But 10 years earlier - at the start of the 1947-1948 school year in Philadelphia - a small African-American girl quietly entered the third grade of the Germantown Friends School without much fanfare.

Joan Countryman was not the first black student to attend the well-respected Quaker school on Coulter Street near Germantown Avenue, officials said. But she was the first to graduate - in the Class of 1958.

The young girl, then known as Joan Cannady, had a zest for numbers and math and quickly developed a reputation as "the smartest girl in the [third-grade] class."

That was what the father of one of her white classmates called her when he came to pick up his daughter from Countryman's 8th birthday party.

All of the girls in her class had accepted the invitation to a party at her home, she said.

While Countryman was accepted, she said the decision to enroll her at Germantown Friends had not been an easy one for her parents, William and Virginia Cannady, a teacher and a homemaker.

She said her parents wrestled with the same fears as did the parents of the Little Rock Nine. But she said one of her father's friends told him:

"You're going to kick yourself if you don't give her this opportunity."

Countryman is now most known as the former acting head of the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa. She returned to her alma mater yesterday to give a talk to nearly 500 students and alumni as part of the school's Reunion Weekend activities.

About 25 members of the audience were Countryman's 1958 classmates who are taking part in their 50th Class Reunion.

In all her years as an educator, Countryman told them, she has taken with her a core philosophy she'd learned from Germantown Friends teachers.

And that is a commitment to "truthfulness, simplicity and the nonviolent resolution of conflict," she said.

The theme of her talk was "Open Doors Open Doors," and she praised the school for opening its doors to her so that she, in turn, could open doors of education to others.

When Winfrey tapped Countryman to help start the South African girls' school, Countryman had just retired in 2005 after 12 years as Head of School at the Lincoln School in Providence, R.I.

Before that, she'd worked as a math teacher and school administrator for more than 20 years at Germantown Friends.

The little girl who loved numbers grew up to get a degree in math from Sara Lawrence College and a master's in urban studies from Yale University. She also studied at the London School of Economics.

"Education Is Our Tomorrow," the school motto of Winfrey's Leadership Academy, came from Countryman's interview with a young girl there, she said.

She had asked the girl why it was important to her to be admitted to the new school.

"She said, 'Because it is my tomorrow.' "

Countryman then urged everyone in the audience to work to make sure all Americans have better tomorrows by improving public education for everyone.

At 68, Countryman is energetic and youthful, but said she's now looking forward to retirement once again.

Currently, she is interim head of the Atlanta Girls' School. She plans to retire in June to spend more time with her family.

Countryman, who has written books on teaching math, said she got her love for numbers from her father, William Cannady, who held a degree in electrical engineering before starting a career as a teacher and then a vice principal in Philadelphia public schools.

Nicolette Riley, a 15-year-old Germantown Friends student, said she found Countryman's story, "amazing. It's inspiring. It makes me believe I can accomplish great things."

After her talk, Countryman said it is vital for Americans to preserve democracy by improving public education for everyone.

"How can children learn when they don't have music or art in their schools?" she asked.

"All of our tomorrows depend on the next generation," she said. *