Dear Falcon readers, Thank you for another wonderful year. From breaking countless COVID-related administrative updates to the FSS community, to profiling many of our beloved teachers like Cynthia...

As any alum of Brian Kors’ 11th grade US History and Politics course has heard many times, local and state primary elections are an oft-neglected — but supremely important — piece of the American...

Friends Select students ages 16 and older can receive the first dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine at Centennial Pharmacy between Monday, April 19th and Friday, April 30th, according to an email sent...

There are few figures in the past couple of decades that have garnered as much attention as Taylor Swift. From the Nashville-twang of her self-titled debut to the unabashed pop of 1989 to the indie-folk...

Senior class officers announced yesterday that this year’s prom will be based on the Despicable Me villain, Vector. “With all the pandemic-induced restrictions on school events this year, we really...

According to the FBI, a warrant was issued this morning for the arrest of Sassy, FSS biology teacher Perry Zanki’s tabby cat. The bureau’s director reported that Sassy seems to have moved on from...

15 graduating seniors from the class of 2021 will be picked at random to attend this year’s in-person graduation ceremony in Fairmount Park, according to an email from Upper School Director Chris Singler...

Several faculty members in the Upper School established an optional affinity group for girls and gender non-conforming students that met for the first time on Wednesday, March 10th. The group, known...

Upper School students returned to hybrid school on Wednesday, February 3rd, and the Friends Select landscape has changed a bit since students last attended classes in person in the fall. For starters,...

Seniors at Friends Select School will have the option to attend in-person school on all four synchronous learning days beginning on March 8th and lasting until Spring Break, said Upper School Director...

We are approximately one year into the pandemic. In Philadelphia, vaccines are being administered, testing has become more available, and Covid-19 community spread percentages have decreased.  Philadelphia...

For us students who are nearing the end of our careers at FSS, the time ahead will likely be filled with reflection as we transition from childhood to adulthood. Gen Z is coming of age, and in my photo...

Crossword Puzzle Maker

November 6th, 2012. Fourth-grade me sits cross-legged on the couch, blue and red crayons in hand. Each time electoral results from a new state flash across the television screen, I carefully color it...

As the year of coronavirus comes to a close and people begin to reflect on the past twelve months, many turn their attention to one of the few constants of this tumultuous time: music. Below, three members...

Crossword Puzzle Maker

"You have a million different faces / But they’ll never understand / Unless you let them in / You’ve been a million different places / So I guess I’ll have a chance to / Get lost in wonderland" These...

(Note: All interviews were conducted prior to November 20th, when the city of Philadelphia announced that maskless outdoor gatherings are no longer allowed, among other things.) Do you find yourself...

Class Officers: Joana Santos, Liv Smollen, and Nora Marwaha Joana Santos '24 Joana Santos, a lifer at Friends Select, is one of three ninth grade students elected to serve as a Class Officer this...

Following November 3rd’s general election, votes are slowly being counted in key battleground states across the country, with former Vice President Joseph R. Biden in the lead.  According to...

Friends Select School announced revisions to its winter break schedule in an email sent to parents on Friday afternoon. In the letter, Head of School Michael Gary wrote that all students will attend classes...

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...

The United States is experiencing a poll worker shortage. Election officials across the country are scrambling to find enough people to work the polls on Election Day on November 3rd so that polling...

On Tuesday, August 25th, Upper School director Chris Singler shared adjustments to the upper school schedule for both the all-virtual model beginning on September 8th and the hybrid model planned to begin...

In a letter to families on Monday, August 24th, Friends Select outlined new  reopening plans for all divisions. According to the school’s new schedule, upper school students will physically return...

The Friends Select Upper School will follow a hybrid model for the start of the 2020-21 school year, according to an email sent to families from Head of School Michael Gary on Monday, July 20th. The...

Dear Readers, As we approach the end of a turbulent school year, The Falcon would like to pause and appreciate a positive take away from our last nine months together: the revival of an active school...

If you’re anything like me, you are filled with grief and rage over the racist events in our country this past week (and the chain of events beginning long before that). In processing my emotions,...

Pennsylvania’s stay-at-home order will be extended to June 4th, Governor Wolf announced last night. The order was originally set to expire today, May 8th. For all counties still in the red phase...

It’s been seven weeks now since Friends Select closed its doors and transitioned to online learning because of the coronavirus pandemic, and students won’t be going back to 17th and Race any time...

According to The Philadelphia Inquirer, CBS Local News, and ABC News, Pennsylvania public schools will remain closed for the rest of the 2019-20 school year, Governor Tom Wolf announced on Wednesday morning....

In an email sent to the student body on Wednesday afternoon, Upper School Director Chris Singler announced major changes to the Upper School’s iSelectLearning schedule starting on Monday, April 13th.  According...

The school administration announced that additional online class periods have been added for next week due to the Good Friday holiday on April 10th. Classes previously scheduled to meet at 10:00 AM...

Friends Select School will extend its digital learning platform through April 30th, 2020, Michael Gary announced Tuesday. This announcement comes days after Governor Tom Wolf declared that all public...

High School Musical. A classic hated by some and treasured by others. I am proudly one of the latter, and even I’ll admit that when I first heard that Disney was doing a reboot, I was very, very...

With a set English curriculum for all students in ninth through eleventh grade, there are bound to be a variety of opinions on which books are good and which ones aren’t. We’ll be sharing reviews of...

On November 15th, Friends Select’s incredible thespians performed Metamorphoses, a collection of ancient myths written by Ovid and adapted by Mary Zimmerman almost 2,000 years later.  Although both...

November 26th marked the first home games of the season for both Friends Select’s boys basketball teams. Junior varsity and varsity played back-to-back, and though the JV game ended in a disappointing...

A Friends Select Homecoming is in the works, and the school is abuzz with rumors and questions about the motivations behind it, the logistical details, and whether or not it’s even happening. The...

If you’re an FSS student or faculty member who will be eligible to vote in the next election, you may be wondering whether or not you should expend the effort to get to a polling place on November 5th....

City Hall, September 20th. Thousands of protesters ranging from young children to adults stand shoulder-to-shoulder. Some are students coming straight from class carrying their backpacks. Some hold...