A Little Silence Goes a Long Way

Kids, by nature, don’t like to sit still. Or keep quiet for that matter.

But for 260 students at , absolute silence is mandatory – at least for 30 minutes on Wednesdays.

A weekly meeting for worship is a Quaker tradition carried on by this small private elementary school located off Newtown-Langhorne Road.

The majority of the school’s students are not practicing Quakers, Head of School Dana Harrison explained. Nonetheless, the weekly meeting is an important component to the school’s curriculum.

“Silence is something that is rarely acknowledged in today’s world,” Harrison said. “Quakers call it centering and listening to the still, small world within you."

Each Wednesday, the students shuffle from their classrooms down the paved walking paths that lead them to the meetinghouse at George School, just next door. As soon as they reach the corner adjacent to the meetinghouse, the silence begins.

One by one, students file into the green padded benches that surround the lofty, two-story building. The historic meetinghouse was moved brick by brick from Philadelphia to its current location.

There’s no chattering, no shoving, and no joking as the students get situated in their seats. Benches creak, jackets shuffle, and then for 25 or so minutes, pure silence falls on the room.

As is practice with all Quaker meetings, when someone feels moved to speak, they stand up and do so. But there’s no format, no preacher preaching, no choir singing, no psalms recited.

Sometimes it’s faculty that get up and share their thoughts. Other times it's students.  They may share a kind deed that someone did for them; an important value they’re learning about in class; or an inspirational thought they came to during silent reflection.

“The hope is that the message you choose to share will have a meaning and a purpose,” Harrison explained. “The goal is that we all will emerge a little wiser.”

Once the 30 minutes is up, Harrison, who sits amid the students in the “facing bench,” turns to his neighbor, shakes their hand, and says “good morning.”

And like that, the silence is lifted.

But it's not followed by hoots or shouting. There's a peaceful transition from silence to calm noise: a teacher greeting their co-worker, students quietly speaking to their peers.

You might think the children, naturally, would squirm, chitchat, and be otherwise unruly when faced with the task of enduring 30 minutes of motionless quiet.

But at a recent meeting in March, that just wasn’t the case. That morning, the only noticeable noise in the meetinghouse was the hum of landscape equipment outdoors and an occasional cough.  Some sat with eyes closed; others with theirs wide open.

Several students stood up to share thoughtful sentiments, for example that they were learning in class the importance of telling the truth and being honest.

It’s harder for some students – particularly the younger ones -- than others to sit still, Harrison said. For kindergartners, who prepare in the fall and winter and then officially join the meeting after spring break, it’s sometimes a challenge. “That’s to be expected,” Harrison said.

And not all students enjoy it right away. “I think they learn to like it,” Harrison said. “For someone new coming in, it’s so sort of odd. It’s an acquired skill to be able to sit in silence and drill down into your thoughts.”

Both teachers and students say they appreciate and enjoy the weekly meeting for worship.

“It forces you to just be still, reflect, and be at peace with yourself,” said Director of Curriculum Kristen Sanchez.

Sanchez, also an eighth-grade teacher, said she has had very few problems with children misbehaving during the meeting.

After six years at the school, Sanchez recalls doling out just a handful of detentions to students who misbehaved during the weekly meeting. “But that has happened so few times, I can’t even remember the last time I gave a detention.” Usually, if a student is being disruptive, “I just have to give them a dirty eyeball," Sanchez said.

Students say they enjoy the time for reflection.

"It's a chance to clear my mind and not think about tests, projects, or what homework is due,” said eighth-grade student Emily Heacock.

Her classmate Lauren Silverman agreed. “I love meeting for worship. It really gives me time to reflect on the day.”

Sanchez said parents of Newtown Friends School students are welcomed to join in the weekly meeting.