The Lower School is "Feeding Friends in February!" LS families are asked to help support the Media Food Bank by bringing in non-perishable items. See the Lower School News section for details. Thank you for your support!

Lower School News

Message from Kelly Pierre

Thank you to the families who joined me for the Principal's Coffee on Tuesday. I look forward to seeing many Nursery-gr. 1 families at the 2/13 Coffee! On Tuesday, I invited faculty representatives from Lower, Middle, & Upper School to talk about the arc of science instruction at FCS. Their slides can be seen here. On 2/13, representatives from all three divisions will talk about math instruction at FCS. Their slides will be included in next week's JTF. I welcome all of you to look through both slideshows and contact me or the faculty members present directly to ask any follow-up questions that you may have.

The clear and common thread through my remarks and those of my colleagues was that our Mission & Vision Statements inspire everything we do with our students. Preparing our students to be leaders that peacefully transform the world is a tall order and one we take seriously. In helping our students to understand the difference between a question and a query, we continue the Quaker tradition of posing queries as spiritual challenges on order to advance the thinking of the group. Queries posed by teachers unveil new truths and perspectives and elevate the thinking of our classroom communities. I have included a few queries that inform our thinking as Lower School administrators. At the Lower School, we are striving to strike a balance between teaching the hard, measurable skills and providing our students with robust tool boxes and creating independent and creative thinkers. The program is rooted in a commitment to thematic learning and teaching the Quaker testimonies and looking forward in order to provide our students with the skills they will need to thrive. For all of us, it is crucial that our students' learning becomes the foundation from which they go forth and lead lives of purpose.

Two activists/authors have visited FCS in the last week; they are models of people leading lives of purpose. Marley Dias, when she was she was just 11 years old, launched a campaign called #1000BlackGirlBooks to promote books that feature a black girl as the main character. She is now the author of Marley Dias Gets it Done - And So Can You. Paula Young Shelton, author of Child of the Civil Rights Movement, left the north with her family to return to the south in order to join the Civil Rights Movement. She shared memories of listening in on meetings her parents had with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and others and marching with her family from Selma to Montgomery. Both of these activist/authors relayed that no individual acts alone, that it is important to stand up and speak out against injustice, and that this work is everyone's responsibility, not just the work of those negatively affected.

The Lower School is "Feeding Friends in February"
We're asking families to help support the Media Food Bank by bringing in non-perishable items from our Top 10 food list. Most needed: breakfast cereals, pancake mix, canned fruit, crackers, rice, peanut butter, jelly, condiments (ketchup, mustard, BBQ sauce, mayonnaise, salad dressings, olive/vegetable oil, syrup, salt & pepper), coffee & tea, powdered or soy milk. Donations can be brought in next week until Thursday, Feb. 15. The Service Committee chose the Media Food Bank because it was so important to former librarian Jean Taranta, who recently passed away. Your donations will make a difference to many local families. Questions? Contact Sue Borrero or Janet Bowker.

LS Parent and Special Friend Mornings & Principal Coffees

Parent & Special Friend Morning for Pre-K, K, and grade 1 will begin at 9 am in the classroom, followed by participation in one of the special classes (art, music, science, Spanish, and physical education), Meeting for Worship, and activities with your child's teacher(s). Refreshments will be served in the cafeteria throughout the morning.

• Pre-K, K, and grade 1 - Tuesday, Feb. 13, 9-11 am, preceded by coffee with the Principal starting at 8:15 am; Kelly Pierre, LS Principal, will give an update on the exciting things happening at Lower School.
• Nursery parents are welcome to join us for coffee with Kelly at 8:15 am.

Phoenix Press Issue #4 is Out!
Click here to read the February 9 issue of Phoenix Press. Great job by the grade 5 Phoenix Press student team!

Light Lab Blog
Visit the Light Lab blog, FCS Quaker Makers, for all the latest on Light Lab projects and activities - with a recent post about the Light Lab Solarium! 

Grade 3 Movie Night Tonight at 6 pm!
Please come in the gym door and go down to the Meeting Room to drop off pillows and stuffed animals. Then come up to the cafeteria for pizza dinner. Despicable Me 3 is at 6:30 pm. See you tonight!

LS Book Fair - Feb. 26-28; Family Night Tuesday, Feb. 27

During the three days of Book Fair, the Meeting Room is transformed into a colorful, fun pop-up bookstore.

• Book Fair relies on Parent Volunteers to set up the bookstore, cashier, and breakdown the fair on Wednesday. Please consider volunteering. It's fun to see our children and fun to be together! Click here to volunteer.
• Each child will have the opportunity to visit the Book Fair with their class for 30 minutes to select books to buy. Parents are strongly encouraged to visit with their children to help guide them through the Fair. Click here for the visiting schedule. If you're unable to visit with your child, they'll bring home a list of books they'd like to purchase.
• Questions? Contact Book Fair Chairs Julie Ragatz-Norton or Emma Staton

LETTUCE FEED YOU 

Monday, 2/12: Tomato bisque, grilled cheese sandwich & tossed salad

Tuesday, 2/13: Baked potato tacos w/ trimmings galore & sliced veggies

Wednesday, 2/14: Pasta bar w/ choice of red/alfredo/pesto & garlic bread, salad
Thursday, 2/15: Grass-fed hamburgers w/ organic french fries, salad

Friday, 2/16: Faculty In-Service Day (no classes)

The Middle School enjoyed a fantastic Book Fair this week!

Middle School News

Coming Up! Middle & Upper School Dance Performance on 2/14

Join us this coming Wednesday, Feb. 14 at 7 pm at The Performance Garage (1515 Brandywine Street, Philadelphia, PA 19130) for the Middle & Upper School Dance Performance!

Grade 8 Families - Middle School Yearbook Ads Available Online
Grade 8 families - create ads in honor of your 8th grader's last year in Middle School. Create your ad online using Jostens' online ad creation tool: choose which ad size, how many photos you want to include, customize, and pay for the ad online. Entries due in February. Download the flyer here. We look forward to capturing all the important moments for your child's special book.

FCS MS Swimming Breaks Records!

Congrats to the Middle School Swimming Team, who broke two more school records this week in their meet against Waldron Mercy: 200 Medley Relay and 100 Freestyle Relay! Great job 8th graders Holden Kopcsik, Ethan Cohen, Hugh Shields, and Spencer Thorne!

Congrats to our Middle School History Bee Qualifiers! 

Congratulations to Alec Plante, Dev Gupta, Emilio Ovalle, and Theo Dankoff, who qualified for the Regional Finals of the National History Bee, which takes place at FCS on April 19! 

Last week, alumnus Andrew Scharff '95 joined the Upper School drama students for a clowning workshop in advance of their production of Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors, which takes place on March 2-3!

Upper School News

Message from the Upper School Office

Thanks to the ice and the Eagles, it has been a high-spirited but fractured week here in the Upper School. After the shocked euphoria of the big win -- it finally happened! -- on Monday, we had a relatively normal Tuesday and, after a delay, Friday. Mike Blanche, who is doing drug and alcohol education with our students this year, met with grades 9 & 10 in assembly today to begin that process. He will be returning in the next two weeks to meet with students in smaller, class-sized groups to continue his work. Grades and reports were also released on Friday. Students and parents with questions or concerns about an academic matter are kindly asked to contact the classroom teacher directly. This week ends tomorrow (Saturday) with Coffee House, our annual, Student Council-organized opportunity for students to share their talents with the community in a friendly, low-key setting. Thanks to Student Council for making it happen!

Next week brings two revisit days for newly admitted students and our rising 9th graders on Monday and Thursday. We look forward to welcoming these eager young learners. On Valentine's Day, always a highlight in the Upper School, we will celebrate the annual Laurie Fox Bake Sale and listen as singing Valentines are delivered throughout the day by our a capella groups. For those new to the Upper School, Laurie Fox was the Upper School secretary in 2011 when she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, which proved to be fatal. Laurie loved FCS and our students, who gravitated toward her warmth and generosity. She was especially aware of the hidden costs of full participation in the world of the Upper School: prom tickets, yearbooks, field trips, art supplies, etc. Upon her death, she left her retirement funds to Friends' Central, where they form the nucleus of the scholarship her family established in her name, the scholarship that is added to each year by a bake sale and the proceeds from the singing valentines, generously donated by the students. We thank all in the community for supporting these efforts.

Senior Project: Parents of seniors are asked to encourage their children to begin or continue their work on Senior Project, which will be here before we know it. As of now, many 12th graders are a bit behind in their planning or reporting.

FCS is this year's partner school for the Philabundance "Spread the Love" campaign! 

From now until Friday, Feb. 23, Upper School homerooms are collecting jars of peanut and other nut butters, plus non-nut protein packed spreads such as SunButter (made from sunflower seeds). Homerooms that collect the most will receive a special treat! If you wish to donate jars of nut/non-nut spreads not with a particular homeroom, please bring them to the donation drop in FCC 101. The student Service Committee will also be raising money for Philabundance at a bake sale to be held at the 2/10 Coffee House. Students who bring a jar to Coffee House will receive a free snack from us there! Help us spread the love!

Upper School Coffee House Tomorrow - Feb. 10 at 7 pm

Student Council will host the annual Coffee House for Upper School students tomorrow, Saturday, Feb. 10 at 7 pm. This showcase night will feature student performances of music, poetry, dance, and comedy, along with hot chocolate coffee and baked goods. ​This event was postponed from Feb. 3. 

Looking Ahead to College for Grade 10 - Feb. 13 at 7 pm 
Tenth grade parents are invited to the College Counseling evening program, Looking Ahead to College on Tuesday, Feb. 13 at 7 pm. Please join Ryan Coffey Keaton and Grant Calder in the Shallcross Hall Meeting Room for a presentation about college admission.

Laurie Fox Scholarship Bake Sale - Wednesday, Feb. 14

On Valentine's Day, the Upper School is holding their 7th annual Laurie Fox Scholarship Bake Sale. We encourage everyone in our community to bake something for the event (contributions can be sent in with your child in the morning) and to patronize the sale, which takes place in the Rexeteria and the OPA room. More details in the Message from the Upper School Office above.

Coming Up! Middle & Upper School Dance Performance on 2/14

Join us this coming Wednesday, Feb. 14 at 7 pm at The Performance Garage (1515 Brandywine Street, Philadelphia, PA 19130) for the Middle & Upper School Dance Performance!

Senior Ads
Yearbook recognition ads are a great way for parents, families, and friends to commemorate student achievements and important milestones. Revenues from recognition ads also help us to create a better yearbook. To purchase your ad online, follow the instructions on this form. Jostens is managing our yearbook ad sales so please do not contact or send materials to the school. Please read thread content guidelines on the bottom of this form during the creation of your ad online. All ad orders must be placed online by the end of next week (2/16).

Grade 11 Parent Gathering - POSTPONED

Please stay tuned for the new date.