Issuu

The Magazine of Friends’ Central School

18:1 Fall 2026

Quaker Works

IN THE FCS ARCHIVES

COMMENCEMENT

ALUMNI/AE WEEKEND 2026

Current Students Connect With Their Depression-Era Counterparts

Celebrating the Class of 2026

A Celebration of Connection & Community

Quaker Works THE MAGAZINE OF FRIENDS’ CENTRAL SCHOOL Head of School Beth Davis Johnson ’77 Editor Clare Luzuriaga Director of Communications

O N T H E C OV E R Morgan Atkins ’26 and her classmates process to the Commencement ceremony in June 2026.

2026-2027 BOARD OF TRUSTEES James C. Wright, Clerk David Fryman, Co-Vice Clerk Seth Goldblum, Treasurer Karen Horikawa ’77, Co-Vice Clerk Juan Jewell ’68, Recording Clerk LiRon Anderson-Bell Natalie Aronson Cooper ’05 Earl Ball Quinn Bauriedel Liz Cohen ’83 Liza Ewen J. Wilson Felter Bill Georges ’88 Jackie Guynn ’89 Jon Harris Anja Hilliard Charles King ’80 Emma Lapsansky-Werner Jeff Markovitz Mary McCabe Aaron Selkow ’88 Tom Tritton Jamie Unkefer ’83 Barbara M. Cohen, Emerita Ken Dunn, Emeritus G. Craig Lord, Emeritus Ann Satterthwaite, Emerita Joanna Haab Schoff '51, Emerita Koji Shimada, Emeritus Gardner Hendrie '50, Honorary Trustee

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Contributors Lydia A. Martin Assistant Head of School for Communications, Enrollment, and Strategic Initiatives Katherine Padover Associate Director of Communications Alba Kupa Digital Media & Marketing Manager Frankie Zelnick Institutional Data Manager & Registrar Melissa DiNofia-Bozzone Senior Director of Advancement Yasmine Fillmore Director of Alumni/ae Engagement Hillel Hoffmann Senior Advancement Director, External Relations Peter Boyer Associate Advancement Director, Major Gifts Cary Snider ’11 Major Gifts Officer Jennifer Chu Director of the Friends' Central Fund Matt Thorsheim Advancement Associate Janice Leavy Advancement Assistant Grant Calder Archivist Photography Michael Branscom, Polina Bulman, Jebb Chagan, Alison Dunlap, Jay Gorodetzer Photography, Peter Hu '27, Kristi Kallam, Alba Kupa, Clare Luzuriaga, Alice McBee, Lilian Nelson, Katherine Padover, Paola Nogueras, Lee Payton, Taylor Salvitti, Deborah Skapik, Mark Tassoni, Tessa Wrice, Patricia Zaradic, Frankie Zelnick Layout Clare Luzuriaga We welcome any comments, letters, photographs, and suggestions for future issues. Please send all to communications@friendscentral.org. Friends’ Central School 1101 City Avenue, Wynnewood, PA 19096 communications@friendscentral.org Connect with us on social media linkedin.com/school/friends'-central-school instagram.com/friendscentralschool Read past issues of Quaker Works at friendscentral.org/publications PLEASE RECYCLE

F E AT U R E S

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Moving up In Fifth & Eighth Grades

Ruba Abdelgalil ’26 Named 2026 Coca-Cola Scholar

A Multi-Decade Exchange Program Continues to Flourish

In the Archives: Current Students Connect With Their Depression-Era Counterparts

FCS Alumna Receives Stanford University's Sterling Award

Phoenix Rising: Reimagined Fitness Center to Open This Fall

Conversations With Friends: Meet FCS Donor Gerard Lam ’95

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A Wide Range of Professional Development for FCS Faculty This Summer

Commencement 2026 Alumni/ae Weekend 2026

D E PA R T M E N TS

Alumni/ae Weekend 2026 was a wonderful community celebration. For a full recap of the day, see page 34!

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Opening Comments Letter from the Head of School

Campus Log Visitors to Campus Athletic News

Letter from the Head of School Dear Friends, Welcome to Quaker Works fall 2026, where we look back on spring and summer 2026 at FCS – and what a spring and summer it was! We continued our celebration of 100 Years in Wynnewood. A highlight … the planting of three trees. After they dug the holes – Nature Nursery students at one site, the Class of 2026 at another, and alumni/ae during Alumni/ae Weekend at a third – they deposited their notes of well-wishes that will nourish the trees as they grow. Our Upper School robotics team qualified for the FIRST® Robotics World Championships in Houston in late April. It was a triumph and a culmination of four years of team work, skill, and hard work, facilitated by excellent coaches in our Audrie Gardham Ulmer ’37 Center for Innovation and Design (CID), the state-of-the-art home base for our robotics teams. The Middle School robotics team also had a banner year, and I am excited to see the ways our newly rising ninth graders will contribute to the team this year. Our Varsity girls’ basketball team blazed through their competition to become Pennsylvania state champions this spring. Incredibly, the team accomplished this feat without a single senior. We can’t wait to see what the coming year holds in store for the team. Read more about our outstanding student-athletes and their achievements in FCS Athletics news on page 22. Yes, we are so proud of these and many other successes of our students and alumni/ae on the national and international stage. We’re equally proud of the many achievements that happened in our classrooms, art studios, stages, and athletic fields this spring, where we saw students of all grade levels shining. Campus Log, beginning on page 4, provides a sample of the many great things that happened this spring on campus and beyond. We celebrated moments of transition, honoring our fifth and eighth grade students on the last day of school at their respective Meeting for Leaving ceremonies. See page 10 for more about both events. Commencement, Friends’ Central’s biggest transition of all, was another powerful moment for our community, the culmination of events celebrating our seniors. Read all about the beautiful ceremony for the Class of 2026 on page 28. Please also enjoy our Alumni/ae Weekend 2026 recap on page 34. A large number of alums attended, and it was thrilling to come together to share our love for Friends’ Central School! As our celebration of 100 Years in Wynnewood comes to a close, the future of Friends’ Central is bright! I welcome seeing many of you at school this fall. Please stop by and admire our beautiful new turf fields on the City Avenue campus! Kind regards,

Beth D. Johnson ’77 Head of School

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We celebrated the outstanding Class of 2026 at Commencement in June. For a full recap of the day, see page 28.

FALL 2026

Campus Log

A snapshot of some of the many activities, competitions, and achievements of spring 2026 • Visit friendscentral.org for more news.

2 1. I n a cross-grade collaboration, Upper School students who were studying portraiture photographed each third grader. The result was a powerful and beautiful collaboration that honored individuality and self-expression. 2. T he Nature Nursery Goldenrods got busy making their own musical instruments in the Light Lab in March.

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3. U pper School students in Design Thinking Class presented prototypes of their ideal classrooms in March at a "SharkTank" pitch event in the CID; the projects were judged at the end. 4. I n April, first graders and family members went on their annual field trip to the Merion Meeting House. The visitors were greeted by Stephanie Glass and her son, Gray ’34, who led them through an engaging tour exploring the history of the Merion Meeting House and Quaker values.

5. B ella Robinson ’29 taught physics to fourth grade students as part of her Upper School service days in April. 6. I n March, Kindergarten B invited friends and families to "take a little trip to the Amazon." The students had researched rainforest animals and products and were excited to share what they had learned and practice their presentations skills. 7. T hanks to the Home & School Association and the many parent and caregiver volunteers, Lower School Book Fair in March was another big success. 8. F or their 2026 Earth Day of Service, the entire Middle School engaged in a day of programming, beginning with an informational assembly and followed by a trip to Rolling Hill Park for a morning of service and stewardship. Students cleaned and prepped gardens, removing invasive species and planting seedlings.

CA M P U S LO G

8 9. S eventh and eighth grade Latin students had some fantastic projects on display this spring at their Forum Romanum in March. 10. A t the Upper School Physics Phest in April, students presented their unique projects demonstrating how physics plays a role in their lives. This year's projects included an examination of how snakes move, how cymbals ring, and whether a guitar tone can shatter glass! 11. S tudents showed their FCS school spirit at Lower School Blue-Gray day in May, as they participated in games and many fun activities. 12. T here were some incredibly creative projects in this spring's Middle School Mini Courses, including this piece created in the CID in "Mobile Magic." 13. I n May, sixth grade held their annual Poetry Day in Linton Gym,

with students reciting their original poems to classmates. 14. S eventh grade health class went on a field trip to the Deaver Wellness Farm in May. The students learned about food security, farming, and composting. They also had an opportunity to enjoy homemade potato salad made with fresh herbs like dill and cilantro picked from the farm! 15. T he eighth grade traveled to Washington, D.C. in March. They spent two days and one night exploring our nation's capitol, visiting the National Museum of African American History and Culture, Arlington National Cemetery, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the National Air and Space Museum, and many other places. 16. I n April, third graders successfully launched rockets they had meticulously built over several weeks in science class.

FALL 2026

FCS on the Stage

CAPPIE WIN FOR OLWYN Congratulations to Olwyn Palumbos ’26, who won Best Comic Actor in a Female Role in a Musical at this year's Cappies Gala. In a strong year for the School, eight FCS students were nominated for Cappies!

MIDDLE SCHOOL PLAYWRIGHTS IN PROGRESS In April, Middle School actors took the stage for a fantastic production of Playwrights in Progress, the annual Middle School theatrical event featuring performances of eighth grade students' original plays.

MIDDLE SCHOOL SPRING CONCERT

UPPER SCHOOL CELEBRATION OF THE ARTS

The Middle School Spring Concert in May showcased outstanding performances by the orchestra, jazz ensemble, and chorus.

Taking place across two evenings in April, the Upper School Celebration of the Arts included an exhibition of visual arts in the Shallcross gallery, a Choral Concert, and an Instrumental Concert.

KINDERGARTEN-GRADE 2 SPRING CONCERT

LOWER SCHOOL CELEBRATION OF ARTS & MUSIC

Students in Kindergarten, grade 1, and grade 2 shared their musical talents at their fantastic concert in early May.

In May, the beautiful art of Nursery to fifth grade was on display throughout the Lower School, and third-fifth grades held their fabulous spring concert.

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CA M P U S LO G ABIGAIL GREENBERG ’27 IS MAIN LINE STUDENT OF THE WEEK Congratulations to Abigail Greenberg ’27 on being named Main Line Student of the Week in March by Main Line Times & Suburban. Abigail is an outstanding student and a highly active member of the FCS community, holding multiple leadership roles and engaged with a wide range of extracurricular activities. Beyond FCS, Abigail is a violist with the Delaware Youth Orchestra, a volunteer with the Tiger Woods Foundation, and has worked as a lifeguard over the summer. A talented writer, Abigail recently won a gold medal for creative writing in the Philadelphia Arts in Education Partnership (PAEP) Scholastic Art & Writing Awards.

THE LIGHTNING THIEF This year's grade 9 & 10 play, performed in May, was The Lightning Thief, adapted from the book by Rick Riordan. A resounding success, the production brought together the talents of Upper School students across the grades.

FCS SINGERS ON THE PROFESSIONAL STAGE

This summer, Tika Nasta '27 was a soloist for the Philadelphia Girls Choir on a five-city, five-concert tour in Japan and Mount Fuji. Tika also sang at the National Youth Opera Academy in Santa Fe, NM in a production of The Odyssey.

10 members of the US Chorus (pictured below) participated in a residency with choral composer and conductor Eric Whitacre in April, culminating in a concert at Carnegie Hall. They were part of a large ensemble, singing the music of Eric Whitacre and other contemporary choral composers. The event was organized through Distinguished Concerts International New York (DCINY).

UPPER SCHOOL ANNUAL WRITING CONTEST WINNERS In May, the Upper School English Department was proud to announce the winners, runners-up, and writers earning honorable mention in the annual writing contests! For the Ramsey Award for Prose: Winner Jane Bond ’28 for “Forever,” Runner up Silas Costa ’27 for “But I Know Gold Can Stay,” and Honorable Mentions to Leah Mainland ’27 for “Saltblood” and Ella Anderson ’26 for “Untitled.” For the inaugural Laurie Novo Poets and Playwrights Prize: Winner Mia Martin ’29 for "The Park Bench," Runner up Leah Mainland ’27 for poetry, and Honorable Mentions for poetry to Ana Mora ’26 and Beatrice Damrauer ’27. Congratulations, writers!

DECA ACCOLADES In late April, FCS DECA traveled to Atlanta, GA for the final competition of the year, the International Career Development Conference. Silas Costa ’27 was a finalist for the Marketing Communication Series, finishing in the top 10. He appeared on the big screen at the Mercedes Benz Stadium! Gemma Chiang ’27 and Shane Heinzenknecht ’27 were also in attendance.

Shane, Silas, and Gemma at the DECA competition in Atlanta

FALL 2026

It was an outstanding season for the Upper School Earthquakers Robotics team, who continue to build on the team's successes over the four years since the program began. The team won the FIRST® Robotics Competition Philadelphia District Event this spring! They also broke the Mid-Atlantic high score and garnered an award for excellence in engineering. The Earthquakers are currently ranked sixth in the Mid-Atlantic district, and they qualified to attend the World Championship in Houston in late spring – a first for the team and a culmination of all they had worked so hard to achieve.

Fifth graders showcased their fabulous space-themed robots at their Robotics Fair in April.

Seventh graders, working in groups, designed and built their own rovers to complete the annual spring "missions on Mars" project. The students presented their innovative projects at their "mission control stations" in Middle School Room 10 in May. Eighth graders designed the competition table and served as the referees, judges, and scorekeepers! Middle School robotics teams continued to garner awards and accolades this spring and were invited to the American Robotics Open Championship in June.

The Grade 2 Notable People Convention in May is a culmination of the students' study of people who have changed the world!

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CA M P U S LO G

Fifth graders enjoyed their overnight trip to Camp Onas on the last week of school in June.

LOWER SCHOOL FALL PROJECT REVEAL

Kindergarten took a trip to the Zoo on the last week of school.

At the Lower School's annual Fall Project Reveal Treasure Hunt in May, classes were each given clues that lead them to artistic treasures/ materials from which to create an original piece of art. The artistic creations were all brought to the gym at the Reveal Assembly. All clues pointed to the fall 2026 Lower School All-School theme: The Arts!

UPPER SCHOOL SCIENCE VISIT TO NASA GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER On April 20, Upper School science teachers John Gruber and Claire Roberts took a group of 38 students to NASA Goddard Space Flight Center to see the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope and learn more from scientists on the Roman team about the science that this next generation space telescope will make possible. “The Roman telescope will conduct the largest census of exoplanets ever attempted and will extend our ability to search for planets and planetary systems that are more likely our own,” shared John Gruber, “The instrument has a wide field of view that is more than 100 times larger than the area of space that the Hubble can view, adding enormously to the exoplanet data that can be collected in galactic surveys.” “It was incredible to see something that is going to be in outer space in a few months,” said Christopher ’26, “We know that it’s the result of years of

hard work, but there’s something really profound about its simplicity. You can’t tell just by looking that it’s definitely going to space, but it is, and that’s pretty incredible. It’s also incredible how friendly, open, and accommodating everyone from NASA was.” “I was really struck by how approachable the NASA scientists were,” agreed Ruth ’27, “It felt so easy to ask them questions and start conversations, and it was really impressive how they condensed their understanding of these massive topics into comprehensive answers.” “It was literally the coolest experience I’ve ever had!” said Sophie ’29 “Getting a tour was an amazing privilege, and seeing something that’s going to be in space in less than six months was mind-blowing. I want to be a scientist even more now!”

FALL 2026

Fifth Grade Bell-Ringing Ceremony In keeping with annual tradition, on the last day of school in June, the Lower School celebrated the fifth grade, the successful conclusion of their Lower School years, and their transition to Middle School. A Meeting for Leaving gave the fifth graders and their families an opportunity to share messages, and the students then participated in the traditional Bell-Ringing Ceremony at the Friendship Bell to mark the end of their time at Lower School.

Members of the Class of 2033 at the Bell-Ringing Ceremony

Yuna ’33 ringing the Friendship Bell at the Bell-Ringing Ceremony

Eighth Grade Meeting For Leaving On Friday, June 5 – the last day of the 2025-2026 school year – the Middle School celebrated the eighth grade Class of 2030 at the annual Meeting for Leaving, a ceremony in which the students cross a symbolic threshold to mark the completion of their Middle School years. In late May, the Middle School also held another important annual culminating event, the Grade 8 Showcase, where the students share their individual talents and interests with each other, family, and friends.

Margaret ’30 (left) and Nika ’30 performing at the Grade 8 Showcase

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Josh ’30 crossing the threshold at Meeting for Leaving

FAC U LT Y & STA F F

MEDICAL INNOVATIONS CLUB PRESENT AT THE ANNENBERG SYMPOSIUM

DANIELLE SAINT HILAIRE SUMMER TEACHING FELLOWSHIP

Upper School Medical Innovations Club gave their final presentation on April 16 at the Annenberg Symposium, held at Episcopal Academy this year. This is an annual event put on by Main Line Health to showcase the work of students interested in biomedical sciences. Students in the Medical Innovations Club had been working all year on their presentation about 3-D bioprinting of organs and tissues, and they were very excited to share it with a panel of real healthcare professionals and students from other schools. The FCS team received the award for Most Comprehensive Review of a Complex Topic.

Danielle Saint Hilaire, FCS History Department Chair, was invited as one of two teachers nationwide to participate in the George Washington and Indigenous Nations Teacher Fellowship at Mount Vernon this summer. Danielle is a historian and educator whose teaching sits at the intersection of American history, civic identity, and the stories too often left out of the nation's founding narrative. At FCS, she teaches U.S. History and has developed original courses in Philadelphia Black History and the Sociology of Race, Class, and Gender.

ANTHONY BOWERS EXHIBITS HIS OWN ARTWORK Upper School Arts Department Chair Anthony Bowers had an exhibition featuring some of his own work from February to April 2026 at One River School in Montclair NJ. Anthony graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2014 with an MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts and in 2007 with a BFA in Painting from Indiana University. Anthony also worked as a studio assistant on many large scale installation projects at the Fabric Workshop and Museum and as a long time curator/ member of an artist-run project space, FJORD Gallery.

Members of the Medical Innovations Club, pictured with Club advisors (Emma Miller and Nora Swift) and the Main Line Health doctors who served as moderators and judges

PHL17 METEOROLOGY FIELD TRIP The Upper School Atmospheric Science and Climate Change class took a field trip to PHL17 in March to meet with Monica Cryan, station meteorologist, and tour the studio. Monica was an excellent host, speaking to the students about her local connection to the area, educational background, and the details of her job. She answered many of the students' questions, including how she uses a combination of satellites, models, and information from the National Weather Service to make her predictions.

LYDIA MARTIN IN MAC HALL OF FAME

At PHL17 Weather Source studios with Monica Cryan (front row, center)

Lydia Martin in her college days (haverfordathletics.com)

Among the Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Hall of Fame Class of 2026 was Lydia Martin, FCS Assistant Head of School for Communications, Enrollment, and Strategic Initiatives. A two-sport standout in lacrosse and field hockey at Haverford College, Lydia was, "a trailblazer in every sense, becoming Haverford College's first female All-America selection and a central figure in the renaissance of women's athletics at the institution," shared Haverford Athletics. Lydia was inducted into the Haverford College Athletics Hall of Fame in 2007, becoming the first woman chosen for the Glasser Hall of Achievement.

FALL 2026

FCS Faculty Engaged in a Wide Range of Professional Development This Summer Thanks to the Clayton Farraday Mastership, the Fannie Cox Hendrie Fund for Science and Math, and the initiative of the participants themselves, this summer saw many Friends’ Central faculty members immersed in a wide range of independent educational activities that enriched their own intellectual lives and provided invaluable teaching and curricular tools that they bring directly back with them to their classrooms. The Clayton Farraday Mastership is an endowed fund established in 1978 to honor Clayton Farraday ’32 and his lifelong dedication to Friends’ Central. The stipend program offers Friends’ Central teachers the opportunity to grow as educators and scholars during the summer months. The Fannie Cox Hendrie Fund for Science and Math was established by Gardner C. Hendrie ’50 in memory of his mother and is to be used across all divisions to, “enhance the Math and Science programs at Friends’ Central.” Below are some of the many professional development activities of this summer.

First grade teachers Jessica Magin and Analía Muñoz used a summer stipend to take a deep dive into Context for Learning Mathematics to enrich and strengthen their current implementation of the program, identifying supplemental materials to support student practice, schoolto-home connections, and formative assessments. The fifth grade team of teachers Christie Kapothanasis, Max Williams, and Rufino deSantos visited the Legacy Sites at the Equal Justice Institute in Montgomery, Alabama, inspired by Bryan Stevenson’s talk at NAIS Thrive. The teachers visited all three Legacy Sites: The Legacy Museum, The National Memorial for Justice and Peace, and the Freedom Monument Sculpture Park. They studied how themes of identity, history, and struggle are powerfully expressed through the sites' art and architecture to inspire their students' own creative work. In August, Pre-K lead teachers Stephanie Davaro, Sue Andrews, and Ruben Raskin dedicated their expertise to refining and elevating the Pre-K curriculum. By revising the scope and sequence, they thoughtfully integrated the inquiry-driven spirit of Project-Based Learning with the foundational literacy skills of Fundations. Middle School Assistant Principal Lauren Davis attended the NAIS School Leadership Institute held in June in Atlanta, GA. The threeday intensive conference brings together independent schools leaders from across the country. The experience provided her with practical tools and strategies to

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continue developing as a school leader while connecting with other school administrators.

In March, Patty also attended the National Science Teaching Association (NSTA) conference in Boston.

Middle School creative writing teacher Jill MacDougall traveled with her children to several locations in Michigan and eastern Ontario that represented "home" to her in some way, renewing her connections and fostering a sense of heritage for her children, recording her observations along the way. She was inspired to do so by contemporary writers who explore "home" as a central theme.

Upper School science teacher John Gruber visited burrowing owl nest sites on the Rio Grande in Texas and observed nesting cave swallows and Mexican free-tailed bats at Carlsbad Caverns National Park, New Mexico. John also conducted taxonomical and field surveys of native bees and wasps in the El Paso, Carlsbad, and Sacramento Mountain regions.

Middle School English teacher Regina Puleo ventured off to a farmhouse outside the small town of St. Christine d'Armagnac in France for a binge reading and hiking retreat. With two other solo travellers, she hiked a small portion of the Camino de Santiago. A couple of days in the "Pink City" of Toulouse also offered some opportunities for sightseeing trying the local specialities of the Gascony region. Middle School World Languages teacher Sonja Srama-Souder took part in the French for FLE (Francais Langue Etrangere) immersion program in Québec, Canada through Edu-inter. Along with the French immersion, there were cultural activities, volunteer engagement, and community interaction. Middle School science teacher Patty Zaradic participated in the Ecology Project International (EPI) Educator Course in Costa Rica, a weeklong immersive conservation and research experience designed to help educators build real-world, relevant curricula.

Upper School Science teacher Noah Marks visited Fermilab in Chicago to get an on-the-ground look at rich, complex science. He looks forward to bringing his learning and passion back to the classroom with his students. Upper School drama teacher Megan Schumacher took part in a Physical Performance Practices workshop in Maine for theater and performance makers. The workshop seeks to have participants find "curiosity, rigor, and joy in the body in order to develop, probe, and stretch theatrical ideas." Upper School Physics & Astronomy teacher Deborah Skapik went on an expedition to observe the solar eclipse in Coruña, Spain (where she met up with Dawn and Alex McDonnell '87). Deborah also attended the ASTRO ACCEL Innovation Summit on astronomy education in Lisbon, Portugal. She was among around 100 people from every continent, "an incredible group of enthusiastic change-makers." Upper School Science teacher Melanie Wills attended a “Flipping the Classroom Workshop”

through Stroebel Education. The flipped classroom model, a popular recent pedagogical approach, has students engage with topics (via videos, etc.) at home first, followed by class time being devoted to collaborative, active work with those concepts. Lower School Technology Integration Support Specialist Oscar Sosa attended the Constructing Modern Knowledge Institute in Reggio Emilia, Italy. Participants research the intersection of child-led inquiry and computational tools to enhance scientific and mathematical discovery. Lower School Project Based Learning & STEAM Coordinator Reid Bowen, first grade teacher Jess Magin, and Lower School Assistant Principal Rowena Castillo Lesher attended PBL World, a three-day Project Based Learning conference in Napa, California for K-12 educators run by PBL Works, formerly The Buck Institute. Workshops were immersive, allowing educators to examine their current curriculum with the intent to develop PBL units which can be implemented immediately. CID teacher Razzeena Jones '13 studied guitar tube amplifier construction and circuit design at a summer program in Chicago to expand her skills and share them with Middle and Upper School students in the CID. CID Co-Director CJ Keller took a Three-Legged Stool Hand Tool Course at the Philadelphia Furniture Workshop, building a Wharton Esherick-style stool with the aim of incorporating the project into the CID's Woodshop curriculum. QW

FAC U LT Y & STA F F

Welcoming New Colleagues Introducing the new members of Friends' Central's faculty and staff joining us for the 2026-2027 school year

Joining the Friends’ Central Lower School are Reid Bowen, Project-Based Learning & STEAM Coordinator; Jasmine Coleman, third grade lead teacher; Kristina Eaddy, Nature Nursery lead teacher; Jamie Irwin, second grade assistant teacher; Taliah Jackson, Pre-K assistant teacher; Danica Lavorgna, Pre-K assistant teacher; Gabrielle Marciano, Nature Nursery assistant teacher; and Elienne Grossman, Lower School Counseling Intern. Joining the Friends’ Central Middle School are James Dell, history teacher; Josh Dobrow, math teacher; Basha Nachman, English teacher; and Erica Snowden-Crockett, Interim Middle School Principal. Mah-Jing Wong also joined as Middle & Upper School art teacher. Joining the Friends’ Central Upper School are Begum Abad, World Language teacher; Amy Chapkovich, science teacher; Timothy Gallen, Long-Term Sub-

BILL KENNEDY NAMED COCA-COLA EDUCATOR OF DISTINCTION In May, Ruba Abdelgalil ’26 (pictured at left with Bill), a 2026 Coca-Cola Scholar, nominated Upper School English teacher Bill Kennedy as a Coca-Cola Educator of Distinction for his impact on her as an English teacher. Each year, the newly named Coca-Cola Scholars (150 high school seniors chosen nationwide) are given the privilege of nominating the one educator who inspired and encouraged them the most. (Read more about Ruba on page 14.)

stitute - College Counseling; Casper Hoffmann, English teacher; Madeline James, English teacher; and Maia Peele, History Teaching Fellow. Beyond the classroom, we have Angela Stieber stepping into the role of Athletics trainer for Middle and Upper School, and Helen Mulhern-Henry will serve as the Home & School Association (HSA) Coordinator for all divisions. Finally, we have a few members of the community whose roles have changed this year. John Gruber will now serve as the Natural Lands Program Director, Melissa DiNofia-Bozzone is officially the Senior Director of Advancement after serving as Interim last year, and Jake Harner is the Head Coach of Friends’ Central Aquatics. At the Lower School, Ruben Raskin is now the Pre-K lead teacher; Taylor Salvitti is the Learning and Enrichment Specialist, and Brie Daley is the Director of Literacy and Learning Design. QW

Dr. Laura McGuire (photo by Peter Hu ’27)

FCS HOSTS THE INSTITUTE ON CONSENT & HEALTHY RELATIONSHIPS Organized by Al Vernacchio, Assistant Director of the Office of Diversity, Equity, & Justice, this year's Institute on Consent and Healthy Relationships Conference was hosted once again at Friends' Central in June. The event was open to all 9-12 grade school faculty and staff and included a wide range of guest presenters. The conference was a great success, with the keynote address provided once again by Dr. Laura McGuire, internationally recognized sexologist, survivor, theologian, and author of the books Creating Cultures of Consent and The Sexual Misconduct Prevention Guidebook.

FALL 2026

Ruba Abdelgalil '26 Named 2026 Coca-Cola Scholar This spring, Ruba Abdelgalil ’26 was named a 2026 Coca-Cola Scholar. The Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation selects only 150 students each year from a nationwide applicant pool of 107,000. The selection process was rigorous, and it’s a testament to Ruba’s academic strengths, her leadership qualities, and her commitment to making a positive impact on the world that she has achieved this incredible recognition. Ruba is attending the Huntsman Program in International Studies & Business at the University of Pennsylvania this fall.

A Q&A with Ruba What does the award entail? You get a $20,000 scholarship, free Coca-Cola products, and then you're immersed in a class of other Coke Scholars and alums of the program. You also get to attend an expenses-paid summit in Atlanta, GA. This year’s summit took place from April 23 to April 26. After that, alumni are invited to return to Atlanta for a Leadership Summit every five years to engage in interactive sessions and ongoing learning opportunities. And you have the opportunity to meet with other Coca-Cola Scholars and share updates on a regular basis. You also have the option to work with the next generation of Coca-Cola Scholars as a mentor, essentially. How did the application process work? For the first phase, you share all of your grades, all your leadership positions, and how long you’ve been engaged with them. Only 1.12% of applicants advance after this phase. Then, for the second phase, you have some short answer questions, followed by three more comprehensive essay questions, and a teacher recommendation. After this, 250 kids advance. One of the questions was: if you could only continue one activity, which one would it be and why? And another question asked you to describe a challenge that you faced. In one of my answers, I discussed my role as the leader and founder of the Muslim Student Association (MSA) at FCS and the ability to create spaces for others like me to belong. I also used the MSA to raise awareness about ongoing crises in Muslim countries and connect with other high schools in the Greater Philadelphia area. And then the final phase is an interview, which trims the selection from 250 to the final 150 Coke Scholars. The Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation looks for people that they think are going to make a positive impact in the world. It's about service, leadership, and community involvement. And a lot of what my application was centered on is my experience as a Sudanese-American, growing up in Sudan and witnessing the hyperinflation of the Sudanese pound spiral into an ongoing humanitarian crisis. That's what inspired me to pursue a dual-degree this fall through the Huntsman Program at Penn in International Studies and Business with a minor in Arabic. Long term, I hope to work in post-conflict economic reconstruction.

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Ruba Abdelgalil How long did you live in Sudan? I lived in Sudan until I was seven, and I returned there each summer before the war to attend school over there. So I think just going there each summer and watching prices be way higher, bread lines getting much longer, and then watching people protest in an authoritarian regime where you don't have the right to speak up about things that you don't like has deeply impacted me. And also just knowing that I have the privilege of being a U.S. American, and, while I'm not saying politics in the U.S. are perfect, I am saying I felt like it would be morally wrong to not use my privilege to give back to the country that essentially made me. Have you connected with other Coca-Cola Scholars? I’ve connected with a few previous Coca-Cola Scholars. One of them is currently studying at Yale. I met him via LinkedIn, and he helped me prepare for the interview. He told me it was going to be harder than any college interview ever, and it was true! But I think, during the interview, I was able to reach a comfortable conversational flow. I prepared for the interview, but his advice was really helpful. Another Coca-Cola Scholar from Pittsburgh also reached out to me on LinkedIn, and she was very supportive. I’m also connecting with new Coke Scholars. There’s already a Huntsman group chat, so I think the Coca-Cola Scholars are probably going to end up doing something like that. I’ve met two other Coke Scholars from 2026 that also are going to Penn and two others are specifically in Huntsman. I’m excited to connect with and learn from them. Congratulations all round! You must be so excited about this achievement. Yes, I’m so grateful to God, my family, the educators, friends, and community members who made this accomplishment possible. QW

A Multi-Decade Exchange Program Continues to Flourish BY CRISTINA PEREZ P’26 FCS WORLD LANGUAGES DEPARTMENT CHAIR

The FCS exchange group in Spain with all of the Spanish student hosts

FOR ALMOST 30 YEARS, Friends’ Central Upper School has coordinated

a highly successful biannual Spanish exchange program with our partner school, La Academia Pre universitaria (“La Preu”) in Seville, Spain. The program has two components: in the fall, FCS students host their visiting Spanish partner students for three weeks, and in March, those same FCS students travel to Spain to stay with their partners, immerse themselves in the language and culture, and enjoy the paradise that is Andalucía in the spring. This past spring, 16 FCS Upper School Spanish students and their two teachers (Upper School Spanish teacher Alejandra Socorro and I) took part in our most recent Spanish Exchange. After four days of sightseeing in Madrid and Toledo, the FCS group took a train to Seville, where we were welcomed with shrieks, tears, and near-tackles at the train station by the Preu students who had been anticipating seeing their FCS partners again since the Spaniards had departed from Philadelphia in late September. During the next weeks, we attended the Preu, visited Córdoba, spent two days in Granada seeing the Alhambra, and had the great fortune to be in Seville during Semana Santa, one of the most elaborate and historic celebrations of Holy Week in the world. Our exchange programs are among the most rewarding parts of my work at FCS as a French and Spanish teacher. When our students meet and host their partners in the fall, studying language stops being an abstract undertaking; suddenly, our students want to communicate, they want to know the language that will help them to build a relationship with their partner. And when we travel to Europe in the spring, that desire just explodes! They find themselves surrounded by all the vocabulary and verb endings they'd previously found tedious. When they step off the plane, they realize that those verb endings and vocab sheets are the key to understanding the street signs, the instructions over the loudspeaker, the customs, and the jokes. On the plane back to Philadelphia, Alejandra and I heard one of our students chatting in Spanish for hours with the passenger sitting next to him. And when FCS families welcomed us and picked up their kids from the Philadelphia airport, one mom told us, “My daughter just greeted me by telling me she doesn’t want to come home and wants to go back to Spain right now!” Since our return, several students have shared with Alejandra and me that they want to study abroad in Spain while in college and that they are eager to continue studying the language. For me, that's the best part of the trip. QW

STUDENT JOURNAL EXCERPTS FROM THE RECENT TRIP TO SPAIN “Today, we had the opportunity to explore Córdoba and walk along the Puente Romano bridge – which is over 2,000 years old – go inside of the Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba, and explore the town. It was beautiful! The Mosque-Cathedral itself was huge, accommodating 20,000-40,000 people at its peak in the 10th century. ... It was built in 785 by Abd al-Rahman I, and you can see the Islamic design in the arches and patterns. When Christians took over the city in 1236, they didn’t destroy it but rather built a cathedral right inside it. So when you walk through, you see both histories at once, Islamic architecture all around you, and then a Christian church rising up in the middle. It’s a really powerful example of how different cultures and religions have shaped the same place over time, sometimes peacefully sharing ideas and other times taking control, but always leaving something behind.” - Maggie Lipson ’26 and Avery Tessler ’27 “For our fourth day in Seville with our host families, we joined our students at the Preu. La Preu is a specialized educational center/ private school located in Seville that prepares students for universities through a Bachillerato program which is much more focused on university entrance exams than we’re used to. After arriving at the school, we had around 2.5 hours of study hall because the Spanish students were taking a MASSIVE biology exam. ... After they finished up their exams, we went downstairs to take a group photo and then head to breakfast. Spaniards don’t typically eat much when they leave for school at around 7:30 am, so they go to a supermarket to grab something. Specifically, my student got a typical meal of bread and Spanish ham. A bunch of us then went to a park near the school to hang out and ask the Spanish students questions about life in Spain and what they think America is like.” - Ari Barak ’27

“ Our exchange programs are among the most rewarding parts of my work at FCS as a French and Spanish teacher.” CRISTINA PEREZ

FALL 2025

Visitors to Campus

DISTINGUISHED VISITING SCIENTIST SARA SEAGER Our 2025-2026 Distinguished Visiting Scientist was Sara Seager, who visited campus in April to meet with students and deliver an evening lecture that was open to the public. Sara is an astrophysicist and a Professor of Physics, Professor of Planetary Science, and a Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she holds the Class of 1941 Professor Chair. A MacArthur Foundation Fellow, she has been a pioneer in the vast and unknown world of exoplanets, planets that orbit stars other than the sun. Her groundbreaking research ranges from the detection of exoplanet atmospheres to innovative theories about life on other worlds to development of novel space mission concepts.

FCS welcomed authors, scientists, artists, educators, and leaders who enriched our community in the spring, including the following:

ASSISTANT U.S. ATTORNEY SARAH WOLFE

COMPOSER MELISSA DUNPHY

In March, the fifth grade had a visit from Sarah Wolfe, an Assistant U.S. Attorney. Sarah walked the students through how court proceedings work and led them in a mock trial. Interestingly, even though both juries worked from identical scripts and evidence, they reached two different conclusions.

Composer Melissa Dunphy came to Michele Kalman’s Music Theory and Composition class in March. Melissa assisted Upper School Chorus with an Engagement Grant to compose a piece for their spring concert, along with FCS accompanist Zach Zaitlin, and they worked on that piece. Melissa also spoke to the class about compositional process, some of her works, and social justice in music.

U.S. AMBASSADOR STEPHEN MULL

PR EXPERT CARI FEILER BENDER

AUTHOR YUYI MORALES

PALEOCLIMATOLOGIST LOGAN BRENNER ’08

Alex McDonnell's International Relations class hosted Ambassador Stephen Mull via Zoom in April. Stephen is the former U.S. Ambassador to Poland and Lithuania, the former Assistant Secretary of State, and is Vice Provost for Global Affairs at the University of Virginia. He brokered the first nuclear peace deal between Iran and the United States in 2013. He spoke to students about recent issues in the Middle East.

In April, Cari Feiler Bender P’18, 21 visited the first grade to talk about Philadelphia's 52 Weeks of Firsts initiative for the country's 250th anniversary. In 2021, Cari received one of the industry’s highest honors when she was inducted into the Philadelphia Public Relations Association’s Hall of Fame. Inspired by Philly’s 52 Weeks of Firsts Celebrations, first graders each chose one Philadelphia “first” as their own project.

Best-selling author Yuyi Morales visited the Lower School in April. She spoke with students in Kindergarten to fifth grade about her work. Yuyi's titles include Dreamers (A New York Times bestseller), Niño Wrestles the World, Viva Frida, Bright Star, and Little Rebels. Yuyi also had an outdoor read-aloud with Nature Nursery, a drop-in visit to Pre-K, and classroom time with first grade.

Logan Brenner ’08 returned to campus via a virtual visit to speak to the Upper School Sustainability Club in April and discuss her career path to become an Assistant Professor in Environmental Science at Barnard. Logan is a paleoclimatologist, interested in reconstructing past oceanic conditions using the geochemistry of stony corals.

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Visitors to Campus

ILLUSTRATOR/ GRAPHIC NOVELIST ARLEY NOPRA In May, Arley Nopra met with third through fifth grade students to discuss her work. She is a Filipina-Canadian illustrator and the creator of the New York Timesbestselling Baby-Sitters Club graphic novel adaptations of Claudia and the Bad Joke and Mallory and the Trouble with Twins by Ann M. Martin. Highlights from Arley's visit included an amazing live drawing demonstration, tips on the creative process, and a buzzing Q&A.

ENGINEER HARRY HIGHLEY-GERGEL Harry Highley-Gergel of SITE Engineering Concepts spoke with Upper School students as a part of their May Term experience. Harry is the lead architect on Friends' Central's City Avenue turf field project. He discussed the planning and implementation phase of the project, including the design and the materials being used, before he took the students on a site tour.

AUTHOR & EXPERT DR. AARON STEIN

DRUMMING TROUPE KYODAIKO

In May, the Upper School International Relations Club hosted guest speaker Dr. Aaron Stein, President of the Foreign Policy Research Institute. Aaron is a nuclear nonproliferation expert and author of books on Turkey and the US war against ISIS. He spoke about his own path into the field and fielded student questions on Iran, the role of AI in foreign policy, the future of NATO, and what it actually looks like to build a career in foreign affairs today.

KyoDaiko, a community taiko drumming ensemble based in the Philadelphia area, performed at the Lower School campus in honor of Asian Heritage Month in May. The students were captivated by the powerful rhythms and synchronized movements of this traditional Japanese art form. It was a wonderful opportunity for our students to experience a dynamic piece of Japanese culture firsthand.

KAYLA FOY ’21 The FCS Justice Core Team hosted a lunch-and-learn event, open to all Upper School students, with Kayla Foy ’21 in May. Kayla, currently a graduate student at Drexel University, spoke about her experience working with medical-justice-oriented organizations, including the Black Doctors' COVID Consortium, which worked to provide the COVID vaccine to underserved Philadelphia communities during the pandemic.

SCIENTIST TANNER MATSON AT THE NATURAL HISTORY CONFERENCE The Upper School science department held its fourth-annual Natural History Research Conference in May. The keynote address was given by Tanner Matson, an entomologist who has published extensively on moths, naming quite a number of new species. Tanner is a post-doctoral fellow at the Smithsonian and co-authored a paper with Upper School science teacher John Gruber on a new species of moth from New Mexico. Tanner spoke about sawfly larvae, small plant feeding wasps that look like caterpillars in their larval stages. He pointed out that they could be found on the FCS campus. Following Tanner's keynote speech, the students who had been engaged in independent ecology centered research projects throughout the year shared their work either as a scientific poster or by giving a short presentation. Tanner, pictured above at left at the poster presentation with students, took the time to fully explore all the students' research.

FALL 2025

In the Archives: Current Students Connect With Their Depression-Era Counterparts BY GRANT CALDER P’20, FCS ARCHIVIST

FOR THEIR SENIOR PROJECTS this spring, Miles Mustokoff ’26 and

Andrew Canuso ’26 spent their days in the FCS archives. In addition to helping with the ongoing work of digitizing yearbooks and the School newspaper, they also each pursued their own original archival research. In the process of scanning the early years of The Friends’ Central News, the student newspaper which began publishing in 1932, Miles read a number of pieces written by students about the impact of the Depression on their lives. By 1932, many families could no longer afford to send their children to college, so finishing high school meant looking for a job as members of the youngest and least experienced cohort of applicants at a time when the adult unemployment rate hovered at around 25%. In an unsigned editorial written in June of that year, a student wrote to his peers, “... there hovers a … fog of depression over the formerly sunlit land of graduation ... If a job, any job at all, can be found … get right down to making a go of that heaven-sent opportunity. Failing this comfort … keep your body and mind moving on the sane, healthy lines of exercise and reading. In that way … you store up something that no depression can take from you.” The next year, another student and football player, John Mason, Class of 1933, published a poem in the paper entitled “Prepare for Life,” a meditation on his thoughts while watching his teammates play. They’re smashing through the line again Or running wide around the end, And as I sat and watched the game, I wondered wasn’t it the same As life, and doesn’t it prepare Us for the struggles that are there? To bravely meet each daily test We must prepare to do our best. We learn to take each bump and break And many a disappointing ache. We care not how the crowd may shout; We may be down but never out. Depression stalks the world today But, hear ye what I have to say. Young man, prepare for life’s great game, Your mind and muscle soundly train. For victory surely comes to him Who has the heart and will to win.

(FACING PAGE, TOP) THE 1933 FCS FOOTBALL TEAM, WITH JOHN MASON, AUTHOR OF THE POEM, IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SECOND ROW HOLDING THE FOOTBALL (FACING PAGE, BOTTOM) YURI SAKAMI'S FCS YEARBOOK ENTRY; HARLAND WOOD, PAUL BERG, AND WARWICK SAKAMI (LEFT TO RIGHT) AT BERG’S GRADUATION FROM CASEWESTERN UNIVERSITY IN 1952

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Miles noted the shared focus on “healthy lines of exercise and reading” as we “mind and muscle soundly train.” And he was struck by the contemporary feel of what one might term their “health and wellness” orientation and by their determination to stay positive and to support their friends and fellow students during the worst economic crisis the country had ever faced. Andrew’s research unexpectedly overlapped with Miles’s. Andrew found yearbook photos from the early 1930s of two siblings, Yuri and Warwick Sakami, who may have been the first students of color at Friends’ Central. Andrew spent weeks searching in the archives and on the internet for information about the two. The Depression had also hit Japan hard, and by 1932, its democratic government had been replaced by a military dictatorship. Sometime during the unrest, the Sakami children were sent to the U.S. where they became wards of Warwick Price, a Philadelphia newspaper editor, commentator, and historian who enrolled the children at Friends’ Central. Warwick Sakami took his guardian’s first name. His older sister, Yuri, graduated from FCS in 1932. Warwick was in the FCS Class of 1934, and Warwick Price, their guardian, died in the same year.

Andrew wasn’t able to find further information on Yuri, but he tracked Warwick through his education at the University of Pennsylvania to a professorship in chemistry at Western Reserve University (today Case Western). One of the graduate students he recruited and who described Warwick as an important early mentor, was Paul Berg who went on to share the 1980 Nobel Prize in the field. As high school students, both Sakamis wrote pieces that appeared in Friends’ Central publications. Warwick won the “Second Literary Contest Award.” In 1932, Yuri penned an essay entitled “What Will You Have?,” a biting critique of lawlessness and the popular press during the Depression, highlighting some striking similarities to aspects of our own times. “Step right up and be in style …,” she began. “Now is a splendid time to make a name for yourself – a name that will spread across the newspa-

pers in screaming headlines. Why try to keep to the straight and narrow path when easy short cuts lead right up into the Hall of Fame?” Two years after Yuri published this piece, Bonnie and Clyde and, separately, John Dillinger and his gang became the 1930s equivalent of internet sensations by dying in blazes of gunfire after multi-year crime sprees including bank robberies, kidnappings, and murders. Their names are still infamous, and they were not the only ones. Yuri’s insights remind us that sometimes the most astute observers of a society are the more recent arrivals to it. Andrew and Miles enjoyed the opportunity to connect with Friends’ Central students who preceded them by almost a century and were impressed by their thoughtfulness and maturity. I enjoyed the company of these two seniors last spring and am grateful for their material additions to our understanding of the School’s history. QW

FALL 2026

Stanford University's Sterling Award for Katarina Siggelkow ’22 Katarina Siggelkow ’22 was one of just 25 graduating seniors in Stanford University’s School of Humanities and Sciences to be recognized with a J.E. Wallace Sterling Award for Scholastic Achievement this spring. Established in 2006, the prize is one of Stanford's most selective recognitions of a student's overall academic performance. In attendance at the awards ceremony were high school teachers from around the USA, the UK, China, India, and elsewhere, who came to help recognize the achievements of their former students. Katarina invited her FCS Upper School science teacher John Gruber to join the celebration, and he flew out to Palo Alto (with Stanford’s help) to be part of the event. “What an incredible collection of truly exceptional graduates doing amazing work across a wide array of fields,” shared John, “Remarkably accomplished and doing extraordinary things in the world already.” In his remarks at the ceremony, John spoke about his former student: “Katarina was an exceptional presence in our Upper School – meticulous, creative, and the kind of student whose questions and insights elevate every learning space. While I knew her as a remarkably accomplished science student, her English teachers celebrated the depth of her engagement with literature. She was totally immersed in the life of our community.”

(From left) John Gruber, Katarina Siggelkow, and Katrina's Stanford faculty mentor, Dr. Nir Halevy at the ceremony

A Q&A with Katarina Can you tell us a bit about your time at Stanford? What were some aspects/activities/classes within your major (and beyond your major) that were particularly meaningful to you? I majored in Psychology at Stanford, which does a good job at giving you a wide range of classes across the field. Some of my favorite classes were a seminar on emotion regulation and another on empathy. During my first two years, I focused on developmental psychology, spending a year as a teaching assistant and doing research at Bing Nursery School (where they did the famous marshmallow delayed gratification experiment many years ago!). Then, in my junior year, I pivoted to organizational behavior after taking a decision-making class at the Graduate School of Business. Since then, I’ve taken a number of other classes there, including a PhD seminar on brokering with Dr. Nir Halevy. That class inspired my honors thesis – titled “The Impact of Brokering Behavior on Positive Affect” – with Dr. Halevy as my advisor, and he also happens to be the mentor who joined me at the Sterling ceremony with Mr. Gruber. Outside of class, I’m a member of Stanford’s DanceSport team, the competitive collegiate ballroom dance team, which has been a fun activity to keep me busy outside of school work. How did it feel to be recognized with the Sterling Award? It’s super rewarding. You get so sucked into the bubble of work-work-work – especially in the quarter system where we only have 10 weeks per quarter – so it’s truly a sprint to the end every time, with no time to reflect or pause. So it means a lot to look back now and see that all the grinding paid off in a way. Everyone at Stanford is already working at such a high standard, and honestly, being surrounded by that is really motivating. What made you choose to invite Mr. Gruber to celebrate this honor with you? I had the chance to share a few words about Mr. Gruber at the ceremony, so this is inspired by that:

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John Gruber leads Friends’ Central’s Science Core team, where students do a deep dive into the work of a particular researcher for an entire year and then actually get to meet them at the end and ask all our questions directly to the person behind the research we'd been studying. The breadth of what we covered was really impressive, from neuroscience to evolutionary biology to weather and climate. I remember, in my freshman year, the topic was neuroscience (shout out Rebecca Saxe), and I kept thinking, wow, this has to be Mr. Gruber's favorite subject, I mean, he is so excited about it. Then in my second year I realized that, no, he's actually that excited about everything. I found his enthusiasm for learning and deeply passionate curiosity so infectious that, by the time I got to Stanford, I was thrilled by the thought that these “distinguished scientists” that we got to meet once a year were now all around me. So, once I got to Stanford, I just wanted to absorb all of it and learn about anything and everything. Most, if not all, of what I've accomplished here I can trace back to that mindset he instilled in me: learning for the absolute joy of it. It's something I hope to carry with me into the many more chapters of my life, so that one day I can say I was a lifelong learner, just like him. He is genuinely such a gem, FCS is so lucky to have him. If you ever get a chance to have even a quick conversation with him, absolutely do it! Do you have future plans lined up yet? Going to Germany! I plan to ultimately do a PhD in organizational behavior at a business school but before going (back) to school I want to work for a few years. The pull to Germany comes from the fact that I have a lot of family in Germany and speak the language and absolutely loved studying abroad in Berlin during my junior year at Stanford, so I’m super excited about returning and experiencing it as a place I actually live, not just visit. QW

Phoenix Rising: Reimagined Fitness Center to Open in Fall

In October, the FCS community will celebrate a major milestone in the School’s Strategic Plan when the School unveils the first two capital projects of the Phoenix Rising Campaign. While most visitors will focus on the stateof-the-art artificial turf fields, another less visible facility will begin opening its doors to students, faculty, and staff in the lower level of the Shimada Athletic Center, transforming the Athletics and Wellness experience at FCS. Friends’ Central has created a new 2,880-square-foot space for fitness adjacent to the current weight room in Shimada, more than doubling the amount of space at the School devoted solely to fitness. The space is outfitted with a wide range of new machines and other equipment, including treadmills; elliptical machines; stationary bikes; rowing machines; machines for legs, lats, chest, glutes, and back; racks with dumbbells, kettlebells, bands, blast straps, and balls of all shapes and sizes; and more – all decorated, along with the facility’s walls and flooring, in FCS colors and covered with School logos. The new equipment will supplement the existing weight room’s free weights, racks, and benches. The result, say School leaders, will be more fitness options for people with different needs and interests. “I'm so excited we are creating more space for fitness, providing students with a dedicated space to build healthy habits, relieve stress, and improve their focus,” says Head of School Beth D Johnson ’77. “I want the new space to become a gathering place that supports physical and mental health and gives students an opportunity to connect socially.” The School’s decision to include a dramatic expansion and upgrading of its facilities for fitness also aligns with rising demand. The popularity of fitness – especially at facilities that offer a sense of community – continues to explode among all age groups. The number of gym check-ins has nearly doubled nationwide since the pandemic.

“ I want the new space to become a gathering place that supports physical and mental health and gives students an opportunity to connect socially.” HEAD OF SCHOOL BETH D. JOHNSON ’77

The new space and equipment for fitness will also help the School’s student-athletes prevent injuries and enhance performance, says Michelle Crowley, FCS Director of Athletics and Wellness. The Phoenix wrestling program will remain in its primary competition and training space, which is getting refreshed and will be separated from the adjacent fitness center space by a new retractable wall. “When we host quad meets, we’ll hold them upstairs in the Shimada Gymnasium,” she says. “That’s what we did in February when we hosted the Friends Schools League championship after the wrestling team’s amazing 2025-2026 regular season earned them a top seed.” Mac Cahill ’27, captain of the Varsity wrestling team, is one of the many students who’s looking forward to the arrival of the new fitness space. “It’s really exciting to have more space and more equipment to train and prepare for any sport or for overall fitness,” he says. “Families who see this fitness center are going to encourage their kids to apply to Friends’ Central. It shows that the School cares about students’ health.” QW

FALL 2026

Athletic News

RYAN CARTER ’27 WINS GOLD WITH TEAM USA Ryan Carter ’27 continues to make waves on the national and international level. After helping lead FCS girls' Varsity basketball to their Pennsylvania state championship victory this spring, Ryan was selected to the USA Basketball Women's U18 National Team! Team USA captured the gold medal at the FIBA U18 Women's AmeriCup in Mexico. The United States defeated Canada 90–72 in the championship game, earning its 12th consecutive AmeriCup title, with Ryan contributing seven points to the victory. "I loved winning a gold medal," Ryan shared, "but the part I will remember the most is before every game the announcers called us by name to line up on the free-throw line. Our national anthem played, then the anthem of the other team. After they both were done, we turned to face each other and walked to the middle of the court, where we exchanged flags and pins with the other teams. This was part of a cultural exchange, and I thought it was such a meaningful experience." Congratulations to Ryan! We can't wait to see all that she and her Varsity girls' basketball teammates accomplish this year and beyond!

Ryan Carter (fourth from left) and the U18 National Team

COACH OF THE YEAR VINNY SIMPSON After a remarkable season, FCS girls' basketball head coach Vinny Simpson was named the 20252026 PA Sportswriters Non-PIAA Coach of the Year. Vinny guided the Phoenix to become 2026 PAISAA champions in their game against Westtown. “I was an emotional mess in the locker room after the game. It felt so good to finally beat Westtown. I’ll remember this team of talented players who worked hard and came together,” Vinny said after the win. Ryan Carter ’27 and Zya Smith ’27 also earned First Team All-State honors, and Faith Watson ’28 was named to the Second Team.

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NEENAH TRUSTY ’27 STANDOUT TRACK PERFORMANCES

SOLOMON TODD ’28 CLAIMS NATIONAL SQUASH TITLE

In early March, at the PTFCA Indoor Track & Field Championships, Neenah Trusty ’27 finished third in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:12.07, earning a spot on the podium against the state's top competitors. Her result was a new US #34 performance value for the indoor season. This summer, Neenah also participated in the AAU Junior Olympic Games where she placed second in the grueling 17-18 age group 800-meter run with a stellar time of 2:07.25. She also placed fifth in the 400-meter finals with a time of 54.55 seconds. Neenah helped her 4X400 team win gold by running a 53.1 split.

In March, Solomon Todd ’28 (pictured center) won the Boys’ Under-17 title at the U.S. Junior Silver Squash Championships, a national tournament organized by US Squash that brings together many of the country's top junior players. The event was held at Philadelphia's Arlen Specter US Squash Center.

Varsity athletes were celebrated at the annual "FCSPYS" in May.

VARSITY SOFTBALL WINS 10TH FRIENDS SCHOOLS LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP Friends' Central Varsity softball captured its 10th Friends Schools League Championship, defeating Shipley 6-4 in the title game. The championship marked a second league title for the Class of 2026 and capped a season defined by outstanding play. “This was such an exciting way to finish off what has been a really wonderful season,” said Hannah Seidel-Nini ’26, “Beyond the success in the conference, I'm so proud to have been a part of this team. It's such an amazing group of young women who have shown up and supported each other in every way. The community we built this season is more important than any game we won, and I'm so grateful to have been a part of it.”

FSL ALL-LEAGUE HONORS Congratulations to our student-athletes, who earned Friends Schools All-League honors during the spring season. All-league and honorable mention squads are selected in each sport at the end of each season by the coaches of that sport. In selecting players to the all-league or honorable mention squads sportsmanship is as important as athletic prowess. FRIENDS SCHOOLS LEAGUE ALL-LEAGUE FIRST TEAM Baseball: Lucas Abreu ’26, Caleb Bachman ’26, Gavin Yeager ’27 Golf: Jackson Murland ’27, Charlie Sorg ’26 Softball: Sofia Bagarazzi ’26, Layla Chios ’28, Ava Guides ’29, CJ Halpern ’28

Tennis: Charlie Freedman ’27, Holden Freedman ’27, Ronan Humowiecki ’29 Boys’ Track & Field: Omar Muse ’26, Andrew Shronk ’27, Corey Sutton ’27 Girls’ Track & Field: Payton Kilby ’30, Jade Nichols ’26, Neenah Trusty ’27, Nia Washington ’26

FRIENDS SCHOOLS LEAGUE HONORABLE MENTION Baseball: Shane McGarry ’26 Girls' Lacrosse: Annabelle Boyle ’29 Softball: Maddy Jackson ’26 Tennis: Kyle Cilli ’28, Ameya Punathambekar ’28

Student-athletes from the Class of 2026 who signed their National Letters of Intent this spring (missing: Margot Groundwater and Gabe Moore)

The following members of the Class of 2026 signed their NLI and made the commitment to play a collegiate sport this fall. Congratulations to all! Lucas Abreu Chesapeake College, Baseball Caleb Bachman Lafayette College, Baseballl Sofia Bagarazzi Beloit College, Volleyball Oskar Bauriedel Amherst College, Swimming Sophia Bozzone, The Catholic University of America, Field Hockey Amaya Chin Eastern University, Track and Field Penelope English Ithaca College, Swimming Margot Groundwater Grinnell College, Tennis Madalyn Jackson Gettysburg College, Tennis Michael Mamaluy Stevenson University, Baseball Aarin McIntosh, Eastern Mennonite University, Field Hockey Gabe Moore University of Toronto, Basketball Ian McLuckie Gannon University, Wrestling Omar Muse Butler University, Track and Field Jade Nichols, American University, Track and Field Evangeline Watkins Washington College, Swimming

CA M P U S LO G : AT H L E T I C N E WS BOYS' TENNIS ADVANCES TO PAISAA CHAMPIONSHIP The Friends' Central boys' tennis team enjoyed another outstanding postseason, advancing to the PAISAA Championship after defeating Episcopal Academy in the semifinals. The Phoenix finished as PAISAA runners-up following a closely contested championship against The Haverford School. Their record was undefeated, 14-0 in regular season play.

MIDDLE SCHOOL TRACK & FIELD CELEBRATION At the Middle School track & field end-of-year banquet in May, a successful season was celebrated, and track & field athletes (pictured at right) were recognized for their contributions to the team and their athletic performances. They received certificates, medals, and individualized trophies. Both Middle School girls' and boys' teams won the Penn Relays 4X100M in School record times. This was the girls' third consecutive win!

FCA PARTNERS WITH TGR LEARNING LAB This summer, Friends' Central Aquatics partnered with TGR Learning Lab Philadelphia to provide free swimming and water safety instruction for 27 third and fourth grade students. The three-week program reflects Friends' Central's ongoing commitment to community engagement and expanding access to lifelong skills.

MATTHEW CHAGAN ’29 WINS SUMMER LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP This summer, Matthew Chagan '29 (pictured fifth from right) helped lead his Narberth Boys Basketball League team, The Big Club, to the Summer League Championship, continuing his strong year on the court following his first season with FCS’s JV basketball team.

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Alumni/ae Athletes in the News KAIYA RAIN TUCKER ’25 earned the Air Force Reserve MAAC Women's Basketball Rookie of the Week honor during her standout first season as a Siena College freshman, closing the year with one of the conference's top rookie performances.

Kaiya Rain Tucker (timesunion.com

Logyn Greer (dailycamera.com)

Maria Morsa (Instagram/gomustangsports)

Julian Abreu

Julia Beyer (Center)

Nancy Marchand (Second from right)

LOGYN GREER ’25 also had an impressive rookie season at the University of Colorado on the women's basketball team. It was such a strong start for Logyn, that she was named as one of its "young stars" in the University of Colorado Athletics news. MARIA MORSA ’24, a junior at Stevenson University, was named to the College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District Softball Team. To earn the honor, student-athletes must be nominated by their athletic communications director, maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.50 or higher, and meet high athletic performance standards. During the 2026 baseball season, infielder JULIAN ABREU ’23 of Lackawanna College was named to the All-Region XIX Division II Second Team. JULIA BEYER ’22 helped Smith College's Varsity 8 earn NEWMAC Boat of the Week honors after a strong showing at the New York State Championships. Julia was also recognized as a CSC Academic All-District selection for her achievements both on the water and in the classroom. NANCY MARCHAND ’76 was welcomed by Friends' Central Aquatics when she visited the pool and met with swimmers and coaches during Alumni/ae Weekend 2026. Reflecting on her visit, she shared, "The FCA pool is clearly a happy place for so many," celebrating the program's community and lasting impact.

Ultimate frisbee players celebrated senior night this spring and a great season, which included an exciting come-from-behind 11-10 win against Radnor after they had been down 8-0.

FALL 2025

Conversations With Friends

Meet Friends’ Central School Donor GERARD LAM ’95, P’31 ’34 ’37

Position: Principal Tools and Automation Architect at Everpure, a technology company that provides enterprise AI, cloud, and data storage solutions; president and founder of ConnectMe2, an AI-driven business operations platform start-up Grades attended FCS: Ninth through 12th Born and raised: Philadelphia Current home: Haverford, after a recent move from New Jersey Reason for moving: to enroll the family’s children, Matthias (eighth grade), Finn (fifth), and Sawyer (second), at his alma mater this fall Campaigns his generosity helps support: Phoenix Rising, the campaign to reimagine flagship Athletics and wellness facilities at Friends’ Central’s City Avenue campus; and the Friends' Central Fund, the School's annual fund Was there an experience at FCS that helped shape you as a person? “I wasn’t the best student when I got to FCS. But I loved sports. My first love was basketball, though being on the shorter end didn’t exactly help. My coach on the boys third team was Timothy Beach, who also coached track and field. He pulled me aside one day and said, ‘You’re going to try pole vaulting.’ I remember thinking, What’s pole vaulting? How am I going to do that? But he told me, ‘I can see determination in you. You don’t quit. This is something you should try.’ Sometimes that’s all it takes: one person who sees it before you do. He tapped

26 FRIENDS' CENTRAL SCHOOL

into a drive I didn’t know I had, and I threw myself into it. Training, researching, figuring out how to get faster and stronger.” Is there a link between unlocking that internal drive, a drive that propelled you to a Friends’ Schools League pole vault championship as a senior, and your later success? “Sports taught me discipline. Integrity. You learn how to have heart, how not to quit, how to look out for each other and come together as a team. Those things carry into academics, into your career, into the rest of your life.” What motivated you to support the Phoenix Rising Campaign? “Athletics gives kids opportunities that they otherwise might not have to develop their character and be the best versions of themselves.” Your children will be FCS students this fall. You had choices. Why FCS? “I didn’t realize at the time how much FCS was shaping me. But looking back, I credit a lot of my success to that grounding, especially learning to think critically and challenge everything. When we came to visit, you could see it in the way FCS looks at young people. They see the individual in each kid, and they teach independence. They help them find their own identity. That’s rare. It’s also an environment where my children will experience diversity, and where they’ll have the benefit of Meeting for Worship.” What’s so special to you about Meeting for Worship? “For me, it was a chance to reflect. To sit and think away from the noise. Given how society is now, with everyone plugged in all the time, where else do you get to decompress, to think without distraction, to say how you actually feel, hear how someone else feels, and start to understand it?”

December 1, 2026 It’s a date. Join the Friends’ Central community on the global day of giving to ensure the School continues to thrive. Your GivingTuesday contribution will support the Friends’ Central Fund, expanding tuition assistance, helping us retain exceptional faculty, and providing innovative programming and top-notch facilities. Want to volunteer? Contact Jennifer Chu P’38 ’40 at jchu@friendscentral.org

FALL 2026

COMMENCEMENT 2026

Clockwise from top left: Eva Edsell ’26 and Aarin McIntosh ’26; Lena Jih-Cook ’26 receiving her diploma from Head of School Beth D. Johnson ’77; Upper School Principal Lee Payton delivering his Commencement address; Members of the Class of 2026 wave to family and friends; Hannah Seidel-Nini ’26; Solomon Stern ’26

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The Class of 2026: Equipped with Quaker Values and Ready to Shine

COMMENCEMENT 2026 took place on a

very warm and bright morning in early June. The members of Friends' Central's Class of 2026 were duly celebrated for all their many accomplishments, braving the heat to enjoy their well-deserved moment of recognition. FCS Board of Trustees member Karen Horikawa ’77 opened the ceremony with a reading of the poem/blessing “For Beauty” by the Irish poet John O’Donohue. Head of School Beth D. Johnson ’77 spoke next and began by offering the graduating seniors lined up in their caps and gowns on the graduation terrace an opportunity to wave at their loved ones in the audience. She welcomed attendees – present and those watching via livestream – and she thanked the families for having entrusted Friends’ Central with the education and care of their children, also acknowledging the hard work of FCS faculty and staff. Hannah Seidel-Nini ’26 was the first of two student Commencement speakers. She touched on the transformation that is, “is too gradual to notice while it’s happening,” from a nervous and uncertain new student at FCS (in her case, in seventh grade) to a fully immersed member of the FCS community who can’t imagine a world where she will no longer see her FCS friends every morning. She described this transformation as built on the “countless moments that will never appear on a transcript. The friend who sat

next to you when you needed someone or the classmate you arrived late to class with.” For Hannah, any anxiety she might be tempted to feel about the future is dispelled, she shared, “Because when I think about our future, I think about the people sitting in front of me. I’m looking at people who have learned how to care deeply, how to listen, people who learned how to build community.” The second graduate speaker, Solomon Stern ’26 – a “lifer” who attended Friends’ Central since Pre-K – also spoke about transformation; in this case, about how he and his classmates have changed each other. He described how he himself had matured, how, at FCS, he “found a second family. I found people whom I look up to, people who inspired me to change for the better.” “Our school is special,” Solomon said, “because of the many opportunities for growth – not just academic growth but also social growth and our growth as people. We plan special events that not only give us a chance to showcase our individual passions and interests but also encourage us to step out of our comfort zones and get to know each other.” The Commencement faculty address was given this year by FCS Upper School Principal Lee Payton. Lee is known for his deep commitment to Quakerism and its role in education; he is also known as a lifelong Star Trek enthusiast, but, he joked, he decided to

resist the urge to present his whole speech as a “Captain from Star Trek!” Instead, he shared some profound reflections on Quaker history and the continued relevance of Quaker testimonies for our graduates. “The time-honored testimonies and practices of Friends are deeply meaningful to me, as a Quaker school graduate and as a Quaker,” Lee shared. “Quaker beliefs manifest themselves in practices that we enact in our daily lives. So now, I want to highlight some of those beliefs and practices that I feel will be important for you in the years to come.” “During your time in school,” said Lee to the Class of 2026, “you have been taught to recognize the Divine Spark, the Light, the Good, that of God (whatever you would like to call it) in each person. Each person has

“ Our school is special because of the many opportunities for growth – not just academic growth but also social growth and our growth as people.” SOLOMON STERN ’26

FALL 2023

COMMENCEMENT 2026

value, worth, and meaning, and it’s your job to make space for that in your relationships and in your interactions.” Lee described how the Peace testimony was brought into being by early Quakers in England in 1660 as a response to years of civil war. The testimony of Peace and the importance of working to intentionally remove the “occasions” for war remain just as relevant today. “As you leave Friends’ Central,” he said, “I charge you to bring this same spirit, bring this same energy, to wherever you go. Our world needs more occasions for

30 FRIENDS' CENTRAL SCHOOL

peace and kindness, and your time here has prepared you to make this a reality.” He also spoke about Continuing Revelation and asked the graduates to “be open to new and unexpected ideas. Don’t be afraid of the unknown, the undiscovered country, and don’t be afraid to set a new course for yourself. New experiences will help you identify your new truths and guide your steps as your journey continues.” The Class of 2026, Lee said, is the beneficiary of “over 300 years of Quaker faith and practice and over 300 years of translat-

ing and adapting those moral and spiritual tenets into an educational program.” Equipped with this education and with their own unique set of talents, creativity, and drive, the members of the Class of 2026 are destined to go further. QW Clockwise from top left: Peter Staugaard ’26, Upper School science teacher Chris Guides, Bowen Xu ’26, and Lister Li ’26 pose for photos before the ceremony; Ayinde Armstead ’26, Ella Anderson ’26, and classmates process to the Commencement Terrace; family and friends cheering on; Sammi Smith ’26

C L A S S O F 2 0 2 6 C O L L EG E C H O I C E S American University (2)

Indiana University Bloomington

Amherst College

Ithaca College

Bard College

Lafayette College (4)

Beloit College

McGill University (2)

Boston University

Morehouse College

Bryn Mawr College

New York University

Bucknell University

Northeastern University (3)

Butler University

Oberlin College (2)

Chesapeake College

Pace University

Coastal Carolina University

Pennsylvania State University (4)

College of William & Mary

Pratt Institute

Cornell University

Rochester Institute of Technology

Drexel University (4)

San Diego State University

Eastern Mennonite University

Sarah Lawrence College (2)

Eastern University

Skidmore College (3)

Gannon University

Smith College

George Washington University

Stevenson University

Gettysburg College

Swarthmore College

Grinnell College

Syracuse University

Harvard University

The Catholic University of America

Haverford College (2)

The Ohio State University

High Point University

Thomas Jefferson University

Howard University (2)

Tufts University (4)

University of California, Santa Barbara (2) University of Delaware University of Michigan (3) University of Pennsylvania (7) University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg University of Pittsburgh (2) University of Richmond (2) University of Rochester University of San Diego University of San Francisco University of Southern California University of St. Andrews (2) University of Toronto University of Vermont (2) University of Virginia University of Wisconsin - Madison (2) Villanova University (2) Washington College Wesleyan University (2) Widener University Xavier University of Louisiana (2)

Tulane University

Members of the Class of 2026 were admitted to an incredible range of schools across the country, with 35% of the Class attending a US News and World Report top college or university.

FALL 2026 2024

COMMENCEMENT 2026

The Class of 2026 32 FRIENDS' CENTRAL SCHOOL

COMMENCEMENT 2026

FALL 2026

Alumni/ae Weekend 2026: A Celebration of Connection and Community

Mark your calendar and SAVE the DATE for our next Alumni/ae Weekend: April 30-May 2, 2027 MORE THAN 300 alumni/ae returned to the City Avenue campus from across the country for FCS Alumni/ae Weekend 2026, one

of our biggest and best alumni/ae celebrations in recent times. The weekend’s energy was fueled by a mix of longtime favorites and exciting new programs, several of which were so successful that we're already planning to bring them back next year. Festivities began Friday with open classes and the popular Alumni/ae & Student Networking Luncheon, where current students connected with alumni/ae representing a wide range of professions. The day concluded with Gather With Friends, a new event that brought alumni/ae together for refreshments and conversation on the Main Building terrace. Saturday offered something for everyone, including family activities on Felsen Common, food trucks, campus tours, a book talk, a presentation celebrating 100 Years in Wynnewood, and opportunities to cheer on the Earthquakers Upper School robotics team at the FIRST® Championship in Houston, TX. New digital and museum-style exhibits brought the School’s history to life, while the first-ever livestream of the Distinguished Alumni/ae Awards and Digital Archives expanded the celebration beyond campus. This year’s awards honored Charlie Price ’66 and Eve Ellis ’76 for their accomplishments, leadership, and enduring commitment to Friends’ Central. Enjoy these photographs highlighting some of the weekend’s festivities – and start planning for Alumni/ae Weekend 2027, April 30-May 2. While we're celebrating Reunion classes ending in 2s and 7s, all alums are invited to return, reconnect, remember, and rediscover Friends’ Central. Help make next year’s celebration another success by submitting a nomination for the Distinguished Alumni/ae Awards or serving as a volunteer (visit friendscentral.org/alumniae/weekend for more information). We can’t wait to welcome you back! QW

34 FRIENDS' CENTRAL SCHOOL

1. (Opposite page) Alums were so happy to reunite at Gather With Friends, a new event that took place on Friday. 2. Alums and current students connected at the Alumni/ae and Student Networking Luncheon on Friday. 3. Upper School Science teacher John Gruber caught up with many former students over the weekend. 4. Historic objects from the FCS Archives were on display, with accompanying descriptions. 5. On Friday, alums were invited to participate in Assistant Director of the Office of Diversity, Equity, & Justice Al Vernacchio's Human Sexuality class, among many class offerings. 6. The pizza food truck was one of several popular food spots on Felsen Common!

FALL 2026

Alumni/ae Weekend

36 FRIENDS' CENTRAL SCHOOL

2026 Reunion Classes

FALL 2026

A LU M N I /A E W E E K E N D 2 0 2 6 H I G H L I G H TS

1. C harlie Price ’66 was named FCS's 2026 Distinguished Alumnus for his decades of service to the School and his multigenerational family legacy rooted in Quakerism. 2. O ur 2026 Distinguished Alumna was Eve Ellis ’76, recognized for her outstanding accomplishments in wealth management and financial advisement.

3. Razzeena Jones ’13 giving Evan Grove ’01 a tour of the Audrie Gardham Ulmer ’37 Center for Innovation and Design, one of the many tours of the CID offered during the weekend 4. H ead of School Beth D. Johnson ’77 and Niambi McDonald ’06 at the Alumni/ae of Color Breakfast Reception on Saturday morning

38 FRIENDS' CENTRAL SCHOOL

5. J udy Kirk Meyer ’74, daughter of beloved former FCS teacher and football coach David H. Kirk, spoke at the opening of the refreshed Kirk Lobby in Linton Gymnasium dedicated to David H. Kirk. The opening was attended by several former FCS football alumni who had been coached by David. 6. F CS Archivist Grant Calder offered a lecture on both Friday and Saturday titled "100 Years in Wynnewood" and providing fascinating details on the history of the School's relocation from Philadelphia to Wynnewood in 1925. 7. N ovelist Leah Franqui ’05 visited on the Saturday to speak about her new book, After the Hurricane. 8. N ovelist Tim Chawaga ’06 joined Leah Franqui to speak about his recently published first novel, Salvagia.

Your Pennsylvania taxes can fund a Friends’ Central education. Join the FCS parents, alumni/ae, and friends who have leveraged their Pennsylvania tax liability into life-changing tuition assistance by taking advantage of the state’s Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)

How a gift to FCS using the program works (an example):

and Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit (OSTC) programs.

PA state income tax rate

3.07%

Through the Friends Collaborative, a partnership of 22 Quaker

PA taxable income

$293,160

75% of their contribution for a one-year commitment or 90% for a

PA state income tax owed

$9,000

two-year commitment of the same amount. Check line 12 on your

Your gift amount ($3,000 minimum)

$10,000

$3,000 or more, you can open the door to an FCS education for a

Receive 90% PA state tax credit

$9,000

student with need!

Estimated federal charitable deduction

$330

Contact Peter Boyer today at pboyer@friendscentral.org to learn more and see if you qualify.

Total cost to make a $10,000 gift

$670

schools, individuals and businesses can earn tax credits equal to

Pennsylvania tax return (or ask your accountant); if that number is

FALL 2026

Art by Zoey, fifth grade

WAYS OF GIVING Gifts of Cash, Check, or Money Order

Matching Gifts

Please make checks payable to “Friends’ Central School” and mail to: Friends’ Central School Advancement Office 1101 City Avenue Wynnewood, PA 19096

Many employers offer a gift-matching benefit that can double or triple your gift. Inquire with your employer's personnel or human resources office.

Gifts by Credit Card and Digital Wallets You can use your credit card, Venmo, PayPal, or Google Pay on our secure online giving page (friendscentral.org/giving) to make one-time and monthly recurring gifts.

Gifts of Stock and Appreciated Securities Donations of appreciated securities (stocks, mutual funds, bonds) reduce income taxes and there is no capital gains tax on the appreciation.

Pennsylvania’s Tax Credit Programs By participating in the Education Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) and Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit (OSTC) programs, businesses and individuals can turn their PA tax liability into tuition assistance support at FCS.

IRA Charitable Transfer IRA charitable transfers can benefit donors aged 70½ and older. These gifts aren’t taxable; they qualify for your required minimum distribution and don’t count as income for federal income tax purposes. Transfers must be made directly from a traditional IRA account by your IRA administrator to FCS.

Questions? Need help or advice? Please contact us at giving@friendscentral.org or 610.645.5036.

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FCS ALUMNI/AE WEEKEND R E M E M B E R • R E C O N N E C T • R E D I S C OV E R

SAVE THE DATE

April 30-May 2, 2027 All alumni/ae are welcome to attend as we honor the Reunion classes ending in 2s and 7s.

Interested in serving as a Reunion volunteer for your class and learning more about FCS Alumni/ae Weekend? Head to friendscentral.org/alumniae/weekend or scan the QR code.

Friends’ Central School 1101 City Avenue Wynnewood, PA 19096-3418

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Friends’ Central School!