Buckingham Friends School

Buckingham Friends School
Location
Lahaska, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, PA
United States
Information
Type Private
Religious affiliation(s) Quaker
Established 1794
Interim Head of School Helen Marter
Faculty 21
Enrollment 140
Average class size 16
Student to teacher ratio 7:1
Campus 44 acres (0.18 km2)
Color(s) Blue/Grey
Athletics conference Friends Schools League
Website www.bfs.org

Buckingham Friends School, a private Quaker school in Lahaska, Pennsylvania was founded in 1794. The current Quaker Meetinghouse was built in 1754. The school started out as a small schoolhouse. An addition was put on in the 1930s, followed by the gymnasium in 1955 and the lower school building. Another addition was built in 2002/2003. In 2015, the Lower School was fully renovated. The school provides for grades K-8. Upper School curriculum includes: Advanced algebra, Chemistry, Astronomy, Geology, American History, Model Congress, Art, World Religion, Biology, and Music.

Philosophy

The school emphasizes growth of the students academically, intellectually, spiritually, and ethically by engaging students, their families and the Quaker community in the educational process. Students are given the opportunity to become well-grounded in core Quaker values such as non-violence, integrity, simplicity, mutual respect and trust. The school does this by offering activities that promote clear and careful thinking, accountability, the value to one-self to be found in serving others, the value of creativity, and a love for learning. This prepares them to seek and achieve greater success in life.

The warm atmosphere and small classes provide for a community in which children can grow, learn, and become their own person, with room to make decisions for themselves and find their own individual views. Although each class attends a forty-minute meeting for worship on Thursdays, there are a wide range of religious views within the school community.

The JEM program

The JEM (Joint Environmental Mission) program started in 1991. It is a foreign exchange program with an environmental theme. The exchange includes schools in St. Petersburg, Russia; Belgaum, India; Honolulu, Hawaii; Ngong Hills, Kenya; Melbourne, Australia; Nanchang, China; Montmorillon, France; and Rio Blanco, Amazon Rainforest, Ecuador. The first school partnership began with School #213 in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Every 4-5 years a gathering of all JEM partner schools occurs to discuss one of the five environmental themes: Water, Soil, Light, Air, and peace. The last "Earth Summit" was held at Buckingham Friends School in April, 2013. This program has sustained itself over decades connecting with of students and families from around the globe.

General information

Base Religion: Quaker
Students: approx. 140
Grades: K-8
Classes Per Grade: 1
Extracurricular Activities: Music, Art, Woodshop, Photography, Acting, and many others.
Sports: Basketball, Softball, Field Hockey, Yoga, Soccer, and Lacrosse.
Interim Head of School: Helen Marter

Website: http://www.bfs.org

Coordinates: 40°20′41″N 75°02′20″W / 40.34481°N 75.03878°W / 40.34481; -75.03878

External links

Official website

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 7/29/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.