Adam ’91 and Stephanie Barea P ’21

Adam Barea came to George School in 1987 through A Better Chance, a program that helps academically talented students of color access better educational opportunities. A member of the Class of 1991, Adam thrived at George School.

As he reflects on his own experience and that of his son, Ben ’21, Adam states, “George School presents its students with diverse opportunities to blossom into their best selves, academically, socially, and spiritually. As a Friends school, it is a place where nonviolence is practiced and upheld as a virtue, and where loving thy neighbor is a core tenet of what is being taught, the importance of which cannot be overstated. It is a community that regularly challenges and inspires an incredibly diverse student body to take intellectual and spiritual risks, and more importantly, one that expects and rewards their engagement in the broader world community. This is how you build empathy, and a better world for yourself and for others.”

Adam and his wife, Stephanie, are both graduates of enriching boarding school communities (Adam—GS ’91; Stephanie—St. George’s School ’93), and in the nearly 30 years since, they continue to benefit immensely from those high school experiences, as compared to contemporaries who did not attend boarding schools. They enrolled their son with the hope that he and all future George School graduates would reap the same rewards of a positive boarding school experience, specifically at a Friends school, where self reliance, academic excellence, and connection with the human spirit are viewed as critical to becoming a successful citizen of the world.

The Bareas support George School because of the mission and the promise of what the school can do for other graduates. They also look at the question of support practically, if not them, then whom? If not now, then when?

Adam states, “Irrespective of political ideology, economic class, race, gender, or anything else used to divide us in 2020, I think we can all agree that it’s our young adults who will soon be the custodians of our collective futures. Investing in George School is an investment in that future, and we can’t think of a more worthwhile investment than that.”