Message from Head of School Larry Weiss

A Message From Dr. Larry Weiss, Head of School

Writing in the early months of my ninth and final year as Head of School at Brooklyn Friends, I wanted to share my thoughts on the future: What are some of the initiatives that BFS can take over the next several years to achieve its place as a sustainable premier institution of learning in downtown Brooklyn?

My answers concentrate on the concept of relationships — relationships that are already in the process of developing and, if well-nurtured, have the potential of moving our institution forward from the steady and successful platform of growth that we have achieved over the past decade.

The first important relationship, I believe, is with New York University, our neighbor on both Lawrence and Pearl Streets. The NYU Tandon School of Engineering in MetroTech is a dynamically thriving center of research and learning for 21st century technology and innovation. In a few short years applications to Tandon have doubled and the University has committed $500 million to its growth and development. At 370 Jay Street, adjacent to 375 Pearl Street, NYU is completing a massive 3-year renovation for CUSP, the Center for Urban Science and Progress. NYU-CUSP students undertake crucial research projects in transportation, energy, pollution, waste management, and citizen science. Additional collegiate programs in the arts and education will be housed in the building. The University’s dramatic and positive impact, right in our own backyard, offers BFS significant opportunities for collaboration, mutual benefit, and curriculum development.

There are other significant change factors in our neighborhood. Enormous capital investments are being made within a twenty-block radius of the school. Residential, corporate, commercial, cultural, arts and entertainment projects abound all around us. These new developments create significant opportunities to improve

the quality of life for the residents and institutions with which BFS maintains relationships through our successful and growing service learning and civic engagement programs.

Community partnerships can be deepened and accelerated by engaging with the developers, new families, and organizations in efforts to address the goals and expectations shared between new and current residents. Working with local leaders and investors, Brooklyn Friends School has the potential to be a catalyst in promoting inclusive, creative, social-justiceseeking engagements that can result in a better, thriving community for all involved. One initiative would be for BFS to form a “Board of Visitors” or other formulation used among colleges and some schools to support strategic initiatives. Whatever the chosen name, BFS needs to cultivate motivated, capable investors whose commitment to the institution’s capital sustainability arises from their long-term, multi-faceted, ongoing positive relationships with the school.

Another important relationship to be continuously nurtured and treasured is the Horizons at Brooklyn Friends program, which began in 2008. Horizons is now in its third year of full enrollment, with approximately 15 students at each level from Kindergarten to Grade 8, participating in a comprehensive summer program as well as taking advantage of elements of the BFS afterschool program during the academic year.

Most Horizons students and their families live within a mile of Brooklyn Friends in public housing in the Brooklyn Navy Yard area. A sustainable longterm relationship with Horizons has the potential of including Horizons scholars in the applicant pool for our Upper School. This would provide ongoing access to students and families that can broaden the reach and depth of our inclusion and equity enrollment efforts.

Finally, the most important of all relationships is with our current families (parents, grandparents, and students) and with our alumni families. These ties must continue to be cultivated and deepened in order to provide vital resources for the school’s long-term financial sustainability now that we have achieved more than 95% of our planned growth over the past decade. Upholding our significant financial aid commitments; continuously improving the educational program; and enhancing compensation and benefits for our outstanding faculty and staff — all of these require significant sustainable funding beyond tuition revenue and annual giving. To grow and to evolve our program and services to be the best that we can be as a school community necessitate substantial capital resources for general endowment and designated long-term strategic projects. Raising such capital requires investors; and a Board of Visitors, with investors from the BFS parent, grandparent, and alumni constituencies are important potential contributors to the future of BFS,

As we celebrate, in this issue of the Journal, the success of 150 years of Brooklyn Friends School, may we redouble our commitment to the present and the future of this extraordinary school.

In friendship,