Enrollment woes force Friends Academy of Westampton to close
Facing financial hardship because of declining enrollment, Friends Academy of Westampton in Burlington County will shut down after the end of the school year in June, the school board announced Tuesday.
Facing financial hardship because of declining enrollment, Friends Academy of Westampton in Burlington County will shut down after the end of the school year in June, the school board announced Tuesday.
The board informed its faculty and staff of the decision at a meeting Monday and then the students' parents at a meeting Tuesday.
"While we would much rather allow this great academic institution to continue, the economic realities forced our hands. But no one can doubt the wonderful history of Friends Academy and all the many lives it has impacted," said David Jones, board clerk.
The board was in contact with other area schools to help ease the transfer of students in the 2016-17 academic years and also committed to helping employees to find jobs at other schools.
The school was founded in 1983 by Constance Beetle and a group of parents as Rancocas Friends Academy and started with 14 kindergarten students.
By 2004, the school relocated to a 15-acre campus with three buildings for students from prekindergarten through eighth grade and a gymnasium.
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