After assessing its options, Frankford Friends School decided on new, on-site construction and sustainable design for its middle school.
Frankford Friends School (FFS) reports that it has hired the architecture firm DIGSAU to design a new middle school facility on its historic property in Frankford. This long-awaited expansion will unite the school’s sixth, seventh, and eight grade classrooms on the main campus, along with adding a music room and multipurpose space.Frankford Friends School leaders engaged the Community Design Collaborative last year to help its Capital Campaign Committee determine the best course for expansion.
Volunteer Todd Woodward of SMP Architects reviewed existing studies and plans and assessed the pros, cons, and comparative costs of building the middle school in two phases on-site and renovating two buildings near the school. In thanking Todd Woodward for his assistance, Amy Silver O’Leary, Development Director for FFS said, “I’ve rarely seen a group so deeply engaged in shared exploration of a dream… I had so hoped for an authentic consideration of the possibilities… and that’s what we got. In no small part it was because of the way you presented the ideas.”
With the lowest tuition of any Quaker school in Pennsylvania, FFS is known for offering outstanding education to families of modest means. The school has also been a key player in the fight to reverse neighborhood decline of Frankford, a neighborhood in Northeast Philadelphia where the school has been located since 1833.
“We are extremely excited to have a partner like DIGSAU,” said Joe Hohenstein, Clerk of the FFS School Committee, a Frankford resident, and a FFS graduate himself. “They really ‘get’ what Quaker education is all about and value stewardship as much as we do.”
