Friends' Central Upper School 2020-2021

UPPER SCHOOL WE G O FURTHE R

Advanced and college-level courses Award-winning drama program Outstanding FSL team successes Abundant leadership opportunities Science, Humanities, and Justice Core teams Meaningful service learning Internationally acclaimed math modeling team Extraordinary college placement

Upper School Friends’ Central’s Upper School provides an exceptional college preparatory program in an atmosphere that sets the highest of academic and personal standards. It is, in essence, an education with a two-part focus. It is high-level, challenging, and intellectual; and it also intentionally cultivates a set of skills, attributes, and values within students.

Our classrooms promote independent thought, the courage to voice opinions, the expectation that students and teachers will listen to and value one another’s perspectives, and the understanding that diverse viewpoints and experience will result in a higher intellectual bar for all. When our students graduate and head off to college, they are ready to engage with their professors, to collaborate with their peers, to present their ideas with confidence – they are ready to excel.

Upper School Spirit Night 2020

UPPER SCHOOL The Upper School prepares students to achieve and to lead in a bigger world. They acquire essential skills and knowledge, and importantly, they are taught to own their own learning.

We dig deeper Compelling and Engaging Curriculum Friends’ Central’s Upper School offers a rich, varied curriculum with advanced courses available. From Epigenetics to Linear Algebra and Modern Chinese History to The History of African American Music, our curriculum challenges students to learn at a high level, while understanding their learning in a larger academic and global context.

In class and out, FCS students are expected to ask questions rather than memorize, to apply creative and critical thinking to problem solving, to listen to the group for greater wisdom, and to express their thoughts clearly and with confidence.

The framework of respect and listening creates a classroom culture that nurtures confidence and encourages students to participate fully and to think deeply.

The richest intellectual discourse and highest-level problem solving are achieved when all members of a classroom community are fully present, engaged, and invested in knowledge seeking.

Pure Pursuit of Knowledge Each year, about 100 students and teachers participate in Science, Humanities, and Justice Core Teams. These deep, college-level academic explorations are open to all students across grades. They feature highly academic reading, regular discussions, and meetings with visiting scholars.

Our Teachers Make the Difference Alumni/ae tell us that it is the way our classes are taught that truly distinguishes Friends’ Central and prepares students for college and beyond.

Passionate, expert teachers set a high academic bar, delivering innovative, engaging, and challenging content. They are, at the same time, warm and welcoming, caring deeply about their students’ intellectual achievements as they attend to students’ individual interests, character, and well-being.

Teachers encourage students to apply creative and critical thinking to original problem solving and to present ideas and proposals with confidence. They acknowledge and embrace the idea that everyone should be open to new ideas, paving the way for students to think for themselves and to be accountable for their own learning.

“Our graduates are prepared not only to solve problems with intellect and compassion, they also stand ready to move boldly and brightly into the future.”

B E T H D. J O H N S O N ’ 7 7 U P P E R S C H O O L P R I N C I PA L

COUR S E O F F E R IN GS INCLU D E

Design Evolution Genetics Super lab Biology of Bodies Atmospheric Science and Climate Change World Literature Speculative Fiction Civil Rights Philosophy History of African American Music Linear Algebra

UPPER SCHOOL

We grow stronger Our school culture and purposeful teaching style create leadership opportunities that offer space for agency and growth Whether they are participating in standing leadership opportunities such as Student Council, team captaincies, Mock Trial, the arts, or Model UN or applying their leadership skills to create new opportunities, FCS students are given the chance and the training to lead effectively.

A team of Friends’ Central School Upper School students were selected by the Pulsar Search Collaboratory to present at the American Astronomical Society Meeting in Hawai’i in January 2019.

We believe that the discoveries our students make, the companies they lead, and all that they create will rely on them as individuals and as team members. They have to be ready to trust themselves to lead, and we begin that process here at Friends’ Central.

FCS students thrive in a culture of high expectations. They are assigned challenging, long-term assignments, and they are trained over time to be responsible for managing these projects successfully. This experience creates an immediate advantage for FCS students in college; they already know how to do the hard work, to manage their own time, and to work with classmates and professors to achieve the best results.

It is no surprise that colleges and universities love Friends’ Central students. More than 90% are accepted to top-choice schools, and over 30% choose to attend US News and World Report top schools.

Many are drawn to schools where they can follow their passions and interests – schools such as Tisch School of the Arts, Colorado School of Mines, and Rhode Island School of Design, to name a few.

We are so proud of our graduates; they have the skills, the intellect, and the ethical compass to succeed in a rapidly changing world. They also have the courage to lead.

Founded in 1845, Friends’ Central School is a Quaker, co-educational, college preparatory school for students in Nursery to grade 12. Our easily accessible Middle and Upper School campus is set on 28 beautiful acres on City Avenue in Wynnewood.

Students in Nursery through grade 5 are on our idyllic 18-acre Lower School campus on Old Gulph Road in Wynnewood.

“The FCS experience taught me to think for myself, analyze different viewpoints, and come up with my own independent conclusions. In addition to the intellectual side, the spiritual side was so ingrained in every activity that it was just ingrained in who we became.”

FC S A LU M

Friends’ Central Upper School Grades 9-12 1101 City Avenue Wynnewood, PA 19096 610-645-5032 admissions@friendscentral.org FRIENDSCENTRAL .ORG