Quaker Education
Gwynedd Friends School is a member of the Friends Council on Education and maintains a care relationship with Gwynedd Friends Meeting. The School is a part of a larger network of 78 schools in 20 states with approximately 20,000 students, 4,900 Faculty & Staff, and 1,160 Trustees/Board Members. GFS is one of just 14 Quaker Nursery Schools. Friends Schools celebrate over three centuries of Quaker education.
What do we do in Quaker schools?
Learn through inquiry, reflection, and action in daily life.
Search for truth, valuing the challenge of competing ideas.
Resolve conflicts through respecting and listening to each other.
Value and embrace the diversity of cultures and religions in our communities.
Work for the good of society through active service learning.
Act courageously in alignment with core moral beliefs
Friends Council on Education: What Does a Friends School Have to Offer?
A basic tenet of Quakerism is that truth is continuously revealed and is accessible within a community of seekers. At Friends schools, this belief is reflected in an open-minded approach to curriculum and teaching and a developmental approach to children and learning. Students learn to practice truth-seeking and know the various ways this can be accomplished – through inquiry, scientific investigation, reflection, creative expression, critical thinking, dialogue, worship, and service.
Friends schools create an environment within which students and staff alike can continue to mature as companions in a wide range of experiences. These experiences, both outward and inward in nature, may bring forth in each person a deepening awareness of the “Inner Light”, which leads to faith in the ability of every member of the school community to reach his or her full potential. Children grow and change in an environment that nurtures their spirits and challenges them to develop inner resources for discipline, respect, compassion, and achievement. They are encouraged by words and examples to respect a variety of perspectives in a diverse learning community, as they engage in a cooperative search for knowledge, insight and understanding.
Gwynedd Friends Meeting
Gwynedd Monthly Meeting was founded in 1699 by a group of Welsh Quakers who had come to the area the year before. Meetings for Worship have been held in our present location since a log meetinghouse was built on the site in 1700. A more permanent stone building was completed in 1712 and the present meetinghouse was built in 1823. In 1998, a large renovation and expansion project provided the Gwynedd Friends community - which includes our active preschool - with ample room for work and play. The existing schoolhouse across the parking lot was built in 1857 and is presently home to our Kindergarten.
For more information on Gwynedd Friends Meeting, visit www.gwyneddmeeting.org.
