Sandy Spring Friends School

Uniquely Sandy Spring

Quaker Values

Students entering the SSFS Meeting House — At Sandy Spring Friends School, we have a profound sense of hope in the individual's ability to create positive change within the world, and we foster the values that create change: simplicity, peace, integrity, community, equality and stewardship. These values are sometimes referred to by their acronym, the Quaker SPICES.

Inquiry-Based Approach

4th Grade Seed Study — We take an inquiry-based approach to teaching and learning, challenging students to strive for academic excellence and to realize their highest potential.

Experiential Learning

Stream Study with Students — We believe that learning is significantly enriched by experience-based projects and programs. They help develop capable, responsible, and globally-aware students who can apply their learning in useful, practical, and meaningful ways.

Teachers as Mentors

SSFS Teachers are Life Mentors — Because our teachers see each student as a unique individual, they strive to cultivate each student’s inner Light and talents. The resulting dynamic of frequent communication and trust facilitates confidence and growth, as well as an optimistic outlook, a lifelong love of learning, and the desire to accomplish positive change in the world.

Campus as a Classroom

Middle School Stream Study - Campus as Classroom — Our 140-acre campus near urban centers features an old-growth forest and stream, making it a natural environment for study and contemplation and enabling access to a wealth of resources, including six miles of cross-country trails, a pond/swimming hole used seasonally by students and our summer camp, and an aerial adventure park.

Diverse, Caring Community

Students enjoying community time together at Sandy Spring Friends School — We believe in a diverse, collaborative, nonhierarchical community, strengthened by all-school and all-division meetings, an active Parents Association, an engaged alumni body, and an emphasis on affirming and empowering the individual and examining all points of view.

Our Community Speaks

Discover how SSFS empowers and equips students to be changemakers.
Hear from students, families, alums, and faculty about what makes this place a home.

"SSFS is rigorous but not a pressure cooker—it’s a challenging, supportive environment."

"Because SSFS really encourages going outside of your comfort zone—I took weaving, acting, and engineering—I was exposed to so many different things in high school and learned how to draw interdisciplinary connections. I felt prepared academically and emotionally, understanding that not knowing something isn’t the end of the world.”

"This beautiful campus has never been about the land or the buildings. It’s about the people inside those buildings—the talented, compassionate educators who create the sense of safety, joy, and belonging that our children need to truly thrive."

"Many schools talk about knowing the whole student. At SSFS, knowing is only the beginning. What we do with that knowledge is what sets us apart. We don't use that knowledge to shape our students to fit a preconceived idea of what a successful student should be. We use it to help students forge a path that is all their own. We do what we say we do. It's not just marketing."

"This is a place where community truly matters. Families support each other. Teachers partner with us. And students grow in an environment that fosters curiosity, empathy, and purpose."

"Part of what I find really valuable about a Friends community is the mutual respect. Every idea I’ve pitched to an adult has been embraced, and I don’t know any other environment that believes in students, their ideas, and their success like SSFS does."

"This school really nurtures your talents and gives you a safe space to explore and grow in each of them. It taught me that being honest and true to yourself is the best thing you can be."

"A friend recently said, ‘The world needs Quaker education now more than ever.’ I feel that in my bones. The sense of purpose I have here is one I won’t have anywhere else. I have never been more certain of my own calling for that purpose."

At A Glance

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140+

Pastoral acres in the heart of Montgomery County

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6:1

Student-teacher ratio

diversity

49%

Students identify as Students of Color

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Sandy Spring Friends School

Our Community Speaks

Discover how SSFS empowers and equips students to be changemakers.
Hear from students, families, alums, and faculty about what makes this place a home.