William Penn Charter School
| William Penn Charter School | |
|---|---|
| Motto | Good Instruction Is Better Than Riches |
| Established | 1689 |
| Independent | |
| Coeducational | |
| Affiliations | Religious Society Of Friends |
| Headmaster | Darryl J. Ford, PhD |
| Founder | William Penn |
| Students | 960 |
| Grades | Pre-K – 12 |
| Location | 3000 West School House Lane, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States |
| Accreditation | Pennsylvania Association of Private Academic Schools (PAPAS) |
| Campus | Urban |
| Colors | Blue and Yellow |
| Nickname | PC |
| Mascot | Quaker |
| Rival | Germantown Academy |
| Yearbook | The Class Record |
| Newspaper | The Mirror |
| Website | http://penncharter.com |
William Penn Charter School (commonly known as Penn Charter or simply PC) is an independent school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, founded in 1689 by William Penn. It is the oldest Quaker school in the world, the oldest elementary school in Pennsylvania, and the fifth oldest elementary school in the United States following The Collegiate School (1628), Boston Latin School (1635), Hartford Public High School (1638), and Roxbury Latin (1645). Today, Penn Charter enrolls boys and girls in pre-kindergarten through 12th grade. It is considered to be an exclusive private school in terms of admission criteria and is ranked among the top schools in the Philadelphia area.[1] According to Worth Magazine, Penn Charter ranks within the nation's top 100 private and public schools that send the most students to Harvard, Princeton and Yale.[2] The school motto, taken from one of Penn's writings, is "Good instruction is better than riches."
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History [edit]
Penn Charter is among the first schools in the United States to offer education to all religions (1689), financial aid (1701), matriculation to girls (1754), and education to all races (1770). The "Charter" in the school's name does not, as it might imply, mean that it is a charter school. Rather, it is a reference to the historic document that was signed by William Penn to establish the first Quaker school in America. Originally located on the east side of Fourth Street below Chestnut, the school officially consolidated in 1874 as an all-boys college preparatory school at 12th and Market Streets. Penn Charter moved to its current forty-four acre East Falls campus in 1925. In 1980 the school became fully co-educational by allowing girls to continue past the second grade, thus graduating the first co-ed senior class in 1992.
Traditions [edit]
While the school is not under the care of a formal monthly Meeting, in keeping with the school's Quaker heritage, the Overseers, a board of 21 trustees established by William Penn, still governs the affairs of the school through Quaker consensus. Anne Marble Caramanico is the current clerk of the Overseers. All students attend a weekly Meeting for Worship. Faculty meetings and all-school assemblies and some classes begin with a moment of silence.
Service learning is integral to the school and incorporated in the pre-K to 12 curriculum. To earn an activity credit, many Upper School students complete 40 hours of community service a year. A van of students leaves the campus after school every day to perform community service in various locations throughout the Philadelphia area.
Color Day, celebrated on the Friday before Memorial Day, is a tradition in which two teams sporting the school's colors, blue and yellow, compete against each other in playful contests, concluding with a 12th grade Tug-of-War.
The school's Senior Stairs are a central stairway that only current seniors, faculty and alumni are permitted to use during school hours.
A Penn Charter graduate is known as an "OPC." The honorific "OPC 1689" is bestowed, rarely, by the Overseers upon significant faculty and staff in recognition of their service to Old Penn Charter.
Activities [edit]
The school newspaper, "The Mirror", is the oldest secondary school student newspaper in the United States, having been published since 1777.
The Quakers Dozen is the school's most-selective co-ed a cappella group. During the last week of classes before the winter recess, the group greets the community in the morning with holiday music on the Senior Stairs.
In the summer months the school runs a popular day camp for children of all ages that offers activities like swimming, tennis, archery, computers, team sports, art, music, a talent show and an end-of-camp fair. It also hosts enrichment activities for its own students as well as a number of special programs for local public middle and high school students.
Sports [edit]
Penn Charter is a member of the Inter-Academic League (Inter-Ac), the nation's oldest high school sports league, and shares the nation's oldest continuous football rivalry with Germantown Academy, celebrated every year since 1886 during PC/GA Day. The game has been played more times than the Army-Navy Game and the Harvard-Yale Game.
Campus [edit]
On the 44-acre (180,000 m2) campus, the three divisions of the school (Lower, Middle, and Upper Schools) have their own designated buildings. All classrooms are equipped with SMART Board interactive whiteboards. The campus has four art studios, a darkroom, and a film-editing lab; various computer labs and mobile laptop carts; a state-of-the-art performing arts center with separate band and choral spaces, recording studios and a 650-seat theater; and nine science labs, all with Smart Boards, WiFi access, and gigabit LAN. Athletic facilities include nine playing fields, including a synthetic turf field; seven tennis courts; new squash courts; a synthetic six-lane oval track and five-lane straightway; a wrestling facility; a six-lane competitive swimming pool; three gymnasiums; and a field house equipped with a state-of-the-art training facility and fitness room.
Leadership [edit]
John Flagg Gummere, scion of a long line of talented and prominent Quaker educators, was Headmaster from 1941 to 1968. He was a noted Latin scholar (Ph.D., Penn) and author of several widely used textbooks. Dr. Gummere was a loquacious raconteur with seemingly encyclopedic knowledge on many topics. Regarding Penn Charter sports, his variation on Penn's motto for the school (the Gummere variation: "Good Instruction is Better than Losing") says volumes about his attitude toward a coach's teaching role with students. He was followed by Wilbert L. Braxton, a longtime dedicated Penn Charter faculty member and able administrator. Mr. Braxton was Headmaster from 1968 until 1976. He was followed as Head of School by Earl J. Ball III, who skillfully led the school into the 21st Century. After 31 years as Head of School, Earl J. Ball III retired in June 2007. Darryl J. Ford, former director of the Penn Charter Middle School, was appointed as Head of School, by the Board of Overseers after conducting a national search. Dr. Ford is the school's first and only African American Head of School.
Notable alumni [edit]
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This section needs additional citations for verification. (January 2013) |
Education and Academia
- Henry Joel Cadbury, OPC '99 (1899), Quaker scholar, teacher, Harvard Divinity chair 1934–54[3]
- J. Presper Eckert, OPC '37, University of Pennsylvania researcher, computer pioneer, co-creator of the world's first electronic computer, ENIAC[4]
- David W. Leebron, OPC '73, president of Rice University in Houston, Texas[citation needed]
- David W. Oxtoby, OPC '68, President of Pomona College and Professor of Chemistry[5]
- David Riesman, OPC '26, former Harvard University sociology professor, lawyer, author of sociology classic "The Lonely Crowd"[6]
Government and Public Service
- Charles Gwynne Douglas, III, OPC '60, former Supreme Court Justice from the state of New Hampshire, former US Congressman[7]
- Mark R. Kravitz, OPC '68, United States District Court Judge for the District of Connecticut (Federal Judge)[citation needed]
- Joseph M. "Joe" Hoeffel, OPC '68, Pennsylvania 13th District Congressman[8]
- Endicott Peabody, former Governor of Massachusetts, member of the College Football Hall of Fame (defense for Harvard).[9]
- Grover C. Richman, Jr., U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey (1951–1953) and New Jersey Attorney General (1954–1958)[10]
Business and Industry
- Pierre S. DuPont OPC '1886, industrialist, philanthropist, and educational visionary, DuPont Corporation director, one-time Chairman of General Motors.
- Irénée DuPont OPC '1892, DuPont Corporation Director.[11]
- Richard B Fisher, OPC '53, chairman emeritus of Morgan Stanley
- Howard Head, OPC ’32, founder of Head Ski Company & Prince Manufacturing Inc. 1914–1991
Science and Medicine
- Crawford H. Greenewalt, OPC '18, chemist, head of DuPont Corp. '48–'67, developed nylon fabrics.[citation needed]
Entertainment and the Arts
- Adam F. Goldberg, OPC '94, television and film writer.
- Richard Lester, director of The Beatles' films A Hard Day's Night, and Help!
- Robert Picardo, OPC '71, The Doctor on Star Trek: Voyager[12]
- William Barker, OPC '71, best-known interpreter of Thomas Jefferson in Colonial Williamsburg, VA, and on television
- David Sirota, OPC '94, The New York Times Bestselling author, journalist, and political strategist
Religion
- Samuel B. Booth, Episcopal Bishop of Vermont[citation needed]
Sports and Athletics
- Chris Albright, OPC ’97, current Philadelphia Union and US National Team soccer player[citation needed]
- Rubén Amaro, Jr., OPC '83, former Philadelphia Phillies player and current Phillies General Manager[13]
- David Berkoff, OPC ’84, Olympic medalist in swimming[citation needed]
- Bobby Convey, '98 (did not graduate), Sporting Kansas City and US National Soccer Team player[citation needed]
- Mark Gubicza, OPC '81, former pitcher for the Kansas City Royals[14]
- George Hauptfuhrer, OPC '44, third overall selection in the 1948 BAA Draft[15]
- John B. Kelly, Jr., OPC ’45, brother of Grace Kelly, Olympic medalist and former president of the U.S. Olympic committee
- Rob Kurz, OPC '04, NBA Power Forward[16]
- John Robert "Jack" Meyer, OPC '50, former pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies[17]
- David Montgomery, OPC '64, President of the Philadelphia Phillies[18]
- Browning Nagle, '86 (did not graduate), quarterback for NY Jets, Indianapolis Colts, and Atlanta Falcons[citation needed]
- Tony Resch, OPC '81, former professional lacrosse player, current coach, and NLL Hall of Fame inductee[citation needed]
- Matt Ryan, OPC '03, quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons [19]
- Sean Singletary, OPC '04, University of Virginia and Charlotte Bobcats point guard[20]
- Billy Stuart, OPC '61, Lehigh University, NCAA Wrestling Champion '65[citation needed]
Military
- Colonel Raynal Cawthorne Bolling, OPC '96 (1896), the first high-ranking U.S. officer to be killed in combat in World War I
- Colonel Douglas Macgregor PhD., is a retired American senior military officer and author.
- General Frederick F. Woerner, Jr., OPC '51, former Commander-in-Chief, United States Southern Command (1987–1989)
References [edit]
- ^ "Top Schools 2006". Phillymag.com. Retrieved February 22, 2010.
- ^ "Top Feeder Schools". Worth Magazine. Retrieved February 22, 2010.
- ^ "Cadbury, Henry Joel". University of Pennsylvania. Retrieved January 1, 2013.
- ^ "J. Presper Eckert 1990 Computer Entrepreneur Award Recipient". IEEE Computer Society. Retrieved January 1, 2013.
- ^ "JAlumni Award of Merit". William Penn Charter School. Retrieved January 1, 2013.
- ^ "JAlumni Award of Merit". William Penn Charter School. Retrieved January 1, 2013.
- ^ "Douglas, Charles Gywnne, III - Biographical Information". Bioguide.congress.gov. Retrieved February 12, 2011.
- ^ "HOEFFEL, Joseph M., (1950 - )". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved January 1, 2013.
- ^ Port, David L., ed. (1995). Biographical Dictionary of American Sports: 1992-1995 Supplement for Baseball, Football, Basketball, and Other Sports. ABC-Clio. pp. 498–499. ISBN 9780313284311. Retrieved May 7, 2012.
- ^ "Grover C. Richman, Jr. Attorney General 1954-1958". The State of New Jersey. Retrieved January 1, 2013.
- ^ "Irénée du Pont". Dupont.com. Retrieved May 7, 2012.
- ^ "Robert Picardo's Biography". Robertpicardo.com. Retrieved February 12, 2011.
- ^ "Ruben Amaro, Jr. Stats". Baseball Almanac. Retrieved December 27, 2012.
- ^ "Mark Gubicza Stats". Baseball Almanac. Retrieved January 1, 2013.
- ^ 1997 Athletic Honor Society Inductees. Penn Charter School. Retrieved on February 5, 2013.
- ^ "Rob Kurz Info Page". NBA.com. March 5, 1985. Retrieved February 12, 2011.
- ^ "Jack Meyer Stats". Baseball Almanac. Retrieved January 1, 2013.
- ^ "Front Office". Philadelphia.phillies.mlb.com. Retrieved February 12, 2011.
- ^ "2 Matt Ryan, QBAtlanta Falcons". www.cbssports.com. 14 June 2012. Retrieved 14 June 2012.
- ^ "Sean Michael-Eli Singletary". Basketball-Reerence.Com. Retrieved January 1, 2013.
External links [edit]
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