TOWN OF POUGHKEEPSIE – Oakwood Friends School is celebrating its 105th year in Poughkeepsie out of its 229-year history. It is New York State’s oldest coeducational boarding and day school, and for the past 30 years, it has also included a middle school for grades 6-8.
Rooted in Quaker values and welcoming of all students, Oakwood was originally founded near Millbrook as the Nine Partners Boarding School. The school eventually moved to Union Springs in 1858. Six decades later, in 1918, a devastating fire tore apart the building, causing severe damage to students’ rooms and classrooms, leading Oakwood to search for a new home.
Poughkeepsie soon became a frontrunner in the search for a new location, and that same year, Mayor Ralph Butts wrote, “this famous institution will without doubt, prove an asset to the community… and it will prove a permanent feature of the city.” Soon after, local residents pledged $25,000 to help build a new campus, and Oakwood officially opened in Poughkeepsie in September 1920, where it remains today.
The school is located on Spackenkill Road in the Town of Poughkeepsie.
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