Name: Isabella Currently Attending: Parsons School of Design Years at Shipley:9 Activities & Positions Held: DECA (4 years, Vice President), Girls’ Varsity Tennis (4 Years, Captian 2 Years), Glee Club, Shipley Singers.
Reflections on Shipley More than anything else, Shipley taught me to take risks and to bet on myself. In this life, there is no one who will believe in you more than yourself. My education here taught me to believe in that mantra, as well as encourage me to pursue a career in something I love.
While many do not believe tennis to be a team sport, I would respectfully disagree. During my time as captain on the girls’ team, I learned what it meant to be a leader. I finally understood some of the most important qualities that a leader must have in order to be successful. For example, a good leader can be respected, but a great one makes people really listen. They don’t have to know everything, and really they shouldn’t because who knows everything, but they should be knowledgeable about their craft and be graceful in asking for help.
Who was your most influential teacher and why? I have to be honest, I spent nearly thirty minutes making up a list of names of influential teachers and couldn’t decide on one. To say I had one influential teacher would be a complete lie. I think the greatest thing about this School is its teachers and faculty. How much they care about each student, the amount of work they put in every single day into every lesson, it truly is remarkable. I can safely say that each teacher I had taught me some sort of lesson that went much further beyond Algebra and Modern European History.
What was your most memorable experience at Shipley? It was the championship match for Girls’ Varsity Tennis last year. We had to drive all the way to Morristown Friends in New Jersey, and we were watching the deciding match. During a very close deciding match, with Shipley losing by two points in the third set tiebreaker, I learned something Shipley has been trying to teach us for years. Winning can be rewarding, you feel a period of happiness and proudness in yourself and your team. Losing, many people like me see as a sign of failure, and defeat. However, you learn so much more in loss and how the other person, or team in this case, handles their win. It was that moment this lesson finally clicked.
What are your plans for the fall of 2019? I will be attending the Parsons School of Design in NYC.
What is your future ambition and what led you to this ambition? I was born an entrepreneur. My entire life I knew I wanted to make something of my own and throw it out into the world in hopes of good feedback. I want to be the boss, and make all of the decisions, big and small. As of this moment, I hope to graduate from Parsons and go on to create my own e-commerce fashion company.
What does Courage for the Deed; Grace for the Doing mean to you? Ever since I was ten years old, I have seen these words plastered on buildings, brochures, and spoken in speeches. What does it mean? Well, courage is to simply believe in yourself when no one else will. To have courage in everything you do, big and small. To have grace is to have poise whether you win or lose. I can happily say these words now mean more to me than ever, so much more than words on a piece of paper.
Complete this sentence: Shipley has prepared me to… believe in myself and have grace in all of my future endeavors.
The Shipley Sprouts, Shipley's Upper School horticulture club, won two second-place awards at the 2022 Philadelphia Flower Show for their Tablescape exhibit. In addition, students in the Upper School STEAM Department won third and second-place awards for their Garden Gate exhibit.
The Shipley School is proud to announce that Don Draper has been appointed as Director of Tennis. In his capacity as Director of Tennis, Don will oversee the growth, continuity, and strategic vision for tennis at Shipley.
Originally published in the May 2022 issue of the Upper School student newspaper, The Beacon, this article shares insights from All School President Griffin Chulik ’22 about his student government experience and some final thoughts as he departs from the Shipley community and prepares to head off to college in the fall.
Helping students identify their strengths and weaknesses is an essential goal for any educator guiding them on the path to success. This is especially important in sixth grade, as students make the transition from elementary to middle school. One cornerstone of the sixth grade SEED curriculum is having students explore their own learning styles and apply this knowledge to forming relationships.
On Thursday, May 26 the Upper School held its annual Closing Awards Ceremony. During this ceremony, Shipley recognized the outgoing and incoming student leadership officers and presented students with academic, athletic, and leadership awards.
Shipley's Middle School Latin students took the 2022 National Latin Examination with over 100,000 students from around the world. An impressive 26 students earned Latin Award prizes and recognition for excellence. Middle School Latin students also competed in The Philadelphia Classical Society's 83rd Annual Latin Week Competition - Traditional Artistry & Literary Projects on Classical themes. A total of 55 Middle School students won Latin Awards and recognition for excellence.
The Shipley School is proud to announce the appointment of Harry Green as the School’s new Director of Track and Field. This new position will oversee all running programs. Coach Green will be Head Coach of the Varsity Indoor and Outdoor Track & Field teams and the Cross Country team.
What do Coke and Pepsi have to do with statistics? The seniors in Matt Frankel’s interdisciplinary statistics class can tell you! After studying the statistical problem-solving process all year, students ran a large study with 300 subjects to see if they could differentiate between Coke and Pepsi with a greater accuracy than random guessing would provide.
Shipley Middle School science teacher Ace Schwarz has been selected to participate in its 2022 National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Landmarks of American History Workshop, The Space Age on the Space Coast. "I am hoping to bring back what I learn so we can really develop the space exploration aspect of our curriculum," commented Mx. Schwarz.
Shipley’s Middle School Science Olympiad team earned an overall ninth-place finish at the Pennsylvania Science Olympiad State Tournament held at Penn State Altoona on April 30.
The Shipley School is proud to announce that after an extensive search, Eva Winiarski has been named Head Varsity Girls' Lacrosse Coach. She brings a wealth of teaching, playing, and coaching experience to Shipley, most recently as the Assistant Lacrosse Coach and Defensive Coordinator at The McDonough School in Maryland. In the classroom, Eva will join Shipley’s exceptional English Department as an Upper School teacher.
On April 24, 2022, three groups of Shipley’s Upper School students presented research at a roundtable presentation of the Student Participatory Action Research Collaboration (SPARC). “Our students were passionate, thorough, confident, and genuinely enthusiastic about their research topics,” said student advisor and Shipley’s Interim Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Sheri Rider Jobe.
Shipley sixth-grader Jordyn Colbert '28 won first place in the 17th Annual Charlotte Miller Simon Poetry Contest, presented by the Ardmore Free Library.
Shipley’s Middle School and Upper School Science Olympiad teams participated in the Southeast Pennsylvania Science Olympiad Tournament. Combined, the teams earned 18 medals and qualified for the State tournament.
The Shipley School’s DEI Strategic Plan goal 3 is to ensure an equitable experience for all members of the community. One initiative of that goal is to create and support affinity spaces for students, colleagues, families, and alumni. Affinity spaces speak to the efforts of not just ensuring equitable experiences, but also creating experiences that foster belonging in our community. Learn more about our efforts to create these spaces.
In 2021, the Shipley Black Alumni Association (BAA) set the goal of raising $100,000 to establish an endowed fund at Shipley to support experiences aimed at educating students about American history and culture through the lens of African-American contributions. By the end of Black History Month 2022, the results are impressive: $55,170 given by 116 donors.
The Shipley School is a private, coeducational day school for pre-kindergarten through 12th grade students, located in Bryn Mawr, PA. Through our commitment to educational excellence, we develop within each student a love of learning and a desire for compassionate participation in the world.