We’re glad you’ve arrived at the Olney Friends School summit homepage. We invite you to join us on our journey – whether in person, electronically, or in both ways; whether before, during, or after the summit gathering in October.

We are a college preparatory, Quaker boarding high school with 60-70 students in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. Our students come from around the state, around the country, and around the globe. They have many different faith traditions, economic backgrounds, and ways of seeing the world.

A Quaker education is founded on the belief that by seeking for truth collectively, we will ask better questions and find better solutions to society’s problems. In a time when cultural understanding, the peaceful resolution of conflict, and the creation of multicultural communities in a global economy are needed more than ever, Olney Friends School graduates have much to offer.

We have been practicing place-based, problem-based learning in the education of adolescents for more than 170 years. Students learn through immersion in the natural world, including use of the school’s bountiful 350-acre campus and our working farm and garden. The humanities and environmental science programs prepare students to be both local and global citizens.

Conservation, as a way of life, is deeply rooted in the culture of the Quaker farming community that founded the school. A wise use of resources, on many levels, is characteristic of student and staff decision making. The Quaker word for choices made in this vein is “simplicity” – using what you need, but no more than that.

To take just a few examples: the buildings where students live and study were built, most of them, 100 years ago. We grow much of our own food. In the last six months, students built a new dock for the pond and a mobile goat shed, while maintenance staff carefully fashioned matching spindles to bring a 100-year-old porch railing up to modern code. What we can’t make or repair ourselves (e.g., SmartBoards for classrooms), we readily purchase, after careful consideration of priorities.

In addition to Olney Friends School’s 350 acres of fields, pastures, forest, rolling hills, and a pond, we have close ties with other important and beautiful sites nearby, including the Raven Rocks nature preserve (1200 acres) and Elizabeth Telling Farm, which grows organic local produce for a wide regional market. As the world’s population is more and more concentrated in cities, increasing numbers of us grow up separated from the source of the water we drink and the food we eat. Lives more closely intertwined with the natural world, whether for shorter or longer periods of time, can offer respite, knowledge, and a ready laboratory for hands-on learning.

Across the country, many families can no longer afford the cost of an independent school education. Independent schools such as Olney offer a chance for students to grow and learn in a setting that encourages personal attention, safety, academic excellence, and leadership opportunities in the campus community.

Olney Friends School has attracted a socioeconomically diverse group of students since its founding more than 170 years ago. Many of our students today receive scholarships and financial aid. We aspire to a different model of funding, one that is more accessible to students regardless of financial need, and therefore, is not dependent on tuition for its primary income stream.

The Appalachian region is one of the most beautiful in the country. It is also one of the poorest. Coal mining is the largest industry. In view of the finite supply of fossil fuels on the planet and of the human health, economic, and environmental costs of mining, Olney Friends School aspires to be of service as the region seeks to build a new, more sustainable green economy. In addition, we seek to broaden our educational mission to include a wider group of lifelong learners, including but not limited to those in our region.

We are grateful to all the new and old friends who joined us October 28-29, 2010 for the summit gathering. The gathering mixed keynote presentations, panels, and group facilitation with hands-on learning, tours, performances, and exhibits. There were opportunities for silent meditation, informal hallway conversations, browsing of books for sale, exploration of the outdoors, and more. Review the schedule, including speaker bios.

We invite you to explore the web site, where you will find video, notes from sessions, the facilitator's report, proposals, evaluation criteria, white papers, and more. Please share your comments between now and mid-January, when the board will meet to consider next steps.