Director of Finance and Operations

GSFS was founded by Quakers in 1855. Green Street Monthly Meeting, the Quaker congregation that shares the GSFS campus, continues to support the School and approves its Board of Trustees. Each member brings to the community an Inner Light, an individual guide to acting truthfully, responsibly, and kindly. GSFS provides a strong sense of safety, connection, and freedom that releases GSFS students to focus on their academic and personal success. Meeting for Worship, academic work, service activities, and all aspects of school life provide students opportunities to cultivate their Light and practice Quaker values.

A key aspect of Greene Street's mission is to educate children and families in Quaker values and practices. Quakers also believe there are many paths to spiritual well-being besides the Quaker way, and GSFS is deeply honored to be chosen by families from many different religious traditions, as well as non-religious traditions.

Starting in Pre-K, children learn how to use Quaker values as a guide. They resolve disputes with each other peacefully, by speaking their own truths, listening to each other, and practicing kindness.

The spiritual center of GSFS is Meeting for Worship. Quakers believe that each person has access to divine wisdom, but time needs to be taken away from busy schedules in order to hear it. At GSFS, children and adults gather for thirty minutes of quiet reflection at the beginning of each Wednesday. Together, they sit quietly, clear their minds, and open their hearts. If a child or adult feels moved to stand and share a message, everyone listens respectfully and settles back into silence when the speaker is finished. Students often offer very thoughtful messages. At the end of the half hour, they shake hands with their neighbors and return to the classrooms. Meeting for Worship at GSFS may take a variety of forms. It may involve coming together in the Green Street Meeting House; it may involve listening to a story, sometimes drawing, sometimes doing a mindfulness exercise. This provides an opportunity to differentiate the time spent together.

Greene Street Friends School educates 322 students with 191 in the Lower School and
131 in the Middle School. GSFS believes in empowering students by giving them voice,
responsibility, and leadership. The School has built structured and intentional ways for
students of all ages to act and grow as leaders in the community.

One of Greene Street's strengths is its intimacy. Every child is known, not just by
teachers, but by each other, regardless of grade. GSFS believes in creating a strong
student community where older students can be role models for younger students. One way they promote bonds across grades is through the Partners program. Older students, beginning in third grade, are partnered with children in Pre-Kindergarten through second grade, for the entire school year. These cross-grade partners participate in a variety of activities, including the Fall Festival, the Earth Day celebration, arts and crafts, games, and simply talking and sharing.

We believe that each and every person has an Inner Light. Greene Street Friends School has a deep commitment to the Society of Friends’ belief in “that of God in everyone.” Each
of us brings to the community an Inner Light, an individual guide to acting truthfully, responsibly, and kindly. This Light helps us relate to each other, seek truth, and find good in others. We help our students recognize and share their own Inner Light as well as appreciate it in all people.

Meeting for Worship, moments of silent reflection, and service to the community provide our students opportunities to cultivate their Light as well as connect to the Quaker testimonies of simplicity, peace, integrity, community, and equality. We show each of our students the meaning of these values and how living them can positively impact the way we walk over the earth.

We believe in educating the whole child, which includes intellectual, social, emotional, physical, and spiritual development.
Greene Street Friends School fosters students' development and competencies in a broad sense. Building on children’s natural inclination to actively construct, discuss, and experiment, and using an understanding of the unique capabilities of each child, teachers promote intellectual growth by providing challenging learning opportunities within a rich, integrated curriculum.

Recognizing the inherent connectedness of the individual and the community and the benefits of learning through others’ perspectives, teachers nurture students' ability to engage constructively with others. Spiritually, children grow within our overlying structure of Quaker practices and beliefs.

Because children’s emotional and physical well-being and growth are essential and affect learning capacity in other areas, time is devoted to these needs. Teachers guide
students in identifying, managing, and expressing feelings with confidence and respect and in developing a sense of physical control, coordination, and enjoyment.

We believe that students succeed academically through hard work and continual challenge. We expect our students to put forth an earnest effort in all areas, so that they can achieve their personal best. Teachers help students build academic skills, good study habits, self-discipline, and a positive attitude, which in turn enables them to apply their effort productively. Our school establishes expected learning outcomes for each grade level to appropriately challenge and prepare each student. Teachers equip students with the skills, knowledge, and concepts they will need for the next step in their education
and continually encourage students to stretch their own unique abilities in lessons, discussions, activities, and assignments.

We believe in pursuing a broad range of learning experiences to stimulate enthusiasm, understanding, creativity, and passion for learning. Our instructional program strengthens both the spirit of critical inquiry and the love of learning. At GSFS, students take an active role in their own education: they frame and pursue questions in discussions, they work both independently and in teams to explore and solve problems, and they present their knowledge in a variety of forms. Individuals bring their own strengths to cooperative learning groups and support each other as they learn new skills.

Teachers vary modes of instruction to reach across multiple learning styles. By emphasizing active learning and personal responsibility, we empower young people to become lifelong learners. Our teaching team cultivates its own growth by actively pursuing professional development opportunities and by meeting regularly to reflect on and hone teaching practice. Faculty and staff work together to integrate skills and disciplines, and to make subject matter meaningful for their students.

We believe that developing positive relationships based on empathy and compassion is essential for an effective learning environment.

We provide an intimate, safe, and supportive setting with clear and reasonable expectations where children learn and grow. Our faculty and staff seek to build caring relationships with students and to help them create healthy peer relationships through daily interactions, classroom, cross-grade, and whole-school activities. As students work together, teachers actively foster cooperative skills, including listening attentively, contributing thoughtfully, and negotiating disagreements productively, so that students can help each other achieve their academic goals.

Because we believe that positive relationships are integral to our healthy school, we expect all community members to communicate with each other compassionately, truthfully, respectfully, and with the needs of all our students in mind.

We believe that we can solve problems peacefully, thereby building trust, respect, and friendship.
We achieve solutions that strengthen our learning community by approaching conflicts in a spirit of respect, non-violence, and kindness. We teach our students how to advocate for themselves, listen to others, make healthy decisions, and take responsibility for their actions. Our faculty and staff guide children through the steps and strategies of conflict resolution until they are able to internalize and apply these skills independently. Our older students are encouraged to take a leadership role in modeling and mediating successful conflict resolution.

We believe that the diversity of our community -- our ethnic backgrounds, economic resources, family structures, beliefs, and learning styles -- enriches all of us.
We provide a welcoming environment for all people and actively seek to provide a culturally, economically, and intellectually diverse learning environment for our
families that reflects our larger society. As a Quaker school, we are inherently inclusive and respectful of all peoples and faiths. We expect that all community members will be accepting of individual differences and will make a strong and consistent effort to contribute to the learning environment. We are committed to teaching our students how to listen to and understand each other.

In addition, we create a culturally balanced curriculum that honors our global society and provides opportunities for meaningful connections for all of our students. As our students move on to new settings, we are confident that their experience at GSFS will enable them to communicate with peers and adults of all backgrounds, ask insightful questions, consider multiple viewpoints, and treat others with respect.

Total Enrollment: 322
Lower School: 191
Middle School: 131
Students of Color: 50%
Number of Students who Identify as Quaker: 4
Number of Faculty and Staff: 73
Number of Faculty who identify as Quaker: 4
Number of Employees who identify as Faculty and Staff of Color: 40
Religious Affiliations Represented: Most religions represented

Operating Budget: $6.4M
Tuition
   Lower School: $17,217
   Middle School: $17,702
GSFS Need-based Financial Aid Awarded: $808,200
Students Receiving Financial Aid: 39.1%
Total Endowment: $3M
Annual Fund and Other Operating Gifts:
$335,000 in Annual Giving
$500,000 in State Tax Credit Program

THE LOWER SCHOOL
The Lower School consists of all students in grades Pre-Kindergarten through fourth. There are two sections of each grade, and between 15 and 20 students in each section. At GSFS,students learn to think critically, problem solve, work collaboratively, and function healthily in a learning environment that both nurtures and challenges them.

GSFS classrooms are vibrant and joyful places for learning in which teachers seek to know each child as a learner and person, challenge each child to stretch and grow academically and socially, and nurture the natural curiosity and love for learning inherent in GSFS students. GSFS believes that the relationship between teacher and student is the key to unlocking learning, and therefore classroom sizes and student-teacher ratios are
kept low. Each classroom has a lead teacher and a full- or part-time assistant, depending on the age and needs of the group.

THE MIDDLE SCHOOL
At GSFS, Middle School includes students in grades five through eight. Teachers understand the lightning-fast changes that occur during these years and design programs to meet the needs of their students. They seek to nurture teacher-student relationships based on the common goal of learning and growth, and their faculty and staff understand that cultivating a sense of connection and belonging with and among students is a critical step in enabling students to grow cognitively, socially, and emotionally.

During the course of middle school, teachers purposely increase the academic, social, organizational, and leadership responsibilities of GSFS students in order to develop independent, thoughtful, and confident eighth graders, who are ready for the challenges and opportunities of high school and beyond. The middle schoolers experience a rigorous academic program; athletics and arts programs that focus on participation and growth; a transformative and affective education program called Life Skills; and Quaker values and practices. There are significant opportunities for leadership within the student government, as well as advisory, partner, and community service programs. We believe that the comprehensive GSFS program prepares students for graduation and acceptance at
their high schools of choice.

GSFS is very proud that its school fosters cultural competence in intentional ways through lessons and experiences, and their middle school students learn that their differences make them stronger. At GSFS, they nurture an environment where difference in race, gender, ethnicity, religion, socio-economic level, sexual orientation, family structure, and more is accepted and celebrated.

SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL CURRICULUM
At GSFS, they seek to develop the whole child, and the Life Skills curriculum highlights our commitment to the social and emotional growth of children. Through scope and sequence across grade levels, the program creates a common vocabulary for feelings
identification, feelings articulation, self-advocacy, and conflict resolution. We believe in the importance of proactively empowering students' emotional growth and healthy decision-making. The common images, vocabulary, and concepts, delivered both formally and informally throughout the school year, enhance the school community by helping all students feel secure and ready to learn.

POLLYANNA RACIAL LITERACY
Greene Street Friends School utilizes the Pollyanna Racial Literacy curriculum in all grades, believing antiracism work is at the very heart of the GSFS mission and community.

Pollyanna is a K-8 Racial Literacy Curriculum that has been designed to help students gain knowledge about race as it has been constructed in the United States. While Pollyanna provides a complete scope and sequence, students also find synergies with the curriculum and the Life Skills social-emotional curriculum.

As a Quaker school, it is our experience that everyone possesses an inner light and has inherent worth. In our community, we value the intersectionality of different peoples who come together. We recognize, however, that historic and present-day biases, injustices, discrimination, and systemic racism have a negative impact on our individual and collective lives, and we seek to deepen our understanding of our roles and responsibilities as a school in challenging and confronting this negative impact.

GSFS has a stand-alone Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Led by our DEI Director, the school seeks to promote justice and equity work across our community, to listen with intention, and to advocate for all students and staff for a more equitable and affirming school experience. 

Therefore, Greene Street Friends School is committed to:

In this commitment, we aspire to:

Our goal is for Greene Street Friends School to model a just, equitable, and beloved community for the world.

Philadelphia is often called a "City of Neighborhoods," and GSFS lives into this idiom day in and day out. Each year, every student at GSFS participates in classroom-wide service
partnerships that deepen their connection to Germantown. These partnerships last the duration of the academic year and often become lasting relationships. Additionally, space is left for student interests and passions to frame their service projects. Whether teaching peers at the local, public elementary school, cooking healthy foods for the community, or working in a garden, GSFS is a school committed to its neighborhood.

COMMUNITY SERVICE MISSION STATEMENT
Community Service at GSFS enables and inspires students to take an active role in making positive contributions and connections on their campus, in their local community and wider world. Students expand their view of themselves and the world by participating in substantive experiences that cultivate empathy and responsibility. Students come to understand that through their individual actions and fostered relationships, they make a positive impact, honoring “that of God” in everyone.

HORIZONS is a national network of transformational education and enrichment programs that put low-income public-school children on a path to success in school and life. At its core, Horizons is a six-week summer program that takes place on school campuses across the country. National Horizons data show that students gain 2-3 months of reading and math skills each summer while their peers typically lose 2-3 months.

In Summer 2016, HORIZONS AT GREENE STREET FRIENDS SCHOOL was launched in Germantown as the first Philadelphia program. Children start in Kindergarten and return every year through middle school. GSFS Horizons offers six weeks of learning focusing on literacy and mathematics, while also providing enrichment programs including swimming, music, theater, art, and other activities that build self-confidence and cultivate creativity
and leadership. Ninety-eight percent of GSFS Horizons students identify as Black/African American, and 100 percent of these students qualify for free or reduced lunch and Title 1 funding.

Next summer we will serve students in Pre-Kindergarten through Seventh Grade and the summer of 2024 we will be fully built out, serving students in Pre-Kindergarten through Eighth Grade. After Eighth Grade, our students graduate from the Horizons program. In the summer of 2024, and all subsequent summers, we will serve approximately 150 students (15 students per class with one class per grade). As each year brings a new
group of students and families to our campus, our partnership with nearby public school Mastery at Wister Elementary School grows stronger and deeper.

Reporting to the newly appointed Head of School, Michelle Y. Holland, the new Director of Finance and Operations will be a community leader who embodies the mission of GSFS. Guided by Quaker values, the DFO will be thoughtful, inspirational, and innovative, and will provide spirit-led leadership in the operations and management of the School.

The School has experienced tremendous growth over the last decade, and is healthy in terms of enrollment, academic program, facilities, and finances. The expansion has dictated that a new strategy and build-out of financial reporting be implemented for the School’s increasingly complex financial picture, and that additional attention be focused on facilities. The Director of Finance and Operations will own these challenges.

The Director of Finance and Operations will set the financial strategy, lead a high-performing operations team, and engage with all constituencies of the School. This critical role is uniquely positioned to advance the School’s work during a time of growth and innovation.

The DFO will oversee the business and operations staff of six and will manage tuition receivables, payables, vendor relations, investments, cash flow, and forecasting. The DFO will direct financial, project-based, and departmental accounting and oversee and manage the annual audit. In addition, the DFO will manage related aspects of business operations, including facilities, contracts, insurance, security, food service, transportation, and safety.

An ideal candidate for the Director of Finance and Operations role will demonstrate the following: