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The Legacy of Quaker Education

Quaker education traces its roots to 17th-century England, where the Religious Society of Friends, led by George Fox, founded the first Quaker schools to offer a “guarded” education—one that emphasized moral development and shielded children from negative societal influences. In America, Quaker education began in 1689 with the founding of William Penn Charter School in Philadelphia and has since grown to include a wide network of schools and universities grounded in the core Quaker values of simplicity, peace, integrity, community, equality, and stewardship.

Above: "Quakers' Meeting" by Thomas Rowlandson, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. c.1810

Baltimore’s First School

Founded in 1784, Friends School of Baltimore holds the distinction of being the first school in Baltimore. Classes were first held in the Aisquith Street Meetinghouse in the East Baltimore community of Old Town. Throughout the 19th century, the School transitioned through several locations, moving to the Lombard Street Meetinghouse in the 1840s and then to the Park Avenue Meetinghouse in 1899.

Above: Friends Meetinghouse, Aisquith and Fayette Streets, ca. 1865. Maryland Historical Society

100 Years on Charles

In 1925, the school purchased the Homeland campus on North Charles Street, originally for athletic fields. A few years later, it made a permanent move from its downtown location. This move and subsequent expansions established Friends School as a modern campus, well-equipped to support the School’s commitment to providing a holistic approach to education that would allow students to excel across a broad range of activities in academics, athletics, and arts.

Above: Original Nursery building on Charles Street campus