Friends Community School, a Quaker independent school in College Park, MD

Announcing Our Next Head of School

The Board of Trustees is thrilled to announce the appointment of Rachel Kane as the next Head of Friends Community School. Rachel will succeed Interim Head of School Neal Brown on July 1, 2025. We thank Neal for his ongoing dedication and stewardship of the school as we invite Rachel to write the next chapter in the school’s history. Rachel’s appointment is the result of a thoughtful and extensive search that began in the spring of 2023 and engaged many voices in our community. Read on for a letter from our Interim Board Clerk, Brooke Carroll.

Sharing Small Moment Stories: Narrative Writing in 1/2

Each year, whether it’s Year A or Year B, the 1/2 team launches Writing Workshop with a unit on Small Moment Stories. In the first couple months of school, the 1st and 2nd graders work on crafting personal narratives that zoom in and retell one small, vivid moment in time. Using a watermelon analogy as a teaching tool, the 1/2 teachers explain how a watermelon story represents a big topic, a watermelon slice is a smaller topic, and a seed story focuses on a small moment. For example, instead of writing about an entire vacation (a watermelon story), students first narrow it down to a specific day (slice story) and then choose one activity from that day (seed story). They draw inspiration from their own experiences, and this year, topics range from riding roller coasters to breaking an arm (ouch!) to the FCS Fall Fair. They plan carefully, breaking down the sequence of events and identifying the key elements of the story, before beginning to write their draft. Throughout the unit, the students are challenged to incorporate specific details to build up their story. By the end of the unit, students transform what began as a few simple sentences into pages of engaging, detailed storytelling.

Law and (Snack) Order: A Scientific Investigation with 5/6 Teacher Bryan Adams

The transition from Lower School to Middle School brings exciting new responsibilities and opportunities. In science, moving to 5th grade means students conduct more complex experiments using scientific methods and materials. To introduce the 5th graders to their new science room, lab materials, and curriculum this year, 5/6 Science Teacher Bryan Adams had them solve a mystery involving missing snacks from their classroom. During this mini-unit, the 5th graders practiced working through the scientific process by making critical observations and inferences, analyzing sets of data, accurately testing and experimenting different samples, and drawing conclusions based on the results of multiple data points.

Speaking of Integrity in the Middle School

As a Quaker school, parts of FCS’s mission and values are rooted in Quaker practices and testimonies. Simplicity, Peace, Integrity, Community, Equality, and Stewardship—commonly referred to as SPICES—are key values that are studied, embraced, and practiced by the entire FCS community, students and teachers alike. This year, the SPICE that all FCS students are exploring is Integrity. In recognition of Hispanic Heritage Month, Middle School Spanish teacher Daniela Rivadeneira and Middle School Art teacher Casey Collier partnered to provide an interdisciplinary opportunity that expanded on an annual research project of notable Hispanic and Latino figures through the lens of integrity.

If The Multi-Purpose Room Could Talk

One of the most utilized and versatile rooms at Friends Community School is the Multi-Purpose Room. It serves as a gathering space for several different school events, from theater performances to Back-to-School Night. If the Multi-Purpose Room could talk, it would share stories about who we are as a community, what we do, and how special it is to be a part of it. Just in the past month, the Multi-Purpose Room has hosted Meeting for Worship, All School Meeting, Student Lunch, and Meet the Instruments. Here’s a snapshot of how we use this purposeful space together and how it truly lives up to its name!

Learning with the Feathery Friends on Campus

There are several things that make the Friends Community School experience special and unique. One notable part is the presence of chickens and their not-so-distant relatives, guinea fowl, on campus. It is not uncommon for students to see the guinea fowl wandering around campus in a flock or hear their distinctive call as they play during recess. Throughout the year, Lower School students interact with these feathery friends in a variety of ways. For the Kindergarteners, all of whom are new to campus, it may be their first introduction to guinea fowl or roosters. Older students, such as those in those grades 3/4, may visit the guinea fowl or chicken coop as part of a specific lesson. With the help of Gillian Rosenzweig-Stein '10, Senior Auxiliary Programs Manager and one of the guinea’s most trusted caretakers, classes are able to visit the chickens and guinea fowl, interact with them, and take advantage of the hands-on, experiential learning opportunities that come with having two species of birds on campus.

7th Grade Harkness Discussions with Ashley Johnson

Over the summer, incoming 7th graders read the novel The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. This past week, they read a second work by the same author, a short story called Rumble Fish. Both stories share overlapping themes of identity development and navigating early adulthood. To help cultivate conversation on the short story and its connections to The Outsiders, 7/8 Language Arts Teacher Ashley Johnson employed the Harkness Discussion method, kindling thoughtful and robust academic conversations in her classes.

Book Tasting with Hallie Friedfeld in 1/2

In the beginning of each year, FCS teachers work to create thoughtful experiences for their students that help them understand and practice their classroom routines. In the Lower School, introducing the classroom library is an exciting and important part of this process! Students get to explore the multitude of stories right at their fingertips in their classroom. This year, 1/2 teacher Hallie Friedfeld invited her students to participate in a ‘delicious’ reading kick-off event called Book Tasting!

Creating Classroom Norms with Sam Horne in 5/6 Social Studies

Creating classroom norms at the beginning of each year is a way teachers in the FCS Middle School build community and establish common expectations. Instead of choosing classroom rules and announcing them to their students, teachers help facilitate collaborative conversations with students that get them thinking about the classroom experience and what best supports their learning. Teachers ask students about what works well and what doesn’t, and what they need from teachers and classmates alike in order to succeed. Then, the students formulate norms that they collectively endorse and can refer back to as they take on the year together. This hands-on, student-centered process gets to the heart of what students want and need out of their classroom experience, and is an integral part of community building.

Sports Return to FCS: Friends Fire Defeats Latin

Did you know FCS has an ultimate frisbee team? Their season began on April 18th, in a home opener against Washington Latin. Friends Fire, as they are called, is coached and was started by 5/6 Language Arts teacher Holly Stephens.

Holly started the team shortly after arriving at FCS. “My son Coby and his friend Rosario [both FCS ‘21] wanted a team, so I offered an enrichment in the fall. Then the following fall I offered two enrichment classes (one just for girl-matching players, and one all-gender class), and we went to a couple of tournaments.”

Learning About Activism

Recently, the 3rd and 4th-grade students have been learning about activism and the effect it can have on the world. Students have thought about what they would like to advocate for, and learned what they can do to create change in issues including LGBTQIA+ rights, Black Lives Matter, requesting sports teams, and preventing littering.

5th Grade Dance Residency

Each spring, the 5th graders get an opportunity to participate in a dance residency with dancer Kelly King. Through a grant from the Maryland State Arts Council, and work with Interact Story Theatre, Kelly comes to FCS for 5 sessions with each 5th-grade performing arts class.

Accent Practice

As 6th graders get ready for their performance of Matilda, they’re learning about more than dancing and singing. The story takes place in England so they’re learning to do the show with English accents!

The FCS Library Building Project

On Wednesday night, nearly 20 members of the FCS community gathered to talk about books and enjoyed rich conversations that went well beyond the page. In so doing, these parents, community members, and students joined in the work of curating a library collection that inspires, reflects, and empowers FCS students to see themselves as builders of the future. Attendees generously shared their time and thinking with each other and the school as they reviewed and discussed picture books from the school's 40-year-old collection.

6th Graders Visit a Mesopotamia Museum

Sixth graders in Terrance Smith’s Social Studies class studied ancient Mesopotamia in the fall. That unit concluded with a “Shark Tank” project in which they pitched various inventions of the time period to a panel of FCS community members. Last week they had the opportunity to see how students at the Lab School in Washington, DC explored the features of this early civilization.

FCS Insights