| Olney Friends School | |
|---|---|
| Address | |
| 61830 Sandy Ridge Road Barnesville, Ohio, (Belmont County), 43713 United States |
|
| Information | |
| Type | Private, high school |
| Religious affiliation(s) | Society of Friends (Quakers); open to students of any religious or cultural background |
| Established | 1837 |
| Dean | Micah Brownstein |
| Head of school | Charles Szumilas |
| Grades | 9-12 |
| Gender | Coeducational |
| Enrollment | 60-70 boarding students |
| Average class size | 9.7 |
| Campus | 350 acres (1.4 km2), rural, including school farm, garden |
| Color(s) | Navy and White [1] |
| Athletics conference | Independent[1] |
| Team name | Olney[1] |
| Accreditation(s) | Independent Schools Association of the Central States |
| Average SAT scores | 1740 (2400) |
| Average ACT scores | 27 |
| Tuition | $27,800 (2011-2012) |
| Athletic Director | Leonard Guindon[1] |
| Website | www.olneyfriends.org |
Olney Friends School is a small, co-educational boarding high school affiliated with the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). Located in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains in Barnesville, Ohio, the school "challenges students to grow, celebrates intellectual vigor, provokes questions of conscience, and nurtures skills for living in community."[2] Students come from around Ohio, around the country, and around the world to study the college prep curriculum. In 2007-2008, the school was attended by 60 students from 11 US states and 11 countries (usually about 30% Quaker and 30% international).
Community identity is created each school year during an initial orientation period and maintained through weekend activities, dorm activities, advisory and class meetings, and a variety of service activities. Students work daily in the Main Building and in the residence halls. Sustainability is an ongoing theme in the life of the school, whose 350-acre (1.4 km2) campus includes a farm that provides food, work, and recreational opportunities for students and staff.
Olney Friends School is chartered by the state of Ohio and accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Central States (ISACS).[3] We are members of the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS),[4] the Ohio Association of Independent Schools (OAIS),[5] Friends Council on Education (FCE),[6] the Midwest Boarding Schools Association (MWBS),[7] The Association of Boarding Schools (TABS)[8] and the Small Boarding Schools Association (SBSA).[9]
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Olney Friends School maintains its deep-rooted connection to Quaker values and educational practices, providing an exceptional educational experience for its students who come to Olney from across the United States and around the globe.
Olney Friends School offers a challenging college preparatory curriculum where Advanced Placement classes in literature, physics, calculus and Spanish are options for students in their junior and senior years. In addition, students are required to take courses in religion, fine arts and practical skills. Class sizes at Olney are small, allowing teachers to address the needs of each student.[10]
Graduation requirements include 22 hours in traditional academic subjects plus religion, fine arts and practical skills, a 20-page graduation ("graddy") essay, and acceptance in to a four-year college. In addition, students must complete a total of 23 combined community service and outdoor education hours annually. Academic classrooms are in "The Main," and students live in boys' and girls' dormitories. More than half the faculty live on campus in the dorms or in campus housing.
Olney Friends Schools has enjoyed over 150 years of success in the field of educating young men and women. The school was founded in 1837 by the Ohio Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). As early as 1814, this group of newly settled Ohio Quakers began plans for a boarding school for both boys and girls, which was to be to be modeled on Quaker boarding schools in Philadelphia. Finally, in 1835, the building of the school commenced and was opened for students two years later. This early school, which was simply known as the Friends Boarding School, was located at Mount Pleasant, Ohio, northeast of its current location. The name "Olney" was informally adopted from a poem entitled "Olney Green," written by Louis Taber, a visiting minister from Vermont and teacher at the school in the 1840s.
In 1854 there was a division in Ohio Yearly Meeting, the principal organizing body of Ohio Quaker Meeting groups, over doctrinal differences. The division occurred between two groups that had differing visions for the future of Ohio Yearly Meeting. Eventually the Ohio Supreme Court awarded the original school building to the "Gurney" group of Quakers in 1874. The other group, known as the "Wilburite" Quakers built a new school building at the present Barnesville location in 1876.
In March 1910, a fire which started in the belfry of Olney's main building burned the building to the ground, leaving only the outer brick walls and the front porch. Although the building housed the classrooms as well as the student living quarters and dining area, the class of 1910 remained through the year to graduate on time thanks to local families who opened their homes. The main building was rebuilt and separate boys and girls dormitories were added. Even before the buildings were completed, the students moved back in to their new school in November, 1910. The gymnasium was added in 1938 and a new girls dormitory was built in 1967.
While Olney Friends School originally only served students from Quaker families, by the 1960s students from a variety of religious, cultural, and geographic backgrounds began attending the school. In 1978 the school's official name was changed to Olney Friends School. In 1998 Ohio Yearly Meeting decided to end its governance of the school due to low enrollment and increasing financial burden. A group of individuals, mostly Olney Friends School alumni concerned for the continuance of the school, formed a new corporation: Friends of Olney, Inc. After much deliberation Ohio Yearly Meeting agreed to turn over the management of the school to this group and negotiated a lease for the use of the school property, about 350 acres, including the farm. When the transition was completed a board of trustees began operating the institution as an independent Quaker school no longer under the care of a Friends Meeting. The former name, Olney Friends School Inc., was legally transferred and continues to provide a sense of continuity based on the school's Quaker roots. In late June 2004 an agreement for the purchase of the main campus property from Ohio Yearly Meeting was successfully negotiated, with the farm land continuing to be leased.
Today, Olney Friends School's 65-70 students come from diverse international, religious, social and economic backgrounds. In the 21st century, Olney Friends School is chartered by the Ohio State Department of Education and is accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Central States. Olney Friends School also holds memberships in the Ohio Association of Independent Schools, Midwest Boarding Schools, the School Scholarship Service, Friends Council on Education, the Association of Boarding Schools, and the National Association of Independent Schools.
The school and meetinghouse were added as a historic district to the National Register on 2009-03-25 [11]