Mission statement: "Thornton Friends School seeks to inspire and sustain the members of its educational community in their individual and collective search for Truth.

Small by design, nurturing of individuals and community, and based on Quaker principles, Thornton Friends School seeks to empower each of its students to build on their innate inspiration, talent and spiritual centers to imagine and realize their vision."

Their target student was the “bright underachiever,” and with Thorny’s blessing a separate program was started on the Sandy Spring campus.

From there they moved to the school’s Silver Spring location, sharing the building with another program run by Bill and Lynn Godwin.

These programs were collectively known as the Interlocking Curriculum School, the highlights of which were the yearly production of Shakespearean plays and a bi-annual trip to England.

The Virginia upper school never quite grew to its targeted enrollment, and after a series of personnel changes, Thornton closed it at the end of the 2005-2006 academic year.