"We prepare students to engage in the world that is and to help bring about a world that ought to be."
News and Multimedia Archive
2026
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February
Focus on Friends: Mariella Bonilla (En Español)
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Maestra de español en el Upper School, Mariella Bonilla trae alegría y un profundo sentido de trabajo bien hecho a sus alumnos y alumnas mientras estudian español juntos. Su aula les inspira - y ella es la primera en decir que ellos y ellas le inspiran a la vez. Hay un sentido palpitante de cuido en la manera en la cual Mariella enseña: sus estudiantes se sienten seguros en su habilidad de arriesgar y cometer errores mientras lidian con nuevo vocabulario, formas verbales y sintaxis, animados para producir lenguaje coherente y cada vez más sofisticado. Este apoyo y cuido constante es algo que sus estudiantes sienten desde el primer momento que entran en su aula.Para Mariella, su papel como maestra de español es una profunda responsabilidad. Ella representa su cultura, su latinidad, y su lengua no simplemente como asignaturas para estudiar, sino como vehículos para la comprensión - ventanas hacia identidad y conexión. En el aula de Mariella, la práctica intencional de ver y ser visto es una lección meta que refleja, y a la vez profundiza, el contenido de la lengua y la cultura.Una inmigrante del Perú que ha construido una vida en EE UU y ganado su doctorado a través de la Beca Turner del Centro de Educación Inclusiva en Stony Brook University, Mariella sabe que la representación importa. Los lectores bilingües y biculturales - los que habitan una identidad híbrida y un espacio de entremedio - entenderán como liderar en espacios donde uno habla un segundo idioma requiere coraje e integridad. Mariella lleva esta tranquila fuerza interior a todo lo que hace, mostrando a sus estudiantes que la identidad no es algo de lo que huir, sino algo que se reclama con orgullo y dignidad.Hace poco una alumna le exclamó, “Usted es una inspiración!” En Mariella ven lo que es posible: orgullo con humildad, perseverancia con propósito, y una pasión para aprender y crecer arraigado en curiosidad y rigor intelectual abierto.Antes de dedicarse a la enseñanza, Mariella trabajó quince años como asistente legal acompañando a comunidades inmigrantes. Esa experiencia da vida a su aula, donde centra la literatura y las voces de su pueblo latino, especialmente la representación de mujeres latinas que navegan la migración, la pertenencia y la resiliencia. Recientemente, participando en un panel sobre historias de inmigración, reflexionó sobre su “identidad híbrida” y el regalo de moverse fluidamente entre idiomas y culturas. Invita a los estudiantes a ver que vivir entre mundos no es una debilidad, sino una forma poderosa de comprenderlos.Los estudiantes en el aula de Mariella se estiran a través del estudio de obras literarias de complejidad, como El Quijote de Cervantes y “Dos palabras” de Allende, y cuando terminan un estudio de una obra desafiante un aplauso colectivo de alegre reconocimiento de esfuerzo, crecimiento, y logro compartido muchas veces estalla. Pero la dedicación de Mariella hacia la conexión se extiende mucho más allá del aula, llegando tras el Atlántico a nuestro intercambio con Colegio Sant Ignasi en Barcelona, donde ella ha tomado un papel de liderazgo creciente. Como guía, mentora y compañera en el aprendizaje, Mariella hace modelo de curiosidad intercultural y respeto mutuo, ayudando a sus estudiantes a experimentar el idioma como relación vivida en las clases de Sant Ignasi y con sus familias de acogida. En los pequeños descansos en grupo en el café querido Santa Gloria, al lado del colegio, Mariella les anima a escuchar, reflexionar y apreciar las perspectivas diversas - una encarnación de los principios del “Portrait of a Learner” de Friends.A través de su enseñanza y su presencia, Mariella demuestra una apasionante camino de aprendizaje a lo largo de toda la vida. Su aula nos recuerda que la educación es un acto de reconocimiento: viéndose el uno al otro plenamente, valorando cada voz, y eligiendo la conexión. Mariella nos enseña a todos que la enseñanza no es meramente la adquisición de conocimientos, sino la cultivación de la empatía, apertura, integridad y compromiso con la comunidad. En su clase, sus estudiantes hacen más que dedicarse a la maestría de un idioma - son testigos de cómo la curiosidad, el coraje y el cuido pueden guíar no solo el aprendizaje sino también la vida. -
Peace Week 2026: Poetry, Jazz, and the Practice of Listening
“It was in this Meetinghouse where I cultivated my spirit, where I found peace, where I found communion,” Willie Perdomo ’85 proclaimed, his voice carrying through the wooden benches and the quiet they hold. “It was in this Meetinghouse that I declared myself a poet.”Read More
Perdomo—an acclaimed poet, educator, author, and former New York State Poet Laureate—returned to Friends Seminary on Thursday, as the keynote speaker for Peace Week 2026, addressing students, faculty, families, alumni, and friends gathered in the Fifteenth Street Meetinghouse. The event, held in alignment with this year’s Peace Week theme, Growing in Peace, Grounded in Spirit, offered an evening of poetry, music, and reflection centered on community, memory, and the formative power of place.
The program opened with a welcome from Interim Head of School Rich Nourie and an introduction from Kara Kutner, Director of the Center for Peace, Equity, and Justice, followed by original poetry from Grade 8 Peace Week poets Mila '30 and Katinka '30. Their readings grounded the evening in student voice and set a reflective tone.
Music and poetry came together in Variations on “That’s My Heart Right There,” a collaborative performance featuring Perdomo’s words set to jazz. Led by Upper and Middle School Performing Arts Teacher Nikara Warren and performed by student musicians, the piece underscored the idea of peace as something created collectively through listening and creative exchange.
In his keynote address, Perdomo reflected on his years at Friends Seminary and the role the Meetinghouse played in shaping him as an artist and as a person. Growing up in New York City in the 1980s, he spoke of poetry as a means of witnessing and survival, and of silence as a practice that taught him how to listen. The evening concluded with closing remarks from Kirsti Peters, Director of Diversity, Equity, and Belonging, reinforcing Peace Week’s focus on peace as a lived and shared practice.
Click here for more photos from his keynote address. -
Discernment by Design
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On February 17 faculty and staff gathered for Professional Development Day with a clear purpose: strengthening curriculum work by grounding it in Quaker pedagogy, Diversity, Equity & Belonging (DEB), and the Portrait of a Learner. The morning began by centering shared values and naming the strong practices already present across divisions. Interim Head of School Rich Nourie and Director of Diversity, Equity & Belonging Kirsti Peters presented Quaker Pedagogy and DEB Goals and Practices, with a core goal of growing the community’s collective capability to seek deeper understanding through the discernment tradition. The session framed curriculum not simply as content coverage, but as an expression of what a learning community believes—about students, about belonging, and about the responsibilities of teaching.From that foundation, K–12 Dean of Studies Hassan Wilson presented the Portrait of a Learner, underscoring that its elements were informed through last year’s Professional Development Day and grounded in faith and practice. Positioned as both a statement of purpose and a practical guide, the Portrait served as a shared reference point for curriculum decision-making—clarifying what students should experience, demonstrate, and carry forward as learners and community members, and how those aims connected to Quakerism and DEB commitments in everyday classroom life.Later in the morning, educator and consultant Allison Zmuda joined the community to introduce curriculum documentation and storyboarding as tools for designing coherent learning journeys. The session invited faculty to think of curriculum not only as a sequence of lessons, but as an intentional narrative—one that made learning visible, aligned outcomes with experience, and helped students connect knowledge, skills, and meaning over time. This work was supported by the Core Curriculum Team—Chris Cincotta (Kindergarten), Olivia Elliott (Grade 3), Elena Hartoonian (Upper School Mathematics), Leana Phipps (Middle School English), and Stefan Stawnychy (Upper School History and History Department Chair)—who helped anchor the approach in the lived realities of teaching across divisions and disciplines.The afternoon shifted into departmental breakouts, creating dedicated collaborative time to begin applying the day’s shared language and structures to course work and departmental goals. With a common framework established—rooted in Quaker practice, strengthened through DEB commitments, and articulated through the Portrait of a Learner—departments used the time to align, draft, and begin shaping curriculum documentation that reflected both academic rigor and a mission-driven vision for student growth. -
Focus on Friends | Mariella Bonilla: Language as Identity, Literature as a Bridge
Read MoreUpper School Spanish teacher Mariella Bonilla brings joy and a deep sense of accomplishment to her students as they study Spanish language and literature together. Her classroom inspires them—and she is the first to say that they inspire her in return. There is a palpable sense of care in the way Mariella teaches: students feel safe to take risks and make mistakes as they wrestle with new vocabulary, verb forms and syntax, eager to produce coherent and increasingly sophisticated Spanish. This steadiness of purpose and care is something that students feel from the moment they enter her classroom.
For Mariella, her role as maestra de español is a profound responsibility. She represents her culture, her latinidad, and her language not simply as subjects to be studied, but as vehicles for understanding—windows into identity and connection. In Mariella’s classroom, the intentional practice of seeing and being seen is itself a lesson—one that reflects and animates the study of language and culture.
As an immigrant from Peru who built her life in the U.S. and earned her Ph.D. as a Turner Fellow through the Center for Inclusive Education at Stony Brook University, she knows that presence matters. Bi-lingual, bi-cultural readers - those who inhabit a hybrid, inbetween-ness - will understand how leading in spaces where one is speaking a second language requires great courage and integrity. Mariella brings this quiet inner strength to everything she does, showing her students that identity is not something to shrink from, but something to claim with pride and dignity.
Not long ago, a student told her, “You are such an inspiration!” In Mariella, students see what is possible: pride carried with humility, perseverance shaped by purpose, and a passion for learning rooted in curiosity and intellectual openness.
Before entering academia, Mariella spent fifteen years as a paralegal working alongside immigrant communities. That lived experience shapes her classroom, where she centers the literature and voices of “mi gente”— especially the representation of Latinas navigating migration, belonging, and resilience. Recently, speaking on a panel about immigration stories, she reflected on her “hybrid identity” and the gift of moving fluidly between languages. She invites students to see that living between worlds is not a weakness, but a powerful way of understanding them
Students in Mariella’s classroom stretch themselves through the study of complex Spanish-language texts—like Cervantes’ Don Quijote de la Mancha and Allende’s “Dos palabras”—and when they complete a demanding work of literature, applause often fills the room in a collective, joyful recognition of effort, growth, and shared accomplishment. But Mariella’s commitment to connection extends far beyond the classroom, reaching across the Atlantic to the Barcelona exchange with Colegio Sant Ignasi, where she has taken increasing leadership. As a guide, mentor, and fellow learner, she models intercultural curiosity and mutual respect, helping students experience language as a lived relationship. In daily group coffee breaks in Barcelona at the favorite Café Santa Gloria, Mariella encourages students to listen, reflect, and appreciate diverse perspectives—an embodiment of the principles of Friends’ “Portrait of a Learner.”
Through her teaching and her presencia, Mariella embodies passionate lifelong learning. Her classroom reminds us that education is an act of recognition: seeing one another fully, valuing each voice, and choosing connection. She demonstrates that learning is not merely the acquisition of knowledge, but the cultivation of empathy, openness, integrity, and a commitment to community. In her classroom, students do more than master a language—they witness how curiosity, courage, and care shape both learning and life.
Focus on Friends is an initiative of the Friends Seminary administration designed to celebrate the people and programs that make our community thrive. Each month, a member of the Senior Administration will select an individual, group, department, or office—uplifting those who are doing exciting work, leading with creativity, or simply contributing in meaningful ways to the spirit of Friends. This month’s story was chosen and written by Kara Kutner, Director of the Center for Peace, Equity and Justice. -
January
Focus on Friends: Isabel Dominguez—Building with Heart, Craft, and Community
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In the bustling studios of Friends Seminary’s Visual Arts Department, the steady hum of creativity has a heartbeat—and many times, that heartbeat can be traced back to Isabel Dominguez. As a Lower School art teacher and K-12 Visual Arts Department Chair, Isabel is a deeply respected educator whose guiding influence spans from our youngest learners in Kindergarten to our more advanced senior art students. Isabel is known for her unwavering commitment to student-centered teaching, creativity, and instinctive leadership.Isabel joined Friends in 2013, stepping into a Lower School art program with enormous potential and positive energy. As she became acclimated to the school, one of the areas that Isabel examined closely was the woodworking curriculum—she approached this with the care of both an artist and an architect—assessing and imagining what could be. She spent time studying how young students interacted with tools and materials, and she began to reshape the goals of the curriculum with respect and intention for student capacity and agency.Through Isabel’s work and care, the woodworking program evolved and is known as one of the gems of the Lower School experience. Walk into the woodworking studio (the Shop or Room 3, as it is also known), and you’ll witness a space alive with purposeful motion and activity—saws whispering through wood, hammers tapping with rhythmic confidence, and students collaborating with a natural ease. Students, some only a bit taller than the worktables they stand beside, set to work with Japanese hand saws, hammers, nails, and squares, fully aware they are trusted. And they rise to meet that trust every day.That trust is Isabel’s signature. She believes deeply in children’s ability to handle real tools and real materials, and in their need for physical engagement and authentic artistic challenges. Her curriculum and instruction prompts them to think, problem-solve, refine, and persist. It asks them to create projects that will last—not temporary pieces, but works that are built with care, pride, intention, and craftsmanship. In this way, Isabel invites students not only to create art, but to also build confidence in their own abilities.Isabel’s approach mirrors the values she brings to the larger K-12 department as their department chairperson. She leads a team of talented and passionate art educators—each with their distinct artistic specialties and identities. Within this collection of voices, through creative, open, and honest leadership, Isabel has fostered harmony, mutual respect, and a shared focus on students. Colleagues consistently describe her as grounded, warm, and fair. She listens deeply. She collaborates authentically. She recognizes each teacher’s strengths and encourages them to pursue their own artistic, professional, and personal growth. Isabel is the kind of leader who notices when a colleague needs space to develop a new idea, when a teacher could benefit from pursuing outside professional development, or when the department as a whole needs time to regroup and reflect. She is equally committed to the day-to-day responsibilities of running a K-12 department and the long-term need to nurture a vibrant arts culture.Perhaps what makes Isabel so widely admired at Friends is that she teaches and leads with her whole heart. Whether she is guiding a five-year-old as they cut their first piece of wood or supporting a colleague who is preparing new curricula, she brings a reassuring presence, empathy, and a belief in the creative potential of every individual. She knows that the arts are simply not about producing objects—they are about cultivating ways of seeing, understanding, and expressing what it means to be a human being.More than a teacher and a department chair, Isabel is a builder—of programs, of confidence, and of community. And Friends is immeasurably stronger for all that she has built.
Focus on Friends is an initiative of the Friends Seminary administration designed to celebrate the people and programs that make our community thrive. Each month, a member of the Senior Administration will select an individual, group, department, or office—uplifting those who are doing exciting work, leading with creativity, or simply contributing in meaningful ways to the spirit of Friends. This month’s story was chosen and written by Devan Ganeshanathan, Associate Head of School. -
A Not-Quite-Narwhal Kind of Gallery
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KME and 1MK have been working on a shared art project that began, fittingly, with a story about belonging.
A few weeks ago, 1MK parent Brianne Garcia (P'37)—a contemporary, self-taught artist based in New York City whose vibrant abstract work explores color as a language—joined the Lower School for Meeting for Worship during LGBTQ History Month. Their message invited students to celebrate both similarities and differences, and to notice how much of who we are can be seen on the outside…and how much lives quietly within.
That theme carried into the classroom through a read-aloud of Not Quite Narwhal by Jessie Sima. In the book, Kelp is raised by narwhals but feels different: his tusk is shorter, and he’s not the strongest swimmer. When a current carries him to the surface, he meets unicorns and discovers he doesn’t have to choose just one identity—he can be both a land and sea creature. It’s a gentle, joyful story about self-discovery, identity, and making room for the whole of who you are.
Inspired by Kelp’s journey, KME and 1MK artists created pieces that explore identity—both visible and invisible—through color, shape, and personal detail. The shared display demonstrates what students have in common and what is special about each of them: everyone begins with a silhouette, yet each artwork is entirely unique.
On Monday, December 15, the work culminated in an official “gallery opening” outside the classrooms, opened by Brianne, who returned to share the story with both groups and help launch the exhibition. And because a gallery opening should feel like a gallery opening, the day included a dark-curtain slow reveal, a read-aloud of the sequel (Perfectly Pegasus), and a menu featuring sophisticated hors d’oeuvres (school snacks) plus bubbles (sparkling grape juice).
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2026
Friends Seminary actively promotes diversity, equity, inclusion, and anti-racism in all its programs and operations, including admissions, financial aid, hiring, and all facets of the educational experience. To form a community which strives to reflect the world’s diversity, we do not discriminate on the basis of race or color, religion, nationality, ethnicity, economic background, physical ability, sex, gender identity or expression, or sexual orientation. Friends Seminary is an equal opportunity employer.
Friends Seminary — the oldest continuously operated, coeducational school in NYC — serves college-bound day students in Kindergarten-Grade 12.
