Wendy D. Ormsby, 60 of Harleysville, PA passed away at her home on Saturday, November 21,2020 surrounded by her family.

Wendy was born in Summit, NJ to the late Earl L. Ormsby, Jr. and Eva Gene (Dauger) Ormsby. She received a BS from Rider University in 1982 and an MS degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1996.

She was the loving wife of John V. Penny for 32 years and they have two children.

She leaves behind her husband John, a daughter Christine Eva Penny of Harleysville and a son John Mark Penny of Boston, MA. In addition she is survived by her mother Eva Gene Ormsby of Harleysville, her three sisters Diane E. (Charles W. Eliot) Ormsby of Harleysville, Ruth Ann (King Thomas) Ormsby of Huntington Beach, CA and Barbara (David) Aspin of Branchburg, NJ and her brother E. Lee (Diane) Ormsby of Hillsborough, NJ.

Wendy's lasting legacy will be as founder of the Souderton Charter School Collaborative. SCSC was rooted in the hope of a fully inclusive school where there were no special education rooms and labels.

Her profound vision was to create a new learning environment for students and teachers. For 20 years, SCSC has attracted like-minded parents, teachers, and legislators who all saw a need for educational innovation in public schools.

Wendy brought the best organizational dynamics ideas from the business sector into the educational realm: Learning Systems, Distributed Leadership, Innovation Through Collaboration, and Shared Decision Making.

It has often been remarked that only an "outsider" could transform how education is done, which was the embodiment of the Pennsylvania Charter School Law (Act 22). Wendy believed, at her core, that Choice in Education was the right of every parent, and Act 22 allowed for all families, no matter their financial means, to have a voice in selecting the education that was best for their children.

Hands-on and Self-Directed Learning within an Inclusive Environment were her educational cornerstones. These ideas drew families and educators who shared her vision of collaborative work and the need for dynamic, internally-driven professional development.

SCSC is collaborative at all levels of the organization, and her work with teachers and co-director Jennifer Arevalo continued to transform their shared educational environment. Yearly initiatives and projects were measured, always, by "what was best for the kids."

SCSC's success was recognized as a National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence in 2013, at the apex of the No Child Left Behind era. Other state and national recognition of SCSC's successes followed.

Since then, Wendy worked on her personal passions: Coding in the Classroom and Individualized Education. She found joy in co-teaching math to hundreds of students where she had an innate ability to unlock their understanding.

Wendy was a trailblazer and an educational pioneer who was able to merge an intense intellect with a passionate heart. Without both, the caring and dynamic community of SCSC might never have been created.

All who come to SCSC see the passionate community but often ask WHY was it created?

For Wendy and her husband John Penny, it began and ended with their children. To know Wendy was to know a mom who fiercely loved her children, Christine and Mark.

Christine and Mark learned in vastly different ways, but Wendy and John envisioned a school where they could learn together and be known and valued. SCSC was and is that place.

In lieu of flowers memorial contributions may be made in her memory to the Souderton Charter School Collaborative, 110 East Broad Street, Souderton, PA 18964.

Arrangements by: Anders-Detweiler Funeral Home & Crematory, 130 East Broad Street, Souderton, Pennsylvania 18964. To send online condolences to the family, visit www.andersf.com