"We prepare students to engage in the world that is and to help bring about a world that ought to be."
Friends for the Future
Friends for the Future recognizes those who have remembered
Friends Seminary in their Will or estate plans.
Friends Seminary in their Will or estate plans.
Friends for the Future recognizes those who have remembered Friends Seminary in their Will or estate plans. If you have included Friends in your Will, thank you. If you have but not yet informed us, please do so we can welcome you to this special group of alumni, parents, staff, faculty and friends.
Sylvia Colt de Almeida '45
“I had a wonderful time at Friends,” Sylvia said. “It was a terrific experience for me and it will be a terrific experience for a ton of future students.”
Sylvia’s strong sense of social responsibility prompted her to make a $500,000 bequest to the School’s Earle Hunter Scholarship Fund, which supports the Upper School and is named in honor of beloved teacher and administrator, Dr. Earle L. Hunter, whose influence spanned five decades. During her time at Friends, Sylvia was active in the Interracial Club under the direction of Dr. Hunter. She recalls visiting Harlem with the club to discuss and promote desegregation in the early 1940s.
“Friends gives you a great idea of what life is about,” Sylvia said. “It’s a very non-elitist place that takes such an active role in addressing social problems.”
Today, Sylvia tutors an eight-year-old girl, who suffers from a mental disability, through a child advocacy program in the town of Los Gatos, Calif. where she currently resides. Holding closely the values instilled in her at Friends, Sylvia said the program is another way to give back.
“Friends taught me lessons that have lasted me a lifetime,” Sylvia said, “and I am grateful for that.”
Friends Seminary actively promotes diversity, equity, inclusion, and anti-racism in all its programs and operations, including admissions, financial aid, hiring, and all facets of the educational experience. To form a community which strives to reflect the world’s diversity, we do not discriminate on the basis of race or color, religion, nationality, ethnicity, economic background, physical ability, sex, gender identity or expression, or sexual orientation. Friends Seminary is an equal opportunity employer.
Friends Seminary — the oldest continuously operated, coeducational school in NYC — serves college-bound day students in Kindergarten-Grade 12.
