Adventures in Learning: 2024

Adventures in Learning SNAPSHOTS OF

POLY PREP

Welcome At Poly, community is more than just a word; it is who we are and what makes our school special. Beginning with our youngest Nursery students welcomed by faculty each morning at the Lower School in Park Slope, this sense of community accompanies them through every step of their educational journey. It continues with the transition to the Middle School on the college-like Dyker Heights campus, navigating a rigorous academic curriculum in the Upper School, and all the way to their Commencement day. Throughout, devoted faculty and deans provide guidance, knowing each student as an individual.

We watch our children grow in amazing ways. The child who excels at soccer is also a talented ceramicist. The prizewinning history student is a showstopper in the musical.

Community at Poly means there are students who lead clubs devoted to service, social justice, and sustainability. All our students are encouraged to find their passions and to become the best they can be — the best student, the best athlete, the best performer, the best person and community member.

When they leave Poly, our students are well-prepared for the challenges ahead.

FAST FACTS

1,161 STUDENTS IN NURSERY TO GRADE 12

26

VARSITY SPORTS TEAMS

6

53%

ARE STUDENTS OF COLOR

2 25+ CAMPUSES

STUDENT PUBLICATIONS

ACRES IN BROOKLYN

6:1

STUDENT-TO-FACULTY RATIO

60+

NYSAIS CHAMPIONSHIPS

99

22

STUDENT CLUBS

182 FACULTY MEMBERS

$13.9 MILLION

IN NEED-BASED TUITION ASSISTANCE AWARDED TO 22% OF STUDENTS

MAJOR ARTS PERFORMANCES ACROSS ALL DIVISIONS — 5 CONCERTS ⋅ 9 THEATER PERFORMANCES 3 DANCE PERFORMANCES ⋅ 2 SHOWCASES 3 CONSERVATORY RECITALS

18

3

UPPER SCHOOL AFFINITY AND ALLIANCE GROUPS

FULL TIME SPORTS TRAINERS

73

44

STUDENTS IN THE EXCELLENCE IN THE ARTS PROGRAM

BUS ROUTES ACROSS NEW YORK CITY

Why Poly?

Diversity

Excellence

Brooklyn

From Nursery to Grade 12, Poly is a place where curiosity and collaboration shift perspectives and open minds. Our school community is composed of students throughout the boroughs, from different cultures, religions, interests, and abilities. We use the diversity of our community to make us smarter, more thoughtful, and more empathetic. We value our differences and prioritize inclusion and belonging to strengthen our bonds.

This shows up in everything we do at Poly—from curricular lessons and student-run forums to guest speakers and holiday celebrations.

At Poly, the pursuit of excellence is a core tenet of our ethos. Our community knows that excellence is not a destination; it’s a journey of growth and development.

Dedicated faculty and staff serve as mentors, encouraging students to set high standards for themselves, embrace challenges, and strive for personal bests in all their endeavors.

Whether it’s exceptional scholarship, masterclass performances, world-class athletics, creative expression, or bold leadership, Poly students put all of themselves into everything they do.

They eagerly explore new paths while also delving deeper into their existing strengths. Our ultimate aim is to equip students with the necessary skills and mindset to flourish in an ever-changing world.

It’s our deep commitment to community relationships through which this pillar is rooted. Our school thrives on the vibrant engagement of Brooklyn’s very own academics and authors, who graciously share their expertise and time with our students. Collaborations with renowned artists enrich the experiences of our performers and creatives. Distinguished institutions such as the Brooklyn Museum of Art play an integral role in our curriculum, offering one-of-a-kind learning opportunities. Our dedication to service finds us partnering with various organizations to support our neighbors—from food pantries to sustainability initiatives. Brooklyn is a microcosm of the world and we grow by fostering meaningful connections with those around us.

Lower School Poly’s Lower School, encompassing Nursery through Grade 4, is an enchanting environment where every child is known and cherished. When you walk in the front doors, you immediately hear children’s exuberant voices. With its own separate campus, kids can be kids, and faculty and staff help make school magical by celebrating learning and the delight of each and every day. Lower School is a place of wonder, where the pursuit of knowledge is intertwined with the sheer joy of childhood.

Early Childhood Education

Elementary Education

Aftercare and Enrichment

Students in Nursery through Kindergarten explore a wide array of creative, intellectual, social, and movement-based skills. Developing friendships and positive social skills are an integral part of their learning experience. They develop confidence in themselves and view Poly and their teachers as safe spaces.

A love of learning is fostered through daily interactions and activities.

Children wake up each morning and cannot wait to get to Poly.

In our sunny Grades 1-4 classrooms, students learn to love reading, which leads them to research reports on immigration and to write their own stories and poetry. Children learn how to collaborate on a project and to encourage each other. Through music, dance, and art, they express themselves in new ways, and in physical education, they learn lessons about sportsmanship for a lifetime.

In our science lab, children make discoveries about the natural world.

Prospect Park across the street provides a frequent extension of this science learning, as well as a grand space for physical education activities, our Field Day, and a place to collect materials for art projects.

While the school day ends at 3:20 PM, many students remain for additional activities. Drop-in aftercare is available daily from 3:30 PM to 6:00 PM. Activities include homework support, art, games, music, indoor and outdoor play, story time, and more. All children are provided with a daily snack.

Families may also sign up for a rotating selection of enrichment programming each trimester such as newspaper club, ballet, wizardry and potions, filmmaking, robotics, puppetry, earth science, musical theater, STEM, sports, chess, and more.

PROGRAM SPOTLIGHTS Anti-Racist Curriculum Art History Augmented Reality Author Visits Brooklyn Bridge Project Creative Writing Dance Performances Drama Ecology Action Team Ellis Island Visit Embroidery Family Study Festival of Lights Great African History Museum Health & Sex Education Hispanic Heritage Celebration Identity Study Indigenous Peoples Study Instrumental Lessons Justice & Fairness Study Lifecycles Logic and Coding Lunar New Year Celebration Mixed Media Neighborhood Study Responsible Digital Citizenship Robotics Singapore Math Sequential Thinking Student Government Tenement Museum Visit

Middle School We recognize the profound transformations that occur in a child’s life during these years. In Middle School, students continue to grow intellectually, emotionally, and physically.

We empower them to embrace these changes and develop habits of mind, body, and spirit that will serve them throughout their lives. We nurture curious, broad-minded, and empathetic thinkers who grapple with difficult concepts, question what they see and hear, and are conscientious of their impact on the world. Poly faculty and coaches promote their development as critical thinkers and doers, their engagement with the arts, and their confidence on the athletic fields. Our students’ emerging intellectual acuity signals their readiness to seize moments of growth and change.

Support & Guidance

Middle School Clubs and Activities

Grade 8 Capstone

On entering the Middle School, students are assigned a dean who helps them design an academic schedule reflective of their interests and goals, monitors their progress, and ensures their fullest participation in Poly life. Their dean is their main contact point for the family throughout the entire Middle School journey.

Guide, confidant, cheerleader, organizational coach, and seer, the dean is that gentle advocate who makes certain each child is seen, heard, and supported on the path to greater independence and personal agency.

Middle School life is greatly enriched by a diverse range of clubs, extracurricular activities, and affinity groups each offering unique opportunities for students to explore new interests and talents, and cultivate lasting friendships.

Longstanding clubs and activities such as the school newspaper, yearbook, and Middle School Musical are joined each year by new studentdriven clubs—from Dungeons & Dragons to Embroidery & Sewing and Anime to K-pop.

In this exciting culminating project that demonstrates the synthesis of all they’ve learned in Middle School, Grade 8 students develop an original research question related to one of the major themes of their courses, conduct research, select evidence to develop a thesis, and produce a newspaper article, podcast, museum exhibit, or website to communicate their findings and present them to their peers and the Poly community.

HIGHLIGHTS AND GOALS

• Students spend a year sampling

French, Spanish, Latin, and Mandarin before selecting a world language to pursue more deeply.

• Teachers set intellectual risk-taking

rather than performance as a key goal and prompt students to develop their identity as learners in a safe and productive context.

• Students begin to strengthen their executive function skills and are provided the tools necessary for academic success going forward.

• Based on a growing understanding of their own academic styles and needs, students learn self-advocacy skills.

• Study habits are developed and

strengthened as assessments and grades become part of students’ academic lives.

• Students are encouraged to

collaborate with teachers to set and reach high academic goals and overcome challenges.

• In keeping with their increased

maturity and sense of responsibility, students enjoy more leadership opportunities, such as student government.

Upper School In the Upper School, we recognize each student as an individual whose natural curiosity and energy are the foundations of a holistic education, and whose desire to find a place in the world deserves the best tools and pathways we can provide. This experience is centered on creativity, critical thought, and personal growth through the embrace of risk and challenge. Our courses are designed to spur questions rather than provide answers, and students are encouraged to connect their classroom learning to events in the world. In every discipline, we set standards of academic excellence aimed at fostering habits of mind that will serve our students throughout their lives. Our expectation is that students learn to read, write, analyze, and quantify with purpose, focus, and clarity.

Personalized Guidance

Grade 12 Capstone

From the beginning of their high school career until its conclusion, every student meets with their Upper School dean to craft courses of study uniquely suited to their individual academic goals and interests.

Students are encouraged to challenge themselves by selecting classes that introduce them to new modes of thinking and extend their knowledge and skills.

The culminating capstone requirement, Senior Plan, allows students to take all that they have learned in their Upper School career and apply it to a project of their own design. In a semester-long class, students choose and explore a topic, engage in independent research, summarize their findings in writing, and present their work to the community. Senior Plan Teaching Fellows guide students through the key stages during the semester: choosing a topic, articulating a focused line of inquiry, delving into sources and offering evidence of research, synthesizing findings, and reflecting on the process of learning.

Independent Study This unique option enables students to explore a discipline, subject, or specific topic in much greater depth.

Working with a faculty advisor who also assists with constructing a syllabus, students undertake research that is completed outside the traditional classroom. Independent Study courses can run the length of a full school year or take place during one semester.

Science Research Program This two-year program for applicants in Grades 10–12 engages students in scientific research through selfdriven experimentation. Students learn to read and use peer-reviewed academic scientific journal articles, write a series of formal papers for submission to local and national competitions such as the New York City Science and Engineering Fair, and collaborate with an outside mentor or professional scientist. Their work becomes the basis of a culminating paper, which they craft, revise, and polish in their final year. This course, taken in addition to the regular science sequence, gives students who are interested in pursuing STEM studies in college a significant head start.

Global Studies This new certificate program offers a four-year interdisciplinary journey, combining rigorous language study with global perspectives. Students explore their relationship with and impact on the world through diverse coursework and co-curricular projects. The program culminates in a Grade 12 Capstone presentation demonstrating students’ advanced proficiency and global understanding.

The highest performing students may earn the opportunity to study abroad, immersing themselves in their target language and enhancing their research for the culminating presentation in that language.

R E C E N T LY A D D E D C L A S S E S AVAIL ABLE IN ’24 –’25 Classics & World Language Introduction to Japanese Computer and Information Science Advanced AI, Ethics, and the Costs of Power Advanced Rocket Engineering in Simulation Cybersecurity English Advanced Poetry & Prose Advanced Seminar: Queering the Text Advanced Seminar: The Literature of Immigration Author Studies: Chester Himes Literature of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders Satire and Society History Advanced World History: The Enlightenment Asian American: Intersection and Community Building in U.S. History Decolonization in the Age of the Anthropocene Genocide: Theory & History The Post-9/11 World U.S. Sport History Interdisciplinary Law & Jurisprudence Advanced Social Psychology Seminar Science Advanced Biology: Conservation Biology & Climate Change Advanced Biology: Urban Ecology Visual Arts Advanced Museum Studies with the Met Advanced Photography Portfolio Pop-Up Art & Paper Mechanics Textile Arts Performing Arts Advanced Musical Theater Performance Comedy in Performance: A Study in Creation, Production, Execution Contemporary Theater: Devising New Works Piano Lab

“Poly encourages children to activate all parts of their minds and interests, and allows them to explore and succeed, and even fail.”

—VA RU N S ., LOW E R SC H O O L PA R E NT

Academics Each day at Poly is filled with engaging classes and experiences that will expand your child’s intellect, nurture a love of the arts, develop problem-solving skills, and build a sense of community and teamwork. The wide range of rigorous courses and innovative electives guarantees a challenging program to pique interests.

From Science Research to Ideologies of the 20th-Century World and Advanced Drawing & Painting Portfolio to Jazz Band, these are only a brief peek at the stimulating curricula we have created for your children.

An Anti-Racist Education We believe that anti-racism is an essential component and precondition of academic excellence.

A healthy multiracial democracy requires learning to honor the widest range of diverse voices and demands that we train all of our students to think critically about systems of power so that they can fulfill their responsibility to engage in purposeful progressive change. Dismantling systemic racism is imperative in order to realize every student’s full potential. This begins in our youngest grades with Anti-Racism Read-Alouds and books that are suggested for families to share at home. It continues in Middle and Upper School with innovative curricular programming, guest speakers, DEIB-focused assemblies for celebrating events such as Hispanic Heritage Month or discussing topical issues, and affinity groups where students can connect, share experiences, and work collectively toward common goals.

Curricular Travel

Electives

Service Learning

Exciting travel opportunities allow students to immerse themselves and what they’ve learned in the classroom to new environments and cultures.

Trips to the American South, the Navajo Nation, Martinique, Argentina, the battlefields of World War I, Italy, Spain, and Cambodia (among others) have allowed students to venture beyond their comfort zones and explore their own country and the world in new and transformative ways. They return with deeper understanding of peoples and contexts—past and present alike— and, invariably, with an invigorated commitment to learn more.

Our ever-changing course options match students’ varied intellectual interests and reflect our faculty’s wide-ranging expertise. In every department, students choose from a menu of courses that promotes critical thinking and a love of lifelong learning, and in Upper School, includes close reading of challenging texts, interdisciplinary frameworks for analysis, and advanced quantitative skills.

This program promotes social responsibility, learning through experience, care for the community, and volunteerism. In the Upper School, students complete community service projects by the end of their Grade 11 year. Students have the opportunity to serve Poly and the wider New York City community by enrolling in one of our Service Learning Teams.

They have removed invasive plants, done beach cleanup in the Rockaways, stocked food pantry shelves in Staten Island, and planted new trees.

Middle School students participated in the ongoing Billion Oyster program to repopulate New York Harbor.

Poly students also give back to the community with blood drives, coat drives, and canned food drives.

Even our first graders rake leaves and pick up debris on our annual Prospect Park Cleanup Day.

Arts Supported by a staff of professional artists, Poly provides an array of exciting courses—with a commitment to the hands-on experiential process of art-making—and a wide range of extracurricular activities, all of which build skills and encourage students to find their unique voice and expression.

From the beginning, practice is combined with critique.

We emphasize the relationships between art and life and encourage reflection on how art can be a way to express ideas critically and creatively.

Arts Partnerships

Arts Pathways

Excellence in the Arts

Dynamic partnerships and collaborations with renowned artists and esteemed institutions, such as Jazz at Lincoln Center, infuse our programs with an electrifying creative energy throughout all Poly divisions.

Students engage with a diverse array of working professionals, from artists, composers, and dancers to filmmakers, art scholars, musicians, and storytellers, enriching their journey, instilling appreciation for a variety of art forms, and inspiring their own creative process.

Learning art at Poly is a purposeful and coordinated process to ensure students receive a concentrated arts education. When students enter Upper School, they choose one of three tracks: Multidisciplinary Arts, Performing Arts, or Visual Arts. The program cultivates creativity, artistic growth, and a supportive community of aspiring artists, empowering students to discover and nurture their true creative potential.

Designed for students entering Grades 11 and 12, the Excellence in the Arts Certificate Program is an applicationbased opportunity for young artists to gain additional coursework, community leadership, or service initiatives in the arts. As participants delve into their arts emphasis areas, they receive personalized mentorship, invaluable support for Senior Capstone projects, and a platform to showcase their artistic achievements.

Notably, completion of the program earns students recognition on their transcripts, demonstrating their dedication, passion, and excellence in the arts.

ARE A S OF STUDY Art History Ceramics Concert Band Concert Choir Conservatory Costume Design Dance Debate Digital Photography Drawing Film Production Independent Study Jazz Band Mixed Media Museum Studies Music Theory Painting Printmaking Set Design & CAD Speech Stagecraft Strings Ensemble Textile Arts Theater Voice

Athletics Athletics, at its best, should feel like an extension of play: fun, engaging, and healthy. Our program, headed by former Olympic athlete, gets Poly students moving every day. We give students the physical and mental resources to succeed, whether their athletic goals are to stay active and healthy, to play collegiate sports, or to become a professional athlete.

Our Program

VARSIT Y TE AMS

Long Term Athletic Development (LTAD) is at the center of our athletic philosophy and practice. We believe in nurturing the physical, mental, and emotional growth of our studentathletes, prioritizing their overall well-being in their athletic journey.

Through a carefully crafted program, we focus on age-appropriate training and skill development, ensuring that our students progress gradually and sustainably. Our experienced coaches and trainers utilize evidence-based practices to provide personalized guidance to each athlete, recognizing their unique strengths and areas for improvement. By emphasizing long-term progress rather than shortterm results, we aim to instill a lifelong passion for sports, fostering resilience, discipline, and teamwork in our students, both on and off the field. Our commitment to LTAD empowers our student-athletes to reach their full potential while leading healthy and active lifestyles.

Baseball Boys’ Basketball Boys’ Cross-Country Boys’ Lacrosse Boys’ Soccer Boys’ Squash Boys’ Swimming Boys’ Tennis Boys’ Indoor Track and Field Boys’ Outdoor Track and Field Boys’ Volleyball eSports Football Girls’ Basketball Girls’ Cross-Country Girls’ Lacrosse Girls’ Soccer Girls’ Squash Girls’ Swimming Girls’ Tennis Girls’ Indoor Track and Field Girls’ Outdoor Track and Field Girls’ Volleyball Golf Softball Wrestling

MIDDLE SCHOOL TEAMS Fall Girls’ Tennis Girls’ Volleyball Soccer Tackle Football Winter Basketball Squash Wrestling Spring Baseball Boys’ Tennis Lacrosse Softball Track and Field

Our Campuses Dyker Heights Our 25-acre campus in Dyker Heights gives our Middle and Upper School students a true Country Day experience— academics, arts, and athletics all in one place. Updated classrooms in our historic main building convey history and a connection to Poly students of the past while providing a modern and state-of-the-art educational experience.

A standalone science building offers Upper School students many lecture spaces and well-equipped labs. The Maker Space is home to many of Poly’s computer science classes, as well as our award-winning robotics team, esports team, and tech-focused clubs, such as Girls Who Code. A new Arts Center with 10,000 square feet of rehearsal space joins Poly’s professional 380-seat theater. Our athletics program boasts newly renovated outdoor spaces with baseball, football, soccer, and softball fields, plus a track. Indoors, we have three gyms, world-class squash courts, a performance fitness lab, weight training and sports medicine room, and batting cages.

Transportation Many Lower School families arrive at school by foot, scooter, bike, or car. Families who live more than a mile from the Park Slope campus have access to Poly’s eight-bus system.

At the Dyker Heights campus, 36 bus routes are available to get students to and from school. In the afternoon, students may choose the early bus at the end of the school day or the late bus if they remain on campus for after-school activities, rehearsals, or practices. Both afternoon bus routes are full service so students get home quickly.

There is no extra cost for using Poly buses.

Park Slope World-class facilities abound at our Lower School in a LEEDcertified Park Slope mansion. The Lower School campus offers large, sunny classrooms, a language room, science lab, technology room, visual arts, music, and dance studios, a gymnasium, and an ample playground area. Across the street is Prospect Park, both our backyard and a natural extension of our classrooms.

The Results of a Poly Education Our primary focus is fostering a fulfilling and enriching experience for our students throughout their time at Poly.

By prioritizing the holistic development of each student, encouraging exploration of diverse interests, and cultivating a rich academic environment and strong sense of community, Poly graduates depart as confident, capable, self-directed individuals who are well prepared to take advantage of everything college has to offer.

The College Process Students in Grades 9 through 12 each have a dedicated dean to support their success and happiness throughout high school. Starting in Grade 10, they begin to discuss life after Poly and take early steps toward college applications. As students progress toward applying in the fall of senior year, they have one-on-one support from their individual dean as well as the benefit of the whole team’s experience. The Upper School deans pool their collective knowledge and expertise to craft a list and strategy that works best for each student’s strengths, interests, and goals.

They share insights and shape their guidance to help students navigate the college admissions process and choose their next educational steps with care, ensuring that they are not only well-prepared and well-informed, but also ready to think about life after Poly with ambition and independence.

The College List The matriculation list below represents the colleges at which the Poly class of 2024 are continuing their education.

Bard College Bates College (2) Boston College Bowdoin College Brown University (2) Bucknell University (2) Chapman University (2) Claremont McKenna College Colby College Colgate University (5) Colorado College (2) Columbia University Cornell University (2) Dartmouth College Denison University (2) Duke University (2) Durham University (United Kingdom) Emory University (5) Fashion Institute of Technology Fordham University Furman University Georgetown University (2)

Gettysburg College Hampton University Harvey Mudd College Haverford College (2) IE University Madrid (Spain) Indiana University Bloomington (4) Kenyon College Lafayette College (3) Lehigh University (2) Middlebury College Mount Holyoke College Northeastern University Northwestern University (3) New York University (7) Oberlin College Occidental College Pepperdine University Pomona College Rhodes College Santa Clara University Skidmore College Smith College Southern Methodist University St. Lawrence University (2) Swarthmore College Syracuse University (6) Temple University The University of Texas at Austin

Trinity College (3) Tufts University (4) Tulane University University of Colorado Boulder (3) University of Connecticut University of Maryland (College Park) University of Massachusetts (Amherst) University of Miami University of Michigan (2) University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University of Notre Dame University of Oregon University of Pennsylvania (4) University of Southern California (2) University of Wisconsin (Madison) (4) Vanderbilt University Vassar College (2) Villanova University (4) Wake Forest University (2) Washington University in St. Louis Washington and Lee University Wellesley College Wesleyan University (3) William & Mary Williams College (3)

DYKE R HE IGHTS CAMPUS 1 Poly Prep Drive Brooklyn, NY 11228 PARK SLOPE CAMPUS 50 Prospect Park West Brooklyn, NY 11215