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GREY NUN ACADEMY
A Tradition of Academic Excellence & Social Justice
By John Piccone

With all of the sharp elbows flying about admission to the “hottest” private schools, one would think that Philadelphia has a shortage of outstanding educational options. The fact is that Philadelphia has a centuries old tradition of excellence in education at all levels and academic excellence abounds in a wide variety of teaching philosophies, learning environments and cultural experiences. 

For an education with academic excellence, small classes, individualized instruction and a culture that encourages social justice, consider Bucks County’s Grey Nun Academy, a private coeducational school for children in grades PreK through 8.

Academic excellence is achieved through robust curriculum, advanced classes such as algebra 1 and biology, high expectations for each child and support built in to help children succeed and reach expectations. The faculty is highly qualified and committed to teaching in small class settings where each child can receive ongoing monitoring and individualized instruction using different teaching techniques to accommodate the learning style of each child. 

Grey Nun develops a community of strong learners through active involvement that supplements classroom and textbook studies. A recent theme on quilting required students to read 12 books about quilting to support reading objectives, studied Harriet Tubman’s use of quilts to communicate coded messages by the underground railroad in Social Studies, demonstrated multiplication concepts through the use of nine by nine quilting patterns and donated a quilt to Quilts for Kids to benefit sick children as part of their community service program. Principles of social justice are woven throughout the curriculum to create experiences for children to know that they are called to help others.

The formula works: The Grey Nuns include among their alumnae Philadelphia’s own Channel 6 Meteorologist Dave Roberts who graduated from Holy Angels Parish School in Buffalo, N.Y. where he attended Kindergarten through 8th grade. 

“It was a wonderful education ... very strict and structured and I’ve benefited throughout my career and my life from the education I received,” Roberts said. “The qualities that impress me are the discipline and dedication of the nuns. The education was a template for later on in life ... we also had many fun times and fun experiences.” 

Aileen Quinn, the actress who played Annie in the first Annie movie graduated from Grey Nun Academy and the school counts many successful local professionals amongst it’s alumnae. 

Grey Nun recruits students from the Council Rock, Neshaminy, Pennsbury, Bristol, New Hope Solebury, Doylestown and Huntington Valley school districts as well as New Jersey. 

A high teacher to student ratio and strong involvement by parents and families contributes to the spirit and sense of community that make a Grey Nun education stand apart. The size of the school and deliberate attention to building community contribute to the strong sense of spirit that make students, parents and faculty feel part of the Grey Nun Academy “family.”

Perhaps it is this sense of family that motivated Dave Roberts to maintain lifelong connections with the nuns who taught him in grammar school. 

“This year I lost the last teacher who taught me in grammar school. When I arrived in Philadelphia in 1978, 3 or 4 of my teachers were here and I would visit them for anniversaries, holidays and special masses,” says Roberts.   

The Grey Nun Academy is situated on 90 acres of Bucks County landscape that is green beyond measure and home to flocks of geese and several family of deer. The campus is also the American Headquarters for the Grey Nuns of the Sacred Heart, a Catholic order of nuns which expanded to the United States in 1921 from French-speaking Canada. The Charism (gift or mission) of the Grey Nuns is loving others and striving to alleviate the suffering of those who are poor and needy in our world. 

Co-location of the Headquarters with the school allows the Nuns to maintain their influence in the mission, curriculum and culture of the school. Sister Martha Moyle is Vice Principal of the school and represents the religious community as it’s educational leader. The Sister taught preschool at Grey Nun for 38 years and continues to provide the connection for many families with the school. 

The Grey Nuns incorporate their mission into their students’ education to make them aware of their obligation to the poor and needy through monthly activities and programs to share their excesses and talents. The goal is to teach the children about universal charity through example and practice – and this is not just economic charity, but teaching respect for each other, child to child, teacher to parent and every other combination of person to person love and respect.

John Piccone is the publisher of Curious Parents.