Brearley School

The Brearley School
Motto By Truth and Toil
Established 1884
Type Private Girls' School
Founder Samuel Brearley
Headmistress Priscilla M. Winn Barlow (Interim)
Faculty 110
Grades kindergarten – grade 12
Location 610 East 83rd Street,
New York City, NY, USA
District N/A
Colors red and white
Mascot Beaver
Newspaper The Zephyr
Website http://www.brearley.org

The Brearley School is an all-girls private school in New York City, New York, United States. It is located on the Upper East Side of the Manhattan borough of New York City. The school is divided into the Lower School (kindergarten – grade 4), Middle School (grades 5–8) and Upper School (grades 9–12). There are approximately 50 students to each grade.

The school is sometimes considered the sister school of the all boys Collegiate School, the all girls Spence School, and the all girls Chapin School. Brearley is a member of the New York Interschool Association.

Contents

History

Samuel A. Brearley founded The Brearley School in 1884, and he remained the head of school until 1886 when he died of typhoid fever. James G. Croswell was the next head until his death in 1915. Since 1926, Brearley has been headed by women, first by Millicent Carey McIntosh, and 4 more women.[1] In June 2011, headmistress Stephanie J. Hull resigned for undisclosed reasons.[2]

In the early 1900s, it transferred from East 45th Street to West 44th Street and then in 1912 to Park Avenue and East 61st Street, where the primary program was added. The school then moved to a new building in 1929 on East 83rd Street.[3]

Academics

The school's curriculum is based on the liberal arts. The school embraces a low student-to-faculty ratio, which is 6:1.

Languages offered are Greek, Latin, French, Spanish, and Mandarin Chinese. In the fall of 2004, the school piloted a new program that incorporated the use of iPods in language classes, allowing students to download portable audio lessons.[4] The school offers art, music, and drama classes, each based on their own floor.[5]

Students have access to two large computer laboratories — one serving the Lower School, the other the Middle and Upper Schools. In addition, there are three smaller computer workrooms, one for middle schoolers and two for upper schoolers, as well as the science-projects room and laptops for use in the library and classrooms.

College rankings and attendance

Brearley is ranked number two by The Wall Street Journal based on its ranking of students matriculating to eight national universities and liberal-arts colleges (Harvard University, Johns Hopkins University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Pomona College, Princeton University, Swarthmore College, The University of Chicago and Williams College).[6] It is ranked number two by Worth magazine in sending students to Harvard, Yale University or Princeton.[7] Brearley is ranked 4th on Forbes "America's Best Prep Schools" in 2010.

Top college destinations from 2007 to 2011
[8]
  1. Yale University (20)
  2. Harvard University (17)
  3. Columbia University (14)
  4. Princeton University (13)
  5. Williams College (8)
  6. Johns Hopkins University (7)
  7. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (7)
  8. New York University (7)
  9. Middlebury College (7)
  10. University of Pennsylvania (7)
  11. Dartmouth College (6)
  12. Bowdoin College (6)
  13. Georgetown University (6)

Sports facilities

A separate building, the "Field House" on East 87th Street, has facilities for physical education and athletics including track, soccer, basketball, tennis, badminton, volleyball, lacrosse and field hockey. In 2005, both the Varsity Volleyball and Varsity Cross-Country Teams won state championships. The Junior-Varsity Volleyball Team remained undefeated throughout its season, and won its tournament in 2007. The Varsity Cross-Country team won the New York State Championship again in the fall of 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011. The Middle School Basketball Team were the first-ever New York State Association of Independent Schools Athletic Association Middle School Champions in 2009. In 2010, all four of Brearley’s fall varsity teams were selected to compete in the NYSAIS tournament. Brearley is the only school in the history of the AAIS League to send all four teams to compete at the state level in one season. In the 2010-2011 winter season, the middle school swim team brought home a first place trophy, winning by approximately 200 points.

The school's team colors are red and white, and its mascot is a beaver.

Notable alumnae

Affiliated organizations

External links

References