A Personalized Curriculum

Greenwood’s vigorous, personalized curriculum supports and challenges every child, nurturing natural curiosity and encouraging academic excellence. Preschool through 8th grade students explore their world locally and globally. Greenwood encourages students to learn through innovation and collaboration, preparing them to succeed in our changing world.

Greenwood’s highly-skilled and dedicated faculty design the school’s curriculum, which exceeds the standards set by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania Association of Independent Schools. The curriculum emphasizes reading, writing, mathematics, social studies, and inquiry-based science. These core academic subjects are enriched by art, music, foreign language, library, technology skills, outdoor education and social-emotional learning. Click here to view our expanded curriculum for each grade level.

Greenwood’s student, faculty, and community life is founded in the Quaker testimonies of integrity, equality, community, simplicity, stewardship and peace. Quakers, also known as Friends, recognize “that of God” in every person, and — based on this belief — Greenwood educates hearts as well as minds. Our Greenwood graduates stand out academically and as citizens who have the confidence and commitment to make a positive difference in the world.

All students participate in community service projects throughout the school year.  Older children may volunteer at local service organizations; students as young as preschool may participate in activities that raise funds for non-profits such as the local women’s center, nearby animal shelters and area food banks.

Faculty and staff at GFS are as committed to social/emotional learning as they are to academic learning.  Positive discipline and responsive strategies are used regularly throughout the school day in order to foster independent conflict resolution skills, which promote communication, problem solving, stress management, emotional regulation, teamwork and interpersonal relationships.  The positive discipline tools that are taught at Greenwood are mutual respect, identifying the belief behind the behavior, discipline that teaches, focusing on solutions rather than punishment, and encouragement rather than praise. For more information, please check out our Student Behavior Guidelines.

Mixed-age Classrooms

Greenwood Friends School is always striving to improve, while maintaining a commitment to established educational practices that succeed. An important step in our educational approach is to support mixed-age classrooms, while containing class size to approximately 15 students. For 2022-23, our classrooms will be Pre-School (ages 3-4), Elementary School (K/1, 2/3 and 4/5 classrooms), and Middle School (6/7/8 classroom). We will continue to have one lead teacher in each classroom and have added support staff, as needed. Read more below for the benefits of mixed-age classrooms.

Some of the benefits of mixed aged classrooms:

• When a student and a teacher know each other from the previous year, they gain weeks of teaching and learning time. Less review of prior instruction is needed before proceeding with new content.

• Second year students’ anxiety over yearly transitions is lessened with the knowledge that they will be returning to the same classroom with familiar teachers and some familiar classmates.

• Returning students understand expectations and routines of the class, and have the opportunity to become leaders within the classroom as they guide younger students. Studies have shown that when one can teach a concept, idea or procedure, the retention rate is 90%, whereas learning information simply to repeat it has a 25% retention rate.

• Younger students experience enhanced learning opportunities as they work in small groups based on readiness and interest rather than chronological age.

• Students and teachers develop lasting relationships through the multiple year time frame. They come to a greater understanding of each other as individuals and as learners. These relationships often continue throughout students’ Greenwood experience and beyond.