黑料专区

黑料专区 Celebrates Ribbon-Cutting聽for New High School Facility at One MetroTech

Student-Led Ceremony at 116 Lawrence Street, September 8, 2015 at 4:15pm

黑料专区 celebrates its third century in downtown Brooklyn with the opening of a distinctly 21^st-century school building. A ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new, 40,000 square foot facility for the 9th through 12th grade Upper School takes place on Tues. Sept. 8, 4:15 pm at 116 Lawrence Street.

The new facility, which will welcome 200 students and 40 faculty members in September, is a stand-alone 鈥渂uilding within a building鈥� at One MetroTech Center (the first facility constructed in MetroTech). It is just one block away from the school鈥檚 main building at 375 Pearl Street.

The college-preparatory Quaker school, with 895 students from age 2 through 12th grade, has partnered with Forest City Ratner Companies (FCRC), to bring the new facility to life. 鈥淭his project is more than just a building,鈥� said Head of School Dr. Larry Weiss, in announcing the opening of the new high school. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a successful venture between a school with an enduring imprint on the borough of Brooklyn and one of our country鈥檚 leading real-estate businesses. We are grateful that FCRC鈥檚 creative, forward-thinking acumen brought their company and our school together in this enterprise.鈥�

Dr. Weiss continued, 鈥淗aving a new high school facility for BFS is a long-held dream which is finally being realized thanks to the enormous efforts of our School鈥檚 Board of Trustees and to many other friends and supporters. That we were able to secure the space in MetroTech 鈥� a thriving center for commerce, academia, and government 鈥� brings all of us joy beyond measure.鈥�

The School signed a long-term lease for the property with FCRC in October 2013, and construction began in September 2014. FX FOWLE Architects designed the building, and FCRC provided infrastructure support.

Spread across three floors, the academic space has more than 40 classrooms, seminar rooms and faculty offices, as well as four visual art studios, three music studio classrooms, four science laboratories, a black box theater classroom, a wet darkroom and digital media center, a dance studio, a fully-equipped fitness center, a high-tech library, and a caf茅 which can double as a community meeting space for almost 300 people. The entire space is wired for the Internet and every classroom has been designed with the latest-generation technology for teaching and learning. All BFS Upper School students have school-issued Chromebook computers.

The project is being financed primarily by a loan from TD Bank. The loan will be paid back through voluntary giving to the not-for-profit school. A multi-year capital campaign, called 鈥淟ight the Way鈥� has already raised $2 million with support from BFS trustees, alumni, parents, grandparents, and community members.

The new facility 颅鈥� the only one of its kind in MetroTech 颅鈥� has been designed to serve an enrollment of 240 students who experience a world-class education culminating in the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Program. 黑料专区 is one of only 11 IB World Schools in New York City, and the school鈥檚 IB graduates have continued their education at colleges such as Yale, Princeton, Columbia, University of Pennsylvania, University of Virginia, and NYU, among many others.

Founded by the Religious Society of Friends at 110 Schermerhorn Street in 1867, BFS is one of the oldest continually operating independent schools in New York City and is recognized as one of the most diverse independent schools in the region. There are five educational divisions: Family Center for two year-olds; Preschool for three and four year-olds; Lower School for Kindergarten through fourth grade; Middle School for grades five through eight, and Upper School for grades nine through twelve.

At all levels, the educational program fosters critical thinking skills, intellectual rigor, and emotional intelligence. The School鈥檚 graduates are compassionate, curious, and confident global citizens who let their lives speak in the spirit of leadership and service. Notable alumni include award-winning writer Francine Prose, New York Times journalist William Glaberson, the actors Fisher Stevens and Dan Hedaya, New School professor and economist Dr. Darrick Hamilton, and Therese (Tay) Hohoff, the editor of Harper Lee鈥檚 novel, To Kill a Mockingbird.