............................Quakerism at Orchard Friends School

.....The central Quaker (Friends) belief is that every individual has within a special gift that is
variously called a conscience, an inward teacher, and an inner light. Quakers believe that this
gift in every individual means that we are all obliged to pay respect to every other individual
and that individual's inherent worth. This belief has led to Quaker activism in issues of slavery,
civil rights, social justice, women's right to vote, public service, opposition to the death penalty
and to war. Quaker schools find an inherent worth in each student and both respect and nurture
the student's potential to learn and grow.

.....This Quaker belief in the inner light of every individual has proven to be a solid educational
foundation for students of all ages in a variety of levels. Friends have founded many colleges,
with local examples being Haverford, Swarthmore and Bryn Mawr. They have also founded 80
Friends schools of which Orchard Friends School is one.

Since 1976, four Friends School have been founded that address the special learning needs
not addressed by the more traditional Friends schools. Orchard Friends School, the only such
school in New Jersey, joined this family of Friends schools in 1999 with a mission to serve
students who have language-based learning differences. The mission has been carried out with
the traditional Friends values in a learning community based on respect for the worth and
potential of every student.

While the traditional values of Quakerism provide the philosophical base for our school
community, the school welcomes students and faculty who are members of all religions or who
are not religious. In fact, most of our students and faculty are not Quakers. The school has no
program of religious instruction or mandatory participation in any religious ceremony.