United Friends School acknowledges that it is located on the Lenapehoking, the ancestral and spiritual home of the Leni-Lenape Nation. United Friends School recognizes the pain and suffering that colonization has caused all indeginous peoples and is committed to fostering an informed and inclusive community by standing in allyship with the Leni-Lenape nation whose presence continues in our community. As an institution governed by the tenets and values of The Religious Society of Friends, we acknowledge the responsibility early Friends had in the displacement of this land’s Indigenous communities. We encourage you to honor those of the Leni-Lenape nation on whose shoulders we now stand.
United Friends School works to cultivate and nurture an inclusive environment where we can explore, discover, and embrace our differences and similarities in non-judgmental ways. Using the guiding principles of the Quaker testimonies, particularly equality, United Friends School embodies a deep commitment to equity and social justice.
The exploration of our diverse community and, complex world is central to an education at United Friends School. Through our curriculum, culture, practices, and policies, we seek to reflect the diverse community in which we live and encourage students to become catalysts for change.
UFS has a deep-rooted tradition of helping to advocate for historically vulnerable populations and people whose identities face disrespect and assault. Most of us have or know someone who has, an identity that fits within this framework. We all benefit when we use our collective privilege to help each other thrive. UFS has a long-term association with the Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center in Lehigh, PA. Liz Bradbury and Trish Sullivan, whose ground-breaking advocacy for LGBT rights in Lehigh was honored with the Center’s name, are proud Grands (adopted Grandparents!) of Emily ’12 and Marissa ’15 Goff. Liz provides regular consultation to UFS to make sure that we have all the tools we need to support our LBGTQ+ community members. Each year, UFS students and faculty participate in Black Lives Matter for Schools and the Greater Philadelphia Diversity Collaborative’s Elementary Diversity Day.