The Students Are: (L to R) Ian Strain, Alana Dumas, and Patrick Mccarthy

Head of School

One of my favorite lines from scripture is Luke Chapter 12, verse 48, "…From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required." All of us at Episcopal have been given so much and we have a responsibility, perhaps even a requirement, to use the opportunities that we have been provided to help and serve others. Service has been an important component in our educational program for many years, and as we celebrate our 225th anniversary, we are recommiting ourselves to helping our students learn the value of giving back. Since we adopted a six-day rotation schedule, it has been increasingly difficult to schedule regular service opportunities during the school day. To compensate, this year we have reorganized our community service efforts so that entire classes (Classes of 2010-2016) can travel off campus with their advisories in order to do service projects for a full school day.

Pictured are III Formers preparing lunch to serve at a Project H.O.M.E. shelter on their Day of Service.

The students are: (l to r) Ian Strain, Alana Dumas, and Patrick McCarthy.

Susan Swanson, our Director of Community Outreach and Service Learning, is organizing our new efforts and, in honor of our anniversary, has created 225 Years of Caring. Our first Day of Service was October 8th, when the III Form (9th grade) divided into their familiar “crews” from Outward Bound, each made up of two advisories, and went off campus for a full day of service. One group spent the day at Willistown Conservation Trust with the ambitious goal of planting 250 trees, other crews spent the day working at two Project H.O.M.E. shelters (St. Columba and Women of Change). One crew was charged with restoring some historic markers at the Christ Church burial ground where the founding father of EA is buried. Others went to Carousel House to clean up their grounds, and another group went to West Philadelphia to help with home repairs through an organization called The Other Carpenter. Two advisories went to The Northern Home for Children to brighten a hallway with a painted mural and also weeded and planted in their gardens. Others went to Broad Street Ministries to help bring some order to their overflowing “Clothes Closet” of donations, and another crew went to Fairmount Park to work outside cleaning up the Wissahickon. Following the outing, an advisory period was spent reflecting on the experience and discussing essential questions, such as “Why do people end up in a shelters?”, or “Why does a place like the Willistown Conservation Trust, in such an affluent area, need volunteers?”, and “Why is there a need for ‘safe havens’ for women and children?”

We are looking forward to our next Day of Service, which will be for the 6th grade, scheduled for November 2nd. The students and their advisors will serve together at many of the same places as the 9th grade did, and also at Cornerstone Christian Academy in SW Philadelphia. The Lower School is supporting the 225 Years of Caring sites with projects they will create during their upcoming Thanksgiving Day of Service. They will make many items to donate to the people living at the shelters.

Opportunities for Parents

As mentioned at the start of the year, our goal is to get students, parents, alumni, faculty, and staff involved in service projects throughout the year. There will be opportunities for all the members of our community to volunteer their time. Almost every month, we have a site for parents to serve on the same day as our students. In October, it was Habitat for Humanity in Coatesville.

This month, the service location for members of the EAPA is at the West Philadelphia Alliance for Children. Volunteers will work in the classrooms and libraries of the Cassidy Elementary School at 65th & Lansdowne Avenues from 9:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. If you are interested, please email Meg Habenicht at with “Outreach” in the subject line.

On December 1st, members of the EAPA will be serving at MANNA, making meals for the homebound from 1:00 – 4:00 p.m.

The EAPA will also be conducting Community Cares Collectionseach month in all units. This monthly collection is designed to consolidate all the requests for various collections throughout the year, and to support our community partners. Each month is a different collection based on the needs of the specific organization. September’s school supplies were donated to West Philadelphia Alliance for Children. October’s Halloween collections went to the People’s Emergency Shelter. Information on November’s collection will be publicized shortly.

I hope all of you will join us at some point this year and encourage your children, who have been “given” so much, to take their “requirement” seriously, and to help them to find joy in serving others. Have a very happy and safe Thanksgiving.

Strategic Plan Updates are Now on Blackboard Follow what is happening with the 2009-2010 Strategic Plan on Blackboard.

Simply log in to Blackboard, click on "Parents" in the "My Courses" box at right, and then click on "Strategic Plan Updates" in the menu on the far left.

An update from Ed Vick was posted this past week and all the members of the Task Forces are now listed.

All You Need to Know About EA/Haverford/AIS Weekend!

Click here ( to find out all you need to know about the big weekend. From parking to game times, all the information you need is here! Go EA!

Join us for the Lower School Mosaic Dedication, Nov. 14that 11:00 a.m.

Help us dedicate the Lower School historic mosaic on Saturday, November 14th at 11:00 a.m. in the Lower Shool Primary Gallery. Built by the students to honor Episcopal’s 225th anniversary. A casual, short program will be followed by light refreshments. After the reception, head out to the fields to cheer on our student-athletes as they take on Haverford! All are welcome!

Community Outreach and Service Learning

III Formers preparing lunch to serve at a Project H.O.M.E. shelter on our Day of Service.Pictured are Ian Strain (Hopkins shirt), Alana Dumas, and Patrick McCarthy.

It’s all in the name!The Community Service Department last year began focusing more on the experiential learning that goes along with service, and changed the name to go along with it.The former Community Service Department is now known as Community Outreach and Service Learning.

Community Cares Collections November’s Community Cares collection of cans is part of the annual can drive and will also be used to fill some of our Thanksgiving baskets for the families supported by Northern Home.As always, we will be collecting frozen turkeys during the week of November 16th, so start saving your points toward free turkeys!Families in the Delaware Valley are struggling more than ever this year.Hunger is particularly highlighted around the holidays, making the need for our Thanksgiving Baskets and turkeys even greater.

Sharpies to the rescue! As a reminder, the Lost & Found is cleaned out monthly.Each lost item is checked for a name.If it has a name (not just initials) in/on it, the item is returned to the student’s advisor.Everything else is washed and donated.PLEASE WRITE YOUR NAME IN OR ON EVERYTHING!

Give Thanks in November…. For all our students do!They faithfully ride almost an hour each way every week to serve dinner to the hungry and to tutor students who need extra help.They think critically about issues facing our society, ask questions, and seek change.They work with, and learn about, the lives of people who are often out of sight, and confront the issues associated with poverty and other issues.

More locally, our students can be found supporting all areas of EA too - in Admission, the Alumni and Development Office, and at almost all EAPA events.Upper School students can be found every day helping out in Lower School and working on “green” projects for our campus.The greenhouse is abuzz with Upper and Lower School students working together.Our students are everywhere, helping wherever they can.

All School Can Drive

Episcopal’s can drive officially started! This annual tradition keeps our close knit community working together. The can drive incorporates Lower, Middle, and Upper School students as well as faculty, staff, and alumni. Italso continuously helps the schools in our area connect with one another, and creates a world where rivals (Haverford and Agnes Irwin) become friends as we strive to help others in need.

Most needed items include tuna, salmon, beef stew, chili, pasta, beef ravioli, 100% fruit/veggie juice, creamy peanut butter, jelly, mac & cheese, pork & beans, baked beans, green beans, corn, fruit cocktail, baby formula, and boost/ensure. Donations should be in cans or plastic jars –no glass. No dents, not expired. Large sizes are preferred, not individual sizes on most items, except maybe Ensure.

This year, bins will be placed in the Lower and Middle School carpool lines for parents who wish to drop off cans. Because of advisory competitions in the Middle School, as well as one-hundred percent participation goals in the Lower School, students bringing in cans should bring these cans to their homeroom teachers. Upper School students are encouraged to deliver all of their cans directly to the Chapel. It is important to remember that the collection period does not end on EA/Haverford/AIS weekend. The collection will continue up to Thanksgiving break. On the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, all of the collected cans will be delivered to local charities, including Old Pine Church and Philabundance. All of the money collected will go to Project H.O.M.E., where it will be used to purchase cans to be distributed throughout the greater Philadelphia area. The Vestry is working hard to make this year’s can drive the best it can be, and EA’s goal is to collect more cans than ever before!The Vestry once again thanks everyone for all the help and support as we head into the annual Can Drive!

EA goes to the Walnut Street Theater to Support One of our Own!

We recently received some exciting news! One of our students, Gregory Smith '17 was recently cast in the title role of Oliver at the Walnut Street Theater for their winter production. Gregory has been in several Episcopal Academy drama productions, including last year's Galileo, and we were thrilled to hear of his success at one of the area's largest and most established musical theaters.

To celebrate this, we have arranged for an "EA Night" at the theater for families, staff, and alumni to see the show on Tuesday, November 24th at 8:00 p.m. We are able to offer a limited number of tickets at half price to the EA community. In order to reserve seats at the lower price, please email ith your request.As a reminder, Thanksgiving break begins the next day, Wednesday, November 25th.For further information on the show, please see the following link:
With the discount, tickets will be $35.00 for orchestra and lower mezzanine seats, and $30.00 for upper mezzanine seats. No seats are further than 60 feet from the stage. If you cannot make it on the 24th but would like to go on another date, please email your request as well and we will make every effort to fulfill it. We are always proud to see our students stretch to reach their potential and wish Gregory all the best as he begins the production in a few weeks.

Australia Students Spend Fall at EA

Pictured are Mel Dillon (left) and Charlotte Alexander (right)

This fall, Episcopal welcomed two Australian students from Central Coast Grammar School (CCGS) with whom EA has a well-established exchange program. Mel Dillon and Charlotte Alexander are living with the families of Laura Fabius ’11 and Amanda Chikowski ’11, who were hosted by their families when they attended CCGS this past summer. Mel and Charlotte chose to come to Episcopal over other exchange opportunities because of the reports from the CCGS students at EA last year, Andrew Hay and Jordyn Steele. Mel and Charlotte already feel very comfortable here and say that the Episcopal community has been very welcoming. Students have been very friendly and have asked them about Australia and their life there. They are getting used to the longer school day with required sports – both have joined the Cross Country team, a new sport for them. At home in Australia, sports are not required and, even if you are on a team, practices are not held every day. They have become instant Phillies’ fans and are enjoying the World Series! While still getting used to being in cars driving on the opposite side of the road, Mel and Charlotte are very glad that they chose to come to Episcopal for their exchange experience.

III Form Practices Base 10 with Lower School Students

Christian Humann ’13 with Marcus Chiang ’23

The advises of teachers Andy Hess and Grace Wingfield went down to Lower School and practiced ways to make 10 with Joyce Gavin's Pre-K students. The idea of making 10 is crucial to building understanding and operating with our base 10 system. It allows students to add and subtract more easily when they are fluent and comfortable with making 10 because they can easily regroup numbers.The idea of improving students’ mental computations by breaking down the concept of the base 10 system supports the ideas shared by Greg Tang earlier this year.Students’ conceptual understanding of the base 10 system is being developed along with their computational understanding.The experience was great for the III Form students because they had to explain and teach and not just provide answers.This took some thinking and planning (strategies were discussed prior to the visit) on their part and they got some insight into teaching.It was also fun for them to remember back when they were students and see just how far they have come.It was a great day for everyone.

Middle School Harlequin Club Presents Cinderella

(l to r) Stepsister Joy (Dana Giles ’15), Stepmother (Caroline Hunter ’14), Stepsister Portia (Rachael Farmer ’15), and Cinderella (Erin Johnson ’15)

The Middle School Harlequin Club is thrilled to present Rodgers and Hammerstein’s classic musical, Cinderella, on Friday, November 20th at 7:30p.m. and Saturday, November 21st at 2:00p.m. in the Mainstage Theater, Crawford Campus Center. Over 50 Middle School actors and technicians are working tirelessly to bring this magical story of love triumphing over adversity to the stage. Running time for Cinderella will be a little over an hour, making this an ideal production for all ages! Please join us as Cinderella discovers that “impossible things are happening every day.” Tickets are on sale now, so call soon for the best seating. All tickets are $5.00 and seats are reserved. To order your tickets, call our box office at 484-424-1469

WordMasters Has First Meet

WordMasters high scorers are: (l to r) Brendan McManus, Kirsten Kuhn, JP Waldron, and Matthew McLaughlin.Not pictured: Colleen McNally.

In October, Forms III through V participated in Meet 1 of this year's WordMasters Challenge.Four times per year, the studentsread an essay, a short story, or poems in class and then answer a series of very difficult multiple choice questions.This assessment tests reading comprehension, analysis and vocabulary.At the end of each meet, the top 10 scorers in the grade form a "team" and the scores are compared to those of other schools nationally.This meet'shighest III Form score was achieved by Matthew McLaughlin. In IV Form, Colleen McNally and Brendan McManus were at the head of the class, with JP Waldron and Kirsten Kuhn tops in V Form.We'll keep your posted with national results as they become available!

2009 Big Timber Arts Roundup

Pictured are (left to right): in front, Steven Szafara ’11, Sophia Ahl ’11, Margaret Heil ’10, Emily Rea ’10, Jess Jahnle ’10, Tori Spofford ’10, Chris McCreary (US English Teacher, Howard E. Morgan Chair of Creative Writing) and in back rig, Lisa Park (US English Teacher), Bryan Bradley ’11, Jovanna Pope ’11, Dylan Kepp ’10, and Chloe Perate ’11.

Once again, Episcopal students joined students from other independent schools in the Philadelphia area, including Haverford and Agnes Irwin, and public schools throughout Montana to participate in the Big Timber Arts Roundup in Big Timber, Montana held in mid-October. The theme of this year's Roundup was "passion," and 10 EA students pursued their personal passions for theater, photography, art, and writing during this intensive three-day program.

Upper School Greek Classes Seek Heroes

Pictured are (left to right): in front, teacher Greta Ham, Jill Barton ’12, Karen Christianson ’13, Margaret LeBoeuf ’13, Julia Fay ’13, Ciara Pettinos ’13, and teacher Michelle Domondon; and in back, Graham Smith ’11, David Palumbo ’13, David Burke ’13, Gordon Clarke ’13, Samuel Lawlor ’12, Thomas Boynton ’13, Laura Agosto ’11, J.P. Waldron ’11, and Simeon Pantelidis ’10.