The Obamas and Quaker Schools

Some Meeting School alums and others, such as prospective families, who read this site may not be familiar with Quakers from other places, nor with other Quaker schools --which in many ways are a different network entirely than Quakers themselves. But if you follow current events, and the transition decisions of Barack Obama in particular, you will probably have heard of Sidwell Friends School by now --the Quaker school in Washington, D.C. which the Obamas have chosen for their daughters. Needless to say, this news has generated a flurry of interest in Friends education in the mainstream press. In many ways, the Meeting School and Sidwell Friends School pursue totally different educational philosophies, but the director of the Friends Council on Education has published a beautifully-written response to the news about the Obamas, explaining the focus on values and inner spirit that informs all varieties of Quaker education.

Much of the news coverage has not been very informative about the Friends education philosophy, but this article in Time does a great job.