Our first students

WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER ABOUT BEING PIONEERS AT THE NEW SCHOOL?

“It felt exciting to be part of a school that picked up and began a new life across town. In the spirit of community and trust, a hallmark of the school’s approach to education, then and still today, students were included in many of the preparations for the big transition. We were shown architectural models, helped to pack everything up, and then invited to make the new space our own.”

STEVEN MILLER ‘81

“For me, TPS was an extension of home rather than what I imagine school feels like to others. It gave me a very keen sense that the world around us is something summoned up and created by people, as opposed to a foregone conclusion established by long-ago strangers. I came to see the world not as an established fixed set of institutions that exist outside of the humanity they structure. This enabled me to both question the status quo and see myself as a co-creator of the world I stepped into later in my life.”

JENNY LADEN ‘84

“Being a pioneer meant being unencumbered by traditions or expectations or even many rules. It meant feeling as if we were all (kids, teachers, parents) making it up as we went along, and that that was fine. Those of us who stuck around until middle school had, by that time, a longer history with the school than our teachers did. That probably made us (well, me, anyway) a bit too cocky and arrogant. But all of this gave me an early sense that I could speak my mind and my voice would matter and that if something wasn’t working, it could probably be changed; that life was about figuring stuff out together, not following directions and the paths trodden down by others.”

TONY LADEN ‘81

To get a sense of what it was like to attend The Philadelphia School in the early years, we asked former students who were among the first to attend TPS to reflect on a number of questions. With the help of former teachers Maggie Greif, Christopher Duncan, and Kent Peterman, we were able to contact a number of these folks and collect these wonderful reflections.

“TPS in the 1970s was a work in progress that I think doesn’t much resemble the current school. didn’t quite fit in, in part because was the oldest student with only one agemate. But I can say that I had fun, especially at Sycamore Farm, and learned a lot.”

JONATHAN DUSHOFF ‘78

“I’m not sure I thought of myself as a pioneer, but I always had the sense that the school was growing with us. We headed up to the 4th floor when the school outgrew just the 3rd floor, then moved to the new building when two floors were not enough and which gave us some outdoor space in the school yard and nearby Markward Playground. Being at a school where there was no homework worked out well for me, to the point that I was dismayed when my children were assigned homework all throughout their elementary school careers.”

SUSIE BULOVA O’DONNELL ‘80

ARE THERE MEMORABLE PEOPLE AND EVENTS THAT MARK YOUR TPS EXPERIENCE?

“My memories from TPS are too numerous to count! Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, building fires, ice skating and tending the garden at Sycamore Farm, studying Mesopotamia, 1976 mock presidential election, movement with Carter Fussell, friends, teachers, so many wonderful experiences that are so vivid in my mind like it was only yesterday.”

JENNIFER CLARK SIMONS ‘76-‘79

“By Middle School, we were running small businesses, dabbling in the stock market (complete with visits to Wall Street), and comparing mythologies from multiple parts of the world (and then writing our own myths). The commonality was to present a balance between how the ancients (in different cultures) explained the world, and how things really happened (maybe) in our day, presenting the world as a complex and ever-changing place – but which could also have room for creativity and fun. Thanks, Chris!”

CHARLES EHRICH ‘74-‘80

“I remember creative writing (aka write down your fantasies) with Carter Fussel. Being able to tap into the creative process has served me well. I remember...trips to the farm with Janet and sometimes her husband Ben. Connecting with animals and nature has also always been a big part of my life. I remember learning music and rhythms and movement with the music teacher Betty. Again, music and movement (aka moving meditation) have played a huge part in my life.”

ROBBIE WILLIAMSON ‘72-’80

“I remember the farm, playing Pharaoh in Joseph the Taneys, my friends on Waverly St. Hope you are well!”

MICHAEL BRENNER ‘76-’79

“I remember going to Hebrew School as well as TPS in the same building. I remember not knowing what grade I was in, as TPS did not have grade levels per se. I remember getting fries at the Burger King across the street and using the hallway radiators as soccer goals with a chalkboard eraser as the ball.”

WILL BRAVEMAN ‘72-‘79

“The teachers Betty Darby, Christoper Duncan, and even Carter Fussell were always there to listen and explore with me. Whether it was academic, artistic, or musical, they listened to what I had to say. This attitude towards the kids exploring their own ideas has lasted with me to this day. As an artist, the hardest hurdle is usually the confidence to put your idea out there and hope it works. Being accepted, understood, naked in a crowd. I’ve also had lasting friendships with Jason Lerner, Ian Lamont, Jacob Tapper, and Michael Darby, who is no longer with us. I don’t talk to them often, but if I sent them an email, they would reply.”

FABRICE TROMBERT ‘74-’79

“I’m on a Facebook instant message chain right now as I write this for the TPS anniversary. On the chain are many of my closest friends from TPS: Jason and Jason and Jennifer and Jennifer and Liz and Peter. (Joey and Aly, where are you?) They were wonderful friends then, and it’s a joy to still be in touch with them today. Once when Liz (Spikol) and I were talking about our childhoods, I quoted Steven King’s novella The Body, used at the end of the film on which it was based, Stand By Me: “I never had any friends like the ones I had when was twelve. Jesus, does anyone?” Indeed. And TPS’s caring and special teachers — Chris Duncan and Janet Kalkstein and John Robinson and so many others — and the school’s innovative ways of letting us learn, Sycamore Farm primary among them, allowed us all to grow together. I was very lucky to have had the experience.”

JAKE TAPPER ‘74-’80

“School plays and musicals were so much fun–especially the production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat I loved the weekly trips to Sycamore Farm. Growing vegetables, feeding animals, playing kickball, etc. was such an amazing experience for a city kid who grew up at 21st and Spruce St. We were fortunate that TPS offered camping trips, trips to Hawk Mountain, and other incredible expeditions that allowed the city kids to explore other parts of the area.”

LIZ BERMAN ‘81

“Yes, I can be too chatty, but those verbal skills served me well in learning different languages, eventually becoming a Spanish teacher and translator in my early career. My messy handwriting wasn’t punished — rather, the TPS teachers noticed what I was writing, not how, encouraging my love of words and fostering the foundation that would lead to 25+ years in journalism and communications. TPS was all love, and I cherish every moment there. Well, except for gym class. I still can’t do a pull-up.”

LIZ SPIKOL ‘76-’80

“TPS is where I learned how to learn. That skill, that ability to understand the learning process that works for me, was the foundation for everything that followed. It allowed me to excel in public school, in college, and in my career. Every new language I learn, every time I take a test for a certification, every time I do a coding interview, I use what I learned at TPS.”

AARON COOLEY ‘81

“I am living in Texas and teaching Freshman English at a fairly rural school in Granbury, Texas called Granbury High School. I have been in education for over 23 years and have done everything from teaching and coaching multiple sports to being an Athletic Director and an Assistant Principal. I got into education partly because of my time at TPS. In high school I did not have teachers who inspired me, so I wanted to become a teacher that kids wanted to have.”

IAN LAMONT ‘72-’79

“I feel extremely fortunate to have attended The Philadelphia School in the 1970s and early 80s. This school instilled curiosity, a love of reading and learning, and taught me to think for myself. What a gift! I consider all of these foundational to the person I am today.”

JENNIFER SEY ‘83

by Leonard and Zachary Klehr