Abington Friends School Viewbook

Abington Friends School Freedom to Flourish

Freedom to Flourish A powerful academic program is at the heart of our school, igniting imagination and a love of learning as we thoughtfully prepare our students for college and lives beyond.

We believe in education that speaks to every dimension of who our children are as human beings. This means developing the intellect, teaching our students to express themselves clearly and with conviction, giving them practice in leadership roles and helping them to understand the need to contribute to the community.

With this breadth of experience and freedom to flourish, they leave AFS as lifelong learners who are confident, caring and well-prepared to lead lives of purpose.

Helping our students grow into their full potential, cultivating the inherent goodness within them, teaching about the world broadly and coming to imagine one’s place in it — that is the mission that inspires us as educators at Abington Friends School.

The Lower School Ready to Grow

( Age 3 - Grade 4 )

It begins in the Lower School, on your child’s first day here.

Whether our young students are exploring their curiosity about the creek on our campus, authoring their first book, or engaging in an Invention Convention, AFS’s light-filled and joyful environment creates a love for learning that will stay with them for a lifetime.

Students and faculty, along with a genuine family partnership, create a community where warmth and intrigue are palpable. The learning at AFS is dynamic and encourages students and teachers to pursue avenues of interest and analyze big questions. Independence is encouraged, and resources are plentiful. Throughout the school year, faculty members lead students by creating a space to play and reflect as they grow into capability.

AFS integrates all areas of learning in the language arts and math curricula; we emphasize science as a process of discovery, not just studying a collection of facts. The creation of art is promoted to increase self-awareness, problem-solving skills and the ability to consider multiple viewpoints. With the belief that learning a second language is vital for the developing brain and for the shrinking boundaries of the globe, each grade participates in Spanish language education. Technology is used as a tool to enhance learning, not to lead it. Tests do not guide our understanding of students; instead, regular, individualized assessment is naturally integrated into the course of daily work to provide creative freedom to each student.

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“AFS is intentional, mindful and daring in approaching all aspects of what it means to be human — the intellectual, the emotional, the social and the spiritual. It’s an education and experience built to make each child the best he or she can be.”

-Kevin, AFS Parent

This is their space.

They know that school is a warm and welcoming place where their teachers know them well and they are confident being themselves.

Every day your child is building an identity - a foundation for life.

We not only want your children to be successful here, but also to be people of significance. They learn very early in their time at AFS that they have responsibilities and that our community flourishes because they contribute their thoughts and ideas.

The Middle School Embracing Knowledge

(Grades 5 - 8)

Our Middle School faculty love encouraging and teaching adolescents.

At AFS, we are dedicated to guiding our students, with their families, through this time of growth. Whether making a film about human rights or studying Roman battle strategies, students are encouraged to find their own voices through exploration and academic freedom within a thoughtfully designed educational program.

Our fifth through eighth graders are provided space to learn. Flexibility in the curriculum allows our students to delve into particular topics that interest them, while acquiring study skills, writing skills and a foundation in mathematics that prepare them for Upper School.

AFS students are comfortable moving from a classroom to an independent study space, to the stage, to athletic fields, to maker spaces and to outdoor play. Moments of silent reflection are embedded into each day as students take time to discover their own inner wisdom. We know that students at this age grow from being concrete to abstract thinkers, which is why we focus on the core Quaker beliefs of community, integrity, stewardship, equality, service and peace. We help students grow a strong sense of personal identity.

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“AFS is a school that recognizes each student as an individual. Students are stretched to the limits of their abilities and encouraged to grow as creative and social members of the world they inhabit.�

- Christine, AFS Parent

She speaks and her voice is heard.

She knows she is in an environment of possibilities and she knows her valued place in it. She has an idea of who she is and wants to be, and trusts in her teachers to get her there.

In keeping with Quaker values, we place a high premium on learning through inquiry, experience and reflective practices.

We expect our students to achieve great things and contribute to their communities. Collaboration and opportunities for creativity are built into classroom activities. We know and appreciate each of our students for who they are and help them grow individually and collectively.

The Upper School Ambitious Learning (Grades 9 - 12)

AFS students embody our inclusive, reflective and ambitious culture.

AFS students are taught how to recognize who they are, what they enjoy and how they excel. Nowhere is this seen more than in the Upper School. Our students become capable, engaged and skilled contributors to our community, ready to take advantage of higher education.

Learning at AFS can include traveling abroad, working alongside doctors in our MedEX learning cohort, or in entertaining an audience as a member of a talented theater ensemble. AFS students create robots for the Robotics team, train as diversity facilitators and create award-winning art. In a wide-ranging academic curriculum, students engage in analytical research, learn persuasive writing techniques and become agile with high-level math concepts.

Students in grades 9 through 12 experience a profound culture of care as well as a focus on preparing them to flourish in college. The Upper School curriculum includes AP and Honors courses, and promotes high academic achievement. Students discover a deeper sense of engagement from multiple perspectives, which will help them navigate an increasingly complex world.

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“This is an environment where welcoming and celebrating others is not just taught, it is lived and practiced every day.�

-Molly, AFS Parent

He knows he is capable.

His teachers expect more than the right answer. At AFS, he is encouraged to dig passionately into every subject.

In this atmosphere of possibility, our students find joy in learning instead of simply meeting the expectations of others. They are turning ideas into reality, becoming effective communicators and learning to navigate across multiple perspectives with increasing ease.

Athletics

They know it’s about more than a win They are building perseverance, discipline and leadership skills. They shape each other’s confidence.

AFS fields 49 interscholastic teams in 20 sports at the Middle and Upper school levels. Since the founding of the Friends Schools League (FSL) in 1982, AFS has won 33 FSL Championships.

Students at AFS can take up a sport they’ve never played before, excel at one they have, or both! And we will cheer them on, no matter what they choose.

AFS has a tradition of preparing student-athletes to continue their athletic careers at the collegiate level.

Many of our alumni go on to participate in interscholastic athletics at the Division I, II, and III levels.

The Arts

Gaining confidence and flexibility for life Our award-winning theatre, music and visual arts programs help each student discover his or her most creative, imaginative self.

Walk through our hallways and you will find students dancing happily to percussion instruments in the Lower School Music classroom. You will see students’ sophisticated self-portraits in our professional gallery space or observe a movement class in the Black Box Theatre.

At AFS, we are advocates for arts education and know that knowledge about music, movement, diction and speech, design theory and art history have strong implications for cultural and social learning.

Whether participating in an instrumental ensemble, a choral group or a design team, students have many opportunities to build their creative skills and confidence by sharing responsibility and feedback while working in peer groups. Faculty and students work side by side to improve students’ technical skills and creative thought processes to build professional portfolios. Those serve as each student’s point of reference and reflection in order to grow as an artist.

The Cappies, a national program that recognizes excellence in scholastic theater, has chosen AFS for 80 nominations and 23 awards.

It’s all around us.

More than a campus, AFS is a culture We embrace our joyful, innovative and ambitious culture, which is rooted in Quaker values. We guide students to be their best by understanding what motivates each child.

AFS teachers understand the pace for learning, encourage exploration and amplify strengths.

Our culture is derived from the students’ quality of character and how each of us can share our individuality within the community. It defines the AFS experience – every day.

We have a history extending over 300 years and an alumni network of scientists, musicians, entrepreneurs, artists and leaders who are sharing their gifts and talents with communities across the world.

100% 96% of graduates attend a college or university of their choice

of AFS college-age alumni agree that they are better prepared than their peers

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Cappies nominations recognizing excellence in scholastic theater

Friends Schools League athletics championships

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acre campus with fields, a creek, an arboretum and a Quaker Meeting House

zip codes are represented in our student body from Philadelphia, Montgomery and Bucks counties

Abington Friends School is committed to a policy of non-discrimination and anti-harassment in all aspects of our members’ actions and relationships on any basis, including but not limited to race, religion, ancestry, ethnicity, age, gender, sexual orientation, familial status, disability veteran status or national origin.

They can see the possibilities.

They know what their dreams are and they aren’t afraid to work hard to achieve them.

At AFS, we encourage constant inquiry. We believe that our understanding can always be more complete. As educators, we consistently ask essential questions. What do you understand? What don’t you understand? How can you understand more? Our students become resourceful citizens and deeply committed lifelong learners.

The future Alvernia University American University Arcadia University Amherst College Babson College Baldwin Wallace University Bard College Barnard College/Albert A. List Bates College Bennington College Bentley University Berklee College of Music Binghamton University Boston College Boston University Bowdoin College Brandeis University Brevard College Brown University Bryn Mawr College Bucknell University California Institute of Technology California Polytechnic State University Carleton College Carnegie Mellon University Case Western Reserve Cedar Crest College Chestnut Hill College Clarion University of Pennsylvania Claremont McKenna College Clark University Cleveland Institute of Music Colby College Colgate University College of Charleston College of William and Mary Colorado College Columbia University Connecticut College Cornell University Dartmouth College Davidson College Denison University DeSales University Dickinson College Drexel University Duke University Earlham College Eastern University Eckerd College Emerson College Emory University Eugene Lang College The New School Fairfield University Fashion Institute of Technology Fordham University Franklin and Marshall College George Washington University Georgetown University Gettysburg College Goucher College Guilford College Hamilton College

At AFS, college guidance is a partnership with our students and families.

We aim to find the college choice that balances academic goals along with financial and social needs.

Of our most recent graduates, 100% matriculate to the college or university of their choice. Schools where our graduates were accepted in the last five years are listed below.

Hampshire College Hampton University Harvey Mudd College Harvard University Haverford College High Point University Hobart and William Smith College Hofstra University Howard University Indiana University of Pennsylvania Ithaca College James Madison University Johns Hopkins University Kenyon College Kutztown University Lafayette College Lehigh University Lewis and Clark College Long Island University, Post Loyola University Maryland Lycoming College Macalester College Manhattan School of Music Mansfield University of Pennsylvania Maryland Institute College of Art Marymount Manhattan College Massachusetts Institute of Technology McDaniel College McGill University Middlebury College Michigan State University Monmouth University Moore College of Art and Design Morehouse College Mount Holyoke College Muhlenberg College New York University Northeastern University Nyack College Northwestern University Oberlin College Pace University Pennsylvania State University Pomona College Pratt Institute Princeton University Purdue University Quinnipiac University Randolph Macon College Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Rice University Rochester Institute of Technology Roger Williams University Santa Clara University Savannah College of Art and Design Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania St. John’s University St. Joseph’s University St. Olaf College Sarah Lawrence College Skidmore College Smith College Spelman College

Stanford University Stetson University SUNY – Purchase Susquehanna University Swarthmore College Syracuse University Temple University Texas State University The College of Wooster Trinity College, CT Tufts University Tulane University Tyler School of Art Unites States Military Academy University of Alabama University of British Columbia University of California - Berkeley University of California – Los Angeles University of California – Santa Cruz University of Central Florida University of Chicago University of Connecticut University of Delaware University of Denver University of Hartford University of Maryland University of Massachusetts University of Miami University of Michigan University of NC at Charlotte University of Pennsylvania University of Pittsburgh University of Rochester University of Scranton University of the Sciences University of South Dakota University of Southern California University of Vermont University of Virginia University of Washington University of Wisconsin Ursinus College Vanderbilt University Vassar College Villanova University Virginia Polytechnic Institute and University Wake Forest University Warren Wilson College Washington College Washington University in St. Louis Wellesley College Wesleyan University West Chester University Westminster Choir College of Rider University West Virginia University Widener University Wilkes University Worcester Polytechnic Institute Williams College Xavier University Yale University

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AFS is a coeducational, college-preparatory school for students from age 3 through Grade 12, deeply rooted in Quaker values.

575 Washington Lane, Jenkintown, PA 19046 215.886.4350 www.abingtonfriends.net