Friends Academy is an independent, non-profit day school, serving boys and girls from pre-k through grade eight. The school was founded by Quakers in 1810 and was first located on County Street and then on Morgan Street in New Bedford, Massachusetts. Although the school no longer offers Quaker education, it has retained its strong tradition of commitment to the importance of the individual child, a value that continues to be a central part of the Friends’ ethic. 

In 1949, the school moved from New Bedford to its present location, a sixty-five acre campus in North Dartmouth. Today, Friends Academy students learn and play on a campus that includes the estate’s original Tudor building. Academic resources include the Dorothy B. Plumb Library, the classrooms and the Rothwell Gymnasium, the Russell Science Center, the Clay V. Stites middle school building, and the Tucker Farmhouse, circa 1813, home of our preschool. The Commons, a 450- seat-capacity auditorium, accommodates a variety of audiences for performances, school meetings, and special functions. Outside, along campus trails, the Outdoor Education Program offers a state-of-the-art high and low ropes course, and the Paskamansett River provides opportunities for canoeing and kayaking. 

In accordance with the Friends Academy Mission, the Sally Borden Program was founded at Friends Academy in 2008 to offer a unique educational opportunity for children with language-based learning differences.