A well-used wooden structure on the playground of Swarthmore Presbyterian Nursery Day School (SPNDS) was failing. Protruding nails and rotting boards that had to be removed did not stop children from clambering all over its sprawling surfaces, but something had to be done.
With winter’s first snow, plows clear the parking lot at Swarthmore Presbyterian Church by piling the snow in one spot. That spot becomes a magical landscape on the playground of Swarthmore Presbyterian Nursery Day School, lasting at least until spring.
COVID-19 or not, school must go on. The following Monday, teacher Sheri Carney wrote to the parents of her students in the SPNDS kindergarten enrichment program, “Are you familiar with Zoom?” In the days to come, we all would become familiar with Zoom. But for a hands-on school, a shift in perspective has been necessary.
For the past 48 years, Joyce Perry has taught music to every class at Swarthmore Presbyterian Nursery Day School (SPNDS,) from the “young threes” to the kindergarteners. When not perched at her seat at the piano, she could be found attending to her other responsibilities, including overseeing the “Earlybirds” before the start of the school day and the “Stay and Players” after. In some families, Perry has taught three generations.
