Karine Blemur-Chapman started at BFS as a third grade assistant teacher. Three years later she moved next door to Admissions, and today, a decade later, she is the Director of Enrollment Management. Always interested in “the story behind the child,” her position is as sweeping and complicated as it sounds, and she doesn’t take it lightly. […]
1. I know you just ran the New York City Marathon. My vault contains a story we did way back in 2003 when you ran your 2nd marathon, and said the first one was 17 years previous. Had you run any others between 2003 and now? Yes, and this year was my fourth and last. […]
“I’m trapped,” he said. “The school has always gone with my interests.” Upper School Art and History teacher Mark Buenzle’s false lament was his explanation for why he has been teaching at BFS for over 20 years. “We’re a good match creatively,” he concluded. Mark started out at BFS as a kindergarten teacher, a job he […]
Middle-Upper School Dance teacher Jesse Phillips-Fein ’97 traveled as part of an impromptu relief effort to Haiti in April, 2010. She was already planning the trip to the beleaguered country with her Haitian dance teacher Peniel Guerrier, and when the earthquake struck in January BFS dance teacher Jesse Phillips-Fein ’97 and her colleagues decided not to cancel […]
Outspoken science teacher Janet Villas has a mission to make sure BFS students grow into environmentally active adults. Through her leadership in the IB Environmental Systems class and the schoolwide recycling program, she’s become our “go-to” person on all things green. Middle and Upper School Science teacher Janet Villas has taught Environmental Systems in the Upper […]
Lower School Curriculum Coordinator Diane Mackie is excited about kicking off the new year with the return of a powerful and much-lauded resource. On January 12th, 2013 a number of Lower School faculty as well as teachers from Mary McDowell Friends School will be participating in a day-long Responsive Classroom Sampler workshop here at BFS. […]
Caroline Segarra, a seasoned New York City teacher, joined BFS as the Lower School Learning Specialist but that wasn’t enough to calm this distance runner’s racing mind. In summer, 2014 she also became Program Director of Horizons at BFS. “I’m somewhat of a jack-of-all trades,” said Caroline Segarra. “By day, I’m the Kindergarten and First Grade Learning […]
The newest member of our BFS PE Department, Jane Vongvorachoti, raced the Autism Speaks 4 Miles of Hope on Sept. 7, 2013 and set a new course record of 22:20 for the four-mile course. More than 5,000 runners packed the corrals in Central Park on what can only be described as a perfect September morning. In […]
New Middle School Head Glen Pinder grew up in Willow Grove, PA, a suburb two miles north of Philadelphia. One can’t live that close to William Penn’s City of Brotherly Love without exposure to Quakerism, and Glen was no exception. “Abington Friends was close to where we grew up. My grandmother enrolled us in the […]
