60th Anniversary
In September, 1964, the first students were welcomed into the learning community that would eventually become the Carolina Friends School we know today. Thanks to everyone who helped us celebrate 60 years of teaching and learning, April 25-27, 2025!
Photo Galleries
Six Tenets, Sixty Years
As we commemorate Carolina Friends School's 60th Anniversary, we're highlighting the 6 founding tenets that have guided our School from the very beginning.
Throughout the year, we'll be sharing voices from our community, reflecting on how these core values have continued to inspire and shape us across the decades. Stay tuned for more videos!
Join us in honoring our history and building our future together!
Richard Nguyen Banh ’80
As a refugee from Vietnam, I attended Carolina Friends School’s Middle School without knowing English. It was difficult at first, as I struggled to communicate with others during my first year. I was able to discover my passion for art, which helped me see the possibilities of creating while having fun. I received so much encouragement and creative opportunities from teachers. By building my skills in painting and drawing, I learned to be patient and work hard to achieve my goals. I’ve taken these lessons and applied them to all aspects of my life beyond creativity. Richard Nguyen Banh ’80
Tim Wells '86
As a first year middle school kid, I remember learning that I could recognize the good in everyone—even some of the older kids I was intimidated by—because I had seen and heard their kindness and vulnerability and humor, gosh they were all so cool and funny. And of course this intimacy was nurtured by the small-school atmosphere and very engaged and loving teachers. Tim Wells '86
Bonnie Morris '79
I tell my own students that I'm grateful every single day for experiencing a school that taught us history from the margins. At CFS I was introduced to the history of war resisters, women's suffrage, civil rights. Almost no other schools at the time offered women's studies classes to Middle School-aged kids. The fact that I grew up to become a women's history professor, now helping to get women of all backgrounds onto the U.S. quarters we carry, is a direct result of my early exposure to feminism in the classroom. Bonnie Morris '79
Many thanks to former staff member and 60th Anniversary Clerk Henry Walker for compiling the publications below with remembrances and reflections from alumni and former staff!
