Friends' Central School (FCS) is a

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

, independent, coeducational, college-preparatory day school for students in Nursery though grade 12. It is located on 41 acres across two campuses in Wynnewood, a community in

Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania Lower Merion Township is a Township (Pennsylvania), township in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is part of the Philadelphia Main Line. The township's name originates with the county of Merionethshire, Merioneth in north Wales ...

in the

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

metropolitan area. The school was founded in 1845 in Philadelphia, near the current location of the

Philadelphia Mint The Philadelphia Mint is a branch of the United States Mint in Philadelphia. It was built in 1792 following the Coinage Act of 1792, in order to establish a national identity and the needs of commerce in the United States, and is the first and ...

. It had an enrollment of 769 students from nursery to grade 12 in 2019. Informally known as "Friends' Central," the school encompasses three divisions: Lower School (nursery through 5th grades), Middle School (6th through 8th), and Upper School (9th through 12th). The Middle and Upper Schools share their campus, and the Lower School occupies its own site.

History

19th century

Friends' Central School was founded in 1845 in

at 4th Street and Cherry Street, serving as an upper school for the

primary schools with grades 7 through 12. In 1857, the school moved to 15th and Race Street, remaining at this location until 1925, when it moved to its current campus on City Avenue, formerly the Wistar Morris Estate. The main house of the estate, constructed in 1862, remains and serves as the administrative building of the school and an architectural focal point of the campus.

20th century

In 1988, due to the growth of the student body, Friends' Central acquired the Montgomery School's property and relocated the lower school there.

21st century

In 2000, the Shimada Athletic Center was constructed. In 2003, the Fannie Cox Center for Science, Math, and Technology was completed and opened. In 2011, David Felsen retired after 23 years of service as headmaster; beginning in the 2012 school year, Craig Sellers was named Head of School. On July 1, 2021, Beth D. Johnson, '77, was named interim Head of School. On February 17, 2022, Beth Johnson was unanimously named the 12th official head of Friends Central. In 2022, Friends’ Central converted the former Rex Gymnasium into Phase I of the school's new Center for Innovation and Design (CID). Construction of Phase II of the CID began in January 2024, and the brand new, fully completed CID was finished in October 2024.

Curriculum

Friends' Central School students achieved the highest average SAT scores in all three sections (Math, Verbal, and Writing) of the 19 schools that had scores reported in Suburban Life Magazine's 2010 report on suburban Philadelphia private high schools. The scores were 649 in Math, 669 in Verbal, and 666 in Writing. This report also indicated that Friends' Central had a student-faculty ratio of 9:1, yearly high school tuition of $25,400 and that 100% of the 93 students in the senior class went on to a four-year college. Quaker values such as community, service, equality, and integrity are all incorporated into student life. All students attend a weekly

Meeting for Worship A meeting for worship is what the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) call their church service. Quakers#Splits, Different branches of Quakers have different types of worship, primarily consisting of three types. A meeting for worship in Engl ...

on Wednesdays for 40 minutes, sharing messages when "moved to speak". The community convenes in one room in silence, and individuals stand when expressing thoughts to the community. Students are also required to perform off-campus service for mandatory hours. In the middle and upper school, students must take three courses concerning the history of the Society of Friends and the central philosophies of Quakerism from a non-religious perspective. In middle school, 5th and 6th graders learn the history and faith of Quakerism, and the 9th-grade course further explores the Quaker faith and practice, focusing on a deeper understanding of the religion's history and its testimonies. 11th and 12th graders may take additional study in the origin and philosophy of religion in general.

Athletics

Friends' Central has strong baseball, swimming, girls' track, boys' tennis, basketball, and wrestling programs. From 2009 to 2012, Friends' Central won four consecutive Pennsylvania Independent Schools Boys' Basketball Championships.

Notable alumni

* Jonathan H. Adler,

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professor *

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, civil rights author and advocate, investigative journalist, and documentary filmmaker *

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, urban planner, architect, educator, and authorGreg Heller, ''Ed Bacon: Planning, Politics, and the Building of Modern Philadelphia. ''(Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2013) p.17 * Bradley M. Campbell, attorney and politician *

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, women's rights activist *

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, film director *

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, DJ known as DJ AM *

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, author *

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, author * William T. Innes, aquarist and photographer * Amile Jefferson, former college basketball player, Duke Blue Devils 2015 national championship team * Raymond Lohier, United States Court of Appeals judge and former U.S. Assistant Attorney for the Southern District of New York * Mildred Scott Olmsted, peace activist * Elizabeth Osborne, artist *

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, 2001 and 2022 * Sonya Sklaroff, artist * Stacey (Goldsborough) Snider, former DreamWorks chief executive officer *

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Ty Stiklorius Ty Stiklorius (born Thaïs Stiklorius; February 25, 1975) is an American music executive and film and television producer. She is the founder and CEO of Friends at Work, a management company headquartered in Los Angeles. Early life Stiklori ...

, Emmy award-winning film and television producer, music executive, and philanthropist * George Washington Tryon Jr., malacologist * Sylvia Williams, former director,

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James Wolfenden James Paine Wolfenden (July 25, 1889 – April 8, 1949) was a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania. James Wolfenden was born in Cardington, Pennsylvania. He attended Friends' Central School and Penn C ...

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References

External links

* {{Authority control 1845 establishments in Pennsylvania Educational institutions established in 1845 Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania Private high schools in Pennsylvania Quaker schools in Pennsylvania Private elementary schools in Pennsylvania Private middle schools in Pennsylvania Schools in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania Wynnewood, Pennsylvania