Transformation Campaign
BACK LOT TRANSFORMATION: CREATING THE FRIENDS SELECT GREENFriends Select School is embarking on the creation of a state-of-the-art, outdoor learning space that will revolutionize the school’s educational opportunities for all students, families, employees, and the surrounding community. In creating a dynamic open-air environment for lower, middle, and upper school, the Friends Select Green will fundamentally re-envision the Parkway Building’s back lot and playground, resulting in a multi-use, multi-level green space with endless possibilities for play, learning, socialization, collaboration, and enjoying nature. The Friends Select Green will also enhance campus security and help make the Parkway Building fully accessible, while continuing to prioritize the wellness of our community and environmental sustainability. For centuries, Friends Select has had a symbiotic relationship with Philadelphia, with the city acting as a classroom, playground, and laboratory for Friends Select students and educators. As a publicly visible component of the school’s campus, the Friends Select Green will bring the school’s continuing physical transformation to the surrounding sidewalks and streets while strengthening the connection between Friends Select and Philadelphia. By reimagining the 16th Street frontage, the school hopes to reintroduce itself to the city in a way that breaks down physical barriers and ensures that Friends Select is an institution that is in the city, of the city, and for the city. This space will provide new opportunities for engaging children and families from across the Philadelphia area and beyond.
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The creation of the Friends Select Green is moving forward with strong interest and support, and is scheduled to be completed in time for the 2027-28 school year. For this project, a team of architects from Metcalfe Architecture & Design, Studio Ludo, and OLIN incorporated thoughtful input from Friends Select students and employees to create a beautiful conceptual design that symbolizes an inclusive Quaker community. Recently, Friends Select employees chose Friends Select Green as the name that best embodies our vision for a large, multi-level space for all students and employees to enjoy. Friends Select Green also evokes William Penn’s vision for Philadelphia as a “greene country towne,” connecting Friends Select’s Quaker roots to our current values of educating students for the whole of life, along with our continued commitment to the city. Once completed, the Friends Select Green will create: • A new gatehouse and pedestrian entrance along Race Street near 16th Street, which will enhance campus security. The Friends Select Green will be the next major milestone of our Advance Friends Select: Transformation Campaign, and will align directly with all five pillars of our school’s strategic plan: financial sustainability and endowment growth; excellence in teaching and learning; use of space; strategic partnerships and relationships; and environmental sustainability. This project will also be completed by Anchor Management Group, which has successfully transformed other parts of the Parkway Building and created the upper school STEAM Building. Early support of the Friends Select Green has enabled the project to move forward—but continued support is integral to bringing this ambitious vision to fruition. For more information about the Friends Select Green, or to support the Advance Friends Select: Transformation Campaign, please contact Angela Winterrowd, Friends Select’s director of leadership gifts, at angelawi@friends-select.org. Learn more about our project by downloading our Case for Support. |
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PARKWAY CAMPUS EXPANSION PROJECT
This project has added to Friends Select's campus approximately 32,000 square feet of space on the second and third floors of the building directly adjacent to us, Three Parkway, for classrooms, gathering spaces, workspaces, conference rooms, and much more. This space is directly connected to our second floor via two new entryways between the Parkway and Three Parkway Buildings, turning our second floor into a single, enlarged loop. Meanwhile, the Parkway Campus Expansion Project has shifted our use of space in the current Parkway Building, creating many additional classrooms and gathering spaces for middle school. Completed in January 2026 by PMC Property Group, this project was overseen by Anchor Management Group. Anchor has successfully transformed other parts of the Parkway Building and created the upper school STEAM Building. They will also be working with us on the Back Lot Transformation, which is estimated to be completed for the 2027-28 school year. As with other phases of the Transformation Campaign, these projects continue to prioritize environmental sustainability.
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The Parkway Campus Expansion Project has created: • 10 new upper school classrooms in Three Parkway, with sweeping views of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. • An additional STEAM room and a multipurpose room in Three Parkway. • A new workspace in Three Parkway for all faculty and staff. • New conference rooms, offices, and storage space in Three Parkway. • Elevator access in Three Parkway to the Parkway Building’s rooftop athletic field and event space, which will be for Friends Select’s use only. • Additional gender-neutral restroom access from the rooftop athletic field to the third floor of Three Parkway. • Many more available classrooms in the Parkway Building for middle school, by transforming current upper school classrooms on the second floor. • Additional spaces in the Parkway Building for lower school instructional specialists to work with students and teachers. • Additional music rooms and practice spaces in the Parkway Building for students of all divisions. • Lastly, the Parkway Campus Expansion Project has addressed several goals of the Back Lot Transformation, including elevator access to the Parkway Building roof, gender-neutral restrooms, and providing 32,000 square feet of additional space to accommodate our growing student population. For more than 330 years, Friends Select has provided unparalleled educational opportunities for generations of students in keeping with the Quaker testimonies of simplicity, peace, integrity, community, equity and justice, and stewardship. 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. For more information about supporting the Parkway Campus Expansion Project and the Advance Friends Select: Transformation Campaign, please contact Angela Winterrowd, Friends Select’s director of leadership gifts, at angelawi@friends-select.org
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Additional Projects
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As part of the Advance Friends Select: Transformation Campaign, Friends Select’s new upper school STEAM Building and recently transformed Parkway Building reflect our commitments to excellence in teaching and learning, our community, and the city of Philadelphia. Friends Select’s newly transformed STEAM Building and Parkway Building were:
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