Keller Handwerk

Beloved Friends math department chair Carl Schlenger sits in his classroom, three decades after he made the decision to leave the law for teaching.

Carl Schlenger has been a math teacher at Friends School of Baltimore for 30 years. In that time, he has seen many students walk through the halls. But his own journey to Friends is quite the unusual one. 

Schlenger graduated from the University of Virginia. As a young adult, he worked for three and a half years as a lawyer. But he found the job less fulfilling than he had hoped. 

“I had a bunch of experiences that made me question whether the practice of law was what I wanted to do for my career … they accumulated over time. And I finally decided: I’m in my mid-20s, I’m not married, I don’t have a mortgage. If I’m going to switch careers, now’s the time to do it,” Schlenger says.

He began to think about switching careers. To see what his future might hold, he reflected on his past. 

“I was always strong in math, and I had wonderful math teachers in high school,” he says. “I was thinking that would be an enriching career.”

Once he made his decision, the switch was quick. Over one weekend, Schlenger transitioned from being a lawyer into his teaching career. 

“I had a class the next Monday, which was kind of a culture shock,” he says. “I was an attorney on Friday, and Monday [I was in] a classroom with a bunch of budding teachers.”

While learning how to teach, Schlenger substitute-taught at different schools in the Baltimore area, trying to gain insight and experience. One place he taught was Friends. 

“Whenever I substituted Friends … they were always good days, and the kids were wonderful,” he remembers. “I’d walk into the classroom, and they’d be: ‘Well, what are we learning today?’ They expected to be taught, which was cool.”

They connected with him, even as a substitute teacher.

“And sometimes in the hallways, they’d say, ‘Hey, Mr. Schlenger.’ And it just made me feel like: what a wonderful community this was,” he says.

So when a position opened up in the Friends math department, Schlenger threw his hat in the ring. He went through the interview process, moving past each stage with reserved confidence.

But when he reached the final stage, he really began to hope for the job. Then, Upper School Principal Stanley Johnson* called.

“He called me a few days later and offered me the position, and I accepted on the spot. That was May 2nd, 1994,” Schlenger recalls. He has been at Friends ever since.

Over the past three decades, Schlenger has taught classes from Calculus to Math of Finance – and he’s taught thousands of students.

It’s hard to narrow a career like that down to a favorite moment.  

“The [best] moments that I’ve had in the classroom were just enjoying teaching,” he says. “That’s my favorite thing to do, is being in the classroom with the kids.”

Over time, Schlenger went from being the youngest member of his department to the department chair and most senior member. One teacher who has known Schlenger for almost 30 years, as a colleague and as a friend, is Ken Fowler. 

“[Early on,] he was someone that I could go and talk to him about math. Teaching was new to me. He also came in from outside of the teaching field. So we had a little bit in common,” Fowler says. “I came as an engineer. He was a lawyer. So we talked about a lot of stuff.”

Many students are curious to learn more about Schlenger. Fowler shared one little-known fact.

“The funniest thing about Mr. Schlenger that maybe students don’t know is that he hates vegetables. He will not eat something green,” he says. “So if we go out for a department dinner or department meal or whatnot, we’re always joking because he will not eat green vegetables.”

Many students say they have enjoyed taking Schlenger’s classes, and they enjoy his presence in our community. 

“He was always very supportive,” says senior Nigel Mckinney. During his time in Schlenger’s math class, Nigel says, he was struck by his teacher’s encouragement.

“Like, it’s a ‘Good job,’ if I had just taken a test, or ‘I expect you to do well on this one,’ or something like that,” he says. 

Over Schlenger’s 30-year career at Friends, he has transitioned from a brand new teacher to one of the school’s very best. Senior Keely Carter says he is a teacher who embodies the Quaker values at Friends. 

“Mr. Schlenger holds his students in the light. He always makes sure everyone in the class understands the material before quizzes and tests, and even if you are unprepared he might let you take it later,” she says. “I feel it is a very supportive way of teaching.”

Schlenger is one of the teachers at Friends who embodies the Quaker spirit of holding others in the light. 

Correction: The original version of this article misstated the name of person who called to offer Mr. Schlenger his job. It was Upper School Principal Stanley Johnson, not Head of School Byron Forbush.