About Alexandria Friends School:
History, Mission and Vision
Our History
Alexandria Friends School stands in the venerable tradition of Friends education in America established over 300 years ago by William Penn, when he set up the first Friends school in Philadelphia in 1689. AFS grew out of the Thornton Friends School, which began as a program of Sandy Spring Friends School in 1972. When Thornton Friends School (of Maryland) found it necessary to close its Alexandria satellite campus in the spring of 2006, several members of our Virginia school community decided that northern Virginia still very much needed a Friends school. Thus we follow in the nine-year tradition of Friends education established in Alexandria by Thornton Friends School. We remain dedicated to helping your student realize his or her full potential both as a scholar and as a citizen of an increasingly complex world. Our students leave us prepared for further education in academia or in the world at large. Preparing them for life's challenges is, indeed, our reason for being.
Our Mission
Alexandria Friends School seeks to bring out the fullest potential in each member of its community by relying on core Quaker beliefs and values. Among these are:
- the search for that of God in every human being
- non-violence
- a commitment to speak the truth
- respect for the diversity of our society
- a carefully considered questioning of authority, and
- service to others.
We believe that the best education embraces not only a broadening of the mind, but also an expansion of the heart. The faculty and staff commit themselves to achieving these goals in collaboration with our students and their families as we strive to build a community of mutual respect, welcome diversity, and work together to discern the truth that lies behind all knowledge.
Who We Serve
Alexandria Friends School was founded to serve students who:
- are seeking a school where deeper community life can be experienced.
- may be doing well academically, as well as those who may not be meeting their potential.
- may be bright, persuasive, and value personal independence, yet may be bored or otherwise unsatisfied with past educational experience.
- stand up for their own beliefs, especially on matters of conscience.
- will benefit from personal attention, small classes, and a combination of innovative and traditional education.
- choose to live without drugs, alcohol, and tobacco.
- want to be engaged in their education but may find that difficult where they are now.
As members of a Quaker school, students:
- are encouraged to seek the good in all people, including themselves.
- meet in silent gatherings, allowing for reflection and contemplation.
- learn in a spiritual community.
- seek the truth in a safe and open environment.
- learn to make a difference in the world by working through non-violence for peace, justice, and service to others.
- learn through inquiry, reflection, and action in daily life.
- resolve conflict through respecting and listening to others.
- embrace the diversity of cultures and religions in our community.
- respect individuality in the midst of community.
Our Vision
Alexandria Friends School aspires to create a peaceful community of learning in a troubled world. We intend to be a beacon of sanity and clear-thinking in a world in which the social contract seems to be broken.
The tool for this devolution of sanity to the younger generation is education; its mechanism is honesty, trust, and respect for others.
The core belief of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) is that there is that of God in every person, no matter their age, experience, social status, creed, color, religious preference, or gender identity. Together we seek that truth which carries us beyond individual differences and towards an understanding of all peoples as brothers and sisters on the journey towards enlightenment.
Our Vision of Trust
Alexandria Friends School has been built on trust. We trust young people to have within them a core of goodness which, even under the most trying circumstances, can be called upon and witnessed. We trust all of our teachers to speak the truth without fail. For without honesty there is no trust, and without trust there is nothing.
Our Vision of Faith
But even trust cannot stand alone. It must be built on faith, and in a world which seems to have lost its capacity for sustained faith, Alexandria Friends School continues to breathe and sustain an unshakable faith that things can be made better, safer, and more empowering for all.
This is no idle faith. It has withstood the tempering of thirty years' heat in the crucible of our predecessor institution, dedicated to the service of young people who professed to be bored with education, with life, and with themselves.
Our Vision of Our Students
This remains our mission. To serve young people for whom life has become too precious to waste on dull and repetitive pedagogy. Our students are those whose very creativity and intelligence make a standard school seem not enough, pallid, pro forma, dull.
Our teachers are committed to the liberation of the best intelligence lurking within our students, the most reaching thoughts, the most energetic inquiry, the most exciting speculation. We empower young people to dare to believe in themselves, and in the possibility of improvement in the world.
Thus empowered, our graduates go out into the world, not just to use it to their advantage, but to make it a better place. We believe that if the world is to be made peaceful and sane again, it has to begin here, and to that beginning, we are unswervingly dedicated.
External link: Education Bug
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