Sneak Peek Celebration of the Upper School

All members of the BFS community – trustees, alumni, parents, parents of alumni, faculty alums, faculty and staff, Quakers, and many other friends of the school – will be asked to participate in this three-year effort, which culminates in the school’s 150th anniversary in 2017. The “Light the Way” campaign signifies the promise of a bright future and the support required to achieve that promise. More than $2 million has already been raised to support the campaign, Dr. Weiss noted. He added, “His campaign is really about celebrating how far we’ve come as a community, and the direction that we are going in the future. We are on this path together, we are interconnected, and our supporters’ passion for this school is truly guiding our way forward.”

The hundreds of people who toured the facility were thrilled to see the care and attention given to creating an architecturally outstanding new Upper School. On a platform outside the building, the Board, the Head of School, and others talked about their hopes and dreams for the school. “Brooklyn Friends is committed to continuous evolution and continuous improvement,” said Dr. Weiss.  “Most importantly, we are committed to challenging our faculty and students to use their knowledge, wisdom, creativity, and imagination in the service of promoting peace, justice and progress in themselves, their communities, and the world.

The 3-story, 40,000 square foot “building within a building” has its own library, café, science labs, visual arts studios (including a darkroom), music classrooms, black-box theater classroom, dance studio, fitness center, as well as numerous academic classrooms, seminar rooms, and offices. Enrollment at the opening of the building in September will be approximately 200 students in grades 9 -12, rising to 240 in the next few years.
After the tours of the building, the Brooklyn Friends School contingent filled the entire balcony of Hill Country Barbeque at the corner of Willoughby and Pearl Streets for a festive luncheon. Children of all ages joined parents, faculty and alumni to celebrate the school’s success and take joy in planning for a very bright future.