The Value of a Friends School Education

Although new to the Bay Area, Friends schools have a 300-year tradition of academic excellence and thoughtful concern for the emotional and spiritual growth of children. Friends schools are much admired for their outstanding academic programs, grounded by strongly-held values. A Friends education recognizes that academics alone do not serve the whole person, but need to be balanced with attention to a child's capacity for independent thought, creativity, and reflection.

The Quaker belief in the "Inner Light" leads to faith in the ability of every member of the school community to reach his or her full potential. Children are encouraged to grow and change in an environment which nurtures their spirits and challenges them to develop inner resources for discipline and achievement. Teachers and peers honor each child's particular strengths and abilities. A cooperative learning environment helps children to build self-esteem and self-awareness.

Quaker education does not seek to inculcate a particular set of beliefs or doctrines; it starts from an open-minded approach to teaching and learning. Just as Quakers believe in acceptance of all and in the goodness of each person, Quaker schools welcome people of all faiths and backgrounds who share values common to Quaker testimonies, such as simplicity, integrity, equality, and peaceful problem-solving.

Friends education is not exclusive to Quakers (most students enrolled in Friends schools around the country are not practicing Quakers), but Friends schools are guided by Quaker faith and practice. Each week, a Friends school community gathers for Meeting for Worship. This is a time for everyone to sit quietly, not in "prayer" in a formalistic sense, but in silent and thoughtful reflection. In this way, students and teachers can open their minds and hearts to larger questions and concerns sometimes overlooked in the busy parts of our lives. Students and teachers are encouraged to speak to the gathered community, when moved to do so.

Weekly meetings are held in age-appropriate ways. For kindergartners, teachers may decide that a 20-minute period of silence is best. For older students, a longer Meeting may help them learn how to sit quietly, listen to their thoughts, seek guidance, and share with others. No student is asked to suppress his or her own faith, but all are asked to observe periods of reflection, a practice which Friends schools have found nourishes the individual spirit and builds strong community.

Finally, Friends schools strive to be socially responsible. Teachers help students to understand issues of social justice, such as respect for differences, nonviolence, and equality under the law. Again, these complex topics are handled in age-appropriate ways. Through service learning and participation in the community, Friends schools are committed to working toward a more caring and just society.

To learn more about Friends Education, visit the Friends Council on Education (FCE) website www.friendscouncil.org

Material from the Friends Council on Education, a national organization of Friends schools, helped us prepare this summary.

Let your life speak!

Friends believe that faith requires action in the world, thus Friends schools seek to promote a caring community, peaceful resolution of conflict, and service to others. The adults in a Friends school community help children grow into caring and responsible individuals who recognize their interconnectedness with the larger human family. Children learn at the most fundamental level that service to others and thoughtful stewardship of the environment or institutions such as libraries, parks and museums creates ties and builds community.

At San Francisco Friends School, service to the school community, and to people outside of our school, is an important part of children’s education. We try to incorporate learning into each service activity, so that children experience sharing as a mutual exchange, rather than as an act of pity or charity. In keeping with the Quaker belief that “there is that of God in everyone,” children begin to understand how to find the gifts and unique qualities in every individual, and to share of themselves generously and without condescension.

Community service is introduced in gentle, age-appropriate ways. Students begin by serving their own immediate community. Each child completes a daily chore, such as cleaning work areas, tending our school garden, or collecting the recycling. Writing letters of appreciation or condolence to school community members is an emphasis in the early writing program. These are all ways in which children can learn to give with love.

Teachers and parents work together to build ties to organizations, both local and international, so that service learning may be developed as a thoughtful, sustained program. We are fortunate to have many excellent organizations in our neighborhood and city with which to create lasting connections. Teachers incorporate service opportunities into the core curriculum, so that children can see service as an integral part of learning. As part of our science curriculum, for example, students have weeded and mulched plants at the San Francisco Botanical Garden, helped with native plant restoration in the Presidio, and grown herbs, flowers and vegetables to share with others.

In a kindergarten study of goats, children listened to the story of Beatrice’s Goat and learned of the impact that a goat can have on the nutrition, and the educational and economic opportunities of children in developing countries. Through a series of small service projects at home and in their neighborhoods, each child earned money to contribute towards purchasing a goat from Heifer International. Children also have the opportunity to act as leaders through service. Following the tsunami in Southeast Asia, children proposed that the school’s penny jar be used towards aiding those who lost their homes and schools. Working with our local chapter of the American Friends Service Committee, we raised funds to build temporary schools for children in the Banda Aceh area of Indonesia. At SFFS service to others includes the sharing of love, respect, created or collected material goods and - most especially - purposeful work.