We are excited to announce the expansion of the Sandy Spring Friends School boarding program to Norwood House, located just around the corner from campus on Norwood Road.
Over the years, the SSFS boarding program has been steadily growing. Currently, there are 68 students living on campus in the Westview dormitory and 48 students living off campus with 22 host families. While living in Westview and living with a host family offer two very different experiences for students, our hope is that the introduction to Norwood House will offer yet another living situation to help prepare students for the transition to college life and beyond. Students living at Norwood House will have more overall independence, but will be responsible for sharing household chores, such as cooking, cleaning, and general maintenance of the property.
The property is separated into two distinct residences: the larger primary residence, which can accommodate up to 14 boarding students, and an attached secondary home for an SSFS faculty/staff member and his or her family.
The house, which previously functioned as a group home for boys under the nonprofit Aunt Hattie’s Place, Inc., offers 10,700 square feet of living space, including six double-occupancy bedrooms, five full bathrooms, a large kitchen, and multiple communal living spaces, in addition to 1.3 acres of outdoor space.
The first eight students moved into Norwood House on Friday, January 25 along with Head of Middle School David Blake, who is living in the attached residence with his family. Norwood House is currently only being offered to upperclassmen in the five-day boarding program with the hopes of expanding in the future.
SSFS is enthusiastic about this opportunity to expand its boarding program and we look forward to developing the Norwood House program further.