Religions

With a global perspective, we strive to enhance your knowledge about the worlds’ great faith traditions.

As a Friends school, we share the essentials of Quaker faith, practice, and community, which are embedded in the culture and everyday life of George School.

There are five primary purposes of religious studies at George School:

To nurture students’ spiritual development.
To expose students to the essentials of Quaker faith, practice, and community, and to give them an appreciation of the ways in which these are embedded in the culture and everyday life of George School.
To enhance students’ knowledge about the worlds’ great religious traditions.
To teach and practice social-emotional, academic, contemplative, and global citizenship skills.
To provide a space of sanctuary in the midst of the stresses of adolescence.

These goals are based on the Quaker beliefs that there is that of God in every person, and that we have something to learn from everyone.

Course Pathways

9th Grade

In ninth grade, students take Essentials of a Friends Community (EFC) and Faith Traditions (an introduction to world religions).

Students are introduced to life at George School and to the application of Quaker practices as a framework for living in this course. There is an emphasis on the Quaker testimonies of Simplicity, Peace, Integrity, Community, Equality, and Stewardship (“SPICES”). Through a combination of classroom activities and experiential learning, students learn about living responsibly in a Quaker community.

EFC is one of the places in the GS academic program in which a student is invited and expected to consider their own life’s journey, personal experiences, and values as part of the curriculum. Toward the end of the course, students are introduced to the study of religion and religions as human endeavors.

10th Grade

In tenth grade, students study Spiritual Practices and Holistic Health, which includes sexuality and drug and alcohol education.

Spiritual Practices emphasizes an experiential and embodied approach to social-emotional, ethical, and contemplative learning that is consistent with George School’s mission and the values of Friends education. This course offers students an opportunity to slow down and reflect on what really matters in their education and in their life, and to develop personal practices and habits that support that approach.

Holistic Health is a required sophomore course that allows students to explore dimensions of health and wellness. Students use factual information to engage in ethical decision-making with an emphasis on personal responsibility. The course develops the skills of synthesizing information and concepts, working collaboratively, discussing abstract and controversial topics, writing reflectively and critically, and applying information within different contexts. The course employs a variety of teaching methods including lectures, multimedia presentations, role-plays, and a great deal of class discussion. Assignments include reading, journal writing, in-class presentations, and small-group research projects. Woven throughout the course are opportunities for students to explore specific spiritual and wellness practices, and to cultivate positive habits of mind and of heart.

11th & 12th Grade

In either eleventh or twelfth grade, students take IB Theory of Knowledge, IB World Religions, or three terms of religions electives such as Cosmology, Quakerism, Peace Studies, The Abrahamic Faiths, Wisdom Traditions of Asia, Theory of Knowledge, Sustainability and Spirituality, Feminist Spirituality, Deepening Spiritual Practices, or Religions of the African Diaspora. Learn more by exploring our Course Catalog.

Student ambassadors hand made friendship bracelets for newly accepted students with their favorite Quaker SPICES to welcome them to GS! **Watch the video here**.

Students and Sustainability
at Snipes Farm

As part of Faith, Responsibility, and Sustainability class, all ninth grade students take field trips to Snipes Farm and Education Center where they engage in experiential learning about agriculture, land stewardship, entrepreneurship, and community, in ways that connect and examine these themes through a Quaker lens.

This course builds on the student learnings from Essentials of a Friends Community (EFC) and has two main components: field trips to a Snipes Farm, and school-based learning about some of the world’s major religious traditions – Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam – and how they have made sense of people’s efforts to live a meaningful and good life.

Students study, learn, and explore topics related to the theme of how various traditions connect community, food, faith, justice, and the Earth.

Students learn about Quakerism at George School, and they also study some of the world’s most impactful organized religions to gain a global perspective. Learning about different people throughout history and connecting it to real-life experiences in our courses allows students to learn more about themselves, their spirituality, their place in the world, and how they can make a positive impact in their own life and others' lives beyond GS. Tom Hoopes '83, P'19, P'20
Religions Department Head