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Plymouth Meeting Friends School
Location
2150 Buter Pile Plymouth Meeting, PA 19462
Information
Type	Private
Religious affiliation(s)	Quaker
Established	1780 (1780)
Head of School	Brenda Crawley
Grades	Pre-K–6
Gender	Coeducational
Number of students	roughly 100 annually
Campus size	Eleven acres
Color(s)	Maroon and Grey
Website	pmfs1780.org

Plymouth Meeting Friends School

Plymouth Meeting School is an independent Quaker school, guiding children in their most formative years of Pre-K (age 3-5) through 6th grade to become lifelong learners. In an environment of social-emotional security, students develop their curiosity into academic risks and growth. PMFS preserves childhood while preparing students to continue as creators, thinkers, collaborators, global citizens, and problem-solvers.

History

The first written record of the school appears in Plymouth Monthly Meeting minutes in 1780. The school was originally attended only by boys; girls were first enrolled in 1812 and the first female teacher was employed in 1818. When the school needed more room, and using land donation by the Williams family, the Meeting constructed what was called an “eight-square school,” a then popular building style, in 1816.

By 1856 that the need was seen for a new school building, and another ninety perches of land was deeded to Plymouth Monthly Meeting. The first room of what is now the main school building was constructed on this property. Plymouth Meeting Friends School was still a small country school, averaging enrollment of about 25 with one teacher, usually a member of the Society of Friends. The school faced financial difficulties in the early 1870s and closed briefly from 1877-80, but it re-opened in 1881 and has been open continuously ever since. The Philadelphia Yearly Meeting’s Committee on Education took an interest in Plymouth Meeting Friends School, and in 1891 helped to re-organize PMFS into a graded school with three levels, primary, intermediate, and high school, and three teachers.

Benjamin Smith became the school’s principal in 1895 and served for sixteen years. By this time the school had grown large enough to require adding a second story to the main building. Under Smith’s leadership the school offered high school classes that included Latin, French and German, algebra, rhetoric, Roman and Greek history, bookkeeping, astronomy, elocution, geometry, English grammar, geography, drawing, physics, and chemistry, among others. Sixty-four pupils were enrolled in the 1901-1902 school year. The first parent-teacher organization held meetings in 1913, and the first official Kindergarten class was offered in 1916. Eventually, the need for high school classes diminished and by the 1920s PMFS once again became an elementary school.

PMFS’s signature Mexican Exchange program had its start in 1970 when Head of School LaRue Taliaferro took Fifth and Sixth grade choir members to Mexico to perform. Since that first trip, Fifth Graders have traveled to Mexico annually where they stay with their Mexican Buddies and their families. This transformative experience begins yearly when the Mexican Buddies and their teachers, from Colegio Williams in Cuernavaca, travel to Philadelphia to stay for two weeks with the PMFS students and host families.

From 1989-2014 Plymouth Meeting Friends School made great expansion to what is now referred to as the Lower Campus, adding 5 new buildings to the campus. The most recent addition, the 4,500 square foot Emerson Building houses two classrooms and the Library. In 2019, PMFS welcomed Brenda C. Crawley as the new Head of School, positioning the school for more nurturing growth.

Philosophy

Young children thrive on being known. At Plymouth Meeting Friends School, every student and every grade is an integral part of the community. Protecting the integrity of childhood provides students with opportunities to develop self-esteem, resilience, academic and social confidence, and build lifelong relationships with their peers. With this ever-emerging sense of self comes an awareness of place and responsibility, and growing perspective. Through an interdisciplinary curriculum, students explore their world as an ever expanding circle, becoming critical-thinking global citizens and agents of change.

Academic Program

The Pre-k program serves students ages 3-5. The Plymouth program specializes in nurturing and preparing students, ages 3 through 6th Grade.

External links

Plymouth Meeting Friends School: website
Friends Council in Education