Inner Light: A Conversation with Sara Primo and Rich Nourie, Retired Head of Abington Friends School

Pictured above: Early childhood families gathered for the Solstice Spiral. This winter tradition celebrates the rhythms of nature and models the rhythms for our own lives.

I recently had the incredible opportunity to sit down with Rich Nourie, recently retired head of Abington Friends School, to talk with him about Light. Speaking with Rich for about forty minutes over Zoom is a little like traveling a great distance to spend a few days at a spiritual retreat. Rich started his career in Quaker schools at Moses Brown before working at Germantown Friends School. His wife Robin Nourie was my colleague in the English department at GFS for many years. He was the beloved head of Abington Friends School from 2005 to spring of 2024, and we had the chance to catch up over Zoom last week.

Sara: One thing that came up when I saw you in Philadelphia this summer is that we tend to get it wrong, in American culture, when we think about light as how special individuals are. I wonder if you could talk more about how you define light in opposition to that understanding.

Rich: It’s not just American culture. It’s many of our Friends Schools. One of the things that’s tricky about Quakerism is that the simplicity of it can lead to an easy misapprehension of it. You can feel like “Oh, I get it. That sounds like me. I agree with those things.”

Sara: And it can be harder than it sounds.

Rich: And the concepts are such that you can project a lot onto them, Inner Light being one of them. In such an individualistic culture, as American culture is, what we really prize is what’s special about you. In Quaker schools, sometimes that preciousness of the individual child gets conflated with this concept of Inner Light in ways that can pull us away from its real meaning and power. And there really is a tremendous role for the uniqueness of each one of us. And I love the fact that our education is for a wide range of outcomes and not a single one. We need the poets and the caretakers and the comedians and the musicians and the analysts and the data scientists and the activists and the politicians. All of those roles are necessary for a right, functioning world. So I love the fact that we do prize the diversity of roles and paths of individuals, in the discernment each person is called to, to find their relationship between what they love, what the world needs, and what they’re good at. All of that is true, and I would never dismiss the incredible value of each individual and their unique gifts.. 

But it shouldn’t be confused with the concept of Inner Light, because Inner Light is what Quakers point to as what is sacred in the universe, in all of creation. It is “That of God” that courses through all of life. It is the ground from which all life is formed; it is the essential nature at the heart of each one of us – where we’re from, where we’re destined to be at our fullest and finest as human beings. 

Sara: I feel susceptible to the over-abbreviation of Inner Light that we’re talking about… If I’m hearing you right: the wonder we take in each student, or the beauty of what they’re showing us of who they are inside. That’s not mutually exclusive with what you’re talking about, but it’s not what you’re talking about. 

Rich: When we think about Quaker teachings, we often think first about the testimonies, and understandably. They’re so valuable to our lives in community. But the true central idea of Quakerism is that we’re always in the presence of the sacred. It is within us, around us, between us. It is that sacred energy, the goodness that animates the universe. It is the goodness from which we come. It is the inexhaustible supply of love in the universe. It is the larger transcendent true reality, that is so far beyond our comprehension but which we have a capacity to be enriched by and in attunement with. That is our calling, to live attuned to that greater truth. We’re not meant to be perfect, not meant to be all. That light which is at the heart of every one of us, is refracted through each of us as individuals, in beautiful ways.

Sara: Do you think light and truth are closer to synonyms than people think?

Rich: I think they are. My commencement words this year were about this central idea that we’re always in the presence of the sacred. We as human beings have a tremendous capacity to be responsive to the sacred, but because we are easily distracted and easily deluded, we live with a flickering connection to that deeper identity. One way to create a common ground of talking about it is: transcendent experience. When we are in the presence of the ocean, that is larger than us, it invites us into a larger sense of being without diminishing us.

Sara: That gets me wondering if part of the work in a Quaker school is to make that more accessible, to keep that wonder more available. Silence is one tool.

Rich: Silence in Friends schools is a beautiful invitation, but we often walk into that meeting as asleep as anyone. That’s who we are as humans. What I would say is: Light is a metaphor for the sacred. So the question I have is: what are the qualities of light that can teach us about the sacred? Light illuminates without coercion. Light is warm. Light shines through. There’s a peacefulness to its extraordinary energy. Light doesn’t feel frenetic. If Light is a metaphor for the sacred, how can an inquiry into the qualities of light teach us more about the sacred: how can we think about light in that way?

Sara: I wondered if you had thoughts about what it was like when you were head of a Quaker school, to be a religious institution open to a lot of different belief systems. You must have seen a lot of different reasons people were there, and I wonder how you approached that range?

Rich: What I have loved about being the head of a Quaker school is: we are unusual in our ability to form a genuine spiritual community amidst a wide diversity of relationships to formal religion or not, religious traditions or not. We live in a truly postmodern age where many people have moved beyond their family traditions or married within traditions… We’re called to, with intention, create lives of spirit, of goodness. Quakerism gives us a wonderful opportunity, as a non-creedal religion. 

It doesn’t ask us to believe very much with specificity, because more than being doctrinal, it’s experiential. It asks you to say what you know and not more than that. It us to be open to this broad, liberal, generous idea about what it means to be human beings. In the freedom to invoke spirit, the sacred, we have this opportunity to talk about the mystery of life. Because we are spiritual beings. We have the capacity of knowing on a deeper level that we don’t have to pretend doesn’t exist simply because we don’t agree on the same religious terminology. In our larger culture, because we’re a religiously diverse country, we have completely secularized the public space, because out of good intention, we want to avoid division or disrespect; but what we’ve lost is the ability to talk about that collective deeper reality and the search that’s at the heart of it, the mystery of it. As a Quaker school, we’re allowed to talk about that stuff. With a breadth of language, a breadth of metaphors that are points of entry for anyone. 

Sara: In closing, I wonder if there are times when as a head of school you had tapped best into Light, gone past metaphor and into the experience of Light.

Rich: There are lots of ways to be a valuable head of school. You form an ecology around your style of leadership. What is the ecology and weather that you create? For me, the role I played is first of all, continually reminding people of this set of unique responsibilities and opportunities we have as teachers and parents in this very special Quaker, spiritual setting. I draw a lot of inspiration from wide spiritual reading and podcasts and from my own religious practice as a progressive Catholic; I joke that at this point in my life and career, I am Quatholic. Feeding that set of ideas for yourself so you can provide that role if you’re called to it as a head of school, that this is what this work is about, this is how at our best we see each other, this is how when things break down we find a way to reset

Sara: And a community might need to hear they just leaned in well, or they faced a hard moment well together.

Rich: You just named something really important. We have to respect the depth and developmental nature that adults need to do in order to grow. We shorthand all the time. We think just by telling people that they are going to change. We know that change is predicated on deep learning. We’re good at it with kids, at designing learning that respects the pace of learning – the discovery that is genuine and linked to where a person is. But we sometimes forget we need to do that same kind of planning and design for our adult communities.

Sara: Thank you, Rich!

Inward Work: Reflections from Director of Studies, Nell Sears

Quakers speak often of “preparing heart and mind”, referring to internal work necessary to be ready for meetings for worship or business. Parker Palmer, Quaker and educator, described this process of preparing in similar ways for a “Meeting for Learning:” 

“...For conventional education, the learner prepares only with the mind. But in a meeting for learning, one’s total life must be brought along– not only intellect, but values, beliefs, relationships, actions, aspirations. Education, no less than worship, makes a claim on our total lives, and we must come to both meetings with that totality recollected and held up to the light.” (Meeting for Learning: Education in a Quaker Context, 8)

At Friends School of Portland, one of the pillars of our curriculum is, as our Curriculum Guide describes it, “reaching inward.” Teachers and students together engage in internal reflection and learning that prepares them to participate as members of their school community and beyond, to listen openly, and to seek truth as they navigate their educational journey together. Reaching Inward threads through our curriculum and instruction, and this aspect of our work together creates a learning culture where it is not only about what we can say and demonstrate, but also how we listen, reflect, and understand together. Below are three common categories of inner work at Friends School of Portland.

Identity

Teachers engage students in activities that help them to explore who they are and what they care about and to share themselves with their classroom community. Sometimes this looks like a self-portrait project or a ‘Where I’m from poem.” Other times it comes through classroom meetings and discussions where students are encouraged to engage with and communicate their connections, opinions, and passions. This month, Kindergarteners kicked off their yearlong study of letters by “collecting” words that are interesting to them and, through the language of dance and movement, noticing how different words make them feel differently.  

Community

Extending identity work, teachers help students to reach inward to understand not only who they are, but who they are in the context of their community. They support students to build supportive communities to which they can bring their whole selves and in which they can take risks. When preschoolers learn to listen to friends’ messages, first and second graders share their hopes and dreams for their class, or fifth and sixth graders define and practice group norms, students begin to understand what it is to do the internal work necessary to take care of themselves and one another in community.  

Resilience

Learning is rewarding and joyful, but it is also challenging. In order to learn, children (and all of us!) must be willing to take risks, to sit with confusion, to contend with complexity, and to work hard without external reward. Preparing inwardly for learning is important ongoing work. Teachers at Friends School center this work and make it explicit with children, helping children to understand what they are feeling, how to communicate those feelings, and how to access strategies to face into challenges and learn from them, both individually and collectively.

And of course, in our weekly Meeting for Worship, in the practices of silence that are threaded throughout the day, and in moments of group discernment, students engage in the collective practice of inner work and seeking truth in community.

Theater Adventures After FSP

Pictured above: End of year play in 2017.

At Friends School of Portland, the seventh and eighth-grade play is a tradition looked forward to and fondly remembered by all. Graduates can recall the plays that their class performed. And younger kindergarten buddies spend the final weeks of the school year reenacting scenes from “Alice in Wonderland,” “Charlotte’s Web,” and “Mid-Summer Night’s Dream” to name a few. This tradition began with Lee Chisholm and his late-wife Sukie Rice. Last year, music teacher, Bethany Schmitt, and AfterCare Director, Eliza, helped bring “Alice in Wonderland” to the meeting room stage at FSP.

Pictured above: End of year play in 2022.

Many students find roles in their high school, college, and community theater programs after trying out roles in middle school here. Vi Walsh ‘21, Amelia Connor-McCoy ‘19, and Mia Pierce ‘24 shared a bit about what they have been up to since their time at FSP.

Vi Walsh ‘21 shared:

Throughout my years in FSP, I always looked up to the 7th and 8th graders and the play they put on every year. I strived to be as good as them. I’m now a senior at Greely High School and just finished a production of MAMMA MIA! Where I played Donna. I am currently auditioning for many other things like my school’s spring play “You Can’t Take It With You,” colleges, and theatre programs. It’s been a lot of hard work; vocal lessons, sometimes not getting cast, learning to read music during senior year, and trying my hardest to improve as a dancer.

The best advice I could give to someone who wants to pursue theatre is: don’t be afraid to embarrass yourself. Acting is simply playing pretend, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. It takes a lot of courage to get on stage and try something new. Oftentimes, the thing you are scared to do is what could land you the role. So lean into what you are afraid of! Don’t let worries of looking silly affect you or your work.

Theatre is all about your heart. So to be perfectly cliche, follow it.

Amelia Connor-McCoy ‘19 is now a Sophomore at the University of Rhode Island. She is majoring in Theatre with a double concentration in Acting and Design, with a focus on scenic painting. She is also minoring in Vocal Performance. 

Outside of theatre, she is still playing Ultimate Frisbee! She joined the URI club team "Disky Business" fall of her Freshmen year, and loves it. She also works as a camera operator, filming sports games at URI and at the Portland Sea Dogs in the summer. 

Amelia was recently cast in Machinal by Sophia Treadwell and directed by Rachel Walshe at the University of Rhode Island Theatre.

Mia Pierce ‘24 shared:

I was in Mary Poppins this summer and I played Winnifred Banks (the kids’ mom). Currently, I’m in Mt. Ararat’s production of Mama Mia playing Lisa. I am so excited!

Are you an FSP graduate currently in a theater production? We would love to hear from you!

Reach out to Development Director, Brooke, by email (brooke@friendsschoolportland.org) or fill out this quick google form: https://forms.gle/DubTGjPBUeYpGZ1Q7

Note Writing and Problem Solving

Writing letters to each other—during quiet time or before and after school—has been a popular pastime and a way that students enjoy practicing their new writing skills.

First and second-grade students recently worked together to solve a problem in their class: how to organize mailboxes for personal notes and schoolwork. Students shared their thoughts and ideas.

One idea was to write one note per day: "If you only have one note to read, you’ll give it all the time it needs to really appreciate it."

Another student shared that each mailbox could have a simple folder for notes and one for schoolwork.

And another student thought a schoolwork folder on top and notes underneath would be a good idea.

During classroom morning meetings, students worked to find a new way. There is so much to learn in noticing a problem and working with classmates to find a solution -- no matter how simple it might seem.

Connecting History to Personal Stories: Peter Kellman visits Middle School

"I really appreciated how engaged and motivated he was as a teen because he was only 19 at the time but was also so involved with the Civil Rights Movement and activism in general." -Seventh-grade student.

"This really stuck with me because he said it so matter-of-factly, the fact that he wouldn't go to Vietnam just to kill people he didn't even know. No one has ever talked that clearly to me about that." -Eighth-grade student

"One thing I found interesting in what Peter Kellman talked about was the idealism and energy of youth and how it differs from that of adults." - Seventh-grade student

The above are a few thoughts seventh and eighth-grade students shared after Peter Kellman visited their class. Peter took part in the Selma march for Voting Rights, participated in the Committee for Non-Violent Action; was heavily involved in protesting the Vietnam War (for which he was briefly exiled in Canada), and was a key labor movement activist in Maine. Speaking with him was a unique opportunity.

Prior to his visit, seventh and eighth-grade students had been studying the Selma March and watched this short documentary.

7-8 teacher, Pete Nowak shared afterward:

It felt like this was a real opportunity to link up big historical moments with an individual story -- to add a face and a real person's feelings to something we've all heard so much about.

It was especially auspicious to find someone who always had hope and the optimism to work for positive change at a time when many of us are feeling hopeless.

He talked to the kids about being a kid himself, about following his heart and doing what was needed rather than having some overarching idealistic plan.

He asked the kids about themselves and had them talk about their families -- he made his story feel like it's part of a bigger story we all share.

Computer Programming AfterSchool

This school year, Alex Hennings joined the AfterSchool crew to lead computer programming activity sessions. Students have been learning how to code with JavaScript by making small games.  

Each session has varied. During the last session, students worked on creating a game with a spaceship. The spaceship uses fuel to fly around and the player needs to reach the next fuel barrel before they run out. “I’ve really enjoyed leading the session because I get to pretend that I’m a kid, play with technology, and help little people grow,” shared Alex.  

“Kids have been endlessly positive and curious. And being a small part of the friends community has been a highlight!”

A few middle school students shared a few thoughts about the AfterSchool sessions so far. 

“I really liked making a game. I didn’t know how to before taking the class. But I now I do.”

“We made a spaceship game where you get points if you fuel the spaceship. And you lose points if you go too far without fueling or if a triangle touches you.” – Fifth-grade student 

“I didn’t really know what JavaScript is. I was surprised that we had to use this website from scratch. But now I know all about codes in JavaScript. It’s pretty cool.” – Sixth-grade student

“Alex is awesome and so is coding.” – Fifth-grade student

“It was really hard. It made my brain hurt. But I got to learn JavaScript. There isn’t a lot of math when you are playing a computer game. But there is way more math than I thought there would be when you are making the game. It’s complicated but fun.” – Sixth-grade student

“We made a game, you had to move this ball to a different spot. It was really hard and my first time doing something like it. I’m excited about trying it again in the next session. It’ll be my second time doing something like it.” – Fifth-grade student

Graduate Spotlight: Seth Dixon '18

Pictured above: Recent Zoom conversation with Seth Dixon'18 and Head of School, Sara Primo

Who are you now and what are you doing that really grabs your attention?

I’m a young person in college trying to figure out what I’m doing with my degree. Right now I’m working at the Advanced Structures and Composites Center here at the University of Maine Orono. Work has been very exciting, learning stuff I don’t really get to learn in the classroom.

I’m learning about leadership too. I’m the president of the Society of Automotive Engineers Club here on campus. It’s a slightly large team of twenty people, so learning how to manage people and manage time has been something I’ve been really working on this year.

My team had the Composites Center works with large thermoplastic structures. We have the largest plastic 3-D printer in the world here at UMaine. Our team is working with the prints it creates and trying to understand them better. We’re doing a lot with how to model how it performs: when it will break, how it will move. It transforms ‘it might work’ into real numbers that can be calculated. 

In high school, I was the team captain for our Robotics Team so I had a little bit of experience managing a team, but there were a lot of adults in the room helping. Here, there’s no adults involved now. There’s a lot of learning the background stuff, like the paperwork – it’s learning how to manage all the logistics.

What is a highlight of something that you have done since graduating?

The past two summers, I’ve been able to work at an internship with a small startup in Portland doing autonomous sailboats. They are developing an autonomous sailboat designed for estuary and ocean research; it’s only 2 meters. That was really cool to see a company working and being able to help with a project that could have a real impact. One of the projects they’d like to use it for is water quality in the Chesapeake Bay to help introduce oysters since all the oysters have been farmed out and the water has subsequently gotten really gross. That was cool and very direct: look at this, I’m doing something to help. During that internship, I did some design work for the control system, I helped design the human interface. And I helped with testing.

Do you have a favorite memory of FSP?

I remember FSP fondly. For me, the island years were memorable: it’s a pretty cool experience to go to school on an island. And the freedom that we had during the years when the school was trying to figure out who it was, for a small child was pretty cool.

Recognizing the Everyday Magic In FSP's Preschool: Jonathan Ewell and Ashley Blake Receive MePA's Educator Award

Pictured above: Preschool teaching team Jonathan Ewell (left) and Ashley Blake (right)

Trust, love, a sense of calm, and yes... wiggly lines all begin to help shape what preschool looks like at Friends School of Portland. Over FSP’s first 18 years, the preschool program has been shaped by many thoughtful and joyful teachers. This year, the Maine Psychological Association (MePA) has awarded FSP’s teaching team, Ashley Blake and Jonathan Ewell, the Maine Educator’s Excellence Award!  

MePA’s Educator Recognition Program recognizes PK-12 educators who demonstrate exceptional psychologically minded performance and a commitment to advancing positive mental and behavioral health outcomes. Ashley and Jonathan were nominated and selected for their deep knowledge of young children’s emotional needs and their high level of attunement that they bring to their work.  

FSP’s faculty and staff celebrated this award with a small gathering complete with special crowns made by third and fourth-grade students and favorite snacks joined by a member of the MePA nominating committee.  

Ashley and Jonathan shared a few of their thoughts about the acknowledgment of early childhood education by MePA and their journey to their current roles:   

Jonathan: We are honored to receive this award, especially for its recognition and validation of the importance of early childhood education in a student’s learning and development. 

Ashley: I am glad that we get to shed a light on early childhood education, and the important foundation that it sets for lifelong learning. During these early years, children build essential skills necessary for academic success. Play is their work. They construct meaning, practice skills, and lean into challenges. The magic happens when they begin to see themselves as the competent learners that they are. The aim, then, is that preschool children enter the next leg of their journey equipped with skills to tackle academic tasks, strengthened self-regulation, confidence, and a foundational love of learning. 

Jonathan: My first preschool teaching job was in a Montessori preschool in South Burlington, Vermont. I had just finished a season of apple picking and was young with a full head of hair and little idea of what to do with myself when I was invited to apply for an assistant teaching position at the school during their celebration of the color-splashing festival of Holi. The interview process largely consisted of me sitting in an undersized chair while being repeatedly blasted with tiny handfuls of colored powder and sponged paint administered by wildly enthusiastic people roughly a third of my size. Thus, a nearly 25-year career was born!

After a few years in Vermont, my partner Anne and I moved to Madison, Wisconsin, where I worked at another Montessori preschool for three years. The two schools were entirely different in setting, tone and application of Montessori principles, but the teachers in both places were all amazingly skilled, compassionate, and committed to honoring the full humanity of the students, who I learned very quickly are so much more than just “cute little kids”.  

My father is a Quaker and I grew up knowing Mary Tracy, who was getting ready to start up this little Friends School in Maine while I was still in Madison. Before long, Anne and I were back in Portland, where I interviewed and ultimately began my time at Friends School of Portland. Initially, I was FSP’s Aftercare Coordinator and Preschool Assistant with Lea Sutton, another amazingly skilled, compassionate, committed teacher! I spent several years at the school in a variety of positions, filling in where needs arose, (middle school Social Studies, Math assistant, Kindergarten co-teacher, Body Mind Spirit teacher, etc.), and wound up back in the Preschool room with Marie Reimensnyder, (still another amazing teacher and human being!), after Jonathan Rhoads and Kelsey Kobik, (yes, both incredibly amazing people and preschool teachers!) both left the same year. When Marie left, Ashley appeared and, (of course!), was and is amazingly skilled, compassionate, and deeply committed to all of our (amazing!) students and their families! 

Ashley: I didn’t set out to go into teaching. I had a different plan. In college, I took a position at an early childhood center and really fell in love with the work. Because of this, I decided to tailor my college coursework looking through an early childhood lens. I’ve never looked back.

A few years later, I took a preschool teaching position at a local private school and taught there for six years. This experience solidified my love of teaching and helped me to grow into the role. The other significant teaching experience prior to FSP was at a Reggio Emilia-inspired preschool. It was there that I was introduced to Reggio Emilia-inspired education formally, although I had always viewed education similarly. Young children are competent, capable, and worthy of respect -- and the work that they do is important and valuable. When you view children, and their work, through those lenses, it becomes easy to support, extend, guide, and facilitate their learning experiences as they drive them. 

I feel lucky to be here at FSP, and to have entered into the flow of slowness, intentionality, and clarity here before me. I have learned and will continue to learn, so much from being a part of this school. I have gained a ton from this stop on my own lifelong learning journey.

Jonathan: Working together as a teaching team, Ashley and I are respectful and supportive of one another, intuitively and intentionally communicative and collaborative, and deeply appreciative and trusting of each other’s best intentions. We talk about the importance of modeling our humanness, with all of its flaws and wonders, for the students, and we share the belief that humor is an integral component of spiritual, intellectual, and social-emotional learning and development. 

Working and playing while nestled within the loving community of FSP is an incredible gift, and it is wonderful to have such positive, caring relationships between our class and the teachers, staff, parents, and older students! Extra shout out to all of our truly amazing Specials teachers and Aftercare staff!! Extra super shout-out to FSP’s natural outdoor spaces that the preschoolers inhabit for how they inspire, nurture, and guide us all!

Ashley: It can be easy to overlook the magic in the everyday. But a lot of the important teachable moments happen during transitions -- the pockets between the daily rhythm. This is where children navigate social nuance, build self-regulation, practice taking turns, learn to follow the group plan, etc. And because we are intentionally slow during these moments, the children are not rushed to move to the next step -- the next “work”. All of it is their work. And because their work is valuable and meaningful, we lean into as much of it as we can.

Plein Air Painting with Artist Deena Ball: An Invitation to the Falmouth Art Show

Pictured above: Artist, Deena Ball, working with first and second-grade students outdoors on the Falmouth Land Trust trails at Underwood Springs Forest.

First through sixth-grade students are participating in a workshop series with local artist Deena Ball in partnership with Falmouth Land Trust to document special places within the Underwood Springs Forest that Friends School of Portland abuts. The Falmouth Open Studio Tour is coming up on Saturday, November 19: student work will be displayed and our wider community will be invited for a tour! Stay tuned for details by following Falmouth Maine Open Studio Tour.

Chris Keegan: FSP's Learning Strategist

Pictured above: Learning Strategist, Chris Keegan, sitting down in Lindsay's 3-4 classroom.

Chris Keegan is FSP’s Learning Strategist. This school year marks Chris’s seventh year at Friends.

She often lends a helping hand at an all-school event, participates in the monthly Racial Justice Accountability Group conversations, or sits down with a family to puzzle through supports that might be needed for a student. Even so, you might not yet have had the pleasure of meeting Chris. 

Here’s a little bit more about Chris in her own words. 

What it was like to transition to your role at Friends School of Portland?:

It was scary because I was leaving a community that I loved. I had already decided to retire from my administrative position when a teacher told me about the opening at Friends School. The job description for FSP’s Learning Strategist position sounded like just the right fit for me because it included an intentional culture of inquiry and collaboration and the opportunity to support students, families and teachers within a smaller, more intimate setting. I was excited to be part of a community with such a clearly defined culture and a commitment to Quaker values. 

When my own kids were in elementary school I took a job as an ed tech at Jack Elementary School on Munjoy Hill and then moved to Reiche Elementary School on the other side of town. At Reiche, I was a special education teacher for Kindergarten - Grade 5. In the public school setting principals turn over on average every five years and we believed that a teacher-led school would be a more stable environment for students and staff. It was an arduous process involving the union, the school department, and the legislature but in 2011, Reiche moved from having a traditional principal to being a teacher-led school and I shifted into a Lead Teacher role. 

What is it like to work now at Friends School in your seventh year?: 

Honestly? It's awesome! This is a kind, respectful, and intentional community. It’s a safe space whether you are a student, a teacher, or a parent. It’s OK if you don’t have all the answers because there are others willing to help you figure out the puzzle, whatever that puzzle might be. 

I appreciate that staff and parents make time to have real conversations with one another and with students. The conversations that take place in classrooms about things that are important to students, from the selection of after school snacks to a friend’s feelings to foxes to Wabanaki history or what’s happening in the Middle East, are astounding. Teachers are very intentional about modeling civil discourse and grounding the classroom culture in the SPICES. 

When not at Friends School, what are you up to? 

 I like to be outside – on the water or in the woods. I love having free time and I like to savor the season. Last summer I took a train trip across Canada, from Toronto to Vancouver, and then down to Los Angeles. I grew up outside of Philadelphia riding the train to and from school and I always wanted to do a longer train trip. I was set on getting to the Vancouver Museum of Anthropology and then finishing at the Zen Center of Los Angeles to visit one of my sisters.

An Invitation to Think Deeply: A School-Wide Faculty Focus on Inquiry

Pictured above: Morse Elementary School teacher (and former FSP teacher) Aja Stephan leading a morning workshop.

Each school year, FSP’s faculty and staff decide together and work on a school-wide goal. Social Studies and Science Through the Lenses of Inquiry and Equity/Anti Bias Education, Friends Council Renewal Process, and Writing are all examples of school-wide goals in the last 5 years. Faculty and staff are diving in and digging into the foundational work of Inquiry this school year.  

To begin, FSP hosted a conference focused on the practice of inquiry in teaching. The queries that opened the day of teacher-led workshops included:  

How does inquiry in teaching practice connect with listening?

How does inquiry in teaching practice connect with justice?

How does inquiry in teaching practice connect with liberatory practice?

Nell, Director of Studies, invited faculty and visiting educators to think big and to think deep as the framework of the day. The morning also centered on defining inquiry as both deductive and appreciative. Deductive inquiry means that the answer is out in the world and can be found. And appreciate inquiry refers to David Cooperrider and Diane Whitney’s Appreciative Inquiry: A Positive Revolution in Change:

“Inquiry and change are not separate moments but are simultaneous. Inquiry is intervention. The seeds of change -- the things people think and talk about, the things people discover and learn, the things that inform dialogue and inspire images of the future -- are implicit in the very first questions we ask…”

Different workshops were led by FSP faculty and visiting educators including:  

•  Approaching Inquiry In Our Early Childhood Classrooms with a Reggio Emila Gaze

• Using the C3 Inquiry Model to Create Interdisciplinary Inquiries

• Inquiring Minds: Cultivating Inquisitive Self-Talk

• Math Inquiry: Layering the Groundword for Inquiry In Math and Beyond

• Immersive Experiences to Foster Inquiry in Kindergarten and Middle School Social Studies

• Writing Practices that Keep Your Professional Questions Alive

• Inquiry and Making Thinking Visible

• Storytelling in Circle

• Nature of Inquiry Puzzle 

As the day wrapped up teachers enjoyed s’mores, mocktails, and conversation. Reflections of the day offer a way to enter into the work of “Inquiry” more deeply this school year.  

A few reflections:

• I want to lean into the fact that emergence is central to inquiry. What is rising, where are things going, and then build from there. 

• I went into leading a session thinking “I get to be confused.” But as I went on I found that rooting in what I know helped me ask questions. 

• As much as I want to teach stuff, I want it to be the right stuff. I need to stop and examine my own assumptions. 

• As an early childhood educator, I can take so much from thinking about other age groups - elementary on up through middle school. 

This is just the beginning of diving into our school-wide goal for this year…more soon! 

Quaker Life Committee: Lifting Up the Testimonies of Equality and Stewardship

Pictured above: Quaker Life Committee and seventh and eighth-grade students thinking around three of the Quaker values, as we sat with elevating a pair this school year.

The Quaker Life Committee (QLC) is a small group of board members, faculty, and staff that meet monthly to support Quakerism at Friends School. Among many aspects of Quakerism at FSP, the committee discusses ways to support and scaffold weekly all-school Meeting for Worship. 

It is a common practice at Friends Schools across the world to choose a testimony a year to lift up. Last year, the QLC recommended that we try choosing a Quaker testimony pairing to delve into, school-wide. This year, the QLC has brought forward a new testimony pairing through a slightly different process.

At times, the QLC has had students be a part of the committee. To include student voices in the process this year, seventh and eighth-grade students were invited to join the testimony planning conversation. Stewardship had risen as a value to elevate during faculty conversations. This year, there is a new faculty Environmental Action Committee and we are in the second year of a planned shift from Physical Education to Physical and Stewardship Education. With the hiring of a new (first-ever) Facilities Director, David Mahaney, stewardship is indeed top of mind at FSP.

As we ponder how to teach about stewardship beyond picking up belongings and trash (which in itself is valuable too!), seventh and eighth-grade students were invited to consider another testimony to pair with stewardship. Equality and Peace both rose in exciting ways to think about Stewardship as not just picking up trash when you see it. Over more than one conversation, many students began to think of Equality and Peace as two very important values and that it might be too hard to choose between them. It took multiple conversations to deliberate on what we might want to elevate and to remind ourselves that choosing to elevate one value does not discount another. Ultimately, members of the QLC were trusted to think through and make a decision.

The testimonies that rose were Equality and Stewardship. 

Two queries that resonate with this pairing as we begin the school year are:

Do my actions help to create a world where everyone is treated with dignity?

How do I balance my individual needs with the needs of the world around me? 

New Forests to Explore: A Generous Gift of Land

We are thrilled to share that we have received a generous gift of land. Over the last year, our neighbors Christina Cinelli and Jim Wilkerson have worked with us to donate 2.2 acres of land that abuts our property. 

The gift is official which means that our campus has grown to 23.2 acres, expanding our kindergarten outdoor classroom area. Recently, the kindergarten class and their seventh-grade buddies walked the new property lines and wrote down what they were grateful for in the forest. We look forward to welcoming Christina and Jim for a morning assembly to share our appreciation.

Know, Wonder, Learn: A Study of Insects

Both classes of first and second-grade students are beginning the school year investigating insects in our forests. Xanthe's class recently spent a few sunny mornings in the forest collecting insects using "pooters." Students determined that all insects have six legs but that not every six-legged arthropod is an insect. It was helpful to find bugs that were not insects to refine the definition of an insect.

Students then looked more closely at the physical characteristics of insects and some of the adaptations that help insects survive. Some of the questions students asked based on their observations were:

Why do beetles have hairs (setae) on their legs?

Why are insects different colors?

Why are insects small?

Why are there so many insects?

Their study of insects continued with a visit from Falmouth Land Trust Educator, Rebecca Dugan, who led students on a hike through Underwood Springs Forest. Students looked for signs of the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB), and its presence on Ash trees on the property. Using paper strips, Rebecca demonstrated how invasive species take hold in an ecosystem.

We look forward to hearing more from these curious first and second-grade students as their observations lead to more learning.

Equity Assessment at FSP

Pictured above: First faculty meeting with consultant, Dustin Ward, talking through the content and calendar of what the Equity Assessment will look like at Friends School this year.

To create a sense of belonging, there is work we actively participate in each day. Over the course of our history, Friends School of Portland has made important headway in our Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Belonging, and Justice work. We’ve reflected on program, policies, and procedures, and accessed experts like Liza Talusan and White People Confronting Racism for parent workshops and faculty professional development. Retired FSP staff member and grandparent, Linda Ashe-Ford worked within the early childhood development team and brought to fruition a Families of Color Affinity group.  

Throughout this journey, we long ago recognized that we would benefit from a more thorough equity audit. While we’ve done internal work, we have come to realize that external facilitation as a next step will help us gather and analyze data that will further help us understand how inclusive we are as a school, how our belonging work feels to all members of our community, and how we are seen in the wider community. 

As a predominantly white institution, we have sought out a professional who would bring an outside lens and push us past our habits of mind as we tackle these large questions. We sought a facilitator who is local and understands the nuances of our area; someone with experience leading equity work in schools; and someone who understands and connects with our faith-based values.

With the support of our community’s Strategic Plan, FSP’s board, and a grant from the Obadiah Brown Benevolent Fund, we took steps this summer to begin working with Dustin Ward of It is Time Consulting.

Here is an overview of the shape of the collaborative equity assessment this year:

Stage 1: Discovery

Dustin started his work with us in August by diving into a wealth of information to orient himself to our practices at FSP: a very full Google Drive folder, a tour of FSP, and early meetings with members of faculty and the administrative team. Since then, Dustin joined both a faculty meeting and a board meeting to give an overview of the year and to facilitate conversations around two questions: What is Equity? and Who is our community? 

Stage 2: Data Collection

As part of the next stage of the process, over the next five months, Dustin will be gathering information and stories. Dustin plans to lead three different community conversations. One conversation will be with our current and recent school community, in conjunction with our February State of the School. Another conversation will be with organizations and groups we are already connected with. A third conversation will be with community members who are less familiar with FSP but whom we want to be better connected with. 

Another portion of Dustin’s data will come through surveys. There will be an online survey that you can expect by late November. Current students will participate in a simple developmentally appropriate survey during a school day (similar to our strategic plan and accreditation surveys). Dustin also plans to be available for small group or individual meetings – both with current students and community members. This will include two days when Dustin is available to students on campus: out at recess, coordinating with classrooms, and being available to hear more about student and faculty experiences. There will be two days for one-on-one meetings with community members interested in speaking with Dustin — we expect that those conversations will be held close to FSP but offsite.  

As we move through this stage we are seeking to answer questions such as these:

What is the range of experience of going to or working at FSP?

What would attract students or faculty from various backgrounds?

What would we need to shift to better serve students or faculty from various backgrounds?

How are we seen in the broader community, and does it match how we want to be seen?

Stage 3: Final Recommendations

In the spring, Dustin will synthesize and analyze these layers of gathered information. Faculty, staff, students, families, and board members will have a chance to engage with these recommendations at that time. 

We will update our website with various benchmarks of this Equity Assessment journey this year. If you are interested in participating or lending your voice, we hope you will keep your eye out for the survey and reach out for the best way to participate.

Cross Country Highlight from Sara Primo

A parent of a seventh-grade student mentioned to me this afternoon that cross country captures everything they love most about FSP: the way people support each other trying so hard; how good it feels to be outside together. “At every meet, I’m overflowing with love.”

It made me think of a conversation with a parent of a 2009 graduate who shared: 

“These experiences were beneficial in two ways for my daughter. Middle schoolers engage with one another and potentially make new friends before entering high school -- which was exactly what happened... making that transition seamless, she went into high school with new-found friends.  And it helped with meeting and engaging with middle schoolers from throughout the region." 

Seven weeks into the cross-country season, it is so much fun to hear students talk about their experience so far:

“April always makes it fun. I like how April pushes us. So many hard things that we don’t want to do, we later think were super fun.”

“I like feeling encouraged and feeling like I did a good job.”

“I love the community aspect – getting to spend time with my friends… And then when you’re done with your race, you can turn around immediately and cheer on others. And you know what that’s like because you know how hard it is.”

Equity Audit: Looking Ahead To The Process This School Year

We are grounded in our Quaker values, and we know that values on their own are not enough.

To create a sense of belonging, there is work we actively participate in each day. Over the course of our history, Friends School of Portland has made important headway in our Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Belonging, and Justice work. We’ve reflected on program, policies, and procedures, and accessed experts like Liza Talusan for workshops and support. 

Throughout that journey, we long ago recognized that we would benefit from a more thorough equity audit. While we’ve done internal work, all along we knew external facilitation would help us gather and analyze data that would further help us understand how inclusive we are as a school, how our belonging work feels to all members of our community, and how we are seen in the wider community. 

Pictured above: Dustin Ward of It Is Time Consulting.   

As a predominantly white institution, we have sought out a professional who would bring an outside lens and push us past our habits of mind as we tackle these large questions. We are thrilled to share that this year we have hired Dustin Ward of “It is Time” to lead us in a collaborative equity audit. Dustin comes with experience working with area schools, deep knowledge of the area, and a background in faith-based leadership.  

Here is an overview of the shape of the collaborate equity audit this year:

Dustin will guide us through three stages of the year. The first stage, Discovery, is one in which faculty, staff, and board members will be oriented to the project and have a chance to contribute their questions. Dustin has started to receive information that will provide more context, including past reports such as our NEASC re-accreditation report and our Friends Council Self Study. He will be meeting with our faculty this Friday, and meeting with our board at their September board meeting.

Later this fall, the second stage, Data Collection, will be a time for in-person community discussions and online surveys. We will have more to share soon about ways you can lend your voice to this audit.

By May, we will be able to share what takeaways and next steps have emerged in the third stage, Final Recommendations.

Thank you to the Obadiah Brown’s Benevolent Fund’s generous grant that has helped FSP make this important and long-anticipated investment. You can view below a little more information from Dustin. And stay tuned for more information, coming later this month.

The Eggcellent Food Chain: A Book Project by FSP's Kindergarten

This spring, kindergarten students began their annual life cycle unit: hatching baby chicks. However this year, the unit would look different than in any year prior. Children placed eggs in an incubator in the classroom. However, an early April nor'easter blew through Maine. The power was out at Friends School for 3 days and kindergarten teachers Carie and Robin ventured into a new study unexpectedly. Students came into class to learn that their eggs were no longer viable. After many questions and reading a book about "passing the energy," students decided to place their eggs out in the woods. A game camera was set up, and students watched from afar as fischer cats, coyotes, deer, and squirrels visited their eggs.

Students recounted the stories of their egg adventures to friends, families, and their eighth-grade buddies. The idea of a book took root!

Here are a few of the pages of their storybook that was written this spring.

Critical Friends Groups: What is ahead in year 3?

Pictured above: Kindergarten teacher, Carie Garrett (left) and 3-4 teacher, Rachel Fischhoff (right)

Critical Friends Groups is a type of professional learning community in which peers support peers. Despite the word “Friends” in the title, there is no formal connection to Quakerism, though there is so much shared territory. At Friends School of Portland, CFGs have helped faculty and staff practice a different way of listening and helped our adult community develop skills toward framing the right questions to get better professional support. CFGs started in 2022 at FSP led by Head of School, Sara Primo, and former 5-6 Humanities Teacher, Allie Miller.

This school year, Kindergarten Teacher, Carie Garrett was our CFG coordinator, and this coming year, 3-4 Teacher, Rachel will be stepping into that role. Sara sat down with Carie and Rachel to hear their reflections on the first two years of CFGs and their hopes for this work in the future.

Sara: How would you describe CFGs to someone who had never heard of them before?

Carie: CFGs are an opportunity for small groups of faculty to get together and problem-solve. One person can bring a dilemma to the group – These groups can review student work or teaching practices, to improve our practices and work life. It’s a form of sourcing solutions from our colleagues. Rachel, do you remember that thing you said earlier this year – ‘Generosity not reciprocity’ – There’s generosity in offering the dilemma and in processing as a listener.

Rachel: Yes, I remember saying that. The context was ‘what if not everyone presents in a year’ and I was making the case that it’s not so great a loss to go a year in CFGs and not be a ‘presenter’ of a dilemma or the one whose classroom practice gets looked at. Every time we do this, we are all practicing a kind of collaboration, practicing a kind of inquisitive stance. Practicing trying on different lenses to look at a dilemma… so the bigger outcomes of CFGs are the new ways that everyone in the room sees and not the action steps the presenter might leave with, even though those might be powerful.

Sara: The idea of constrained protocols can sound inhibiting. Why would it work?

Rachel: I think there are lots of contexts where constraints are generative or constraints prompt creativity. What’s interesting about CFG work is that there’s this big difference in how people perceive constraint in relation to conversation. Even when we believe writing or art-making would be aided through constraint, we might think of conversation as outside of that reality. So part of it for me is transferring knowledge we have in other aspects of our life… to discussion.

Often people who feel free in unstructured conversation are speaking from their own experience but aren’t necessarily taking in how others experience those same conversations. So this is an extension of equity work, to take on structures that demand silence; to take on structures that create a safe space for all voices. This is a way of taking on new habits of communication.

Carie: It is not our habit to speak in these formed, controlled ways, with particular questions and time limits. Expecting the group participants to communicate in a different way than is their normal habit… Sharing the airwaves with lots of people. Habits of communication change in our CFGs because of the constraints of the protocols. With the protocols we use and the agreements established by the members of the CFG, we hear from more people and we hear different things than we would if we were communicating by habit rather than protocol.

This can change how people listening hear the dilemma but also changes the way any participant might speak. Each sees themselves differently because of what was asked of the communication.

Rachel: A hallmark of a well-chosen dilemma is often ‘I have thought about this for a long time’ or ‘I have talked about this with many people’ or ‘I have tried many things’... And so the structure or invitation of CFG process is ‘let’s try something different and see what changes.’

Sara: What makes CFG thinking/ communicating different?

Carie: One thing that feels different is the way that, in a CFG, you respond to the presenter with gentleness and almost extracting from the presenter what they think – and not starting from your own experience and perspective. That’s one communication style that’s so relational – we want to connect to the people around us. We come at conversations with people ready to share “Here’s what I’ve done” or “here’s my connection…” But in a CFG, listeners set themselves aside. The communication is about drawing out the presenter: less about what each listener can contribute. It’s less about ego and more about centering the presenter and the dilemma.

Rachel: There is a presumption of care. The boundary of the structure can add a layer of security that can enable people to share their worries without shame or fear of judgment. There is something special and safe in that.

Carie: I think the reason it feels special and safe is because of the work that’s been done to establish how we’re going to communicate. How do you want to get feedback? How do you want to receive feedback? There is a guarantee that we won’t talk about this outside of the room. There are careful group norms we establish and build together in the beginning. How do you want this communication to go? What kind of feedback do you want to hear? For a facilitator to know what a presenter needs and communicate it to the group: that makes it feel safe.

Sara: It means facilitators are working very hard!

Carie: It also means each group has its own unique flavor and culture. It relies on facilitators to help the group live those group agreements.

Sara: I’m thinking about a protocol where one of the steps is for the person who presented the dilemma and answered clarifying and then probing questions to actually literally remove themselves from the discussion, sit across from the room with their back to the group, and take notes while the group discusses their situation for eight minutes… That is probably the most dramatic example of ‘This is not like normal conversation.’ What is the value in something like that?

Carie: Everybody that I’ve seen do that one loves it. Nothing is asked of them. It’s the fly on the wall you always talk about wishing you could be. Not only are you the fly on the wall, you have also decided what everyone will talk about. 

Rachel: It’s really affirming to hear people talking about something that’s important to you without having the responsibility of buoying the conversation. When you’re using a protocol, you’re letting action lead to thought. You may not yet truly believe or feel that your dilemma was worth the time you asked colleagues to talk about it. When you walk away and hear your group go so much further… it affirms the validity of your dilemma.

The parts of the protocols that can feel stilted or uncomfortable are often ways you embody the relation you’re trying to establish. Only using particular sentence starters dramatizes the type of feedback you want. Turning your back is almost over-dramatizing, or embodying, that you will only be listening. It’s a way of embodying that commitment to deep listening.

Carie: I like the idea of removing the person who started the conversation and still seeing the conversation continue – is really validating. You don’t need to keep the interest going. It goes on without you.

Sara: Have you seen any ripple effects of this work? Positive effects at FSP?

Carie: Part of what I've seen is a kindling and a deepening of relationships across the school. Also an awareness of people’s lived experience. It shows how we’re all living a similar experience but also gives you fresh compassion for what’s on the surface of the minds of the people you see at work.

Sara: What do you hope for as CFGs continue?



Carie: As we’ve lived the protocols and agreements, and become familiar with the CFG process everyone has gained a sense of trust and ease with it, so I would hope for that to continue. The way that the relationships have deepened and we have gained a perspective into our colleagues’ experiences feels like it has connected us as a staff more. I hope that’s something we can see continue through our CFG work.

Rachel: I think there are protocols my group hasn’t done before that I’m excited to see people try, such as ‘Descriptive Review of a Child.’ I also feel like when you’re in the practice of this work, it can appear in other moments – in the way you frame a question, ask for help, and look at student work. CFGs act as the greenhouse of the analysis, the processes, lenses, and trust. But the plants can grow elsewhere. 

Carie: Carrying your CFG in your head with you can be so powerful. You’re not with them, or it’s not your turn. But you have the questions you can imagine them asking. Conversations that were ‘just conversations’ before – become opportunities to think from others’ perspectives. My practice as a teacher has definitely improved from this process and from this way of thinking. For example, I am still looking at the kindergarten rest journals through the lens of what my CFG said last year about that routine. When I think about that, I get so excited about the capacity of CFGs to continue to improve practice!

A Year-Long Deep Dive into Writing Curriculum at FSP Director of Studies, Nell Sears

Pictured above: First and second grade students on a field trip to the Eastern Promenade to write and share their poetry at the close of their writing unit.

Friends School of Portland's professional development is designed to follow the same Inquiry-Action-Reflection cycle that is a cornerstone of our pedagogy. A year ago, the faculty chose the focus of writing, and during the last school year, we have been engaged in asking questions about our writing instruction, better understanding where we are and where we want to go, and developing action plans around writing.  

Inquiry

We began by developing a list of questions and identifying which of those questions had a sense of energy or urgency across the group. Below is a selection of questions that arose.

• How do we leave room for joy/play/expression?

• How do we balance authentic writing with scaffolding?

• What is our vertical alignment/continuum/developmental progression of writing work?

• How can we think about decolonizing writing instruction?

• How does teaching writing help teach thinking?

• How do we use/track/share/assess writing?

• How do we know if 8th graders are leaving with the writing skills they need?

In October, teachers choose a professional book group to engage with and a workshop to attend in order to think more deeply about some of these questions in the context of more specific writing topics. Teachers read and discussed Story Workshop, by Susan Harris Mackay; The Writing Revolution, by Judith Hochman and Natalie Wexler; and Science Notebooks in Student-Centered Classrooms, by Jessica Fries-Gaither. They participated in workshops on fine and gross motor development (led by Dareth Law, FSP Spanish teacher and Occupational Therapist), The Power of the Sentence (led by Judson Merrill, a writing professor at USM and author), Writing for Joy (led by Sara Primo and Nadja Tiktinsky), and Science Notebooks (led by Nell Sears and Dr. Sara Donaldson from Wheaton College, MA).  

Reflection

In the late fall, teachers formed working groups to focus on particular aspects of the writing program at FSP. Groups worked on revising our writing scope and sequence, creating a scope and sequence for the support of writing in early childhood and specials classes, and piloting the science notebook approach to science writing. Working groups articulated goals and worked together to engage with questions, new learning, and their own practice.   

Action

This spring working groups made recommendations to the full faculty about next steps that arose from their work. Teachers also articulated and shared new ways they are thinking about writing and goals they have for their own classroom practice in the coming year. Among these is an interest in including more nature-based activities that promote fine-motor development, focusing on the sentence, implementing a regular journaling invitation, and incorporating more on-demand writing throughout the year.