Friends' Central School

Last updated
Friends' Central School
FCS seal.jpg
Address
Friends' Central School
1101 City Ave

Wynnewood
,
Pennsylvania
19096-3490

United States
Coordinates 39°59′06″N75°15′45″W / 39.98502°N 75.26261°W / 39.98502; -75.26261
Information
Type Independent secondary school
Religious affiliation(s) Christianity
Denomination Quakers
Established1845;179 years ago (1845)
StatusOpen [1]
NCES School ID 01195711 [1]
Head of schoolBeth D. Johnson
Faculty116 (on an FTE basis) [1]
Grades N–12 [1]
Gender Coeducational [1]
Enrollment769 [1]  (2019-2020)
 •  Pre-kindergarten 36 [1]
 •  Kindergarten 31 [1]
 •  Grade 1 35 [1]
 •  Grade 2 23 [1]
 •  Grade 3 32 [1]
 •  Grade 4 33 [1]
 •  Grade 5 35 [1]
 •  Grade 6 40 [1]
 •  Grade 7 58 [1]
 •  Grade 8 62 [1]
 •  Grade 9 79 [1]
 •  Grade 10 101 [1]
 •  Grade 11 103 [1]
 •  Grade 12 101 [1]
Student to teacher ratio6.3:1 [1]
Campus typeSuburban [1]
Color(s)  Navy
  White
  Gray
Athletics conferenceFriends' Schools League
Nickname Phoenix
SAT average649 Math
669 Verbal
666 Writing
Annual tuition$41,990 [2]
Nobel laureates Karl Barry Sharpless
Website friendscentral.org
Friends Central.jpg

Friends' Central School (FCS) is a Quaker, independent, coeducational, college-preparatory day school for students in Nursery though grade 12. It is located on 41 acres across two campuses in Wynnewood, a community in Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. [3] [4]

Contents

The school was founded in 1845 in Philadelphia, near the current location of the Philadelphia Mint. It had an enrollment of 769 students from nursery to grade 12 in 2019.

Informally known as "Friends' Central," the school encompasses three divisions: Lower School (nursery through 5th grades), Middle School (6th through 8th), and Upper School (9th through 12th). The Middle and Upper Schools share their campus, and the Lower School occupies its own site.

History

19th century

Friends' Central School was founded in 1845 in Philadelphia at 4th Street and Cherry Street, serving as an upper school for the Quaker primary schools with grades 7 through 12. In 1857, the school moved to 15th and Race Street, remaining at this location until 1925, when it moved to its current campus on City Avenue, formerly the Wistar Morris Estate. The main house of the estate, constructed in 1862, remains and serves as the administrative building of the school and an architectural focal point of the campus.

20th century

In 1988, due to the growth of the student body, Friends' Central acquired the Montgomery School's property and relocated the lower school there. [5]

21st century

In 2000, the Shimada Athletic Center was constructed. In 2003, the Fannie Cox Center for Science, Math, and Technology was completed and opened. [6]

In 2011, David Felsen retired after 23 years of service as headmaster; [7] beginning in the 2012 school year, Craig Sellers was named Head of School. [8]

On July 1, 2021, Beth D. Johnson, '77, was named interim Head of School. [9] On February 17, 2022, Beth Johnson was unanimously named the 12th official head of Friends Central. [9]

In 2022, Friends’ Central converted the former Rex Gymnasium into Phase I of the school's new Center for Innovation and Design (CID). Construction of Phase II of the CID began in January 2024, and the brand new, fully competed CID will be open for business in September 2024.

Curriculum

Friends' Central School students achieved the highest average SAT scores in all three sections (Math, Verbal, and Writing) of the 19 schools that had scores reported in Suburban Life Magazine's 2010 report on suburban Philadelphia private high schools. The scores were 649 in Math, 669 in Verbal, and 666 in Writing. This report also indicated that Friends' Central had a student-faculty ratio of 9:1, yearly high school tuition of $25,400 and that 100% of the 93 students in the senior class went on to a four-year college. [10]

Quaker values such as community, service, equality, and integrity are all incorporated into student life. All students attend a weekly Meeting for Worship on Wednesdays for 40 minutes, sharing messages when "moved to speak". The community convenes in one room in silence, and individuals stand when expressing thoughts to the community. Students are also required to perform off-campus service for mandatory hours. In the middle and upper school, students must take three courses concerning the history of the Society of Friends and the central philosophies of Quakerism from a non-religious perspective.

In middle school, 5th and 7th grades learn the history and faith of Quakerism, and the 9th-grade course further explores the Quaker faith and practice, focusing on a deeper understanding of the religion's history and its testimonies. 11th and 12th graders may take additional study in the origin and philosophy of religion in general. [11]

Athletics

Friends' Central has strong baseball, swimming, girls' track, boys' tennis, basketball, and wrestling programs. From 2009 to 2012, Friends' Central won four consecutive Pennsylvania Independent Schools Boys' Basketball Championships. [12] [13]

Notable alumni

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania</span> Census-designated place in Pennsylvania, United States

Bryn Mawr is a census-designated place (CDP) located in Pennsylvania, United States. It is located just west of Philadelphia along Lancaster Avenue, also known as U.S. Route 30. As of 2020, the CDP is defined to include sections of Lower Merion Township, Montgomery County, as well as portions of Haverford Township and Radnor Township in Delaware County.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Media, Pennsylvania</span> Borough in Pennsylvania, United States

Media is a borough in and the county seat of Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located about 13 miles (21 km) west of Philadelphia. It is part of the Delaware Valley, also known as the Philadelphia metropolitan area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania</span> Township in Pennsylvania, United States

Lower Merion Township is a township in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is part of the Philadelphia Main Line. The township's name originates with the county of Merioneth in north Wales. Merioneth is an English-language transcription of the Welsh Meirionnydd.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Philadelphia Main Line</span> Collection of suburban communities in Pennsylvania, United States

The Philadelphia Main Line, known simply as the Main Line, is an informally delineated historical and social region of suburban Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Lying along the former Pennsylvania Railroad's once prestigious Main Line, it runs northwest from Center City Philadelphia parallel to Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike, also known as U.S. Route 30.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wayne, Pennsylvania</span> Unincorporated community in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States

Wayne is an unincorporated community centered in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States, on the Main Line, a series of highly affluent Philadelphia suburbs located along the railroad tracks of the Pennsylvania Railroad and one of the wealthiest areas in the nation. While the center of Wayne is in Radnor Township, Wayne extends into both Tredyffrin Township in Chester County and Upper Merion Township in Montgomery County. The center of Wayne was designated the Downtown Wayne Historic District in 2012. Considering the large area served by the Wayne post office, the community may extend slightly into Easttown Township, Chester County, as well.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Westtown School</span> Private school in West Chester, Pennsylvania, United States

Westtown School is a Quaker, coeducational, college preparatory day and boarding school for students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade, located in West Chester, Pennsylvania, United States, 20 miles west of Philadelphia. Founded in 1799 by the Religious Society of Friends.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wynnewood, Pennsylvania</span> Place in Pennsylvania, United States

Wynnewood is a suburban unincorporated community, located west of Philadelphia, straddling Lower Merion Township in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania and Haverford Township in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Friends Select School</span> Private school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States

Friends Select School (FSS) is a college-preparatory, Quaker school for pre-kindergarten through 12th grade located at 1651 Benjamin Franklin Parkway at the intersection of Cherry and N. 17th Streets in Center City Philadelphia. Quaker education in Philadelphia dates back to 1689. Friends Select, which was founded in 1833, has been located on this site since 1885.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Villanova, Pennsylvania</span> Village in Pennsylvania

Villanova is a suburb of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It straddles Lower Merion Township in Montgomery County and Radnor Township in Delaware County. It is located at the center of the Philadelphia Main Line, a series of Philadelphia suburbs located along the original east–west railroad tracks of the Pennsylvania Railroad. It is served by the SEPTA Paoli/Thorndale Line regional rail train and the Norristown High Speed Line.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wyoming Seminary</span> Independent boarding school in Kingston, Luzerne, Pennsylvania, United States

Wyoming Seminary, founded in 1844, is a Methodist college preparatory school located in the Wyoming Valley of Northeastern Pennsylvania. The "Lower School," which consists of preschool 8th-grade students, is located in Forty Fort. The "Upper School," comprising 9th-grade to postgraduate students, is located in Kingston. It is near the Susquehanna River and the city of Wilkes-Barre. Locally and in some publications, it is sometimes referred to as "Sem." As a boarding school, only Upper School students may board on campus. Slightly more than one-third of the Upper School student body resides on campus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Penn Charter School</span> School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States

William Penn Charter School is an independent school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1689 at the urging of William Penn as the "Public Grammar School" and chartered in 1689 to be operated by the "Overseers of the public School, founded by Charter in the town and county of Philadelphia" in Pennsylvania. It is the oldest Quaker school in the world, the oldest elementary school in Pennsylvania, and the fifth oldest elementary school in the United States following The Collegiate School, Boston Latin School (1635), Hartford Public High School (1638), and Roxbury Latin (1645).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lower Merion High School</span> Public high school in Ardmore, Pennsylvania, United States

Lower Merion High School is a public high school in Ardmore, Pennsylvania in the Main Line suburbs of Philadelphia. It is one of two high schools in the Lower Merion School District; the other one is Harriton High School. Lower Merion serves both Lower Merion Township and the Borough of Narberth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Episcopal Academy</span> Private school in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, United States

The Episcopal Academy, founded in 1785, is a private, co-educational school for grades Pre-K through 12 based in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania. Prior to 2008, the main campus was located in Merion Station and the satellite campus was located in Devon. The Newtown Square facility is on a 123-acre (0.50 km2) campus. The Academy is affiliated with the Episcopal Church.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Friends School of Baltimore</span> Private, co-ed, day school

Friends School of Baltimore is a private Quaker school in Baltimore, serving students in pre-kindergarten through 12th grade.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abington Friends School</span> Private school in the United States

Abington Friends School is an independent Quaker school in Abington Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States, with a Jenkintown postal address. Serving students from age 3 to grade 12, Abington Friends School has stood on its original campus since 1697, and is the oldest primary and secondary educational institution in the United States to operate continuously at the same location under the same management. The school draws students from approximately 75 ZIP codes around the greater Philadelphia area, as well as international students from many regions of China.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy</span> Private, Jewish day school in Bryn Mawr, PA, United States

Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy is a coeducational college-preparatory and religiously pluralistic Jewish day school for grades 6 through 12, located in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania.

Education in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania began with Benjamin Franklin's founding of the University of Pennsylvania as European styled school and America's first university. Today's Philadelphia region is home to nearly 300,000 college students, numerous private and parochial secondary schools, and the 8th largest school district in the country.

Newtown Friends School is a coeducational prekindergarten through eighth grade Quaker independent school founded in 1948 and located in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Though its name and address indicate it is in Newtown Township, it is physically located in Middletown Township. Newtown Friends' campus adjoins with that of George School.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Friends Academy</span> Private co-ed school in Glen Cove, New York, USA

Friends Academy is a Quaker, coeducational, independent, college preparatory school serving students from nursery school through the twelfth grade, located in Locust Valley, New York, United States. The school was founded in 1876 by 78-year-old Gideon Frost for "The children of Friends and those similarly sentimented." The school was originally named Friends College. The campus covers 65 acres (26 ha). The school is organized around a lush, grassy quad with buildings surrounding it. Recent additions to the school include the Helen A. Dolan Center (2000), the Kumar-Wang Library (2000), the renovation of the Upper School (2004), the renovation of the Lower School (2010), the construction of the gym and field house (2007), and the renovation of the Middle School (2016).

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 "Search for Private Schools – School Detail for Friends Central School". National Center for Education Statistics . Institute of Education Sciences . Retrieved 10 October 2022.
  2. ↑ "Affording FCS". Admissions. Friends' Central School. 2022–2023. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
  3. ↑ "Friends' Central School - N-12 Quaker School - Philadelphia". Friendscentral.org. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
  4. ↑ "Community Profile Archived 2015-02-02 at the Wayback Machine ." Lower Merion Township. Retrieved on April 30, 2014. (contains maps of Lower Merion).
  5. ↑ "The First 300: The Amazing and Rich History of Lower Merion (Part 16)". Lowermerionhistory.org. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
  6. ↑ "Friends' Central School ~ About Friends' Central". Archived from the original on 2011-10-01. Retrieved 2011-09-14.
  7. ↑ "Friends' Central School ~ David M. Felsen Announces His Retirement". Archived from the original on 2012-03-27. Retrieved 2011-09-08.
  8. ↑ "Friends' Central School ~ Our 11th Head of School". Archived from the original on 15 November 2013.
  9. 1 2 "New Interim Head of Friends' Central Beth D. Johnson '77".
  10. ↑ "Private High Schools: 2010 Report Card". Suburbanlifemagazine.com. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
  11. ↑ "History Curriculum - Upper School | Friends Central School". www.friendscentral.org. Retrieved 2022-02-24.
  12. ↑ "Friends' Central School ~ Three-peat Basketball Champions!". Archived from the original on 2014-03-01. Retrieved 2011-04-12.
  13. ↑ "Friends' Central dunks Malvern Prep in Pennsylvania Independent Schools basketball tourney final". Main Line Media News. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
  14. ↑ Greg Heller, Ed Bacon: Planning, Politics, and the Building of Modern Philadelphia. (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2013) p.17
  15. ↑ "Alum Destined for The Great White Way!". Friends' Central School. Archived from the original on April 14, 2013. Retrieved June 1, 2012.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.