Sandy Spring Friends School

When we ask students, staff, alums, and families to share what makes SSFS unique, they overflow with enthusiastic reflection. In fact, the phrase, “delightfully quirky” comes up regularly! What does “quirky” mean, anyway? One definition is “unusual, especially in an interesting or appealing way.” Sounds like SSFS! We invite you to visit our "Quotes, Quirks, and Quakerisms" web page and see how our identity as a Friends school meaningfully shapes every aspect of school life, giving us shared purpose, a deep sense of belonging, and joy!

It was another banner spring season for SSFS! The 'Beests ran away with several season and championship banners and wins, including the MS Track and Field PVAC Tournament Championship, Varsity Baseball PVAC Regular Season and Tournament Championships, and Varsity Lacrosse's South Hagerstown Classic Championship win. In addition, ten seniors signed commitments to play sports at selected colleges, universities, and conferences. See below for full updates from all our spring teams, and thanks to all the fans who came out to support our athletes!

The Performing Arts Center was packed for all three fantastic performances of "Twelfth Night the Musical" on May 30-31, 2025! This year, the production was a collaboration between the Upper School Musical and the Community Play, where main speaking/singing roles were played by students in the Upper School class, and an all-ages ensemble of students, parents, staff, and other community members rounded out the cast, populating the town of Ilyria. Congratulations to the cast and crew for putting together this joyful, fun production that showcased the amazing acting and singing talents of our community!

All students, faculty, and staff gathered on May 28th for the last all-school assembly of the 2024-2025 school year. We honored our seniors—and the fact that, thanks to our amazing community and generous donors, SSFS will be celebrating future senior classes for years to come! After an all-school sing-along of "Lean on Me," we heard remarks from Torch clerk Rosario S. '25 and Sue Groesbeck, Interim Head of School. We ended the assembly with the traditional  rousing all-school sing of the "George Fox Song!" See photos from the assembly and reminisce with the 2024-2025 slideshow.

Thanks to all the SSFS alum--as well as current and former faculty/staff--who returned to the Sandy Spring Friends School campus on May 31 for brunch, Meeting for Worship, Strawberry Cowbake picnic, fun, friendship, reconnection, and the Community Play/Upper School production of Twelfth Night the Musical! Classes also organized off-campus get togethers and reunion activities throughout the weekend. Following the successful campaign to ensure that SSFS  could to remain open after the April closure announcement, alumni enthusiasm and involvement was especially high this year! 

A lifelong Quaker, Sandy Spring Friends School (SSFS) alum, past parent, and former employee Brooke (Garrettson) Carroll ’83, P ’20 allowed her transformative school experience to launch a career in education—most recently coaching and advising the boards responsible for their schools’ oversight. From gaining confidence in her math skills to pursuing her doctorate, Brooke credits the School with not only preparing her well academically, but also allowing her to discover her identity and teaching her strong relational skills like conflict resolution that have served her all her life.

Save the date of May 28, 6:30–8:45 PM, to watch students culminate their Senior Passion Project experience with a presentation about their chosen topics, sharing reflections about the process and what they learned with the SSFS community. In advance of the May 28 presentations, the SSFS community is also invited to the premiere of the film, Gifts from the Lived: A Documentary About the Music We Inherit, the Grief We Carry, and the Healing We Face, by two of the Senior Passion Project participants, Jalynn Smith and Jiya Taylor. The film premiere will take place on Saturday, May 17, in the PAC, with doors opening at 6:30 PM.

Jesse Hardman was once a kid who didn’t see college in the cards—and went on to become a Fulbright Scholar whose life’s calling is educating the next generation of upstanders and changemakers. A passionate advocate for whole-child education and a champion for equity, justice, belonging, and empowering student voices, SSFS’s incoming Head of Middle School has an educational philosophy that closely aligns with the School’s Quaker values. He brings a heartfelt commitment to supporting teachers, equipping students, and partnering with families and caregivers to cultivate a joyful, courageous, and mission-aligned learning community. Learn more about what drives his work—and what he’s most excited about as he steps into his new role at SSFS.

As part of a 9th Grade English project, each student selected a member of the SSFS community to interview, creating a short, curated vignette (similar to the Humans of New York project by Brandon Stanton). The project aimed to capture a glimpse of something important to the subject, or who the subject is. Students recorded the interview, asking specific, targeted questions to evoke the story, then transcribed the entire interview before curating it for presentation, with the goal of staying true to the story and maintaining the subject's unique voice. Presented together, the vignettes provide a snapshot of our community, capturing our uniqueness and our shared humanity.