The Brearley School is an all-girls
private school in New York City, located on the
Upper East Side neighborhood in the
borough of
Manhattan. The school is divided into lower (kindergarten – grade 4), middle (grades 5–8) and upper (grades 9–12) schools, with approximately 50 to 60 students per grade.
In addition to being a member of the
New York Interschool Association, Brearley is considered a sister school of the all-boys
Collegiate School and the nearby all-girls
Chapin School, with which it shares an after-school program and some classes.
History
Samuel A. Brearley founded The Brearley School in 1884, and 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.[1] In December 2011, Jane Foley Fried replaced former headmistress Stephanie J. Hull who had resigned for undisclosed reasons.[2][3] Jane Foley Fried became Brearley's 15th head of school.[4]
In the early 1900s, Brearley moved 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 610 East 83rd Street.[5] Brearley opened a new building at 590 East 83rd Street in Fall 2019, one block away from its existing building at 610 East 83rd street. Brearley plans to renovate 610 during the summers. For the most part, the lower school will reside in 590 and the middle and upper schools will be in 610, although older students go from building to building for different classes, particularly science classes.[6]
Academics
The school's curriculum is based on the
liberal arts. The student-to-faculty ratio is 6:1.[7]
Language instruction is offered in Ancient Greek, Latin, French, Spanish, and Mandarin Chinese.
Students have access to two 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. Students in grades 7 and 8 are given iPads for the school year to aid with work in classes and assignments at home. In high school, students are expected to bring their own device, such as a laptop or iPad.
Rankings and college attendance
In 2008, Brearley was ranked number two in the country by The Wall Street Journal based on its ranking of students matriculating to eight selected colleges and universities.[8] It was ranked second-best prep school in the United States and best all-girls school by Forbes in 2013.[citation needed] A 2019–20 survey concluded that Brearley was the second-best girls school in the country and the fifth-best private K-12 school in the country.[7]
Student body
As of 2019, Brearley enrolled 724 students in K-12. Students of color represented approximately half of the student body. The 2018–19 tuition was $49,680. Approximately 20% of the students received the $6.1 million that was available for financial assistance.[9]