Facts & Figures

Origins

• Established in 1799 by the Philadelphia Quakers
• The oldest continuously operating co-educational boarding school in the country
• Began as a safe educational haven for Quaker children, one day's coach ride from Philadelphia

Size

• Total Student Body, Pre Kindergarten - 12th grade: 800
  • 415 Upper School Students (305 boarding, 110 day), 9th through 12th grade
  • 161 Middle School Students, 6th through 8th grade
  • 224 Lower School Students, Pre-Kindergarten through 5th grade
• Requisite boarding in 11th and 12th grades
• Average class size: 15 in Upper School, 18 in Middle and Lower Schools

Campus

• 600 acres located
  • 25 miles west of Philadelphia
  • 11 miles north of Wilmington, Delaware
  • 120 miles northwest of Washington, DC
  • just outside West Chester, Pennsylvania
• 14 acre lake with beach and boathouse
• Arboretum and natural forest
• 62 faculty houses and apartments

Financial Aid: $4.1 million awarded annually to

• 11% of lower school families
• 16% of middle school families
• 41% of upper school families
• The Sally Barton Leadership Scholar Grant is awarded to 39 Quaker boarding students annually

Athletics and Clubs

• Gymnasium
• Field house with 3 basketball courts and indoor track
• Wrestling Center
• Dance Studio
• Fitness Center
• 25 meter swimming pool
• Weight training center
• 13 playing fields, 10 multipurpose, 2 baseball, 1 softball
• Premier cross-country course
• Outstanding tennis stadium with 14 courts
• 27-element ropes course
• 14-acre canoeing and ice-skating lake
• 24 varsity teams
• 57 clubs including Model UN, Outing Club, Film Club, Japanese language Club, Literary Magazine
• 11 local social service agencies provide opportunities for community service
• Student leadership opportunities including Quaker Leadership Program, Work Program, Student Government and Dormitory Prefects

Facilities

• The Center for the Living Arts: 564-seat Barton-Test Theatre with computerized lighting system, a scene shop and costume shop, an art gallery, three art studios, a ceramics room, dark room, chorus room, orchestra room, four music practice rooms, and a recording/sound studio.
• The Mary Hutton Biddle Library: 33,000 books, 175 periodicals, microfilm collection, CD-ROM and online databases. Lower School Library contains an additional 12,000 volumes
• Historic Quaker Meeting House
• Computer facilities: more than 230 computers on campus available for student use, Over 40 Smartboards™ available in classrooms and labs, 4 technology-media labs, 3 wireless mobile lab with laptops for classroom use. E-mail for all Upper School students and high-speed (two T-1 lines) internet connection. Individual student telephone, voice mail, and network connections available in all dorm rooms.
• Griffith Science Center: with state of the art classroom and laboratory facilities
• Dormitories: Two 9th/10th grade dorms; upper class girls' dorm; upper class boys' dorm. All dormitories have been renovated within the past five years.
• On-Campus Archives containing original resources dating back 240 years