Campus Dog Walk
Thanks to all (and their four-legged friends!) who joined us for the annual Campus Dog Walk! More photos from the event can be found here—thanks to student photographer William Wang ’26!
Campus Nature Walk
Campus Nature Walk
Friends gathered for our annual Campus Nature Walk, where they were led on guided tours of our beautiful grounds and saw plants, animals, and birds native to Westtown. The walk was led and curated by Marta Willgoose Salo, Middle and Upper School faculty member and naturalist, Courtney McKinley, Middle School science teacher, and Ryan Black, Upper School science teacher. Thank you to our guides and to the community members who’ve helped us make the Campus Nature Walk and annual event! Enjoy more photos here!
Community Basketball Game
Join us on January 6, 2024 on Coach Downey Court to see our alums, parents/guardians, faculty, and staff in action for our annual Westtown Community Basketball Game! Whether you want to participate in the game or cheer from the stands, you’ll have a great time. Be sure to come before the game and stay after to support our girls and boys varsity basketball teams as well! Register to play here! See below for a schedule for the games.
3:00 p.m. – Girls Varsity vs. Fort Erie International
4:00 p.m. – Check-in and warm-up for Community Players
4:30 p.m. – Tipoff for Community Game
5:30 p.m. – Post-Game Reception for Community Players
6:00 p.m. – Boys Varsity vs. Olympus Prep
Quakerism in Curriculum
Parents and guardians have been engaging in learning and reflection in the “Quakerism in the Curriculum” informational sessions. Led by Dean of Faculty and Innovation Chris Wills, these sessions have examined how Westtown incorporates Quaker teachings and values into its curriculum and programming across the divisions, and explored Meeting for Worship. The next session will be January 23 at 6:00 p.m. in the Belfry and will be facilitated by Director of Pre-K-12 Visual and Performing Arts Alex Ates. This session will cover how Quakerism and Quaker values shape the Visual and Performing Arts curriculum. It is open to current parents/guardians who are new to Quakerism, who would like a refresher, or who would simply like to participate. If you would like to join us, please RSVP here.
Save the Date for Our Next Shoemaker!
Sheryl Oring will be our next guest in the Shoemaker Visiting Lecturer series. She will do a performance of I Wish to Say on the Granolithic during the academic day for students and faculty; the lecture will be on April 8, 2024, at 7:30 p.m. in the Barton-Test Theater. This lecture is open to members of the whole Westtown community, but is not open to the public.
For I Wish to Say, artist Sheryl Oring sets up a makeshift public office—complete with a manual typewriter—and invites members of the public to dictate postcards to the U.S. President. Each card is typed verbatim; originals are sent to the White House and Oring keeps a carbon copy for her project archive. Oring has presented more than 100 performances at dozens of venues across the country.
Since launching the I Wish to Say project in 2004, artist Sheryl Oring has typed more than 4,000 postcards to U.S. Presidents from dozens of locations across the U.S. She is a Creative Capital grantee and her book, Activating Democracy: The I Wish to Say Project, was published by the University of Chicago Press. Oring is Dean of the School of Art at University of the Arts in Philadelphia.
Westtown Toile, Spirit Gear, and More!
Introducing the Westtown Toile collection. This collection features images of iconic buildings on the school’s campus. Using the school’s rich archive of historic photographs, artist Joe Kulesza meticulously interpreted each building in pen and ink. The sketches were then digitized, enhanced with elements of the surrounding natural landscape, and put into repeat. The resulting fabric and wallpaper collection is produced by Adaptive Textiles/Lodestone Collective, a local company with alum and teacher ties to Westtown School. Click here to view the collection. Learn more about the print design here. A portion of the proceeds of the sale of these items support the school.
Looking for spirit gear or gifts? Visit Westtown’s online store here. Did you know you can personalize your gear with your name, graduation year, or more? Watch how easy it is to do here.
Grandparents’ and Special Friends’ Day
We (and our students!) were thrilled to welcome grandparents and special friends to this spring to get a glimpse of life in the Lower School! Our guests learned about the Lower School curriculum, did activities with students, and enjoyed being in the classroom. You can see more of this special day here.
Community/Alums Basketball Game
The annual Alums/Community Basketball Game had a great turnout this year, and we were happy to welcome alums back to campus! Jair Bolden ’16, founder of the Grey Rose Foundation, came back to play in the game, and provided the boys’ varsity team with Grey Rose Foundation T-Shirts for warmups on Saturday. It was great to see so many alums on the court! You can see more photos from the game here!
Enhancing the Collection: Pottery Donations to Westtown School
In September, Amy Hart, a 90-year-old former ceramics teacher in Swarthmore reached out to Westtown to consider donating a collection of pottery and other materials to the school. Hart is a prolific arts educator in the region and had friendships with major figures in American pottery and pedagogy such as Paulus Berensohn and M.C. Richards. Westtown was suggested as a potential home for these pieces thanks to the suggestion of Hart’s friend, retired Westtown ceramics teacher Joyce Nagata.
In this donation, Hart has gifted Westtown with pieces by Berensohn, Ruth Duckworth, and Karen Karnes. Further, to build on this donation, iconic Philadelphia gallery owners Rick and Ruth Snyderman have also donated a piece by Berensohn to Westtown. Berensohn has direct ties to Westtown, as he was an artist in residence in 1993. He worked with students in all divisions and delivered a lecture on his cutting-edge arts pedagogy.
In addition to the pottery collection, Hart donated a wide variety of classroom and research materials to Westtown. This donation included art books for the Lower School and Upper School libraries, 20 Native American rattles made of various materials, 22 carved spoons made of various materials, six Native American Zuni small stone fetishes, a large collection of minerals, fossils, ivory, shells and a completely intact ostrich egg on a hand-made ceramic base.
This donation comes at a time when Middle School art teacher Cindy Hodgson is conducting a project to consider the history of pottery at Westtown in collaboration with the Archives. Further, an anonymous donor purchased pottery by Joyce Nagata and current ceramics teacher Stephanie Wilhelm for the school’s permanent collection, as well as a ceramic piece by Cara Graver, former longtime Westtown art teacher. The donations honor a history connecting Quakerism and pottery in Chester County, as outlined in the book, The Potters and Potteries of Chester County by Westtown alum Arthur E. James.
“There is a thread connecting Quakerism, American pottery, Chester County, and Westtown School,” reflects Alex Ates, Director of PK-12 Visual and Performing Arts. “For example, Paulus Berensohn—who is widely credited for changing the course of American Ceramics education—was greatly influenced by Quaker mysticism and was a guest artist at Westtown. Amyallery of these wo Hart’s generous donation honors Westtown’s marvelous legacy of encouraging ‘the living arts.’ Indeed, these pieces will now live on campus with us, inspiring and teaching students for generations to come.”
You can explore the gallery of these wonderful donated pieces here.
Middle and Upper School Parents’/Guardians’ Days
It’s always exciting to welcome families to campus so they can get a taste of what school is like for their kids, sample classes, and meet teachers and advisors! In case you missed seeing the galleries on our social media platforms, here are the galleries of the Upper School and Middle School Parents/Guardians’ Days. Enjoy!
