Holistic Approach

Learning Support

In the lower school, we know that young children are busy learning and growing in many areas. We expect that children will come to school with a range of skills and experiences. At various times in their learning process, many of our students benefit from additional support in building important foundational skills to become confident readers, writers, and students.  

While differentiation is embedded in the daily life of each classroom, our two full-time learning specialists also work with children in small groups. Through systematic instruction and careful observation, we are responsive to each individual child’s strengths and areas of need and build the skills necessary for success across all areas of the curriculum.

Social-Emotional Support

At Friends Select, our lower school seeks to develop the whole child, which includes nurturing the social and emotional development of our students. We believe that children learn best when they have an environment to learn and explore the skills needed to develop a strong sense of self and feel empowered in their emotional growth and identity.

As part of the student support team, the lower school counselor attends grade-team meetings to consult and advise about student issues that may arise, and provides details and consideration on how best to support individual students in the classroom and the lower school community as a whole.

In the classroom, teachers work alongside the lower school counselor to introduce themes such as identity development, identification of emotions, perspective-taking, conflict resolution, and coping strategies to navigate the different emotions they experience in and out of the classroom. Students also have the opportunity to work in small groups and individually with the lower school counselor to practice and strengthen the skills they are learning in a more intimate setting. 

Wellness Program

The Friends Select Wellness Program, now in its eighth year, engages the school’s community and the general public about mental health and other wellness issues. It is spearheaded by Natan Gottesman, Ph.D., the school’s psychologist, and Chris Singler, upper school director. The program provides information, strategies, support, and resources to students, faculty, and families in the Friends Select community and beyond. Through speaking events, presentations, and participatory activities, the program increases awareness of issues that can affect student learning and well-being, such as mental health challenges, learning styles, peer relationships, social media and internet use, academic pressures, the college application process, and current events.

During the 2023-24 school year, Friends Select offered access to a series of Child Development and Parenting Webinars, sponsored by the Pennsylvania Association of Independent Schools (PAIS) and the Independent Schools Association of the Central States (ISACS). Friends Select’s Wellness support team followed these webinars with a series of companion conversations, each one customized to provide parents, caregivers, faculty, and staff an opportunity to gather, discuss, and process the learning from these lectures. 

The Wellness Program is made possible by the generous and thoughtful support of Jeff Abrams and Margaret Barry P ’15, ’16. They continue to support the Wellness Program for students, faculty/staff, families, and the community, in recognition of the creative and compassionate energy that Molly Patterson Ed.D. and Natan Gottesman, Ph.D. have brought to the program since its inception to help it grow and respond to the needs of the Friends Select community.

Make a gift to the Wellness Program