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Friends' Central School

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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]

Friends' Central School
Address
Map
1101 City Ave

Wynnewood
,
Pennsylvania
19096-3490

United States
Coordinates39°59′06″N 75°15′45″W / 39.98502°N 75.26261°W / 39.98502; -75.26261
Information
TypeIndependent secondary school
Religious affiliation(s)Christianity
DenominationQuakers
Established1845; 179 years ago (1845)
StatusOpen[1]
NCES School ID01195711[1]
Head of schoolBeth D. Johnson
Faculty116 (on an FTE basis)[1]
GradesN–12[1]
GenderCoeducational[1]
Enrollment769[1] (2019-2020)
 • Pre-kindergarten36[1]
 • Kindergarten31[1]
 • Grade 135[1]
 • Grade 223[1]
 • Grade 332[1]
 • Grade 433[1]
 • Grade 535[1]
 • Grade 640[1]
 • Grade 758[1]
 • Grade 862[1]
 • Grade 979[1]
 • Grade 10101[1]
 • Grade 11103[1]
 • Grade 12101[1]
Student to teacher ratio6.3:1[1]
Campus typeSuburban[1]
Color(s)  Navy
  White
  Gray
Athletics conferenceFriends' Schools League
NicknamePhoenix
SAT average649 Math
669 Verbal
666 Writing
Annual tuition$41,990[2]
Nobel laureatesKarl Barry Sharpless
Websitefriendscentral.org

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

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19th century

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v "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. ^ a b "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.
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