We're a Learning Community Where All Are Welcome
State College Friends School is a non-public school, governed by a Board of Trustees. Established in 1980 by a small group of concerned individuals who envisioned a school offering progressive education inspired by Quaker principles and testimonies, State College Friends School offers families a rich academic experience in a nurturing environment. More about Quaker principles and testimonies.
Our Mission
State College Friends School provides an academically vigorous education in a nurturing environment that inspires a love of learning and prepares students to meet challenges with confidence and compassion. Guided by the Quaker testimonies of simplicity, peace, integrity, community, equality, and stewardship, we support the social, emotional, physical, and intellectual development of each child.
Our Philosophy
Friends believe there is a divine light in each of us that deserves our loving attention. At State College Friends School, we are guided by this belief as we provide a strong education grounded in the Quaker testimonies of equality, community, simplicity, peace, stewardship, and integrity.
Founded in 1980 under the care of State College Friends Meeting, Friends School is a community in which these testimonies are central to the education of our students. From the testimony of equality, we emphasize respect for all and a genuine appreciation of diversity. We affirm the importance of all faiths, and we are committed to welcoming students from a variety of social, ethnic, family, economic, and religious backgrounds. We see community as a vital source of strength and wisdom; it shapes the character of learning and all relationships at Friends School. This value also leads us to encourage service to people close to home and throughout the world. Our commitment to simplicity leads us to focus on what is most important in life. We value taking time for reflection, as individuals and through Meeting for Worship, and we strive to center our lives in the spirit. We honor the peace testimony by building strong relationships and teaching nonviolent responses to conflict in our personal lives. We also stress the importance of seeking peaceful resolution to global problems. We encourage stewardship of the earth by promoting respect for our environment and responsible use of natural resources in our community and beyond. Using integrity as a guide, we encourage all members of our community to constantly seek truth, to value honesty, and to act on their convictions with courage. We lovingly challenge and support our students to become strong academically, to develop responsible independence, and to appreciate the value of service to others. As we nurture the light in every child, we strive to help each one develop confidence, imagination, compassion, and hope. We also recognize that the pace and style of learning is different for every child. Our teachers honor these differences by supporting all children and by placing importance on all aspects of learning: intellectual and physical development, social and emotional growth, creative expression, and spiritual awareness. We encourage students to be active participants in their own education by emphasizing critical thinking, learning through cooperation with others, making choices, and taking risks. We believe that students at State College Friends School will grow into resourceful, capable, and compassionate adults who will minister to the needs of our changing world. As we guide children toward these goals, we heed the words of George Fox, the founder of Quakerism, who once offered this guidance: “Be patterns, be examples in all countries, places, islands, nations, wherever you come; that your carriage and life may preach among all sorts of people and to them. Then you will come to walk cheerfully over the world, answering that of God in every one...” Fox's Journal, 1656 Our Vision
Our values and passion for learning translate to an academically stimulating, vibrant, nurturing and inclusive school community built on a foundation of respect and genuine concern for all. Through a curriculum including service learning, students will have the opportunity to explore the personal, social, political, and environmental issues that others face. By forming collaborative relationships with community partners, students begin to discover ways in which their decisions and actions can have a positive impact locally and globally.
The Friends School is like a second home to my children. They love to come to school in the morning and they love to stay after school with their friends. They are cared for and cared about and they know that. They're learning so much and it's not just academics. It's about their place in the bigger community - it's about living with integrity, solving problems peacefully, facing challenges creatively, and learning how to be connected, truly connected with people. Thank you Friends School." |
Our Beginnings
State College Friends School was founded in 1980, under the care of State College Friends Meeting. In the fall of that year, Friends School began with 12 students in kindergarten through third grade in a specially-renovated classroom in the Meetinghouse basement. In 1988 four additional classrooms were leased at University Baptist and Brethren Church.
We began the 1998-99 school year in our new facility on University Drive, offering Kindergarten through 5th grade. The following year the middle school was added. In the fall of 2010, an early learning program for children ages 3 - 5 was developed. Friends Pre-K program met in the annex wing of the State College Friends Meetinghouse until moving to the main school in 2018. From our simple beginnings, State College Friends School continues to be an integral educational alternative in the community. GovernanceState College Friends School is governed by a Board of Trustees. The board's major responsibilities include supervision of the head of school, policy making, financial oversight, strategic planning, and institutional advancement. The board has a fiduciary responsibility to uphold the mission of Friends School in service to today's children and to ensure a vibrant Friends School for future generations.
The board consists of 11-17 volunteers, the majority of whom are members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers); they are appointed by State College Friends Meeting in consultation with the board's Committee on Trustees (Governance Committee.) The other trustees are parents or individuals from the community who have an interest in Friends education. Each board member serves a term of three years. Members may serve no more than two consecutive terms but may be reappointed after a one year absence. |
We are an inclusive community.
State College Friends School admits students of any race, color, national origin, familial status, ancestry, gender, sexual orientation, religion, handicap, or disability.
State College Friends School admits students of any race, color, national origin, familial status, ancestry, gender, sexual orientation, religion, handicap, or disability.
