[A guest post written by the parent of a graduate from Chicago Friends School’s class of 2022.] It’s “afternoon pick-up” time on a sunny, autumn day. I scan the crowd as more than a thousand teens stream out of the three-story, 210,000 square foot building. A loud “thunk” announces our high schooler’s arrival as he…
Today, I pulled a teacher out into the hall while their class was working independently to check on something, and while we were chatting, one of the students came out with a vocabulary question. This student had encountered a word they were unfamiliar with in something that they were reading, and came out to get…
Throughout the month of September, in community meetings and in our Looking-glasses [4th-5th grade] meetings and journaling, we have been reflecting on community: what makes a community, how we feel in a community, the challenges of being in community, and what our responsibilities to one another are. Given the ways in which our society often…
Quakers are known for their commitment to work for peace and live in nonviolent ways. However, not every Quaker draws the line about peace in the same way.In Philadelphia, near the Liberty Bell, is an old historic Quaker Meetinghouse, erected by Quakers who were “read out” of their meetings for choosing to fight in the…
A few months ago, I was in a Zoom call with Deans of Students at various Quaker schools. One of the questions asked, to which everyone took turns responding, was basically, “What does it feel like at your school right now?” And what I said, a few months ago, was, “It feels like we’re trying…
Right now, during this Omicron surge, the question of whether schools should be in person or remote is in the news and in public debate. With the infection rate going ever higher, we have been forced to close classrooms for the first time in the pandemic. Today, the Waves are back in school, after finishing…