from a WCFS parent….

“As a family, we’ve enjoyed participating in West Chester United Soccer’s recreational league.  It is an opportunity for our children to meet people from other schools and broaden their network of social interactions.  There is a world outside of WCFS.  A couple of seasons ago one of our children and another WCFS student were on the same team.  In the course of a game, as happens sometimes, a player took a ball to the head and fell to the turf like the proverbial sack of potatoes. The collective “ugh” was heard along the sidelines, and every boy on the field stopped moving.  The inherent goodness in children and their empathy was the initial and immediate response to another person in pain. “Play the whistle!” was heard from the sideline. Once, then twice….

There were fourteen boys on that field.  Eleven of them resumed “playing the whistle.”  Besides the injured boy, two others did not.  Needless to say, they were the two WCFS students.”

from an alumni parent….

“My daughter was thrilled to go to middle school, she was excited and ready for a larger setting where she could hang out with old friends and meet some new ones, too.  The first week of school her conversations each afternoon started with the lunchroom situation.  She sat with people she knew, a few people she didn’t, should she try to sit with new friends, should she mix and match–there was clearly some angst, not unexpectedly.  In the second week, she came home with another lunch room story, this time about a girl sitting alone, two days in a row.  I’m proud to say that it was my daughter who ended that on the second day, went to her and insisted she join her table and meet some of her old and new friends.  I’m proud to say, too, that she learned that confidence, that empathy, and something else–that it is her responsibility to others–at West Chester Friends School.”

from a parent….

“One day, my daughter is talking to me about a birthday party or some second grade social thing and then says, ‘you know, we were talking about integrity today with Teacher Jane.  She says it’s a big thing, ‘ And I thought, what in the world? ‘Yeah, it’s like telling the truth, not lying.’ Well, yes, I told her yes that there is integrity in telling the truth.  ‘But also if your friend got a new haircut, and it looks stinky, it would be mean to tell the truth to her. So you say oh it’s good, it looks nice. And it’s not true but it’s ok because you don’t want to hurt her feelings, because you love her.  It’s integrity in a different way, like friend integrity.’ Now this is an eight-year-old child. And I thought right then: the Quaker stuff, this is the real deal, this school and these teachers are going to teach her and make me a better parent.”