Quaker beliefs and values are important to many people who enroll their children in CFS. Affiliated with Friends Meeting at Cambridge, CFS is one of about eighty schools in the United States founded and operated by the Religious Society of Friends.

The Friends Council on Education, a national organization, helps to nurture and support these schools’ Quaker identity.

Quakers believe that there is that of God—the inner Light or Spirit within—in every person. This is the foundation for our faith in the worth and potential of each student.

At Cambridge Friends School, this belief is reflected in the classrooms, on the stage, in the studio, and on the playing field. We encourage our students to discover and pursue their individual talents, and to recognize that growth in others. This development is nurtured in a cooperative atmosphere of self-discovery, intellectual growth, and academic, artistic, and athletic achievement. Students learn to define their accomplishments through a growing understanding of their own potential, rather than by seeking to surpass other students.

Silence

Silence is an integral part of the life of our school, and its use arises from the Quaker practice of silent worship. Just as the spaces between notes - rests - are an essential part of music, periods of quiet time are an essential part of teaching and learning at CFS.

Much of the educational process is by nature busy and noisy. Teachers use silence as a balance to the busy-ness and rush, to provide a time to contemplate together. We hope that all students will learn to value and use silence in their lives.

Most meetings begin and end with silence. We use silence as a means of centering and preparing ourselves to approach the task before us in a worshipful manner. Beginning with silence allows us to set aside preconceived ideas, prepare to listen to the thoughts of others, and become disposed to move forward as a group. The use of silence helps ease the transition between one activity and another. Sometimes during a meeting for business we will use silence to help refocus ourselves and the meeting.

Meeting for Worship

Meeting for Worship is the most visible and concrete way in which members of the school community participate in Quaker practice. It both supports and reflects the school’s mission by providing each member of the community the opportunity to sit in silence, to acknowledge the Spirit or Light within, and to speak from the heart, if so moved. It is a place to foster spiritual growth and to recognize the power of a group coming together and seeking truth in community.

Teachers focus on the developmental needs of their students to ensure that Meeting for Worship is a positive and productive experience for all. They may provide tools, some from general Quaker practice and others specific to the developmental needs of their age group, to support their students in deepening their reflective practice. These may be in the form of queries (questions meant to prompt individual and group self-examination), short readings or stories, or reflection related to the school’s Quaker Testimonies. Teachers may place an object in the center of the circle, such as a bowl of water or a vase of flowers, as a focal point, or, for younger children, provide a small piece of clay to hold or shape. Some classes may hold Meeting for Business at points during the year as well. This provides a vehicle for teaching inclusive decision making and balancing individual versus community needs as students work together to solve specific problems.

Every Tuesday morning from 8:30-9:00 a.m. the school community holds Meeting for Worship. Meeting for Worship is usually held in individual classrooms, though cross-grade buddy groups may join together for some meetings. Specialists and staff may join classroom meetings or attend Meeting for Worship in the library with a small group of parents and other adult visitors. The Middle School holds Meeting for Worship together in the meeting hall once a month, and four to six times a year the whole school community gathers for Meeting for Worship. In addition to students and staff, families, trustees and visitors are invited to join in these all-school meetings. There are also times when individual classrooms, divisions, groups of adults, or the whole community may choose to gather for Meeting for Worship outside the regular Tuesday time. This may be when the community is experiencing difficult or important news (such as the illness or death of a community member or a major world event) or when a group encounters difficulty in moving forward and uses the meeting and silence for reflection.