Top 200 cities  |  

Scattergood Friends School

Scattergood Friends School - West Branch

Scattergood Friends School

(No Ratings Yet)

Description of Scattergood Friends School

Scattergood Friends School is a coeducational college preparatory boarding high school located near West Branch, Iowa. Encompassing a 27-acre campus, a 65-acre farm, and a 35-acre prairie, this rural school has the capacity for approximately 60 boarding students and a few day students in grades 9 through 12. Owned and operated by the Iowa Yearly Meeting of Friends (Conservative), Scattergood Friends School was founded in 1890 by local members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). Conceived from the beginning as a boarding school, members of the Quaker faith recommended that the school be created where Quaker children could receive a "guarded education", and be shielded from "early knowledge, or contact with, the evils of the world." In 1917, the Iowa Yearly Meeting took over ownership and began to build up the school. New buildings were erected, from a library to a gymnasium, and many modern improvements were introduced. However, the school faced economic hardships, and in the wake of a national Depression of 1929, the School Committee in conjunction with the Iowa Yearly Meeting decided to close the school in 1931. While there was hope that the school could reopen in 1932, the School Committee concluded that "the financial condition of the country was such that it did not seem advisable to reopen the school at this time." However, the war in Europe engulfed the hearts and minds of an entire nation and the doors of Scattergood Friends School were not closed for long. As tales of Nazi atrocities reached Friends in the United States, the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) suggested in 1938 that the Scattergood campus be utilized as a hostel for European refugees. The campus was renovated with funds from Conservative Friends and the first refugees arrived in 1940. While many of the refugees had some Jewish ancestry, there was also a sizable group who had been forced to flee for political reasons. Although the school was operating as a hostel, the spirit of a Quaker boarding school community was still present. Refugees took English classes, cultivated gardens for food, and established a rotating work crew. In 1943, the hostel closed. However, the spirit of the successful hostel carried on when members of the Young Friends of Iowa Yearly Meeting suggested that the school reopen in 1944.
Find more information at

Currently no review was submitted for this company. Share your experiences with this company!


Location of Scattergood Friends School

This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. More information