Friends School of Atlanta

Last updated
The Friends School of Atlanta
The Friends School of Atlanta.JPG
The Friends School of Atlanta in 2011
Address
Friends School of Atlanta
862 Columbia Drive

Decatur
,
Georgia
30030

United States
Coordinates 33°45′41″N84°16′38″W / 33.761431°N 84.277184°W / 33.761431; -84.277184
Information
Denomination Quaker
Established1991
Head of schoolWaman French
Teaching staff44 (as of 2018-19) [1]
Grades Pre-kindergarten–8
Enrollment169 (as of 2018-19) [1]
Student to teacher ratio8:1 (as of 2018-19) [1]
Color(s)Purple and gold
  
MascotQuakes
Website friendsschoolatlanta.org

The Friends School of Atlanta (FSA) is a private school in Decatur, Georgia that enrolls students from Pre-kindergarten through 8th grade.

Contents

History

The Atlanta Friends Meeting was organized in 1943, and in the late 1950s, it purchased a residence on Fairview Road in the historic Druid Hills neighborhood. In addition to providing a gathering place for Friends, the Meetinghouse was one of the few sites in the city available for interracial meetings and education. In 1990, the Meeting built a new facility near the border of Atlanta and the City of Decatur.

The Friends School of Atlanta, which was incorporated as a nonprofit institution in 1990, grew out of the work of a committee of the Meeting. In 1991, the Friends School of Atlanta's Board of Trustees called Waman French, an educator with experience at Brooklyn Friends School and Atlanta International School, to be the first Head of School. Meeting members are active in the school's Board of Trustees and offer guidance and support to the school in many ways.

Leasing space in the newly constructed Friends Meetinghouse at West Howard and Adair Streets in Decatur, the school opened in the fall of 1991 with 37 students, ages 4½ through eight, and three teachers.

A key to the early success of the school has been — and continues to be — the strong involvement of parents, whose efforts have included providing administrative and secretarial assistance in the office, coordinating a hot lunch program, building the playground, serving on committees, and taking part in policy development.

The school stayed at the Meetinghouse for five years, expanding by one grade per year and adding portable classrooms on the property. In 1995, two classes relocated to the First Christian Church in downtown Decatur. In 1996, the entire school moved there while awaiting the renovation of its permanent space.

In 1997, the school moved to 121 Sams Street in Decatur, at first using one half of the building, sharing space with S & A Industries until 2001, when the other half of the building was renovated, including a Meeting room for the whole school and community events.

After eight years as Head of School, Waman French decided to return to working with children in the middle school in 1999. The Board of Trustees appointed Marcia Pauly as its next Head of School. With a rich educational background, most recently with Decatur City Schools, she led FSA into the twenty-first century. Reluctantly, Pauly stepped down as Head in June 2001 for personal reasons.

In July 2001, James D. Withers became the next Head of the Friends School of Atlanta. He is a long-time Atlanta educator, President of Withers Consulting Services, and former Academic Dean at Pace Academy. Upon taking the helm at FSA, Withers left his consulting business, where he had worked with public and private organizations in mediation, conflict resolution, and team-building. Withers stepped aside as Head in May 2003, and Waman French returned as interim Head for the 2003–04 school year. French was subsequently chosen by the Head Search committee to continue as Head of School. Under his leadership, the Board of Trustees began a search for a possible new location to relocate and grow the school.

In 2007, the Friends School of Atlanta began a capital campaign to purchase and renovate a new school site at 862 Columbia Drive. The school moved to its new home in the 2008–09 school year. The new location is larger and is enhanced by two playgrounds and an enclosed gymnasium.

The 2022-23 school year was Waman French's last year with the friend school. Dorothy "Dot" López is now the head of school for the foreseeable future.

Campus

The Friends School of Atlanta occupies what was formerly the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. The campus includes the main building, a lower parking lot and an upper parking lot, a gym, a play structure and upper field, a community garden, and a space formerly used for outdoor classrooms. The main building consists of three floors. The first floor consists of the administrative wing, the middle school cafeteria, the main lobby, an art room, an innovation lab, and a seating area. The second floor consists of the elementary school classrooms (PK–4), the library, a community meeting room, and a music room. The third floor consists of the middle school classrooms (5–8).

The gym includes a main lobby, bathrooms, and two offices.

Extracurricular activities

FSA offers a variety of after-school clubs. These have included activities such as art, drama, yoga, music lessons, drones, robots, MineCrafting, textiles, and creative writing.

The school also has four competitive sports teams (the Quakes) for students in grades 5-8: basketball, ultimate frisbee, track, and volleyball.

Related Research Articles

Earl of March Secondary School is an Ottawa-Carleton District School Board secondary school in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is located in suburban Kanata in the Beaverbrook neighbourhood near the Ottawa Public Library Beaverbrook Branch and the John G. Mlacak Centre. The school also serves the neighbourhoods of Kanata Lakes, Beaverbrook, Katimavik-Hazeldean, Richardson Ridge, and Morgan's Grant.

Streetsville Secondary School is a high school in the Peel District School Board located in the Streetsville Village community of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada.

The Seattle Academy of Arts and Sciences is a co-ed private middle and high school located on Seattle, Washington's urban Capitol Hill.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Park School</span> School in Brookline, Massachusetts, United States

The Park School is an independent day school in Brookline, Massachusetts, for boys and girls providing pre-Kindergarten through eighth grade education. Founded in 1888 as Miss Pierce's School, it is a 34-acre campus in Brookline, Massachusetts near Jamaica Pond.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Friends Seminary</span> Private school in New York City

Friends Seminary is an independent K-12 school in Manhattan within the landmarked district in the East Village. The oldest continuously coeducational school in New York City, Friends Seminary has served around 800 students in recent years in Kindergarten through Grade 12. The school's mission is to prepare students "not only for the world that is, but to help them bring about a world that ought to be." It is guided by a service mission statement and a diversity mission statement. Friends is a member of New York's Independent School Diversity Network.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Graded School</span> International school in São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

Associação Escola Graduada de São Paulo, most commonly referred to as Graded School or Graded, is an American school in São Paulo, Brazil. The school opened on October 17, 1920, in a small schoolhouse on Avenida São João, and in 1961 the current campus was built on Avenida Giovanni Gronchi, in a terrain now facing Paraisópolis, located in Morumbi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Media-Providence Friends School</span> Private school

Media-Providence Friends School is a Quaker school founded as Media Friends School in Media, Pennsylvania in 1876.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">De La Salle Santiago Zobel School</span> Catholic private school in Muntinlupa, Philippines

The De La Salle Santiago Zobel School, also referred to by its acronym DLSZ or De La Salle Zobel, is a private Catholic basic education institution for boys and girls run by the Philippine District of the De La Salle Brothers in Muntinlupa, Metro Manila, Philippines. It was opened in 1978 by the De La Salle Brothers because of the increasing number of students in the grade school department of the former De La Salle College in Manila.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Calhoun School</span> Private school in New York City

The Calhoun School is a progressive, co-educational, independent school on New York City's Upper West Side, serving students from Pre-K through 12th grade. Founded in 1896, the school currently has approximately 600 students, housed in two separate buildings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clarkstown High School North</span> Public school in New City, New York, United States

Clarkstown High School North is a high school located in New City, New York, United States, educating students in grades 9 through 12. It is one of two high schools in the Clarkstown Central School District (CCSD). Since 2006, North has offered the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme to juniors and seniors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Berlin High School (Connecticut)</span> Public school in Berlin, Connecticut, United States

Berlin High School is a public high school located in Berlin, Connecticut, United States.

<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">Vancouver College</span> Independent school in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Vancouver College is an independent K-12 university-preparatory Catholic school for boys located in the Shaughnessy neighbourhood of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Founded in 1922, it is the only independent Catholic all-boys school in British Columbia. Despite the school's Catholic denomination, it is open to students of all religions. The current president is Michelle Rupp (interim) and the principal is Daryl Weaver.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Regina Mundi Catholic College</span> High school in London, Ontario, Canada

Regina Mundi Catholic College (RMC) is a Catholic secondary school in London, Ontario, Canada, administered by the London District Catholic School Board. It is the second Catholic secondary school to be built and administered in London. RMC'S facility consists of a 50-acre property which had previously been used as a Junior Seminary and a provincially run residential school for native childrenSource?.

The Schutz American School is an independent, coeducational day school which offers an educational program from pre-kindergarten through grade 12 for students of all nationalities. The school is located in Alexandria, Egypt. It is the oldest American school in Africa, founded in 1924. The school year comprises two semesters extending from late August through mid-June.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Princeton Friends School</span> Independent, day school in Princeton, NJ, United States

Princeton Friends School (PFS) is an independent Quaker day pre-Kindergarten-8th grade school in Princeton, New Jersey. It is under the care of Princeton Monthly Meeting and located on the Meeting's historic Stony Brook Meeting House and Cemetery property, adjacent to both the Institute for Advanced Study Woods and the Princeton Battlefield. The school is governed by a board of trustees that includes members of the Religious Society of Friends, attenders of the Princeton Monthly Meeting, parents of students in the school, and members of the broader Princeton community.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old Gym</span> Historic building in Washington, Pennsylvania, USA

The Old Gym is a historic building at Washington & Jefferson College in Washington, Pennsylvania. It currently houses a modern exercise facility featuring cardiovascular, resistance, and strength-training equipment. The building also features a three-lane indoor track suspended above the main floor.

Taipei Adventist American School (TAAS) is a private foreign-registered elementary school with an American-based curriculum located on Yangming Shan (陽明山) in the Shihlin District of Taipei City, Taiwan. It is administered under the Northern Asia-Pacific Division of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

Frankford Friends School (FFS) is an independent, coeducational Quaker day-school for students in grades pre-kindergarten through eight. It is located at 1500 Orthodox Street, in the historic Frankford section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">STEM School Highlands Ranch</span> Charter school in Colorado, U.S

STEM School Highlands Ranch, formerly known as STEM School and Academy, is a public charter school with a curriculum focused on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), located in Highlands Ranch, Colorado. The school building is located in an office park next to Central Park, a retail center. The school serves as a K–12 for over 1,700 students from across the Denver Metro Area.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Faculty and Staff".
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.