Wilmington Friends School offers an unsurpassed academic program, and just as important, it is a great place to grow up.
There is no “typical” Friends School student or family. We recognize diversity of thought, identity, and experience as essential to both academic excellence and the character of our community.
Our teachers know our students. They provide individual attention and are deeply invested in students’ growth and success. Because they are known as individuals, students are able to discover and develop the best in themselves. Because they are valued and held to high standards as members of a community, students are motivated to contribute and to lead.
For parents, Friends is a great place to join with other families who share a commitment to education that inspires the best in each student while fostering an active responsibility to the good of all.
Inspired by their mothers’ entrepreneurial spirits, Anya Agarwal ’25 and Layla Baynes ’25 founded the Entrepreneurship Club at WFS during the 2023-24 school year.
Congratulations to Major League Baseball draft pick Eddie Micheletti Jr. ’20! Eddie was selected during the 8th round by the Toronto Blue Jays. During the 2024 season with Virginia Tech, he batted .311 with 12 home runs and drove in 50 runs for the Hokies.
Wilmington Friends School has partnered with the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Social Impact Strategy and Schoolyard Ventures, an organization that develops university-level, real-world learning opportunities for high school students, to offer the Social Innovators Program to upper schoolers.
WFS faculty and staff members traveled to Bryan Stevenson's Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, Alabama, on Juneteenth to attend the unveiling of Freedom Memorial Sculpture Park. This new park uses art to honor and remember the ten million Black Americans who were enslaved in America.
In late June, 11 WFS upper school students traveled to Acadia National Park in Maine with teachers Kelley Cox and Sara Woodward for a QUEST service learning trip in partnership with Earthwatch.
Earlier this month, teachers Courtney Miller, Lara Munch, and Rodri Saldana led 17 WFS upper school students on a trip to Panama as part of Vámonos Tours. Students spent time visiting with the indigenous people of the Emberá-Wounaan community, engaging in service work on the San Blas Islands, assisting older adults at Hogar Bolivar, exploring the Panama Canal, learning how to salsa dance, and touring the Sergio Perez Delgado Bilingual School.
J.R. comes to us from The New School in Fayetteville, Arkansas, where he has served as Head of Upper School since 2020. Over his four years there, J.R. developed an interim term program consisting of 2-week experiential “mini” courses; created a seminar program for students with weekly sessions on topics such as wellness, study skills, and college counseling; and worked on setting up K-12 community group structures to facilitate better cross-divisional communication and understanding.
For the final event of our 275th anniversary celebration, WFS hosted a two-day workshop, in collaboration with the Delaware Association for the Education of Young Children (deaeyc), focused on equity in early education.
Service learning is a foundation of Quaker education, linking the classroom to the world and building our students’ sense of responsibility as members of communities, large and small.
Lower school students participated in Big Bang of the Books, a reading club shared across WFS, Tatnall, and Tower Hill that includes more than 170 students!
Celebrations for the Class of 2024 have begun, and last night was Senior Exploration Night, where members of the Class of 2024 presented the projects they've been working on for the last month.
Bravo to all who performed in last week's 275th Anniversary Band and Choral Concert at The Playhouse theater in downtown Wilmington, close to the School's original home at 4th and West.
Higher Level International Baccalaureate biology students recently visit the ChristianaCare Gene Editing Institute where they worked in the learning lab to perform a CRISPR experiment (a technology used for editing genes) and toured the gene editing lab!
We recently had a visit from former 5th grade teacher, Marcia Jones, pictured with her former colleague (Teal Rickerman) and former students who are now members of the WFS faculty and staff: Julia Morse Forester '00, Alex Mellow '01, Chris Loeffler '00, and Katie Wolf Martinenza '99!
Congratulations to our 7th and 8th grade band and choir who traveled to Hershey Park for the Music in the Parks Festival, where they both received a first place, excellent rating!
As part of our annual Wellness Day, organized by members of the Quaker Cares Committee, WFS middle and upper school students participated in various activities facilitated by faculty and staff members. Students enjoyed yoga, playing multiple sports, and jamming out in the band room.
Dr. Tracey Dennis-Tiwary, author of the book, Future Tense: Why Anxiety is Good for You (Even Though It Feels Bad) recently visited with WFS parents and faculty members. In her talk on anxiety in the context of education, Dr. Dennis-Tiwary, who is an anxiety researcher and bestselling author, discussed new perspectives on child anxiety.
In January, WFS middle school students take the reins and lead portfolio-led conferences with parents/guardians and advisors. This approach not only fosters a sense of accountability for the students but also strengthens the partnership between parents/guardians, students, and advisors. The two main objectives of these conferences are:
The digital landscape plays an essential role in the lives of students and adults, and at Wilmington Friends School, we want to equip our students, families, faculty, and staff with the necessary tools to ensure that they make positive and safe decisions online every day.
Wilmington Friends kicked off the 275th Webinar Series on Thursday, November 9, with "How Networking Enhances Your Brand," featuring Andy McEnroe '04, Managing Director for Raymond James; Monterry Luckey, Deputy Director of the Delaware Workforce Development Board; and Lynne M. Williams, Executive Director of Great Careers Group & BENG; and moderated by Connor Dalton ’08.
As organizations continue to rely on ever-changing technology, computer science has become increasingly more popular in high school and college curricula.
Many of us are interested in volunteering, but with the demands on our time and attention these days, community service can easily be placed on the back burner.
Many of us know of Advanced Placement or “AP” courses in high schools, and often see “AP” grouped with “IB” in references to more challenging coursework.
If your child is pursuing higher education, at some point you might feel compelled to step into, and perhaps even manage, their college application process.
Our new podcast shines a light on what make WFS such a vibrant and unique learning community that allows students to, in the words of George Fox, "let their lives speak."
Videos
WFS in action! Check out videos of all that's happening at Friends!
Statement of Nondiscrimination as to Student Enrollment
Wilmington Friends School admits students of any race, color, gender, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students of these schools. Wilmington Friends School does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, gender, national and ethnic origin in administration of their educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other school administered programs.