Interested in admissions for Fall 2020? You can access our Admissions Office by phone or email. They will be able to answer any questions you may have about our community, our program, and the FFS plan for a safe reopening in the times of the Covid-19 pandemic.
We are still accepting applications for some grades for the 2020-21 school year and we're available to meet with you on campus. Our admissions process has been updated to allow students to visit and take necessary assessments, and for parents and students to interview with our staff. We want to hear from you! Please let us know how we can assist you.
admissions@frankfordfriends.org
Phone: 215.533.5368, ext. 123
Dear Friends,
On behalf of the entire Frankford Friends School community, welcome to our website and our school. Since 1833, we have proudly offered an outstanding values-based Quaker education in the heart of Philadelphia, while keeping our tuition the lowest of any Quaker school in the Delaware Valley. The strength of our faculty ensures that a Frankford Friends School education is about more than knowledge; it is about guiding students to seek ‘that of God’ in themselves and others; it is about developing a questioning spirit; it is about the fostering of a deep sense of social responsibility in our students. Our students are happy, humble, and engaged and they care deeply about each other and their community.
I invite you to visit and learn more about Frankford Friends School – how creativity, collaboration, and critical thinking blend with our teaching of Quaker testimonies; how we nurture our students’ social, emotional, and academic growth throughout the day; and to meet the students who will graduate as confident, caring, and socially-conscious young adults who use their strengths and passions to better our world.
I look forward to seeing you on campus soon!
In partnership,
Our campus is closed, but our virtual campus is open! Take a look around our corner of Frankford.
(click to view)
The physical home base for our Project-based Learning initiative.
The Frankford Friends School IDEA Lab (Innovation, Design, Engineering, Art) serves as the physical home base for our Project-based Learning initiative. Spanning two floors, it has the tools and space that our students need to freely explore, innovate, and create with confidence.
The physical home base for our Project-based Learning initiative.
The Nest is the award-winning, half-acre green space on campus that provides joyful opportunities for our students to freely explore, investigate, and observe the natural world around them. The space includes three rain and pollinator gardens, vegetable gardens, mud kitchens, spaces for dirt digging, building and climbing, and a waterworks for water play.
The physical home base for our Project-based Learning initiative.
The Holt provides open space where students can work on collaborative projects and for classes to showcase their work. Our front office and space for meetings is also located there. Make sure to stop by and say hi to Miss Liz!
The physical home base for our Project-based Learning initiative.
The FFS Middle School is home to our 5th through 8th graders who work and learn together during four core classes that meet everyday - Math, Science, Spanish and Humanities. They also explore their interests during classes in technology, performing and visual arts, and physical education. With inquiry and self expression at the root of each class, all students develop strong analytical and problem solving skills that prepare them for the competitive high schools they go on to attend.
The physical home base for our Project-based Learning initiative.
Our students get fresh air and have joyful interactions with their friends while in the schoolyard at the center of our main campus. Our chickens and bees, which also have their home there, enjoy watching our students play kickball, four square, and other active games or spending quiet time with students who want time for relaxation.
The physical home base for our Project-based Learning initiative.
Our physical education program shares space with a performance space and stage that can seat 400 guests. Beneath, all students in grades PreK to 5 sing, read and write music, play rhythm instruments, do dramatic play, and learn to improvise while participating in our classroom music program. All fourth graders learn a string instrument (violin, viola, or cello), lent to them by the school and learn to play both singly and as an ensemble. The orchestra room is lined with shelves made from the antique wooden pews that previously graced our space. Middle School students can choose from electives that include theater, choir, handbells, orchestra, and jazz band.
The physical home base for our Project-based Learning initiative.
The Carol & Terrence A. Farley Building, home to the Lower School and Early Childhood Center, began as a one-room schoolhouse in 1833. On the first floor, first through fourth graders have spacious classrooms each equipped with tables for collaborative work and investigation, large group meeting areas for Morning Meetings and whole class instruction, and classroom libraries with a variety and range of reading selections. Students have many opportunities to work together and independently, with an array of spaces to meet different work needs.
The physical home base for our Project-based Learning initiative.
Our early childhood classrooms have time to browse through and borrow from a large collection of picture books, sometimes on their own and sometimes with a reading buddy from an older class. On opposite sides of the library, you can find the Prekindergarten and kindergarten classrooms which are havens for love, learning through inquiry and play, and opportunities to grow socially and emotionally, guided by two teachers for each group of students.
The physical home base for our Project-based Learning initiative.
Quaker values are the heart of everything we do at Frankford Friends School. In keeping with Quaker practice, our community meets to worship together with their fellow teachers and students in our historic Meetinghouse dating from 1833.
High Schools value our graduates, who are passionate, creative, and concerned citizens that have strong leadership capabilities and are quick to find peaceful solutions to conflict. Frankford Friends School graduates attend selective high schools throughout the Delaware Valley.
High school placement for graduating eighth graders is led by the Assistant Principal and Eighth Grade Advisor who assist families with navigating the high school application process. Part of this process includes preparation for high school interviews, writing of a personal essay, filling out applications, and keeping track of application timelines. The Head of School also writes and sends personalized letters of recommendation for each eighth grader and advocates for their acceptance with admissions offices.
We believe that a school environment where all socio-economic groups are represented contributes an important element to the diversity of our community, and provides an opportunity for students to develop the necessary skills to create and collaborate with peers from a variety of backgrounds.
Frankford Friends School recognizes and respects the financial investment a family makes when choosing an independent school education for their child. Therefore, we welcome applications for need-based tuition assistance from any new applicant or currently enrolled student. The application process for financial aid is separate from the application for school admission and has no bearing on acceptance to the school program.
Families seeking tuition assistance are strongly encouraged to apply to Children’s Scholarship Fund Philadelphia as well. Children’s Scholarship Fund Philadelphia provides four-year, K-8th grade scholarships to children from low-income Philadelphia families. Children’s Scholarship Fund Philadelphia applications are usually accepted from mid-November through March 1 of each year. Receipt of Children’s Scholarship funds is separate from the FFS awarding of financial aid.
We are committed to supporting qualified students whose families have a demonstrated need for assistance. However, each student’s family has the primary financial responsibility for the cost of their child’s education. Frankford Friends School’s Tuition Assistance Program is dependent on each family recognizing that responsibility.
Children who love to learn, cheerfully accept challenges, and are at or above grade level are best served by our program. We warmly welcome students from all faiths and all ethnic, racial, and economic backgrounds to our school, without regard to gender or sexual orientation.
Admission to Frankford Friends School is competitive. The common entry point at FFS is pre-kindergarten, which is the best time to apply to Frankford Friends School. New students are admitted to other grades if spaces are available. Apply online for admission into our Early Childhood Program, Lower School, and Middle School by clicking the button below.
Applications are accepted beginning on September 1 for the following school year. Once all forms have been submitted, you will be notified as to next steps. A non-refundable application fee of $55 is required with the filing of this application.
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