Board of Trustees

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

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 attended and her two grandchildren are currently enrolled at 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

Paul Damaske is the father of a current State College Friends School middle school student. He is a Family Physician at Geisinger State College with a clinical focus on LGBT care, women's health, and adult preventative health care. He joined the board in 2023 and currently serves as the Clerk of the Development Committee. In his free time he enjoys hiking, biking, and canoeing in the many parks and trails in the area.

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.

Clara Drummond

Clara has been an SCFS parent since 2017. She is currently Lead Curator at the Eberly Family Special Collections Library at Penn State where she leads and mentors members of the curatorial team in setting goals and working collaboratively, manages projects and budgets related to collection development and the exhibition program, and teaches regularly with the archival, rare book, and manuscript collections. She holds a PhD from Boston University and has worked in and with non-profit cultural heritage institutions in the United States, Belgium, and the UK.

Mardi Frye-Dunklebarger

Mardi’s connection with the Friends School began in 1991, when her oldest son, Paul, started kindergarten. His younger brothers, Ellis and Michell, joined him two and five years later. During part of that time, Mardi was a teacher at the Friends School, teaching 2nd and 3rd grade for three years. After the Friends School, Mardi taught in the State College Area School District for 27 years in a variety of settings. She was a grade-level teacher, a learning enrichment teacher and, most recently, an elementary librarian.

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.

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

Robin Tuttle

Robin 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 in pulmonary and sleep medicine at Geisinger Lewistown Hospital. Robin lives in Boalsburg with her husband and their 4-year old son, Elliot, 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-Elect (2024-2025) of the Graduate Council, co-Chair of the Graduate Funding Task Force, member of the Joint Committee on the University Budget, and as a member of several committees related to the Academic Portfolio and Program Review. 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).

Cy DeVries