Scattergood Friends School

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Scattergood Friends School main building entrance

Scattergood Friends School offers a unique educational opportunity to students in grades nine through twelve. It is in Cedar County, Iowa, two miles east and one half mile south of the town of West Branch. Founded in 1890 by Iowa Wilburite Quakers to provide a "guarded education" for their own children, it is owned and operated by Iowa Yearly Meeting of Friends (Conservative). In recent years about a third of students and staff have been Quakers, with the rest coming from many faiths.

Scattergood offers a college preparatory curriculum. It is accredited by the Iowa Department of Public Instruction and by the Independent Schools Association of the Central States (ISACS). In addition to academic achievement, the Scattergood program emphasizes community life, responsible world citizenship, and meaningful work shared by all.

Although there are a handful of day students each year, nearly all students stay in one of the 60 dormitory beds on campus. Likewise, most of the 25 faculty and staff live in on-campus apartments. Available housing limits the size of the school, resulting in small class sizes and a family atmosphere.

Scattergood Friends School Farm as viewed from campus

Teaching and learning at Scattergood take place in many settings beyond the classroom. The campus includes a pond/marsh, a prairie, and a farm with a variety of livestock and 3.5 acres of organic vegetable production.

Everyone at Scattergood participates in a work program, called the crew system. This includes everything from working on the farm to making breakfast for the school. There are no janitors at Scattergood; all cleaning on campus is done by students and staff. Work assignments rotate monthly.

Roughly a quarter of Scattergood students come from outside the United States. Former Bolivian president Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada is a Scattergood graduate.

[edit] Some Classes Recently Offered at Scattergood

Math and Sciences

Chemistry
Biology/ Advanced Biology
Algebra 1/2
geometry
pre-Calculus
Calculus 1/2

Humanities:

History of the English Language
Logic
Utopian Societies
Messianic Archetypes in Film and Literature
Art of Tibetan Religion and Culture
Quakerism
Taoism

Foreign Languages

Spanish
Arabic
French

Physical Education

Soccer
Fencing
Archery
Roller Hockey
Bicycle Training
Ultimate
Yoga
Archery
Basketball

Project

Ceramics
Glassblowing
Bow Making
Juggling
Stained Glass
Elizabethan Rapier
Electronic Music
Food Preservation
Drama
Painting
Poultry
Farm project

7th Block trips During 7th block all juniors and seniors go on a month long trip. The trips usually have community service or some physical challenge involved. Independent trips are also very fun because you get to decide your trip instead of someone else planning it for you.