Westfield Friends School 2024 » Impressive Teens

Westfield Friends School is a co-educational Quaker day school enriching the lives of students in grades Pre-K through 8th grade. As a Friends school, we take the mission of Quaker education seriously. Throughout their education we create the conditions such that each child in our school may bring and develop their whole identity: their intellectual being, their emotional being, their social being, and their spiritual being. We have built our curriculum in a manner that allows students to experience academics through the lens of the Quaker values of deep listening, waiting on the Spirit, a belief in continuing revelation and growth, and the testimonies of Simplicity, Peace, Integrity, Community, Equality, and Stewardship. Westfield Friends Preschool, for our two and three-year-olds, is housed in its very own historic brick building. This amazing learning space is flooded in soft, natural light through its many windows. It’s a perfect space for active little bodies with curious minds! Additionally, a dedicated outdoor playspace for the preschool is enclosed with a safety fence and features a mud kitchen, huge sandbox, a grassy shaded area for running and exploring, and tree stumps for imaginative play. Students in grades one through four continue to develop academic and social skills. During these years, they begin more formal and rigorous academic instruction with a concentrated study of reading, writing, math, science, and social studies. Faculty continually reinforces critical thinking skills and independent learning. Query, exploration, discovery and hands-on learning continue to be a key part of the academic atmosphere. Students are encouraged to become more independent critical thinkers so that they are ready to transition out of elementary school and into the middle school years. Certain themes and focus areas are present in each year within the lower school. At Westfield Friends, students in fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth grades are fully immersed in the curriculum and routines of the Middle School. The United Nations Sustainability Goals help teachers to build connections across the curriculum. Teachers work extensively with students on organizational skillsfrom keeping track of daily homework assignments and materials for morning classes to successfully managing and completing longer-term assignments to allocating study time for major tests. Middle School students become more aware of their responsibilities, and the direct outcomes of their actions as they relate to their grades and future aspirations. Our Faculty and Administrators work as partners with the students and their families, helping them to find the right fit for high school choice and assisting throughout the application process.