How safe is the school, really — beyond what the marketing says?
Based on the school’s health and wellness page and press coverage, Sidwell Friends School has a registered nurse on each campus through the school day and on-site counselors, and teaches consent and healthy relationships in health education; the pages we read give no incident, discipline or climate-survey counts and do not describe campus security or emergency procedures. News reports record a middle school teacher dismissed and charged in 2010, a student’s 2016 report that a classmate had forced her into sexual acts on campus (police presented the case to prosecutors, and no charges were filed), and evacuations after a threat in 2012 and a suspicious package in 2014.
| Item | What it says | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Health and care | A registered nurse on each campus through the school day, a certified athletic trainer on the Middle and Upper School campus, and counselors who offer brief counseling and refer students to outside professionals as needed | School health and wellness page |
| Health education | Covers consent, respecting others’ boundaries and developing healthy relationships | School health and wellness page |
| 2010 | A middle school social studies teacher, placed on leave before the school year began, was dismissed on 14 January 2010 after being charged in Maryland with sex abuse of a minor; his lawyer said they expected to challenge the charges | Education Week |
| 2016 | A student told police in March 2016 that a classmate had forced her into sexual acts on campus; the school said it cooperates fully with law enforcement and does not comment on investigations; by June it had added security cameras and better lighting, was developing more explicit policies on student sexual misconduct, and no charges had been filed | NBC Washington |
| 2012 and 2014 | The school was evacuated after a threat in October 2012 and after a suspicious package in October 2014 | The Washingtonian |
| Reporting a concern | The pages we read do not say how a student or parent raises a safety concern | — |
The press accounts are third-party, the earliest is more than fifteen years old, and none shows how safe a student has been this year. The 2016 report carries the school’s response in a letter from the head of school to parents on 9 June 2016, which we did not read. The school’s contact page lists a security office line, (202) 537-8136, and we found no published safety or emergency plan.
Ask the school for its latest student climate-survey results, how a student or parent reports a concern and who receives it, and what its current safeguarding training for adults covers.
What’s the true total cost — tuition plus fees, room/board if applicable — and how has it moved over the last 3–5 years?
Based on the school’s 2026–27 tuition page, a year at Sidwell Friends School costs $55,250 in PreK to Grade 2, $58,050 in Grades 3 and 4, $61,830 in the Middle School and $62,330 in the Upper School, before the fees below; we found no earlier year on the school’s pages, so how the price has moved is not shown.
| Item | 2026–27 |
|---|---|
| Tuition, Lower School PreK–Grade 2 | $55,250 |
| Tuition, Lower School Grades 3–4 | $58,050 |
| Tuition, Middle School | $61,830 |
| Tuition, Upper School | $62,330 |
| Textbooks and laptop, Middle School | $500 |
| Textbooks, Upper School | $500–$700 |
| Technology fee, Upper School | $420 |
| Yearbook, Upper School | $75 |
| Lower School shuttle, optional | $1,750 one way, $3,500 round trip |
| Early Risers, Lower School, optional | $1,995 |
| Extended Day, Lower School, optional | $815–$6,995 |
| Extended Day, Middle School, optional | $1,950 a semester, $3,600 a year |
Families can pay in full by 15 June, in two payments (70% by 15 June and 30% by 15 November), or through an interest-free ten-month plan from May to February. The application fee is $75, and the school offers a waiver.
Aid is applied for through Clarity, and the school calls its program “one of the most generous financial aid programs in the DC area”. Its About page reports that 23% of students receive aid, that $10,145,734 was awarded and that the average grant is $39,478. The school’s own pages give two dates for a new family’s aid application, 15 January on the affording page and 1 February on the admissions process page; returning families apply before 31 December.
Ask the school what tuition was in each of the last five years, how much it expects to raise it next year, which aid deadline applies to a new family, and what a family at your income would pay after aid.
How qualified and stable are the teachers — credentials, average tenure, turnover?
Based on the school’s 2026 college profile and admissions FAQ, Sidwell Friends School has 60 Upper School faculty, 85% of them with advanced degrees, who have taught there for an average of 10 years; the school states student-to-teacher ratios of 10 to 1 in PreK, 12 to 1 in Kindergarten to Grade 4 and 16 to 1 in Grades 5 to 12, and publishes no turnover figure.
| Measure | What we found | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Upper School faculty | 60 | College profile |
| Advanced degrees | 85% of Upper School faculty; 84% on the About page, which counts the whole school | College profile; About page |
| Average tenure | 10 years (Upper School) | College profile |
| Student-to-teacher ratio | PreK 10:1; Grades K–4 12:1; Grades 5–8 16:1; Grades 9–12 16:1 | Admissions FAQ |
| Full-time faculty and staff | 273, faculty and staff together, across the whole school | About page |
| Turnover; credentials beyond degrees | Not published | — |
| Third-party ratio | 8 to 1 | Niche (third party) |
Niche’s 8 to 1 is lower than every ratio the school states. It matches 508 Upper School students to 60 faculty (about 8.5 students for each faculty member, our arithmetic) and not the 16 to 1 the school gives for Grades 9 to 12, and the school does not say how its ratios are counted. The About page counts faculty and staff together, so it gives no faculty total for the whole school.
Ask the school how its ratios are counted, what the average class size is by grade, how many teachers joined and left last year, and how many of the teachers in computer science and the sciences hold degrees in their field.
What’s the graduation rate, and how college-ready are graduates?
Based on the school’s college matriculation page, graduating seniors in the classes of 2022 to 2025 enrolled at 130 colleges and universities, 43 of which took four or more of them; Sidwell Friends School publishes no graduation rate in the pages we read, and its profile says it computes no grade-point averages and ranks no student.
| Measure | What we found | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Graduation rate | Not published | — |
| Colleges, classes of 2022–2025 | 130 institutions; 43 with four or more graduates; no count for any one college | Matriculation page |
| Four or more graduates | Carnegie Mellon, Case Western Reserve, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Georgetown, Harvard, Northwestern, Princeton, Rice, Stanford, Chicago, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Vanderbilt, Yale and 27 others | Matriculation page |
| Science and engineering colleges with fewer than four | MIT, Cooper Union, Rensselaer Polytechnic, Rochester Institute of Technology, Stevens, Purdue and Virginia Tech | Matriculation page |
| Graduation requirement | 20 credits: English 4, history 3, mathematics 3, science 3, languages 2, arts 2 | College profile |
| Grades and honors | No GPA, no class rank and no academic awards | College profile |
| SAT average | 1460, from 194 respondents | Niche (third party) |
The 2026 college profile lists colleges for the classes of 2023 to 2026, including Harvard, Yale, Stanford, MIT, Columbia, Princeton and Dartmouth, with bold type for four or more graduates; the bolding did not survive in the text we read, so we rely on the page above. The profile adds that “Junior and senior coursework is taught at the college level.” Neither page gives class sizes or percentages, so a count cannot be turned into a share of graduates, and the Niche average rests on 194 respondents.
Ask the school what share of each class graduates, how many students leave before graduating, and where students who apply outside the colleges named above enroll.
Which future-critical STEM fields is this school genuinely strong in—and which ones are major gaps?
On our review of the school’s pages, computer science is the one field in the Excellent band at Sidwell Friends School, at Level 4 (advanced); AI and data, robotics and clean energy are Developing at Level 3 (structured); biotechnology, Earth systems, aerospace and advanced manufacturing are Weak at Level 2 (thin); and cybersecurity and battery storage are Weak at Level 1 (lacking). Our overall readiness figure is 54/100, which reads Developing.
| Field | Provision | Level |
|---|---|---|
| Computer science | Excellent | 4.0/5 |
| AI & data | Developing | 3.0/5 |
| Robotics | Developing | 3.0/5 |
| Clean energy | Developing | 3.0/5 |
| Biotechnology | Thin | 2.0/5 |
| Earth systems | Thin | 2.0/5 |
| Aerospace | Thin | 2.0/5 |
| Advanced manufacturing | Thin | 2.0/5 |
| Cybersecurity | Lacking | 1.0/5 |
| Battery storage | Lacking | 1.0/5 |
Level 4 means sustained progression into sophisticated work. Computer science reaches it through a Java sequence from CS1 to CS3, project courses in artificial intelligence, graphics, web design, robotics and engineering, and a repeatable independent research semester. The Level 3 fields rest on named courses and programs: an Arduino robotics course and a club of 40 to 80 students, an artificial intelligence and game development course, and science and capstone work on energy and climate; the lower fields rest on a single unit, a club or one elective, and our review does not count a building as teaching.
Four of fifteen future-critical domains reach Level 3 or above, and the readiness figure is 26 points short of Strong. Ask the school which of these courses and teams run this year.
How strong is this school in AI, data science and computer science compared with other schools?
Based on the school’s 2025–26 Upper School curriculum guide, Sidwell Friends School teaches a computer science sequence from CS1: Foundations through CS2: Object-Oriented Design (Java) and CS3: Algorithms & Data Structures to project courses in artificial intelligence and game development (neural networks and genetic algorithms), computer graphics, dynamic web design, robotics and engineering, and Computer Science Advanced Topics, an independent research semester; our review grades computer science at Level 4 (Excellent) and AI and data at Level 3 (Developing), and found no AI or computing competition.
| Offer | What we found | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Programming | CS1: Foundations (Grades 9–12), introductory programming through robotics and visualization projects that begins artificial intelligence and computer vision; CS2: Object-Oriented Design, in Java | Curriculum guide |
| Algorithms | CS3 (Grades 10–12): classic data structures, algorithm analysis and big-O complexity | Curriculum guide |
| AI and games | Artificial Intelligence and Game Development (Grades 10–12, after CS3): 2D and 3D games, with neural networks and genetic algorithms | Curriculum guide |
| Research | Computer Science Advanced Topics (Grades 11–12, after CS3): an independent semester project with a paper and an implemented project, repeatable | Curriculum guide |
| Data and mathematics | Programming & Probability (Monte Carlo simulation, in Mathematica); Statistics I, a college-level course; Linear Algebra; Calculus I and II | Curriculum guide |
| Younger grades | Scratch Jr and Lightbot in Grade 1 (undated article); Spheros and Scratch in the Lower School and video games in the Middle School (2022); no recurring course below Grade 9 named | School articles; Technology page |
| Competitions | No USACO, hackathon or other computing competition result found | — |
Our review grades every school on the same ladder and does not rank one against another, so this answer places Sidwell Friends on the ladder and not against named schools: computer science at Level 4 is advanced, AI and data at Level 3 is structured with one course that uses neural networks, and cybersecurity, graded separately, is Lacking. The 2023–24 guide also listed Mobile App Design and a second Programming & Probability course that the 2025–26 guide does not, and computer science is not a graduation requirement, though a student’s sixth course must be arts or computer science. The 2026 college profile names CS 2 and 3, Engineering, Dynamic Web Design, AI & Game Development and Advanced CS Topics among the school’s rigorous courses.
Ask the school how many sections of each course run, who teaches them, and whether the Lower and Middle Schools teach computing every week.
How early does STEM begin, and does it become substantially more advanced as my child gets older?
Based on the school’s division pages, news items and curriculum guide, STEM at Sidwell Friends School begins in the Lower School with hands-on science and classroom coding, runs through Middle School science, mathematics and projects, and becomes formal and advanced in the Upper School, where computer science runs from CS1 to an independent research semester and mathematics reaches Calculus II and Linear Algebra; we found no recurring computer science course below Grade 9.
| Stage | What we found | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Lower School, PreK–4 | Science in which students “explore earth, physical, and life sciences” through “real-life, authentic experimentation and investigation”; a 1:1 iPad program in Grades K–4; first graders learning coding with Scratch Jr and Lightbot (undated article); Spheros and Scratch (2022) | Lower School science page; Technology page; school articles |
| Middle School, 5–8 | Science built around guiding questions such as habitat loss, biodiversity, food security and climate change; Grade 5–6 projects in data analysis and design thinking; Grade 7 mathematics with number theory, modular arithmetic, Boolean logic and circuit theory; Algebra I at three levels in Grade 8; video games and robotics; the first eighth-grade science capstone in June 2026 | Middle School science and mathematics pages; school articles |
| Upper School, 9–12 | Physics in Grade 9, chemistry in 10 and biology in 11, each with an accelerated option; CS1 to CS3, project and topics courses and Advanced Topics; Math I–IV, Calculus I and II, Statistics I and Linear Algebra; advanced senior courses in physics, chemistry, biology and environmental science | Upper School science page; curriculum guide |
The Technology page lists the computer science program only under the Upper School and calls coding and robotics co-curricular in all three divisions. The younger-grade articles are undated or from 2022, so we cannot say what each grade does this year; the Lower School is in Bethesda, Maryland, and the Middle and Upper Schools are in Washington.
Ask which grade a student first programs every week, what the Lower and Middle Schools teach in computing and robotics this year, and how Grade 8 mathematics placement leads into the Upper School’s accelerated sequence.
Do students get access to advanced coursework, specialist electives and serious competitions?
Based on the school’s Upper School curriculum guide and 2026 college profile, Sidwell Friends School offers mathematics through Calculus II and Linear Algebra, a college-level Statistics I, accelerated physics, chemistry and biology with advanced senior courses, and a repeatable computer science research semester; its 2018 statement says the AP label leaves its guide, profile and transcripts from 2023–24, and the one competition result we found is an undated MATE ROV regional.
| Offer | What we found | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Mathematics | Math I–IV (accelerated), Algebra 2, Precalculus, Statistics I (“an intensive first-year college-level statistics course”), Calculus I and II, and Linear Algebra, which covers matrices, vector spaces and eigenvalues | Curriculum guide |
| Science | Accelerated physics (Grade 9), chemistry (10) and biology (11); advanced courses for seniors in physics, chemistry, biology and environmental science, and semester electives whose list the department issues each February (not read) | Science page; curriculum guide |
| Computer science | After CS3: Artificial Intelligence and Game Development, Computer Graphics and User Interfaces, Dynamic Web Design, Robotics and Engineering; Advanced Topics is an independent research semester with a paper and an implemented project | Curriculum guide |
| Research | The BRAIN Club presented student posters at the Society for Neuroscience meeting (article published 2020); some students pursue summer research through outreach programs | School article; science page |
| Advanced Placement | The AP label leaves the guide, profile, report cards and transcripts from 2023–24; students report their own AP scores; the school remains an AP test center | School statement, 2018 |
| Competitions | A MATE ROV regional, undated: third place overall and the Design Elegance Award for a veteran team; the science page lists the National Science Bowl; no dated result found | School news; science page |
The 2026 college profile says “Junior and senior coursework is taught at the college level.” The 2018 statement says teachers design their own courses instead of following College Board guidelines, and that mathematics keeps calculus and statistics; the guide shows no course labelled AP. We could not read the senior science electives, so which specialist science courses run in 2026–27 is not shown.
Ask the school which senior science electives run this year, how many students take Advanced Topics and Linear Algebra, and how it explains its course levels to colleges.
Will your child be ready for jobs that don’t exist yet?
Here’s what the evidence actually shows for Sidwell Friends School — not what the brochure claims.
54/100 — Developing overall. Sidwell’s computer science provision is advanced: a Java-based sequence from CS1: Foundations through Object-Oriented Design to Algorithms & Data Structures, with project courses in artificial intelligence and game development (neural networks and genetic algorithms), computer graphics, dynamic web design, robotics on Arduino and engineering design, and a Computer Science Advanced Topics course in which a student writes a paper and builds an implemented project, repeatable; the school’s 2022 alumni magazine adds a Robotics Club of 40 to 80 students a year entering FIRST Tech Challenge and MATE ROV competitions, and the mathematics courses run to Calculus II and Linear Algebra, with a college-level Statistics I.
But: cybersecurity and battery storage are lacking, biotechnology is thin, and computer science is formal only from Grade 9.
Best positioned forComputer Science
Underdeveloped inCybersecurity, Batteries, Biotechnology
Future-critical exposure4/15 domains
Very strong
- None
Strong
- Computer Science
Limited
- AI & Data
- Robotics
- Clean Energy
Little / no pathway
- Biotechnology
- Earth & Geospatial
- Aerospace
- Advanced Manufacturing
- Cybersecurity
- Batteries
Best fit for
Less ideal for
Where the marketing exceeds the evidence
No dated robotics award or competition result identified.
No science research course identified.
Where the school is stronger than its marketing suggests
Curriculum
- CS1: Foundations (Grades 9–12) is described as introductory programming through robotics and visualization projects, in which students begin exploring artificial intelligence and computer vision; CS & E Projects: Artificial Intelligence and Game Development (Grades 10–12, after CS3) has students build 2D and 3D games and use AI methods such as neural networks and genetic algorithms (2025–26 Upper School curriculum guide)
- Programming & Probability (Grades 11–12) teaches Monte Carlo simulation and probability theory in Mathematica; Statistics I (Grades 11–12) is “an intensive first-year college-level statistics course”; Linear Algebra covers matrices, vector spaces and eigenvalues (same guide)
Evidence seen
- The AI course is the last of a prerequisite chain (CS1, CS2, CS3), so its students already program in Java; the 2023–24 guide described the same course with backtracking and genetic algorithms, and a 2017 school article on the game-design course, created in 2010, describes small artificial intelligence projects along the way
- Co-Lab, a teacher-training programme led from the Middle School and funded by a $35,000 Edward E. Ford Foundation grant, reached 788 teachers at more than 300 independent schools; it teaches teachers and not students
What's missing
- No machine-learning or data-science course is named in the guide; neural networks appear inside one project course
- No AI club, competition or student project outside a course identified, and the Technology page does not mention AI
Curriculum
- CS & E Projects: Dynamic Web Design (Grades 10–12) builds database-driven websites and includes web security basics (curriculum guide)
Evidence seen
- The Technology page says “Students in all divisions learn about the ethical and respectful use of technology” and aims at a “culture of responsible use”; this is digital citizenship, not security
- Web security is one topic inside a course whose main subject is building websites
What's missing
- No cybersecurity course, club, CyberPatriot or capture-the-flag record identified
- The program page lists a SECRET Team among its clubs without saying what it does, so it is not counted here
Curriculum
- CS & E Topics: Robotics (Grades 10–12) covers Arduino microcontrollers, sensors, motors and mechanical design with iterative prototyping; CS1 uses robotics projects (curriculum guide)
- The Technology page: “Robotics is a co-curricular offering in all three divisions.”
Evidence seen
- The alumni magazine (18 March 2022) describes a club of 40 to 80 students a year in teams of four to eight, meeting in free periods, after school, on Friday evenings and for four hours on Sundays, entering FIRST Tech Challenge in the fall and the MATE ROV challenge in the spring; Lower School students use Spheros and Scratch, and Middle School students make video games and take part in Go Baby Go!
- Two undated school news items: a FIRST Tech Challenge Maryland qualifier at the Athletic Center with 17 schools and three Sidwell teams, and a regional MATE ROV competition at Villanova University at which a veteran team of nine took third place overall and the Design Elegance Award and a rookie team won for its product presentation, 22 students in all
- A school item of 19 February 2025 has two students from a robotics team called the FoxBots, described as from Bethesda, teaching robotics competition basics at the Middle School’s first Half-Day Fun Day; the New Upper School page shows a Robotics Classroom and Robotics Test Space
What's missing
- No dated award or result identified for any team, though the Fund page calls them “award-winning”; the 2020 international MATE ROV competition was cancelled, and a search of FIRST Tech Challenge team records under the school’s name found none
- Both competition items are undated, and no student count by division was found for any recent year
Curriculum
- The program page says students “investigate energy sources”; the environmental stewardship page says students study “the energy generated by our three solar panel arrays in science class”; seniors may take an advanced environmental science course (Science page)
- Middle School science is organised around guiding questions on “habitat loss, diminishing biodiversity, food security, and climate change”, and the first eighth-grade science capstone (June 2026) applied energy, chemistry, earth systems and climate change to local problems, one project coding a tracker for solar panels
Evidence seen
- The Middle School building was awarded LEED Platinum in 2007 and generates its own electricity; the Quaker Meeting House and Arts Center earned LEED Platinum in 2015, and the Athletic Center and the Lower School gym and Groome addition earned LEED Gold
- The New Upper School, opened in fall 2026, is heated and cooled by about 120 geothermal wells averaging roughly 600 feet deep, has solar panels and is designed to meet LEED Gold
What's missing
- No solar output, energy-use or emissions figure is published, and no energy, grid or climate-technology course is named; the buildings are facilities, and count here for what students are taught with them
- The senior science electives list could not be read, so a climate change course announced in 2018 is unconfirmed
Curriculum
- Biology in Grade 11 with an accelerated option, and an advanced biology course for seniors, in a physics-first sequence (Science page); Forensic Science is a senior elective in which students measure and index hair samples under microscopes and peer-review each other’s papers (school magazine, 10 August 2023)
- The Science page says some students pursue “summer research through summer outreach programs”
Evidence seen
- A school article published in 2020 describes the BRAIN Club (Biological Research and Investigations in Neuroscience): students present independent research on zebrafish and monarch butterflies as posters at the Society for Neuroscience meeting in Washington; it adds that a neurological research course taught several years earlier was no longer offered
- The school’s 2018 statement on moving beyond Advanced Placement named a molecular neuroscience course with independent lab research for 2018–19; the New Upper School has 11 science labs
What's missing
- No biotechnology, genetics or bioengineering course is named, and the senior science electives list could not be read
- No iGEM, science-fair or Regeneron record identified, and nothing shows the BRAIN Club still meets in 2026–27
Curriculum
- CS1: Foundations, CS2: Object-Oriented Design (Java) and CS3: Algorithms & Data Structures (data structures, algorithm analysis, big-O), each a semester and .5 credit, each with the previous as prerequisite
- Project and topics courses: Artificial Intelligence and Game Development; Computer Graphics and User Interfaces (2D design, 3D modeling, CAD and animation in Cinema 4D and SketchUp); Dynamic Web Design; Engineering (reverse engineering and collaborative projects); Programming & Probability; Robotics; and Computer Science Advanced Topics, an independent research semester with a paper and an implemented project, repeatable (2025–26 curriculum guide)
Evidence seen
- The 2026 college profile names CS 2 and 3, Engineering, Dynamic Web Design, AI & Game Development and Advanced CS Topics among the school’s rigorous courses, and the course-load rule makes a student’s sixth course an arts or computer science course
- The department director started the computer science program about 2010; the alumni magazine reports a 2017 graduate, four years in the robotics club, now a software development engineer at Amazon Robotics
What's missing
- No external credential (the school’s 2018 statement says the AP label leaves its guide, profile and transcripts from 2023–24) and no computer science competition record such as USACO identified
- Formal courses begin in Grade 9; below it coding appears in classroom projects (an undated article describes Scratch Jr and Lightbot in Grade 1) and in co-curricular robotics, and no recurring K–8 course is named
Creativity cannot be graded the way a course can. It can only be evidenced through what students made.
| Criterion | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Art + technology | ||||
| Design | ||||
| Architecture | ||||
| Engineering design | ||||
| Media / digital production | ||||
| Maker learning | ||||
| Interdisciplinary projects |
No artefact runs for three years or more. 2024 and 2025 are level, each at 2 of 7 criteria.
The record — 4 artefacts
The Friends Inspire Video Podcast Club is student-led: members film and interview Sidwell community members and publish the interviews on YouTube as the Friends Inspire Podcast, which its channel describes as high school student-led and student-produced. The school’s report of 28 May 2025 counts four episodes in the first year, six student members and two staff advisers. The channel states that it is not affiliated with the school, and its page shows no episode list, so the episodes themselves could not be viewed here.
The Friends Inspire Podcast, YouTube channel page · school news item “Today I’m Joined by…”, 28 May 2025
The Oat is a satirical student newspaper produced by student editors-in-chief, staff writers and graphics editors, with a faculty adviser and a web developer credited on its masthead. Its August 2025 issue is numbered Volume 29, Issue 1, and carries captioned photographs, a contents page and multi-column articles.
The Oat, Volume 29, Issue 1, August 2025 (PDF on the school’s website)
Meridians, the Sidwell Friends School International Magazine, Issue #2, Spring 2024, is a student-produced multilingual magazine of about 23 pages: bilingual poems, personal essays and an interview in French, cover art and three student artworks with artist statements, set out with a table of contents and section headers by student layout editors.
Meridians, Issue #2, Spring 2024 (PDF on the school’s website)
The Fountain Pen is an international creative writing magazine run by the Sidwell Friends School Creative Writing Club, with student editors and a faculty adviser who reviews each piece. It publishes online, may appear in print once or twice a year, and takes submissions from students aged 13 to 19 anywhere in the world. The school’s report of 23 October 2025 says it took only Sidwell students for its first five years, which would place its start around 2020; that duration rests on the report alone and is not counted here.
The Fountain Pen website · school news item “Fountain Pen Goes Global”, 23 October 2025
Nothing found for
No student work was found evidencing these. For a school this well documented, an unrecorded programme is unlikely to be a large one.
What a family should ask about directly
- Cybersecurity and battery storage are lacking, and biotechnology is thin: the evidence is one unit on web security inside Dynamic Web Design, no battery or energy-storage provision beyond an electric-car project, and a neuroscience club described in a 2020 article. Ask which courses, units or clubs in those fields run in 2026–27.
- The Upper School carries the depth. The courses graded Level 4 are Grade 10–12 electives, and below Grade 9 coding and robotics sit in classroom projects and co-curricular teams, described in articles from 2017 to 2025, several undated. Ask what each division teaches, from which grade a student programs weekly, and where the Lower and Middle School robotics teams stand now.
- The school’s 2018 statement on moving beyond Advanced Placement says the AP label leaves its curriculum guide, profile, report cards and transcripts from 2023–24 and that it remains an AP test centre; its guide now marks courses “Accelerated” or “College-level”. Course depth is graded here from the course descriptions, which include a college-level Statistics I, Calculus II and Linear Algebra. Ask how colleges are told to read those labels.
- The curriculum guide the school links is the 2025–26 edition, and the senior science electives list it promises each February could not be read. Ask for the 2026–27 list and for any climate, neuroscience, genetics or engineering electives on it.
- The Fund page calls the robotics teams “award-winning”, and the only results on the school’s pages are in an undated item on a MATE ROV regional. Ask for the results since 2022, the division of each team and how many students compete as against attend.
- The New Upper School opened in fall 2026, with 11 science labs, a Robotics Classroom and Robotics Test Space shown in renderings, and no makerspace named. Ask to see the labs and the robotics space in use, and what the move changes in the courses on offer.
| Domain | Evidence class | Key sources |
|---|---|---|
| AI & Data | Verified · School-reported | 2025–26 Upper School curriculum guide (CS1, AI and Game Development, Programming & Probability, Statistics I); 2023–24 guide; Co-Lab news item, 24 November 2025; Technology page (no mention of AI); no AI club or competition found |
| Cybersecurity | Verified · Unsubstantiated | 2025–26 guide (Dynamic Web Design, web security basics); Technology page (digital citizenship); no cybersecurity course, club or competition found |
| Robotics | School-reported · Observed / archived | 2025–26 guide (Robotics); Technology and program pages; alumni magazine, 18 March 2022; undated news items on a FIRST Tech Challenge qualifier and a MATE ROV regional; news items of 12 April 2020 and 19 February 2025; Sidwell Friends Fund page; New Upper School page; FIRST Tech Challenge team search, no record found |
| Clean Energy | School-reported · Verified | Environmental stewardship and green-buildings pages; Middle School science page; New Upper School page; news item on the eighth-grade capstone, 4 June 2026; no energy course or output figures found |
| Computer Science | Verified · School-reported | 2025–26 and 2023–24 curriculum guides; 2026 college profile; program and Technology pages; 2017 game-design article; alumni magazine, 18 March 2022; no competition record found |
| Earth & Geospatial | School-reported | Science page (advanced environmental science for seniors); environmental stewardship page (constructed wetland, solar arrays); no geographic-information or remote-sensing course found |
| Aerospace | School-reported · Unsubstantiated | Science page (Astronomy Club, listed without detail); August 2023 magazine (particle physics senior elective); no aerospace course or competition found |
| Advanced Manufacturing | Verified · School-reported | 2025–26 guide (Computer Graphics and User Interfaces with CAD, Engineering, Robotics); program page (Engineering and Eco-car clubs); no equipment list or fabrication facility found |
| Batteries & Energy Storage | School-reported · Unsubstantiated | Middle School Go Baby Go! project (rewired electric ride-on cars) and an Eco-car club named on the program page; no battery or energy-storage course, laboratory or competition found |
| Biotechnology | School-reported · Observed / archived | Science page; 2020 article on the BRAIN Club; August 2023 magazine (Forensic Science); the school’s 2018 statement on moving beyond AP; no biotechnology course or competition record found |
Academics
Three divisions, ten computer science courses, and no AP label.
We are a Quaker day school for PreK through grade 12, with our Lower School in Bethesda and our Middle and Upper Schools on Wisconsin Avenue in Washington. Below are our divisions and the computer science, mathematics and science courses that our 2025–26 Upper School curriculum guide shows.
Lower School
Our Lower School is on our Bethesda campus and enrolls about 295 students. Our student-teacher ratio is 10:1 in PreK and 12:1 in kindergarten through grade 4.
- One iPad for each student in kindergarten through grade 4
- Robotics is a co-curricular offering in all three divisions
- Optional Early Risers and Extended Day programs
Middle School
Our Middle School is on our Wisconsin Avenue campus in Washington and enrolls about 350 students. Our student-teacher ratio is 16:1.
- A laptop for each student, covered by a $500 textbook and laptop fee
- A Minimester, which ended in 2026 with a student-built escape room
- A first 8th-grade science capstone in 2026, on energy, chemistry, earth systems and climate change
- Optional Extended Day
Upper School
We enroll 508 students in our Upper School, taught by 60 faculty, 85% of whom hold advanced degrees. Our student-teacher ratio is 16:1. We do not compute GPAs or assign class rankings.
- 20 credits to graduate, including English 4, history 3, mathematics 3, science 3, language 2 and arts 2
- Physics in grade 9, chemistry in grade 10 and biology in grade 11, each with an accelerated option
- Junior and senior coursework is taught at the college level
- We dropped the AP label from our guide, profile and transcripts from 2023–24, and we remain an AP test center
A Java-based sequence and project courses
Our 2025–26 Upper School curriculum guide lists ten semester courses in computer science and engineering, each worth half a credit.
- CS1: Foundations, CS2: Object-Oriented Design in Java, and CS3: Algorithms & Data Structures
- Artificial Intelligence and Game Development, with neural networks and genetic algorithms
- Computer Graphics and User Interfaces, Dynamic Web Design, Programming & Probability, Engineering and Robotics
- Computer Science Advanced Topics: an independent research semester with a paper and an implemented project, repeatable
Labs, courtyards and a math sequence to Calculus II
Our new Upper School opened in fall 2026 with eleven science labs and three science courtyards, a Robotics Classroom and a Robotics Test Space.
- Seniors take advanced physics, chemistry, biology or environmental science, plus semester electives
- Mathematics from algebra and geometry through precalculus, Calculus I and II, Statistics I and Linear Algebra
- Three solar arrays that our students study in science class
Clubs, teams and competitions
Our 2026 College Profile lists 90 clubs and 24 varsity teams in the Upper School.
- A Robotics Club, an Engineering Club and a Computer Science Club
- An Astronomy Club and the National Science Bowl
- Robotics as a co-curricular offering in all three divisions
Advanced courses
Ask about academics
Calendar
Our fall, and the admissions dates ahead.
Dates from our public school calendar, which lists events through December 21, and from our admissions pages, soonest first. Our admissions events need advance registration through Ravenna, and our events page gives no start times or locations. Our admissions process page gives no decision date. Ask below if you need us to confirm a date before you book travel.
October
November
December
January 2027
February 2027
Ask about the calendar
Our Story
A Quaker school in the nation’s capital since 1883.
We are a Quaker day school for PreK through grade 12. Our About page counts 1,144 students, 273 full-time faculty and staff, and more than 6,300 alumni. “The Quaker belief that there is ‘that of God’ in everyone shapes everything we do.”
Silent Reflection
Each week, all students and teachers gather together in Meeting for Worship, a time for quiet reflection.
Equity, Justice, and Community
Exploring and confronting questions of race, equality, and empowerment shape how we teach and learn.
Service
Our students are actively engaged in the world and think critically about what is going on around them. Graduation requires 60 hours of community service.
Environmental Stewardship
The Quaker tenet of stewardship shapes our community. Five of our buildings are LEED certified.
Global Citizenship
As a Friends school in the nation’s capital, we prepare our students to see themselves as citizens of the world.
Milestones
We opened as Friends’ Select School, with 18 students, in the Friends Meeting House on I Street NW.
We incorporated as a nonprofit under a Board of Trustees, with a bylaw requiring a majority of Friends.
We opened a fifth-through-eighth-grade Middle School, among the first in the country.
Our Middle School building opened.
We enrolled our first known African American student, in kindergarten.
Our Lower School moved to Bethesda.
Our Upper School building opened.
Our first five Black students graduated.
Our renovated Middle School became the world’s first LEED Platinum K–12 school building.
Our Athletic Center opened, and it is LEED Gold.
Our Meeting House and Arts Center opened, and it is LEED Platinum.
We bought the Washington Home property, extending our campus to Upton Street.
Our new Upper School opened for classes, at more than 130,000 square feet.
Ask about our story
Give
The Sidwell Friends Fund, and our campaign to reach $220 million.
Gifts support financial aid, faculty professional development and student experiences. For other questions, call us on 202-537-8100.
Give online
Use our online giving form for a credit card or direct debit gift. We accept Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Discover, and direct debit gifts carry no processing fees.
Recurring gifts
Set up a monthly or annual sustaining gift, by credit card or direct debit, on the same online form.
The Sidwell Friends Fund
Our fiscal year runs July 1 to June 30. Annual gifts are “an important revenue source for the School”, backing financial aid, faculty professional development and student experiences.
Leadership giving
Annual gifts of $1,883 or more are leadership gifts. Our societies are the 1883 Society ($1,883–$3,499), the Maroon and Gray Society ($3,500–$4,999), the Founders Society ($5,000–$9,999), the Zartman Society ($10,000–$24,999), the Head of School Society ($25,000–$49,999) and the Sidwell Society ($50,000 and above).
By check
Make your check payable to Sidwell Friends School, put the fund name in the memo, and mail it to P.O. Box 25344, New York, NY 10087-5344.
Pledges
You can pledge to give at a future date, in one payment or in several installments.
Matching gifts
Employer matching programs can be checked through Double the Donation.
Securities & wire transfers
Delivery instructions for securities and wire transfers are linked from our Ways to Give page.
Planned giving
A planned gift is arranged for the future while meeting your other financial goals. Call 202-537-8148 or see our planned giving site.
Memorial & tribute gifts
Honor or remember someone with a gift. The person is notified, but the amount is not disclosed. Write to thanks@sidwell.edu.
Together We Shine
In October 2025 we launched the final phase of our campaign, with a new overall goal of $220 million. We had already raised more than $189 million, 86 percent of the goal. The campaign supports financial aid, the endowment, faculty salaries and professional development, and the reunification of our two campuses in Washington.
Ask about giving
News
What is happening on our campuses.
Recent stories from our school news pages, newest first.
Dance Theatre of Harlem comes to our dance students
While the Dance Theatre of Harlem was in Washington performing Firebird, our Middle and Upper School dance students joined a ballet master class run as the “traveling classroom” of the Dance Institute of Washington. Students in a 7th and 8th grade movement class and in Upper School dance took part.
We debut a new identity system
We introduced a redesigned school seal and a streamlined companion mark for print and digital use. The seal draws on earlier versions with a circular shape, a lit torch in place of an unlit lamp, and a tree in place of one of the books. The founding year, the Washington, DC location and the Latin motto remain.
A new school year in a new Upper School
Our full Upper School moved into its new building on our Washington campus and marked the first day with a ribbon-cutting, while our Bethesda Lower School welcomed its youngest students. We are more than half-way to our goal of uniting all three divisions on the Washington campus, with a new Lower School due to open in September 2028.
We celebrate our 138th Commencement
We held our 138th Commencement for the Class of 2026, and our Lower and Middle Schools held moving-up ceremonies, with 4th graders moving to Middle School and 8th graders moving to Upper School.
Our first 8th-grade science capstone
Our 8th graders completed our first 8th-grade science capstone, applying what they learned in energy, chemistry, earth systems and climate change to an environmental issue in their community. They chose a “test and build” or a “research and advocate” project, producing items such as solar-panel tracking code and water-filtering pipes.
Middle School students build an escape room
Our Middle School students built an escape room as the final project of their Minimester, set in an abandoned hospital. They worked with history and science teachers to design clues that combined mystery, science and logic, including a pigpen cipher and a six-digit code to solve within 60 minutes.
Four Upper School students win regional Scholastic awards
Four of our Upper School students won honors at the Southern Regional Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, with at least 12 awards in all, including at least four Gold Keys. The winning entries were in photography and short film.
We coordinate a national effort on AI training for teachers
Our Co-Lab is “a professional development initiative focused on exploring how AI can support teaching and learning”, with monthly evening Zoom sessions where teachers test AI prompts. The Edward E. Ford Foundation gave us a $35,000 grant for it. Launched in August 2024, Co-Lab has grown to 788 teachers from more than 300 independent schools.
Ask about the news
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