The Agnes Irwin School recognizes the importance of diversity in the student body, faculty and curriculum in providing a richness and strength to the education we impart to our students and to the quality of our community. Agnes Irwin is filled with a wonderful mixture of girls whose talents, interests and perspectives are wide-ranging and distinctive. We have promising actresses and gifted dancers, nascent scientists and championship athletes, emerging artists and budding poets.
Our students also represent an array of racial, ethnic, religious, socio-economic and geographic backgrounds. Twenty percent of our girls are students of color, while nearly 50 girls have a parent(s) who was born in another country and for whom English is a second language. We welcome families relocating to this area, whether from another part of the US or across the globe. Girls from Korea, Finland, Spain, England, Germany, China and France have recently joined us.
Many religious faiths are represented in our school and we honor the major holy days of the Christian and Jewish faiths by closing school for Good Friday, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.
Currently, 23 percent of our girls receive financial assistance; scholarships, which are based on need, can range from $2,000 to full tuition. Fifty percent of the students who join us after first grade come from public schools. Our girls reside in more than 50 communities in the greater Delaware Valley, from Phoenixville to Philadelphia, Media to Morton, Bryn Mawr to Blue Bell.
Equally important as the rich diversity in our community is the friendly and inclusive atmosphere that permeates our classrooms and hallways. Agnes Irwin fosters an environment where respect for the individual, appreciation of differences and supportive, lasting friendships are developed and nurtured.