Advance Friends Select
What does Education look like? |
Largely, it no longer is a separate and distinct experience, something you encounter only within the walls of a school building. Learning doesn’t begin at 8 a.m. and end at 3 p.m. It is neither wholly inside nor outside, nor is it constrained by time. Rather, it is fluid, it is holistic, it is inextricable from life and the “outside” world. The school walls have thinned or come down altogether. Friends Select has long believed that education is not separate from the whole of life, nor is it a place outside oneself, nor is it a discrete goal pushed out for future use. Rather, it is both a series of revelatory moments and a sustained flow of self-discovery. It is present. It is opportunistic. It is now.
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Dear Friends Select Community:Advance Friends Select is the culmination of many years of an exciting, thoughtful, collaborative process undertaken by our community to reimagine an unparalleled Quaker education in the heart of Philadelphia. Educational experts believe student agency and cross-cultural competence are essential skills to thrive in a society that’s growing increasingly diverse. Our strategic plan carefully considers the many ways in which we incorporate these ideas, since there is a profound connection between them and our proud Quaker history and values. The plan calls for a more meaningful experience for Friends Select students through partnerships with educational, cultural, and commercial institutions in Center City. There is also a plan to redesign our learning spaces to further inspire and foster fun, collaboration, and creativity. Finally, the plan recognizes and emphasizes the growing resources necessary to deliver such a transformative educational experience—an investment in our faculty, staff, and students. Read it. Enjoy it. Imagine the impact we will make together in preparing future generations for the whole of life. Warmly, Michael Gary
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What does education look like? |
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At Friends Select, we redefine and practice education as the art of real and meaningful daily experience through teaching and learning that is creative, dynamic, and integrated with the world, built on a foundation of Quaker values and respectful relationships. Friends Select was born and lives in Philadelphia. We are in the city and of the city. Cities by their very nature are catalysts for creativity. Our location at the intersection of commerce and culture in Center City means we bump into each other, we leverage chance opportunities to bring down the walls, and we work across boundaries to learn and solve with greater depth. At Friends Select, we thoughtfully and deliberately design our program and our environment to take advantage of the serendipitous moments that the resources of a vibrant, international city present. Friends Select is indeed the school of choice for anyone who wants a world-class education in a world-class city, and for those who desire a foundation of active citizenship for their children. The Advance Friends Select strategic plan invites us to realize the promise of Friends Select School: to refine our holistic, well-practiced approach to teaching and learning; to capitalize on and leverage our place in and of the city through external partnerships; to rethink the use of our space; and to embrace our responsibility to build, steward, and sustain our financial resources. By accomplishing these things, we further tear down our walls so that when asked the question, “What does the school of the future look like?” we can answer confidently—it looks like Friends Select School. |
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Making Major Strides as We Advance Friends Select |
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The Advance Friends Select strategic plan is central to the mission of Friends Select School. Since 2018, this comprehensive blueprint has guided Friends Select in its advancement of four pillars: Excellence in Teaching and Learning, which includes attraction and retention of faculty and staff; Strategic Partnerships and Relationships; Use of Space and facility renovations; and Financial Sustainability and Endowment Growth. As the school looks to a future that includes continued increases in enrollment and plans for a monumental transformation of the Parkway Building’s back lot, updates to Advance Friends Select ensure the school remains at the forefront of educational and institutional excellence. In a significant development, the Friends Select board of trustees recently approved the addition of a fifth pillar to the strategic plan: Environmental Sustainability. The inclusion of this focus reflects the school's commitment to fostering environmental stewardship and sustainability in all aspects of its operations and curriculum—from educational content to food consumption to endowment growth to sources of energy generation. Aspiring to be a leader among educational institutions in urban environmental sustainability, Friends Select is committed to contributing to the improvement of the city of Philadelphia through collaboration and attention to emerging opportunities. |
The Five Pillars of Advance Friends Select
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As a Center City school rooted in more than three centuries of Quaker concerns for simplicity and stewardship, Friends Select seeks to boldly set and reach sustainability goals in every aspect of its work—from curriculum development to food consumption to endowment growth to sources of energy generation. The school is committed to contributing to the betterment of our city through collaboration and attention to emerging opportunities. As part of this pillar of our strategic plan, Friends Select will:
* This is from the project prioritization criteria for Temple University’s Green Revolving Fund. |
Already Friends Select has hired a director of equity and inclusion and a director of city curriculum. These two senior administrators work with students and families, faculty and staff, promoting cross-cultural competency and connecting the Friends Select community with the larger community of Philadelphia and our society. In addition, Friends Select has facilitated other committees such as Sustainability, City Curriculum, Student Voice and Agency, Professional Development and Ongoing Discovery, Quakerism, Wellness, Visual and Performing Arts and Athletics, and Equity and Inclusion, which reflect the school’s core principles. Friends Select continues to implement a strategic plan that:
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Currently, there are three primary areas of focus: revenue generation, programmatic and facility enhancements, and diversifying adult and student populations. Friends Select continues to implement a strategic plan that:
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The Advance Friends Select: Transformation Campaign is creating physical spaces that embody these Quaker values, providing the financial underpinning that ensures the school can continue building a diverse, inclusive, and nurturing community for generations to come. With its Transformation Campaign, Friends Select is lifting up the Ben Franklin Parkway, along with the community of educators, scholars, and leaders who call it home, to reflect an accessible educational space located in the heart of the city. This will enhance the educational experience for Friends Select students, and it expands the definition of what it means to be a learning institution that is in the city and of the city. |
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Progress has already been made with the overarching goal of developing such partnerships, including the hiring of a director of equity and inclusion and a director of city curriculum. Friends Select continues to implement a strategic plan that:
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