Wilmington Friends School

Please do not send your child here if they have any learning differences. My child has fairly standard ADHD diagnosed at 4 and treated well with many out of school resources. We wanted to have our children supported with Quaker principles and were enticed to WFS by home and school consultants as well as psychological consultants. Unfortunately, the deep lack of understanding of educating and supporting kids with learning differences led to us pulling my child from WFS. We were fortunate to have her long-term external psychologist join the learning plan meetings and confirmed our suspicion that the expectations and plans being set in place were setting my child up for failure. They were relying repeatedly on intrinsic motivation as opposed to external reward. Intrinsic motivation, in all of us, takes time to develop but particularly for a 6 year old ADHD child. We were so deeply disappointed that they could not flex to live by the Quaker principles of community and include and accommodate even the most mild learning difference. If your child can fit into a very narrow box of high achievement, WFS is a great school for them. Otherwise, you are best looking elsewhere.

Having switched my daughter from public school to Friends, I have seen so many positive changes from her. I cannot say enough about how much my daughter loves this school. Her attitude towards her grades, school spirit, and even homework are off the charts. Her last year in public school was filled with anxiety dealing with the drama, bullies, and ineffective teachers. Her grades were in the tank, and now she is blossoming at Friends. Best move I have ever made for my child. This school is worth every penny, and I see none of the issues the negative poster is talking about, in fact our experience has been the complete opposite.

I have 3 children who have been at Friends since PK. One graduate, and two who will graduate sometime in the next 5 years. My children are all VERY different in their demeanor, ranging from self conscious and shy to self assured and outgoing. They have each found friends with similar interests. My middle child is dyslexic (diagnosed in 3rd grade). We have worked with tutors so she can keep up with the workload at Friends. The tutors also communicate with her teachers so that they are all on the same page, and extra time is permitted on tests, which is a huge source of anxiety. In our experience, Friends has provided a nurturing, safe environment for our children. From an early age, students are taught to look out into the world and to seek out opportunities to help others. The Quaker testimonies, or SPICES (Simplicity, Peace, Integrity, Community, Equality and Stewardship) are the foundation upon which all our classes build. I want my children to have that local and global perspective and I really feel as though the school goes out of its way to show our kids the whole picture. As for the quality of education. It is, quite simply, top notch. Our students work hard for their degree, but they also have time to be kids. While studying in the IB program at Friends, my child still found time to compete on a club athletics team, volunteer (tutor) at a local middle school, and spend time with her classmates outside school. She now attends one of the top DIII liberal arts schools in the country, and while she says there is a lot of work that has many of her classmates 'freaking out', she feels well prepared and capable of managing the work load. Probably one of the best things about Friends is that they are very generous with their financial aid. I certainly would not have been able to send my 3 kids here without the help. The majority of families here receive aid, which makes for a diverse student body. And while our athletics teams are always competitive, there are kids who pick up a sport in high school who earn a spot on varsity by their junior or senior year. So if your child wants to play a sport, there is a better chance to do so here than at any other school. I should mention that this year, we have already had 5 teams qualify for the state tournament ... so as I said, competitive. Put simply, we love it here.

My children have thrived at this school since they were small. The teachers are warm, caring, and professional. At Friends, the students seem comfortable in their own skin, as well as confident and prepared. As students get older, they have many academic choices, including IB classes and online classes.

For the tuition you pay, you would expect top notch teachers education and programs. For the lower and middle schools - you get none of that. The teachers are very poorly trained and not managed, they seem to all do whatever they want with not much guidance from the schools leadership. Email communications is a disaster. The biggest drawback is that you can get a better education and support at a public school! Wilmington Friends Board members need to take a hard long look at their policies and implement changes otherwise this school will continue to decline in enrollments and quality of education will continue to decline as well.