175 Years of Good Deeds

A Brief History of St. Peter’s: Reconnecting with our past

As the fresh-faced students race forward to shake Mr. Costello’s hand in the morning, St. Peter’s role in the community is plain to see. The sounds of children laughing on the playground and on the school’s West Lawn can be heard down each surrounding block, providing a happy background noise to the neighborhood’s general tone. Considering the role it plays in the community, it is hard to imagine a time before the school was built, or the path that a number of dedicated philanthropists took to get St. Peter’s here from its vital beginnings 175 years ago.
Philadelphia has always been a home for a range of citizens, from aristocrats to immigrants, all from various religious and ethnic backgrounds. In the 1700’s and 1800’s, Philadelphia was overflowing with indigent refugees. There was no school law at the time, and many children were expected to work during the week to help support their families. The City was generally filthy, and diseases such as cholera, yellow fever, and tuberculosis struck citizens in cramped quarters, and Society Hill was no exception.

Since children of the poor often worked during the week, the only opportunity to go to school was on Sunday, when children were often ‘idle’ and might get ‘rowdy.’ Hence, a number of concerned residents of the City convened the First Day Society, which brought Sunday School instruction to Philadelphia. Female Sunday School Societies soon followed, offering instruction in religion, reading and writing. These schools also raised money to support their class work, and to lend a hand to the neediest of the parishes’ children. St. Peter’s Sunday School Society held its first classes in a parishioner’s pew for several years before it moved to a vestry room and then, to a small house at 319 Lombard Street in 1832.

In 1833, the vestry of St. Peter’s Church authorized a committee to study the Moyamensing School as a model for a proposed day school at St. Peter’s. Largely the work of two women of the St. Peter’s Parish with classes taught by members of St. Peter’s Female Sunday School Society, the Moyamensing School had expanded quickly to fill the needs of students in the area. The vestry was so convinced by the success of this model, that by January 1834, St. Peter’s Day School was opened. In St. Peter’s Sunday School House there were 19 students, all under the supervision of a ladies’ committee.

By the end of the year, there were 58 students enrolled under the tutelage of Miss Elizabeth Selby. Tuition was 12 ½ cents per week and instruction included spelling, reading, writing, geography, sewing, and religious instruction by the clergy.

Over the next several decades, the school expanded and evolved to meet the needs of the neighborhood. Among its many titles were Sunday School, Day School, Adult School, Free School affiliated with the Episcopal Academy, and Kindergarten for the children of working mothers.

How St. Peter’s Grew:

In the decades following the opening of St. Peter’s Day School, attendance flourished, and the school expanded into a new building on Lombard Street. By the end of the century, however, attendance had dwindled. This may have been due to the construction of the George M. Wharton Public School on the same block, the compulsory school attendance laws or the child labor laws that followed shortly after. A solution was offered by the parish organist, Felix Potter, who suggested that the Day School become a choir school. The vestry accepted the idea and in 1903, the school became a choir school for boys from third through the eighth grades.

This was a transformative time for St. Peter’s. In 1919, Harold Gilbert took over Ernest Potter’s role as Choir School Director, and under his leadership, the Choir School became one of the most prominent of its kind in the United States. Boys travelled by trains and trolleys from all over Philadelphia to attend, and were honored to do so. Most were admitted to prestigious secondary schools. Students in the St. Peter’s Church Choir had the noted achievement of singing with the Philadelphia Orchestra at the Academy of Music and New York’s Carnegie Hall, performing concerts for radio broadcasts, recording songs for Victor Red Seal Records, and sharing the stage at the Academy with the Mendelssohn and Orpheus Clubs.

Following several decades of success as a choir school, the school again faced declining enrollment in the late 1950’s and soon became a financial burden to the Parish. The new rector, Reverend Joseph Koci, Jr., proposed separating the function of choirmaster and headmaster, prompting Harold Gilbert to resign after forty-five years of devoted service. The vestry voted to keep the school open as a school for boys, with Mr. Koci as the headmaster. These were difficult times for the school, with enrollment and morale low, and expenses high.

Finally, in 1964, the school became co-educational and changed its name to “St. Peter’s School.” The first Harvest Festival was held by the Church to kindle interest in the school, and annual festivities such as these remain traditions that include the entire neighborhood. The nursery school opened in the same year, and a kindergarten and first grade were added in the following year.
While the community and parents had always played a role in St. Peter’s, the Parent’s Association had its official start in 1966. And the following year, the vestry appointed Caroline Seamans as the first full-time Head of the school. In 1969, the school was legally separated from the Parish and was incorporated with its own Board of Trustees as a fully accredited independent and non-denominational school.

Under the careful eye and visionary leadership of Miss Seamans, St. Peter’s School expanded throughout the 1970’s to accommodate a growing number of children, and continues to expand today. The original 18th century townhouses provide a traditional setting for a school that is bustling forward to meet its future. The School joined the Friends of Old Pine Church to raise funds to build the Old Pine Community Center less than a block away from the school. This Community Center, along with the Robert B. Blum Library, an expanded computer lab, new playground, refurbished Alumni Theater, new Science Lab, refined entryway, and the opening of spaces within the school building have helped to maintain the School’s modern mission and larger student body. This year, there are 211 children enrolled at St. Peter’s, with the school providing financial aid almost a third of these students.

For 175 years, St. Peter’s School has been dedicated to nourishing the mind, body, and spirit of children in the neighborhood and the surrounding communities. The school teaches children to master academic principles, to have appreciation of the arts, and to understand the importance of service to others. All this is taught and learned in the warm, calm and respectful environment which has been part of St. Peter’s School for nearly two centuries. It is in this spirit that St. Peter’s School celebrates its 175th year of helping children to lead fruitful and principled lives. And while these children understand that they are part of a long and noble history, like the leaders who have helped the school to flourish, they are not afraid to grow and change as the times demand.