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a+b STUDIOS
O U R M I S S I O N
We are storytellers. Our mission is to communicate and illustrate each client’s “story” in every project we design. Each and every tale our clients have to tell is as
important to us as it is to them. We tell these stories, about our client’s goals and mission,
through a variety of mediums: annual reports, newsletters, brochures, web sites, exhibit
design, signage and identities.
a+b studios offers consultation services in branding and identity, publication design, web
design, planning, wayfinding, signage, donor recognition, and exhibit design.
EXHIBIT CATALOG
Jewish Museum of Maryland
WEBsITE
Old Pine Street Presbyterian Church
WEBsITE
MERJE
WEBsITE
Chaise + Corbel
25TH AnnIvErsAry LOGO
DRC Associates/COMHAR
LOGO
Riverside Club Racquet & Fitness/Spencer Zahn
MAGAzInE
Hart Communications / Castrol Heavy Duty Lubricants, Inc.
sELL sHEETs
Hart Communications/Castrol Heavy Duty Lubricants, Inc.
AnnUAL rEPOrT
Independence Charter School
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Independence Charter SchoolAnnual Report
ABCDEFGPublished September 2009Based on activities for the 2007-2008 fiscal year
WAYS OF GIVING TO INDEPENDENCE CHARTER SCHOOLIndependence Charter receives less funding per student than other Philadelphia public schools. A gift to the School will support our ability to offer curriculum enrichment, after school and summer school programs, increase available technology, ensure that our teachers are well-compensated and fund priority enhancements for our new building.
Individual GivingWays to make a personal gift Credit CardDonate quickly and securely by making an online contribution on the Independence Charter School page at JustGive.org.
CheckSend a check, made payable to “Independence Charter School” to: Independence Charter School 1600 Lombard Street Philadelphia, PA 19146 Attention: Development Office
Matching Gift ProgramsMany companies offer to match gifts given to nonprofit organizations by their employees or spouses. Please check whether your company has a Matching Gift program. If they do, ask your employer for a matching gift form. Complete it and send it to Independence Charter with your gift.
Planned GiftsGifts that are part of an overall financial plan and benefit you as well as Independence Charter are planned gifts. Since planned giving must be tailored to individual circumstances and goals, the Development Office is ready to work with you and your advisors to develop a strategy that benefits you, your family and the School. Please contact Leonora Cravotta in the Development Office at 215-238-8000, ext. 2430 for more information.
Dr. Kathleen Hall,Associate Professor in the Graduate School of Education and, Director of the South Asia Center
and
Haimanti Banerjee,Assistant Director and Outreach Coordinator The South Asia Center University of Pennsylvania Resource Centers
“The South Asia Center has successfully partnered with Independence Charter School in promoting its mission of providing South Asia related expertise to students at the K-8 level. In particular, the Independence Charter School addresses Afghanistan and India in its curriculum for fifth and second graders and is to be applauded for being one of the very few schools in the region who incorporate the study of these regions at such depth at the elementary grade level.
The quality of instruction offered to students at Independence Charter is very impressive. The Units created by the school’s teachers address the most pertinent essential questions related to these world regions. It is indeed encouraging to note the efforts of the school and its staff in internationalising the curriculum for elementary grades.
We look forward to continuing to work with Independence Charter School in the future.”12
4
Independence Charter
School’s journey began
with a group of visionary
parents, committed
community members and
a dedicated Principal/CEO
who set out to establish a
different kind of school,
one that “opens worlds of
opportunity” for Philadelphia
students. This monumental
undertaking came to fruition
with Independence Charter
opening in September 2001.
Armed with research on the cognitive benefits of second language acquisition, and a strong sense that students can learn more about the world and languages starting in Kindergarten, the school’s founders set up the framework for a school focused on preparing students to become citizens locally and globally. This framework included a serious commitment to the development of skills necessary for success in school and beyond but also underscored the importance of the inclusion of the arts, global studies and second language acquisition. The ultimate goal was to develop a bilingual, interculturally-competent and high-performing student body.
Independence Charter School has come a long way since its early days. The school opened in 2001 with an enrollment of 287 students in Kindergarten through Grade 3. Independence Charter currently enrolls 732 students in grades K-8 with a waiting list of 600. The school’s student body is drawn from 44 of the City’s 50 zip codes and reflects the diversity of Philadelphia; 59% African-American, 14% Latino, 3% Asian, 3% mixed race and 21% Caucasian. In addition, 2% of the students are new immigrants and 53% are living at or below the poverty line.
Independence Charter is led by a 9-person Board of Trustees, with most positions filled by parents, a CEO who has 30 years of educational experience in the United States and abroad and a Principal with 16 years of educational experience in New York City and Philadelphia Public Schools. Students benefit from 46 full-time teachers, 27 teaching assistants and its active Parent-Teacher Association (PTA).
Maurice WhiteClass of 2009
“Other schools (I am familiar with) didn’t care about my future. Teachers didn’t care if you fell into the trap of ghettoism. It is different here. Teachers want to help you. They want to make sure students learn. Everyone here is my brother and sister. Independence Charter encourages you to be a better person. I can’t wait to get back to school every week.”
INDEPENDENCE CHARTER SCHOOL: HISTORY AND MISSION
AnnUAL rEPOrT
Hart Communications/Maryland Midland Railway
nEWsLETTEr
Queens Botanical Garden
BOOk DEsIGn
Peter Stern
InTErPrETIvE PAnELs
Germantown Academy
On December 6, 1759, a group of citizens, concerned about the education of their children, met at the home of Daniel Mackinett, which later became the Green Tree Inn, to found The Germantown Union School.
Land was purchased on Bensell’s Lane, later renamed School House Lane, and construction began. On August 11, 1761, the school opened with two “Masters”: James Dove as the English; Hilarius Becker as the German.
The School’s prospectus stated “that the said schoolhouse shall be free to all persons of what denomination soever and wheresoever residing, to send their children thereof, without any regard to name or sect of people.”
American historical events and figures have often intersected with GA. British troops used the school building as a hospital during the Battle of Germantown and the playing fields for the first cricket match played in America.
GA’s second English Master, Peletiah Webster, who sought a charter from the state, wrote the treaties that served as a guide for the Constitutional Convention of 1787. The charter was granted in 1784 to the “Public School of Germantown,” which remains the Academy’s official title to the present day and appears in the School’s seal.
Then, in 1793, The Yellow Fever epidemic forced President George Washington and his cabinet to leave Philadelphia for the higher altitude of Germantown. While in residence, his cabinet initially met in Frederick Herman’s home. Herman’s house was later purchased by GA and named Kershaw Hall.
GA had many notable moments as it grew along with our burgeoning nation. The school soon began to distinguish itself by its preparation of students for higher learning and became recognized as The Academy – The Germantown Academy.
The move to Fort Washington is recounted in The Miracle of Fort Washington, penned by Judge Jerome A. O’Neill, Class of 1928. O’Neill, President of the Board during the time of the move, recalled seeing in the early 1950’s “many sons of alumni showing up on campus in the uniform colors of opposing schools.” The reasons cited: leadership at the headmaster level had been unstable since the retirement of Dr. Osbourn; the migration to the suburbs had begun; and the proximity of two other independent schools produced tough competition for remaining families.
Word came that land in Fort Washington had been offered to Germantown Friends School, but they had turned it down. Ultimately, The McLean Family offered the gift to GA if the school would re-invent itself as a co-educational institution.
In the fall of 1958, several alumni leaders begged the Board to keep their school in Germantown. Trustee Frank Deacon’s words, Class of 1914, however, carried the day.
The formal vote occurred on December 6, 1958, on the School’s 199th Anniversary, at the Green Tree Inn where the founders of the school had met on December 6, 1759.
Ground was broken for the Lower School in October of 1960. The administration building was then built as an exact replica of the original school building as a way to connect the two campuses. In 1965, construction began on the Upper School, and, with the transfer of the class stones from the ivied walls of the old school to the walls of the new building, the transfer was completed.
When the school building was first
constructed in 1760, the original
design included a belfry topped by a
weather vane and finial in the shape of
a crown, to represent Pennsylvania’s status as part of the British Empire.
The scars from musket balls still evident on the weather vane and copper
ball attest to its presence during the War for Independence.
The bell was cast in England by the same foundry that cast the Liberty
Bell and was brought over on the tea ship “Polly” in 1773. At this time
the colonists were outraged by the Stamp Act and the tax on tea, and
the ship’s master, Captain Ayres, was told that his safety could not be
guaranteed if he attempted to deliver his cargo. He promptly sailed
back to England. The bell was finally delivered to the school ten years
later and hung in the Belfry.
The Belfry and its Bell
“The handwriting is on the wall, and if we do not risk this opportunity to move we might soon be out of existence. GA’s purpose is education, not preserving historical monuments.”
— Frank Deacon, Class of 1914
GERMANTOWN ACADEMY
BELOW: Students, faculty and members of the community gather in front of the Green Tree
Inn (Tavern) in honor of Germantown Academy’s 150th Anniversary.
During the Depression of the 1930’s, The United States Department of
the Interior commissioned architectural drawings of historic buildings, to include the original
structures of GA. The School’s belfry was the focus of this rendering.
This historical panel honoring Germantown Academy`s 250th anniversary was presented in memory of Edward and Olga Piszek.
The Miracle of Fort Washington
There was little money. The sale of the old school would be delayed for years. Soon
large construction debts amassed. The “Miracle of Fort Washington” truly began when
trustees stepped forward with personal notes guaranteeing loans and several generous
gifts were received from various friends.
By 1978, Judge O’Neill was able to reflect: “We…left debts behind us, but the situation
was not so critical. Our campus was one of insurmountable beauty and our enrollment
made us the largest private day school east of the Mississippi. This growth indicated
that our reputation for high academic standards had spread wide and far.”
“There are few schools older than ours in America. Its founders, with that confidence in institutions that belongs to a slow-changing age, had supreme faith that it would grow old, that it would live long into the future.”
— 150th Celebration Address delivered by
Cornelius Weygandt, Class of 1887.
.
In 2007, Head of School James W. Connor 1760 announced the establishment of the “House System” in the Upper School at Germantown Academy. The system is comprised of seven houses each with approximately 70 students from 9th grade through 12th and led by a House Head, eight faculty advisors and two student prefects.
“After listening to many alumni over the years tell us that a favorite aspect of being a GA student is the close relationships they develop with their teachers, I felt it was time to see how we could systemically build upon that dynamic. Providing, via each House Head, a four year continuity of care for every student entering 9th Grade, while also allotting additional time during the academic week for interaction with faculty House Advisors, I feel confident will layer in additional opportunities for natural teacher-student mentoring to occur.”
The Houses are named for seven prominent figures in Germantown Academy’s history.
OUR TRADITION
A. Bronson Alcott, who became a leading American Transcendentalist, crossed paths with Germantown Academy from 1831–1834. It was during this time that Alcott’s daughter Louisa May Alcott was born in 1832, who gained lasting fame for her novel Little Women.
As early as 1767 instruction for girls was proposed, and again in 1797, but it wasn’t until 1831, that the idea was reintroduced. Trustee Reuben Haines recruited William Russell and A. Bronson Alcott, to begin two experimental divisions under the aegis of GA. Russell was to run an off-site girls’ department to complement the boys’ division, and Alcott was to form a co-educational primary school with students ranging in age from three to nine years old. Unfortunately, these ventures came to an abrupt end in 1834 after the untimely death of Haines, but the seeds for co-education had been planted.
GALLOWAYOSBOURN
TRUESDELL
ALCOTT
KERSHAW
William W. Kershaw was appointed Headmaster in 1877 and retired in 1915, granting him the distinct honor of being the longest tenured headmaster in GA’s history. His leadership helped to establish GA as a preeminent boy’s prep school in Philadelphia and to develop the Inter-Academic League. His wife Eleanor refined the primary grades, providing the basis for the present Lower
School. “Pap,” as Kershaw was known, was an extraordinary teacher with a charismatic personality. Moreover, he developed life-long friendships with “his boys” which solidified into the GA Alumni Society. Pap often successfully turned to the Society for financial support. The building of Alumni Hall, a gymnasium which eventually became The Chapel, was the first major project realized by the group. Every year, he is remembered during the awarding of The Class of 1891 Kershaw Medals in the Lower and Middle School.
Owen J. Roberts, a member of the Class of 1891, received the moniker “The Fighting Welshman” after his investigation of the infamous Teapot Dome scandal. In 1930, President Herbert Hoover nominated Roberts to the United States Supreme Court, where he took his seat on the bench as the youngest justice among the “Nine Old Men.” During his 15-year term, many of the liberal reforms of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal, were argued before the Supreme Court. Roberts’ vote was often the decider, the “swing vote.”
After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Roosevelt turned to Roberts to investigate the cause for the disaster. His work contributed to a unified army and navy effort. Early on, Roberts also revealed an interest in race relations. He worked closely with Horace Mann Bond, the president of Lincoln University, and headed the Philadelphia-area United Negro College Fund in 1948. At Germantown Academy, his memory is honored by the Owen J. Roberts Society discussion group and the annual awarding of the Owen J. Roberts Memorial Prize.
Joseph Galloway was the treasurer of the founding board and its only named officer. Galloway, a wealthy political operative in colonial times, served as Benjamin Franklin’s lawyer. It can be
implied from various sources that Galloway smoothed the way for the founding of the school with the political/financial community in Philadelphia and the colony. Elected in 1756 to the Pennsylvania Assembly, he served as speaker from 1766–1774. A loyalist, he called for an American “Grand Council” similar to the House of Commons. The plan was rejected by the Continental Congress by only one vote.
Samuel E. Osbourn served as Headmaster at Germantown Academy from 1915–1948 and was referred to as “The Doc” by his adoring students. As an administrator he was a visionary, prioritizing the improvement of school buildings and the revision of school curriculum to provide the best
education possible within the changing needs of an evolving GA community. He personally oversaw the renovation of the main schoolhouse, the gymnasium and the construction of a new elementary school building. He strongly believed in opening independent school education to a broader base of students, which led to his initiation of an established school endowment. The recognition society for GA’s planned giving program is named in his honor, as are The Osbourn Memorial Medal and The Osbourn Award for Ethics.
George Washington approached GA Headmaster James Dungan, upon his return from serving on Washington’s war time staff, regarding the education of his adopted step-son, George Washington Parke Custis. GA proudly lists Custis among the early graduates of the school.
When the Yellow Fever epidemic of 1793 was raging in the capitol, Philadelphia, it was necessary for Washington and his cabinet to move to Germantown. During his residence there, he initially rented rooms
in Frederick Herman’s home, which was originally built by GA’s first English Headmaster, James Dove. Here also he held a cabinet meeting. He later moved to another residence for the balance of his stay. In 1915, GA purchased the home, which was then known as the Alburger property, and renamed the building Kershaw Hall in honor of the recently retired GA headmaster. Kershaw Hall eventually became the location for the Primary Department. Years later, it was transformed into an administration building and renamed Washington-Kershaw Hall to link GA’s most celebrated headmaster with the American hero.
WASHINGTON
Wallace S. Truesdell was a teacher of the classics at the Academy, 1891–1925, and a member of Phi Beta Kappa. In addition to his role at GA, he taught Latin at the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy. He served as the advisor for the Class of 1924 during their formation of the Academy Club and was inducted as an honorary member. When the Board of Trustees learned of his death, the following minute was adopted:
“The Faculty of the School has lost a member whose place will be most difficult to fill.”
ROBERTS
During the middle part of the 19th century, boys who were students at Germantown Academy formed a cricket team to compete against other local cricket clubs. In those days, team hats were used to distinguish each team. So, around 1870, the GA Cricket Club team picked red, white, and blue as their colors.
However, they soon found that the white on their caps turned to yellow after extensive play in the hot weather. This may not have mattered, except that one of their rivals, the Philadelphia Cricket Club, wore the colors of red, blue, and yellow. Late in the season the two teams were practically indistinguishable.
Around 1875, our boys at the Academy decided to clear up that confusion. At that time, the legacy of President Abraham Lincoln, who had been assassinated in 1865, had ascended to legendary status. Seeking both to distinguish itself from a rival team and to connect GA in still another way to our country’s history, the Cricket team changed its colors to red, blue, and black in tribute to our fallen leader.
The current GA colors were founded. Then, in 1887, the school began the tradition of Field Day, a tradition that we still carry on in the Lower School. As part of the celebration, the Academy developed its first red, blue, and black flag.
The GA Flag
This panel is made possible through the generosity of the Copernicus Society of America in memory of Edward and Olga Piszek.
InTErIOr sIGnAGE
Drexel University
4A21 C
Joe SmithInterior Design Program Director
333 B
THE URBN CENTER 13A21
Product Library
TELECOM
MEN
Pearlstein Gallery
Dean’s Office Suite
College Administration Offices
3401 Filbert Screening Room
3401 Filbert Playing Area
Historic Costume Collection
Arts Administration Faculty Offices
Classrooms 104–130
Design + Merchandising Faculty Offices
FLOOR 1A
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Dean’sOffice Suite
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Product Library
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Joe SmithInterior DesignProgram Director
MEN
Pearlstein Gallery
Dean’s Office Suite
College Administration Offices
3401 Filbert Screening Room
3401 Filbert Playing Area
Historic Costume Collection
Arts Administration Faculty Offices
Classrooms 104–130
Design + Merchandising Faculty OfficesProduct L
ibrary
3A21
Oct. 15, 2010
DESIGNOPTION #2sign menu
Patterns deriving from of the base grid. Turning the grid pattern to squaresat a 45˚ shift so they overlap and merge.PA
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Patterns deriving from of the base grid. Connecting and intersectinglines at points of grid’s structure.
Patterns deriving from the base grid. Turning the grid pattern to squaresat a 45˚ shift so they are even and play between positive and negative spaces.
Oct. 15, 2010
DESIGNOPTION #2program identiy options
patterns can be constructed in layers grey layerbeing die-cut into panel and blue layer applied to panel face