This year marks the ninetieth anniversary of Friends Council on Education. In 1931, two Friends, Morris E. and Hadassah M. Leeds, invited 90 educators to form a council on Quaker education. Today it continues as the only national association of Friends schools, serving over 6,000 educators, staff, and trustees. This April Friends Council will kick off a celebration with board members and educators, past and present.
Friends Council provides responsive and interactive virtual professional development for Friends school educators from all parts of the United States and the world.
Friends Council is committed to furthering social justice in every aspect of its work, including by dismantling racism, oppression, and White supremacy. In its fourth year, Community Conversations on Race is a regular event that invites educators and community members to examine structural racism and to practice having the conversations that are needed to dismantle systemic racism. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion practitioners from Friends schools gather regularly for connection and conversation; the most recent program focused on trauma-informed approaches to supporting students during the pandemic.
Friends Council is a resource for the broader Friends school network and serves as the national voice of Quaker education. A January 2021 statement, “Insurgency, Inauguration, and Our Children,” signed by 55 heads of Friends schools plus FCE staff, was issued nationally and shared on social media.
Learn more: Friends Council on Education
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