Sandy Spring Friends School to remain open

Sandy Spring Friends School, whose board of directors announced on April 14 that it would close at the end of the current school year, will remain open.

A group of parents and members of the community joined together to raise money to keep the school open for several more years.

In an email from the Sandy Spring Friends School Board of Trustees to the school community, which was also posted on the school website, the board wrote that it is “thrilled to announce that based on substantial and meaningful funding guarantees and support of the Coalition of Friends of the Sandy Spring Friends School, among others, a path forward for the school had been secured. The School will remain open for the 2025-2026, 2026-2027, and 2027-2028 school year. More work will be needed to ensure the long term financial stability of the school.”

Heather Jackson, founder of the Coalition of Friends of the Sandy Spring Friends School and a 2000 graduate of the school, responded: “We are thrilled that the rapid fundraising efforts and true dedication to the School and community will enable our treasured School to remain a safe place for students to learn, grow, and let their lives speak.

“We are powerful when we move together with clarity and purpose.”

In a letter sent out on April 14, the school had made the announcement to close, saying it was an “extremely difficult but necessary determination.”

The announcement read: “The Board does not take this decision lightly. It comes only after a thoughtful and extensive assessment of the school’s untenable financial position, as well as thorough analysis of our enrollment and fundraising picture. Regrettably, despite an immense effort to shore up the school’s financial foundation, we simply do not have the financial wherewithal to meet our obligations next year.

“We understand that this news comes as a shock, and that the timing of our announcement may only compound the stress of selecting a school for 2025-26 and beyond. We are committed to making this transition as smooth as possible for all involved. For students and families currently enrolled, we will provide additional information regarding 2025-2026 deposit and tuition refunds and the process of identifying and applying to another school. For faculty and staff, we will provide additional information regarding compensation, benefits and career transition support. …”

The school community stepped in, raising $15 million within several days.

“The heroes of this story are all of us,” Coalition co-founder Nick Shank, a 2000 alum, said. “We came together and solved a problem in Quaker love and light.”

The coalition’s letter to the community added: “In an effort to preserve the legacy and future of Sandy Spring Friends School for generations to come, the Coalition in partnership with school leadership will continue to fundraise and engage in ongoing philanthropy to create an endowment that allows all students from all backgrounds to attend Sandy Spring Friends School going forward.”

As it made its announcement to stay open, the school board wrote: “These past weeks have been the most difficult in our school’s history. We recognize that the announcement deeply affected our beloved school community, and we profoundly regret the pain it caused. We take full responsibility for the sense that there was no other path forward at the time. We are deeply heartened by the generous and passionate responses from across the SSFS community, which reflect the deep love and care for the school, its Quaker values and mission, and the lasting impact the school has had for many. We will work hard to regain our community’s trust.”

School officials acknowledged there are unanswered questions, but said school leaders are building a task force to answer as many as possible and were scheduled to reach out to faculty, staff and parents with the first round of communication on April 28, which was after press time.

The school has been part of the Sandy Spring community for some six decades, embracing the Quaker values on which the community was built.

For more, visit www.friendsofssfs.com.