Philosophy in Practice

At Westtown, we offer a life-size education through:

• a distinctively global academic program
  Schools everywhere are asking: How do we prepare students to solve authentic global problems? At Westtown, we’ve been answering this question for more than two hundred years of literally living and learning in a mindful, international community. From world studies in 3rd grade to taking classes with students from around the world in 9th grade to living on dorm with students from 20 different states and 20 different countries in the 12th grade, every Westtown graduate knows what it means to live and solve problems thoughtfully in a diverse world.
  
  
• our Quaker values and heritage
  Accentuating integrity, peacemaking, equality, community, and social justice—Quaker education springs from one idea: recognizing and respecting “that of God” within each person. Because of this starting point, Westtown teachers and students relate to each other with a depth and sincerity rarely seen elsewhere. All students are welcomed and valued and encouraged as they discover and expand that light within themselves.
  
  
• a unique combination of tradition and innovation
  As a long-established and highly regarded college preparatory school, we take academics seriously. As a Quaker school, we also continually seek better ways to cultivate students’ learning and participation. Westtown leads area schools in innovation, implementing the well-researched Singapore Math and Physics first science programs and moving our Upper School beyond the AP formula to an advanced curriculum that’s tailored subject-by-subject, course-by-course.
  
  
• an unusually spacious and beautiful campus
  Westtown’s 600 beautiful acres, a spacious learning laboratory away from highways and busy streets—with open lawns, native woodlands, a 14-acre lake, frog pond, arboretum, organic garden, greenhouse, 14-court tennis stadium, 25-meter pool, ropes course, theater, art gallery, and so much more—provides an ideal environment for focused and advancing study. It’s also home to a globally diverse boarding community, with on-campus faculty families and Upper School boarding students infusing the school with warmth and life 24/7.


• a culturally, racially, and economically diverse boarding community
  There’s no better way to learn. Generations of Westtown students—and their proud parents—can attest to the habits of mind and character that living in this diverse community cultivates: respect, patience, kindness, humor, honesty, and, perhaps most notably, confidence and independence. A one-night overnight trip in 4th grade, canoe trips in Middle School, living on dorm in 11th and 12th grades, and then… college. While other students encounter the sometimes awkward new freedoms and responsibilities of life beyond high school, Westtown graduates simply continue their studies and their lives, relying on the wise habits they learned within the safety of the Westtown community.