December
January
February
March
April
Mid-December
Late January
Mid-February
Early April
MFS provides materials to Camden school counselors
Nominations due from school counselors
Information Session
Early March
Late February
Mandatory student testing
Applications and financial aid packets due
Finalists chosen Mid-April
Parent interviews Late April
Finalist Visiting Day
The Application Process In December, Moorestown Friends School reaches out to guidance counselors in Camden schools. The counselors recommend sixth graders and eighth graders to the Camden Scholars Program. Families must follow the timeline below to maintain a student’s eligibility for the Camden Scholars Program scholarship: Nominations Guidance counselors from Camden schools may nominate an unlimited number of students for the Camden Scholars program. Currently, two students enter in seventh grade and one student in ninth grade, so nominees must be in sixth or eighth grade. Students must be Camden residents. The deadline for nominations is typically the end of January. Information Session at Moorestown Friends School An Information Session is held for all candidates which includes an overview of the scholarship program and a thorough explanation of the application process. MFS Camden Scholars are available to answer questions about the program during a question-and-answer session following the presentation. Mandatory Testing Standardized testing, administered to all Middle and Upper School applicants, is held at Moorestown Friends School. Lunch for the candidates and their families follows testing. During the testing time, the Camden Scholars Director leads parents on a tour of the school and answers questions about the application and financial aid process. This is mandatory for candidates. Application and Financial Packets The Moorestown Friends School application and financial aid forms must be submitted by mid-March. Admissions Office staff is available throughout the process by phone and in person to assist parents with the necessary paperwork.
Moorestown Friends School At A Glance Mission Statement Moorestown Friends School is a community rooted in Quaker values and dedicated to the pursuit of educational excellence for a diverse student body within an academically rigorous and balanced program emphasizing personal, ethical and spiritual growth. Total Enrollment: 728 (Preschool - Grade 12) Student/Faculty Ratio: 7:1 Tuition (2015-2016) Grades 7 & 8: $25,000 Upper School: $27,450 The tuition fee for Camden Scholars is $350. Financial Aid Approximately 1/4 of students receive financial aid. Diversity Moorestown Friends School is committed to fostering an environment that is both diverse and inclusive. Students of color make up 34% of the student body. A wide variety of religious faiths are represented as well. In keeping with the Quaker philosophy of honoring each individual, students representing different ethnic, cultural, religious, and socioeconomic backgrounds are challenged daily to respect and learn from one another. The Arts Moorestown Friends’ comprehensive program in musical, visual, and performing arts allows students to explore and develop their gifts. Young artists learn through hands-on instruction by talented faculty members in drawing, painting, ceramics, woodworking, photography, jewelry design, theater, voice, instrumental music, and other arts disciplines. Athletics Varsity and junior varsity sports include: baseball, basketball, field hockey, fencing, golf, lacrosse, soccer, tennis, and swimming. Middle School sports offered are baseball, basketball, field hockey, lacrosse, soccer, and tennis. At the Upper School level, MFS competes in the Friends Schools League and is eligible to compete in state playoff competition as a member of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA).
Finalists Chosen The Camden Scholars Committee reviews all applications and selects finalists to visit campus in April. Parent Interview of Finalists All parents are interviewed by the Camden Scholars Director. Finalist Visiting Day Selected finalists visit Moorestown Friends School for the day. After the visit, scholarship recipients are notified within a few days.
Moorestown Friends School 110 E. Main St. Moorestown, NJ 08057 (856) 914-4426
www.mfriends.org
The Camden Scholars Program
Sonia Mixter Guzman ’02, Preschool Parent
The Camden Scholars Program
Familiar Faces
The Camden Scholars Program at Moorestown Friends School (MFS) has a long and unique tradition of providing opportunities to students with demonstrated academic potential and financial need from the Camden School District. The Camden Scholars receive a nearly full-tuition scholarship to attend MFS. Lunch, books, fees, technology resources, and transportation via a school-supported bus are all covered by Moorestown Friends. There is also an extensive academic and social support network available for students. More than 90 Camden Scholars have earned MFS diplomas and moved on to attend some of America’s most selective colleges and universities.
If your child is applying to our program, you’ll get to know these familiar faces:
“Nowhere else would I have been more comfortable and happy in my own skin. Finding my passions, my dreams, and the strength to pursue them is something I credit not only my parents with, but the teachers who spent countless hours listening to my worries, wiping away my doubts, and pushing me further than I thought was possible.”
History Beginning in the 1960s, MFS partnered with A Better Chance, Inc. (ABC), a national non-profit student search and referral organization. The goal of ABC was to increase the number of promising minority students in independent schools. When scholarship funding from the ABC organization ended in 1983, the MFS Board of Trustees made the commitment to establish the school’s Camden Scholars Program for highly promising students from Camden. MFS also took over the task of encouraging applications to the program and building a referral network within the Camden schools. The majority of the Camden Scholars Program is funded through the school’s financial aid budget. The William S. and Sara N. Haines Endowment, the John H. McKeon, Jr. ’67 Endowment, and the Mary Hall Cruz ’80 Endowment also provide vital scholarship support for the program. Beginning in 2000, the program was expanded to include seventh grade students. Currently, two scholars enter MFS each year in seventh grade and one in ninth grade. During a typical school year, there are 16 Camden Scholars at MFS (4 in Middle School and 12 in Upper School).
B.A. Rutgers University Camden, NJ Operations and Communications Manager, Ronald McDonald House
Dorothy López Camden Scholars Director dlopez@mfriends.org (856) 235-2900 x165
Karen Washington Director of Multicultural Affairs kwashington@mfriends.org (856) 914-4454
Rachel Tilney Director of Admissions and Financial Aid rtilney@mfriends.org (856) 914-4427
What Camden Scholars are Saying... Julian Austin ’91 B.A. Yale University M.S. Rutgers University Moorestown, NJ IT Security, Computer Sciences Corporation “Moorestown Friends instilled in me that whatever I do in life, it has to include community service. I would not be who I am today without Moorestown Friends.”
Christine Tingle Lewis-Coker ’89 B.S. University of Delaware Lawnside, NJ Hydraulic Engineer, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers “The Camden Scholars Program had a positive impact on my life. My high school experience at MFS prepared me for the demanding curriculum that I would encounter in college. Strong study skills paired with confidence in what I could accomplish allowed me to successfully complete my undergraduate studies. I valued my experience at MFS so much that my 6-year-old son now attends a Quaker school.”
Mark Mitchell ’86 B.S. Northwestern University Washington, D.C. Vice President of School and Student Services, National Association of Independent Schools “The Camden Scholars Program allowed me the opportunity to attend MFS, which opened my eyes to what the ‘world’ outside of Camden looked like and the possibilities for success that it held for me. One of the key, primary motivators in my work with K-12 private schools is that I have the opportunity to help other schools do for students what MFS did for me, through the Camden Scholars Program.”
Lorenzo Gibson ’12 Columbia University ’16 “Moorestown Friends School played, and continues to play, an integral role in my development as a person and as a thinker. In many ways, this school not only equipped me to be a strong, contributing member of society, but it also informed my perspective as an agent of change. As a Camden Scholar, my identity as a student was situated between two realms: the world as I knew it and the world as it perhaps could be. Because of the ethical training, intellectual discoveries and general sense of happiness that Moorestown Friends School facilitated for me for six wonderful years, I understand my capacity to impact the world with a profound clarity. Try as I might, I cannot imagine having been as thoroughly educated at any other institution.”
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