This year, before school even began, eight faculty members volunteered to paint murals on the walls of Family School, a division of Family Support Services (FSS), a non-profit social service agency for Philadelphia and Delaware counties. Family School provides parenting education classes, social work support, and baby, toddler, and pre-school classes. Parents come to Family School with compelling stories of abuse and neglect, but with the services provided by FSS they are making an effort to learn how to be better parents.

Once Lower School art teacher, Bonnie Goldstein, sketched the original design on the closets in the main common room of the Family School, the other seven volunteers, Barbara Holt, Kathy Chapman, Betsy Leschinsky, Terri Grossman, Linda Van Horn, Karen Eelman, were able to set to work. Many hours later they were finished and feeling very satisfied with what they had accomplished. Organizing teacher, Christine Sweetman said, “We had a lot of fun and the closets look wonderful.” This project was particularly gratifying because it was part of an ongoing relationship that Shipley has had with FSS. For three years, Christine Sweetman and the other fifth grade teachers have coordinated service projects at FSS. During the holidays the students shop for age appropriate gifts which are wrapped and delivered. This past spring they filled backpacks with back-to-school crayons, paper, and pencils, which were recently presented to “graduates” from the Family School heading off to Kindergarten. Finally, this upcoming Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service, students will be painting chairs for FSS.

Shipley faculty and staff have found other ways to make a difference in the lives of those who need assistance. Thousands of dollars have been raised to support the Brain Tree Primary School in Uganda, with which Shipley has been partnered for over three years. Last year many faculty and staff volunteered with parents and students to knit scarves and hats for cancer patients at Fox Chase Cancer Center. This year, the students who regularly make meals for families at Ronald McDonald House will be joined by faculty and staff who have reserved a day to do the same. Additionally, faculty, as well as the entire Shipley community, are making an effort to support those whose lives were dramatically changed by Hurricane Katrina.