Nonprofit

Camridge Friends School

Cambridge, MA | www.cfsmass.org/page

About Us

MISSION
Cambridge Friends School is a co-educational elementary and middle school (pre-K - grade 8) established in 1961 under the care of Friends Meeting at Cambridge, Religious Society of Friends (Quakers).

It is the mission of Cambridge Friends School to provide an outstanding education. Guided by Quaker principles, we engage students in meaningful academic learning within a caring community strongly committed to social justice. We expect all students to develop their intellectual, physical, creative, and spiritual potential and, through the example of their lives, to challenge oppression and to contribute to justice and understanding in the world.

  • PHILOSOPHY
    As part of Cambridge Friends School's commitment to social justice, we are engaged in building an antiracist, antihomophobic community, and we actively seek students and staff from a diverse range of family structures and racial, cultural, socioeconomic, and religious backgrounds. Our community tries to go beyond mere tolerance to more deeply address issues of bias and privilege.

    The Quaker belief that there is that of God in every person -- the Light or Spirit within -- is the foundation of our faith both in the worth of each student and in his or her potential for growth. We honor each student's strengths and abilities. The school will challenge and support each child to achieve excellence in all areas of the curriculum. We believe this happens best in a diverse community of children and adults working together in mutual trust and respect.

    Our curriculum is designed to develop broad literacy and to stimulate intellectual integrity and love of learning in all students. Daily work focuses on developing competence and confidence in analytical, critical, verbal, creative, mathematical, aesthetic, physical, and spiritual areas. In accordance with Quaker commitment to the search for truth, we believe that learning is not only acquiring a body of information but a process and a mode of inquiry. Our goal is that students will be learners and seekers throughout their lives.

    We strive to create a safe environment where children are encouraged both to stand up for their convictions in the face of opposition and to listen to others with a willingness to change.
    Teachers help children of all ages to develop a commitment to truthfulness and personal integrity and to be responsible and effective members of a group and the larger community. As children acquire an inner discipline and sense of themselves, they learn that their knowledge and understanding are created through their own work, not received as unexamined truth from others. Our expectation is that students will grow as active participants, not bystanders, in their own affairs and in those of the world around them.

    Silence is an integral part of the life of the school, and its use arises from Quaker practice. Silence can lead to an awareness of that inner stillness where we can have moments of clarity. Periods of silence are valued in a variety of settings, including a weekly Quaker Meeting held throughout the school.
    We live in a world where racism, sexism, classism, heterosexism, ableism, and other forms of oppression exist, not only among individuals but in our society and institutions. As an educational community of faith, we are challenged to empower students to make positive change in this world, and to do the same, ourselves, as an institution.

    In keeping with the Quaker Peace Testimony, we are committed to peaceful conflict resolution. Disagreement and conflict are inevitable in any group; we work to achieve understanding through respectful dialogue, negotiation, and an ongoing redefinition of perspectives. We trust in the power of the Spirit within to help us achieve the just and caring community we envision
  • MISSION
    Cambridge Friends School is a co-educational elementary and middle school (pre-K - grade 8) established in 1961 under the care of Friends Meeting at Cambridge, Religious Society of Friends (Quakers).

    It is the mission of Cambridge…

    Issue Areas Include

    Location

    • 5 Cadbury Road , Cambridge, MA None, United States
      Cambridge, MA 02140
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