Learn outside the lines.

Enabling learning. Empowering learners.

At Orchard Friends, we believe that all students have the ability to learn—but many students have never had access to the resources they need to learn. This belief is the root of our school’s mission: Enabling learning. Empowering learners.

Orchard Friends’ small size, flexible approach to teaching and learning, and team of experts enable us to deliver a level of support that other schools simply cannot. We’re able to adapt, work creatively within a safe, carefully crafted learning environment—and teach students in the ways and at the levels that are appropriate for where and who they are. 

We all learn best when learning is personalized, customized, and specific—designed to advance areas of strength, and to strengthen areas of difficulty. But for students with learning differences, a tailored, highly individualized approach to education doesn’t just improve learning capacity—it’s what makes learning possible at all. 

What sets Orchard Friends apart?

  • Through a combination of in-depth interviews with parents or caretakers, benchmark testing for each prospective student (in short, manageable blocks of time), and a two-day onsite visit that gives us an opportunity to see your student in action in OFS classrooms with OFS students and teachers, we get to know your child so we can develop an IEP that works for them. This entire process lasts ~30 days.   

  • Each of our students is surrounded by a team of caring, compassionate experts who collaborate to support that student’s academic progress and overall well-being. This group includes OFS faculty and staff, and may also include speech pathologists, mental health professionals, occupational therapists, 1:1 aides, and case managers, as necessary.

    We facilitate transparent, frequent communications among each of these team members and with each students’ parents or guardians, working together to develop—and adjust as necessary—a plan to achieve that student’s personal goals and to ensure his, her, or their best outcomes. Additionally, we’re able to connect any student who would benefit from other supportive resources to the professionals they need to succeed at school.

  • We all learn best by doing, and we all learn best when we’re having fun. Whether we’re learning about the life cycle of a frog by observing tadpoles in a creek or practicing money management and social skills during a field trip to a restaurant, OFS creates a holistic, hands-on learning experience.

  • We put equal emphasis on: core academics, speech and language proficiency, practical life skills, and the social acuity and emotional intelligence that help us self-regulate, self-advocate, and develop meaningful relationships. Our growing transitional learning program, including partnerships with Planet Fitness and Habitat for Humanity’s ReStore, give our students real-world skill-building opportunities through hands-on vocational experiences and practice using community resources. This holistic approach equips students with everything they need to thrive wherever they go next, whether it’s transitioning back to public school, heading off to college or a vocational program, or entering the workforce.

  • So many students come to us having never had a positive educational experience. Many have experienced bullying, rejection, and trauma around their learning and/or social challenges.

    Our first and primary job, always, is to ensure our students’ physical and psychological safety. In a small school with dedicated, compassionate teachers and leadership, we have time, space, and ability to ensure each of our students feels safe, heard, and appreciated for who they are—and in the process, create a true community.

    While we are a nonsectarian institution, we were originally founded as a Quaker school, and the Quaker values of integrity, equality, peace, simplicity, environmental stewardship, and community are still integral to how we treat each other, and how we interact with the world around us.

  • We start students off with some easy wins and ramp up over time, building the confidence they need to tackle bigger challenges and repairing their relationship to learning and to school.

    Our goal is to help our students become the best versions of themselves—so we help our students to define what success looks like for them during their time at OFS and after graduation. This definition of success goes beyond achieving their IEP goals: it means increasing confidence and self-awareness, building solid life skills, and finding joy in who they are, and who they are becoming.

    Untethered from state-dictated curriculum, we have the freedom to prioritize what’s truly important for and beneficial to each student and to develop fully individualized learning plans that fit those goals.