Brearley School

The Brearley School
Motto	By Truth and Toil
Established	1884
Type	Private Girls' School
Founder	Samuel Brearley
Interim Head of the School	Priscilla M. Winn Barlow
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. 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.

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. In June 2011, headmistress Stephanie J. Hull resigned for undisclosed reasons.

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.

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. The school offers art, music, and drama classes, each based on their own floor.

Students have access to two large computer laboratories — one serving the Lower School, the other the Middle and Upper Schools^{[citation needed]}. 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). It is ranked number two by Worth magazine in sending students to Harvard, Yale University or Princeton. Brearley is ranked 4th on Forbes "America's Best Prep Schools" in 2010.

Top college destinations from 2007 to 2011

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

Abiola Abrams, feminist filmmaker, author, and television personality. Blue Balliett, author of Chasing Vermeer Anne Baxter, actor Mary Ellin Barrett, novelist Mary Catherine Bateson, writer and anthropologist Jenny Bicks, screenwriter, most famous for What a Girl Wants and Sex and the City Mary Steichen Calderone, physician and public-health advocate Oona, Lady Chaplin (née O'Neill), actor Lucinda Childs, dancer and choreographer Jill Clayburgh, actor Emily Cross, athlete, silver medalist in fencing at the 2008 Summer Olympics Alexandra Daddario, actor, best known for Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief. Anne d'Harnoncourt, museum director Elizabeth Fishel, journalist and writer, in 2000 published a book profiling 10 of her Brearley classmates from the class of 1968, Reunion: The Girls We Used to Be, the Women We Became Lacey Fosburgh, journalist and author, best known for Closing Time: The True Story of the Goodbar Murder Virginia Kneeland Frantz, pathologist, pioneer in the study of pancreatic tumors Virginia Gildersleeve, academic and statesperson Betsy Gotbaum, Public Advocate for the City of New York

Isca Greenfield-Sanders, artist and daughter of Timothy Greenfield-Sanders Nora Johnson, novelist, best known for The World of Henry Orient Caroline Kennedy, author and philanthropist Téa Leoni, actor Ruth Messinger, New York City mayoral candidate and Manhattan Borough President Sara Moulton, chef, author and television personality Diane Paulus, Artistic Director of the American Repertory Theater at Harvard University Mary Rodgers, children's author and composer, daughter of composer Richard Rodgers Anne Roiphe, journalist, novelist and early feminist Katie Roiphe, author and feminist Niki de Saint Phalle, artist Mary Louise Perlman, musician (née Platt) Dorothy Schiff, publisher of the New York Post Kyra Sedgwick, actor Maggie Shnayerson, journalist and blogger Kim Stolz, fashion model and television personality, contestant on America's Next Top Model Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, film director and producer Erica Wagner, literary editor for The Times Katharine Weymouth, publisher of The Washington Post Flora Payne Whitney, patron of the arts Hope Williams, actor

Affiliated organizations

• National Association of Independent Schools
• New York State Association of Independent Schools
• New York Interschool Association

External links

• The Brearley School homepage

References