English Department Updates Curriculum with More Diverse Book Selections
October 20, 2020
A continuation of ongoing efforts, Friends Select’s Upper School English department has swapped out three books from the core curriculum this year in order to better represent a more diverse range of voices. In ninth grade, last year’s change from The Canterbury Tales to Antigone is followed by a s...
Fontaines D.C.’ s A Hero’s Death is a Listless Let Down
October 7, 2020
The British Isles have been overtaken by post-punk music in the past few years. Bands like IDLES, Girl Band, and Heavy Lungs have found critical and commercial success by carrying the effects-laden mantle of Joy Division and The Cure into the new decade. Irish poets ‘Fontaines D.C.’ became the scen...
Pop-Punks PUP Continue to Prove Their Consistency with “Anaphylaxis”
October 2, 2020
On April 27, Canadian polyrhythmic1 pop-punks PUP released a new single, “Anaphylaxis,” and an accompanying video. While the song didn’t come with any album announcement, the band is working on new material in the wake of a cancelled tour. “Anaphylaxis” feels like a natural step forward fr...
TikTok: What Friends Select Students Should Know
Peter Ryan, Editor-in-Chief
September 8, 2020
TikTok, a relatively new dance-centric social media app, is currently the most popular app on Apple’s app store. Despite its rapid ascension over the past two years, TikTok may not be available to American users for long: President Donald Trump, citing national security concerns, has threatened to ban t...
Yannick Haynes ‘20 to Act in Professional Theater Production
March 27, 2020
UPDATE: The Arden Theatre’s A Streetcar Named Desire has been postponed indefinitely due to the COVID-19 Global Pandemic. Yannick Haynes ‘20 was scheduled to act as Young Collector in the Arden Theatre’s production of A Streetcar Named Desire this March and April. A Streetcar Named Desire, by Te...
World Cafe Live Concert Tonight!
March 10, 2020
On Tuesday, March 10th, the Friends Select Upper School Music Program will make their annual performance at World Cafe Live in University City (3025 Walnut St, Philadelphia, PA). The concert will feature the FSS Instrumental Ensemble, Percussion Ensemble, Choir, Lab Band, and a number of independent stu...
New Arts and Humanities Electives for 2020-21
February 21, 2020
Friends Select adds new electives each year based on popular demand and the topics teachers are most passionate about. Next year, there will be two new history electives, a new art elective, and three new English electives. Introduction to Economics, taught by Ralph Reinwald, will be offere...
FSS Art Students to Exhibit at Free Library of Philadelphia
February 20, 2020
FSS art students will exhibit at the Parkway Central Free Library from March 2nd to March 31st. According to Deborah Caiola, “Two years ago, a group of FSS art students were able to present their works in an art institution, and the creativity these students exhibited during the project was tre...
Students Prepare for Winter Concert
January 17, 2020
After a semester of in-class rehearsals, the Upper School Instrumental Ensemble, Percussion Ensemble, and Choir will make their first of three major performances on Friday, January 18th at 6:00 at the Upper School Winter Concert in the Blauvelt Theater. Although all three groups have performed at school...
Cats Was the Best Movie of 2019, and Here’s Why
January 16, 2020
Yes, Cats is plotless, pointless, and creepy, but that’s how it should be. With a 21% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and CGI (computer-generated imagery) deemed bad enough to warrant an immediate update, there are a host of self-proclaimed Cats haters out there. While disliking the distracting cat ears or uncomfor...
FSS Art Show Review: Highlighting the Individual
January 16, 2020
Friends Select states that its mission is to “balance between the individual and the community.” The current art show on display in the front hall, exhibiting art made by members of the class of 2020, accomplishes this ideal wonderfully: each portfolio prep student is given a full wall to present thei...
This year, students do not have access to the dining hall. This is how I, along with many others, have purchased food for years, but now, 9th graders must bring in their...
