As the Dean of Grades 4-8, I have the incredible responsibility to work with students directly, engaging them in their social and emotional growth, supporting them with guardrails and celebrating them and their unique gifts. Now in my second year as Dean and sixth year at Greene Street Friends, I am excited for all of us to continue building our tight-knit community. The middle grades are truly a spectacular age group where young minds are eager, buzzing, and motivated to learn. These are pivotal years when students cultivate their core values and begin to identify their true selves.  During this time, we also see immense growth, testing of boundaries, and social experimentation. Our mission is to develop these scholars not only academically, but also in the realms of social emotional learning and caring for one another as a community. We are proud to have students who treat one another with kindness and empathy, uplift one another, create shared affinity spaces, and dive into community connections through work inside Greene Street Friends and in Germantown as well. 

Last year, we saw the return of many field trips (Costa Rica, PEEC, rock climbing, Arch Street Meeting House, etc.) and of parents and caregivers being invited back on campus in person! Parents and Caregivers are an integral part of our community and our student’s school experience. Last year, they helped teach our middle school wide CHOICES classes, participated in our first inaugural Middle School Career Day, and hosted our first ever end of year breakfast for Middle School students celebrating all the amazing work they’ve done. We also saw the revitalization of TORCH, our Middle School Quaker student government. TORCH students helped to organize/host middle school assemblies and served as class and grade representatives to brainstorm ideas and problem-solve issues. In the 2023-24 school year, we hope to build on that foundation of community taking care of one another, as we strengthen our safe and joyful school environment for our students.

This year, students will have even more opportunities to serve as leaders and take an active role in making meaningful contributions within their classrooms, grades, campus, and greater Germantown area. By developing stewards of our community at the local level, they will better understand the impact of their actions and learn to process the social issues affecting our country and our world. Our aim is to build scholars who are confident inside and outside the classroom, have agency, and are encouraged to share their gifts. There is no doubt that the pandemic has shaken our way of life, but it has also brought an opportunity for us to rebuild our community stronger.

I look forward to serving this community with transparency and joy at the forefront. Please don’t hesitate to reach out as we all navigate together as a community and help to keep one another accountable.