Academics

Highlights & Traditions

Meeting for Worship

All students and faculty at Germantown Friends School attend Meeting for Worship once a week. There, in the manner of Friends, we sit in expectant silence. From time to time, any person present may be led to share an insight, a concern, or an experience. The discipline of this regular, weekly period of silent worship is the foundation of every endeavor by the School. The Upper School division holds its own Meeting for Worship on Thursdays at 10:05 a.m. All are welcome.

Annual Art Show

Each spring the GFS community comes together and is awed by the talent and creativity of our art students and staff. The walls of the Main Building and Middle School are adorned with student work created during the year. Refreshments are served and everyone appreciates the hard work and artistic expression of our kindergarten through 12th graders.

Science Night

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Science Night is an opportunity for students in grades 8-12 to apply what they have learned in their science courses. The process of “doing science” is emphasized at all levels, but the specific projects depend on the curriculum in each grade. For example, 8th graders design and perform experiments related to environmental science, and 9th graders build devices such as mouse trap cars, egg drop parachutes and boats and then compete against teams from other physics sections. Chemistry students perform experiments such as isolating caffeine from soda and making sparklers. Students in advanced courses may choose to perform “wet bench” experiments or write research papers about topics in which they are particularly interested.

 

Examples of recent Science Night Projects:

How Adolescent Impulsivity can be explained by Brain structure and development
How The Biomechanics of Pitching explain common arm injuries
Identification of individuals by DNA Fingerprinting
The Synthesis of Aspirin 
The treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease through the use of Stem Cells

Grade Highlights

Language Exchanges:The French and Spanish Language Exchange sends five to eight students to Mexico and Martinique, or Quebec for two to three weeks of language and culture immersion. In the spring our students host their counterparts.

Physics Olympiad For Science Night: 9th graders conduct a series of physics trials known as the Science Olympiad.

Workplace Experience: As part of the English curriculum each 9th grade student plans a day-long independent experience shadowing a professional adult in the workplace. This becomes the basis of a written reflection.

All Grade Musical: During the second semester the music and drama departments lead students to produce an all grade Musical.