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WEEK of September 19, 2005
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BFS Celebrates the Next Chapter in Its History with Opening of New Upper School Building at 55 Willoughby Street

Brooklyn Friends School begins the 2005-06 school year with an expansion of the Upper School from its location at 375 Pearl Street to three leased floors at 55 Willoughby Street, between Jay and Lawrence Streets. Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz was the guest of honor when school officials cut the ribbon for the new facility on Thursday, September 7, 2005. (See photos of the 55 Willoughby Street space in Willoughby Street Central.)

“The growth and strong reputation of our educational program—along with the resurgence of our strategic downtown location—has encouraged Brooklyn Friends School to take the bold step of investing in the future of Downtown Brooklyn,” said Head of School Michael Nill. “These changes only enhance the founding vision of the Brooklyn Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends, inspiring all of our students to prepare for lives of leadership and service in the larger community.”

The current enrollment of BFS Upper School is 160, and the new site can accommodate up to 240 students. The space at Willoughby Street, once used as a trade school, has 15 classrooms, a technology center, a physics lab, two common areas for students and faculty, and a college counseling center.

With schoolwide enrollment topping 600 students for the past five years, BFS has been in need of additional space and specialized facilities to support its broad and varied curriculum. 

Since 1973 BFS has occupied the space at 375 Pearl Street, an historic Art-Deco facility that was built in 1928 for Brooklyn Law School. Before 1973, BFS operated its Kindergarten through 12th grade program at 112 Schermerhorn Street and at the historic Friends Meeting House building at 110 Schermerhorn Street.

BFS has spent $1.4 million in the move to 55 Willoughby Street and has earmarked several million dollars more to renovate and upgrade science labs, libraries, a theater, and a rooftop playground at 375 Pearl Street. Funds to implement the renovations will be raised through a capital campaign to be supported by alumni/ae, parents, grandparents, alumni/ae parents, the School’s Board, and the Quaker community.

Leo J. Blackman, who designed the addition to Village Community School in 2004, is the architect for the renovation of 55 Willoughby, and Insite East, based in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, is the Project Manager for the construction. Transworld Equities, Inc., owns the building, and the long-term lease on the property was brokered by Newmark & Company Real Estate Inc.

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