Wilmington Friends School

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Wilmington Friends School, the oldest existing school in Delaware[1], is a preschool through 12th grade Quaker school in Wilmington, Delaware. The school was founded in 1748 by members of the Wilmington Monthly Meeting of Friends (Quakers), and continues to enjoy a close working relationship with the Meeting[2]


[edit] Wilmington Friends School

The Wilmington Friends School originally aimed to provide an education for children belonging to the Society of Friends and to poor children, whatever their race, religion or family's financial circumstance. Delaware historian Benjamin Ferris wrote in the 19th century "Thousands of children have there received the first rudiments of an English education."[3]

As Delaware started offering public education, the School moved towards its current all college-preparatory program. In 1937, the Friends School moved from its original site to its current location in Alapocas, just outside the city. The Wilmington Friends Preschool, founded in 2004, is in downtown Wilmington.

Wilmington Friends School is accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools, and is authorized by the International Baccalaureate Organization and School Year Abroad. Friends integrates global perspective throughout its curriculum, and emphasizes athletics, the arts and service as integral to the program of studies.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Wilmington Friends School. archives.delaware.gove (2007-10-31). Retrieved on 2008-02-08. “The oldest existing school in Delaware, Wilmington Friends was founded in 1748. It resided in the first meeting house of the Wilmington Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) at Fourth and Est Streets, which had been built ten years earlier on land given by Elizabeth and William Shipley.”
  2. ^ Hillegas, Jeanette O (1975-10). Wilmington Friends School--1748. Independent School Bulletin. Retrieved on 2008-02-08. “This is another brief account of one of the seventeen member schools founded in the United States before 1776.”
  3. ^ Delaware state Public Archives information at Wilmington Friends School

[edit] External links


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