Students, faculty, parents and board members from the Friends Meeting School in Ijamsville will collaborate to perform "Free to Be... You and Me!," a musical for the whole family.

"It's a community performance, which is a first for us, since we are a pretty new school. We've only been here for three years," said Alex Bell, a representative from the school.

"Originally done in the 1970s by Marlo Thomas, the musical shows how people have different options and do not have to be trapped by gender stereotypes," said Bell. "It shows that girls, or boys, can be anything they want to be."

Most of the school's students, from pre-kindergartners up to eighth-graders, are in the musical's chorus. They have been rehearsing for about two months.

The production is being directed by Lisa Allen, a FMS parent.

The school was able to stage the production with help from an Arts in the Community grant from the Maryland State Arts Council, an agency funded by the state of Maryland and the National Endowment for the Arts.

There will be two performances in the school's multipurpose room: one at 7 p.m. on Friday, April 14, and one at 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 15. Tickets are available through the school by calling 301/798-0288. The price of admission is $5 for adults and $2 for students.

Friends Meeting School is one of six Friends schools in Maryland. The school strives to provide its students with an education in the context of Quaker values.

Since its opening in 1997, the school has grown to an enrollment of 63 students and has added classrooms.