Student Life
Germantown Friends School is a family—extended and inclusive. We’ve led the way among independent schools in creating a community diverse in religion, race, sexual orientation and socioeconomic status.
Friends are Family
At GFS, students call most teachers by their first names. Some new to the practice assume this signals a lack of respect, but that is not the case. In fact, the practice reflects a profound and mutual respect that shapes and enriches every aspect of life at our school.
If you ask our graduates their best memories of their years here, the most common answer is the close bonds with faculty. This is not just nostalgia: It’s a description of friendships that are often still vibrant many years after students have graduated.
Through community involvement projects, environmental action and institutional partnerships, GFS is connected with and committed to Germantown and Philadelphia. It’s a remarkable place: the site of a Revolutionary War battle and the Deshler-Morris House, the temporary White House where George Washington took refuge during the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793, as well as home to unique businesses and dynamic organizations.
From their first days here, our students know they are part of a family—and that Germantown is our home. Seeing life through the lens of the neighborhood, they grow in compassion and independence, and come of age as outward-looking people, eager to take their education into the world.