Friends School of Baltimore

Friends School of Baltimore
Address
5114 N. Charles Street, Baltimore, MD, 21210, United States
Coordinates 39°21′22″N 76°37′39″W / 39.35611°N 76.62750°W / 39.35611; -76.62750Coordinates: 39°21′22″N 76°37′39″W / 39.35611°N 76.62750°W / 39.35611; -76.62750
Information
Type Private, Co-ed, Day
Motto Palma Non Sine Pulvere
Religious affiliation(s) Quaker
Established 1784
Head of School Matthew Micciche
Faculty 95
Enrollment 1009 total
Average class size 12 students
Student to teacher ratio 8:1
Campus Suburban, 35 acres
Color(s) Scarlet and Gray
Athletics 30 sports
Athletics conference Men: MIAA, Women: IAAM
Mascot The Quaker
Rival Park School of Baltimore
Newspaper The Quaker Quill
Yearbook The Quaker
Website [friendsbalt.org

Friends School of Baltimore is a private Quaker school in Baltimore, serving students in pre-kindergarten through 12th grade. One of the prestigious Roland Park 5 Preparatory Schools, Friends has been described by author Judy Colbert as "a challenging college preparatory program in an environment where individual differences and perspectives are respected and encouraged".[1] It is renowned as Baltimore's oldest private school.

History

It is the oldest private school in Baltimore, founded in 1784 by members of the Religious Society of Friends. Classes were first held in the Aisquith Street Meetinghouse in the East Baltimore community of Old Town. The School was moved to the Lombard Street Meetinghouse in the 1840s and then, in 1899, to its third location at 1712 Park Avenue, adjacent to the Park Avenue Meetinghouse. In 1925, Friends purchased its present site at 5114 North Charles Street. Though the School incorporated in 1973 and separated from the Baltimore Monthly Meeting of Friends, Stony Run, it maintains historic and philosophic ties with the Meeting.

Philosophy

Quaker philosophy maintains a somewhat fluid state because Quakers have historically resisted specific creeds or regimented hierarchical church structures unlike most organized religion. Members of the movements profess the priesthood of all believers,[2][3] a doctrine derived from the First Epistle of Peter.[4][5] They include those with evangelical, holiness, liberal, and traditional Quaker understandings of Christianity. To differing extents, the different movements that make up the Religious Society of Friends/Friends Church avoid creeds and hierarchical structures.[6] Some, but not all Quakers, self-identify as Unitarian Universalists, meaning that they believe all religions and beliefs are correct and of equal value although they may practice a particular spiritual belief.

Curriculum and administration

As of 2006, the School had a faculty of 105 teachers, including 87 full-time faculty, a yearly operating budget of $16.1 million and an endowment of $16.6 million. The School is governed by a Board of Trustees.

Friends School is accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools and the Association of Independent Maryland Schools, and is approved by the Maryland State Board of Education. Education programs in each division are designed to instill a love of learning by fostering students' critical thinking skills and encouraging them to seek creative methods for solving problems. In addition to traditional academic subjects, all students participate in fine arts and physical education courses, as well as community service, which teaches students to look beyond themselves and form connections with the greater community. Co-curricular activities include after-school interscholastic and intramural sports, theater and dance productions, private music lessons, and after-school clubs and committees in each division. In addition to separate instructional buildings for the Lower, Middle and Upper Schools—including a separate facility for the Lower School's Pre-K through Pre-First program—the Friends campus features a music education facility, dance studio, fitness room, two gymnasiums, a wrestling room, tennis courts, five full playing fields and two practice areas.

Principals, headmasters, heads of the school

  • Eli Matthews Lamb (1864-1899†)
  • Louisa Powell Blackburn (1889–1899)
  • John William Gregg (1899–1903)
  • Edward Clarkston Wilson (1903–1927)
  • William Sibley Pike (1927–1935)
  • Edwin Cornell Zavitz (1935–1943)
  • Bliss Forbush Sr. (1943–1960)
  • William Byron Forbush II (1960–1998)
  • Jonathan Miller Harris (1998–2002)
  • Lila Boyce Lohr (2002–2005)
  • Matthew William Micciche (2005–Present)

†The terms "Principal" and "Headmaster" were not used before 1864. The term "Head of School" was first used by Jon M. Harris.

†From 1889 to 1899 Eli M. Lamb's "Friends' Elementary and High School" operated separately from the Baltimore Monthly Meeting's School.

Historical timeline

  • 1781 Quaker Meeting House opened at Aisquith and Fayette Streets.
  • 1800 School House constructed on Old Town property.
  • 1816 Girls' School opened.
  • 1840s School moved to Lombard Street Meeting House.
  • 1865 Introduction of high-school classes.
  • 1866 Name changed to "Friends Elementary and High School," Baltimore's first private high school.
  • 1887 Lombard Street property sold.
  • 1892 Purchase of lot next to Park Avenue Meeting House.
  • 1899 Renamed "Park Avenue Friends Elementary and High School."
  • 1900 Name changed to "Friends School".
  • 1901 First issue of Friends School Quarterly.
  • 1908 Electric lighting installed in the school.
  • 1911 Purchase of 1712 Park Avenue for kindergarten and primary grades.
  • 1912 Purchase of 8½ acres in West Forest Park for athletic field. First football team.
  • 1913 Student government organization begun.
  • 1921 School uniforms adopted.
  • 1924 Boys' lacrosse started.
  • 1927 Girls' lacrosse started.
  • 1929 Primary Department moved to Homeland campus.
  • 1931 Intermediate Department Building constructed at Homeland.
  • 1936 High School moved to Homeland. School organization changed to a Lower School (grades 1-6) and an Upper School (grades 7-12).
  • 1937 Clubhouse remodeled to house nursery and kindergarten classes. New gymnasium built.
  • 1954 Education Committee changed admission policy to allow desegregation.
  • 1955 First black students admitted to Friends.
  • 1964 All classes desegregated.
  • 1966 New science building and new addition to gymnasium.
  • 1967 First full-time black faculty hired.
  • 1970 Middle School established.
  • 1974 Faculty Meeting for Business established.
  • 1975 Auditorium extended to house Middle School.
  • 1982 Addition to Upper School building. Purchase of 2.1 acres (8,500 m2) from Cathedral property.
  • 1986 New cafeteria built.
  • 1987 Pool built for summer programs use.
  • 1989 Expansion of Lower School to Pre-primary ages.
  • 2003 Opening of the Alumni Center.
  • 2005 New Middle School and Athletic Turf.
  • 2009 New dining hall built
  • 2015 Redid Auditorium
  • 2016 Redid Athletic Turf

Notable alumni

See also

References

  1. ↑ Insider's Guide to Baltimore
  2. ↑ "Quaker Faith & Practice". Britain Yearly Meeting.
  3. ↑ "Baltimore Yearly Meeting Faith & Practice 2011 draft". Archived from the original on 2012-04-13.
  4. ↑ 1 Peter 2:9
  5. ↑ "'That of God' in every person". Quakers in Belgium and Luxembourg.
  6. ↑ The Trouble With "Ministers" by Chuck Fager gives an overview of the hierarchy Friends had until it began to be abolished in the mid-eighteenth century. Retrieved 26 April 2014.

Sources

  • Friends for two hundred years: A history of Baltimore's oldest school, by Dean R. Esslinger
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