Grandparents traveled from as Louisiana and Michigan to attend. There even a few great-grandparents present, along with uncles, aunts and family friends. Grandparents and mentors who could not come for the day sent in photos and messages for their students.

The morning began with performances by the Greene Street Friends School Chorus (Grades 5-8) and the a capella group, the Quaker Notes (Grades 7-8). Then School Counselor Melody Regino gave an explanation of an all-school peace activity that visitors would be doing with students as part of the School’s year-long theme of peace, one of the Quaker testimonies. Grandparents and mentors would fill out messages for peace by completing one of several prompts. Each message would become a link in a chain of peace that will be displayed in the school.

After the welcome, it was time to head off to classes. For the youngest students, classroom activities included songs in Spanish led by the Spanish teacher as well as sign language lessons presented by a teacher from nearby Pennsylvania School for the Deaf. There was also time in art class for first grade visitors, a discussion in the third grade of the price changes over time of ordinary items like bread and milk; group presentations by fifth graders on what they learned throughout the year, a science class for seventh grade visitors and eighth grade presentations on post-World War II history topics such as the Hungarian Revolution with visitor feedback.

Grades 1-4 ended the morning with Meeting for Worship, while students in Grades 5-8 had informal worship sharing in the classrooms. The final activity, a presentation titled “What’s a Field at Greene Street?” outlined changes to the School’s physical plant and curriculum. Head of School Ed Marshall described the physical changes to the campus including the new playing field and rain garden funded by a grant from the Philadelphia Water Department. Associate Head of School Wilson Felter showed examples of how new technologies were being incorporated into the classroom to support core competencies like teamwork, problem-solving and resilience.

Visitors left with a strong sense of the School’s values, tight-knit community, commitment to continual improvement, and engaging academic program. No wonder more family and friends come each year!