Board of Trustees
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State College Friends School is governed by a Board of Trustees whose responsibilities include long-range and strategic planning, stewardship of the school's finances, and selection and retention of, and providing counsel to, the Head of School. The board has a fiduciary responsibility to uphold the mission of Friends School in service to today's students and to ensure a vibrant Friends School for future generations.
The Board consists of 10-13 members, the majority of which are members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). Other trustees are SCFS parents, alumni, and individuals with experience in Friends education. Trustees are nominated by the Governance Committee and approved by the Board. Each trustee serves a term of three years. Members may serve no more than two consecutive terms but may be reappointed after a one year absence. Meet Our Trustees
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Katherine Alden
Kat considers herself the first of three generations at the Friends School. She moved to State College in 1983 and taught 4-6th grade at SCFS for two years. Both of Kat’s daughters and her two grandchildren attended SCFS. Kat has taught in public and private schools, founded and ran an environmental center in Spring Mills which transitioned to being the summer camp for Upper Susquehanna Quarter of the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting. She was instrumental in founding the Nittany Valley Charter School in State College and directed the Cooperative Playschool at Friends Meeting for 11 years. An avid hiker, environmental activist and gardener, Kat finds deep alignment with the Quaker testimonies and is proud to support a school where children are exploring through the lenses of these guiding values.
Allen Behrer
Paul Damaske
Cy deVries
Leann Diederich
Leann Diederich (she/her) has been a parent of a SCFS student since her daughter entered pre-K in 2022. Leann has a PhD in Counseling Psychology and is a licensed psychologist and owner of two private practice businesses. She incorporates present centered, value based mindful practices in her work professionally and was thrilled to discover the Friends School as a home for her daughter. Leann grew up in the mountains of Northern California and attended a 60 student K-6th grade school in the country, so SCFS continues many norms of early childhood schooling that are important to her. She lives in Bellefonte with her family and enjoys ballroom dancing, growing dahlias, and time with their pet hamsters. Margy Frysinger
Margy is a retired health care administrator. Prior board experience involves 6 years on the Board of Trustees for Foxdale Village, including two years as clerk. Margy’s education includes 12 years of Quaker school, and both her children attended State College Friends School. She enjoys working with staff and other trustees to ensure a wonderful educational experience for Friends School children and their families.Dorrie Lisle
Dorrie Lisle is excited to be joining the Board as of August 2025. Dorrie has been a member of the Society of Friends for many years. She brings backgrounds in both health care as a physician assistant and previously in administration for several nonprofit health and nutrition programs,mostly for low-income audiences. She also had the opportunity to work as a Federal Head Start program reviewer focusing on the health, disability and nutrition components of local programs in the Mid-Atlantic states.
including the Pennsylvania Hunger Action Center and a local community radio station in Ithaca, New York. She earned a Bachelor of Science in nutrition and a Master of Health Sciences.
Fran McDermid
Fran has been an SCFS parent since 2014. In her other life, she currently serves as Director of Mental Health programs and Social Enterprise at Strawberry Fields, Inc., a State College non-profit providing services and employment for people with disabilities. Fran was part of the team who was awarded the 2017 Centre Foundation - Centre Inspires grant to open Good Day Café - a social enterprise, non-profit coffee shop providing competitive employment for people with disabilities. Fran works closely with funders, donors, and many members of our community to create and grow opportunities for people of many abilities in Centre County. She is excited to bring her experience and community relationships to the SCFS Board of Trustees.
Paul Perkinson
Paul could not be happier to re-engage Quaker education at State College Friends School. After graduating from a Quaker college (Earlham College '79), teaching at Friends Central in Philadelphia for eleven years, and serving for eleven years as Head of School Tandem Friends School in Charlottesville, Virginia, Paul is currently a school head at The Hudson School in Hoboken, New Jersey. He joined the State College Friends School Board in 2022. Paul has been an independent school teacher, coach, and school administrator for forty-five years and has enjoyed every second of it.
Cynthia Potter
Cynthia is a former SCFS teacher who also was a teacher/naturalist at Shavers Creek Environmental Center "back in the day." She was honored to be elected and serve on the State College Area S.D. school board for 12 years. She served a term on the Foxdale board. She was thrilled to teach for 2 years (2002-2004) at the Monteverde Friends School in Costa Rica. During that time, Cynthia had a leading to do Elder Massage and so returned to State College, went to massage school and then did elder massage for a few years. She now incorporates it into the service work she does for other seniors in her own retirement years. Cynthia has two grown children and 4 grands whom she adores. She lives in Williamsburg, PA with her beloved Greg. She spends time in nature every day, does citizen science reporting on moths and butterflies, walks a lot, stays open to wonder and awe, and believes that love is always the answer. Robin Tuttle
Robin is a Friends School "lifer," having attended the school kindergarten through 8th grade. She graduated from SCFS in 2004 and then from Westtown School in 2008. After a gap year working with adults with disabilities in Yorkshire, England, Robin came back home to State College and graduated from Penn State University in 2013 with a BS in psychology. She now works as a PA in pulmonary and sleep medicine at Geisinger Lewistown Hospital. Robin lives in Boalsburg with her husband, their two sons, and two beloved cats.
Dave Vanness
Dave is parent of two State College Friends School Graduates, Isaac (2021) and Celeste (2023). He is an economist and Professor in the College of Health and Human at Penn State, where he directs the PhD program in Health Policy and Administration. Dave’s research and teaching focuses on methods for evaluating healthcare and health policy interventions. Dave is active in shared governance at Penn State, where he serves as Chair (2025-2026) of the Graduate Council, co-Chair of the Graduate Student Financial Sustainability Working Group, and member of the Joint Committee on the University Budget. Prior to coming to State College in 2018, he served as Treasurer of the Madison Waldorf School in Madison, Wisconsin. He joined the board in 2023 and serves as a member of the Finance Committee. In his spare time, Dave likes to play guitar (poorly) and roast coffee (splendidly).Caroline Watral
Caroline Watral currently leads commercial business analytics efforts at PNC, with a focus on small business strategy, alternative data sources, and innovative data delivery. Her career spans both the analytics and legal fields. Before returning to PNC, she served as a Data Enablement Consultant at Red Hat, supporting enterprise-wide data and technology initiatives. Her connection to education runs deep. Caroline began her career at the U.S. Department of Education in Risk Management Services, where she supported projects to enhance data management, data consumption and data-informed policy development.
Caroline earned a Bachelor’s degree in Philosophy, a Master’s degree in Educational Theory and Policy, and a Juris Doctor (J.D.) from Penn State University. She also completed graduate coursework in Vanderbilt University’s Leadership, Policy, and Organizations Ph.D. program.
She lives in State College with her husband, daughter, two dogs, cat and a rabbit. Outside of work, she enjoys hiking, biking, and house renovation projects—and is always striving to make mac-and-cheese that her daughter enjoys as much as her favorite restaurant’s version.
Maria Scalzi Wherley
Maria (she/her) is a former SCFS parent and assistant teacher. She’s a wife and mother and has decades of teaching experience, serving a wide variety of learners a diverse range of subjects. Currently, she’s an instructional designer and writer in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences (EMS) at Penn State, where she wields pedagogy and tries to keep education from making a “straight-cut ditch of a free, meandering brook” (Thoreau). She’s the chair of the EMS Diversity Council, which promotes respect and embraces diversity and inclusion in the college. A competitive cyclist since the 90s, she’s almost always on a back road, in the woods, or swimming in a lake.