Margaret Smith has worked at Friends Select as a teacher, administrator, and advisor. Before she started in her newest position, Director of City Curriculum, she taught tenth and twelfth grade history. She is also an advisor for a group of seniors. In the spring of 2019, she shifted from an Upper School History teacher to her new position, Director of City Curriculum. 

Margaret works with people all across the city and school. Margaret says, “broadly speaking, the Director of City Curriculum acts as a liaison between the city and the school, but what that looks like day to day can be very different.” For example, Friends Select recently gained a mural in support of gender equality on the side of the building, a project which Margaret helped coordinate with groups such as Mural Arts, Glenmede Trust, and Global Philadelphia. 

While the position of Director of City Curriculum is quite new, created for the 2018-2019 school year, teachers were already utilizing the opportunities the city offered them. “It was not necessary to create this job to get teachers to use the city; they were already doing that!” said Margaret. “The job was necessary because so many teachers and students were using the city in exciting and creative ways, and that is something that sets our school apart.” 

As the Director of City Curriculum, Margaret is able to focus beyond a single classroom, so she can help facilitate connections and opportunities between teachers and other programs when necessary. For example, when the second grade was studying “what makes a neighborhood” and the teachers wanted to redesign the structure of the unit, Margaret worked with them to create change. The teachers wanted students to be able to interview business owners and Margaret helped them decide on a neighborhood to do those interviews in. Afterwards, she reached out to the business owners to organize the interviews.

In school, Margaret has worked to create programming like Social Justice Week or the Middle School Class in the City days. She also has strived to get more recognition for smaller projects that involve the city, because while everyone knows about the ninth grade history project with the Philadelphia Art Museum, not everyone is aware of the smaller experiences that some classes take part in, like studying our neighborhood buildings for their architecture or using their elevator for a physics project. Additionally, Margaret connected the portfolio prep teachers with Color Me Back, a MuralArts group that creates art workshops for people experiencing homelessness.

Margaret has a lot of meetings in order to work with the administration at Friends Select. She says “I meet with the Division Heads, Associate Directors, Deans, and teachers in the different divisions to discuss learning opportunities, requests teachers may have, and any special programming.” In weekly meetings with Academic Directors, she talks about where the curriculum should be headed and with the Advance Group about what upcoming projects and programs are scheduled or possible. Every other week, she meets with Head of School, Michael Gary, to discuss how her role at Friends Select can help fulfill the mission of the Friends Select.

As Director of City Curriculum, Margaret gets to do things she couldn’t do as a teacher. She says she loves her new job. ”This job is a fantastic merger of two things I love – education and Philadelphia. I get to think about, talk about, and write about two of my favorite topics all day.” And, by no longer being only an Upper School teacher, she is able to work with different teachers in all parts of the school. “It is an amazing window into so many aspects of learning across age levels and across divisions, and I have thoroughly enjoyed everything I’ve learned from our amazing faculty.” 

Margaret invites students to give feedback and provide insights if they feel led. If they have ideas, she says, “I hope they email me or swing by my desk when we are all back on campus together.” And next year, in addition to the City Curriculum Committee, Margaret wants to start a version that includes students. If people are interested, she would love to get in touch with you! 

Given our current circumstances, stopping by Margaret’s desk in the business office will be hard, but feel free to get in touch with her through email at [email protected].