Friends Academy was founded in 1876 by Gideon Frost, a leading member of the Matinecock Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends, for the education of "the children of Friends and those similarly sentimented." The philosophy of the school is to adhere to those elements basic to Quaker practice that have proven their worth in three centuries of experience. Simplicity, moderation, patience, sincerity, insistence upon quality, a continuing search for truth, a knowledge of the world's values and the courage to establish one's own all form part of this practice. Underlying these concepts is the conviction of the unique worth and the individuality of each of us, an individuality that we must learn to recognize and to respect in each other.