Brooklyn Friends School is a school at 375 Pearl Street in

Downtown Brooklyn Downtown Brooklyn is the third largest central business district in New York City after Midtown Manhattan and Lower Manhattan), and is located in the northwestern section of the borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is known for its office and r ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. Brooklyn Friends School (BFS) is an independent, college preparatory Quaker school serving a culturally diverse educational community of approximately 900 students as of 2017–18, from preschool (two years of age) through 12th grade.

History and governance

Founded in 1867 by the

Religious Society of Friends Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abili ...

Jazmine Hughes
A Quaker School Promoted Liberal Values. Then Its Teachers Unionized.
''New York Times'' (September 3, 2020). as a coeducational Quaker school, Brooklyn Friends School is one of the oldest continuously operating independent schools in

. Starting as a grade school, BFS added a kindergarten in 1902, a high school division in 1907, and a Preschool and Family Center in 1985 and 1992 respectively. The most recent addition, the BFS Preschool, has gained prominence as one of the city's premier early learning centers. The Academy Award-winning 1981 documentary ''

Close Harmony A chord is in close harmony (also called close position or close structure) if its notes are arranged within a narrow range, usually with no more than an octave between the top and bottom notes. In contrast, a chord is in open harmony (also c ...

'' chronicled how a children's choir of 4th- and 5th-graders from the school joined with elderly retirees from a Brooklyn Jewish seniors' center to give a joint concert. By 2000, the school's headmaster, who had been in the position for ten years, resigned at the request of the board of trustees over allegations of financial mismanagement; audits revealed a deficit of $900,000 for 2000 and $375,000 for 1999.Tara Bahrampour
At Brooklyn Friends School, A Dispute Within the Family
''New York Times'' (March 12, 2000). The outgoing headmaster denied any impropriety, and some parents defended his leadership. The school had about 400 students in 1995 and about 107 teachers in 2000. The school was once owned by the Quakers' New York Quarterly Meeting, but the school and the Quaker meeting ended their affiliation in 2010. Few of the school's modern-day students are Quaker, although the school culture and curriculum incorporate Quaker ideals. The school's charter specifies that half of the

board of trustees A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

must be Quaker and one of the two chairs of the board must be appointed by the Quakers.

Academics

Brooklyn Friends School is split into four academic levels:

Preschool A preschool, also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, or play school or creche, is an educational establishment or learning space offering early childhood education to children before they begin compulsory education at primary school ...

, Lower School (K-4), Middle School (5-8), and

Upper School Upper schools in the UK are usually schools within secondary education. Outside England, the term normally refers to a section of a larger school. England The three-tier model Upper schools are a type of secondary school found in a minority of ...

(9-12). Lower School (K-4)
The Lower School curriculum includes classes in

language arts Language arts (also known as English language arts or ELA) is the study and improvement of the arts of language. Traditionally, the primary divisions in language arts are literature and language, where language in this case refers to both lingu ...

, mathematics, social studies, science,

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

, music, visual arts,

woodworking Woodworking is the skill of making items from wood, and includes cabinet making (cabinetry and furniture), wood carving, woodworking joints, joinery, carpentry, and woodturning. History Along with Rock (geology), stone, clay and animal parts, ...

physical education Physical education, often abbreviated to Phys Ed. or P.E., is a subject taught in schools around the world. It is usually taught during primary and secondary education, and encourages psychomotor learning by using a play and movement explorati ...

, and

health Health, according to the World Health Organization, is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity".World Health Organization. (2006)''Constitution of the World Health Organiza ...

. Middle School (5-8)
The middle school curriculum includes classes in the humanities (English and history), mathematics, science, languages, visual arts, performing arts, physical education, health/life skills, organization and study skills and

information technology Information technology (IT) is the use of computers to create, process, store, retrieve, and exchange all kinds of data . and information. IT forms part of information and communications technology (ICT). An information technology system (I ...

. Upper School (9-12)
The Brooklyn Friends Upper School curriculum includes the

arts The arts are a very wide range of human practices of creative expression, storytelling and cultural participation. They encompass multiple diverse and plural modes of thinking, doing and being, in an extremely broad range of media. Both hi ...

humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at the t ...

sciences Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...

, and

ethics Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concerns m ...

. Brooklyn Friends School offers the

International Baccalaureate The International Baccalaureate (IB), formerly known as the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO), is a nonprofit foundation headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and founded in 1968. It offers four educational programmes: the IB Dip ...

Diploma Programme The International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) is a two-year educational programme primarily aimed at 16-to-19-year-olds in 140 countries around the world. The programme provides an internationally accepted qualification for entry into ...

for students in the 11th and 12th grades.

Faculty and staff union and decertification efforts

In spring 2019, more than 80% of faculty and staff members at the school voted to unionize. The school did not object at the time. In late 2019,

collective bargaining Collective bargaining is a process of negotiation between employers and a group of employees aimed at agreements to regulate working salaries, working conditions, benefits, and other aspects of workers' compensation and rights for workers. The i ...

over contracts began, and union representatives participated in negotiations over the layoffs of about 30 teachers due to the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City. In August 2020, however, the school's leadership move to dissolve the faculty and staff members' union, citing a

National Labor Relations Board The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is an independent agency of the federal government of the United States with responsibilities for enforcing U.S. labor law in relation to collective bargaining and unfair labor practices. Under the Natio ...

decision several months earlier that reversed an Obama administration-era NLRB decision that allowed employees of religiously affiliated institutions the right to form unions. The school's move to decertify the union prompted opposition from many parents, who believed the school was betraying its progressive and Quaker values by engaging in "hypocritical

union-busting Union busting is a range of activities undertaken to disrupt or prevent the formation of trade unions or their attempts to grow their membership in a workplace. Union busting tactics can refer to both legal and illegal activities, and can range ...

"; over 1,000 parents and alumni signed a petition calling on the school to halt its efforts to decertify the union, and about 130 teachers and staff members signed a similar petition of their own.

Notable alumni

* John Knowles Fitch, founder of

Fitch Ratings Fitch Ratings Inc. is an American credit rating agency and is one of the " Big Three credit rating agencies", the other two being Moody's and Standard & Poor's. It is one of the three nationally recognized statistical rating organizations (NRSRO) ...

Dan Hedaya Daniel G. Hedaya (born July 24, 1940) is an American actor. He established himself as a supporting actor, often playing sleazy villains or wisecracking supporting characters. He has had supporting roles in films such as '' True Confessions'' (198 ...

, actor * Therese (Tay) Hohoff, literary editor * Robert Levin, pianist, musicologist, pedagogue * Patrick "Wiki" Morales, hop-hop artist and producer *

Kyle Neptune Kyle Neptune (born January 21, 1985) is an American basketball coach who is the current head coach of the Villanova Wildcats men's basketball team. Playing career Neptune attended Brooklyn Friends School, and was a member of the school's 20 ...

, Head Coach of

Villanova Wildcats men's basketball The Villanova Wildcats men's basketball program represent Villanova University in men's college basketball and competes in the Big East Conference of NCAA Division I. Their first season was the 1920–21 season. Named the "Wildcats", Villanova is ...

Stacey Plaskett Stacey Elizabeth Plaskett (; born May 13, 1966) is an American politician, attorney, and commentator. She is the delegate to the United States House of Representatives from the United States Virgin Islands' (USVI) at-large congressional distric ...

, US House of Representatives Delegate for the US Virgin Islands *

Francine Prose Francine Prose (born April 1, 1947) is an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and critic. She is a visiting professor of literature at Bard College, and was formerly president of PEN American Center. Life and career Born in Brookl ...

, writer and criticFrancine Prose
Lessons of a Teacher Speak to a Mother, and Now Her Son
''New York Times'' (March 8, 2000). *

Jasmin St. Claire Jasmin St. Claire (born October 23, 1972) is an American former pornographic actress. She is also known for her work as a professional wrestling personality, most notably for ECW. She has made appearances in the world of professional wrestling a ...

, actress *

Fisher Stevens Fisher Stevens (born Steven Fisher; November 27, 1963) is an American actor, director, producer and writer. As an actor, he is best known for his portrayals of Ben in ''Short Circuit'' and ''Short Circuit 2'', Chuck Fishman on the 1990s televis ...

, actor, director, producer and writer *

Adam Yauch Adam Nathaniel Yauch ( ; August 5, 1964 – May 4, 2012), better known under the stage name MCA, was an American rapper, bass player, filmmaker and a founding member of the hip hop group Beastie Boys. Besides his musical work, he also directed ...

(1964-2012), hip-hop artist and member of The

Beastie Boys Beastie Boys were an American rap rock group from New York City, formed in 1978. The group was composed of Mike D, Michael "Mike D" Diamond (vocals, drums), Adam Yauch, Adam "MCA" Yauch (vocals, bass), and Ad-Rock, Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz (voca ...

References

Notes

External links