| Welcome |
 When you walk into Greenwood Friends School, you feel at home at school. Our open spaces, our engaged students, and our welcoming community all reach out to let you know that you have come to a unique place to learn. With strong core academics and integrated art, music, drama, and foreign language enrichments, GFS teaches children to think critically, work collaboratively, communicate confidently, and solve problems creatively in today’s changing world.
The Quaker principles of integrity, equality, community, simplicity, and peace guide our school’s daily life. Accredited by PAIS, Greenwood serves preschool through eighth grade students from a broad range of backgrounds. Our students reflect our area's ethnic, economic, and social diversity and are supported by Greenwood’s generous scholarship program. The school is located three miles east of Millville and serves families from 17 districts, including Benton, Berwick, Bloomsburg, Central Columbia, Danville, East Lycoming, Lewisburg, Millville, Milton, and Warrior Run.
Come visit us at Greenwood Friends. A warm welcome awaits you!
Head of School
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| | Teaching to the Child ... Not to the Test |
Greenwood Friends School uses mixed-age groupings to provide each student with opportunities to grow within the context of a community of learners. While individualized instruction is emphasizd, collaboration is highly valued. Students learn to interact with each other respectively and supportively and older students often act as mentors to younger students. From primary grades through Middle School, students are part of flexible groupings in math and language arts, allowing them to progress at a pace which continually challenges students at an individualized level.
Our mixed-aged groups are:
- Pre-Primary: preschool ages
- Primary: kindergarten to grade 2
- Intermediate/Middle School: grades 3 to 8
- Middle School students are given the opportunity to conduct a wide variety of independent study projects in science, social studies, and literature. They graduate from Greenwood equipped with well-developed abilities to ask excellent questions, research a wide variety of resources, engage in dialogue and debate, and present findings using innovative media.
Scheduling allows students to benefit from access to more
teachers, cooperating teachers, and other support staff, who can customize
instruction to meet individual needs. Students may work with teachers
within their "team" or move to another team as needed.
Mixed-age instruction makes it easier to support students whose needs
are not met in the traditional, one-grade classroom. Students can be
encouraged to tackle more advanced levels or given added support when they
encounter difficulties.
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| Why I Teach at GFS |
To teach at Greenwood Friends School is to be planted in
fertile soil. My first year at Greenwood sped by
in a whirlwind of activity, with procedures and traditions to learn
fresh, but I recognized immediately that I had found a place where I
could use every bit of what I had learned in college and in previous
teaching positions. Here I found a faculty committed to keeping
up with the latest educational practices while staying loyal to the
best of the tried and true. Here I found veteran teachers to offer guidance and advice. Here I
found educators interested in designing and adapting the curriculum to
meet the needs of the students – a true child-centered curriculum. I
feel blessed to teach in an environment where academic standards are
met through meaningful, hands-on,
investigative learning, and where that learning happens across a rich
curriculum that includes art, music, and physical education...
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| | GFS Mission Statement | Greenwood Friends School teaches children to think critically, creatively, and compassionately. The school provides a challenging and supportive academic environment, guided by the Quaker principles of peace, integrity, equality, community, simplicity, and service. |
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| Quaker Education |
Quaker education represents a unique combination of academic excellence and spiritual depth.
Children are expected to grow and change in an environment that nurtures their spirits and challenges them to develop inner resources for discipline and achievement.
The Quaker belief in the "Inner Light" leads to faith in the ability of every member of the school community to reach his or her full potential.
- -from the Friends Council on Education pamphlet "What does a Friends School have to offer?"
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| | The "Care Relationship" |
Quakers explain that Greenwood is “under the care of” of Millville Friends Meeting and the Upper Susquehanna Quarterly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends. Our “care relationship” is evidenced in the structure of our school (our bylaws state that more than half of our Board of Directors must be Quaker representatives), in the regular patterns of our activities (once a month the entire school gathers at the Millville Meetinghouse for Meeting for Worship; annual graduation ceremonies are hosted there), and in the commitment of both Meetings to support the school’s educational mission with their corporate resources (annual Garden Tour proceeds benefit tuition assistance funds; members support classroom activities; the Millville Meeting housed our current Middle School during its first year).
On September 8, 2007, the gathered members of Millville Meeting passed the following Minute in affirmation of its support...
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| Quaker Testimonies |
Quaker testimonies and the Greenwood Friends School philosophy:
Quaker testimonies are general statements about Friends' practices and beliefs. Our school's mission statement refers to several testimonies—integrity, equality,
community, simplicity, and peace—which are reflected in our goal of providing a challenging and supportive environment.
You can learn more about Quaker education from the Friends Council on Education. The Friends Council offers links to other Quaker schools.
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