Board of 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
Seth Blumsack

Katy Cleary
Katy is a life-long Quaker (since the age of 5). She grew up mainly in Ohio and Pennsylvania. She graduated from Olney Friends School, a 9th-12th grade Quaker boarding school in Barnesville, OH. She is a member of the State College Friends Meeting, spending many years on the Religious Education Committee. She also was the Meetinghouse scheduler for many years and was a member of the Care & Concerns and Buildings & Grounds Committees. She works at Tait Farm Foods, is married with three children and four grandchildren. Her happy place is anywhere she can weave, knit or sew.
Mardi Frye-Dunklebarger

Lam Hood
Lam retired from Penn State in 2002 after a 34 year career in teaching/research and administration at Cornell and Penn State. Lina and he are blessed with three children and ten grandchildren. His love of agriculture and belief in Quaker principles are grounded in having grown up at and attending George School (father was the farm manager). After the war, George School established an affiliation with two German schools that resulted in exchange of students and summer workcamps in Germany. Participating in a workcamp and observing the hideous impacts of war fostered a lifetime of service and caring for others. Lam is a Rotarian and attends University Baptist and Brethren church.
Miranda Kaye

Dana Mitra

Paul Perkinson

Paul could not be happier to re-engage with Quaker education after graduating from a Quaker college (Earlham College '79), teaching at Friends Central in Philadelphia for eleven years, and serving as Head of School Tandem Friends School in Charlottesville, Virginia. At Tandem Friends, Paul was lucky enough to hire a brilliant middle school math and science teacher... Joe Doherty. Paul is currently a school head at The Hudson School in Hoboken, New Jersey and in his 44th year of school work as a teacher, coach, and school administrator. He is so excited for Joe and his family and for the State College Friends School community as it seems to be a perfect match of school and school leader. Paul says, "So much good work awaits us all!"
Lauren Tomasch
Lauren is an alumna of the State College Friends School and a parent of two Friends School alumni. She has a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science and a master’s degree in Spiritual Psychology. Lauren has worked and volunteered at Shaver's Creek, taught environmental education, worked in multiple levels of management and human resources in various fields, built and managed multi-use trails, worked at the White House, and is a local business owner.
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 in pulmonary and sleep medicine at Geisinger Lewistown Hospital. Robin lives in Boalsburg with her husband and their 3-year old son, Elliot, and two beloved cats.
Robin is so excited for this new era at the Friends School as we welcome Joe Doherty as our new Head of school. Much learning and joy awaits us!