POLY UPPER SCHOOL
THE POLY EXPERIENCE: VITALITY, ENGAGEMENT, AND PURPOSE Why choose Poly? Academic excellence. Diversity. Arts. Athletics. The reasons are as multi-faceted as the student body and as diverse as Brooklyn itself. All begin, however, from a shared desire to enable students to live a life of purpose and meaning, in high school and beyond. How do we do it? In the Upper School, we begin by recognizing each student as an individual whose natural curiosity and energy are the foundations of holistic education, and whose desire to find a place in the world deserves the best tools and pathways we can provide.
Join us in our journey. Together, we will prepare and inspire the next diverse generation of leaders and global citizens to act with intelligence, imagination and, above all, character.
Academic Excellence Poly’s Upper School curriculum challenges students to move beyond their existing assumptions and understandings, celebrate the creative tension that differences generate, and hone critical thinking and communication skills that will serve them throughout their lives. Our academic departments offer students a wide range of experiences unified by a commitment to diversity of perspectives, problem-solving, hands-on inquiry, and the pursuit of intellectual excellence. Literature How do writers interpret and represent the human experience across time, space, and context? History How does our understanding of the past influence our understanding of ourselves? Science How do we marshal natural law and our own ingenuity to understand the science in and of, well, everything? Math How do we solve the mathematical puzzles that are everywhere around us and, in solving them, empower ourselves to see the world anew? Computer Science How do we develop the next generation of tools for communication, collaboration, and creativity? World Languages How do languages become part of who we are, enabling us to develop cross-cultural competence, personal courage and an intrepid, considerate approach to our neighbors near and far?
The Country Day School Experience Why do Poly students happily stay at school so late? Because at Poly, we have—since our origin—redefined the meaning of school. School is not a way station to life; it is life itself. And the life of our day school is multifaceted, vibrant, and always interesting. Students stay on campus in order to continue and extend their learning beyond the classroom—in clubs, athletic activities, rehearsals, art studios, and in building relationships among themselves and with their teachers. Because real life is where we are, right here, right now.
Arts Since prehistoric times, humans have been compelled to express themselves through art. But what is art and how do we both understand and interrogate it, across the millennia and in the present? At Poly, students are encouraged to tap into their own powers of artistic perception and creation. Our outstanding visual and performing arts faculties and beautiful performance and exhibition spaces inspire students to leap into acts of artistic expression as varied and unique as they themselves are, and through art, to understand our common humanity. ARTS OFFERINGS • Speech and Debate • Ballet • Hip-hop • Jazz • Musical theater • Modern and world dance • Music theory • Concert Choir • A Cappella
• Concert Band • String Chamber Ensemble • Jazz Band • Set and costume design • Backstage management • Art history • Art theory and criticism • Painting and Drawing • Ceramics
Athletics Ancient peoples understood the nexus of mind and body. Here at Poly, we celebrate it with a robust athletic program which challenges students to be their individual best even as they collaborate and compete in teams. Sportsmanship, discipline, resilience, humility, and strategic thinking are as important on the fields and courts as they are in our classrooms. Our student-athletes exemplify our school values in setting personal goals and working vigorously to accomplish them. Led by a Head of Athletics who is a three-time Olympic coach, Poly’s dedicated and talented athletic faculty have built a personalized, supportive educational environment by modeling commitment, integrity, and determination to succeed. ATHLETICS OFFERINGS • Baseball • Basketball • Crew • Cross Country • Fencing (club) • Football • Golf • Hockey • Indoor Track and Field • Lacrosse
• Outdoor Track and Field • Soccer • Softball • Squash • Swimming • Tennis • Ultimate • Volleyball • Wrestling
N U RTU R I N G TH E N E X T G E N E R ATI O N O F LE A D E RS
Poly’s Institute for Ethics and Leadership Character education has been a feature of our mission since the school’s founding in 1854. Today, our commitment to educate individuals whose integrity and ethics guide them in everything they do finds expression not only in our classrooms, but also in Poly’s Institute for Ethics and Leadership. IfEL is comprised of four pillars which function both individually and collectively: • Community engagement • Diversity, equity, and social justice • Sustainability • Well-being Each pillar is represented by cutting-edge curriculum and programming that actively engage students in the work of building a better world. Led by its expert directors, IfEL’s work underscores how interdependent individual, communal, and environmental well-being are, and how dependent we all are on the next generation of leaders to craft ingenious solutions to our most vexing problems.
E N GAG I N G WITH OU R WO R LD, AT H O M E A N D B E YO N D
Curricular Travel Our progressive pedagogies and curricula set the stage for exciting curricular travel opportunities that allow students to reinforce their learning on the ground and in the field. Trips to the American South, the Navajo Nation, Martinique, Argentina, the battlefields of World War I, Italy, Spain, and Cambodia (among others) invite 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.
TH E WE LL- LIVE D LI F E
The Student Experience The Poly student is busy. Active, inquisitive, and empathic, our students seem to have endless stores of intellectual and personal energy. The community they inhabit—and create—is characterized by demanding courses and extracurricular activities; supportive teachers, coaches, and deans; and countless opportunities to engage with each other and the world. At assemblies, they come together to share their stories and hear the stories of others. In Student Government-led forums, they debate and disagree with inspiring honesty. In student publications, they share their interpretations and test out their ideas. In affinity groups, they discover the strength and affirmation that allow them to go out into the world newly confident and supported. Rarely are they content to be defined by one activity or interest. They are distinctly Poly kids with a distinctly Poly vibrancy. They are tomorrow’s leaders, learning today to balance their needs with those of others, to take responsibility and grow from their mistakes, to organize their tasks and their lives effectively, and to care for themselves, their peers, and their natural environment.
UPPE R SCH O O L D E A N S
Support, Guidance, and Relationships Our students are supported by a unique dean system deliberately structured to provide each student and family highly individualized guidance throughout their Poly journey. Deans help students design an academic program that best reflects each student’s interests and needs, including four-year college planning aimed at ensuring students the best possible preparation to matriculate to the colleges and universities of their choice. In addition to their individual work with students, our talented dean team pools its expertise to guarantee students a positive and successful high school experience.
Senior Plan After four years of instruction in a variety of academic disciplines, each Poly student has the opportunity to explore—deeply and methodically—an independent interest and/or question. Senior Plan, our capstone project, occupies students during the final semester of their senior year. Working in classes led by faculty experts in STEM, humanities, or artistic topics, students undertake an intensive independent research project that culminates in a public demonstration of their findings or an original creative piece. Past Senior Plan projects have interrogated notions of beauty, sports ethics, topical international issues, including terrorism and migration, the evolution of the fairy tale, and media representations of female politicians. Others have resulted in original art installations, novellas, dance performances, and theater productions. Invariably, students tell us that the Senior Plan experience was a meaningful and empowering culmination of their Poly career. The faculty who advise and guide them in the process routinely express gratitude for the role reversal they have witnessed: our students have become our teachers.
What’s Your Poly Dream? Is it to... Write a sonnet? Break an athletic record? Test scientific hypotheses as part of an independent research project? Understand why the writings of Plato, Shakespeare, and Du Bois still resonate? Broaden your understanding of the world? Of yourself? Forge lifelong friendships? Learn to debate with people who disagree with you? Study with teachers and coaches whose love of their discipline is infectious? Start a club that represents your beliefs and passions? Mentor other students? Serve on Student Government? Sing your heart out in one of our musicals? How about all of the above? If vitality, engagement, and purpose appeal to you as worthy features of a life well lived, join our community of learners. A Poly education is a joyful, rigorous, life-changing experience.
Lower School 50 Prospect Park West Brooklyn, NY 11215 718-768-1103
Middle & Upper Schools 9216 Seventh Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11228 718-836-9800