New to the Board of Trustees Annual Accreditation Update As recent accreditation updates have noted, in 2012, Wilmington Friends gained membership in the Pennsylvania Association of Independent Schools (PAIS); several Delaware independents schools have taken the same step. We joined PAIS because it focuses solely on independent school education, in providing both accreditation and professional development programs, and because so many of our Quaker-colleague schools are in Philadelphia and belong to this organization as well. We are now fully engaged in our first PAIS accreditation process, using standards that are also recognized by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools, our previous accrediting body. Over the past year, we completed the selfstudy phase of our application, and our self-study report and supporting documents are scheduled to be submitted to PAIS this summer. Overseen by a school steering committee, teams of faculty/staff members wrote sections of the report, focused on the 25 PAIS standards. These standards call for the School to examine areas such as program, governance, personnel, facilities, and health and safety. As we had hoped, our previous Appreciative Inquiry (AI) process—which included students, parents, alumni, and faculty/staff, and focused on teaching and learning at Friends—gave us a head start. AI helped us to identify strengths, challenges, and opportunities for growth in our programs serving students. PAIS accreditation calls for the School to report just such strengths, challenges, and opportunities in our self-study. In November, a PAIS visiting team, comprised of administrators and teachers from PAIS schools, will spend three days at Friends, observing classes, meeting with members of every School constituent group, and examining all aspects of the School’s operations. This team will then submit its own report to PAIS. Members of the PAIS Commission on Accreditation will examine and discuss both the School’s self-study and the report of the visiting team, and then make a recommendation regarding accreditation to the PAIS board of directors. The board will make the final determination regarding WFS accreditation by PAIS, with a recommendation to Middle States for its accreditation as well. Thank you for your support of this process.
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Summer 2015 • QuakerMatters
Many thanks to our Trustees who retired as of June 2015, Dan Klein and Tom Connelly. Dan and Tom brought tremendous intellect, expertise, and dedication to the Board, and their many contributions will continue to serve the School for years to come. And welcome, with thanks, to our new Trustees, Karen-Lee Brofee, Chris Lee ’82, and Rosalind McCoy-Gardner; to our new Alumni Association Board Liaison, Tom Scott ’70; and to our new Home & School Association Liaison, Debbie Pittenger. Chris and Rosalind have both served the Board previously in liaison roles. Chris is the parent of an alumna, Delaney Lee ’14, and a rising junior, Christopher, and Rosalind and her husband, George, are parents of three rising seniors (yes, triplets). Karen-Lee Brofee is new to the Board. Karen is a retired public school administrator and teacher, having served more than 40 years in Pennsylvania and Maryland as a high school English teacher, elementary guidance counselor, elementary and secondary principal, director of curriculum and instruction, assistant superintendent, and superintendent. Karen is currently the Clerk of London Grove Friends Meeting, where she has been very active on a wide range of committees—as was her late husband, Jim—for 40 years. Karen has served on the boards of the Brandywine Valley Association; the County Commissioners Advisory Board for Drug, Alcohol, and Tobacco; the Economic Development Commission of Somerset County (MD); and the Local Management Board of Somerset County. Alumni Association Board Liaison Tom Scott is a software developer and graduate of Haverford College. Tom and his wife, Betsy ’70, are the parents of a Class of 2015 graduate and a rising senior. For many years, Tom managed the Global Missions team at Christ Church, which built the first high school in Batey Jalonga in the Dominican Republic. Friends students regularly participate in Jalonga mission trips. Tom is on the boards of the Kennett Pike Association, Wilmington Garden Day, and Friendship House, and through his development company, works closely with hundreds of area non-profits. Home & School Association Board Liaison Debbie Pittenger is a former teacher and graduate of Miami University (Ohio). She and her husband, Michael, are the parents of a rising senior
and a rising freshman. Debbie has served in numerous leadership roles, formal and informal, in Home & School, including co-president, class representative, and divisional coordinator. In 2012, she cochaired The Auction for Friends. Debbie also serves on the board for The Christmas Shop Foundation.
New Administrative Roles Melissa Brown has been appointed as Acting Director of Admissions and Financial Aid. Melissa, who is a graduate of Germantown Friends School and holds a B.S. from the Boston University School of Education, has been at Friends for 15 years, serving as Associate Director of Admissions and Financial Aid. Dick Kittle will become the Director of Athletics; he served as Acting AD for most of the 2014-15 school year. Dick has been at Friends since 1975 and holds a B.A. and M.Ed. from the University of Delaware. He previously taught middle school (mostly eighth grade) history and social science, and coached a number of sports in both middle and upper school. New to Wilmington Friends is Mike Benner, who started July 1 as Assistant Head of School for Academics (succeeding Ken Aldridge). Mike has been at the Milton Hershey School for the past New Assistant 12 years, workHead of School for ing in a variety of Academics Mike positions including Benner. co-coordinator of K-12 assessment and data analysis and, most recently, preK-12 science curriculum supervisor. He also serves as a senior program advisor and faculty member at the Smithsonian Science Education Center. Mike earned a B.S. in biology from Shippensburg University, an M.S. and Ph.D in Plant Breeding: Cytogenics from the University of Minnesota, and an M.S. in School Leadership from the University of Pennsylvania. Prior to Milton Hershey, Mike worked at The University of the Sciences in Philadelphia and at Rider University in Lawrenceville, NJ.