POUGHKEEPSIE – This year marks Oakwood Friends School’s 105th anniversary in Poughkeepsie. Founded in 1796 as the Nine Partners Boarding School near Millbrook, Oakwood is New York State’s oldest coeducational boarding and day school. From its earliest days, the school has been rooted in Quaker values and has welcomed students of all religious backgrounds.
The school moved to Union Springs, New York in 1858. Sixty years later, after a devastating fire in 1918, Oakwood began searching for a new home, and Poughkeepsie quickly became a leading choice. 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,” and local residents pledged $25,000 to help build a new campus. Oakwood officially opened in Poughkeepsie in September 1920, where it remains today.
For its entire 229-year history, Oakwood has offered boarding and day programs, and for the past three decades, it has also included a middle school for grades 6–8. The school continues to welcome students from across the Hudson Valley and around the world while remaining closely connected to the community.
School archivist Matt Voorhees, an Oakwood alumnus, reflected on the milestone, noting that the school and the city have grown together for more than a century, creating a shared history that continues today.
