Description
Wilmington Friends School is a preschool-12th grade, Quaker school, in Wilmington, Delaware.
Wilmington Friends, a Quaker school with high standards for academic achievement, challenges students to seek truth, to value justice and peace, and to act as creative, independent thinkers with a conscious responsibility to the good of all.
Philosophy and Beliefs
Wilmington Friends School offers a college preparatory curriculum—including athletics, the arts and community service—in which Quaker values and high expectations are mutually supportive. The defining belief of Quakerism is that there is “that of God” in everyone. That belief gives rise to a school community that welcomes a variety of faith traditions and where we share an obligation to seek and answer what is best in ourselves and in others. Students at Friends are challenged to realize their potential: as learners, well prepared to succeed in college and career; as leaders, recognizing their power and opportunity to be agents of change; and as active and responsible members of communities, from the classroom to the world. The school seeks to serve students, age two through grade twelve, who demonstrate ongoing promise in their ability to succeed at Friends, both academically and in meeting expectations for integrity and conduct.
Underlying that philosophy, we believe…
We serve students best when we model and teach a commitment—spiritual, intellectual and active—to core Quaker principles: integrity, community, equality, peace, stewardship and simplicity.
Excellence in education requires teaching students to develop a multicultural sensibility, with both self-awareness and an orientation to learning about various points of view. Diversity of thought, identity and experience is integral to our mission and educational objectives.
Conversation and partnership with people of various national identities are essential to prepare students to act effectively in an increasingly international context for learning, work and service.
A commitment to environmental education and stewardship is fundamental to the expression of our school’s Quaker values and community responsibilities.
Education must include elements of choice and risk with accountability, and help students to develop self-discipline, resilience and motivation to sustain their joy as lifelong learners.
The process of seeking intellectual and spiritual truth must respond to changing contexts, new information, and a variety of experiences and insights. The Quaker practice of Meeting for Worship is central to the life of our school as an opportunity to seek truth together.