Wilmington Friends School
Welcome
Ken Aldridge, Head of School
Quaker matters. 95% of families who choose Friends School are not Quaker. So why do we say that “Quaker matters”? Because at Friends, as a natural consequence of our Quaker DNA: • Students learn to challenge themselves to do their absolute best with a sense of responsibility to the common good. • Intellectual and academic foundation is defined by questioning, discovery, and relevance. • Each student is known and valued as an individual. • Students and families representing a variety of identities and experiences feel welcome. • Mindfulness, character education, service, stewardship, and a commitment to diversity and social justice are part of our founding and permanent mission.
Foundations Respect Respect for each individual in the context of community responsibility led Quakers as early as the 1600s to support education for all children—regardless of race, religion, or economic means—both for the good of the children and for the good of society. The conviction that every person has an essential worth that commands respect, and an ability and obligation to contribute that should be nurtured, continues as a major influence in Friends education.
Innovation Also of continuing importance is the Quaker belief that truth is not static, but rather is revealed and informed through an ongoing process of research, questioning, and reflection, with an openness to new information and insights. That foundation leads naturally to inquiry and discovery-based education, and to a mindset of continuing innovation.
Leadership Throughout its history, Friends School has been a pioneer in education by providing tuition aid since the 1700s; teaching global geography since the early 1800s; developing Delaware’s first kindergarten; and hosting international students since 1947. Friends is the State’s first school to offer the International Baccalaureate Programme (IB), to join the School Year Abroad (SYA) consortium, to be selected for the national Malone Scholars Program, and to join the Malone Schools Online Network (MSON). Recent innovations include an interdivisional Chinese language and culture program and a nationally recognized “one-to-one” laptop program.
Now & Next Our sustainable, renovated facilities are designed to support student inquiry, initiative, collaboration, and creativity. They include design and flex labs, small group study rooms, athletic fields and courts, the Friends Theater, and studio space, and some of these have earned LEED Gold certification. The Global Learning Center (GLC), which includes five classrooms, is a “net zero� wing of about 6,000 square feet of building space. The GLC does not add to the carbon footprint of the campus thanks to 12 geothermal wells, 145 solar panels, and other design features and materials that improve insulation and water conservation. In addition to those on the GLC, there are 860 solar panels on both our lower school and middle/ upper school buildings, which offset our total yearly energy consumption by 16% (a total average homes offset of 27).
Challenge Friends offers an unsurpassed learning program, from our Reggio Emilia-inspired preschool to the International Baccalaureate Programme (IB) in the junior and senior years. It is a program with depth that truly asks students to think both independently and collaboratively. It is distinguished by the intellectual and active engagement of complex questions. The nationally recognized QUEST Center (Quaker Center for Understanding, Engagement, and Stewardship) provides a structure for integrated experiential and service learning, an approach that helps our students develop the skills and the confidence to approach new challenges.
Discovery A principle of Quakerism that has a defining influence on the Friends educational philosophy is “continuing revelation,� the idea that truth is continually revealed through seeking, experience, and reflection. In a process that is intellectually and personally demanding and exciting for both students and teachers, learning at Friends requires asking questions and taking risks; testing ideas against experience and new information; and engaging in education as a process of exploration and discovery. Through this, Friends students develop the habits of mind and transferable skills to be lifelong learners who communicate, act, and lead effectively. They learn how to question, how to listen, and how to work with people with a variety of points of view. And they learn that the faster the world changes, the more important their own foundation of values and ethics becomes.
Teaching Challenge and discovery define not only learning but also teaching at Friends School. What makes Friends teachers truly masterful is not just their subject knowledge or training (about 60% of our teachers hold advanced degrees) but that virtually all lead teachers come to Friends with extensive classroom experience and ongoing professional development is standard. Most distinctive is our teachers’ ability to foster a genuine connection with the students to the curriculum. Friends teachers focus on student experience and growth, within the discipline of high expectations for intellectual pursuit and community responsibility and with an openness to the unexpected. Beyond the content and skill standards for each class, Friends teachers work to prepare students for what comes next—to engage ideas, challenges, opportunities, questions, and other people in meaningful and effective ways.
Global Global learning at Friends includes signature programs: • The International Baccalaureate Programme (IB) • School Year Abroad (SYA) • Three modern languages, including an interdivisional Chinese program • Singapore Math, grades K-8 • Language study beginning in pre-kindergarten (Spanish) • AFS Cultural Exchange Program More broadly and fundamentally, global education at Friends teaches students to approach complex issues with an informed and inclusive perspective, and with a sense of confidence and responsibility. Friends was the first school in Delaware authorized to offer the IB, recognized around the world as one of the highest standards in college preparatory education. Additional global education programs are coordinated at Friends through the Quaker Center for Understanding, Engagement, and Stewardship (QUEST).
Community Friends offers an unsurpassed academic program, and just as important, it is a great place to grow up. There is no “typical” Friends School student or family. We recognize diversity of thought, identity, and experience as essential to both academic excellence and the character of our community. Our teachers (including coaches) know our students and they provide individual attention and are deeply invested in students’ growth and success. Because they are known as individuals, students are able to discover and develop the best in themselves. Because they are valued and held to high standards as members of a community, students are motivated to contribute and to lead. All students and teachers come together, in different groupings, for Meeting for Worship, a time of reflection largely defined by each individual and informed by each person’s own religious/spiritual tradition and identity. For parents, Friends is a great place to join with other families who share a commitment to education that inspires the best in each student while fostering an active responsibility to the good of all. The active Home and School Association provides opportunities for parents to engage with the School in ways that deepen connections and enrich the community.
Joy In Wilmington Friends School’s statement of philosophy and beliefs, one of the purposes of education is to “help students to develop self-discipline, resilience, and motivation to sustain their joy as lifelong learners.� When the process of learning is designed and experienced as a journey, it can both inspire achievement and embrace joy. Friends School offers an environment of confidence without arrogance, where good humor can lend greater dignity to work; it is a place where students and teachers want to be.
Early Years Preschool and Pre-Kindergarten The preschool and pre-kindergarten programs at
The early years curriculum encompasses language
Friends reflect best practices and current re-
arts, math, science, social studies, performing arts
search and are guided by Quaker principles and
(with a specialist teacher), process-oriented visual
complementary components of the Reggio Emilia
arts, recess, and gym time (preschool)/physical
approach to early education.
education (pre-kindergarten).
Studies in neuroscience and long-term outcomes
Pre-kindergarten students also have classes with
of early childhood education speak to the value of
a specialist teacher in Spanish, along with regular
the Friends program, which emphasizes “knowl-
activities with specialists in the STEM Lab and
edge construction” (vs. passive reception) and
Library Media Center.
relationship-building skills. Research suggests this approach is most effective in providing the
As part of the Friends lower school, early years
foundation for cognitive skills, including cogni-
students enjoy benefits such as “buddy” activities
tive integration and executive function, which
with older students, a full-time nurse, and food
are skills essential to future learning, well-being,
service. We also offer an After School Program,
problem-solving, and innovation.
vacation child care, and summer camp.
Lower School Kindergarten - 5th Grade The Friends lower school program is designed to
ing, a structured conflict resolution program, and
encourage student voice and full participation,
respect for all voices in Meeting for Worship are
as individuals and as members of a community.
integrated with classroom practices to help devel-
Interdisciplinary themes encourage students
op habits of empathy and responsibility to others.
to think and inquire globally, beyond any one
Our approach to learning is very much rooted in
discipline. In the “Singapore Math� curriculum,
the Quaker traditions of inquiry and commitment
students are asked to articulate reasoning in a
to equality, peace, and community.
way that develops perseverance and confidence. In the STEM Lab and in robotics, students are
In addition to language arts, math, science, and
encouraged to experiment with designs that may
social studies, K-5 students have classes with spe-
or may not work in order to deepen learning.
cialist teachers in Spanish, computer science, performing arts, physical education, visual arts, and
Class structures, with different groupings of stu-
information literacy/media studies. Technology
dents by academic subject and for activities like
is integrated throughout the program, and fifth
recess, allow teachers to develop greater exper-
graders have individual, school-issued laptops.
tise and give students the opportunity to work
Additional choir and band programs are available
and play with a variety of peers. Service learn-
in fourth and fifth grades.
Middle School 6th - 8th Grades As part of the necessary growth toward inde-
pression; participation in sports, service, and
pendence, middle school is a time of some uncer-
ensembles; and organizational techniques and
tainty, when taking risks and trying new things
study skills.
inspire both excitement and worry for students. The Friends middle school program is structured
In addition to English, history/social science,
very intentionally to meet the needs of this age
math, and science, all students take classes in
group—a structure that includes a foundational
computer science, foreign language (Chinese,
advisory program; interest-based activities, clubs,
French, or Spanish), performing arts (band,
and committees with leadership opportunities;
choir, and classroom music), physical educa-
classes in interpersonal and risk-assessment
tion (sixth grade), and visual arts. Students also
skills, conflict resolution, and decision-making,
participate in service learning, information and
and advisory groups of 10-13 students with a
technology literacy, and interscholastic athletic
teacher who is responsible for knowing the “big
programs (seventh & eighth grades). Friends
picture” about each advisee.
students in grades 5 through 12 have individual, school-issued laptops, ensuring that all students
To guide students through and well beyond the
have the same computer hardware and software,
fundamentals of “junior high” academics, our
both reflective of the Friends commitment to
program emphasizes interdisciplinary learning
equality and access and practical in enabling
and group work; oral, written, and artistic ex-
students and teachers to collaborate more effectively.
Upper School 9th - 12th Grades The upper school at Friends engages students in
Students also may participate in the School’s
an unsurpassed academic program, including the
QUEST Scholars program, choosing from
International Baccalaureate (IB) Programme,
themes of diversity, global studies, service learn-
and students begin to focus on particular talents
ing, spiritual life, or sustainability. All students
and passions. Discovery and curiosity are fos-
participate in an individual service project and a
tered as habits of mind and practice. Students are
“senior exploration” related to a career or person-
able to participate broadly if they choose and can
al interest.
take on multiple leadership roles in competitive athletics, performing arts, clubs, and committees.
The structure of the Friends laptop program ensures that all students have the same computer
As Delaware’s only Malone Foundation part-
hardware and software, which is both reflective
ner school, Friends participates in the Malone
of the Quaker commitment to equality and access
Schools Online Network, a consortium of just
and practical in enabling students and teachers
over 20 schools nationwide, providing advanced
to collaborate more effectively. As part of help-
online courses and enhancing the upper school
ing students to define what they value and to
curriculum. Friends is also a member of the
reach their full potential, Friends provides highly
School Year Abroad consortium and a longtime
individualized, professional college guidance.
AFS partner school, opening opportunities for
Advanced work and independent study are avail-
international study for a school year or summer.
able.
Admissions Thank you for your interest in Wilmington Friends School Searching for the right school for your family can be complicated, and the Friends admissions staff is available to help make the process as informative as possible. To learn more about Friends, please explore the School web site, and most important, please visit in person to experience the distinctive learning environment. Friends welcomes online applications at any time during the year; however, we encourage you to apply in the summer or fall for the following school year when the chance of availability in your desired grade is at its highest. Please note that applications must be complete by January to be considered for the first round of admission offers, and that the financial aid application period is earlier, with a December first-round deadline. Applications are considered complete following a campus visit and completion of educational assessments and submission of required forms including a parent questionnaire and teacher recommendations. Applicants to grades 5-12 must complete the Independent School Entrance Exam (ISEE); younger applicants complete age-appropriate assessments during their visits.
Ask Us About Financial Aid Independent school tuition can be daunting; don’t hesitate to ask about financial aid. Aid is not a loan; it is a need-based grant that represents an essential part of the Friends mission, dating to the 1700s, to serve students and families from a variety of backgrounds for whom the School is a good fit. More than 40% of current Friends families receive financial aid, with an average award of just about half of the tuition cost.
Contact Information We look forward to welcoming your family to Friends! Please contact us at 302.576.2930 or admissions@wilmingtonfriends.org, or visit www.wilmingtonfriends.org.
Admissions Timetable Submit Application Beginning in September - Rolling Schedule Visit/Shadow Days Beginning in October - Rolling Submit Financial Aid Applications November 1 - December 15 Register for Testing* Please see our Testing Schedule for Middle and Upper School applicants. (Assessments for Lower School applicants occur on visit day.) All Application Materials Due for First Round Offers* First Friday in January (MS/US) Third Friday in January (LS) First Round Offers of Admission and Financial Aid Notification* Late January (MS/US) Early February (LS) Rolling Admission Applications will continue to be accepted and reviewed on an ongoing basis as availability permits. *Specific dates are listed on our web site, www.wilmingtonfriends.org.
Wilmington Friends School 101 School Road Wilmington, Delaware 19803 302.576.2930 admissions@wilmingtonfriends.org www.wilmingtonfriends.org
Quaker matters. Come see why.