for one or two). 

If you wish to make special accommodations to pick up students for birthday parties after school, contact the homeroom teacher and email lsdismissal@penncharter.com at least one day in advance to discuss your plans.

Communicating effectively between home and school is vital to successful Lower School education. We use a mix of online and print tools to communicate between the school and parents. The following communications are divided into two categories: 

• communications between parents and classroom teachers

• communications between the school and parents.

The mission of Penn Charter states that we “develop students to act in a moral, civil, and responsible manner.” A central belief of Friends schools is that each person strives to see the Light of God in themselves and in everyone else. This belief implies that, along with continually seeing the goodness in others, we each strive to bring our most engaged, responsible, compassionate self to school every day. Much of the structure of Penn Charter is based on this idea: that each person actively chooses to behave simultaneously in the best light for themselves and the community. When we join Penn Charter, we mutually agree that we are a learning community based on this agreed-upon trust.

While we recognize that learning to behave in the above manner is a lifelong endeavor, the Lower School program is designed to provide our students with the necessary structure and support to thrive as members of our Lower School community. We expect our students to exemplify the values of the Restorative Practice approach, where they take responsibility for their actions and respect and care for oneself and others, the environment, and ideas.

When conflicts arise among children, we would like the first attempt at reaching an agreed-upon resolution to be accomplished by the students directly involved. Such attempts are usually monitored first by our classroom teachers, with possible support from our counselor for the Lower School. The approach is guided by our social curriculum, the Responsive Classroom, and the Friends manner of finding peaceful solutions to conflict. Students are often encouraged to sit at a “peace table,” use “I” statements in the discussion of the conflict, and follow the “Ice Cream Cone” steps in order to reach an agreement on a mutually beneficial resolution. This is based on logical rules and consequences; following this approach, appropriate action is taken to solve each problem as it arises. We want students to learn from their mistakes and particular resolutions to conflicts. We believe the best outcome in any disciplinary action is to support students in taking responsibility for their actions, develop empathy for others, and teach alternative ways to solve the problems that motivated the questionable behavior. A key component of this approach is that we expect to see a decrease in conflictive behavior over time for each of our students.

More serious or recurring incidents are infrequent, but when they occur, they are addressed by the classroom teacher and the Lower School Assistant Director, when necessary, the Director of the Lower School.

In Lower School, most first-time discipline problems, even those of a more serious nature, are usually viewed as mistakes in judgment that can be corrected with naturally connected consequences and then developing a plan to replace the misbehavior with positive behavior. Students own their mistakes, perform actions that heal relationships with those directly affected, restore themselves within the community, and, as quickly as possible, return to positive engagement with school. However, if similar problems persist and are not resolved properly, the school may take more serious action. Such action may include being held from class, sent home to help reset the behavior for part of a school day or up to several days, and, in the most egregious cases, being asked to leave the school community permanently. 

While each discipline problem is unique, here is a listing of behaviors that, when persisting over time, are viewed as more serious in nature:

• Misrepresenting the truth on a more continuous basis. In the case of many discipline procedures, lying about one’s involvement in the initial problem may be seen as more problematic than the original situation. 

• Any physical violence or verbal violence (bullying and/or threatening) directed at others. Conflicts and disagreements should never be handled by aggressively placing one’s hands on another person and/or threatening them verbally in anger.

• Harassment or “bullying” behavior. This includes but is not limited to, “bullying” over the Internet and/or through electronic media. Harassment or “bullying” is any recurring action targeted at a specific student or group of students to exclude them from any part of school life, belittle them within the classroom or grade community, or evoke fear of physical harm and/or emotional distress. Such behavior cannot occur in any school area, including before and after-school programs, on the playgrounds, and during bus transit.  

• Theft of school and/or personal property. Destruction of school and/or personal property.

• Inappropriate behavior while representing Penn Charter in public and/or on public and private buses.  

• Plagiarism misrepresenting others’ work as one’s own. This usually becomes more of a concern as our students reach fourth and fifth grades.

At the end of the school day, children are dismissed at 3:00 pm from their classrooms to the following options: 

• Public or Penn Charter bus (see Transportation)

• Carline

• Walkers (only fourth and fifth grade)

• Remain on campus to attend Lower School Auxiliary Programs

Pre-Kindergarten - 2:45 pm
The pre-Kindergarten school day ends at 2:45 pm. When picking up your child(ren), please do not park in front of any driveways. Pre-K dismissal occurs at the front steps of the Church of The Good Shepherd, located on the Oak Road side of the building.

Pre-K children attending the After-School Program are escorted to the program by our pre-K faculty. Pre-K children taking a bus home are also escorted to the bus by pre-K faculty.  

Kindergarten through Fifth Grade - 3:00 pm
The school day ends at 3:00 p.m., and families/caregivers must pick up students at this time. The faculty will escort students enrolled in the Lower School Auxiliary Programs or take them to the bus. 

Carline
Families/caregivers will come in through the School House Lane entrance. In the pickup line, families will be greeted by a faculty member that enters students into SchoolPass to begin the dismissal process. Students will be sent to the carline, and a teacher will open their vehicle door and complete the dismissal process. 

Students may not go to the playspace, vending machines, etc. unless an adult accompanies them. Due to construction and limited parking, we ask families not to park their cars and pick up their children in front of the Lower School. Students may only leave once they have been checked out with one of the dismissal duty teachers.

Additional Dismissal Information
All students in Lower School must be dismissed to an adult or an older sibling. Lower School students must be supervised on campus and transitioned by an adult to any auxiliary programs.

Students who leave early must be signed out by an adult at the Lower School office. Any changes in a child’s dismissal plan must be communicated to the Lower School office and the homeroom teachers as early in the day as possible. All students should be picked up promptly after school. Students still at school after 3:15 p.m. and not involved in the Lower School Auxiliary Programs must be signed out from the Lower School office. If students from Enrichment are not picked up after their activity ends, or if other children are still waiting at 4:15 pm, they will be taken to the main lobby in the Upper School and may be picked up there. Children may not play on the playground unless an adult supervises them.

Penn Charter is grounded in Quaker beliefs and tradition. Among Penn Charter’s core values is a commitment to equity and diversity. This commitment is honored by the Trustees, administration, faculty, staff, students, and their families and serves to achieve all the goals of a Penn Charter education. The Strategic Vision’s goal on diversity defines Penn Charter as "a place where equity and diversity are understood, represented, and valued.”  Admissions, hiring goals, curriculum design, and pedagogy are rooted in the school’s vision for a thriving, diverse community. An important objective is the engagement of the entire school in “honest discussions about diversity.”

Interim Director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging, Naté Hall, works with Trustees, administrators, faculty, staff, and parents to promote and support the school’s goals on diversity, helping to create a community that fosters equity, inclusion and an appreciation of diverse cultures, lifestyles, and perspectives.

Each division in the school has a Diversity Coordinator and Committee that works with the Director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging. Each committee works on programming, curriculum, and specific goals tailored to its assigned division.

The school-wide Diversity Committee, which includes Trustees, administrators, parents, and faculty and staff representatives, serves as a resource and sounding board and is currently engaged in creating a five-year strategic plan for diversity for Penn Charter.

Each part of this network is committed to supporting all kinds of families, expanding the anti-bias curriculum, and honoring the voices of every community member.

Our dress code, in line with much of our program, is designed to guide students in making solid individual choices that consider the community's well-being. As a Quaker school, it is appropriate for our physical appearance to reflect our institutional values. Along with considering safety, we also want to reflect our belief in simplicity and non-violence. In addition, we want children to wear affordable clothing, neat in appearance, and comfortable for participating in various daily activities. Based on these values and guidelines, the following items of clothing are not permitted: 

• camouflage or paramilitary items 

• depictions of war or other violent acts, sayings, or images

All shoes should be chosen with playground safety in mind, as students will participate in recess on a daily basis. Sneakers, tennis shoes, and footwear with a closed toe and back or heel strap are ideal. Flip-flops and shoes with heels are strongly discouraged. All shirts and tops should cover the top of the skirt or pant waistbands (no bare midriffs). Hats and hoods are permitted outdoors only.

Several days each year are stipulated as special dress days for all students (pre-K to 12). These include opening assemblies, concert days, and some field trips. The attire for special dress days includes collared shirts, button-down shirts, knit shirts, sweaters, dresses, skirts, nice/khaki shorts, and pants. Students are not permitted to wear jeans and must wear appropriate footwear for their activities. However, bringing an alternative pair of footwear for recess is highly encouraged.

The Enrichment Program is an optional after-school opportunity, for no additional fee, for students in grades 3, 4, and 5. It is offered for seven to eight weeks, three times per year, on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday afternoons from 3:15 to 4:15 pm. 

Please note that Enrichment may be canceled due to pre-K to 12 faculty meetings or inclement weather. Due to its popularity, when a class is canceled, we are unable to accommodate students in a different offering. 

Education in the Lower School is a full community affair created by our teachers, students, and families. The following events are designed to enrich the Lower School community, and attending these events adds to everyone’s understanding and enjoyment. There are many other events throughout the year, but these are especially popular with Lower School families.

All-School Book Fair

The All-School Book Fair is a multi-day annual event honoring our love of reading, exposing readers of all ages to new books. Students visit the fair with their homeroom teachers and may purchase books at that time and/or create a “wish list” to bring home for parents/caregivers to review. The Book Fair is open during the day and after school, and families are encouraged to visit the fair together. Parents/caregivers are encouraged to help their children choose books that are just right for them and their families. There is no obligation or pressure to purchase books. Proceeds benefit the Lower School Library and are used to purchase more books and materials.

Back-to-School Night

Lower School parents are invited to meet their children’s teachers and hear about the curriculum for the year. This is also a good opportunity to meet other parents. This evening is not designed for individual parent conferences but to provide an overview of the year. 

Blue and Yellow Night

This evening of friendly competition gives Lower School parents an opportunity to participate in races and activities similar to the events children participate in during Color Day (below). Usually scheduled on a Saturday in May, the Parent Community sponsors this free evening of food and entertainment. This event does not happen every year. 

Breakfast with Your Child, Fall and Winter

You are invited to join your child for breakfast in the dining hall at 7:30 a.m. on these mornings. 

Class Picnics

During the last few weeks of school, each class holds a picnic for most of the day to celebrate the end of their year together. Each grade determines the date and location.

Color Day

Color Day is an annual and cherished Penn Charter tradition. Pre-K children will be dismissed early to parents/caregivers to cheer on the teams. All children in grades kindergarten through twelve are assigned to either the blue or yellow team (and will remain on that team throughout their years at Penn Charter) and participate in events by grade. This family and alumni event is intended to bring everyone together for an afternoon of fun, food, and recreation. All students should wear blue shorts with the appropriate blue or yellow shirts. Students can purchase their team's color shirt at the School Store.

Fall Festival

This festival, organized and staffed by the Parent Community, is a chance to meet and socialize with other Penn Charter families, teachers, and administrators in an informal way. Games, activities, crafts, and snacks are free. The Grill Squad, a group of senior students and parents, fire up their grills to cook burgers and hot dogs for the crowd and raise money for the Senior Prom's post-prom party.

Sixth-Grade Orientation

Parents and caregivers of currently enrolled fifth grade students will have an opportunity to meet with the Middle School Director in February of the fifth grade year.  

Lower School Family Fun Night

The Lower School Family Fun Night, sponsored by the Parent Community, is an evening of free food and entertainment for Lower School families, typically held outdoors in the Spring, weather permitting. This is a great way for families to interact in a casual, fun atmosphere. 

Grade Level Events

Family members, grandparents, and specials friends of children in pre-kindergarten through fifth grade are invited to their child’s grade level event to celebrate the learning students are experiencing at Penn Charter. Families/caregivers will be welcomed by a presentation from the Director of Lower School, student learning, and a special grade level Meeting for Worship. 

Lower School Orientation

Families can meet with their child’s teacher and share goals for their children during parent/caregiver meetings and goals-setting conferences. Additionally, students can tour their classrooms before the first day of school. 

Parent Socials

Lower School grades have social events for parents at some time during the school year, usually in the fall. The Parent Social is an opportunity for grade-level parents to enjoy each other's company in a relaxed, social atmosphere. The grade co-chairs and PC Parent Community leadership coordinate Parent Socials. 

PC/GA Day

The oldest continuous interscholastic football rivalry in the country, PC/GA Day (Penn Charter/Germantown Academy), is celebrated with competition of all fall varsity teams and with various social functions. Additionally, students participate in a K-12 art show at the hosting school (Penn Charter and Germantown Academy host the event in alternating years). Lower, Middle, and Upper school students are encouraged to come and cheer Penn Charter’s Upper School varsity teams to victory. Parents and alumni are also encouraged to attend. 

Spring Plant Sale

In early May, the Parent Community sells plants as a fund-raiser. The parent community will communicate detailed information for ordering and pickup.

Valentine's Day Bake Sale - Remove Section

Parents hold a bake sale in the Lower School lobby and in the school dining hall on or near Valentine’s Day. Parents are asked to bake peanut-free goodies, wrap them individually, and bring them to school. Gluten free options are also available. Proceeds go to charity. 

Winter & Spring Concerts

Kindergarten through fifth grade students participate in two main concerts a year: one just before winter break and the other in May; the pre-K class participates in the Spring Concert. 

The programs are designed to share with parents/caregivers the musical activities in singing, instrumental accompaniment, and movement that have been an integral part of the general music experience at PC. The fifth grade chorus and the Hand Bell Choir, an Enrichment program, also perform. Concerts are special dress days for all students, Pre-K to 5. The attire for special dress days includes collared shirts, button-down shirts, knit shirts, sweaters, dresses, skirts, nice/khaki shorts, and pants. Students are not permitted to wear jeans these days and should wear appropriate footwear for their performance. However, bringing an alternative pair of footwear for recess is highly encouraged.

Field trips are an important extension of the Lower School curriculum. Grade specific information will be provided by the classroom teacher. 

The majority of classroom field trips are covered by Lower School tuition. Any exceptions will be communicated well in advance, and financial assistance may be available. Please contact the Director of Lower School for more information. 

Generally, there are two times of the year when gifts are given to teachers and staff: the winter holiday period in December and the end of the school year in June. In both seasons, the Quaker testimony of Simplicity should guide gift-giving. While these expressions of gratitude are always appreciated, please know that they are not expected. 

In June, along with small, individual gifts, each individual class may choose to give a class gift to the teacher. If this is to be done, the Parent Community representatives from each class will coordinate the effort. It is up to each family to choose to participate, but all children will be included in a class gift whether or not a family chooses to participate financially. Each family may contribute any amount up to $10.

The school nurse is located on the first floor of the Lower School adjacent to the Kindergarten wing and is on duty during the school day.

The purpose of homework in the Lower School is two-fold:

• to reinforce and enrich in-class instruction

• to help students develop independent work habits to complete assignments successfully

Homework begins more regularly in second grade and varies appropriately in length and intensity by grade and subject. There is a general expectation in all grades that students will engage in reading (or being read to) for 30 minutes each night. Beyond this, the Lower School keeps homework to a reasonable amount. If you have questions or concerns regarding homework, please contact your child’s classroom or homeroom teacher.

Trask Library plays a central role in the life of the Lower School. Its mission is to promote a love of reading and to ensure that students become effective users and sharers of information and ideas. The library also serves as the site for special meetings and gatherings that take place throughout the school year and may close at times to support these programs.

Pre-K families should check with the pre-K teachers for missing items. For students in K-5, the Lost and Found is located in the Lower School, at the bottom of the ramp leading to Chigwell Close. Please help us return items to you by putting your child's name in all articles of outerwear clothing, such as jackets, sweaters, hats, and gloves, and in lunch boxes. Unclaimed items will be donated at the end of each trimester.

As we become more aware of the importance of eating nutritious food, we desire children to eat healthy food and learn to make healthy choices for themselves. This is true for all children, especially children with attentional or particular dietary needs. Typically, we have children in Lower School who are allergic to certain foods (See Health Services and Guidelines). If a child has food allergies or food sensitivities, please notify the nurse and classroom teacher. We also ask everyone in our school community to be sensitive to food allergies or sensitivities and to choose food that will not endanger any other student.

Pre-K, kindergartners, and first graders eat lunch in their classrooms. Pre-K children can bring their own lunch and snack or purchase lunch from the cafeteria. 

Students in grades 2-5 eat lunch in the school cafeteria. They may bring their lunch to school or purchase lunch from the cafeteria. Purchasing options will be shared during summer communications. 

The Religious Society of Friends has used Meeting for Worship as its central worship process since its inception nearly 400 years ago. Meeting for Worship, usually held in a community group, is a time for silent reflection based on the Quaker belief that each person communes individually with God. Meeting is held regularly at Penn Charter and is respectful of all faiths. It is marked by periods of silence or silence broken by the sharing of students’ or teachers’ thoughts. The individual and community aspects of Quaker worship, occurring together, stem from the Quaker belief that a life goal for each person is to stay true to oneself while at the same time working to be a fully responsible member of one’s community.  

While adopting these practices, Lower School Meeting is held every Wednesday, 8:30-9:00 a.m. Lower School Meeting for Worship is respectful of all faiths. Usually, in a one-month period, students in K-5 attend a combination of divisional Meeting for Worship, grade level, and Worship Sharing Meeting for Worship. Parents and caregivers will be invited to a specific Meeting for Worship with their child’s class.

Pre-K children attend Meeting for Worship once a week in their classroom.

Once a year, usually in the spring, Penn Charter has an all-school Meeting for Worship attended by every grade in the school.

Reflection, Community, Courage: Meeting for Worship in Lower School from Penn Charter on Vimeo.

The Parent Community is the parent organization at Penn Charter, working in support of our school to help make the overall experience one that is engaging, enriching, and meaningful for both parents and students alike. We use the term “parents” to include grandparents, caregivers, or anyone significantly involved in the student’s life. We help new families become acclimated and involved in school life; provide volunteers for school activities and events; sponsor and organize Parent Community events; and promote closer cooperation, understanding, and unity of spirit among parents, administrators, faculty, and staff.

The best resources for answering questions you may have about Penn Charter are your child’s classroom teacher, the administration, and the Parent Community members who have volunteered as class chairs for your child’s grade level. In addition, the Parent Community section of this website provides detailed information about the Parent Community:

• Volunteer opportunities

• Leadership and committees

• Parent Community forms

• Summaries of Parent Community Meetings

Getting Involved: Why It's Important

The Parent Community can only function through the efforts of parents who volunteer to help. We welcome your support in any way you can participate, from making donations for food or clothing drives to signing up for a 30-minute time slot at an event to serving on committees. In addition to providing needed help, volunteering is a great way to make some new friends. Please consider the opportunities and get involved in your child's school!

Each grade – except pre-K and kindergarten, which remain in classroom groups – is divided into two to three groups for special classes (art, library, music, physical education, science, Spanish, HWS, and innovation and design). The groups, which remain constant throughout the school year, are called Penns, Charters, and Quakers. Your child will be assigned to a group, and these lists are included with the class lists sent home at the end of summer.

On days that your child has Physical Education class (PE), please ensure they wear appropriate clothing and footwear for being active. 

In the Lower School, a non-graded program, student assessment is an ongoing process to give a complete, fair, and accurate view of the student’s learning progress and needs. This process includes regular classroom observations and feedback, assessments that benchmark reading progress, and end-of-chapter math assessments.

We value a developmental approach toward learning; thus, we strive to assess each student in relation to the individual progress each student is making. Progress reports are shared with families twice yearly: January and June. The reports are intended to inform parents and students about how the child progresses in each curriculum area, social-emotional development, and as a classroom community member. They are formatted as a combination of skills checklists that provide insight into a child’s progress as related to grade-level expectations and a brief narrative for each subject describing particular areas of progress, strength, or in need of development.  

In addition to the report cards, parent-teacher conferences are held in November, January, and March. Parent-teacher conferences are important to obtain a clear picture of your child’s progress and establish concise plans for future success. 

Reports are meant to give students, families, and teachers a clear reflection of a student’s progress. Reports should also assist parents in better understanding their child’s learning needs and performance and should reflect information that has been communicated throughout the school year. We strive to partner with parents and caregivers in the education of our students. Therefore, continuous communication is expected with all parents but is especially necessary before any strong or concerning report is written.

In upper grades, students will participate in a portfolio conference, where they are encouraged to reflect on their learning and partner with teachers to set goals for their future growth and development. 

School closings or delayed openings are announced on www.penncharter.com and communicated to families by email. Parents may also sign up to receive text messages. Parents may also listen to radio station KYW-1060 (school closing number 122), go online at 6abc.com or CBS3.com to check for William Penn Charter School, or call 215-844-1800 after 7:00 am to hear a recorded message for any school closing announcements. 

It is Penn Charter’s policy that once open, the school will remain open for the entire academic day. On a rare occasion, we may have an early dismissal. Parents will be notified as early as possible. School personnel will supervise all children until appropriate transportation home is arranged, either by Penn Charter bus, public school bus, or private vehicle. If snow falls and school is in session, students are not permitted to call home to request that parents pick them up from school. However, if parents feel it is necessary to pick up their children because of weather conditions, they may do so. Students will be dismissed only if there has been direct contact with a parent or caregiver and after signing out from the division's front office. A Penn Charter faculty member or administrator will be present until a parent or guardian safely picks up every student.

Penn Charter students arrive and depart from school in various ways, including public school and private (Penn Charter) buses, SEPTA buses and regional rail, and by car and carpooling. Parents need to contact the PC Business Office to arrange for public school or Penn Charter transportation.

All Lower School students who ride a bus are met by an adult when they arrive in the morning. Students will be escorted by an adult to the bus lane after school. 

Car and Carpooling
The Penn Charter Community Directory includes all families by zip code, so parents looking to carpool can reach out to families in close proximity. Carpooling is a terrific way to build community and friendships, ease parent schedules, and save energy.

Guidelines for Guest Bus Riders
If your child is registered as a rider on a bus, they may exit the bus with a friend at the friend’s stop, provided the friend is also registered on that same bus route. All transportation changes should be communicated through SchoolPass. If your child is registered to ride a public school district township bus and would like to bring a friend home, the friend must live in the same township and be registered to ride that bus. Permission notes will not be accepted under any circumstances unless both students are residents of the township.

For information about Penn Charter private buses and public school district, and township buses, click here. 

The School Store is located on the lower level of the main building, opposite the dining hall, and is open daily from 7:45 am to 3:30 pm. School supplies, athletic clothing, and gift items are available. Contact the store: 215-844-3460 ext. 143

Reflective of the Quaker belief that each person has a responsibility to the larger community, the Lower School at Penn Charter participates in service projects throughout the year. Each grade is responsible for organizing and running specific service learning projects. Traditionally, the Lower School as a whole undertakes additional projects throughout the year. 

One such project that most of the Lower School student and parent community participates in is the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service. The Lower School provides meaningful service in the Philadelphia region on this national holiday. 

A professional Lower School Wellness team works with the Lower School community (students, faculty, staff, and parents) around learning, social and emotional issues. The team partners with classroom teachers to help each child find success and is available to consult with parents.

In Lower School, the team consists of the Lower School a learning specialist, a counselor, a literacy coordinator, a math coordinator, a school nurse, an Assistant Director of Lower School, and the Director of Lower School.

Wearable digital devices that connect to Wi-Fi or cellular service must be turned off during the school day and kept in your child’s school bag. We understand that you may need to reach your child and ask that you call the front office to make sure your message is delivered to your child. Fitbits and other similar fitness tracking devices that do not have an internet connection or cellular capability are welcome.

Integrating technology and curriculum is increasingly evident in the day-to-day life of our students. Lower School students are introduced to, and use, a wide range of technology tools, including interactive whiteboards, Chromebooks, cloud computing (Google Apps for Education), iPads, digital cameras, and video recorders. As students grow and mature, their access to and use of technology tools also expands, with expectations that they will use these tools responsibly and with integrity. The Lower School IdeaLab is a place for technology skill lessons and student-designed projects. 

See our interactive campus map!