The Byberry School Association was formed in 1837 by several members of the Society of Friends, mostly members of Byberry Monthly Meeting (Hicksite) for the purpose of raising stock to buy land and erect a secondary school in Byberry, Pennsylvania. John P. Townsend, James Thornton, James Bonner, Josiah Walton, and Joshua Gilbert were chosen managers in accordance with the Association's constitution.

David J. Griscom was engaged as the first teacher, and the “Byberry Institute and Private Boarding School for Boys” was opened late that year or early in the next. John G. Lewis of Frankfort succeeded Griscom when he became too ill to teach in 1839. He was succeeded by Thomas Foulke in 1841. Two years later, the school was closed, and the lot, house, and schoolhouse sold at public sale to James Thornton in 12/1843.