School for Friends is a preschool offering full-day educational programs for 12 months to five-year-olds, five days a week. The School is open 8:15 a.m. to 5:45 p.m. year-round and is closed all federal and winter holidays and one week in August for staff development.
The School is located near Dupont Circle in the Church of the Pilgrims near Metro, bus lines, and the Connecticut, Florida, and Massachusetts Avenue commuting routes. The School is close to activities that offer learning potential — shops, ethnic restaurants, parks, galleries, a library, and parents’ workplaces.
There are six classrooms at School for Friends with approximately 12 children in each classroom. Classroom groupings are flexible. In addition, children often play in smaller groups.
An experienced and qualified teacher along with one or two co-teachers, teach each class. A music specialist visits each class once a week.
All classrooms are bright and well-equipped. In each classroom, areas are designated and equipped for dramatic play, block building, reading, using manipulatives, water play, and explorations with art materials. Teachers encourage children to make independent choices while exploring the materials. Allowing for both unstructured and structured experiences, each day the schedule includes a free choice time, snack, outdoor time, and circle time. Teachers emphasize respect for others and encourage children to listen and respond to each other while taking part in small and full group discussions.
Outdoor play is an essential part of each day. The playground is equipped with a slide, climbing apparatus, sandbox, large building blocks, balls, and tricycles. Older classes also go for nature walks.
During the summer, the schedule is more relaxed and includes more outdoor activities.
Children bring their own lunches from home. The School provides nutritious, low-sugar, low-salt snacks in the morning and afternoon.
School for Friends is accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children. NAEYC administers the largest and most widely recognized national, voluntary, professionally sponsored accreditation systems for many preschools and early childhood centers. NAEYC is the nation’s largest organization for early childhood education.
Early childhood programs accredited by the NAEYC’s National Academy of Early Childhood programs have voluntarily undergone a comprehensive process of internal self-study, invited external professional review to verify compliance with the criteria for High-Quality Early Childhood programs, and been found to be in substantial compliance with the criteria.