All it took was the “B Week” sign posted in the Upper School office window to trigger a memory and bring Nelson File, AFS Class of 1978, back to his roots.

“I was trying to remember what my first class on Monday morning of B Week was,” he said with a laugh during a visit to Abington Friends School on October 3. Today, just as when Nelson was a student, the School rotates schedules — A Week or B Week — to help make sure each of the subject areas get a fair share of classroom time.

For the last four years, Nelson has served as Principal (Head of School) of The Friends’ School in Hobart, Tasmania, the only Quaker school in Australia and the largest Quaker school in the world, with 1,300 students. He is on a 3 ½-week tour of Quaker schools in the U.S., part of his school’s initiative to broaden and strengthen relations with other Quaker schools. Debbie Taylor, a sixth grade teacher and K-6 coordinator from the Hobart school, visited AFS this past January.

Nelson, who was raised as part of the Byberry Monthly Meeting, can trace his roots on his mom’s side to a Quaker relative named Walton who migrated from England in 1674.

His parents removed him and his brother from Northeast Philadelphia schools after public school teachers repeatedly went on strike in the early 1970s. He came to AFS in seventh grade, and his brother attended George School.

“Even then, AFS was a huge financial reach for my parents. My dad was a telephone repairman and my mom was at home,” he said. Thanks to financial assistance from AFS and George School, and help from the Byberry Monthly Meeting, the two brothers were able to attend their respective Quaker schools.

“Ed Thode was the Middle School principal then. He was very kind and made sure I could stay here,” Nelson said.

He went on to graduate from Johns Hopkins University and later to receive a Master of Arts in Teaching degree from Brown University. He met his wife, Lisa, when they were both Peace Corps volunteers in Nepal. A combined love of teaching and working abroad has taken them and their family to schools in Kinshasa, Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo); New Delhi, India; Muscat, Oman, and now Hobart, Tasmania.

During his visit last week, Head of School Rich Nourie gave Nelson a tour of the AFS campus, including the new Headwaters Discovery Playground.

How did it feel to be back?

“Home is always where you grow up,” Nelson said. “It’s always touching to come back. The school is growing and thriving. It’s wonderful to see.”