Dear prospective students and families,
Thank you for taking the time to peruse the school’s website and for your interest in Friends Select, a Quaker school whose commitments to its students, families, employees, and the city of Philadelphia are unparalleled.
In Friends Select’s upper school, students joyfully engage in their learning. As a Quaker school, we embrace inquiry-based instruction in a culture of respect and equality. Our faculty are experts in their field, nurturing student voice and agency. Through our rigorous college-preparatory curriculum, students are encouraged to approach their learning with curiosity. Faculty tend to the intellectual as well as the social-emotional growth of our students.
Upper school students are encouraged to explore topics they are passionate about —within our classrooms, on our campus, and beyond. Recently, students who share our collective commitment to environmental sustainability helped organize a Free Clothing Store for the entire school community and created a calendar of events and resources for Earth Month. Students interested in equity and social justice issues help facilitate our annual Social Justice Week, inviting regional experts to speak on campus about pressing issues facing our society; a group of students also spoke during a Philadelphia City Council session at City Hall recently, when a resolution was passed recognizing Social Justice Week. In addition, students have opportunities to pursue advanced projects in science, technology, engineering, the arts, and mathematics in our new STEAM facilities. In this way, students are challenged and supported to grow in ways that are truly transformative.
Friends Select is “in the city and of the city,” as Philadelphia is an extension of our campus. In addition to partnering with local institutions, students understand their responsibility of stewardship. Many upper school students become so connected to the places where they participate in service opportunities each year that they ultimately secure internships at those sites during their senior year. This commitment to service learning sets our students up for making a positive impact on the world.
Friends Select has also been expanding cultural exchange and language immersion opportunities for upper school students through partnerships with schools throughout the world. Current opportunities include studying at the Phorms Schule in Frankfurt, Germany; the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine’s Fitzgerald Lab and Institute for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics (ITMAT) and colleges in Dublin, Ireland; Monteverde Friends School in Costa Rica; and the Harkness Institute in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. These programs provide students with the chance to develop cross-cultural competency through transformative learning experiences.
At Friends Select, we fully embrace the Quaker premise of looking for the good and the Light in each individual. I hope that you will come to campus to see this philosophy manifested in all we do.
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In partnership, Catherine Murray Upper School Director |
