One of our traditions at Chicago Friends School is that each classroom makes its own class rules at the beginning of the year. This practice starts with students stating goals for their year, and then discussing what kind of learning and classroom environment they need to reach these goals. After our middle school classroom devised…
Ed note: As we start a new school year, I thought that new parents might want to read this meditation about the mission of the school that also featured in last year’s newsletter. Why does Chicago Friends School exist? What are we trying to do? We are trying to make students who will make a…
I recently had lunch with another school head from the neighborhood, who was asking me about managing fear following the terrible shooting that occurred two weeks ago today near the school. I talked to her about my own fear – as a private individual who both works and lives in Edgewater, am I afraid, and…
On Thursday, Feb 1, I attended a vigil to remember the three high school students who were shot within yards of the front door of Chicago Friends School. I did not speak at the vigil but spent some time afterwards wishing I had had the presence of mind to speak about Quaker commitment to the…
It happened so quickly. There was a ward meeting about the possibility of sheltering migrants at a local park center in July, and by August 1 there were hundreds of migrants moving into a shelter steps away from our school. These families with children had made the arduous, almost 3000-mile journey across MesoAmerica and had…
On Monday, students in grades 3-8 will be taking the El down to Daley Plaza to participate in the citywide celebration of United Nations Peace Day. This is a tradition we have participated in since 2018. Students make their own peace signs, travel to the El, and participate in the call for peace, a ceremony…