William Penn Charter School

The William Penn Charter School for boys and girls

William Penn Charter School is an independent school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, founded by William Penn in 1689; it is the oldest Quaker school in the world, and the fifth oldest elementary school of any type in the United States. Today, William Penn Charter School enrolls boys and girls in pre-kindergarten through 12th grade. The school motto, taken from one of Penn's writings, is "Good instruction is better than Riches."

History

The "Charter" in the school's name does not, as it might be assumed, mean that it is a charter school. Rather, it is a reference to the historic document that was signed by William Penn to establish the first Quaker school in America. Penn Charter is one of the Quaker schools that were among the first to offer education to all religions (1689), offer financial aid (1701), offer education for girls (1754), and offer education for all races (1770). Originally located on the east side of Fourth Street below Chestnut, the school officially consolidated in 1874 as an all-boys college preparatory school at 12th and Market Streets. Penn Charter moved to its current forty-four acre East Falls campus in 1925. In 1980 the school became co-educational in principle by allowing girls to continue past the second grade. In 1992 the first co-ed class graduated from Penn Charter. It is considered to be an exclusive private school in terms of admission criteria.

The only grade schools in the United States that are older, are The Collegiate School (1628), Boston Latin School (1635), Hartford Public High School (1638), and Roxbury Latin (1645).

Traditions

While the school is not under the care of a formal monthly Meeting, in keeping with the school's Quaker heritage, the Overseers, a board of 21 trustees established by William Penn, still governs the affairs of the school through Quaker consensus. Anne Marble Caramanico is clerk of the Overseers. All students attend a weekly Meeting for Worship. Faculty meetings and all-school assemblies and some classes begin with a moment of silence. Service learning is integral to the school and incorporated in the pre-K to 12 curriculum. To earn an activity credit, many Upper School students complete 40 hours of community service a year; a van of students leaves the campus after school every day to perform community service in various locations of Philadelphia.

Color Day, celebrated on the Friday before Memorial Day, is a tradition in which two teams sporting the school's colors, blue and yellow, compete against each other in playful contests, concluding with a 12th grade rope pull.

Student body

Enrollment exceeds 950 students; students reside in more than 100 ZIP codes in Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties in Pennsylvania and Burlington, Camden, and Gloucester counties in New Jersey. More than 23 percent of students enrolled identify themselves as students of color. More than 30 percent of the students receive need-based financial aid. In any given year, 100 percent of graduates go to a college within one year. Of more than 125 faculty members, approximately 70 percent hold advanced degrees.

Activities

The school newspaper, The Mirror, is the oldest secondary school student newspaper in the United States, having been published since 1777. The Quakers Dozen is the school's most-selective co-ed a cappella group: during the last week of classes before the winter recess, the group greets the community in the morning with holiday music on the Senior Steps.

In the summer months the school runs a very popular day camp for children of all ages that offers activities like swimming, tennis, archery, computers, team sports, art, music, a talent show and an end-of-camp fair. It also hosts enrichment activities for its own students as well as a number of special programs for area public middle and high school students.

Sports

Penn Charter shares the nation's oldest continuous football rivalry with Germantown Academy, celebrated every year with PC/GA Day. Penn Charter is a member of the Inter-Academic League (Inter-Ac), the nation's oldest high school league.

Campus

On the 44-acre (180,000 m²) campus, the three divisions of the school (Lower, Middle, and Upper Schools) have their own buildings; all classrooms are equipped with SMART Board interactive whiteboards. The campus has four art studios, a darkroom, and a film-editing lab; various computer labs and mobile laptop carts; a new state-of-the-art performing arts center with separate band and choral spaces, recording studios and a 650-seat theater; nine science labs, all with Smart Boards, WiFi access, and gigabit LAN. Athletic facilities include nine playing fields, including a synthetic turf field, seven tennis courts, new squash courts, a synthetic six-lane oval track and five-lane straightway, a wrestling facility, a six-lane competitive swimming pool, three gymnasiums, and a field house equipped with a state-of-the-art training facility and fitness room.

Leadership

After 31 years as Head of School, Earl J. Ball III retired in June 2007. Darryl J. Ford, former director of the Penn Charter Middle School, was appointed as Head of School, by the Board of Overseers after conducting a national search. Dr. Ford is the school's first African American head of school.

Notable alumni

Education and Academia:

• Henry Joel Cadbury, OPC '99 (1899), Quaker scholar, teacher, Harvard Divinity chair 1934-54
• J. Presper Eckert, OPC '37, University of Pennsylvania researcher, computer pioneer, co-creator of the world's first electronic computer, ENIAC
• David W. Oxtoby, President of Pomona College and Professor of Chemistry. (July 2003 - )
• David Riesman, OPC '26, former Harvard University sociology professor, lawyer, author of sociology classic The Lonely Crowd.

Government and Public Service:

• Charles Gwynne Douglas, III, OPC '60, former Supreme Court Justice from the state of New Hampshire, former US Congressman[1]
• Joseph M. "Joe" Hoeffel, OPC '68, Pennsylvania 13th District Congressman
• Endicott Peabody, former Governor of Massachusetts, member of the College Football Hall of Fame (defense for Harvard). [2]
• Grover C. Richman, Jr., U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey (1951-1953) and New Jersey Attorney General (1954-1958)

Business and Industry:

• Pierre S. DuPont OPC '1886, industrialist, philanthropist, and educational visionary, DuPont Corporation director, one-time Chairman of General Motors.
• Irénée DuPont OPC '1892, DuPont Corporation Director.[3]
• Lammot DuPont OPC '1892, DuPont Corporation Director.^{[citation needed]}
• Howard Head, OPC ’32, founder of Head Ski Company & Prince Manufacturing Inc. 1914-1991
• Richard B Fisher, OPC '53, chairman emeritus of Morgan Stanley

Science and Medicine:

• Crawford H. Greenewalt, OPC '18, chemist, head of DuPont Corp. '48-'67, developed nylon fabrics.^{[citation needed]}

Entertainment and the Arts:

• William Guttentag, OPC '75, Academy Award winning filmmaker^[1]
• John S. Kalinger, OPC '92, Philanthropist and Tony Award Winning Choreographer^{[citation needed]}
• Richard Lester, director of The Beatles' films A Hard Day's Night, and Help!
• Robert Picardo, OPC '71, The Doctor on Star Trek: Voyager^[2]
• David Sirota, OPC '94, The New York Times Bestselling author, journalist, and political strategist
• J.C. Spink, OPC '90, Golden Globe-nominated producer of A History of Violence^[3]

Sports and Athletics:

• Chris Albright, OPC ’97, current MLS and US National Team soccer player
• Sean Singletary, OPC '04, University of Virginia and Charlotte Bobcats point guard
• Rubén Amaro, Jr., OPC '83, former Philadelphia Phillies player and current Phillies General Manager
• David Berkoff, OPC ’84, Olympic medalist in swimming
• Bobby Convey, '98 (did not graduate), MLS and US National Soccer Team player
• Mark Gubicza, OPC '81, former pitcher for the Kansas City Royals
• John B. Kelly, Jr., OPC ’45, brother of Grace Kelly, Olympic medalist and former president of the U.S. Olympic committee
• John Robert "Jack" Meyer, OPC '50, former pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies
• David Montgomery, OPC '64, President of the Philadelphia Phillies[4]
• Browning Nagle, '86 (did not graduate), quarterback for NY Jets, Indianapolis Colts, and Atlanta Falcons
• Tony Resch, OPC '81, former professional lacrosse player, current coach, and NLL Hall of Fame inductee
• Matt Ryan, OPC '03, quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons ^[4]
• Rob Kurz, OPC '04, Power Forward for the Cleveland Cavaliers^[5]
• Anthony McDevitt, OPC '03, Duke University Lacrosse Player ^[6]

Military:

• Colonel Raynal Cawthorne Bolling, OPC '96 (1896), the first high-ranking U.S. officer to be killed in combat in World War I
• General Frederick F. Woerner, Jr., OPC '51, former Commander-in-Chief, United States Southern Command (1987–1989)
• Colonel Douglas Macgregor PhD., is a retired American senior military officer and author.

References

External links

• William Penn Charter School

Coordinates: 40°01′20″N 75°11′11″W / 40.0222°N 75.1864°W / 40.0222; -75.1864