June 6, 2019

I have resisted the urge to celebrate each significant event at Friends Community School this year as my last Fall Fair, last Open House, last Spring Auction—but indeed the graduation of the Class of 2019 truly signals the last of my formal activities with our children.
 
An FCS graduation is always a moving event for our community: student presentations and community reflections represent the best of our school. This year, our students expressed their thoughts and feelings through music of many sorts, works of art, and speeches focusing on memorable experiences. Our students are wonderfully expressive, poised, thoughtful, talented, and appreciative. They fully understand that support over the years from parents, teachers, classmates, and Meeting Partners has helped shape and prepare them for the challenges of high school and beyond. We anticipate that the values learned at FCS will influence important life decisions as they find fulfillment and purpose throughout their journey.
 
It is also comforting to know that, years after graduation, FCS alumni continue to shine in high school and college classrooms and the world of work; engage in important service to others; and actively pursue a variety of creative outlets. Our Advancement Office hosted another successful Alumni Breakfast reunion last week. Common topics of conversation were memorable teachers, performances, field trips, and each other’s antics while here at FCS. Well attended from representatives of our last 10 years of graduating classes, our alumni were thrilled to see each other. Many toured the building they had not stepped foot in for the last eight years. Impressed by the size and diversity of the student body, and surprised by the impact of our 2013 addition, several volunteered as class representatives to our developing alumni association. Support from an engaged and vibrant alumni will ensure the long-term success of FCS.
 
And so, deeply impacted by the values and care of this community, I join the graduating Class of 2019 in pursuit of new opportunities and adventures.
 
In Peace,
 
Larry
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Located in College Park, MD, Friends Community School is a progressive Quaker K-8 day school, founded on the belief that every child is a valued member of our community. We offer a challenging curriculum imbued with strong values of equality, integrity, community, environmental stewardship, simplicity and peaceful conflict resolution, rooted in our Quaker heritage.
Friends Community School
5901 Westchester Park Drive
College Park, Maryland 20740
301-441-2100