It’s amazing to think that the little sale that started on our front lawn is now an annual fundraiser that provides tuition assistance to over a third of our students. Your purchases help keep the school accessible to an economically diverse student body. Thank you!
Friends School of Minnesota (FSM) is an independent K–8 Quaker school in the heart of St. Paul’s Midway neighborhood. In the tradition of more than 80 Friends Schools across the United States, FSM meets children’s intellectual, emotional, and spiritual needs in an environment that nurtures their social consciousness. Now in its 31st year, FSM is a vibrant school, known for its progressive curriculum, commitment to community, acclaimed conflict resolution program, and joyful approach to educating children.
FSM is dedicated to its mission: to prepare children to embrace life, learning, and community with hope, skill, understanding, and creativity. We are committed to the Quaker values of peace, justice, simplicity, and integrity. FSM’s 164 students learn from a hands-on curriculum in multi-age classrooms of 16 to 21.
We believe children learn best as active participants, collaborators, and problem-solvers within a community. We think learning should be in-depth, thematic, and interdisciplinary, while teaching the appreciation of multiple perspectives and fostering social skills.
Our focus on place-based education engages students within the local community and prepares them to be compassionate global citizens. We emphasize environmental education and service learning starting in kindergarten. We have specialists in music, visual arts, physical education, and Spanish.
Our community actively works to increase diversity, remove barriers, and be welcoming and accessible. In our admissions process, we welcome a wide range of academic abilities and learning styles. We seek inclusion of many kinds of difference, whether racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, family structure, and values. FSM families have a broad range of religious and non-religious backgrounds, including 10 percent Quaker. Twelve percent of our students come from LGBT families and 38 percent of students are children of color, mostly from multiracial families. We provide need-based tuition aid for 34 percent of our students—up to 90 percent of tuition per student—to increase access to FSM and foster its diversity. Our conflict resolution program is integrated into the daily culture of the school, actively teaching and modeling nonviolent, respectful techniques to solve the natural conflicts found in every diverse community.
Our great location across the street from a mini-arboretum city park and our inviting indoor spaces serve our students well. Our facilities include ten classrooms, an art studio, full-size gymnasium, music room, library, and multi-purpose room. Our school grounds incorporate outdoor classroom spaces and a natural play yard as well as a traditional playground and open field.
Lots of folks first hear about FSM because of our plant sale. Many prospective families come take a look at the school that’s behind the big event. Some say meeting our helpful middle school student volunteers made them curious about our school program.
If you would like to learn more about the school, please contact us at [email protected], call 651-917-0636, or see our website at www.fsmn.org. We’d love to show you around!