Germantown Friends School

Our fourth graders recently took part in the annual Olympic Day—a beloved tradition that bridges physical education, social studies, and a whole lot of hard work. 🏛️🏅

Throughout the spring, students trained diligently in PE class while simultaneously studying ancient civilizations and the historic origins of the Olympic Games. All that practice paid off during the big event, which stayed true to tradition with celebratory opening and closing ceremonies. Students showcased their growth and confidence across a variety of track and field events, culminating in the highly anticipated 19-person leg relay!

GFS' Five-Year Sustainability Plan marks a defining moment for our school, providing a community-focused and measurable pathway toward carbon neutrality, Zero Waste, and a climate-resilient future. For generations, GFS students and faculty have been working together to promote environmental responsibility and guide the community toward more sustainable actions. This plan aims to translate strategy into the daily rhythm of our campus.

"Together, we can continue to progress the work that’s taken place throughout the school’s history to make GFS a truly living campus—one that has a positive, healing impact on both our environment and our community," says Francine Locke, GFS' Director of Sustainability.

🔗 To learn more and read the plan, please visit our new Sustainability webpage: https://www.germantownfriends.org/about-us/sustainability

Who needs a museum when you have the hallways of GFS? 🏛️🎨 Last Thursday, the GFS campus was completely transformed for our annual All-School Art Show! Every hallway, bulletin board, and nook and cranny became a vibrant gallery space showcasing the imagination and hard work of our students.

The show featured artworks in just about every medium imaginable: painting, drawing, photography, 3D sculptures, ceramics, woodshop creations, and even puppetry! Guests and students also got to tap into their own inner artist at interactive art-making stations throughout the event.

Kudos to our students, and a huge thank you to the parents, faculty, staff, and friends who came out to celebrate and make it such a special night.

Animals + math = a winning equation! 🦁📐

Our tenth graders recently headed to the Philadelphia Zoo for Math Trail—a trip sponsored by the GFS Math Department where students delved into brow-furrowing questions surrounding, among other cuddly things, red pandas and their population rates!

Tailored to match each math class—from Algebra to Differential Calculus—this is the fourteenth year Math Trails have been used at GFS as a way of getting students to look for math in the world around them. This year featured freshly updated math problems created by teacher Elena Quant to match the zoo's evolving exhibits.

Shoutout to the Class of 2028 for bringing so much energy, curiosity, and focus to the zoo, and a thank you to our math faculty and chaperones (pictured in the last photo looking tired but happy at the end of a great day!).

To be, or not to be! 💀🕯️

That is one of many questions students and faculty delved into during a virtual conversation about "Hamlet"—which the entire Upper School read this year—with Pulitzer Prize-winning literary historian Stephen Greenblatt, professor at Harvard University and author of 14 books.

“The play is fiendish in its refusal to give us affirmative and clear answers,” Greenblatt noted. “Shakespeare keeps forcing you to ask questions that you can’t answer.”

Greenblatt's expertise on offer for GFS Upper School created an outstanding opportunity for students to ask questions about anything they had been grappling with while reading the play. Read more:
https://www.germantownfriends.org/about-us/gfs-news/news-details/~board/media-center-news/post/greenblatt-discussion

With just two weeks until graduation, excitement is building! 🎓 The GFS Class of 2026 recently got a special delivery—yard signs, dropped off right to their doors by GFS faculty and staff.

We look forward to celebrating our senior class on June 6 (fingers crossed for sunnier weather! ☀️🤞). Stay tuned for more end-of-year highlights.

The sun and the smiles shone bright on Alumni Weekend 2026! 💙 Campus was buzzing with energy as we welcomed back alumni across seven decades of GFS history, from 1956 to 2025.

Friday evening brought the whole community together to enjoy time surrounded by art in many mediums at the Welcome Reception, featuring exhibitions with works by retired GFS art teachers (several joined us for the reception!), the late Abigail R. Cohen '91, and current students.

Saturday started at Gratwick Field with the Alumni Baseball Game and the retirements of several GFS sports legends’ jerseys. Afterwards, we honored our West Award recipients, Bob Wilcox ’66 and Linda E. Johnson ’76, followed by Meeting for Worship. Our milestone classes (graduation years ending in 1 and 6) kept the celebration going into the night with reunions hosted all across the city. And we capped it all on a high note with the annual Choir concert on Sunday.

We'll be sharing the full photo gallery in the coming weeks—stay tuned!

Attention alumni! 📣 We want to hear from you. Share your latest news, however big or small—from career milestones and creative projects to family updates and new adventures—for inclusion in the Summer GFS Bulletin.

👉 Submit your Class Note today: https://www.germantownfriends.org/alumni/submit-a-class-note

"Can I create 3-D animation?"
"Can I build a playable electric guitar?"
"How can I make chocolate from scratch?"

These are just a handful of the self-guided inquiries that sparked GFS eighth graders’ Capstone Projects this year. After working hard on these projects for months, they shared the results with their friends and family at the annual Eighth Grade Capstones Showcase.

Students explained their processes, problem solving strategies, and what they learned along the way. Their findings were illustrated on cardboard trifolds, and many had their physical projects with them: handmade pottery, a photography portfolio, water-powered miniature cars, and even maple syrup made from trees tapped on GFS’ campus. Congratulations to the Class of 2030 on a job well done!