What’s Happening

“Campus is Closed! What Now?”

Reflections on Distance Learning at Plymouth Meeting Friends School

By Jessica Lember, PMFS parent 

We were a week away from the start of Spring Break and every adult in the Plymouth Meeting Friends School community was tracking the news of Covid-19 and its spread across the U.S. Would PMFS be able to remain open until Spring Break? Would the students and families be back on campus come April? If campus did have to be closed in April, could we maybe be back by May? 

As it turned out, like schools across the country and across the world, PMFS would experience an unprecedented final two and a half months of the school year.  While the pivot to online learning has not been without challenges, the overall success of PMFS’s remote learning program speaks volumes to our teachers’ passion, tenacity, and care. From the youngest to the oldest, every student had daily opportunities to connect with friends and teachers and engage with continued learning.  

Working with Head of School Brenda Crawley and seeking out feedback from parents, teachers figured out what kind of online learning tools, curriculums and schedules would work best for each age group. In PreK, teachers provided families with a suggested daily schedule that would allow their young children to maintain the rhythm of a school day, while keeping in mind that the “work” of PreK is play and that actual screen time needed to be kept to a bare minimum. Each week started with a Zoom check-in for the whole class on Monday morning. Most other days included one “live” time to connect with friends and teachers, through shared snack time or Meeting for Worship or listening to a book read aloud. Each day of the week also included an engaging activity from one of our Specials teachers (Art, Science, Music, Spanish, Gym and Library). Kindergartners, who were ready for more time to connect and learn with their teachers via Zoom, had a daily Morning Meeting with their class, followed by some whole group and small group instructional time, interspersed with breaks. Afternoons were a time to play and to try out the activities created by the Specials teachers. 

The amount of time spent online and engaged in daily assignments and long-term projects increased at each grade level. At “the other end of campus,” the 6th grade was engaged in learning together on Zoom, sometimes as a whole class, sometimes in partnerships or small groups, for multiple hours of the day. Sixth grade teacher Varley shared that the 6th graders really enjoyed their daily partnered math time in Zoom “breakout rooms,” working through pre-algebra problems and ratios and percentages with a classmate.  Varley would make the rounds and check in on math groups as needed. Sixth graders, who dig deep into geography and world cultures in their final year at PMFS, were also finishing up presentations they had created about various countries around the world. 

Weekly activities and live meetings with each of our Specials teachers rounded out the students’ online school experience. From creating your own paint with pigments found in nature or your pantry to doing yoga following directions in Spanish to doing ten jumping jacks every time you saw a red car during a neighborhood walk, our Specials teachers found ways to engage each age group. They also lent extra support to classes who were working on special projects. Music and Drama teacher John B had longer weekly meetings with the 6th grade as they turned their musical, The Island, into a masterfully produced “radio play” (including music, sound effects, and original art) that was ultimately shared as a Facebook Live event. 

Aside from the Sixth Grade Musical, other beloved school traditions, like the Arts Fest and Field Day were translated into virtual events.  Long live the many sock balls, laundry basket traps and plastic cup targets of Field Day! Who knew shoe flipping could be a sport? Weekly Meeting for Worship brought together students, parents, teachers and staff, School Committee members, and even alumni families and former faculty.  It was, perhaps, the most bittersweet moment of each week, as we “came together” as a community, drinking in each other’s faces, but knowing that it would still be some time before we could physically be together again.  Announcements following Meeting for Worship were always an exciting time, as we received updates on baby chicks (#pandemictrend) and waited with bated breath to hear whose birthday was no longer two weeks away, but now only one week away! 

As the school year came to a close, and each class prepared to say goodbye for the summer, all eyes turned toward the 6th graders, who would be graduating in a year like no other. How, in a time of social distancing and closed campuses, could a school community that had meant so much in the lives of these students show these students how important they had been to their school community? Unsurprisingly, PMFS did not disappoint. Stealthily-placed congratulatory yard signs; honking drive-by parades of teachers and staff; homemade strawberry shortcake deliveries; individual portrait sessions on campus by talented photographer and PMFS parent, Jaci Downs; an all-school Zoom celebration of the 6th grade featuring tear-inducing videos made by various classes, as well as by teachers; a hardbound, personalized memory book for each graduate; letters and gifts from younger students; and a beautiful, hand painted and hand lettered diploma for each Sixth grader…each new act of recognition and love only further cemented how special a place Plymouth Meeting Friends School is. 

Now that summer break has begun, many of us are already thinking about what the 2020-21 school year will bring. It’s already clear that we won’t be returning to “business as usual” just yet, and that maintaining a strong sense of community and connection for our kids and ourselves is paramount. I am grateful that over these last few months, my children had teachers who facilitated their continued learning and engagement with their classmates.  I am grateful that teachers, parents and administrators could work as a team, as we figured out – in real time – what was working and what needed tweaking during this journey into online learning. I’m grateful for the laughs, empathy, and cheerleading that came from my fellow PMFS parents. We can’t be sure what’s in store for our kids come September, but I know I have a trusted partner in the Plymouth Meeting Friends School community.

Plymouth Meeting Friends School is a Pre-K- 6th grade Quaker school, nestled on 11 wooded acres in the heart of Montgomery County and just 3 miles from Northwest Philadelphia.

Jessica Lember, Ed.M., has been a parent at Plymouth Meeting Friends School since 2012 and a School Committee member since 2019. Up until recently, she had two children at PMFS, and now is the proud parent of one PMFS student and one PMFS alum!  She teaches in the Lower School at Germantown Friends School.

This June, after 17 years of teaching at Plymouth Meeting Friends School and an almost 40-year teaching career, much beloved teacher Martha Wolf retired from teaching. Martha is known for her warmth and sense of humor, her vast knowledge of child development and advocacy for young children, and her deep respect for each child who has crossed her path. Most who have known her at PMFS think of her as the anchor of the Pre-Kindergarten program, a program she created when she first began teaching at PMFS. Under Martha’s care, three- and four-year-olds developed their social-emotional and literacy skills, practiced their early mathematical thinking, spent a lot of time exploring and playing in the natural world just outside their door, and had their growing sense of independence and self-advocacy nurtured. Martha also served as a valuable mentor to several assistant teachers who then went on to lead their own early childhood classrooms.  

In her final year of teaching, Martha moved out of the Pre-K and returned to the very first grade she ever taught…  First Grade! She welcomed the chance to reengage with a slightly older age group, incorporating her early childhood expertise into her work with six- and seven-year-olds and the First Grade curriculum. When PMFS switched to online learning this past Spring, Martha continued to bring her grace and passion to her work, often staying up late at night, determined to bring her students the best experience possible. As she moves into this next chapter of her life, she has promised to stay connected to the PMFS community, and we are going to hold her to that.

Read on to learn more about Martha’s impact on the PMFS community, as shared by her colleagues and parents of children she has taught:

“Martha is an incredibly dedicated person full of knowledge, resources and experience that clearly does not go unnoticed, especially during this time when parents had the chance to experience ‘a day in the life’ of our kids in class. Everything she taught had a meaning. We knew she was always caring and passionate about teaching our children, and we certainly saw so much creativity and fun in everything she did. My child was extremely lucky to have had the opportunity to spend this year with her, and the PMFS family will surely miss her sweet and loving smile.” 

“Martha’s mark on her students is palpable, even as they graduate PMFS. You can see their sense of community and being a team, their ability to work together, their creativity as learners. The foundation of these qualities began in Pre-K with Martha. She never hesitated to have them play in mud, snow, or with bugs. They were taught to embrace all elements of nature. Martha taught all three of my children with great love and flexibility for their vastly different needs. She respected each of them for who they were, as I know she did with all of her students. Martha did things like actively seek toys, materials, and books that reflected the diversity of her students in all ways. There was a celebrated and affirming space for every student in her classroom and my children certainly felt that.” 

“My child loved how honest Martha was, how she talked to the kids about hard stuff and silly stuff. He loved her idea that you need to make 15 mistakes a day in order to grow and learn.” 

“Our three children all had the great fortune to have Martha for Pre-K. Martha created a classroom that made them excited to go to school every day. They learned things like how to write their name, and even more important things about how to be a good friend and member of the community. We will be forever grateful for everything that Martha has done to provide a foundation for their love of school and of learning.”

“We are fortunate as a family that my son was able to experience the love and joy in learning that is Martha. I’ve listened to many Zoom lessons when Martha took each question and sometimes quirky answer and validated that child’s curiosity each time, turning it into an experience to learn from each other and to dig deeper. This happened with topics from the birds they kept watch over on the live webcam, to discussing the social injustices that people in our country face. There’s much more to be said, but I am just thankful that my son was a part of her special experience this year.”

“Martha was such a wonderful First Grade teacher for our son. I will always be grateful for her telling the kids that if they didn’t make 15 mistakes a day, then they aren’t learning. A year later, I still return to that with him often. She is kind, immensely thoughtful, and loving.  Congratulations on a well-deserved retirement. We love you!”  

“For us, Martha was the gateway to the magic that is Plymouth Meeting Friends School. She embodies so much that is essential about the school. I thought I knew something about the importance of play-based early childhood education before I met Martha, but she showed me that it is a sophisticated practice which can be honed through decades of knowledge and skill. I was blown away when I first heard her talk about her teaching practice and hearing her talk about her passion and expertise inspired me to be a better teacher.” 

“She knew each of my kids so deeply, loved them as unique individuals and helped me know them and appreciate their strengths even more. She has been such a gift to the school and to our family. We will miss her so much at Plymouth Meeting Friends and I am sad that future students and parents won’t experience her unique teaching and love, but hope that she will find bigger, broader ways to share everything that she knows and embodies beyond PMFS.” 

“In the Pre-K classroom, Martha worked to empower her students to recognize that they can be a part of finding a solution to a problem. A question that she frequently asks is ‘How can you fix it?’, encouraging her students to be fixers and helpers throughout the day. It’s one of those things that might seem small, but is actually fundamental to the PMFS program. This simple, well-posed question sets the stage for so many important aspects of a child’s sense of self and wellbeing by giving each child the message that they are capable and resilient.”

“Working with the very young is the hardest teaching there is. It embodies everything that all teachers try to do, need to do, attempt to do. It takes a special person to do this. And it takes a unique and committed visionary to maintain this for years on end. Martha worked a long time at Plymouth. She also worked for many years in other places – always with early childhood. She has spent her life looking into the eyes of her students on their level. Martha bridges the heart of the very young and sees them as the adventurers, explorers, intellectuals, creators and change-makers that they are.” 

“Martha shines life and love into her students each and every day with each and every one in their each and every way. She has done this through the years with care, patience, and dedication. She is a humble hero of early childhood education. She has shown us each and every day in each and every way what teaching and education are all about.” 

“As a new faculty member, I met Martha in August as I set up the library space. Martha immediately made me feel welcome with her friendliness and warm smile. She was the person I would talk to if I had questions, if I was seeking a second opinion on some aspect of curriculum, or if I just needed to converse with someone for a moment who was over the age of 12. Her generous spirit and her love for her students was obvious. I wish her many adventures in retirement.”

“I have always looked up to Martha as a parent and a teacher!  Her teaching was filled with insightful Ideas and logical approaches to difficult situations. It has been my pleasure to have worked with her for many years, and I’m so happy for her as she embarks on this new stage of her life. She will surely be missed.” 

Congratulations to the 2020 Sixth Grade graduates at PMFS! We are so proud of you; you took these last months in stride and focused on what was possible instead of what you were missing. We have watched you grow and become mature, smart, persevering, and creative individuals, who will certainly continue to make this world a better place.  We loved showering you with surprises, including the famous PMFS strawberry shortcake. We hope your hand-painted diploma reminds you that you will always have a home at PMFS. Congratulations and good luck in middle school!

Fifth Graders and Leann, Gillian, and Brenda have been having a great time in Mexico! Some of the highlights so far include reuniting with buddies, boating on the Azetec canals in Xochimilco, seeing some of Diego Rivera’s murals, having a sleepover at Casa de los Amigos (a Quaker nonprofit), and climbing temples at Teotihuacan.

The purpose of the Exchange Program is to promote cultural awareness and knowledge. We and our partner school, Colegio Williams, have seen that the children’s experiences give them cross-cultural sensitivity and an interest in working for world peace.

UPDATE: April 2020 Session CANCELLED to protect community health

Third Tuesday Each Month
11am – 12pm

FREE, for children age 0-5

Under the guidance of enthusiastic expert teachers, engage your kids in hands-on playtime and discovery. A different theme and activity each month. Bring a friend or make new ones at Tot Time.

Let us know you can join the fun and creativity: Click here.
Contact us with any questions: info@pmfs1780.org or 610.828.2288.