Friends Academy

Friends Academy
Location
Locust Valley, NY
USA
Information
Type Private Co-Ed
Motto Strong Minds. Kind Hearts.
Established April 17, 1876
Founder Gideon Frost
Grades Nursery school - 12th grade
Campus Suburban, 65 acres (26 ha)
Color(s) Red and Black          
Mascot Quaker
Yearbook The Lamp
Website www.fa.org

Friends Academy is a Quaker, coeducational, independent, college preparatory school serving students from nursery school through the twelfth grade, located in Locust Valley, New York, United States. The school was founded in 1876 by 78-year-old Gideon Frost for "The children of Friends and those similarly sentimented". The school was originally named Friends College. The campus covers 65 acres (26 ha). The school is organized around quad with buildings surrounding it. Recent additions to the school include the Helen A. Dolan Center (2000), the Kumar-Wang Library (2000), the renovation of the Upper School (2004), the renovation of the Lower School (2010), the construction of the gym and field house (2007), and the current renovation of the Middle School.

Students, faculty and staff

There are approximately 770 students from various backgrounds and communities throughout Long Island. There are 224 students in the Lower School, 175 in the Middle School, and 370 in the Upper School. There are 119 full- and part-time teachers; 93 hold masters degrees and 9 hold doctorates.[1]

Athletics

Friends Academy offers a moderately wide variety of sports that are participated by students in grades 7-12. Sports consist of boys and girls basketball boys and girls soccer boys and girls cross country boys and girls track and field boys and girls lacrosse boys baseball girls softball boys hockey girls field hockey boys and girls crew girls tennis girls cheerleading and boys football.Andy Coe (captain of Yale '69 football team) coached football at Friends Academy in 1970. Friends Academy also offers a smaller variety of minor recreational activities such as yoga and dance that are accessible to high school students. Friends Academy participates in the Nassau County Public High School Athletic Association. Friends Academy is the only school to participate in the Nassau County Public High School Athletic Association as an independent school. Despite playing in a larger conference, Friends Academy has won several Regional and State titles in different sports in recent years. FA has won State Championships in Boys Basketball ('10, '11), Boys Soccer ('09, '10, '11), Girls Soccer ('12), Women's rowing ('06, '08, '09, '10) and Regional Titles in Girls Field Hockey ('12), Girls Basketball ('11).

Arts

Friends Academy offers a wide variety of arts courses for students in graded K-12. Music, Dance, Visual and Digital Art, and Theater are required parts of the curriculum for students through the 8th grade. In the high school, a wide variety of courses are offered as electives. The Visual Arts program has a working dark room and a new digital media lab. The Music Department has a number of performing groups, including wind ensemble, orchestra, vocal ensemble, chamber choir, two middle school jazz bands and a high school jazz band. The Theater and Dance department operates in a 400 seat proscenium theater. There is a working scene shop. The curriculum includes dance, acting, playwriting, and technical theater. The school produces four productions each school year.

Quaker Values

Friends Academy have been teaching students Quaker Values since 1876. Friends Academy believes that in teaching Quaker Values, students will mold their minds and personalities to match the very values that they teach. Quaker Values mainly reflect on truth, morality, and conscience as believed by the Quakers themselves. To uphold the tradition of Quaker Values, the students and faculty of Friends Academy attend the Matinecock Meeting House weekly to attend "Meeting for Worship", a traditional Quaker tradition where the students and faculty sit silently for one hour to reflect on their actions, and to pray for friends and family.

Uniform

Students at Friends Academy are required to abide by a dress code. For boys in the high school, this requires wearing a button down shirt that is tucked in, a tie, dress pants with a belt, and dress shoes. For girls in the high school, this requires wearing a collared shirt, pants or a skirt that do not extend above the knee, and appropriate footwear. It is prohibited for students to wear sweatpants, sweatshirts, jeans, and/or hats, unless given permission. Sport jackets are asked to be worn by boys during special occasions. The uniform is mainly consistent for students in the middle and lower school, however the option to wear a polo instead of a dress shirt is offered.

Activities

Friends Academy offers a wide variety of clubs, after school activities, and groups that are available to students at the school. Some of the following are listed.

External links

Coordinates: 40°51′53″N 73°35′46″W / 40.86472°N 73.59611°W / 40.86472; -73.59611

References

Notes
  1. ↑ Friends At A Glance section of the Friends Academy web site
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