Cambridge Friends School vs. Shady Hill School

A leader in education through a social justice lens, Cambridge Friends School is an elementary and middle school (preK-8) committed to project-based, experiential learning.

The only Quaker school in Massachusetts, CFS educates the whole child in an environment that fosters the development of each child`s potential. Dedicated to preparing children for the future, CFS inspires a life-long love of learning.

As part of our commitment to social justice, Cambridge Friends School is engaged in building an anti-racist, anti-homophobic community and actively seeks students and staff from a diverse range of family structures and racial, cultural, socioeconomic, and religious backgrounds.

Our community tries to go beyond mere tolerance to more deeply address issues of bias and privilege.

Shady Hill is an all gender Pre-K through 8th Grade day school on 11 acres in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Our unique village-style campus is a collection of child-scaled buildings set around courtyards and greens with a web of connecting pathways, play spaces, athletic fields, and wildlife areas.

Founded in 1915 on the back porch of Harvard Professor Ernest Hocking and his wife, Agnes Hocking, the goal was for children to experience an education enriched by the same kind of open-mindedness, inquiry, intellectual rigor, and passion for learning that they valued in their own experiences.

The curriculum is built around Central Subject-a year-long, in-depth study of a people, period of history, an idea or movement-and stresses the interrelationships of many disciplines and the use of original sources.

Through exploration and discovery, rigorous and engaging activities, the mastery of skills, purposeful dialogue and meticulous guidance, our students develop into independent, critical thinkers and life-long learners.

Our beliefs in a diverse and inclusive community, cooperation and collaboration, self reflection, and individual responsibility help students grow into confident, ethical citizens of the school and the world beyond.