Abington Friends School

Abington Friends School, founded in 1697, is a K-12 private quaker secondary school in Jenkintown,PA (a northern suburb of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania). It is the oldest primary and secondary educational institution in the United States to operate continuously at the same location under the same management, however it was not the first school in Pennsylvania. Based in Jenkintown, Pennsylvania, it is bounded by both Meetinghouse Road and Washington Lane. The still-standing school had been in existence for about 79 years when George Washington marched his troops down Washington Lane. The admission rate is below medium. Along with formidable academics, Abington Friends School has thrived for twenty plus years on the athletic fields. Most known for its basketball achievements, Abington Friends continues to breed good basketball. The 2005-2006 season saw both the boys and girls basketball teams bring home the Friends League Championship; both teams hope to repeat this feat in the 2006-2007 season. The actor Joey Lawrence, recently on Dancing With the Stars, is a notable alumnus.

The Campus
The cornerstone on the meetinghouse reads 1697 - however, only a quarter of the meetinghouse as it now stands was constructed at that time, the northwest corner.

There is an eighteenth-century farmhouse near the meetinghouse, and another nearer the rest of the school, which is now mostly on the other side of the campus. The administration building is Victorian. All classes, however, are held in postwar buildings, which were originally separate but with the school's vast growth in the last decades are now completely interconnected. Much of this area was once the other nine holes of Abington Golf Club, on lease from Abington Monthly Meeting.

There is a large cemetery behind the meetinghouse, with many eighteenth-century stones turned illegible from time. Students have benefited from the age of the campus by faculty-led archaeological digs near older buildings.