Dr. Edward Marshall, Head of School
Greene Street Friends School
5511 Greene Street
Philadelphia, PA 19144
215-438-7000
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February 24, 2017
Dear Members of the Greene Street Friends Community,
The essence of our School's mission is to support the well-being and growth of our
students, and to honor the trust that families have placed in us. I am writing to make
you aware of a difficult and upsetting situation that I very recently discovered and
want to share with you.
In 1976, a teacher at GSFS, William (Bill) Kershaw was arrested and pled guilty to sexual
misconduct. He had been employed at GSFS as a sixth grade teacher for approximately three
months at the time of the arrest. The misconduct had occurred at a camp he had been running in
the summer time, unconnected with our School. Immediately after his arrest, he resigned from
GSFS. He was sentenced to probation. He passed away in 2015.
Of course, this news is very upsetting. While there is no evidence that Bill Kershaw committed
any acts of sexual misconduct in the three months he worked at GSFS, we are not sure of this. At
Greene Street Friends, when someone is harmed, we take responsibility, and we work to support
any victims, repair injuries and restore relationships -- even if the harm occurred a long time ago.
We take this responsibility for all of our students, no matter when they enrolled here.
In recent years, schools, and our society as a whole, have become much more aware of sexual
misconduct and abuse in schools. At Greene Street Friends, we have policies, procedures and
practices to more effectively protect children and prevent harm from sexual misconduct. Faculty
and staff are required to participate in regular training to identify signs of abuse in children. In
addition to internal policies, all of our faculty and staff must commit to both state and federal
regulations including background criminal checks, fingerprint screens, and mandatory reporting
procedures. All of these stem from our philosophy of transparency, openness, and responsibility
for young people, even after they have graduated and grown up.
Please call, email, or otherwise contact me if you would like to discuss this or any situation that
has concerned you at Greene Street Friends. I welcome your interest and concern for the safety
of our students and the well-being of our community. Please also feel free to direct outside
inquiries about this to me.
With regret,

 Dr. Edward Marshall
Head of School


215-438-7000