Fall 2019 Independent

The Independent FALL 2019

Cardinal Chatter What does it mean to “be your best self?”

Our students, faculty and administration have spent time this year and last, discussing our Community Code, why we have it, what it means, and how we can live it each and every day.

“ I think it means being on your best behavior.”

NOAH, GRADE 6

“ Treat others as you would like to the treated, and show empathy.”

ISLA & ISABELLA, GRADE 2

“ Always treat others the way you would like to be treated.”

ANNISA, GRADE 2

“ Be honest and try your hardest, and don’t be biased towards others.”

SETH, GRADE 4

“ Working hard, and knowing you can always improve.” “ Helping others and always be nice”

INES, GRADE 5

NIGEL, GRADE 4

“ Being a good listener and being able to compromise.”

KACIA, GRADE 4

“ Trying your hardest, and helping others when they are in need.”

LUCY, GRADE 4

“ To be good to your friends and family, and the school!”

“ Being nice to those around you.”

MATEO, GRADE 2

“ To be kind to your Grandparents” HARPER, KINDERGARTEN

EMILY, KINDERGARTEN

“ Being your best self means being the best that you can even if you don’t want to.

In my mind it’s generosity.

When you start doing generous things like buying your friend lunch or giving someone a piece of candy it makes both of you feel good. When you do it you want to do it more.”

MAX, GRADE 6

“ Always having a positive attitude and pushing yourself.”

JANIYAH, GRADE 8

“ To try your hardest in everything you do.”

ISJEER, GRADE 8

Why I Teach This school year SPS welcomed four new faculty members to the Early Childhood Division team.

We had the opportunity to sit down with each of them to learn a bit more about what they love and find so fulfilling about being a teacher to our youngest of students.

RAVEN BAILEY, PRESCHOOL TEACHER

“ There is a special kind of joy I feel from working with children. They keep me young at heart, forever reminding me that contentment and humor can be found in the simplest things of life – that is a gift.”

Why do you choose to (and love to) teach?

JULIA NELSON, PRESCHOOL TEACHER

“ I teach because of the joy and magic each student brings with them to my classroom. When I see a child use a hula hoop as a fire engine or help a friend put on their coat, I know I am witnessing the same kind of imaginative thinking and kindness that can change the world.”

JENNY GOODMAN, KINDERGARTEN TEACHER

“ I always knew I wanted to be a teacher as there is nothing like the joy of being part of the learning experience. I look forward to each day in the classroom because I know it is another chance for my students to learn more about the world, about themselves, and about each other. We take risks by trying new things, celebrating effort and achievements, and learning the importance of making mistakes.

I strive to help my students discover and foster their interests and passions and become the best versions of themselves.”

SOPHIE HASKELL, KINDERGARTEN TEACHER

“ It’s that special moment when a child reads a word they didn’t think they could read on their own, that random burning question about how crayons are made and all the light bulb moments and authentic inquiries in-between. As a teacher I am continuously seeking to build a strong moral community with empathetic individuals who ask thoughtful questions about the world and are excited and willing to learn. I am sensitive to the unique journey each individual child goes on and guide their development as they grow into themselves and become curious, independent, personally responsible contributors to the world around them.”

SPS School Keys

A deeper examination of each of the five school keys, what they each look like, sound like, a Character Development

Cultural Awareness

Daily best practices and our commitment to carrying out the School’s Mission and Community Code are supplemented with a schoolwide Social Emotional Learning (SEL) program to practice skills for social awareness, develop interpersonal intelligence, and learn responsible decision-making.

St. Peter’s prides itself on its diversity. We are a unique community representing many differences. We are also thoughtful about the concept of belonging and what each person in our school needs to feel connected to others.

Our City Curriculum is an example of how we reach out beyond our walls to connect with those different than ourselves. We seek partnerships with organizations who will bring a different perspective to our students and to our curriculum. Our students are supported through a school wide Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion program to help celebrate our differences and find connections in our similarities. Our students and faculty share in affinity lunches to bring together community members with a common heritage or culture. We look forward to more events throughout the year to celebrate our diversity and to strengthen our sense of belonging to the larger St. Peter’s community.

DAILY LESSON INTEGRATION & MONTHLY THEMES

The SPS Social Emotional Learning program, guided by School Counselor and Licensed Professional Counselor, Kate Childs, is integrated into daily classroom discussion and based on school wide monthly themes to help focus conversations and to further connect our community of teachers and learners.

In September, the monthly theme of Respect guided our community to think about what it means to respect ourselves and each other, and how by doing both of these things, we can make better choices, treat others as we would like to be treated, and create a space where everyone has a voice and feels heard.

In October, our community experienced what it means to show empathy and compassion by increasing awareness of one another and our reactions or responses to each other.

We learned how to find ways to connect and show care for those who may appear vastly different from us but, in fact, add richness to our lives when we work to understand and have compassion for their experiences.

November and December are devoted to the SEL theme of Kindness. We’re using what we have learned about respect and empathy to spread kindness throughout the community. The faculty is also getting a dose of SEL as well this month as we worked together to create Kindness Rocks to spread around the school! Every small act has a great impact and we’re leading by example for our amazing students.

ound like, and feel like to the members of our community.

Academic Pursuit Schools are academic places. We are filled with students and teachers with the goal of learning for all. This year, the School has introduced a new role, the Director of Teaching and Learning. Briana Mahon has taken on this new position and with the help of Beth Andaloro, our Learning Specialist, has been tasked with meeting our students where they are. The added responsibility for Briana in her new role is to support teachers in their growth and development as teachers. With our school wide focus on small group instruction and inquiry in the classroom, Briana and Beth provide professional development opportunities and in class instruction for all our teachers. As an academic place, St. Peter’s is focused on ways to improve the teaching of our faculty and the learning of our students.

Briana Mahon, Director of Teaching and Learning

Beth Andaloro, Learning Specialist

THE ST. PETER’S SCHOOL KEYS

Our keys are the foundational tenets at the core of how we educate our students and what our families should expect to experience while at St. Peter’s School.

SPS School Keys (continued)

Arts Appreciation SPS Students explore studio art techniques, learn to play instruments, and perform in school productions. In our Visual Arts program, our students are exposed to a range of mediums including painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, metalworking, fiber arts, and other mixed media. Cross curricular projects weave themes from social studies, science and language arts into the art studios, deepening the students’ understanding of the material and allowing them to creatively explore another facet of their coursework.

Our music education program draws from the Orff Model, which aims to engage the mind and body through experience first, then conceptualization. Early Childhood Division and Lower School students engage with percussion instruments, xylophone, ukulele, and of course, do lots of singing. Throughout their time in the Upper School, students continuously grow as young musicians and members of rock/pop bands and homogeneous ensembles, learning guitar, bass guitar, drum set, piano, and handbells.

Our younger students are introduced to theatre and the performing arts through creative play, team building, and storytelling. The combination of social-emotional learning and drama allows students to express themselves without pressure and judgment, and obtain new perspectives about the world in which they live. US students continue to develop confidence in skills of public speaking and presentation through Declamation, which begins in the First Grade, learn new styles of dance in preparation for May Day, learn proper singing technique while singing different genres and styles in chorus, and explore the different jobs in theatre, including stage management, set design, costumes, props, lighting.

As a new way to deepen our students’ opportunity for Arts Appreciation this year, Fifth through Eighth Graders participate in a weekly Arts Block, in addition to their regular arts, music and theater curriculum, where students select an area of focus in the arts to explore and perform.

Also new this year is our formalized Music and Movement program, led by Faith Sacher. This program has been created to broaden our ECD and LS students’ exposure to music, theater, and dance and allows students to experience, explore, listen to, perform, and create music and learn the basics of the dramatic arts. Music and movement increase self confidence, strengthen collaborative skills, improve learning, and expand our students’ world-view.

Self Knowledge Socrates said, “To know thyself, is the beginning of wisdom.” At St. Peter’s, we intentionally provide ways for our students to better know themselves. Our Independent Study Project in the Upper School is an opportunity for each student to explore a topic they are curious about. “They spend time on a topic of their choice and develop the practice of self reflection as a result,” says Upper School Director, Will Nord.

Students in all grades are asked to reflect on their learning; what is easy and difficult, and where they need more support. This advocacy, at every age, further develops their understanding of their own learning, an important skill as they mature through the school.

Red Door Society Throughout our long history, we have been fortunate to have thoughtful and generous donors who have made our shared vision for the education of our students a reality. Red Door Society Members include our most loyal donors: those who have made a planned or estate gift to St. Peter’s School, or those who have given 15 or more gifts over their lifetime. In October, founding members of this newly inducted society came together for an event at the school to reminisce and be recognized for their dedication and generosity over the years. Attendees included current and past faculty and staff members, alumni, alumni parents, and current parents. The Red Door Society was formed in Spring 2019 with 172 inaugural member households representing decades of support and over $2.6M given to St. Peter’s School.

“ I included St. Peter’s School in my Estate Plan because of my late wife’s involvement as President of the Parents’ Association and subsequently as Vice President of the Board, as well as the unique educational program experienced by our two children, Sandy and Betsy. Sandy has very fond memories of St. Peter’s and the great teachers; he still tries to visit the school when in Philadelphia. Betsy loved St. Peter’s because of the way creativity was encouraged and the beautiful traditions like May Day and Harvest Festival. Both Sandy and Betsy, who graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy after we moved to New Hampshire, found that St. Peter’s created a sense of community that was warm and welcoming.” ANTHONY S. CODDING P’77 ’80, RED DOOR SOCIETY MEMBER

The SPS Book Shelf You may have noticed a book on display in our Parlor, or heard mention of the monthly recommended read by SPS Administration and Faculty.

For October, Let the Children Play by Pasi Sahlberg and William Doyle looks at the important role play has in the developmental life of children. Filled with research and data supporting the value of free and unstructured play in the lives of students, the book is a guide for parents and educators in providing opportunities for kids to develop through play and not exclusively through work, desk time, and assessments. Written with parents in mind, the authors reveal how “intellectual and physical play is the ultimate engine of transforming education.”

In November, Wonder was chosen to sit on the SPS Book Shelf. August (Auggie) Pullman was born with a severe facial difference that, up until now, has prevented him from going to a mainstream school. Starting 5th grade at Beecher Prep, Auggie wants nothing more than to be treated as an ordinary kid – but his new classmates can’t get past his extraordinary face. Wonder begins from Auggie’s point of view, but soon switches to include the perspectives of his classmates, his sister, her boyfriend, and others. These voices converge to portray a community as it struggles with differences, and challenges readers, both young and old, to wonder about the true nature of empathy, compassion, acceptance, friendship, and – ultimately – kindness. Auggie is a hero for the ages, one who proves that you can’t blend in when you were born to stand out.

DON'T FORGET TO GIVE!

St. Peter’s School Annual Fund st-peters-school.org/give

Preschool (Age 3) through Eighth Grade 319 Lombard Street, Philadelphia, PA 19147 | 215.925.3963 | st-peters-school.org