January 2008
Dear Friends,
In this, our 140th year, we are honored and thrilled to present the Brooklyn
Friends School Strategic Plan for the next three to five years. The Plan comes
out of an examination of the School’s mission, values, history, physical plant,
finances and governance; it comes also from an assessment of the School’s
operating environment: both its local setting — a burgeoning, increasingly
affluent downtown Brooklyn and lower Manhattan — and its place in the
larger, extraordinarily diverse and fast-paced world that our children
encounter every day.
The School is well positioned to achieve the goals outlined in the Plan. Our
success, however, ultimately rests on the continued support of our students,
faculty, parents, and alumni/ae. The implementation of the Strategic Plan
will require increased giving and the contribution of expertise in many of
its specific initiatives.
In Friendship,
BENJAMIN WARNKE
Clerk of the School Committee
MICHAEL NILL
Head of School
1
2
introduction
3
and who have the skills to thrive in a world marked by global competition
and the potential for international cooperation.
• In a world challenged by a lack of integrity in government, business,
education, and athletics, there is a compelling need for education that
embodies Quaker perspectives, so that the next generation of adults will
be leaders in serving others and making the world a better place, with an
understanding that how one uses knowledge is as important as acquiring it.
• With the transformation of downtown Brooklyn, its emergence as a desirable
place to live, and the growing prominence of the borough as a whole, there
is an unprecedented opportunity to increase enrollment through a deliberate
and methodical multi-year plan to add a section of students at each grade
level, starting in year one with the Preschool. This is in addition to the plan
already in progress to increase enrollment in the Upper School, first to an
average of 50, then 60 students per grade. Raising the size of the student
body to 900 within the next ten years will provide students with a larger,
more diverse social network and better meet the increasing demand for
admissions, while at the same time maintaining the intimacy of the School,
which has been one of its hallmarks.
• In an increasingly competitive and demanding market, independent schools
and small colleges will require strong finances to remain viable in the future,
attract and retain superb faculty, and provide facilities that best serve the
needs of the students and the educational program. Strengthening the
School’s financial resources was the focus of much of the discussions. The
methodical increase in enrollment to 900 students over a period of ten years,
a stronger endowment, and higher levels of voluntary giving are the major
ways the Plan proposes to address this issue. The Brooklyn Friends Board
(the School Committee) is poised to take the lead on meeting these and
other challenges.
4
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.
core
values
ACADEMIC AND PERSONAL EXCELLENCE
Those who aspire to integrity, embrace challenges, and internalize the goal
of being the best they can be, enable the full development of their minds,
character, and spirit. They build a strong foundation not only for success in
school, but for a rich and rewarding life as well.
COMMUNITY
A community bound and dedicated to the School’s mission provides an
environment of mutual care and teaches its members how to work together
in the common pursuit of learning.
DIVERSITY
A multicultural school community creates an enriched learning environment
through the exploration, understanding, and appreciation of differences.
It prepares students for living in an increasingly diverse and global society.
RESPECT
The dignity of all and a sense of inclusion are fostered by active listening to and
active engagement with others. Respect is most powerful when it characterizes
the relationships and interactions between and among all segments of the
school community: parents, students, teachers, staff, and alumni/ae.
SERVICE
Developing the practice of serving others benefits oneself, the school
community, and the world beyond. Graduates with a lifetime commitment to
making the world a better place fulfill a major aspect of the School’s mission.
SILENCE
Quaker Meeting and other dedicated periods of silence provide precious
opportunities to be in more direct contact with the light within and among
each of us. These are times to reflect on one’s values and aspirations,
community concerns, and matters of deeper import that often are submerged
in the noise of everyday life.
5
6
educational
program
VISION
As a Quaker independent school, Brooklyn Friends regards each child as the
bearer of special gifts and strengths. Its pedagogical approach is to tap into
these gifts, extend the imagination, curiosity, and love of learning so prominent
among students in the early grades and over the years transform these into a
life-long passion for learning. Faculty – student relationships, characterized by
caring and respect, are considered the key to creating a community of engaged
learners. In keeping with its Quaker mission, the School is committed to
ensuring that values and service remain integral to every aspect of the School’s
educational program and an essential component of what the School believes
marks a truly educated person.
Within a liberal arts tradition that embraces the arts and multicultural
and international perspectives, the program seeks to ensure that the School’s
students are competitive with academically ambitious students throughout
the world. In this process, the School will provide increased opportunities for
students to gain recognition for their efforts through local, state, or national
competitions, external performances, and displays of their accomplishments
and creativity.
The School considers the mastery of basic or foundational skills both
educationally valuable in itself and a necessary means to attaining higher-order
thinking skills. It is the School’s goal to ensure that high expectations,
exemplary instruction, and an environment conducive to learning characterize
every classroom, grade level, and division. And finally, the School recognizes
that the success of this vision will depend on the dedication, knowledge, and
effectiveness of faculty committed to ongoing professional growth.
GOALS
Global Citizenship
7
International Baccalaureate (IB) Program
• Successfully implement the IB Diploma Program for the first junior and
senior participants (2007 – 2009).
• Review and modify, as necessary, scope and sequence in Preschool – Grade 10
to embrace the IB learner profile and ensure that our students are prepared
in each of the major disciplines to participate successfully in the IB Diploma
Program should they choose to do so.
• Investigate the advisability of adopting the IB Middle Years Program and
the IB Primary Years Program.
• Explore the advisability of eventually having all juniors and seniors participate
in the IB Program.
Professional Development
• Commit more funds for professional development, with the goal of moving
each division to the next level of excellence, ensuring the use of best practices
and multi-sensory approaches in the classroom, and furthering overall
instructional effectiveness through course and degree work, summer
seminars, grants, fellowships, and visits to other New York City schools.
• Broaden the professional outreach of the faculty, among members of the
School community and among Quaker and Preschool – 12 educators,
by creating an in-house faculty journal, and encouraging them to conduct
workshops for each other, write for professional journals, sit on professional
boards, and present at academic conferences and workshops.
• Explore opportunities for teacher and administrator exchanges within the
country and abroad.
• Invite nationally and internationally recognized educators and specialists to
the School to engage in meaningful dialogue with the faculty.
8
“…the School is committed to ensuring that
values and service remain integral to every
aspect of the School’s educational program…”
The School’s Quaker Mission
Technology
9
10
community
VISION
Students, faculty, administration, parents, and alumni/ae of Brooklyn Friends
School form a vibrant community that enables its members to thrive. The
community reflects what the School is and its vision for the future. Its diverse
composition and the opportunities for people to work together in multiple ways
across differences is a compelling aspect of life at Brooklyn Friends School. As
we look to the future, it is important that we enhance and celebrate the School
community by fostering the diversity we value so highly; recruiting, retaining,
developing and celebrating our faculty; strengthening our governance to meet
the challenges of the next five years and beyond; reinforcing our relationship
with the Quaker community; and broadening and deepening our relationships
with the larger community of Brooklyn and downtown Manhattan.
GOALS
Strengthen BFS’s ability to recruit and retain excellent faculty and enhance
their commitment to the School’s mission and connection with the community.
• In order to recruit and retain a high quality and diverse faculty, who are
at the heart of a Brooklyn Friends education, the compensation package
must be the best that is possible. Significant efforts must be directed to
overcoming financial and other constraints to make this possible.
(See Financial Resources.)
• Opportunities for professional development continue to be offered with
increased financial support. (See Educational Program.)
11
• Increasing opportunities for alumni/ae participation in the school via
speaking engagements, guest teaching, internships and other mentoring
programs, and community service projects.
Strengthen and clarify the policies and procedures of the School Committee by:
• Assessing its structure and procedures regularly to ensure effective
governance and communication.
• Assuming the responsibilities for the implementation and oversight of
the goals of this Plan.
12
financial resources
VISION
Over the past five years Brooklyn Friends School has achieved a level of
financial stability that positions it well for the immediate future. It has
substantial cash reserves, effective financial systems, and experienced and able
financial stewardship. The School’s recent financial successes come largely
from robust enrollments and strong fiscal management of annual operations.
A recent, successful capital campaign has resulted in significant improvement
to the School’s facilities.
On the other hand, the School has neither the endowment nor the history
of strong annual giving that allows it to fulfill the dreams the community has
for it or even comfortably weather a succession of leaner years. In addition,
current fiscal strengths of the School are due in part to the absence of any debt
and to compensation levels that rank below the median for New York City
independent schools. The increasing need to be competitive in hiring and
retaining the best faculty possible, as well as the need to take on debt in
financing additional facilities, will necessarily change the fiscal picture.
Clearly, then, the School’s main priority over the next three to five years
must be to achieve substantial progress towards long-term financial stability
and growth. Tuition, compensation, financial aid, voluntary giving, and
endowment are all interrelated. A growth in expenses to meet the needs and
dreams of the School community must be balanced by a growth in revenue.
Recognizing the limits of reliance on tuition revenue, the School plans
to strengthen its finances over the next few years primarily through a
methodical increase in enrollment, as well as increases in voluntary giving
and the endowment.
GOALS
13
• Maintain competitive benefits, with consideration to an employee survey and
additional benefits not currently offered, such as housing loans, emergency
funds, and staff-paid dental plan.
• Increase the amount of money available for staff workshops and coursework
to the recommended rate of 1.5% of the operating budget in order to ensure
their ongoing professional growth.
• Keep tuition increases within or below the Independent School Management
recommendation of the inflation rate plus 2%.
• Increase financial assistance 0.5% per year from the current 13% to 15%
percent of the budget to make Brooklyn Friends more accessible to those
who cannot fund the entire tuition, including the School’s middle class
families. In addition, the School will explore ways to help students in need
participate in exchange programs or programs that involve study elsewhere
for a semester.
• Increase annual contributions to the Brooklyn Friends Fund by 25% within
the next 5 years.
• Increase to 85% the annual participation rate of parents in the Brooklyn
Friends Fund in the next 3–5 years.
• Triple the current endowment within the next 5 years or sooner.
• Cultivate alumni/ae and students so that a stronger sense of the importance
of giving back to the School emerges among the School’s graduates to ensure
that future generations of students will enjoy the same benefits from a
Brooklyn Friends education as they have. Strengthen efforts to bring
alumni/ae participation in annual giving to the 15-20% level as is common in
other independent schools and increase their participation in capital and
endowment giving as well.
• Plan and implement a comprehensive capital campaign to help meet the
school’s initiatives and goals laid out in this Strategic Plan.
14
facilities
VISION
The School’s facilities should serve the educational program well, enhance the
quality of life of students, faculty, and others, and strive for an aesthetic of
elegant simplicity. In addition, the architecture, systems, and practices should
be environmentally friendly to the extent feasible and economically prudent so
that the School can model for its students wise stewardship of the earth.
The renovations and expansion of facilities over the last several years have
been major steps towards meeting these goals. The present facilities, however,
do not meet all the needs of our educational program. For example, there is a
need for additional gym space, music room, conference rooms and offices, and
a black box theater. Although the facility at 55 Willoughby is serving the School
well and was absolutely essential to meet the needs of the Upper School, it is
rental space and will in time need to be replaced.
The School’s facilities must thus be expanded to meet these needs, as
well as accommodate an enrollment that is projected to reach 900 students
within the next ten years. This need comes at a fortunate time for the School,
since the growth and transformation of downtown Brooklyn offers significant
opportunities to acquire and develop suitable space. Funding for expansion and
other facility needs will come from a combination of financing, depreciation,
and capital campaign contributions.
GOALS
• Acquire, build, and design at least a 50,000 square foot addition to the
facilities. Preference is for contiguous space, so that once again the entire
school can be housed in one location. Alternatively, in the absence of
available contiguous space, the School would acquire nearby space and
design it to house the Preschool and Lower School. Under this latter plan,
375 Pearl would house the Middle School and Upper School.
• Refurbish 375 Pearl on a floor by floor basis, including installing better
lighting, raising the ceilings, standardizing the flooring, and adding and
improving storage, with the emphasis on the classrooms.
• Upgrade the infrastructure of 375 Pearl as needed to maintain the building
and the safety of the community.
• Develop a consistent palette and furniture and equipment style within
each facility.
• Consider environmental implications of School practices and any changes
to the facilities, determining, for example, possibilities for “green” lighting
and energy use, insulation, mechanical equipment, resource utilization,
temperature control, and data processing.
15
Milestones in the History
of Brooklyn Friends School
1867 “Friends School at Brooklyn” is founded by the 1948 The school buildings and Meeting House are
Religious Society of Friends as an elementary pro- threatened with demolition to make way for a new
gram in the basement of the Schermerhorn Street city jail. Fortunately, a coalition of civic and reli-
Meeting House. Mary Haviland is the first princi- gious organizations persuades the mayor and bor-
pal and teacher, and there are 17 students — 9 girls ough president to build the jail one block away on
and 8 boys. Tuition is $12 per quarter for “class- Atlantic Avenue.
room instruction, stationery and fuel.”
1957 The Middle States Association encourages BFS “to
1885 The School catalogue calls attention to the educa- give careful study to a program of acquiring a new
tional tenets at Friends: “The process of self-devel- physical plant on a more desirable site.” More than
opment in every child should be encouraged to the 300 students are enrolled — 27 in the senior class
fullest extent. Children should be led to make their and 45 in the junior class.
own investigations, draw their own inferences, and
1967 While celebrating the School’s 100th anniversary,
find enjoyment in being industrious, systematic,
Principal William Meeneghan writes in the year-
upright, kind, and helpful.”
book: “Today’s world is beset by a litany of prob-
1902 A two-story school building is constructed next to lems –nuclear weapons, the emergence of new
the Meeting House, and a kindergarten program is nations, the problem of hunger, and educational
added. Schoolwide enrollment is 137. deprivation.” He urges graduates to “take steps to
seek responsible solutions, for this is your heritage.”
1907 The upper school division opens with 21 students.
“It is our aim to shape the course of study so that 1973 Friends Field is sold to the New York City Parks
our graduates may enter whatever colleges they Department, and the School conducts its first capi-
will; to make the methods of instruction such that tal campaign to finance the move to 375 Pearl
good habits of thought and study will be formed; Street, a seven-story building constructed in 1928
and to gradually increase responsibility and the for Brooklyn Law School.
measure of self government so that the students
1983 Close Harmony, a film about BFS fourth and fifth
may be prepared to meet the new conditions and
grade students and their intergenerational chorus
withstand the new temptations in college or in
with members of a neighborhood senior citizens’
business.”
center, wins the Academy Award for Best Short
1920 Enrollment rises to 348. A new three-story build- Subject Documentary.
ing, named for Quaker philanthropist Phoebe
1985 The Preschool program begins with two teachers
Anna Thorne, opens. The building has a basement
and 12 three and four year-olds.
and a rooftop play area and is equipped with
chemistry and physics laboratories. 1992 The School marks its 125th anniversary with year-
long celebrations and programs with nationally
1923 The School purchases a six-acre athletic field at
renowned educators Peggy McIntosh, David
Avenue M and McDonald Avenue, to be known as
Mallery, Paula Lawrence Wehmiller, and Anderson
Friends School Field, to meet the needs of a bur-
J. Franklin.
geoning athletic program.
2003 The boys varsity basketball team wins the New
1931 The varsity football team completes an undefeated,
York state championship.
untied and unscored-on season, going 6-0 and
ending with a 61-0 victory against Adelphi. 2005 Schoolwide enrollment tops 600 for the third year
in a row, and the new home of the Upper School
1937 Construction of the Friends School Field House
opens at 55 Willoughby Street.
is completed. The building is designed by BFS
parent Lorimer Rich, architect of the Tomb of the 2007 As it celebrates the centennial of the upper school,
Unknowns in Washington, D.C. BFS begins to offer the International Baccalaureate
Diploma Program for juniors and seniors.
1942 Brooklyn Friends celebrates its 75th anniversary
at the Hotel Towers in Brooklyn, followed by 2008 The BFS School Committee engages the entire
the publication of Edgerton Grant North’s book, School community in its work to produce a
Seventy-Five Years of Brooklyn Friends. Strategic Plan to guide the School in the next three
to five years.
16
Brooklyn Friends School acknowledges with sincere appreciation the
many individuals who led and served on committees and those who made
valuable contributions to the strategic planning process: