50th Timeline: 1975 – The Dissolution of the Parent-Teacher Organization

The mid and late 1970s were hard times for the United States and they were equally challenging for Friends School.  Tuition had doubled over five years, and enrollment had declined significantly. When Ken Erdley became the second Head of School, as mentioned in the last post, there were over 260 students, but that number declined to about 200 by the late 1970s.  In 1975, the Parent-Teacher Organization disbanded. For this and other reasons, the Board found itself losing members and in general “disgruntlement.” What was taking place in the classroom was, by all accounts, still wonderful. One former teacher remembered that we “were so close to our kinds that we hated to give them up at the year’s end… These were the best years of my life.  I felt fulfilled. I loved every minute.” Great, caring teachers such as this one meant that the life of students was not so greatly impacted by the difficulties on the administrative side.