Reflections on What it Means to be an FSP Student

Pictured above: Students taking in an afternoon rehearsal of this year's seventh and eighth-grade production of Disney's The Newsies Jr.

Faculty and staff have been working on a “portrait of a graduate” exercise this spring that will extend into more discussions this fall. While the conversations have been percolating with teachers, seventh and eighth-grade teacher, Nicole, Middle School Assistant Teacher, Nadja, and Development Director, Brooke, led a conversation with seventh and eighth-grade students about what it means to be an FSP student.  

Here are a few reflections: 

“At Friends School, you get a strong sense of community. You hang out with kids that you might not hang out with in a bigger school, or just in life. You get to learn how to know people who like different things than you. You get to be in a community. And teachers know what you want to learn about and help you not just learn the things you want to learn, but help you find how you learn.”

“Everyone here can name at least one preschooler. We know each other. But we also know younger kids. I think that helps us remember that we are older kids, but that we are also still kids.”

“I think I have a really good sense of myself. But also, I know myself in a group of people, too.”

“It feels like a family, even if we don’t all get along all the time. Maybe that is what makes it like a family. We don’t always agree, but we are always looking out for each other."

“By the time that you are in seventh and eighth grade, we’ve all had the experience of being part of a play, which is really unique. You don’t need to be part of a theater club. It’s just part of trying out new things and learning if you like it. And learning how hard it is. And learning how good it can feel to try something new.”