Harford Friends School
Encyclopedia
Harford Friends School is a co-ed K–8 independent private school guided by Quaker values located in Harford County, Maryland under the direction of Head of School, Jonathan Huxtable.
Founded in 2005, it originated as a middle school located in the Deer Creek Friends Meeting House in Darlington, Maryland
. The school moved in 2008 to The Highlands Commons Building in Street, Maryland
, near Bel Air, Maryland. In 2009, the school expanded to include grades one through five. Expansion continued in the summer of 2010 with the addition of a new science lab.
Harford Friends School is the only Friends school in Harford County, Maryland
and is a member of the Friends Council on Education.
Consistent with Harford Friends School’s commitment to Quaker values the school periodically sponsors community seminars on parenting and conflict-resolution.
The school is supported by private donations, local Friends Meetings, equipment donations from local colleges and other private schools, as well as tuition.
, and social consciousness. The program nurtures a joy for learning as students develop skills, talents, gifts, and a strong academic foundation for high school. Students learn to value and practice integrity, independence, collaboration, curiosity, critical thinking, skepticism, and creative problem solving
. Social consciousness involves social responsibility, community service, conflict resolution, and leadership. The school aims to enable students to grow in confidence and ability as they become tomorrow’s leaders in making their world a better place.
, mathematics
, history
, English
, and Spanish
. Specials include physical education
, art
, music
, computer science
, and numerous field trip
s. Extracurricular activities include Amnesty International
Chapter, Archery Club, Basketball, Card Club, Community Service
, Destination Imagination
, Math Counts, Movie Club, Science Club, and Student Government. The Harford Friends School curriculum is enriching, appropriately challenging, and intellectually stimulating.
Experiential learning
, service-learning
, computer technology, library and media arts, conflict-resolution, creative problem solving, and study skills
are incorporated into all courses and every aspect of the program.
Founded in 2005, it originated as a middle school located in the Deer Creek Friends Meeting House in Darlington, Maryland
Darlington, Maryland
Darlington is an unincorporated village in northeastern Harford County, Maryland, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a historic district in 1987 with approximately 100 contributing properties .-Community:Local children attend the Darlington Elementary...
. The school moved in 2008 to The Highlands Commons Building in Street, Maryland
Street, Maryland
Street, Maryland is a rural unincorporated area in Northern Harford County, Maryland. Street was first settled by Dutch immigrants in the early 18th century.One of the central villages in Street is Highland...
, near Bel Air, Maryland. In 2009, the school expanded to include grades one through five. Expansion continued in the summer of 2010 with the addition of a new science lab.
Harford Friends School is the only Friends school in Harford County, Maryland
Harford County, Maryland
Harford County is a county in the U.S. state of Maryland. In 2010, its population was 244,826. Its county seat is Bel Air. Harford County forms part of the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area.-History:...
and is a member of the Friends Council on Education.
Consistent with Harford Friends School’s commitment to Quaker values the school periodically sponsors community seminars on parenting and conflict-resolution.
The school is supported by private donations, local Friends Meetings, equipment donations from local colleges and other private schools, as well as tuition.
Goals
The goals of the school, encapsulated in the motto, "Learn, Live, Lead", revolve around personal and academic excellence, integrityIntegrity
Integrity is a concept of consistency of actions, values, methods, measures, principles, expectations, and outcomes. In ethics, integrity is regarded as the honesty and truthfulness or accuracy of one's actions...
, and social consciousness. The program nurtures a joy for learning as students develop skills, talents, gifts, and a strong academic foundation for high school. Students learn to value and practice integrity, independence, collaboration, curiosity, critical thinking, skepticism, and creative problem solving
Problem solving
Problem solving is a mental process and is part of the larger problem process that includes problem finding and problem shaping. Consideredthe most complex of all intellectual functions, problem solving has been defined as higher-order cognitive process that requires the modulation and control of...
. Social consciousness involves social responsibility, community service, conflict resolution, and leadership. The school aims to enable students to grow in confidence and ability as they become tomorrow’s leaders in making their world a better place.
Curriculum
Academic subjects include scienceScience
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
, mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
, history
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
, English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, and Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
. Specials include physical education
Physical education
Physical education or gymnastics is a course taken during primary and secondary education that encourages psychomotor learning in a play or movement exploration setting....
, art
Art
Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....
, music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
, computer science
Computer science
Computer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...
, and numerous field trip
Field trip
A field trip or excursion, known as school trip in the UK and school tour in Ireland, is a journey by a group of people to a place away from their normal environment...
s. Extracurricular activities include Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
Chapter, Archery Club, Basketball, Card Club, Community Service
Community service
Community service is donated service or activity that is performed by someone or a group of people for the benefit of the public or its institutions....
, Destination Imagination
Destination ImagiNation
Destination ImagiNation Inc. or DI is a creative problem solving organization for youth and adults. Destination ImagiNation's educational goals are to foster creative and critical thinking, to develop teamwork, collaboration and leadership skills, and to nurture research and inquiry skills...
, Math Counts, Movie Club, Science Club, and Student Government. The Harford Friends School curriculum is enriching, appropriately challenging, and intellectually stimulating.
Experiential learning
Experiential learning
Experiential learning is the process of making meaning from direct experience. Simply put, Experiential Learning is learning from experience. The experience can be staged or left open. Aristotle once said, "For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them." David A...
, service-learning
Service-learning
Service-learning is a method of teaching, learning and reflecting, frequently youth service, throughout the community. As a teaching method, it falls under the philosophy of experiential education...
, computer technology, library and media arts, conflict-resolution, creative problem solving, and study skills
Study Skills
Study skills or study strategies are approaches applied to learning. They are generally critical to success in school, are considered essential for acquiring good grades, and are useful for learning throughout one's life....
are incorporated into all courses and every aspect of the program.
Collaborative partnerships
Harford Friends School has collaborative partnerships with the following organizations to ensure top quality instruction in art, music, fitness, and other programs of study:- Joyful Sounds School of Music
- Blue Dog Arts
- Genesee Valley Outdoor Learning Center
- Eden Mill Nature Center