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Information for Quaker Families Considering Brooklyn Friends School Brooklyn Friends School welcomes all Quaker families to consider our community of learners for their children. The benefit to children whose families are members of The Religious Society of Friends is a consistency in their everyday lives at school that echoes the values and priorities of their families. Priority consideration is given to qualified children of members of Quaker meetings. • Our mission statement
Our Mission Statement: Brooklyn Friends
School provides a college preparatory program serving students from
Preschool through Grade 12. It is committed to educating each student
intellectually, aesthetically, physically, and spiritually in a
culturally diverse community. Guided by the Quaker principles of
truth, simplicity, and peaceful resolution of conflict, Brooklyn
Friends School offers each student a challenging education that
develops intellectual abilities and ethical and social values to
support a productive life of leadership and service.
Our History: Brooklyn Friends School
was founded in 1867 as the Friends School at Brooklyn. Its first
classes were coeducational and held in the basement of our historic
Meeting House on Schermerhorn Street. Its purpose was “to provide
a guarded education for children of Friends and friendly people
residing in the city of Brooklyn.” Because enrollment increased,
a new, two-story building was erected in 1902 adjoining the Meeting
House and with it, the school’s first kindergarten program
began. The high school was added in 1907. In the late sixties, once
again feeling the need for more space, Brooklyn Friends School acquired
the Brooklyn Law School building on Pearl Street—our current
location. It is fitting that at its founding two years after the
end of the Civil War the school chose blue and gray as its colors,
symbolizing the unification of the country.
What does “Quaker” mean at this Quaker school? Our Quaker heritage defines our school and creates the context for our community. Brooklyn Friends School is governed by the Brooklyn Friends School Committee. Half of its members are appointed by the Quarter. As a Quaker school, we value listening as well as advocacy, silent reflection and decision-making through consensus, balancing community needs with the individual voice, and the celebration of diversity. Each Lower School classroom and Middle and Upper School advisory begin each day with a few minutes of silence. The students also attend either divisional or grade level Meeting once a week, often in the Schermerhorn Street Meeting House. Our Upper School students annually participate in the Quaker Youth Leadership Conference. This is a nationwide conference affording students and faculty an opportunity to discuss leadership issues, school missions, and community issues both schoolwide and worldwide. Our attendance at the annual Quaker conference for teachers new
to Quaker schools helps to deepen our community understanding of
Quaker testimonies within our educational setting, and our annual
summer readings as a staff help to unite us in our commitment to
Quaker values.
Admissions and financial aid for Quaker families: Quaker families who are interested in applying to Brooklyn Friends should call the Preschool admissions office at (718) 852-1029, ext. 213, or the admissions office for grades K through 11 at (718) 852-1029, ext. 232. All the information needed to apply is available here online; families are encouraged to apply in the fall, a full year before the child would be entering the school. For preschool, kindergarten, and first grade only, there is an early notification plan for children of Meeting members. For those families requiring financial aid, Brooklyn Friends School
has a financial aid program (for Kindergarten
and up) based on demonstrated financial need. In addition, through
the Quarter’s
Educational Fund Committee, aid is available according to need
for parents who are members of Meetings affiliated with the Quarter.
Priority is given to those children attending Friends Seminary
and Brooklyn Friends School. For more information, call the BFS
Admissions Office or the NY Quarterly Meeting. See resources for links to more information on Quakers and education. |
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