Harford Friends School Expands Faculty
New Faces, New Building
Street, MD August 27, 2007 - Harford Friends School will begin its 3rd year in a new location and with a growing staff and student body.

The school made the move to the Highland Commons Building in Street earlier this month. When the doors open on September 6, four additional faculty members will be ready to guide students in grades 6-8 through a brand new year of academic challenge and personal growth.

New faculty members Ray Pitz and Jake Norton comprise the mathematics department and will be a dynamic math team. Mr. Pitz is a master teacher, who has taught all levels of math from middle school through Advanced Placement courses in high school. He led the math departments at both Towson and Owings Mills high schools and directed the NSA affiliated Maryland Center for Gifted and Talented Youth for three years after having taught in the program for seven. Mr. Pitz holds a B.S. in mathematics and education from Towson State University and a Master's degree in Applied Mathematics from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. In addition, he has completed more than thirty hours of professional development beyond his Master's degree. Mr. Pitz will teach sixth and eighth grade math and will serve as a student advisor.

Jake Norton is a recent cum laude graduate of Macalester College in Minnesota, where he earned a B.A. in mathematics. Originally from Havertown, Pennsylvania, Mr. Norton comes to Harford Friends School with a wealth of experiences in math, science, and world travel. He studied mathematics for a semester in Budapest, Hungary, participated in a study of African Wildlife Conservation and Community-Based Conservation in Tanzania through the University of Delaware in January of 2006, and most recently spent the first half of the summer in an internship in Denali National Park in Alaska, where he conducted a field study for the Alaska Bird Observatory. Mr. Norton also brings to Friends his extracurricular passions that include road bicycling, singing, scuba diving, and volleyball. Mr. Norton will teach seventh grade math, sixth and seventh grade science, and will serve as a student advisor.

The science teaching team is complete with the appointment of Dr. Alan Schmaljohn to teach eighth grade science. Dr. Schmaljohn comes to Harford Friends School after retiring from his position with the U.S. Army Medical Institute for Infectious Diseases at Fort Detrick as Chief of the Viral Pathogenesis and Immunology Branch of the Virology Division, where he was directly involved in hands-on lab experiences and scientific oversight of many of the viral agents including bio-warfare or bio-terrorism threats. He earned a B.S. in Medical Technology from the University of Nebraska and a Ph.D. in Microbiology/Viral Immunology from Colorado State University. Alan is a member of Gunpowder Friends Meeting in Sparks, Maryland, and is beginning his second career as an educator. He has previously taught, on occasion, at the undergraduate and graduate levels. As well as being an accomplished scientist, Alan is a bicycler, tennis player, and avid reader.

Dr. Stephanie Stone is a lecturer at Johns Hopkins University, a freelance writer, and a community activist in Harford County. She has been an adjunct assistant professor at Goucher College, Notre Dame of Maryland, and the University of Delaware. She served as the Test Development Coordinator for the Center for Talented Youth at Johns Hopkins and is a licensed Maryland psychologist. Stephanie is a cum laude graduate of Bryn Mawr College with a degree in anthropology and earned her Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Dr. Stone will be teaming with Harford County Educators Hall of Fame inductee Jim Pickard to teach the eighth grade humanities program. Dr. Stone's area of focus will be American history while Mr. Pickard will focus on English/language arts and American literature. A comprehensive research project on an aspect of Harford County history as it relates to American history will be a major component of this dynamic duo's work this year. Dr. Stone was recently featured in The Sunday Sun in an article that featured Stephanie Stone for her work with Friends of Harford and that group's efforts to preserve and conserve the county's agricultural land and culture. She is also on the boards of Harford Land Trust and the Deer Creek Watershed Association. Dr. Stone substituted at Harford Friends last year and hosted the sixth grade's study of stream ecology at her farm on the banks of Broad Creek.

Said Jonathan Huxtable, Head of School: "I am incredibly excited about the opportunities each of these wonderfully talented individuals brings to our students and our educational program."

Harford Friends School will continue its collaborative partnerships with Blue Dog Creative Arts, Maryland Conservatory of Music, MParr Solutions (formerly IXI, Inc.), Fun with Foreign Language, and Genesee Valley Outdoor Learning Center into the 2007-2008 school year.