The results of a questionnaire I administered titled “Why People Choose SSFS” revealed that the majority of students and faculty say the most important quality the school has is its community. 

Overall, the majority of students at SSFS said they come to this school because they like how the community feels, or they were not happy at their other school and wanted to start fresh. One student said they liked how the community seemed very welcoming and accommodating. For example, when I first came to SSFS I loved how all the students and teachers made me feel comfortable as “My first friend,” a person who showed me around the school and I was able to ask any questions that I had to her which made me feel more comfortable. Everyone was also very welcoming and supportive and I felt that I had a place in which I belong. Some students said they came to SSFS because they wanted to be in a more rigorous academic environment and to learn more about themselves. For example, the SSFS community allows the students to express their feelings and lets them have their own opinions and speak up in public which will allow them to become able to learn more about themselves as they would begin to see what they believe in. Lastly, one student summed up the sentiment of many of the students when she said she came to SSFS because she wanted a fresh start as she was not happy at her previous school before. 

Interestingly, the faculty had similar reasons to the students as to why they chose to work at SSFS. Like the students, the faculty said they appreciate the school’s community and how everyone has a sense of belonging. Brian Brubaker said he came to SSFS to teach ESL because “the values of the school align so closely with [his] own.” SSFS values are simplicity, peace, integrity, community, equality and stewardship. Other faculty members said they came to SSFS because they had the freedom to produce and teach their own curriculum. For example, Ruthie Calvino, a World History teacher at SSFS said, “I love teaching at a place where the students and teachers both contribute to and are interested in one another and a place where everyone feels like they belong.”

The students’ poll revealed that they did not care as much about quaker values as much as the teachers did. Some students said they had only one specific value that was  important to them. For example, some students said peace, community, and integrity were three of the most mentioned values of the quaker spices such as, simplicity, peace, integrity, community, equality and stewardship. On the other hand, a few of the students expressed that they did not care about the quaker spices at all, they only cared about the education and what they were learning instead of the quaker values. 

In contrast 100 percent of the teachers expressed the importance of quaker values. The quaker values that repeated among the polled teachers were equality, peace and integrity. Although, Brian Brubaker said they were all equally important to him. Another teacher at SSFS, Ruthie Calvino said, she really resonates and has personal core beliefs that align with Sandy Spring’s values which are simplicity, peace, integrity, community, equality and stewardship. 

All in all, the polls report that many students come to SSFS because they were not happy at a previous school. Although students stated that they don’t care about quaker values, they do report that community is very important to them which is one of the quaker values. Faculty came because they were more in line with the values such as community and feeling like they had a chance to be able to teach their own  curriculum. Both faculty and students had in common in coming and staying at SSFS because of the welcoming community.