Brooklyn Friends School has operated continuously for 157 years, making it one of New York City’s oldest independent educational institutions. Founded in 1867 by the Religious Society of Friends, the school opened with 17 pupils in the Brooklyn Monthly Meetinghouse at 110 Schermerhorn Street.
Today, the institution serves 705 students from ages two through 12th grade across two downtown Brooklyn campuses.
The school’s longevity reflects its ability to maintain core Quaker principles while adapting educational methods to contemporary needs. Head of School Crissy Cáceres, who joined in 2019, emphasizes this balance. “For 157 years, Brooklyn Friends School has existed in the Brooklyn landscape, constantly responding within the cultural, socio-political, economic, and geographic conditions of this vibrant borough,” Cáceres stated. “Throughout it all, our center has been our Quaker identity, and we have strived to embody and realize Quaker principles within all aspects of our existence.”
Historical Foundation and Growth
Brooklyn Friends School expanded systematically throughout its history. The institution added kindergarten in 1902 and established its high school division in 1907. A preschool program launched in 1985, followed by a Family Center in 1992 to serve toddlers and younger children.
The school relocated from its original meetinghouse to a larger facility at 375 Pearl Street in the early 1970s, occupying a building that formerly housed Brooklyn Law School. This seven-story structure now accommodates the Early Childhood, Lower School, and Middle School programs, while the Upper School operates from a separate facility at 116 Lawrence Street in the Metrotech Center.
Three-Pillar Educational Framework
Brooklyn Friends School organizes its contemporary mission around three core pillars that guide curricular and operational decisions:
Diversity, Equity, and Belonging forms the first pillar, with the school working to “center equity, community, wholeness, imagination, learning and justice in authentic ways through the collective responsibility we all hold in our hands”.
Global Social Impact serves as the second pillar, led by Director Kevin Murungi. This program aligns with the school’s strategic vision “For BFS, For Brooklyn, For the World,” emphasizing students’ roles as change agents in local and international contexts.
Wholeness and Well-being completes the framework, focusing on ensuring “students and colleagues are healthy and thriving” through integrated wellness curricula and professional development for faculty.
These pillars inform “every curricular decision that is made within the school, every professional development that is infused into the core of the colleague body,” according to Cáceres. She notes that professional development extends to all staff members because “everybody is in service to the needs of children.”
Academic Structure and International Baccalaureate
Brooklyn Friends School divides its student body across four learning communities. Early Childhood serves ages two through four with a “rich child-centered curriculum that supports children’s learning styles and developmental readiness”. Lower School encompasses kindergarten through fourth grade, emphasizing project-based learning and student ownership of the educational process.
Middle School extends from fifth through eighth grades, combining traditional academics with visual and performing arts while preparing students for Upper School’s rigorous curriculum. The Upper School offers college preparatory education for grades nine through 12, including the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program for juniors and seniors.
Brooklyn Friends School is one of only two Brooklyn institutions offering the IB program, which emphasizes critical thinking over memorization and prepares students for college-level study. The program includes six academic areas plus three core requirements: Theory of Knowledge, Extended Essay, and Creativity-Activity-Service components.
Quaker Values in Contemporary Context
The school maintains its commitment to Quaker principles summarized by the acronym SPICES: Simplicity, Peace, Integrity, Community, Equality, and Stewardship. These values guide daily practices including weekly Meeting for Worship, where the entire school community gathers in silence and students may speak if moved to do so.
Cáceres describes the school’s approach to honoring tradition while remaining current: “Somehow people think connecting to Quakerism means continuing to repeat all elements of the past. It’s almost like Little House on the Prairie. They just remain that way. Absolutely not. If that were true, I wouldn’t be head of Brooklyn Friends School, number one, if we were still owning to the Quakerism of the past.”
The school formally ended its affiliation with the New York Quarterly Meeting in 2010, becoming an independent Quaker institution while maintaining governance requirements that half the board of trustees be Quakers.
Vision for Global Impact
Brooklyn Friends School’s mission operates across three concentric circles of influence, beginning with improving the school itself, then serving the Brooklyn community, and finally contributing to global education. Such scaffolded planning allows the institution to “build upon its already solid foundation and expand its impact gradually, maximizing its potential to effect positive change at distinctive levels.”
The global focus includes international exchanges and study trips, with recent programs taking students to Ghana and Washington, D.C. for experiential learning about civil rights history. Students also participate in the Social Justice Incubator, a program supporting student-designed projects addressing issues from food insecurity to healthcare access.
“If we want to be global changemakers, we must start with ourselves,” Cáceres concludes.
