Школа Сидуэлл Френдс: История и традиции частной школы в Вашингтоне и Бетесде.

Washington, D. C. area PreK 12 school

Sidwell Friends School is a Quaker school located in Bethesda, Maryland, and Washington, D. C., offering pre kindergarten through high school classes. Founded in 1883 by Thomas W. Sidwell, its motto is "Eluceat omnibus lux" , alluding to the Quaker concept of inner light. All Sidwell Friends students attend Quaker meeting for worship weekly, and middle school students begin every day with five minutes of silence. The school's admissions process is merit based. As documented on the school's website, it gives preference in admissions decisions to members of the Religious Society of Friends, but otherwise does not discriminate on the basis of religion. Sidwell "accepts only 7 percent of its applicants." The school accepts vouchers under the D. C. Opportunity Scholarship Program. The school has educated children of notable politicians, including those of several presidents. President Theodore Roosevelt's son Archibald, President Richard Nixon's daughters Tricia and Julie, President Bill Clinton's daughter Chelsea Clinton, President Barack Obama's daughters Sasha and Malia, President Joe Biden's grandchildren when he was Vice President and Vice President Al Gore's son, Albert Gore III, graduated from Sidwell Friends.

Thomas Sidwell started a "Friends' Select School" in 1883 on I Street in downtown Washington, four blocks from the White House. It opened with just eleven students.

In 1911, Sidwell began buying property between Wisconsin Avenue and 37th St. Initially, the new property was used for athletic fields—and, with the central campus' downtown location—meant students had to shuttle between the two sites by streetcar. However, in 1923, Sidwell built a building for school dances and other social gatherings on what came to be known as the Wisconsin Avenue campus. By 1938, the transition to the new building had been completed, and the I Street property was sold. In 1957, the school adopted a formal dress code policy, with requirements and recommendations for boys and girls in Kindergarten, Lower School, Middle School, and Upper School. The dress code continued to evolve to include further restrictions on hair length, skirt length, and types of shoes in the 1960s, but began to relax by 1969. Previously, all grade levels were in Washington, D. C. In 1963, the elementary school moved to the former Longfellow School for Boys, purchased by Sidwell Friends. Sidwell became racially integrated in 1964. In the decades following integration, problems faced by black students lead to the creation of two parent groups outside the school, which sought to alleviate covert prejudice.

In 2009, Thomas B. Farquhare became the Head of School after the retirement of Bruce Stewart. Following the 2013 2014 school year, Garquhar was removed from his position as the Head of School. In 2018, Sidwell, along with seven other Washington metropolitan area private schools, announced that they would be eliminating AP courses, citing the declining impact on one's college acceptance chances that AP courses were having, and a want to diversify their class offerings. the school plans to move elementary grades back to Washington, D. C. following its purchase of the former Washington, D. C. school in 2017 for campus expansion purposes. All students must acquire at least 20 credits before graduating. Students are required to take four years of English, three years of mathematics, three years of history, two years of one foreign language, two years of science, and two years of art. In addition to this, all freshmen must take a full year Ninth Grade Studies course that involves a service project. Tenth and eleventh graders must also take courses corresponding to their grade level. Sidwell is a member school of School Year Abroad.

In 2016, the school revised its policy on sexual misconduct after reports that a teen had been raped by her ex boyfriend on the school's campus. No charges were filed against the teen, and the school installed more security cameras to deter future assaults. Despite the measures, a year later another teenage female student reported being raped on the campus grounds by a fellow student. Former Sidwell psychologist and sex ed teacher James Huntington was the target of a 2013 lawsuit for his affair with the parent of a student he was counseling. The case exposed teachers that had made advances towards students.

Sidwell's athletic teams are known as the Quakers; their colors are maroon and gray. The Quakers compete in the Mid Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAC) for boys' sports (after previously competing in the Interstate Athletic Conference (IAC) until 1999) and the Independent School League (ISL) for girls' sports. Sidwell offers teams in volleyball, golf, boys and girls cross country, football, field hockey, girls and boys soccer, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls swimming and diving, wrestling, boys and girls tennis, baseball, boys and girls lacrosse, boys and girls track, ultimate frisbee, crew, movement performance and choreography, and softball.

The women's basketball is consistently a top program in the DMV area. The Quakers completed an undefeated season from 2021 to 2022 and were ranked the #1 best girls' basketball team in the nation by recruiting website MaxPreps as well as by ESPN. In the 2022–2023 season, the team won their second straight DCSAA state championship in a 68–49 win against St. Johns. Led by Coach Tamika Dudley and Duke commit Jadyn Donovan, the consensus #3 recruit in the class of 2023, the team was once again ranked as the top team in the nation by various recruiting websites and sports journalism pages after compiling a 28–3 record. The men's team is another program in the DMV area, finishing the 2022–2023 season with a state championship, two conference championships (regular season and tournament) and 27–4 record.

For the 2022–2023 school year, 1,142 students are enrolled. 57% of the student body are people of color. The school does not compute GPAs or assign rankings to its students, However, it does publish a list of institutions at which recently graduated students have matriculated. As of 2023, Sidwell Friends School is rated the 14th Best Private K 12 School in the US by Niche.