Head of School Message
The World We Seek For Children Begins Here
Owl Collage
Through questions we deepen our exploration of our 2023-2024 school theme “We Seek to Create an Earth Restored”. Second and Third-grade students asked “What is trash and what can we do about it?” To answer this question they had to ask a raft of others like “What happens to the stuff we put into the school’s dumpster?” “What are the unintended consequences of my soda bottle?” Their friends in First Grade asked “Why are bog turtles and peregrine falcons endangered in New Jersey?” Their collaborative, combined research led to a new central driving question “What can we do about trash at Westfield?” Answering this question led students to propose that the school stop using single-use items at meal times. Westfield already had a policy requiring that students have a reusable water bottle with them each day. Now, students and teachers are working to reduce food waste and our use of single-use plates, napkins, and cutlery.
Eighth Grade students asked the whole school community “How does participation in meeting for worship contribute to my life-long spiritual journey?” Children of all ages and faith backgrounds responded to this with queries and musings of their own. One student wondered if “sitting quietly, waiting to hear, made them better listeners?” In Middle School student government, student leaders know to ask questions first and even test solutions with a question such as “Are we ready to move forward with our proposal on a dance or bake sale or other initiative?” In science 8th grade students were asked “What do you know about infectious disease?” Many thought they knew something, having lived through a pandemic. They began with questions they learned from this past experience: “What do scientists know? What is still unknown? What does it mean for communities? What do I do with this information now that I know?”
The learning cycle is one of asking questions, seeking answers, testing those answers, taking action (as appropriate), and reflecting on what has been learned. All of these happen within a community focused on the whole of the child’s social, emotional, academic, physical, artistic, analytical, and spiritual being.
When making any program choice we ask how it fits with and furthers our Mission and policy on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging. As regular as breathing, we continually ask if every community member is met with respect for their full identity, beliefs, and experiences. Is space created for everyone to thrive? The questions we ask should tell you who we aspire to be.
I invite you to explore our website, call, or come for a campus visit and witness our community in active and joyful learning. We look forward to connecting with you as you help us create the world we seek for children.
Dr. Margaret Haviland, Head of School
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1 Micha Archer, Wonder Walkers, 2021
Preschool 3
Joyful learning
Fall 2022 Message
The World We Seek For Children Begins Here
Welcome to Westfield Friends School. Whether you are a prospective family looking for the best school for your child, a current family keeping informed about school events, or an alum reconnecting, our website is for you. This past spring, in the long-standing tradition of Westfield, our 9 graduates, each prepared to attend their choice of highschools, delivered their moving graduation speeches with themes of friendship, perseverance, the importance of mentors, and gratitude for their loving and supportive families. Their individual and collective experiences at Westfield, captured in the speeches and photographs, is all here.
The 2022 spring trimester gave students across the grades the opportunity to share their learning with the school community. 4th grade students capped the year of studying New Jersey with a symposium where they impersonated and reported on New Jerseyians who shaped history. The class produced an original music video celebrating their home state and each student reflected on their personal role in creating the New Jersey they seek. 8th Grade played as entrepreneurs and business moguls in their own version of Shark Tank. The math based project helped them develop skills in accounting and financial modeling. They each designed an entrepreneurial concept and pitched it to angel investors. 6th grade students engaged in a cross-disciplinary study of All Thirteen: The Incredible Cave Rescue of the Thai Boys' Soccer Team. Expanding beyond the text, they learned about the geology of Thailand, spelunking, Buddhism, hydrology and constructing water pumps, and the particular challenges of diving in caves. To share what they learned, they created a video highlighting the rescue and all its challenges. They presented the video and then hosted a live discussion with the school community. They taught parents, invited guests, and the rest of the student body about the physical challenges the boys faced while trapped, the engineering involved in preventing the caves from further flooding, the actual rescue dives, and the ways the Thai people came together to support the rescue effort.
These deep dives into engaging projects is characteristic of Westfield’s unique learning community. Students in the elementary grades start their week together practicing mindfulness, celebrating birthdays, singing, and considering queries on integrity, kindness, gratitude, stewardship, justice, and community. Students in Middle School begin their week participating in student government, learning to be engaged, respectful citizen leaders. Preschool students take time out of their busy morning routines for circle time – gathering to greet each other. Each week they learn to recite a new poem – most recently on kindness. On Tuesdays, students gather for either Looking at Art or Music Appreciation. These shared experiences across grades provide common language as students grow academically and socially. On Wednesdays, the entire community gathers for Meeting For Worship. In song, shared messages, and time for centered reflection, students learn to listen, hear, and trust in their own Light. Thursdays and Fridays are times for service, assemblies, and Buddies. Westfield’s Buddy program is a beloved opportunity for students to consistently connect across grade groups. Older classes “Buddy” with younger classes, leading activities, being mentors, and learning to help. With their Buddies, students, young and old, feel known, respected, and valued for who they are.
Westfield’ mission and policy on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging guide every program choice. As a school we are continuing our work ensuring that every community member is met with respect for their full identity, beliefs and experiences, and that space is created to help them thrive. The promise of a Westfield Friends’ education is to nurture each and every person’s gifts – their Divine endowment.
In the 2022-2023 school year, the faculty has chosen the theme “We Seek an Earth Restored”. Keeping this theme in mind, students will engage in work and learning projects that matter to them. Reading and discussing "We Are Water Protectors", by Carol Lindstrom in the One Book, One Community Read Program, hosting speakers on environmental justice, cross-grade trips to the Cooper River, and Camp Dark Waters, a presentation from a citizen of the Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape Tribal Nation in South Jersey, trash pickups at local parks and our own beautiful campus – all will serve to reinforce the essential work of taking care of our planet.
I invite you to join us. Explore our website, call, or come for a campus visit and witness our community in active and joyful learning. We look forward to connecting with you and as you help us create the world we seek for children.
Dr. Margaret Haviland, Head of School
Spring 2022 Message
The World We Seek For Children Begins Here
Our Spring Trimester has begun at Westfield Friends School. We are joyfully and thoughtfully looking forward to easing some of our Covid-19 mitigation strategies. With the careful participation of everyone in our community, we have avoided school outbreaks and the need to shift to online learning. Recently, we returned to worshiping together in the Meeting House, students resumed their cross-grade collaborations, and we anticipate holding in-person class plays, poetry slams, and STEM demonstrations of learning with parents and family friends in attendance.
Right now, 6th-grade students are rehearsing Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, 8th-grade students are preparing their version of Twelve Angry Men re-imagined as “Nine Angry Teenagers.” 6th-grade students have also begun their cross-disciplinary project centered on Christina Soontornvat’s book All Thirteen: The Incredible Cave Rescue of the Thai Boys' Soccer Team. From the geology of Thailand, to spelunking, to Buddhism, to hydrology and constructing water pumps, to the particular challenges of diving in caves, students will explore this event from myriad perspectives and disciplines, they will finish the unit asking and attempting to solve their own challenge inspired by this event.
In February, Westfield Friends received confirmation of its accreditation by NJAIS. One of the clear findings by the NJAIS visiting committee is that the thoughtful, inquiry-based academics and vibrant arts are made possible by the strength and resilience of this learning community. Students in the elementary grades start their week together practicing mindfulness, celebrating birthdays, singing together, and considering queries on integrity, kindness, gratitude, stewardship, justice, and community. At the same time, students in Middle School are learning to be engaged, respectful citizen leaders through their participation in student government. Our preschool students take time out of their busy mornings for daily circle time – gathering to greet each other. Each week they learn to recite a new poem – most recently on kindness.
In its December Meeting, the Westfield Board of Trustees approved a formal policy on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging. As a school we are continuing our work ensuring that every community member knows they can bring their full identity to school, their beliefs and experiences are respected, and space is created for them to thrive. The promise of a Westfield Friends’ education is to nurture each and every person’s gifts – their Divine endowment.
I invite you to join us. Come for a campus visit, or talk to one of our community members. We look forward to having you help us create the world we seek for children.
Dr. Margaret Haviland, Head of School
Fall 2021 Message
The World We Seek For Children Begins Here
Westfield Friends School opened the school year with high anticipation for a successful year. Several grades were at or near capacity. Teachers, students, and their families are enjoying in person learning and opportunities for multi-generational community activities. From ice-cream socials, to weekend BYOCoffee playdates, to a highly successful Halloween BOOOOOOth Bash, Westfield Friends School members have demonstrated our commitment to each other and to building community. We know students learn best when they and their families are seen, known, and believe they belong.
With care and creativity, students are embracing their opportunities for in-person learning in the community. On Mondays, students in grades PreK-5 start their week together in the gym to practice mindfulness, celebrate birthdays, consider questions about how to be true to themselves or express gratitude, and sing together. At the same time, students in sixth to eighth grades are busy creating a new student government, discussing the month's queries on integrity and gratitude, and engaging in their Social Emotional Learning program focused on valuing themselves, their communities, and the world beyond. Our young preschool students gather daily for circle time and morning gathering. Their daily routine helps to build independence in age-appropriate ways. On Wednesdays students in grades PreK-8 join together for Meeting for Worship; Monthly, on Fridays, they enjoy Meeting for Singing or our Quaker Friday activities. While October’s Quaker Friday included costumes, parades, pumpkin decorating, and fall treats, November’s Quaker Friday focuses on service and caring for our extended community.
The faculty and staff are building on the successes of the past year and working together to ensure that we deliver what our mission promises to students and their families. As we moved more activities outdoors this past year, we witnessed how giving children time to be outside at the start of each day and in the middle of the day provides them with needed time to stretch, exercise, and safely visit with friends. I was delighted to hear from a parent that when she told her 3rd-grade daughter that it was too cold to go outside, her daughter responded, “this is nothing, at school we have fun outside in much colder temperatures than this.” We believe this outdoor playtime provided several overlapping health-enhancing benefits as it fostered deep and rich learning opportunities.
Westfield is committed to providing a common learning experience for all students while helping individual children to build on their strengths and improve skills where they face challenges. Westfield students continually prove to be successful and joyful readers of all sorts of genres and thoughtful consumers of various media. We teach effective and powerful self-expression through written and spoken words. Students learn number sense and grow into confident mathematicians able to think through complex problems. We help children become critical thinkers, adept at analyzing and interpreting ideas, topics, and arguments they encounter in this information-saturated world.
This past summer we renovated our lower level to create a new science lab, pottery studio, and art studio. This renovated space allows all grades to have authentic lab experiences, practicing hands-on methods of scientific inquiry. The art spaces enable our young artists to experiment, take risks, and experience art as a process. The OWLS Lab (Observe, Wonder, Learn, and Share) is evolving as well. Students deepen what they study in the social studies, language arts, math, and science curricula with engineering, coding, and robotics projects. Through an ongoing transition to project-based learning, students and teachers collaborate on cross-disciplinary projects; students have age-appropriate, authentic demonstrations of learning where they showcase, share, and celebrate their accomplishments with the greater Westfield community.
As a community we are continuing our work ensuring that every community member knows they can bring their full identity to school, their beliefs and experiences are respected, and space is created for them to thrive. The promise of a Westfield Friends’ education is to nurture each and every person’s gifts – their Divine endowment.
I invite you to join us. Come to an Admissions Event, the Winter Playdate, campus visit, or talk to one of our community members. We look forward to having you help us create the world we seek for children.
Dr. Margaret Haviland, Head of School
November 1, 2021
Summer 2021 Message
The Future We Seek for Children Begins Here
Westfield Friends School finished a successful, uninterrupted in-person, 2020-2021 school year where all students experienced extraordinary learning. Those who came to Westfield from schools completely shut down in spring 2020 received the support they needed to catch up and then learn on pace with returning Westfield students. Westfield teachers were adept at creating warm, laughter-filled classrooms despite masks, social distance, and some classmates attending online through the school’s hybrid program.
Adult friendships and connections were sustained through Saturday coffee playdates, monthly Parent & Guardian Council meetings, fundraisers, and community speakers. Treasured community events such as art shows, holiday concerts, the 8th-grade performance of “A Winter's Tale,” the 3rd & 5th-grade Poetry Slam, the 4th-grade famous New Jersians living museum, and the 2nd-grade play “Antarctic Antics,” were shared through audio and video recordings. ZOOM extended their reach to distant community members who wouldn’t have been able to attend otherwise.
For the 2021-2022 school year, we anticipate a fully in-person learning experience. The faculty and staff are building on the successes of the past year and working together to ensure that we deliver what our mission promises to students and their families. As we moved more activities outdoors this past year, we witnessed how giving children time to be outside at the start of each day and in the middle of the day provides them with needed time to stretch, exercise, and safely visit with friends. I was delighted to hear from a parent that when she told her 3rd-grade daughter that it was too cold to go outside, her daughter responded, “this is nothing, at school we have fun outside in much colder temperatures than this.” We believe this outdoor playtime provided several overlapping health-enhancing benefits as it fostered deep and rich learning opportunities.
Westfield is committed to providing a common learning experience for all students while helping individual children to build on their strengths and improve skills where they face challenges. Westfield students continually prove to be successful and joyful readers of all sorts of genres and thoughtful consumers of various media. We teach effective and powerful self-expression through written and spoken words. Students learn number sense and grow into confident mathematicians able to think through complex problems. We help children become critical thinkers, adept at analyzing and interpreting ideas, topics, and arguments they encounter in this information-saturated world. We have daily community events that give students time to practice leadership across the grades, discuss important events in their lives, learn to appreciate artists as diverse as Bisa Butler and Vincent Van Gogh, appreciate music’s power to move us and to reflect and worship together.
This coming year, we are excited to deliver our science curriculum in a new science lab. This renovated space will allow all grades to have authentic lab experiences, practicing hands-on methods of scientific inquiry. We are also looking forward to using our new art studios, one for two-dimensional art, such as painting and drawing, and the other for pottery. We also happily anticipate the ongoing creativity of our OWLS Lab (Observe, Wonder, Learn, and Share) where students enhance what they study in the social studies, language arts, math, and science curricula with engineering and technology projects. We are also expanding project-based learning where students and teachers collaborate on cross-disciplinary projects. These activities will have age-appropriate, authentic demonstrations of learning with students getting even more opportunities to showcase, share, and celebrate their accomplishments with the greater Westfield community.
As a community we are continuing our work ensuring that every community member knows they can bring their full identity to school, their beliefs and experiences are respected, and space is created for them to thrive. The promise of a Westfield Friends’ education is to nurture each and every person’s gifts – their Divine endowment.
I invite you to join us. Come to an open house, campus visit, or talk to one of our community members. We look forward to having you help us create the world we seek for children.
Dr. Margaret Haviland, Head of School
July 19, 2021
