2018 Winter Bulletin

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WINTER 2018

590 East 83rd Street Topping Off, January 18, 2018 Jane Foley Fried on the 8th floor of the new schoolhouse, as the final beam was being raised to the highest point of the building.

BULLETIN

THE BREARLEY BULLETIN

610 East 83rd Street New York, NY 10028

NON-PROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE PAID PERMIT NO. 79 S. HACKENSACK, NJ

THE BREARLEY SCHOOL

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On the river, on East 83rd Street, we will be here.

Create a legacy for Brearley.

Incubator, proving ground, home. Brearley is a singular place that is all about the girls—who they are, what they are capable of, and what they can become.

When you include Brearley in your estate plans, you join a generous group of supporters who safeguard the Brearley experience for the girls of future generations.

For sample language to use in your will or trust, and further information, please contact:

Paper dolls decorated by the Lower School adorned the lobby walls of 610, in celebration of ONE WORLD ONE BREARLEY Festival of Cultures 2018. The biennial event, which is hosted by the Parents’ Association and was held on February 2, honored the cultural diversity of Brearley with an evening of displays, crafts, interactive workshops, performances and foods from around the world.

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Phoebe T. Geer ’97 Assistant Director of Development (212) 570-8609 pgeer@brearley.org

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CONTENTS VOLUME XCIII

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NUMBER 1

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Head’s Letter

No One Brearley Girl

Liz Eagle Baldwin ’76, Amanda Brenes-Pereira ’97, Kate 4

Burch ’98, Lynette Tompkins Engel ’80, Carolyn Goodman ’57, Martha Driskill Humphreys ’61, Rozella Kennedy ’81, Nadine Lehner ’05, Allison Pan ’02, Carla Valentine Pryne ’72, Dawn Simmons ’85 and Gwendolyn Steele Fortson Waring ’73 share their Brearley stories.

10 One Brearley Celebrations 12

610 News & Events

16

Milestones

20

Class Notes

THE BREARLEY SCHOOL BOARD OF TRUSTEES 2017–2018 Ellen Jewett ’77, President Carter Brooks Simonds ’95, Vice President Jocelyn Strauber ‘91, Secretary Noah Gottdiener, Treasurer

Christine Frankenhoff Alfaro ’91 Reza Ali Gideon Berger Nicholas C. Bienstock Kristen Chae Elizabeth Chandler Virginia Connor Joe DiMenna Jane Foley Fried Jane Gladstone ’86 Ivan M. Hageman Rebecca Haile Munib Islam

Head of School

Elizabeth Harpel Kehler ’79

Jane Foley Fried

Stephanie L. Perlman, M.D.

Editor

David B. Philip

Jane Newman

David Raso

Graphic Designer

Paula Campbell Roberts ’94

Jennifer Bartoli If you have any questions or comments about this magazine, please contact Jane Newman at jnewman@brearley.org or (212) 570-8588.

Modupe Akinola Robinson ’92 Terri J. Seligman ’78 Andrew K. Tsai

Honorary Trustees Follow Brearley on social media!

Georges F. de Ménil Evelyn Janover Halpert ’52 David T. Hamamoto Stephanie J. Hull

Cover art by Libby VanderPloeg

Alan Jones Caroline Kennedy ’75

Special thanks to Eric Antanitus, Ashley Garrett, Jordan Hollender, Elizabeth Mealey, Paul Schneck and members of the Brearley community for sharing photos with us.

Edward F. Rover John F. Savarese Priscilla M. Winn Barlow

Faculty Representative Debra Glick

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HEAD’S LETTER

Class K-3, December 2017

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CAMPUS PLAN

LETTER FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL

While There Is No One Brearley Girl, There Is Only One Brearley Each morning that I stand on the corner of East End Avenue and East 83rd Street to welcome all to the new school day, I marvel at the variety of interests, talents and backgrounds of our students. The image of them striding toward the iconic doors of 610 with a favorite book hugged to the chest, a lacrosse stick or violin slung over the shoulder, or a diorama or bake sale treat nestled in the crook of the arm remains with me through the day. At a time when many attend schools segregated by race or income, Brearley welcomes students who travel from neighborhoods across the city and beyond for a singular education for girls. Brearley’s student body is one of its greatest strengths. The ways our students learn from and inspire each other are inextricably aligned with our legacy as an institution that has redefined the way society thinks about girls’ potential and, perhaps more importantly, the way girls think about their contributions to the Brearley community and beyond.

So who is a Brearley girl? She can be small or tall, boisterous or quiet, Black or White, a leader from the front or behind, the first who will attend college in her family or the third generation of her family to attend Brearley. She may thrive in the athletic arena or favor the artist’s studio or the stage, and in some cases all three! It is this extraordinary collection of individuals who “people the program,” each contributing persistence, passion and performance to the various disciplines and co-curricular activities, as well as to the achievements of the whole.

And it is in this context that each student becomes a Brearley girl. Not only do our students want to be part of the learning process, they need to be. They display adventurous intellect in and out of class and an unusual degree of exuberance for contributing their ideas and effort to any endeavor. While many schools struggle with an attitude that is commonly known as students being “too cool for school,” Brearley girls naturally lean toward engagement—being part of something greater than themselves—and they are not shy about debating an opposing viewpoint and cheering others on. “Splendid nerdiness,” a term of endearment used to describe that essential quality of a Brearley girl, has stuck with me ever since a new member of the faculty offered it at a meeting.

Brearley girls love to learn!

Combining adventurous intellect and principled engagement in the world, we have Brearley. It is an institution that attracts girls of promise and offers a rigorous liberal arts education that is not often available to girls. How do we know we deliver on our promise? On the following pages alumnae across the decades share their stories—how they came to Brearley, what it meant and continues to mean to them, and how it has shaped their lives and contributions to the many communities to which they belong. All are individuals, all from a singular place.

Together, we are one Brearley!

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LYNETTE TOMPKINS ENGEL ’80

CAROLYN GOODMAN ‘57

NEW YORK, NY

LAS VEGAS, NV The Brearley School provided an educational foundation that has served me beyond well throughout my entire life. Initially, the education prepared me properly for matriculation through Bryn Mawr College and then graduate school.

The path that one chooses in life depends on many things: early experiences, seemingly insignificant experiences, and clearly important ones. As I reflect on my years at Brearley, a few moments stand out to me that I can categorize as turning points. In seventh grade, we read Great Expectations. I had always been a reader, but exploring this book opened my eyes to a new way of reading. I remember thinking this was different: a text that was “grown up” but that also appealed to my page-turning desire; a text where I wanted to talk about the plot as well as the themes—and I felt a profound shift in how and why I read. I am currently a seventh grade English teacher, and I strive to replicate this particular experience for my students. Later in Upper School, I took an interschool course entitled “Looking at the Dance,” taught by our beloved librarian, Kitty Cunningham. I had always been a lover of dance, but for me, dance meant ballet and nothing else.

Mrs. Cunningham opened my eyes to all kinds dance, and I saw movement in a different way. I was a professional dancer for 15 years.

It is difficult to know why we end up where we do, but I do like to think that I circled the world (dancing both in the United States and overseas) and ended up across the street teaching English at the Chapin School.

Thereafter and modeling after the Brearley program and curriculum, in 1984 I founded Nevada’s first and only pre-K through 12 not-forprofit, nonsectarian college preparatory school. From 1984 to 2010, 100 percent of our graduates earned four-year college placements and did so at many of the nation’s very finest colleges and universities, allowing the school to gain a reputation as one of the top independent schools in the nation. Simultaneously, I led a capital improvement program, first acquiring a donation of 40 acres for the campus and then raising the funds to develop (fully) the site, leaving the school entirely debt-free at my retirement in 2010.

I credit the Brearley’s education in large part for this success and also for preparing me for meaningful service to my community as I became mayor of the fabulous city of Las Vegas in 2011. Thinking critically and creatively as I did at the Brearley has benefited me each day since.

No one

Brearley girl.

OUR STUDENTS AND ALUMNAE PROVE AGAIN AND AGAIN THAT THERE

IS NO ONE

KIND OF BREARLEY

GIRL. IN THIS VERY NEW YORK SCHOOL, THE BREADTH OF INTERESTS, BACKGROUNDS, TALENTS AND ASPIRATIONS AMONG OUR STUDENTS IS AS VARIED AND VIBRANT AS THE CITY ITSELF. THE BEAUTY OF A BREARLEY EDUCATION IS THAT EVERY GIRL

HAS THE FULL FORCE OF THIS SINGULAR SCHOOL’S MISSION, PROGRAM, MENTORS AND PEERS BEHIND HER. EVERY GIRL HAS UNFETTERED OPPORTUNITY TO GROW INTO HER EXTRAORDINARY SELF, DEFINING WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A BREARLEY GIRL.

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MARTHA DRISKILL HUMPHREYS ‘61

NADINE LEHNER ‘05

NOXON, MT

PATAGONIA NATIONAL PARK, CHILE

In March 1957 I transferred from the eighth grade at Bryn Mawr School in Baltimore, MD, into Brearley’s Class of 1961. Aside from the excellent academics, athletics—including team competition—and exposure to the culture only in NYC, Brearley’s major benefit to the girl who graduates is empowerment, a modern word with over a century of meaning at 610 East 83rd.

I’ve heard it countless times: “How did YOU grow up in New York City?” In Chilean Patagonia, where I’ve worked most of the time since college, I sleep in a tent more often than a bed. You’ll find zero stoplights in the nearest town, but plenty of people riding their horses through the streets. Shoe choices: hiking boots or Crocs.

Un-New-York-ish as this existence looks, elements of Brearley have accompanied me on this wild journey.

We were endowed with the confidence that comes from knowledge, as well as the responsibilities of self-government. We held positions of responsibility leading to our belief in our own capabilities to do or be anything we were willing to work hard enough to accomplish.

As planned for women in my generation, I received my MRS degree one week after my BA from George Washington University in 1965. Marriage to a naval aviator meant that we moved so often my attempts at pursuing a career as opposed to a series of jobs were unsuccessful. However, those early years taught me that I was more effective working independently than trying to fit into any management structure—perhaps another legacy from Brearley.

Freelance writing for newspapers, magazines and print marketing allowed me to stay at home for the early years of raising three children.

After my husband’s duty transfer to Southern California, Hollywood beckoned with larger per word payments and a much larger audience in the media. Brearley’s influence in lifelong learning started my film writing/producing career from the contacts I made taking night classes in the business. As I was the only woman who wrote animation for television, my agent submitted my sample script using Marty, not Martha. I joined the Writers Guild union, and when we would go on strike, often husband and children joined me on the picket lines.

My education continued as I chaperoned every field trip each child took during his or her school years. Writer/producers had the luxury of working around family schedules.

At Brearley, I learned to seek out and emulate women following their convictions and charting their own paths. Eight years ago, I moved to Patagonia to work with entrepreneurs-turned-conservationists Doug and Kristine Tompkins to create new national parks, which now protect over 10 million acres in Chile and Argentina.

Kristine, former CEO of Patagonia, Inc., models empathetic leadership through challenging conditions. Her mentorship pushed my growth within the Tompkins organization and later propelled me to start my own wilderness and conservation education company, called Chulengo Expeditions.

Brearley gave us confidence that our ideas mattered and discipline to hone those ideas. Beginning in high school, I have sought out intersections, of one form or another, between outdoor travel and environmental commitments. For me, experiencing and caring for our world build on each other—although often, these practices exist in separate spheres. A year ago, I dove into an experiment that is Chulengo, aiming to use the wild landscapes protected through these new national parks as classrooms for inspiring connection to wild nature, grappling with the complexities of conservation and committing to work toward a healthier future. Daily, we face a comic range of challenges but I enjoy working on the frontier of fields I believe are essential. While Patagonia’s vast classroom of glaciers, grasslands and forests bears little resemblance to those of 610, I am grateful for how Brearley encouraged us to develop our ideas and chase them, however far afield.

Our class produced many successful Brearley women in all areas of our society. Whether we responded to the imperative or the challenge of the feminist movement, or simply wanted to realize a personal mission, the Brearley woman has fulfilled the potential of the Brearley girl in large part thanks to the benefits of our alma mater.

And yes! I had it all! Just not all at the same time.

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HEAD’S LETTER

ALLISON PAN ’02

GWENDOLYN STEELE FORTSON WARING ’73

ALEXANDRIA, VA

SAVANNAH, GA

Being a Brearley girl means that when people ask where I went to school, I often have to remind myself that they mean college and not high school! And while I’m proud of having attended all of my alma maters, Brearley is the only one that’s intrinsically tied to my sense of myself. Even now, after 11 years of active duty as an army intelligence officer and currently as a consultant with Deloitte, I find that Brearley is a larger part of my identity than just about anything else I’ve done.

I entered Brearley in sixth grade in 1966. I lived in Harlem and had attended public schools there. The summer before I began, I received a call at home from a girl, warning me, “Don’t go to the Brearley School, we don’t want you.” I wasn’t the only Black girl in the class in 1966, I later learned. There were two others who had attended since kindergarten. Were three Black girls a crowd?

At Brearley, I was privileged to be surrounded by brilliant, talented, awe-inspiring peers and faculty. They challenged me every day to be my best, and while that often meant late nights and lots of coffee, I’m very grateful for every moment of it. And while some may call Brearley a “sheltered place,” I’m glad that I was able to learn and grow in a space free from so many of the systemic challenges facing women outside of 610 East 83rd.

Brearley taught me that I have a voice and, more importantly, that it should be heard. Brearley taught me that my gender and sex are strengths, not weaknesses or limitations. Being a Brearley girl means that when I did graduate and go beyond those lovely doors, I knew what wrong was because I had lived the right—a world where girls are nurtured, encouraged to dream and to reach for those dreams, pushed toward civic responsibility and groomed for leadership.

And because of Brearley, I will never accept as normal a world where all girls are not given those things.

Over the years, my mother would often remind me that she was not raising a White girl, and that Brearley could not just force a square peg into a round hole. She encouraged me to be myself; in the sixties we did not articulate the term or the benefits of “diversity.”

I was not convinced for many years. I initially tried to assimilate, which did not work well. From attempted assimilation, I moved to militancy, I wore an Afro, I was “Black and proud.” We formed a Black student union and raised money to buy books “relevant” to our experience for the school library. Dear Mrs. Cunningham set aside a section for Black heritage books that we could easily access.

I was annoyed with my classmates’ constant queries about why the Black students talked in a different vernacular with each other, and annoyed that they always wanted to touch my hair.

The final stage of my evolution at Brearley was the appreciation that my Brearley experience had prepared me for the world. I was well educated, and bicultural (such that I could move in and out of the Black community with minimal criticism for “talking White” and I could successfully engage the majority culture). I was extremely well prepared when I attended Princeton. Who knew that someone who never took a math class again in life after Brearley could assist engineers at Princeton with their calculus!

Brearley prepared me, a girl from Harlem, to unquestionably believe that I could become a lawyer. Brearley also made me realize that I must fight for others who did not have the benefits that were afforded to me as a result of my Brearley experience. I have lifelong Brearley friends with both good and bad memories; friends who understand something of my evolution and who also become teary-eyed whenever we hear “Jerusalem” and “By Truth and Toil.”

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KATE BURCH ’98 NEW YORK, NY My Brearley education defined for me what it means to be “well educated,” something I have grappled with daily as a professional educator over the last 16 years. At Brearley this meant getting to think deeply in a classroom community of eager peers led by a master teacher. Our ideas as scholars were taken seriously from the youngest age. I still vividly remember a kindergarten science lab where we were given a battery, wire and lightbulb and were told to figure out for ourselves how they might work together. In fourth grade during “rest time” after lunch, we drew geometrically patterned rug designs inspired by the Muslim civilizations we were studying while our teacher read us the epic story of Beowulf.

Brearley’s blueprint of high-quality education left a deep impression that carries on in the new public high school I have gone on to design and lead, Harvest Collegiate High School, in New York City. At Harvest, our unofficial motto became “Every student is an intellectual” because in part I was emboldened by the notion taught at Brearley that once you know how to read, you can read anything. I am proud that the school I lead today serves 500 wonderfully diverse students who speak over 25 different home languages and come together from across our city to read a lot (an hour every day in addition to humanities courses); engage in deep theme-based courses like Artist as Chemist, Banned Books, Constitutional Law, Computer Game Design, Constitutional Law, Forensics, Nonviolence, and Love and Rage; and prepare for college and an active life of the mind.

AMANDA BRENES-PEREIRA ’97 NEW YORK, NY I started at Brearley in the seventh grade. Before that, I attended public school in Manhattan. My family chose Brearley for its outstanding reputation and the fact that it was an all-girls school. My mother is the daughter of immigrants, and the first person in her family to graduate from a college in the US. Throughout her college years, she worked as a nanny for a young girl who attended Brearley. This job proved particularly life-changing, and she felt that if she ever had a daughter, she would endeavor to provide her with the same quality education.

In the fall of 1991, despite the odds, this dream became a reality.

Initially, my transition to Brearley represented a drastic change in all aspects of my life that ultimately helped me to develop a set of character traits that empowered the woman I have become today.

These characteristics include perseverance, dedication, an endless love of learning and the confidence in my identity as a woman, to name a few.

Today I work in public health and advocacy services for women and children in underserved areas of New York City. I am most passionate about this work. It is gratifying and comforting to know that the work I do can positively influence the future of vulnerable populations. I am thankful to Brearley for providing an outstanding academic experience which allowed me to realize my full potential, and am delighted to share that my daughter Victoria joined Brearley in kindergarten and is now in seventh grade. I am forever grateful to Brearley for its many gifts to my family.

TELL YOUR BREARLEY STORY HOW DO YOU DEFINE WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A BREARLEY GIRL? CONTACT JANE NEWMAN​, BULLETIN EDITOR, JNEWMAN@BREARLEY.ORG • (212) 570-8588.

WE’D LIKE TO HEAR FROM YOU!

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HEAD’S LETTER

LIZ EAGLE BALDWIN ’76

DAWN SIMMONS ’85

MILLBROOK, NY

NEW YORK, NY

“Did you grow up on a farm?”

“No. I grew up in New York City. I went to Brearley.”

I started kindergarten at Brearley in the early 70s, right after the civil rights movement. My parents wanted my sister and me to attend a good school so I attended Brearley and my sister, Spence. I only thought of Brearley as being a predominately white girls’ school located downtown whereas I lived in Harlem. In my grade, there were only three African-Americans, including myself, until sixth or seventh grade. None of us had ever heard of or gone through programs which helped minorities get into school.

My aunt and two sisters went to Brearley before me. My aunt held the high jumping record for decades—up until the year I left, when one of my classmates finally broke it.

I left Brearley after ninth grade to go to boarding school. That’s what my sisters had done.

Then on to college. That’s what my siblings had done.

I wasn’t a pioneer. I was following the course. But really, I always wanted something different. Brearley had taught me that I could do anything. I could be anyone.

I don’t think my parents had being a farmer on their mind for me, but that’s what I became!

Dairy farming specifically. First in Maryland, then Wisconsin, finally, in Millbrook, NY, where I married the farmer who hired me. Now I had steered off the path! How could a woman, from NYC, be a dairy farmer? I was a Brearley girl—I could do anything.

Then I had children. Four children. Raised them on the farm, beside their parents. I homeschooled them. I wasn’t the first to do it, but it was very unconventional at the time.

Now, my youngest is in his final year at University of South Carolina.

My husband died in 2002. We had worked side by side for decades.

I needed to keep our farm going. I steered in another direction in 2010, selling raw milk from the farm. I’m not the first farmer to do it, but one of very few.

I’ve always been very proud to say I was a Brearley girl from NYC. I’m proud that Brearley gave me the courage to be a farmer, homeschooling mother, and business owner. All along, I seemed to be doing something that everyone else wasn’t doing, but, early on, Brearley taught me that I could do anything.

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Brearley was like a second home. I was a teacher’s pet to some and had many friends, but because I lived in Harlem I did not have most of them visit me as their parents didn’t want them traveling so far north “into the ghetto.” On Saturdays I attended dance and piano school in the Bronx. I stood out because the people in the neighborhood said I talked differently, or “proper.”

I left Brearley after seventh grade and enrolled in public school, when my family moved to Baltimore. Suddenly I had to sit at a specific table, go to the bathroom at a certain time, stay in line, and I couldn’t interact with kids from different grades or even different classes within my grade. I remember how challenging the change was, and I realized then how special my Brearley experience was. I learned through a lens of freedom at Brearley—education through freedom, responsibility through freedom, independence through freedom. Ever since, I have followed the Brearley model, as a parent and also when I was a schoolteacher; when children would ask me, “Where do I sit?” I would answer, “You sit wherever you’re comfortable.” Letting them decide allowed them to learn how to become responsible themselves.

For over 20 years, I have worked in Derivatives. To succeed in a corporate structure you have to be no-nonsense, get things done quickly and focus on your work to the point of being considered abrasive. Yet there’s the other side of me: I created an English and Breakfast program in Ghana, serve on a community advisory board at Harlem Hospital and worked with prisoners to create the book Letters to Our Sons to stop crime and mass incarceration. I attribute who I am and have become to my family and Brearley by Truth and Toil. Not only are Brearley girls smart and determined, they are fun and caring. I will speak to the queen down to the vagrant; Brearley stressed expression, being multifaceted, interacting with different kinds of people and having an open mind.

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CARLA VALENTINE PRYNE ‘72

ROZELLA KENNEDY ‘81

VASHON ISLAND, WA A Brearley education is a lifelong antidote to smallness of any kind. At Brearley, I first learned the virtues of respect, rigorous inquiry and wonder. As an Episcopal priest and the founding director of Earth Ministry, a nonprofit which explores the intersections between Christianity and the environment, and as a parent and a citizen, I have drawn upon what I learned there, and for that I am deeply grateful.

BERKELEY, CA

It was all about the teachers. Brearley teachers dove deeply, and insisted we do the same. Physics, literature, classics, history—for me, each was not merely a subject, but a journey of the soul.

I can trace several direct lines from the classrooms of 610 to my life’s work.

Reading a text deeply. Delight Tolles opened the worlds of Homer and Plato. Elizabeth Carpenter and Frances Taliaferro brought English and American literature to life. All three taught me how to probe texts and let their layers be revealed. As a priest and preacher, I spent 35 years probing ancient and modern texts deeply, and in the doing, knew a joy I learned first at Brearley.

Learning as wonder. In Upper School physics classes, each new experiment led to the next questions. I learned to delight in the night sky and the sweet symmetry of a daisy. Science was inseparable from curiosity, beauty and wonder.

Living the questions. In Miss Mitchell’s ethics seminar, we sat cross-legged on the floor and took on the big questions in the book of Job. She neither gave nor asked for answers. Instead, she encouraged inquisitiveness and debate. Miss Mitchell didn’t interrupt silence. Rather, she invited us to sit with the questions— Job’s, and our own.

What am I curious about? What gives me joy? What new thing can I learn? How can I give back? I can still hear the words from the book of Philippians, with which Miss Mitchell concluded every assembly: “Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”

To have gone to Brearley means, basically, everything. I was admitted to the school in sixth grade, after our neighborhood librarian in East Harlem noticed I was one kid who visited the place of my own volition.

(Would not have encountered a word like “volition” without the Brear!)

Going to Brearley literally changed every aspect of my life—educationally and socially, but also in terms of compassion, and I’ll say it, class.

Today, at age 54, I am a pretty adept and deliberate code-switcher; if not for my seven years at the Brearley and the way this experience teed me up for being the first college attendee in my family, and then graduate school and early adulthood in Paris (with a Parisian first husband no less!), I don’t know who or what I’d be today. But I think I’d be emptier, more incomplete, yearning and without agency.

What I have taken from my days at Brearley is that it is good to be kind. It is good to be inquisitive about life. It is good to be generous.

Your sisters are forever.

I’m a poster girl for equal opportunity! I was very lucky to go to Brearley in the 1970s, when that kind of societal jump from underclass to cultural/intellectual middle class was possible. I don’t think even a decade later it would have been as easy, if even possible.

I chose the path that I did after Brearley because I felt absolutely invested in it. Throughout the course of my life I have tried to give back professionally by working in nonprofits (and being better off financially than my family of origin but much less well off than many of my peers!), and socially/personally by giving love, energy and relational passion to almost everyone I meet.

Beatrice Thompson was my most influential teacher and gave me the best life advice. I will love her forever and I’m sorry I didn’t pursue painting past college, but there had to be some income in my life (and I wasn’t that good even if I won the Kunz Prize in 1981!). Thinking about all this makes me deeply moved. She instilled a love of art and artistic process that probably has some influence on the fact that I married a new-music conductor and live an artful adult existence. I also have a good sense of humor. I think our amazing, witty, quippy upbringing made us all a bunch of very fine women. I love this school and my community so very much.

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ONE BREARLEY CELEBRATIONS

One Brearley is who we are and is the touchstone for our ambitious fundraising campaign to build an expanded and more cohesive Brearley.

To launch the comprehensive​campaign, the Brearley community celebrated at the ONE BREARLEY Block Party in September (facing page), and in October our most generous champions gathered at the Whitney Museum for an evening of dinner and art.

With new initiatives in progress and the School’s extraordinary educational program to support, Brearley relies on sustained gifts through the Annual Fund and the Parents’ Association Benefit and welcomes endowed funds for core needs. In addition, with construction underway at 590 East 83rd Street and renovations planned for 610 East 83rd Street, Brearley seeks generous support to fund these critical capital projects.

To date, we have raised a combined $69 million toward our $100 million goal.

For more information, and to view images and videos, visit www.brearley.org/onebrearley.

together, we are one brearley.

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610 NEWS & EVENTS

Frances Riker Davis 1915 Award ALICE THOMAS ’84

Kellen Lobby Dedication SEPTEMBER 27, 2017

Administrators and trustees gathered with Marina Kellen French ’59 and her family to celebrate the recent naming of the Kellen Lobby at 610. Above right, from left: Marina French ‘59, Jane Foley Fried and Annabelle Garrett ‘91.

MILLER SOCIETY EVENT

Pursuing Equity and Building Community DECEMBER 4, 2017

Michelle Wonsley ’97, Chair, Miller Society (left), and Dr. Tanya Huelett, Director of Equity and Community Engagement, discussed ways that Brearley is building a more equitable and inclusive community for students, families, alumnae, faculty and staff.

Alice Thomas ‘84, the 2017 Frances Riker Davis Award recipient, spoke to Upper School students at the annual FRD Assembly on September 28, 2017. Alice, who has worked tirelessly in an area defined by the overlap of environmental issues, refugee protection and international law, delivered a riveting and powerful presentation that elicited many questions from the students.

Alice is the manager for the Climate Displacement Program at Refugees International, a Washingtonbased organization that “provokes action from global leaders to resolve refugee crises.” This innovative and unique program, which she heads, advocates on behalf of “climate refugees,” those populations facing displacement because of the adverse effects of climate change. Alice works to develop legal, policy and institutional solutions to address displacement and migration resulting from extreme weather and climate change.

To watch the video of Alice’s presentation, please visit the Video Gallery on the Resource Board of www.brearley.org.

The Frances Riker Davis 1915 Award recognizes Brearley alumnae for ongoing, dedicated service to the public good, as demonstrated professionally and/or through volunteerism. The award is given annually to an alumna who identifies a need, creates a solution and effects change, and whose unique efforts have made a significant impact on the lives of others over time.

R E C E N T LY P U B L I S H E D B O O K S B Y A L U M N A E

Ann Zinman Leventhal ’53

Deborah Gorham ’54

Martha Ryan Severens ’63

Nina Josefowitz ’68

Michele Gerber Klein ’68

Laura Foley ’75

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THANK YOU to the loyal and generous

alumnae, parents and friends who support Brearley each year through the Annual Fund.

Your gifts have a direct impact

NAIS PEOPLE OF COLOR CONFERENCE NOVEMBER 30–DECEMBER 2, 2017

Faculty, staff and students represented Brearley at the annual conference in Anaheim, California. The PoCC is the flagship of the National Association of Independent Schools’ commitment to equity and justice in teaching and learning. The Brearley contingent was among the nearly 6,000 attendees who came together to explore the theme of Voices for Equity and Justice Now and in Every Generation: Lead, Learn, Rededicate and Deliver.

on our students, teachers and every aspect of our program.

We appreciate the strong show of support from our community. To date, Brearley has raised $2.8 million, including more than $130,000 on #GivingTuesday (November 28, 2017). Thank you!

Send Us Your Submissions

Together, we can reach our

LOIS KAHN WALLACE BREARLEY WRITER’S AWARD Submissions are being accepted for the Lois Kahn Wallace Brearley Writer’s Award. The award, established in 1999 by the late Lois Kahn Wallace ’57, honors and encourages a Brearley alumna at the beginning of her career as a published writer, or the beginning of writing in a new genre. Adult fiction and nonfiction works are eligible, as are books for children and young adults.

The award is conferred approximately every two years and carries an honorarium. Please apply, or if you know someone who deserves the award, encourage her to apply. Please submit four copies of the work of your choice to Daryl Gurian Stern, Director of Events and Alumnae Relations, The Brearley School, 610 East 83rd Street, New York, NY 10028. If you have any questions, contact Daryl at (212) 570-8516 or dstern@brearley.org.

$3.5M goal before June 30.

Last year, 43% of alumnae and 99% of parents gave to BrearFor a list of past Lois Kahn Wallace and

ley through the Annual Fund—

Frances Riker Davis

every gift of any size counts,

award recipients, please

and is truly appreciated.

visit http://www.brearley. org/alumnaeawards.

Gifts can be made online at www.brearley.org/donate or by contacting Amina Holman, Annual Fund Director, at aholman@brearley.org or 212-570-8610.

Please send covers of your new books to classnotes@brearley.org.

Dawn Simmons ’85

Sibongile Boyd Ngako ’94

ANNUAL FUND

2017–2018

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610 NEWS & EVENTS

COLLEGE ALUMNAE VISIT DECEMBER 21, 2017

Brearley alumnae currently in college, Classes 2014–2017, returned to the School for the annual College Welcome Back Lunch, right before Winter Break.

ALUMNAE PANEL JANUARY 9 AND 11, 2018 Recent alumnae shared their wisdom and perspective with Classes XI and XII about the transition to college, and with Class X about making the most of Upper School. Above are members of the Class of 2016 speaking to Class X.

Elevator Ribbon Cutting Ceremony

DECEMBER 21, 2017

Members of the Class of 2017 joined together, pictured here with Ms. Fried, Mr. Byrnes, Ms. Segal and Ms. Guzman, as they celebrated their class gift, the Class of 2017 Elevator Fund, with a ceremonial ribbon cutting. The fund allows for technical and aesthetic improvements to the current elevators in 610. Thank you to all who donated.

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Save the Date!

ONE Amazing BREARLEY Reunion WHEN: Thursday, April 12–Saturday, April 14, 2018 WHERE: The ONE and only BREARLEY School WHO: All alumnae WHY: Because together, we are ONE BREARLEY www.brearley.org/reunion18 Celebrating classes: 1948 • 1953 • 1958 • 1963 • 1968 • 1973 • 1978 • 1983 • 1988 • 1993 • 1998 • 2003 • 2008 • 2013

ALUMNAE SURVEY

CALLING ALL ALUMNAE IN

The Alumnae Association’s 2017 Engagement Survey elicited a strong response with ​over 1​,​021 ​ participants​. A ​ lumnae p ​ rovided feedback on programming and communications as well as important demographic information. Members of the Alumnae Board are reviewing the data and will use it to inform the ongoing work of the Alumnae Association. We expect to report on the results in the Summer Bulletin, a ​ nd invite you to contact alumnae@brearley.org if you have questions or would like to update your Brearley record.​​Thanks to all who took the time to complete the survey!

SCIENCE The Science Department is looking to update its Alumnae in Science bulletin board with new or updated information. If you are involved in the sciences, we would love to include you. We are looking for short bios and photos of alumnae (or their work), which we will post on the 8th floor. We are grateful to everyone who submitted information five years ago and who has made our Alumnae in Science board so popular. If your life has changed since then or if you’d like to participate, please let us know what you have been up to. Contact Allison Patrick ’02 at apatrick@brearley.org for details.

610CONNECT EDUCATORS EVENT, JANUARY 18, 2018 Hosted by 610Connect, teachers, administrators, learning specialists and other alumnae in the educational field gathered at Brearley, where they shared ideas, personal experiences and advice and discussed issues of diversity and the current political climate of NYC schools.

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ALUMNAE, SHARE YOUR UPDATES! DO WE HAVE...

YOUR ADDRESS

YOUR EMAIL

YOUR PROFESSION

FOLLOW US FOR A LOOK INSIDE LIFE AT THE BREARLEY SCHOOL ALUMNAE HOMEPAGE: www.brearley.org/alumnae BREARLEY FACEBOOK PAGE: facebook.com/brearleyschoolnyc BREARLEY ALUMNAE FACEBOOK GROUP: facebook.com/groups/Brearleyalumnae INSTAGRAM: @brearleynyc TWITTER: @brearleynyc and @JaneJfried LINKEDIN: Visit www.linkedin.com and create a profile for free.

Search “Brearley Alumnae Group” and request to join.

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On the river, on East 83rd Street, we will be here.

Create a legacy for Brearley.

Incubator, proving ground, home. Brearley is a singular place that is all about the girls—who they are, what they are capable of, and what they can become.

When you include Brearley in your estate plans, you join a generous group of supporters who safeguard the Brearley experience for the girls of future generations.

For sample language to use in your will or trust, and further information, please contact:

Paper dolls decorated by the Lower School adorned the lobby walls of 610, in celebration of ONE WORLD ONE BREARLEY Festival of Cultures 2018. The biennial event, which is hosted by the Parents’ Association and was held on February 2, honored the cultural diversity of Brearley with an evening of displays, crafts, interactive workshops, performances and foods from around the world.

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Phoebe T. Geer ’97 Assistant Director of Development (212) 570-8609 pgeer@brearley.org

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590 East 83rd Street Topping Off, January 18, 2018 Jane Foley Fried on the 8th floor of the new schoolhouse, as the final beam was being raised to the highest point of the building.

BULLETIN

THE BREARLEY BULLETIN

610 East 83rd Street New York, NY 10028

NON-PROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE PAID PERMIT NO. 79 S. HACKENSACK, NJ

THE BREARLEY SCHOOL

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