Buckingham Friends School set for expansion — with careful attention to its past

Front and center at Buckingham Friends School is a grey stone building. More than 200 years after its construction, it still hosts students, but sports a large addition.

The original building’s upstairs rooms are used to teach French and Spanish from kindergarten through 8th grade, and despite their age, the rooms feel as vital as any other classroom on the 44-acre campus. The building stands as an example of the past and present at the school, which has been under the care of Buckingham Society of Friends, better known as the Quakers, throughout its existence.

On Friday, the school continued that tradition, breaking ground on the largest construction project in its history that will bring new learning spaces to campus. After remarks from faculty, students, parents, and members of the Buckingham Friends Meeting, the speakers donned hard hats and turned over a few shovelfuls of dirt to ceremonially begin a new era at the school off Route 202.

Over the past five years, the school community and administration have developed a plan for the school's future that they hope will honor its rich history and beautiful setting.

The past and present seem to compliment each other at Buckingham Friends.

Behind a playground for the youngest students, is the original cemetery, which is still active. While this may seem like a grim feature, the school integrates the space into its everyday programs, leading students in meditative walks under its ancient trees and teaching the children how to tap the maples for syrup. Kids play on the wall that divides the cemetery and the playground.

“It is a sylvan, bucolic environment,” says Paul Lindenmaier, Head of School at Buckingham Friends and a lifelong Quaker. It is difficult to find better words for a campus of plain yet beautiful buildings and towering woods. It’s a place that inspires an almost zealous excitement from its faculty, students, and parents. More than one family is educating their third generation at BFS.

To the community, the environment is only one aspect of what makes the school special. Steve Bernardini, a sixth and seventh grade math and mindfulness teacher who will be retiring this June after 42 years of teaching, gets a shine in his eye when he talks about his time at Buckingham Friends.

“We are a genuine community; we share in the celebrations, and we share in the challenges of every child. We genuinely care about each other,” says Bernardini.

Buckingham Friends serves about 170 children every year, averaging roughly 18 students per grade. Although membership to the Society of Friends is not a requirement to enroll or work at the school, the mission is guided by Quaker values of peace, acceptance, stewardship, and community.

Above all else, faculty wishes to instill in students a concern for others and a dedication to service. Speaking at the groundbreaking for the new construction, Lindenmaier said “we are equally committed to each person’s inner light.”

The multimillion dollar set of construction and renovation projects are the first in over 20 years. With nearly unanimous support from the school and its community, it has set its sights on the future while trying to remain true to its past.

The plan includes a new science building nestled in the woods for natural learning opportunities, a connector between the gym and arts buildings, and renovations to the main building. Perhaps most anticipated is an expanded gymnasium, which will replace the current 1952 building. The development will also add a canopy over the student’s bus waiting area.

When Lindenmaier was hired as Head of School in 2017, the school community began a planning process to identify how the school could be improved over the coming years. Although the exact price of the renovations has not been publicly announced, a $5 million donation from an anonymous alumni jumpstarted the plans. An official from the school has confirmed that Buckingham Friends has raised more than 75% of the funds needed.

The construction is expected to last up to 14 months; classroom renovations will be completed over the summer to avoid disrupting classes. Once this project is complete, Lindenmaier and other administrators hope to fund further renovations to its arts building and continue to improve the campus.

“We are committed to being a just-right sized school,” says Lindenmaier, who believes Buckingham Friends is just big enough where every student can get attention from their teachers. Bernardini, after over four decades at the school, recalls similar enrollment when he started.

That isn’t to say there haven’t been ups and downs.

The 2008 recession dealt a blow to the school’s enrollment. Over the last four years, enrollment has grown over 17%, reaching full capacity again for the first time in over a decade. Staff salaries have also increased by 18.5% over the same period.

“This school has survived over two centuries of history, two world wars, a civil war,” said Lindenmaier. Today, he said, "we’re at a wonderful moment in the school’s history.”

“In all the years I have been here,” said Bernardini, “the spirit of the school, in terms of the kids and how the kids learn, has stayed the same, regardless of staff changes. There is something magical about this school. There is something that affects you when you become a part of this community.”

This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Buckingham Friends School breaks ground on historic expansion project