SSFS Legacy Family: Why The Imlays Support SSFS “Immediately comfortable.” That’s how Kip Imlay ’71 describes his feelings about starting his Sandy Spring Friends School education in the fall of 1968. Motivated by his mother, a Swarthmore graduate and strong believer in Quaker education, Kip made the move to SSFS after feeling uninspired in Junior High School in Montgomery County, MD. His brother Lincoln ’74 followed.
Kip Imply '71 (far right) with fellow SSFS graduates Steve Mayer and Brian Greenberg. The three were known as the "Day Student Gang."
“I felt challenged at Sandy Spring Friends School by faculty like Barry Morley, Phil Howard, and Peter Kline. You couldn’t get away with ‘not thinking’ at Sandy Spring,” Kip said. He also spoke of the importance that was placed on being involved with the community. “You were able to find your own niche here, but everyone participated in something, and we were encouraged to pursue that which we became passionate about. The whole school was one big team and we encouraged each other.”
There was never any doubt that when he had kids, Kip wanted them to have the same educational experience. Daughter Bonnie ’03 and son, Ashton ’08 followed in their father’s footsteps and went on to have their own formative SSFS experiences. “Both of them found willing mentors, like Eduardo Polón and Ari Preuss, just as I had in my time. The faculty members bring the students into what they are doing. They know the disciplines in which the students will thrive, because they know the students personally... and they make it fun.” When the last capital campaign, Kindle the Spirit, was kicked-off, Kip felt compelled to get involved. “I supported Kindle the Spirit because I knew that as the result of it, more young people could reap the benefits that my family had experienced without compromising any of the things that make SSFS so special. I wanted others to have the same things I got to have.” Today, 5 years after the successful completion of Kindle the Spirit, Kip feels just as strongly that SSFS’s educational and Quaker values continue to inspire students, just as it did when he graduated in 1971.”Nothing has been lost at all,” he said. “It is the same special place.” Bonnie and Ashton have the same level of commitment. Both have assured their dad that his future grandchildren’s education will be at Sandy Spring Friends School. Kip mentioned to Ashton recently that of all of the Imlay family, Ashton was at Sandy Spring the longest, starting in the middle school. Ashton replied “It still wasn’t long enough.”
Bonnie '03 with US Spanish teacher Leah Niepold 24
Ashton and Bonnie with other SSFS sibling grads.
Ashton'08 gives Ari a hug at graduation SSFS Community News