Our History

Friends School of Harford Property at Falls Creek

The Falls Creek Property combines three different deeds. The rights to the land prior to 1900 are hard to determine but Joseph T. Hoopes is mentioned as a Trustee on one properties.  In 1904, Charles O. Michael purchased 42 acres of land called "Thomas Beginning"   or also referred to as "Wheeler and "Clark's Contrivance". Two different tracts were sold to Charles and Anna Michael in 1933.  One was 6.55 acres,  the second was 20.07 acres.  Both of those tracts were later sold to Charles and Anna Michael. After their death, their two children, Carl and Dorothy inherited the farm.  Dorothy's married name was Martin.  Carl, of course, was Michael.  Hence the land was referred to as the Michael Martin property.

In 2005 Harford County purchased the 66-acre farm from Gloria Michael. In 2015 Harford County deeded the 66 acres to Friends School of Harford in exchange for the Quaker’s claim to the Emily Bayless Graham property on Rt 24. Friends School of Harford named the property Falls Creek Farm after the two active Friends Meetings in Harford County: Deer Creek, Darlington MD and Little Falls, Fallston MD.

In 2018 Friends School of Harford Board of Trustees began the process of creating an agricultural education center at the farm. The Board started with repairs to the tenant house and the bank barn. In 2021 the Board began to create a land use map and property management plan in order to allocate areas of the farm for specific uses and maintain the property for agricultural education opportunities.

The History of Friends School of Harford

Friends School of Harford was founded in 2005. The first school was located in Darlington, MD in the Deer Creek Meeting House. With Jonathan Huxtable as principal, students were welcomed into the Friends community for their middle school years. In 2009, Friends opened their school to K-5 students as well. In 2014, Friends left their campus in Street, Maryland, and moved to Forest Hill. The school suspended operation in 2018.

At Friends School of Harford, students were given many opportunities and chances to grow, succeed, and experience things they may have not been given the chance to experience anywhere else. Students were taken on multiple field trips a year, including multi-day retreats where students formed long-lasting friendships and bonded together. In the classroom, students were able, and encouraged, to learn hands-on. Teachers had the flexibility to adapt their teaching style to suit the student cohort. Discussions were encouraged, and teachers encouraged students to recognize “that of God in everyone”.. Outside of the classroom, Friends had a very strong community, with students, parents, teachers, board members, and alumni.

Friends School of Harford offered a wide variety of extracurricular activities. Typically run by teachers or parent volunteers, clubs ranged from Chorus and Drama to Greek and Chinese. Friends was a home to a strong Destination Imagination program, which sent their team to Globals in 2017, and helped raise thousands of dollars for causes such as the Syrian White Helmets and to help send sustainable water filters in Puerto Rico following the devastation by Hurricanes Irma and Maria. The eighth grade graduates of Friends School of Harford Students were well prepared for their high school journeys, and consistently earned admission into their high schools of choice, which included Harford Technical School, The Catholic High School, West Nottingham Academy, Friends School of Baltimore, International Baccalaureate program at Edgewood High School, and the Science and Math Academy at Aberdeen High School.