Betsy Duryea grew up across Sheaff Lane from Germantown Academy, rode her bike to school for 14 years as a student, and has spent 47 years teaching PreK in the same Fort Washington campus she never really left.
Her latest mark on the school: a TinkerLab that started with an old table, a vise and a handful of saws during a brutal 2014 winter and has since grown into an 8,000-square-foot makerspace serving all Lower School students through fifth grade.
Duryea, a 1975 GA graduate, told the school in a profile published Thursday, Aug. 13 that she landed her teaching job almost by accident. After college, she was hunting for a position in the Boston area. Nothing materialized. In the last week of August 1979, a friend already teaching at GA mentioned a Kindergarten opening. She took it.
"What has kept me here is the community, and most importantly, the talented group of people I get to work with every day," Duryea said. "They inspire me with their commitment, innovation, and genuine care for children."
A snow day that stuck
The TinkerLab traces back to the winter of 2014, when extended snow and ice kept students indoors far longer than usual. Duryea and a fellow PreK teacher improvised: they built a makeshift workbench from an old table, clamped on a vise, brought in hammers and saws, and taught four- and five-year-olds to use the tools safely. They handed out felt scraps and taught the children to sew pillows.
The engagement was immediate. Duryea brought the idea to GA's Head of Lower School, and that summer the two teachers visited a school with a woodshop for students in preschool through fifth grade. They returned with plans and converted an empty classroom in Leas Hall into a TinkerLab equipped with an oven for cooking, a workbench for woodworking and a LEGO wall for building.
From one classroom to 8,000 square feet
GA later hired New York-based firm 1100 Architect to expand the concept into a dedicated space for all Lower School students, according to Spaces4Learning, which reported on the project in September 2019. The expanded TinkerLab includes a laser cutter, 3-D printer, industrial sink, kitchenette, hand tools and a garage-style roll-up door connecting to an outdoor garden. The renovation was part of a broader 8,000-square-foot Lower School improvement that also updated science classrooms and corridors.
Jessica Killo, GA's PreK-12 STEAM coordinator, said in 2019 that the space allows young students to move, make and build together.
Still showing up
Duryea's classroom sits in Leas Hall, the building that houses GA's PreK and Kindergarten students at the private PreK-12 school on Morris Road in Whitemarsh Township. As Colonial and Wissahickon public schools open Aug. 31, Duryea will welcome another class of four- and five-year-olds.
One of her favorite traditions: shaking hands with graduating seniors who started their GA journey in her PreK class.
She also keeps a sense of humor about the job. On the second day of PreK one year, a student handed her a slip of paper and announced, "Here is my mom's phone number. Call her because I quit!"
GA's investment in its youngest learners continues. The school broke ground after June 2026 graduation on The Sapling School, a new early childhood building for two- and three-year-olds, and new Lower School playgrounds.
Coming up
- Aug. 31 — Colonial and Wissahickon school districts open for the 2026–27 school year.
- Fall 2026 — Germantown Academy's Flag Raising ceremony welcomes the school's youngest students alongside the full community at the start of the year.
