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Quaker values bolster our academic program and are woven into the fabric of daily learning, elevating students’ personal and intellectual growth. Like two strands of the same rope, academic engagement and Quaker values, when woven together, create something stronger than either could alone.
We are empathetic.
From the very first day, students learn to see themselves within a joyful and supportive community. They are known—greeted each day by name—and welcomed into their learning with purpose. Through explicitly taught lessons, intentionally chosen read-alouds, generative role-playing, and responsive conversations, students learn from and with each other. They embrace differences of perspective and lived experience and practice compassion in authentic ways.
We are critical thinkers.
The Lower School years are a time of tremendous growth. Students’ minds are ready for deep thinking, exploring new ideas with curiosity and openness. They learn to balance active exploration with meaningful pauses to reflect and refine their thinking. Across the curriculum, we teach students how to think rather than what to think. They ask powerful questions, notice connections, listen closely, read critically, engage in discourse, and revise their thinking as they grow. Lower School students learn that learning is evolving—that there is no endpoint to being an engaged learner.
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We are collaborative and community-minded.
Students actively learn to work together and be caring, productive members of their community—both in the classroom and while at play. Through discourse, careful listening, and intentional silence, they deepen their commitment to each other and expand their understanding of themselves and others. At every grade level, students connect with nearby communities beyond our School, building meaningful relationships and taking age-appropriate action in response to real needs. This is learning that transforms.
We act with integrity.
Lower School students learn the value of doing what is right, honest, and sincere. They look inward and outward, reflecting on how their actions demonstrate care, effort, and responsibility—and where they may need to revise, repair, or try again. Supported by teachers and peers, students develop tools for celebrating accomplishments and restoring relationships. They come to understand integrity as a kind of supreme honesty, strengthened through courage, accountability, and the willingness to seek support.
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The Friends Lower School empowers children to know themselves, listen deeply to others, and begin to understand their place in the world with clarity and compassion. Lower School at Friends is the beginning of a lifelong journey shaped by intellect, conscience, and community.
Erin Gordon
Head of Lower School