Cambridge Friends School

5 Cadbury Road

Cambridge, MA 02140

21 Reviews

School District
Grade

PK-8
Type

private

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Reviews

Submitted by parent on January 10, 2025

Excellent educators helping students become outstanding critical thinkers, ready to make a difference in a complex world.
Submitted by parent on April 06, 2024

CFS is a wonderful school. A mission based, anti-racist/anti-bias/anti-homophobic social justice informed school with a deep community and commitment to shaping empowered future leaders. My child is engaged, excited to learn, and literally counts down the days until they are back in school every break or weekend. There are talented faculty with creative and scaffolded teaching. Truly a unique school amongst the plethora of private school options in Cambridge.
Submitted by parent on February 10, 2022

Our daughter has had a wonderful kindergarten experience at Cambridge Friends. The community is diverse, engaged, and supportive and the teachers are wonderful. We've especially been impressed with the friendly and casual feel of the school, and with the depth of resources. Our daughter loves the extended day program (which is nice for us parents too!) Even in the unique COVID times, the school works to create a community which is appreciated. In terms of education, the student-teacher ratio is impressive and we really see the impact of it in the feedback we get from teachers about our daughter and the ability to customize classroom activities to world events and questions from the kids. We're thrilled to be at CFS and recommend it highly!
Submitted by parent on March 28, 2020

Excellent. My daughter has learned so much from the rigorous curriculum and has made life long friends!
Submitted by parent on December 06, 2019

Thank you CFS. CFS has been a great place for our family. Small class size is a real plus. Lots of change at the school including administration finally happening. Strong approach to civic engagement produces good future citizens. Terrific teacher/ student interaction. More diverse than typical suburban private school.
Submitted by parent on March 23, 2019

Very high. My kids are energetic and bright and I wanted a school that would keep them challenged (academically), give them outlet to get their surplus energy out without being disruptive, and teach them about qualities to be a good and leveled person. CFS offers that and much more.
Submitted by parent on March 13, 2019

It feels important to note that our family joined CFS after the previous head of school left; I've heard from several families that the years before we arrived were difficult, and you'll see that reflected in the older reviews here. Our experience has been nothing short of wonderful. The staff and teachers have been outstanding, the communication from the school is excellent, and the quality of education our child is receiving definitely meets or exceeds our expectations. We have a math fiend who is ahead of his cohort on math skills, and his teacher has made the effort to provide enrichment materials whenever his attention flags. He also came to the school with some challenges on the social/emotional front and was extremely well-supported in building skills and confidence on that front. I agree with the reviews below about CFS's approach to the Pre-K/K years – it's very age-appropriate and an easy transition from preschool – and the sense of community.
Submitted by parent on March 10, 2019

We are grateful to be at CFS where children are celebrated for who they are. My children are eager to go to school and have a wonderful rapport with their teachers. We feel a real sense of community at CFS.
Submitted by parent on March 06, 2019

We've been very happy overall at CFS. As others have mentioned there was a turnover in leadership around the time we joined, but as far as I can tell it was handled as well as it could have been and all the staff we knew and liked stayed on due to the strong community there.
Submitted by principal on September 10, 2018

My two children attend Cambridge Friends School, one in middle school and one in the lower school, and we are beginning our third year. We have had wonderful experiences there. My youngest began CFS in Kindergarten. I found the transition from preschool to be very gentle. The schedule is unhurried and there is plenty of time to play, rest, and eat. I cannot say enough positive things about the PK/K teachers. They are warm, supportive, understanding and form close relationships with each child. The middle school is also warm and supportive but combines that with intellectually challenging material and critical thinking skills. It is most important to me that my children learn to think critically for themselves and learn to be people who can get along with others. I believe that the curriculum across the grades helps children learn those skills. CFS places great emphasis on connections with each other and the wider world. Children learn to be supportive of each other as well as to find their own voice. We could not be happier with our choice to attend CFS.
Submitted by parent on June 05, 2018

We have been at CFS for 4 years and overall we feel lucky that we have been able to give our children this special kind of education. The school does an amazing job of providing children with the foundation they need to be critical thinkers about relationships, power, justice. They look at curriculum through that lens, and also practice those elements in the way the teachers interact with students, and help students interact with each other. The school suffers from a seeming inability to communicate clearly about the work they do with the kids in the classrooms, but we have found that if you talk to the teachers and our kids about what they are doing we see the learning environment is rich. I especially appreciate that the teachers make an effort to see each child for who they are, and provides he learning support they need to feel engaged in the classroom and community.
Submitted by parent on May 27, 2018

Fantastic. We are so happy here and our child is so happy here. Not only is my child learning academics, but she is learning how to be a strong person who advocates for herself and others. The school has very strong values and teaches them well to the children. We love this school.
Submitted by parent on May 22, 2018

We have been extremely pleased with every aspect of our daughter's education at CFS. There is a strong sense of values that permeates school culture, and our daughter has made many close friends. We are looking forward to second grade and beyond.
Submitted by parent on May 03, 2018

CFS is by far the BEST of the BEST! My son has attended CFS for 2 years and will return for another. My son as well as myself have felt nothing but love, kindness, and support.We commute one hour daily without any complaints from him. How lucky these children are to have this EXCEPTIONAL experience. The teachers are passionate about what they are teaching, the staff and administrators are thoughtful and involved in what each child is doing. My son was a bit behind in reading when entering first grade in September, he is now where the rest of the class is due to the teachers who take extra time with him. CFS is so much more than I could have dreamt of for him.
Submitted by student on May 01, 2018

very good awesome. a few bad points here and there like the way the teachers don't really pay attention to bullying
Submitted by parent on March 05, 2018

If you care about social justice above all else in your child's education, CFS might work for you. If your child is different in some way that makes social life difficult, CFS might be the most supportive environment you can find for your child and family. But if you want a school with excellent teaching, strong academics, modern facilities and effective leadership, there are far better choices. CFS has faced serious financial and administrative challenges over the past few years, and as of last year, we were far from convinced that they would be able to effectively address these issues in a reasonable timeframe. Along with many others in the school, our son left (after second grade), and entered public school. We were distressed to learn that in terms of his math skills, he was near the bottom of his class of 23 (after being at CFS since kindergarten). After a few months there he's now very strong in math. There are certainly challenges that he did not face at CFS--a large classroom with all kinds of kids--racially, culturally, behaviorally. He is not just learning about diversity, he is immersed in it. While we believed in the mission at CFS and enjoyed the community, we felt strongly that we did not get what we were paying for.
Submitted by other on February 06, 2018

Very bad. Horrible. A few bright points here and there, but it’s heartbreaking because it seems to have been better in the past and hopefully will be in the future. This is not just a bitter parent review. Sadly, many have left. Consider the school only if you want to be an optimistic part of a rebuilding project. If there are enough people like that, by the time your kids graduate it could be special again.
Submitted by parent on May 10, 2016

My son attends the pre-k/k program at CFS. We are almost at the end of the first school year and our experience has been great. First, the school has a very strong teacher body with very low turnover rate. The two teachers for our son's class are both teaching veterans with decades of experience. They are caring, supportive and firm with guidance. The head of school is thoughtful, approachable and cares deeply about the well-being of his students and staff. Over the eights years he has been at CFS, the school has implemented many improvements that increased teacher morale and student performance. Second, the physical facility of the school is very good. The classrooms are bright and clean. And the school has a huge outdoor space. In the coming year, a playscape designed by a renowned architect will be installed. It will make play time even more fun. Third, the families are all well educated and cares deeply about education. In our son's room, almost every family has at least one parent with advanced degrees. There are three parents who founded their own tech companies, and at least two are faculties at Universities in and around Cambridge. People are polite, cooperative and without pretense. Last but not the least, the education quality is good. It is hard to see from the pre-k/k level, but the high school placement shows a solid result. You don't need to be a Quaker/Friend to have a solid education at CFS. The school practices a lot of Quaker ideas such as peace, integrity, humility, and community, but the school is not religious. It grants higher percentage scholarship to families that need assistance than the more posh schools in Cambridge do. So it truly practices what it preaches. If you are looking for a school that will help to bring your kids up to be a whole person, CFS is the one for you.
Submitted by parent on May 13, 2014

I have two children at CFS. To date their experience has been very positive. CFS is true to its Quaker core and, unlike many other schools, its values are completely integrated into the curriculum. If you are searching for a school that doesn't just give lip-service to diversity and critical thought, but actually integrates both into the curriculum you should consider CFS. As (more?) important is the general quality of kids and families in the CFS community. We are thrilled by the quality of character of our daughters' friends and their families. Each year we make more friends in this community and we value the fact that our children have strong relationships with their friends' families. Added to this is the fact that the boys and girls in this school are close---much less gender separation than at other schools I've seen. All in all, CFS is a remarkably wholesome place where kids participate in a values based engaged and thoughtful curriculum and make great friends!
Submitted by parent on April 04, 2014

My daughter will soon graduate from 8th grade at Cambridge Friends School, which she has attended since Pre-K. It has been a wonderful school for her -- in terms of academics, athletics, faculty relationships, community, diversity, social values and so much more. I do not know of another school like this. I highly recommend it.