PENNSYLVANIA

Abington Friends School
575 Washington Lane, Jenkintown PA 19046
215-886-4350, www.abingtonfriends.net
Preschool - 12th Grade
Abington Friends School, located just north of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on a beautiful 60-acre suburban campus, is a vibrant, joyful, and ambitious Quaker school, a community of unusual spirit and an uncommon blend of values. AFS embraces idealism and practicality, diversity and common ground, excellence and goodness. In this environment, children
develop deep roots of inner strength, the ability to thrive in dynamic settings, and the capabilities to enrich and make the most of their futures. Our students are fully immersed in their scholarly pursuits, in the arts and in our athletic programs. This total engagement with the world is a hallmark of AFS. It stems from our commitment to appreciating children fully for who they are and creating a vision for who they may become. Community and classroom life is rooted in profound respect for the worth of all individuals and an intellectually powerful capacity for the collaborative search for truth and deeper understanding. Explore AFS in its unusual and indispensible diversity, and its powerful program, and you will discover a school where children are valued, immersed in relationships with others, and always reaching for their own potential and
that of the community that surrounds them.  Come visit and experience AFS for yourself! 

Buckingham Friends School
PO Box 159, 5684 York Road, Lahaska, PA 18931
215-794-7491, www.bfs.org
Serving students of all faiths in K - 8th grade
Buckingham Friends School (BFS) was established in 1794 by the Buckingham Friends Meeting. It has been operating on the original site continually every since. Students in grades kindergarten through eighth experience an excellent education in a caring community where each child can grow intellectually, socially, and spiritually. An essential part of the Friends' belief is that there is “ that of God' in each of us. This belief is the foundation for mutual respect and trust among teachers, students and parents.

Together children and faculty experience the Quaker principles of equality, simplicity, community and non-violence. Our faculty helps each child to feel self-worth, to develop high goal, to take day-to-day responsibility for work and to think independently. Students are expected to observe certain standards. Among the most important are honesty, kindness, trust, decency, responsibility, compassion and consideration for others.

Graduates of BFS attend a variety of public and independent day and boarding schools including George School, New Hope-Solebury High School, the Lawrenceville School, Solebury School, Germantown Academy, and Westtown.

While preserving its 200+ year history and tradition, BFS has moved into the new millennium to provide students with the resources needed to compete in our ever-changing world. The new $3.5 million addition includes a science center, a library/media center, additional classrooms and renovations to the existing school.

Frankford Friends School
1500 Orthodox St., Philadelphia, PA  19124
215-533-5368, www.frankfordfriendsschool.org
Pre-K through 8th Grade
Frankford Friends School has been providing quality, affordable Quaker-based education since 1833.  The academic curriculum maintains high standards for excellence requiring solid mastery of basic skills and challenges students to broaden their horizons.  Small classes provide a warm, personalized setting in which each teacher knows the children well, shows love and care for them as individuals, and encourages their best efforts.

Basic skills are taught in reading and mathematics in an orderly, sequential fashion, providing plentiful practice, introducing new skills when old ones are mastered.  We stimulate children to apply these skills to think analytically.

By fostering artistic, dramatic and musical expression, often interrelating these with other areas of the curriculum, each child has the opportunity to perform dramatically and/or musically before parent and other students throughout the year.

We place a high priority on providing foreign language exposure in Spanish through all grade levels. We focus on speaking and interacting in the language, developing vocabulary and grammar as the grades progress. Other classes taught include physical education, swimming, computer, art, music and handbells.

For more information, please call the school office at 215.533.5368 or visit our website http://www.frankfordfriendsschool.org.

Friends' Central School
1101 City Avenue, Wynnewood, PA 19096-3418
610-645-5037, www.friendscentral.org
Pre-K - 12th grade
Established in 1845 by the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), Friends' Central School is committed to the idea of building a community of students and faculty of different racial, religious, ethnic, and socio-economic backgrounds. Twenty-two percent of the student body, 13% of the faculty, and 11% of the board of trustees are people of color.

The School's multicultural curriculum is designed to create an environment of respect for the individual where the open exchange of ideas is appreciated and encouraged. The diversity of our community enhances the academic experience as students and faculty bring their personal perspectives on global issues to class discussions. Because this message of respect for the individual and acceptance of divergent viewpoints is present in the curriculum, encouraged in interpersonal interactions, and ever-present in Meeting for Worship, these ideals have become part of the fabric of the Friends' Central community.

From their social studies lessons in Lower School to their exploration of world cultures in the Upper School, students discuss differing perspectives on issues and strive to recognize the lessons that we learn from one another. Students are encouraged to share their own perspectives in discussions and in their writings, and sensitivity to the varying views and experiences of others is expected. Conversation is a key to understanding, and at Friends' Central School there are many opportunities to participate in the dialogue.

For the past fifteen years, Friends' Central has served as board member school of the Philadelphia Area Multicultural Resource Center (MCRC). The MCRC is "dedicated to the promotion of increased diversity in school curriculum, faculty, and student body." Each year the MCRC offers three workshops to faculty, and a Spring Colloquium to both students and faculty. This is an opportunity for students from each board school to listen to speakers who have spent their lives in service in some way "working against racism, sexism, economic or social inequity and prejudice in all forms, violent and subtle."

Friends School Haverford
851 Buck Lane, Haverford, PA 19041
610-642-0354, www.friendshaverford.org
Preschool - 6th grade
Friends School Haverford is a coeducational, Quaker elementary school enrolling 200 students in three-year-old Preschool through Grade 6. Under the care of Haverford Monthly Meeting of the Society of Friends, an experienced faculty and staff present a full academic curriculum emphasizing basic concepts, clear and logical thinking, and the ability to communicate ideas. The school is a caring community based on Quaker values, in which individual attention helps each child to realize his or her potential. Art, music, computers, science, health, library, Spanish and physical education enrich the program. Tuition: $5,735 - $12,845. Financial Aid: $300,000. Martha B. Bryans (Bryn Mawr College, B.A.; University of Pennsylvania, M.A., Ed.D.) is the Head of School. Please contact the Director of Admission, Beth Krick at 610-642-0354 or bkrick@friendshaverford.org.

Friends Select School
17th Street and The Parkway, Philadelphia, PA 19103
215-561-5900, www.friends-select.org
Pre-K - 12th grade
Friends Select School is a coed, pre-k through 12th grade independent Quaker school, located on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in the heart of Philadelphia's cultural, governmental and business districts. Students venture beyond the walls of their classrooms to explore the city through partnerships with museums and science institutes, internships and community service. Quaker values such as simplicity, peaceful resolution of conflict, respect and inclusion are practiced in an atmosphere of integrity and warmth. A Friends Select education is notable for its continuity, which links curriculum from year to year, and for its strong focus on scholarly research, writing and oral presentation.

Newtown Friends School
PO Box 978, Newtown, PA 18940
215-968-2225, www.newtownfriends.org
Pre-K - 8th grade
Newtown Friends School is a prekindergarten through eighth grade Quaker independent school located in Newtown, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Newtown Friends has two sections of sixteen to eighteen students at every grade level, except prekindergarten, which is one section of fourteen to sixteen students.

The curriculum at Newtown Friends includes a full range of subject areas including language arts, math, social studies, Latin or Spanish (grades 6 to 8), science, library, music and drama, art, computer and physical education. Learning at Newtown Friends takes place through a combination of hands-on experiences, group and individual projects, interdisciplinary approaches, as well as through the more traditional methods. Newtown Friends has a very active intergenerational program with a neighboring Quaker continuing life-care facility. The community service program is built into the curriculum and provides opportunities for all sixth through eighth graders to go out into the community on a regular basis. Community service in the earlier grades occurs through specific projects undertaken within the school which benefit outside agencies.

Newtown Friends School welcomes applicants from all backgrounds and religious affiliations.

The Crefeld School
8836 Crefeld Street, Philadelphia, PA 19118
215-242-5545, www.crefeld.org
7th - 12th grade
The Crefeld School is a small, independent school serving approximately 100 students in grades 7-12 and located on four acres of land in Philadelphia. Crefeld seeks students with a need for an academically challenging yet supportive environment; students who function best in a personalized setting; students who may be talented in one or more creative areas; students who need to strengthen their learning skills and strategies; students who appreciate a less formal, more nurturing school. The school does not specifically cater to students with learning or emotional difficulties, but it is sometimes well-suited to these students due to its small size, flexible program, and supportive environment. Students come from diverse social, racial, and ethnic backgrounds and travel from across the entire Delaware Valley and as far away as Delaware and New Jersey.

The Crefeld School strives to create a diverse community in which all members are safe, respected, and valued. The school promotes decent and responsible behavior. Students, especially those who have previously felt unsafe or disrespected at school, are free to be themselves. At Crefeld, gay students or students with gay family members feel comfortable sharing that information with peers and faculty. And the staff encourages the students to show their support for each other.

Students graduate when they have demonstrated mastery of essential skills by completing a rigorous, but personalized, graduation portfolio. Graduates go on to the full range of colleges and universities.

The Philadelphia School
2501 Lombard Street, Philadelphia, PA 19146
215-545-5323, www.tpschool.org
Preschool - 8th grade

United Friends School
1018 W. Broad St., Quakertown, PA  18951
215-538-1733, www.UnitedFriendsSchool.org
Preschool through 8th grade
United Friends School is a preschool through eighth grade school that strives to make each day an inspiring learning experience for our students.  We are guided by our commitment to Quaker principles of care for one another, truthfulness, simplicity, community, and nonviolence.  UFS offers small, multi-graded classes and an experiential learning approach which seeks to nourish each child’s inner strength and abilities. While gaining academic knowledge, our students gain a sense of responsibility to self, others, and the larger world.  

United Friends School cherishes diversity and does not discriminate against anyone based on age, color, gender, gender identity, marital status, national or ethnic origin, race, religion, sexual orientation or veteran status.