Quaker Education

A Friends Select School student in the balcony of the Race Street stands to give vocal ministry while students seated nearby look on.
Courtesy Friends Select School

Since 1689, Quakers in the United States have provided a tradition of education that seeks to foster not only the intellectual development, but also the social, moral, and spiritual development of each person.  Quakers have established preschools, elementary and secondary schools, colleges and universities, and adult study centers.

Friends Center currently houses four organizations that continue to foster the tradition of Quaker education.

Friends Child Care Center, cares for children from 6 months until they leave for kindergarten.  FCCC fills the Friends Center courtyard with the colorful games and playful voices of young children. (To learn more, click here.)

Friends Council on Education supports Friends schools around the country, nurturing the spiritual life of the schools, strengthening connections between them, and providing consulting services and professional development. (To learn more, click here.)

For Friends Council’s listing of Friends schools in the United States, click here.

Friends Association for Higher Education with offices at Friends Center is an association of all who share Quaker ideals of higher education, both on Quaker and non-Quaker campuses, to support one another in integrating their commitment to education and their Quaker values. (To learn more, click here.)

For a listing of Quaker colleges and education centers, click here.

Tract Association of Friends provides pamphlets and tracts about Quakerism and Quaker beliefs. (To learn more, click here.)

In addition, Friends Select School is located one block away from Friends Center. It is under the joint care of both Central Philadelphia Friends Meeting here at Friends Center and the Monthly Meeting of Friends of Philadelphia, located at 4th and Arch Streets. Students at Friends Select regularly attend midweek meeting for worship here at the Race Street Meetinghouse. (To learn more, click here.)

Students walk through Friends Center's courtyard to the Race Street Meeting for meeting for worship. The trees have bright fall colors.
Friends Center courtyard; photo from Friends Select School