Friends School of Portland is an independent preschool through 8th gradeFriends school located in Cumberland, Maine. The first school year for Friends School of Portland began in the fall of 2006. There are currently over 100 children attending the school. The school is a member of Friends Council on Education and was accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges in 2012. For its first 9 years, Friends School of Portland was located on Mackworth Island in Falmouth, Maine, and shared space with the Governor Baxter School for the Deaf. A new, energy efficient school building was built on 21 acres in Cumberland, and was opened in the fall of 2015. It achieved Passive House certification, one the highest levels of energy efficiency representing approximately a 90% reduction in energy usage compared to a typical school, in April 2018. Friends School of Portland arises from Quaker faith and practice and is built upon long-held standards of exceptional Friends schools. Embracing the Quaker belief in the unique worth of each individual, they seek students from diverse ethnic, economic and family backgrounds. In small, multi-age classes, children are nurtured as curious, creative, and compassionate world citizens. High standards for independent thinking and personal integrity are emphasized. Cooperative, hands-on learning is offered in a close community where simplicity, service, stewardship, and peaceful resolution of conflict are practiced every day. The school is non-profit and tax-exempt. Over half of the Board members are active attenders and members of a Quaker meeting. Founding teacher, Mary Tracy, was supported in her leading by members of Portland Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends. She served as the Director of Studies and taught Language Arts until her retirement in June, 2014. James Grumbach became Head of School in July 2007 and left in June 2012. He had been a teacher and administrator for 29 years at George School. He also served on the school committee for Newtown Friends School. The current Head of School is Jenny Rowe, a practicing Quaker. She has served as a teacher at a variety of schools throughout New Hampshire, Vermont, and Central America since the early 1980s, instructing elementary and middle school students in Spanish, German, English, Music, and Social Studies. From 1999 to 2005, Jenny served as Director of Monteverde Friends School, a bilingual Quaker K-12 school in Costa Rica. Most recently, from 2005 to 2012, Jenny was Director of The Community School, a grade 6-12 school in Tamworth, New Hampshire. Rowe began her duties at Friends School of Portland in July 2012.
