Phoenix Friends School aims to prepare our middle-school graduates for choices of high school, of course, but more importantly, we aim to prepare them for a world probably unlike the world we know today.

Private school education in Arizona is now more affordable than ever! More than ten years ago, the Arizona legislature passed the Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) law which provided funding to families of children with special needs. Last fall, Arizona expanded the ESA law by adding $1 billion in funding for public education and giving every…

One of the most exciting aspects of Phoenix Friends School’s programming in our early years will be our signature partnerships with community organizations in the city of Phoenix. With The City Is Our Classroom being an essential component in our founding vision we believe it is essential to forge partnerships in the city to support…

I like cities. I like the look of cities. I like how streets branch and narrow and cross each other, how people and vehicles move and adjust to the traffic around them, how the changing streetscape both signals and conceals the human activity inside. Cities are puzzles to be opened and solved, tempting the interested…

A journalist asked me why I’m founding a private Friends school when I didn’t attend a private school. I offered two answers: 1) my parents couldn’t afford a private school for my sisters and me, and 2) in the 1950s, public high schools were generally excellent, the equivalent of many colleges today. The second point…

For families that are fairly new to the idea of Quaker schools, learning about the educational philosophy can be enlightening but also a bit confusing. One of the most common questions people ask is, “do you have to be a Quaker to go to a Quaker school?” The short answer: No. Students do not have…