Sidwell Friends School
Encyclopedia
Sidwell Friends School is a Quaker
private school
located in Bethesda, Maryland
and Washington, D.C.
, offering pre-kindergarten through secondary school classes. Founded in 1883 by Thomas Sidwell, its motto is "Eluceat omnibus lux" (Let the light shine out from all), alluding to the Quaker concept of inner light
. All Sidwell Friends students attend Quaker meeting for worship
weekly.
The school's admissions process is merit-based. As documented on the school's website, it gives preference in admissions decisions to members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), but otherwise does not discriminate on the basis of religion. The school accepts vouchers under the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program, but this program is due to be discontinued under the Omnibus Appropriations Act of 2009
.
Both of President Barack Obama
's daughters, Sasha and Malia, attend Sidwell. Vice President Joe Biden's grandchildren also attend the school. Previously, President Theodore Roosevelt
's son Archibald, Richard Nixon
's daughter Tricia, Bill Clinton
's daughter Chelsea, and Vice President Al Gore's son, Albert Gore III, all graduated from Sidwell Friends.
. The Wisconsin Avenue property was first used for athletic fields while the campus was still downtown, with students shuttling between the two sites by streetcar
.
Sidwell adopted its dress code in 1955. At the urging of the students, it dropped its dress code in the 1970s.
Since 2005, the Wisconsin Avenue campus has seen the completion of the LEED-certified Middle School; a new indoor athletic facility; underground parking garage; and two turf fields. A new Quaker Meeting House facility is located in the newly-renovated Arts Center.
Thomas B. Farquhar is the Head of School as of the 2010-2011 school year, after the retirement of former Head of School Bruce Stewart at the end of the 2008-2009 school year.
All students must acquire at least 19 credits before graduating. Students are required to take four years of English, three years of mathematics, three years of history, two years of one foreign language, two years of science, and two years of art. In addition to this, all freshmen must take a one-semester Freshman Studies course.
Sidwell has one of the region's strongest Chinese studies programs, with classes in Mandarin beginning in Lower School and extensive Chinese history
courses offered in the Upper School. Every year the Sidwell Friends Upper School is host to two Chinese exchange students.
Sidwell is a member school of School Year Abroad
.
Sidwell does not release a list of its graduates' college destinations. However, it does release a list to the parents of its current seniors, of the top 25 most attended institutions (in no particular order) over the last 5 years. The most recent list had such schools listed as Yale
, Harvard
, Penn
, Brown University
, Columbia
, Northwestern
, Chicago
, Washington University in St. Louis
, Middlebury
, Duke
, Wesleyan
, Michigan
, George Washington, and Tufts.
for boys' sports (after previously competing in the Interstate Athletic Conference
(IAC) until 1999) and the Independent School League
(ISL) for girls' sports. Sidwell offers teams in Volleyball, Golf, Boys and Girls Cross Country, Football, Field Hockey, Girls and Boys Soccer, Boys and Girls Basketball, Swimming, Wrestling, Boys and Girls Tennis, Baseball, Boys and Girls Lacrosse, Boys and Girls Track, and Softball. Sidwell's athletic program is an excellent complement to the school's academic mission and has produced many athletes who have gone on to excel academically and athletically at the collegiate level.
Boys' Soccer championship and achieved a second consecutive Washington Post Top Ten ranking, reaching #3 in the final poll with a 20-2 record. The 2008 team continued their recent success by winning the third consecutive MAC
title, and their 4th in 5 years, with an undefeated 16-0-1 record for the season. Again, the Quakers finished the season ranked #3 in the area by the Washington Post and #36 nationally by ESPNRise.com. The 2009 squad began the season ranked #22 in the country by ESPN. In October 2009 the squad achieved a prestigious #1 Washington Post ranking. They also ended up ranked #47 in the country. Sidwell soccer alums have suited up at a number of top schools, including Maryland
, Stanford
, GW
, Yale
, Brown
, Wesleyan University
, Middlebury College
, Washington University in St. Louis
, Amherst College
, Princeton University
, and Williams College
.
, Wake Forest
, Tulane
, Navy
, Indiana
, Brown
, Columbia
, Dartmouth
, and Georgetown
.
. It was also their 4th straight banner. They established clear dominance, winning the tournament by over 100 points, and boasted 8 MAC champions and one additional All-MAC selection. In January 2009, the Sidwell Wrestling team had an impressive showing at the MAC wrestling tournament—having 7 MAC champions and winning the tournament by over 80 points. In January 2011, Sidwell Wrestling broke the M.A.C record for most consecutive championships, previously held by Sidwell Football, by winning their seventh.
, NC State
, Wake Forest
, Stanford
, Tennessee
, Harvard
, Penn
, George Washington and William & Mary.
, N.W., Washington, D.C.
, 20016-2907
The Lower School campus can be found at 5100 Edgemoor Lane, Bethesda
, Montgomery County, Maryland
, 20814-2306
Both campuses underwent major renovations throughout the 2005-2006 school year, and construction and renovation of the athletic facilities is still ongoing.
The following notable people attended Sidwell but graduated elsewhere:
Religious Society of Friends
The Religious Society of Friends, or Friends Church, is a Christian movement which stresses the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. Members are known as Friends, or popularly as Quakers. It is made of independent organisations, which have split from one another due to doctrinal differences...
private school
Private school
Private schools, also known as independent schools or nonstate schools, are not administered by local, state or national governments; thus, they retain the right to select their students and are funded in whole or in part by charging their students' tuition, rather than relying on mandatory...
located in Bethesda, Maryland
Bethesda, Maryland
Bethesda is a census designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, just northwest of Washington, D.C. It takes its name from a local church, the Bethesda Meeting House , which in turn took its name from Jerusalem's Pool of Bethesda...
and Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, offering pre-kindergarten through secondary school classes. Founded in 1883 by Thomas Sidwell, its motto is "Eluceat omnibus lux" (Let the light shine out from all), alluding to the Quaker concept of inner light
Inner light
Inner Light is a concept which many Quakers, members of the Religious Society of Friends, use to express their conscience, faith and beliefs. Each Quaker has a different idea of what they mean by "inner light", and this also varies internationally between Yearly Meetings, but the idea is often...
. All Sidwell Friends students attend Quaker meeting for worship
Meeting for worship
A meeting for worship is a practice of the Religious Society of Friends in many ways comparable to a church service. These services have a wide variety of forms, creating a spectrum from typical Protestant liturgy to silent waiting for the Spirit .A Meeting for Worship may start with a query;...
weekly.
The school's admissions process is merit-based. As documented on the school's website, it gives preference in admissions decisions to members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), but otherwise does not discriminate on the basis of religion. The school accepts vouchers under the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program, but this program is due to be discontinued under the Omnibus Appropriations Act of 2009
Omnibus Appropriations Act of 2009
The Omnibus Appropriations Act, 2009 is an Act for the United States government that combines bills funding the operations of each of the Cabinet departments, except Defense, Homeland Security, and Veteran Affairs into a single appropriation bill...
.
Both of President Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
's daughters, Sasha and Malia, attend Sidwell. Vice President Joe Biden's grandchildren also attend the school. Previously, President Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
's son Archibald, Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
's daughter Tricia, Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
's daughter Chelsea, and Vice President Al Gore's son, Albert Gore III, all graduated from Sidwell Friends.
History
Before moving to Wisconsin Avenue, Sidwell's campus was on I Street in downtown WashingtonDowntown Washington, D.C.
Downtown is a neighborhood of Washington, D.C., as well as a colloquial name for the central business district in the northwest quadrant of the city. Geographically, the area extends roughly five to six blocks west, northwest, north, northeast, and east of the White House...
. The Wisconsin Avenue property was first used for athletic fields while the campus was still downtown, with students shuttling between the two sites by streetcar
Tram
A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...
.
Sidwell adopted its dress code in 1955. At the urging of the students, it dropped its dress code in the 1970s.
Since 2005, the Wisconsin Avenue campus has seen the completion of the LEED-certified Middle School; a new indoor athletic facility; underground parking garage; and two turf fields. A new Quaker Meeting House facility is located in the newly-renovated Arts Center.
Thomas B. Farquhar is the Head of School as of the 2010-2011 school year, after the retirement of former Head of School Bruce Stewart at the end of the 2008-2009 school year.
Academics
The Sidwell Friends Upper School has a particularly strong English Department. In 2005, Sidwell's AP English Exam scores were the highest in the nation for all medium-sized schools (300–799 students in grades 10–12) offering the AP English exam. Sidwell does not offer an AP English course.All students must acquire at least 19 credits before graduating. Students are required to take four years of English, three years of mathematics, three years of history, two years of one foreign language, two years of science, and two years of art. In addition to this, all freshmen must take a one-semester Freshman Studies course.
Sidwell has one of the region's strongest Chinese studies programs, with classes in Mandarin beginning in Lower School and extensive Chinese history
History of China
Chinese civilization originated in various regional centers along both the Yellow River and the Yangtze River valleys in the Neolithic era, but the Yellow River is said to be the Cradle of Chinese Civilization. With thousands of years of continuous history, China is one of the world's oldest...
courses offered in the Upper School. Every year the Sidwell Friends Upper School is host to two Chinese exchange students.
Sidwell is a member school of School Year Abroad
School Year Abroad
School Year Abroad is an academic program which places American high school juniors, seniors, and post-graduates in 5 countries including China, Italy, France, Spain or Vietnam for a year. Students intensively learn the respective language of their country and live with a host family...
.
Sidwell does not release a list of its graduates' college destinations. However, it does release a list to the parents of its current seniors, of the top 25 most attended institutions (in no particular order) over the last 5 years. The most recent list had such schools listed as Yale
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
, Harvard
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, Penn
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
, Brown University
Brown
Brown is a color term, denoting a range of composite colors produced by a mixture of orange, red, rose, or yellow with black or gray. The term is from Old English brún, in origin for any dusky or dark shade of color....
, Columbia
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
, Northwestern
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
, Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
, Washington University in St. Louis
Washington University in St. Louis
Washington University in St. Louis is a private research university located in suburban St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1853, and named for George Washington, the university has students and faculty from all fifty U.S. states and more than 110 nations...
, Middlebury
Middlebury College
Middlebury College is a private liberal arts college located in Middlebury, Vermont, USA. Founded in 1800, it is one of the oldest liberal arts colleges in the United States. Drawing 2,400 undergraduates from all 50 United States and over 70 countries, Middlebury offers 44 majors in the arts,...
, Duke
Duke University
Duke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco industrialist James B...
, Wesleyan
Wesleyan University
Wesleyan University is a private liberal arts college founded in 1831 and located in Middletown, Connecticut. According to the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Wesleyan is the only Baccalaureate College in the nation that emphasizes undergraduate instruction in the arts and...
, Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
, George Washington, and Tufts.
Athletics
Sidwell's sports teams are known as the Quakers; their colors are maroon and gray. The Quakers compete in the Mid-Atlantic Athletic ConferenceMid-Atlantic Athletic Conference
The Mid-Atlantic Athletic Conference is an American high school athletic league composed of private schools in the Washington, D.C. area. Solely male teams participate in the conference. As every member school is co-ed, the girls compete in the Independent School League, or ISL...
for boys' sports (after previously competing in the Interstate Athletic Conference
Interstate Athletic Conference
The Interstate Athletic Conference is an all-boys high school sports league made up of six private high schools in the Washington, D.C., area, competing in twelve varsity sports: baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, ice hockey, lacrosse, soccer, swimming and diving, tennis, track...
(IAC) until 1999) and the Independent School League
Independent School League (Washington, D.C. area)
The Independent School League or ISL is a group of seventeen United States, , preparatory schools that compete with each other athletically. Schools are noted for their academic rigor and traditional rivalries...
(ISL) for girls' sports. Sidwell offers teams in Volleyball, Golf, Boys and Girls Cross Country, Football, Field Hockey, Girls and Boys Soccer, Boys and Girls Basketball, Swimming, Wrestling, Boys and Girls Tennis, Baseball, Boys and Girls Lacrosse, Boys and Girls Track, and Softball. Sidwell's athletic program is an excellent complement to the school's academic mission and has produced many athletes who have gone on to excel academically and athletically at the collegiate level.
Boys' Cross Country
Sidwell has a strong tradition in Boys' Cross Country, including winning four consecutive conference championships under Head Coach Bill Wooden from 2006–2009, and producing the area's top runner, 2010 All-Met Athlete of the Year John McGowan, in 2010.Boys' soccer
Over the past 3 years, the Sidwell Friends Boys Soccer program has become one of the preeminent programs in the entire Washington, DC metro area. In fall, 2006, the boys' varsity soccer team compiled a 19-2 record and was recognized as #9 in the Washington Post Top Ten soccer schools in the metropolitan area. The 2007 Boys Varsity Soccer team again won the MACMid-Atlantic Athletic Conference
The Mid-Atlantic Athletic Conference is an American high school athletic league composed of private schools in the Washington, D.C. area. Solely male teams participate in the conference. As every member school is co-ed, the girls compete in the Independent School League, or ISL...
Boys' Soccer championship and achieved a second consecutive Washington Post Top Ten ranking, reaching #3 in the final poll with a 20-2 record. The 2008 team continued their recent success by winning the third consecutive MAC
Mid-Atlantic Athletic Conference
The Mid-Atlantic Athletic Conference is an American high school athletic league composed of private schools in the Washington, D.C. area. Solely male teams participate in the conference. As every member school is co-ed, the girls compete in the Independent School League, or ISL...
title, and their 4th in 5 years, with an undefeated 16-0-1 record for the season. Again, the Quakers finished the season ranked #3 in the area by the Washington Post and #36 nationally by ESPNRise.com. The 2009 squad began the season ranked #22 in the country by ESPN. In October 2009 the squad achieved a prestigious #1 Washington Post ranking. They also ended up ranked #47 in the country. Sidwell soccer alums have suited up at a number of top schools, including Maryland
University of Maryland
When the term "University of Maryland" is used without any qualification, it generally refers to the University of Maryland, College Park.University of Maryland may refer to the following:...
, Stanford
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
, GW
George Washington University
The George Washington University is a private, coeducational comprehensive university located in Washington, D.C. in the United States...
, Yale
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
, Brown
Brown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
, Wesleyan University
Wesleyan University
Wesleyan University is a private liberal arts college founded in 1831 and located in Middletown, Connecticut. According to the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Wesleyan is the only Baccalaureate College in the nation that emphasizes undergraduate instruction in the arts and...
, Middlebury College
Middlebury College
Middlebury College is a private liberal arts college located in Middlebury, Vermont, USA. Founded in 1800, it is one of the oldest liberal arts colleges in the United States. Drawing 2,400 undergraduates from all 50 United States and over 70 countries, Middlebury offers 44 majors in the arts,...
, Washington University in St. Louis
Washington University in St. Louis
Washington University in St. Louis is a private research university located in suburban St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1853, and named for George Washington, the university has students and faculty from all fifty U.S. states and more than 110 nations...
, Amherst College
Amherst College
Amherst College is a private liberal arts college located in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Amherst is an exclusively undergraduate four-year institution and enrolled 1,744 students in the fall of 2009...
, Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
, and Williams College
Williams College
Williams College is a private liberal arts college located in Williamstown, Massachusetts, United States. It was established in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams. Originally a men's college, Williams became co-educational in 1970. Fraternities were also phased out during this...
.
Football
Sidwell Friends has a century-long tradition of playing football, and currently plays in the Mid-Athletic Conference (MAC). Over the years, many Sidwell football players have gone on to play collegiate football at the Division I, I-AA (now FCS), and Division III level, including at StanfordStanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
, Wake Forest
Wake Forest University
Wake Forest University is a private, coeducational university in the U.S. state of North Carolina, founded in 1834. The university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, North Carolina, the state capital. The Reynolda Campus, the university's main campus, is...
, Tulane
Tulane University
Tulane University is a private, nonsectarian research university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States...
, Navy
United States Naval Academy
The United States Naval Academy is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located in Annapolis, Maryland, United States...
, Indiana
Indiana University
Indiana University is a multi-campus public university system in the state of Indiana, United States. Indiana University has a combined student body of more than 100,000 students, including approximately 42,000 students enrolled at the Indiana University Bloomington campus and approximately 37,000...
, Brown
Brown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
, Columbia
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
, Dartmouth
Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College is a private, Ivy League university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. The institution comprises a liberal arts college, Dartmouth Medical School, Thayer School of Engineering, and the Tuck School of Business, as well as 19 graduate programs in the arts and sciences...
, and Georgetown
Georgetown University
Georgetown University is a private, Jesuit, research university whose main campus is in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic university in the United States...
.
Wrestling
The wrestling program at Sidwell has also been a success, taking 10th place in the national prep tournament in 2003, and winning the DC Classic, a competition among all DC private schools that compete in wrestling, in 2007 and 2008. In February 2008, the Boys Varsity Wrestling Team claimed their 7th "banner" (conference championship) in 9 years of participating in the MACMid-Atlantic Athletic Conference
The Mid-Atlantic Athletic Conference is an American high school athletic league composed of private schools in the Washington, D.C. area. Solely male teams participate in the conference. As every member school is co-ed, the girls compete in the Independent School League, or ISL...
. It was also their 4th straight banner. They established clear dominance, winning the tournament by over 100 points, and boasted 8 MAC champions and one additional All-MAC selection. In January 2009, the Sidwell Wrestling team had an impressive showing at the MAC wrestling tournament—having 7 MAC champions and winning the tournament by over 80 points. In January 2011, Sidwell Wrestling broke the M.A.C record for most consecutive championships, previously held by Sidwell Football, by winning their seventh.
Boys' basketball
Sidwell Friends School Varsity Boys' Basketball is currently coached by Sidwell alumnus Eric Singletary '93, who played in college at Rice University and professionally in Germany and Portugal. Singletary, now in his third year, led the Quakers to a share of the conference championship in the 2009-10 and 2010-2011 seasons. Other recent program highlights include Sidwell's first outright conference championship in Boys' Basketball in the 2006-07 season, with a 14-0 conference record.Girls' basketball
The Sidwell Friends girls' varsity basketball program has a long winning tradition, with numerous conference titles as well as local and national rankings. Head Coach Anne Renninger, a pioneering player at the University of Maryland and one of the youngest Division I college coaches ever (at George Washington University), has led the Quakers to over 400 victories. Over a two-year stretch from 1997–1999, the Sidwell girls' basketball team lost only two games, while winning back-to-back conference championships and achieving both Washington Post Top 10 and USA Today rankings. Former Sidwell girls basketball players have gone on to play for schools such as DukeDuke University
Duke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco industrialist James B...
, NC State
North Carolina State University
North Carolina State University at Raleigh is a public, coeducational, extensive research university located in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Commonly known as NC State, the university is part of the University of North Carolina system and is a land, sea, and space grant institution...
, Wake Forest
Wake Forest University
Wake Forest University is a private, coeducational university in the U.S. state of North Carolina, founded in 1834. The university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, North Carolina, the state capital. The Reynolda Campus, the university's main campus, is...
, Stanford
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
, Tennessee
University of Tennessee
The University of Tennessee is a public land-grant university headquartered at Knoxville, Tennessee, United States...
, Harvard
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, Penn
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
, George Washington and William & Mary.
Boys' baseball
The Sidwell Friends mens' baseball team has been one of the top squads in the MAC in recent years. With a conference championship in 2006, and 3rd place finishes in 2007, 2009, and 2010, the Quakers finished 2nd in the league in 2011. The Quakers also won the 2011 Washington, DC city title with a victory over Woodrow Wilson High School in the Congressional Bank Classic at Nationals Park.Current profile
- For the 2009-2010 school year, 1,109 students (560 boys and 549 girls) are enrolled.
- 40% of the student body belong to ethnic minorities.
- 23% of the student body receives some form of financial assistance.
- The school employs 145 teachers and 103 administrative and support staff.
- Tuition for the 2010-2011 school year is $31,069 (prekindergarten-grade 4) and $32,069 (grades 5-12).
- The school does not release its SATSATThe SAT Reasoning Test is a standardized test for college admissions in the United States. The SAT is owned, published, and developed by the College Board, a nonprofit organization in the United States. It was formerly developed, published, and scored by the Educational Testing Service which still...
average scores or college admission list. However, the school releases to the most recent alumni class a list of which institutions each recently graduated student is attending. - The school does not rank its students, as this conflicts with the Quaker Testimony of EqualityTestimony of EqualityTestimony of equality is a shorthand description of the action generally taken by members of the Religious Society of Friends towards equality, arising from Friends' belief that all people are created equal in the eyes of God. The word testimony describes the way that Friends testify or bear...
.
Campuses
The Middle and Upper School campus is located at 3825 Wisconsin AvenueWisconsin Avenue (Washington, D.C.)
Wisconsin Avenue is a major thoroughfare in Washington, D.C., and its Maryland suburbs. It starts in Georgetown just north of the Potomac River, at an intersection with K Street under the Whitehurst Freeway...
, N.W., Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, 20016-2907
- 15 acre (61,000 m²) Wisconsin Avenue campus in the TenleytownTenleytownTenleytown is a historic neighborhood in Northwest, Washington, DC.-History:In 1790, Washington locals began calling the neighborhood "Tennally's Town" after area tavern owner John Tennally...
section of Northwest Washington - Earl G. Harrison Jr. Upper School Building
- Middle School building with LEED platinum certification, designed by architect KieranTimberlake AssociatesKieranTimberlake AssociatesKieranTimberlake is an American architecture firm, founded by Stephen Kieran and James Timberlake and located in Philadelphia. The firm espouses a philosophy of sustainable design, collaborative design, and in-depth research...
and landscape design by Andropogon Associates. The wood-clad building was designed around a sustainable use of water and energy, exemplified by a constructed wetlandConstructed wetlandA constructed wetland or wetpark is an artificial wetland, marsh or swamp created as a new or restored habitat for native and migratory wildlife, for anthropogenic discharge such as wastewater, stormwater runoff, or sewage treatment, for land reclamation after mining, refineries, or other...
in the center of the campus, part of a wastewater recycling system. On the interior, the building uses thermal chimneys and louvers that admit diffuse light to limit the need for artificial light and thermal control. Lastly, the building contains a centralized mechanical plant that uses less energy than normal, much of which is produced by photovoltaic banks on the roof. The materials used and the environmental technology are referenced architecturally and made accessible to students, either physically, or by explanatory signs, as an educational feature. - Kogod Center for the Arts
- Richard Walter Goldman Memorial Library
- Zartman House (administration building)
- Sensner Building (Fox Den Cafe and school store)
- Wannan and Kenworthy Gymnasiums
- Three athletic fields, five tennis courts, and a six-lane track.
- Parking facility with faculty, student, guest and alumni parking (2 floors, 200+ parking spaces), as well as offices for security, IT and maintenance
The Lower School campus can be found at 5100 Edgemoor Lane, Bethesda
Bethesda, Maryland
Bethesda is a census designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, just northwest of Washington, D.C. It takes its name from a local church, the Bethesda Meeting House , which in turn took its name from Jerusalem's Pool of Bethesda...
, Montgomery County, Maryland
Montgomery County, Maryland
Montgomery County is a county in the U.S. state of Maryland, situated just to the north of Washington, D.C., and southwest of the city of Baltimore. It is one of the most affluent counties in the United States, and has the highest percentage of residents over 25 years of age who hold post-graduate...
, 20814-2306
- 5 acre (20,000 m²) Edgemoor Lane campus in Bethesda (formerly Longfellow School for Boys; opened for the 1963–64 school year)
- Manor House (classrooms, administration, and Clark Library)
- Groome Building (classrooms and multi-purpose room)
- Science, Art, and Music (SAM) Building
- The Bethesda Friends Meeting House
- Athletic fields, a gymnasium, and two playgrounds
Both campuses underwent major renovations throughout the 2005-2006 school year, and construction and renovation of the athletic facilities is still ongoing.
Notable alumni
Notable alumni of Sidwell Friends include:- Anne ApplebaumAnne ApplebaumAnne Elizabeth Applebaum is a journalist and Pulitzer Prize-winning author who has written extensively about communism and the development of civil society in Central and Eastern Europe. She has been an editor at The Economist, and a member of the editorial board of The Washington Post...
(1982), journalistJournalistA journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
and authorAuthorAn author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:... - Jon BernthalJon BernthalJonathan E. "Jon" Bernthal is an American actor, best known for his role on the AMC television series The Walking Dead.-Early life:...
(1995), actorActorAn actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity... - Ann BrasharesAnn BrasharesAnn Brashares is an American writer of young adult fiction. She is best known as the author of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series of books....
(1985), author of The Sisterhood of the Traveling PantsThe Sisterhood of the Traveling PantsThe Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants is a best selling novel written in 2001 by Ann Brashares. The book follows the adventures of four best friends—Lena Kaligaris, Tibby Rollins, Bridget Vreeland, and Carmen Lowell, who will be spending their first summer apart. When a magical pair of jeans comes...
series of books - Oteil BurbridgeOteil BurbridgeOteil Burbridge, in Washington, D.C.), is a Grammy Award-nominated American multi-instrumentalist, specializing on the bass guitar, trained in playing jazz and classical music from an early age. He has achieved fame primarily on bass guitar during the current resurgence of the Allman Brothers Band...
(1982), bassistBassistA bass player, or bassist is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass, bass guitar, keyboard bass or a low brass instrument such as a tuba or sousaphone. Different musical genres tend to be associated with one or more of these instruments...
for the Allman Brothers Band - Setsuko Chichibu (1928), Princess of JapanJapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
- Chelsea ClintonChelsea ClintonChelsea Victoria Clinton is a television journalist, currently serving as Special Correspondent for NBC News, and philanthropist, working through the Clinton Global Initiative. She is the only child of former U.S...
(1997), daughter of President Bill ClintonBill ClintonWilliam Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
and Secretary of StateUnited States Secretary of StateThe United States Secretary of State is the head of the United States Department of State, concerned with foreign affairs. The Secretary is a member of the Cabinet and the highest-ranking cabinet secretary both in line of succession and order of precedence...
Hillary Rodham ClintonHillary Rodham ClintonHillary Diane Rodham Clinton is the 67th United States Secretary of State, serving in the administration of President Barack Obama. She was a United States Senator for New York from 2001 to 2009. As the wife of the 42nd President of the United States, Bill Clinton, she was the First Lady of the... - Tricia Nixon Cox (1964) daughter of President Richard NixonRichard NixonRichard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
- John DickersonJohn DickersonJohn Frederick Dickerson is an American journalist. He is chief political correspondent for Slate magazine and political director of CBS News. Before joining Slate, he covered politics for 12 years for Time, including his last four as the magazine’s White House correspondent.-Biography:A native...
(1987), journalist, political commentator, and writer. - David W. DennisDavid W. DennisDavid Worth Dennis II was an attorney and Republican United States Representative from Indiana.He was born in Washington, D.C. and was named for his grandfather, David Worth Dennis who had been a professor at Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana. His father, William Cullen Dennis was president of...
(1929), Indiana congressman - John Deutch (1956), CIA DirectorDirector of Central IntelligenceThe Office of United States Director of Central Intelligence was the head of the United States Central Intelligence Agency, the principal intelligence advisor to the President and the National Security Council, and the coordinator of intelligence activities among and between the various United...
, MIT professor - Margaret EdsonMargaret EdsonMargaret Edson is an American playwright. She graduated with a B.A. in Renaissance History from Smith College, and received a master's in English literature from Georgetown University...
(1979), Pulitzer PrizePulitzer PrizeThe Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
-winning author of WitWit (play)Wit is a play written by American playwright Margaret Edson. Edson used her work experience in a hospital as part of the inspiration for her play. Wit received its world premiere at South Coast Repertory, Costa Mesa, California, in 1995... - Dan FroomkinDan FroomkinDan Froomkin is the Senior Washington Correspondent for the Huffington Post. His work is now collected . He previously wrote a column for the online version of The Washington Post called White House Watch....
(1981), journalistJournalistA journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
and Huffington Post columnist - Roger W. Ferguson, Jr.Roger W. Ferguson, Jr.Roger W. Ferguson, Jr. is an American economist, who was Vice Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System from 1999 to 2006 and is currently the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association - College Retirement Equities Fund...
(1969), Federal Reserve Board Former Vice Chairman - Ana GasteyerAna GasteyerAna Kristina Gasteyer is an American actress of stage, film, and television. She is best known for her comedic roles when she was a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1996 to 2002.-Early life:...
(1985), actress - Doug GanslerDoug GanslerDouglas F. "Doug" Gansler is a Maryland politician and Attorney General of Maryland. Gansler won the Democratic nomination in the primary election on September 12, 2006, and beat Republican Scott Rolle in the general election on November 7, 2006...
(1981), State's Attorney for Montgomery County, MarylandMontgomery County, MarylandMontgomery County is a county in the U.S. state of Maryland, situated just to the north of Washington, D.C., and southwest of the city of Baltimore. It is one of the most affluent counties in the United States, and has the highest percentage of residents over 25 years of age who hold post-graduate...
(1999—2007), Attorney GeneralAttorney GeneralIn most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general, or attorney-general, is the main legal advisor to the government, and in some jurisdictions he or she may also have executive responsibility for law enforcement or responsibility for public prosecutions.The term is used to refer to any person...
of the State of MarylandMarylandMaryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
, (2007- ) - Charles GibsonCharles GibsonCharles deWolf "Charlie" Gibson is a former American broadcast television anchor and journalist. He was a host of Good Morning America from 1987 to 1998 and 1999 to 2006 and anchor of World News with Charles Gibson from 2006 to 2009....
(1961), ABC World News Tonight anchor, former host of ABCAmerican Broadcasting CompanyThe American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
's Good Morning AmericaGood Morning AmericaGood Morning America is an American morning news and talk show that is broadcast on the ABC television network; it debuted on November 3, 1975. The weekday program airs for two hours; a third hour aired between 2007 and 2008 exclusively on ABC News Now... - Walter GilbertWalter GilbertWalter Gilbert is an American physicist, biochemist, molecular biology pioneer, and Nobel laureate.-Biography:Gilbert was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on March 21, 1932...
(1949), Nobel Prize winner in ChemistryNobel Prize in ChemistryThe Nobel Prize in Chemistry is awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences to scientists in the various fields of chemistry. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895, awarded for outstanding contributions in chemistry, physics, literature,... - Paul Goldstein (1994), professional tennis player, 4-time NCAA Champion and All-American at Stanford, 2-time USTA 18 & Under national champion.
- James K Glassman (1965), editorialist, syndicated columnist, and author
- Hanna Holborn GrayHanna Holborn GrayHanna Holborn Gray , is a historian of political thought in the area of the Renaissance and Reformation, and an emerita professor and former President of the University of Chicago.-Biography:...
(1947 or 1948), historianHistorianA historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
and Provost of Yale UniversityYale UniversityYale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
and later the President of University of ChicagoUniversity of ChicagoThe University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890... - Davis GuggenheimDavis GuggenheimPhilip Davis Guggenheim is an Academy Award-winning American film director and producer. His credits as a producer and director include Training Day, The Shield, Alias, 24, NYPD Blue, ER, Deadwood, and Party of Five and the documentaries An Inconvenient Truth and Waiting for 'Superman...
(1982), film directorFilm directorA film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
An Inconvenient TruthAn Inconvenient TruthAn Inconvenient Truth is a 2006 documentary film directed by Davis Guggenheim about former United States Vice President Al Gore's campaign to educate citizens about global warming via a comprehensive slide show that, by his own estimate, he has given more than a thousand times.Premiering at the...
among others - William Henry HarrisonWilliam H. Harrison (Wyoming Congressman)William Henry Harrison was an American politician who served as a Republican U.S. representative from Wyoming.-Political career:...
(1914 or 1915), Republican Representative from WyomingWyomingWyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
and great-great-grandson of President William Henry HarrisonWilliam Henry HarrisonWilliam Henry Harrison was the ninth President of the United States , an American military officer and politician, and the first president to die in office. He was 68 years, 23 days old when elected, the oldest president elected until Ronald Reagan in 1980, and last President to be born before the... - Tony HorwitzTony HorwitzTony Horwitz is an American journalist and writer. His works include Blue Latitudes or Into the Blue, One for the Road, Confederates In The Attic, Baghdad Without A Map, and A Voyage Long and Strange: Rediscovering the New World. His next book Midnight Rising: John Brown and the Raid That Sparked...
(1976), journalistJournalistA journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
and authorAuthorAn author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:... - Clara JefferyClara JefferyClara Jeffery is a co-editor of Mother Jones magazine . Jeffery was promoted to that position in August 2006, following the departure of Russ Rymer; previously she was the magazine's Deputy Editor, a position she had held for four years...
(1985), Editor of Mother Jones magazine - Sonya ClarkSonya ClarkSonya Clark is an American artist and chair of the Craft/Material Studies Department at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA. Previously, she was Baldwin-Bascom Professor of Creative Arts at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Clark received degrees from Amherst College, the School...
(1985), artistArtistAn artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only... - Thomas KailThomas KailThomas Kail is an American film and theatre director, known for directing the Broadway and Off-Broadway productions of the musical In the Heights.- Person life :...
(1995), director - John KatzenbachJohn KatzenbachJohn Katzenbach is a U.S. author of popular fiction. Son of Nicholas Katzenbach, former United States Attorney General, John worked as a criminal court reporter for the Miami Herald and Miami News , and a featured writer for the Herald’s Tropic magazine...
(1968), author - Philip S. KhouryPhilip S. KhouryPhilip S. Khoury is an historian of the Middle East, presently Associate Provost and Ford International Professor of History at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology . He is also Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the American University of Beirut....
(1967), Ford International Professor of History & Associate Provost, MIT - Jair LynchJair LynchJair Lynch is an American gymnast who won a silver medal in the parallel bars at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta...
(1989), Gymnast, 1996 Olympic Silver Medalist in parallel bars - Campbell McGrathCampbell McGrathCampbell McGrath is a notable modern American poet. He is the author of nine full-length collections of poetry, including his most recent, Seven Notebooks , Shannon: A Poem of the Lewis and Clark Expedition , and In the Kingdom of the Sea Monkeys .- Life :McGrath was born in Chicago, Illinois, and...
(1980), poet and winner of the MacArthur FoundationMacArthur FoundationThe John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is one of the largest private foundations in the United States. Based in Chicago but supporting non-profit organizations that work in 60 countries, MacArthur has awarded more than US$4 billion since its inception in 1978...
"Genius Award" - Daniel MuddDaniel MuddDaniel H. Mudd is the former President and CEO of Fannie Mae, a post he held from 2005-2008.He is the son of TV anchor, Roger Mudd. He holds a B.A. degree in American history from the University of Virginia and an M.P.A. from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University...
(1976), former CEO of Fannie Mae - Jeffrey MumfordJeffrey MumfordJeffrey Mumford or is a U.S. composer who teaches music at Lorain County Community College. He holds degrees from the University of California, Irvine and the University of California, San Diego...
(1973), composer - Robert NewmyerRobert NewmyerRobert F. Newmyer was a producer of numerous films, both commercial and independent.On December 12, 2005, Newmyer died at the age of 49 in Toronto, Ontario from a heart attack while working out at a gym...
(1974), film producer - Bill NyeBill NyeWilliam Sanford "Bill" Nye , popularly known as Bill Nye the Science Guy, is an American science educator, comedian, television host, actor, mechanical engineer, and scientist...
(1973), television personality and scientistScientistA scientist in a broad sense is one engaging in a systematic activity to acquire knowledge. In a more restricted sense, a scientist is an individual who uses the scientific method. The person may be an expert in one or more areas of science. This article focuses on the more restricted use of the word... - Archibald RooseveltArchibald RooseveltArchibald Bulloch "Archie" Roosevelt , the fifth child of U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt, was a distinguished U.S. Army officer and commander of U.S. forces in both World War I and II. In both conflicts he was wounded. He earned the Croix de guerre and Silver Star with Oak Leaf Cluster,...
(1912?), son of Theodore RooseveltTheodore RooseveltTheodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity... - Scott SandersScott Sanders (director)Scott Sanders is an African American screenwriter and film director. He is best known for his work with the films Black Dynamite and Thick as Thieves.-Early life:...
(1986) DirectorFilm directorA film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
of Black DynamiteBlack DynamiteBlack Dynamite is a 2009 American film starring Michael Jai White, Salli Richardson, Arsenio Hall, Kevin Chapman and Tommy Davidson. It is a spoof of 1970s blaxploitation films... - Ben ShenkmanBen ShenkmanBenjamin Shenkman is an American television, film and stage actor.-Life and career:Shenkman was born in New York City and raised in what he described as "the secular Eastern European Jewish tradition". He graduated from Brown University, and obtained a Masters of Fine Arts in 1993 from New York...
(1986), actor - Susan ShreveSusan ShreveSusan Richards Shreve is an American professor, author, and novelist, as well as author of over a dozen children's books. She currently teaches at George Mason University....
(1957), professor, author and novelist - Ed TapscottEd TapscottEd Tapscott is the former interim head coach of the NBA's Washington Wizards.-Coaching:Tapscott, a graduate of Tufts University and American University Washington College of Law, was an assistant to Gary Williams at American University in the 1970s while a law student, and took over head coaching...
(1971), former Washington WizardsWashington WizardsThe Washington Wizards are a professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C., previously known as Washington Bullets. They play in the National Basketball Association .-Early years:...
Interim Head Coach - Baratunde ThurstonBaratunde ThurstonBaratunde Rafiq Thurston is an American comedian based in Boston and New York City. He is a graduate of Sidwell Friends School and a cum laude graduate of Harvard University....
(1995), comedian - Oleg Alexandrovich TroyanovskyOleg TroyanovskyOleg Alexandrovich Troyanovsky was ambassador of the Soviet Union to Japan and China and was the Soviet Permanent Representative to the United Nations ....
, SovietSoviet UnionThe Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
ambassadorAmbassadorAn ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat who represents a nation and is usually accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization....
to the United NationsUnited NationsThe United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace... - Alexandra TydingsAlexandra TydingsAlexandra Tydings Luzzatto is an American actress, best known for her role as the Greek goddess Aphrodite on the popular TV series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and on its spin-off Xena: Warrior Princess.-Early life:She first began her career at the age of 11 at the Royal Ballet's production of...
(1989), actress - Robin WeigertRobin WeigertRobin Weigert is an American television and film actress.Weigert was born in Washington, D.C. of Jewish heritage. After graduating from Brandeis University in 1991, Weigert attended New York University, earning a Master of Fine Arts degree in the acting program at the Tisch School of the Arts...
(1987), actress - William Zantzinger, subject of a Bob DylanBob DylanBob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
song
The following notable people attended Sidwell but graduated elsewhere:
- George A. Akerlof, Nobel Prize winner for Economics & current Faculty member at University of California, BerkeleyUniversity of California, BerkeleyThe University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
- Kara LawsonKara Lawson-External links:**...
(1999, left in 1996) WNBA player and star at the University of TennesseeUniversity of TennesseeThe University of Tennessee is a public land-grant university headquartered at Knoxville, Tennessee, United States...
, 5th pick of the 2003 WNBA Draft2003 WNBA DraftThe 2003 WNBA Draft, both the dispersal draft and the regular WNBA draft, took place on April 24. The dispersal draft involved players from the rosters of the Portland Fire and Miami Sol teams which had both folded after the 2002 season....
. - Charles LindberghCharles LindberghCharles Augustus Lindbergh was an American aviator, author, inventor, explorer, and social activist.Lindbergh, a 25-year-old U.S...
(attended 1913-1915) - Roger Mason (1999, left in 1996) NBA player for the San Antonio SpursSan Antonio SpursThe San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio, Texas. They are part of the Southwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association ....
and star at the University of VirginiaUniversity of VirginiaThe University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...
, 31st pick of the 2002 NBA Draft2002 NBA DraftThe 2002 NBA Draft was held on June 26, 2002 at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. In this draft, National Basketball Association teams took turns selecting 57 amateur college basketball players and other first-time eligible players, such as players from non-North...
. - Julie Nixon EisenhowerJulie Nixon EisenhowerJulie Nixon Eisenhower is the younger daughter of 37th U.S. President Richard M. Nixon and First Lady Pat Nixon, and sister to Patricia Nixon Cox....
(1966, left in 1961), daughter of Richard NixonRichard NixonRichard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under... - John Dos PassosJohn Dos PassosJohn Roderigo Dos Passos was an American novelist and artist.-Early life:Born in Chicago, Illinois, Dos Passos was the illegitimate son of John Randolph Dos Passos , a distinguished lawyer of Madeiran Portuguese descent, and Lucy Addison Sprigg Madison of Petersburg, Virginia. The elder Dos Passos...
, (attended 1902-1903) - Root Boy SlimRoot Boy SlimRoot Boy Slim was the stage name assumed by American musician, Foster MacKenzie III. Born in Asheville, North Carolina, he was raised in suburban Maryland, a few minutes from D.C. after his family relocated there...
- Nancy ReaganNancy ReaganNancy Davis Reagan is the widow of former United States President Ronald Reagan and was First Lady of the United States from 1981 to 1989....
, former First LadyFirst LadyFirst Lady or First Gentlemanis the unofficial title used in some countries for the spouse of an elected head of state.It is not normally used to refer to the spouse or partner of a prime minister; the husband or wife of the British Prime Minister is usually informally referred to as prime...
(attended the elementary school 1925-1928) - Gore VidalGore VidalGore Vidal is an American author, playwright, essayist, screenwriter, and political activist. His third novel, The City and the Pillar , outraged mainstream critics as one of the first major American novels to feature unambiguous homosexuality...
(1943, left in 1936)
Notable parents
Notable parents of past and present Sidwell Friends students include:- Barack ObamaBarack ObamaBarack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
, 44th President of the United StatesPresident of the United StatesThe President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces.... - Theodore RooseveltTheodore RooseveltTheodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
, 29th President of the United StatesPresident of the United StatesThe President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces.... - Richard NixonRichard NixonRichard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
, 37th President of the United StatesPresident of the United StatesThe President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces.... - Bill ClintonBill ClintonWilliam Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
, 42nd President of the United StatesPresident of the United StatesThe President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces.... - Al GoreAl GoreAlbert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr. served as the 45th Vice President of the United States , under President Bill Clinton. He was the Democratic Party's nominee for President in the 2000 U.S. presidential election....
, 45th Vice President of the United StatesVice President of the United StatesThe Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term... - Douglas Gansler, Attorney GeneralAttorney GeneralIn most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general, or attorney-general, is the main legal advisor to the government, and in some jurisdictions he or she may also have executive responsibility for law enforcement or responsibility for public prosecutions.The term is used to refer to any person...
of MarylandMarylandMaryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east... - Hunter BidenHunter BidenRobert Hunter Biden , second son of Vice President Joseph R. Biden, is a partner at Rosemont Seneca Partners, LLC and is Counsel to Boies, Schiller, Flexner, LLP, a New York based-law firm. Previously, he was a founding partner of Oldaker, Biden & Belair, LLP.He received a bachelor's degree from...
, Son of Vice President of the United StatesVice President of the United StatesThe Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...
Joe Biden and former chair of AMTRAKAmtrakThe National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union...
Board of Directors - David GregoryDavid Gregory (journalist)David Michael Gregory is an American television journalist, and moderator of NBC News' Sunday morning talk show Meet the Press.-Early life:...
, Host of Meet the PressMeet the PressMeet the Press is a weekly American television news/interview program produced by NBC. It is the longest-running television series in American broadcasting history, despite bearing little resemblance to the original format of the program seen in its television debut on November 6, 1947. It has been...
on NBCNBCThe National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago... - Debra L. LeeDebra L. LeeDebra L. Lee, Esq. is an American businesswoman. Currently, she is the President and Chief Executive Officer of BET Holdings, Inc., the parent company for Black Entertainment Television. She is the mother of two children and is affiliated with the Democratic Party...
, President and Chief Executive OfficerChief executive officerA chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...
of Black Entertainment TelevisionBlack Entertainment TelevisionBlack Entertainment Television is an American, Viacom-owned cable network based in Washington, D.C.. Currently viewed in more than 90 million homes worldwide, it is the most prominent television network targeting young Black-American audiences. The network was launched on January 25, 1980, by its... - Robert L. JohnsonRobert L. JohnsonRobert L. Johnson is an American business magnate best known for being the founder of television network Black Entertainment Television , and is also its former chairman and chief executive officer...
, Co-Founder of Black Entertainment TelevisionBlack Entertainment TelevisionBlack Entertainment Television is an American, Viacom-owned cable network based in Washington, D.C.. Currently viewed in more than 90 million homes worldwide, it is the most prominent television network targeting young Black-American audiences. The network was launched on January 25, 1980, by its...
and former owner of the NBA's Charlotte BobcatsCharlotte BobcatsThe Charlotte Bobcats is a professional basketball team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. They play in the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association. The Bobcats were established in 2004 as an expansion team, two seasons after Charlotte's previous NBA... - Sheila JohnsonSheila JohnsonSheila Crump Johnson is the team president, managing partner, and governor of the WNBA's Washington Mystics, a position she gained before the 2005 season. On May 24, 2005, Washington Sports and Entertainment Chairman, Abe Pollin, sold the Mystics to Lincoln Holdings LLC, where Johnson served as...
, Co-Founder of Black Entertainment TelevisionBlack Entertainment TelevisionBlack Entertainment Television is an American, Viacom-owned cable network based in Washington, D.C.. Currently viewed in more than 90 million homes worldwide, it is the most prominent television network targeting young Black-American audiences. The network was launched on January 25, 1980, by its...
and owner of the WNBA's Washington MysticsWashington MysticsThe Washington Mystics is a professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C., playing in the Eastern Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association . The team was founded prior to the 1998 season. The team is owned by Monumental Sports & Entertainment , who also owns the Mystics'... - Doreen GentzlerDoreen GentzlerDoreen Gentzler is an American television news anchor. She is currently a 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. news anchor at WRC-TV, alongsideco-anchor Jim Vance.-Personal:...
, Evening news anchor at WRC-TVWRC-TVWRC-TV, channel 4, is an owned and operated television station of the NBC television network, located in the American capital city of Washington, D.C... - Seth Goldman (businessman)Seth Goldman (businessman)Seth Goldman is president and TeaEO of Honest Tea, which he co-founded in 1998 with his former business school professor, Barry Nalebuff.Before launching Honest Tea, Goldman was Vice President of the Calvert Group, which created the Calvert Social Index...
, Founder of Honest TeaHonest TeaHonest Tea is a bottled organic tea company based in Bethesda, Maryland. It was founded in 1998 by Seth Goldman and Barry Nalebuff. On February 5, 2008, the Coca-Cola Company announced its purchase of a 40% stake of the company at $43 million.... - Merrick Garland, Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit Federal Judge
- Seth Waxman, 41st Solicitor General of the United States
- Bob WoodwardBob WoodwardRobert Upshur Woodward is an American investigative journalist and non-fiction author. He has worked for The Washington Post since 1971 as a reporter, and is currently an associate editor of the Post....
, Washington Post investigative reporter who broke the Watergate ScandalWatergate scandalThe Watergate scandal was a political scandal during the 1970s in the United States resulting from the break-in of the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C., and the Nixon administration's attempted cover-up of its involvement... - Wanya MorrisWanya MorrisWanyá Jermaine Morris is an American R&B singer, best known as a member of the R&B group Boyz II Men.Aside from Boyz II Men, Wanyá has his own record label, "The Company Entertainment"....
, Member of the R&B group Boyz II MenBoyz II MenBoyz II Men is an American R&B vocal group best known for emotional ballads and a cappella harmonies. They are the most successful R&B group of all time, having sold more than albums worldwide. In the 1990s, Boyz II Men found fame on Motown Records as a quartet, but original member Michael McCary... - Ron SuskindRon SuskindRon Suskind is a Pulitzer Prize winning American journalist and best-selling author. He was the senior national affairs writer for The Wall Street Journal from 1993 to 2000 and has published the books A Hope in the Unseen, The Price of Loyalty, The One Percent Doctrine, The Way of the World and...
, Pulitzer PrizePulitzer PrizeThe Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
winning journalist - David A. ViseDavid A. ViseDavid A. Vise, a journalist and author for over 20 years, is now a Senior Advisor to New Mountain Capital, a New York-based investment firm, and New Mountain Vantage, its public equity fund. He won a Pulitzer Prize in 1990 while working as a business reporter for the Washington Post...
, Pulitzer PrizePulitzer PrizeThe Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
winning journalist - Judy WoodruffJudy WoodruffJudy Woodruff is an American television news anchor and journalist.Woodruff is a Board Member at the IWMF .-Broadcast journalism career:...
, former host of Inside Politics on CNNCNNCable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States... - Al HuntAl HuntAlbert R. Hunt Jr. is the executive Washington editor for Bloomberg News, a subsidiary of Bloomberg L.P. Hunt hosts the Sunday morning talk show Political Capital on Bloomberg Television, which airs on Friday night.-Personal life:...
, Executive Washington editor for Bloomberg News