K through Life

At the core of the Brearley experience is exceptional teaching and a deep curriculum

Brearley’s carefully planned curriculum engages students and their teachers in an intellectual exploration that makes school exciting. Classrooms, laboratories and studios brim with vigor and purpose as students strive for discoveries and reach for insights that will enhance their understanding of everything from electrical currents and game theory to Mandarin, King Lear, and the history of the Muslim world. Here, you are part of a warm and welcoming environment for girls who love to learn. For a full list of course offerings, see our Course of Study.

Middle School

Classes V–VIII

Lower School

K–Class IV

In Lower School, students focus on problem-solving skills, the expression of ideas and character development, along with the acquisition and exploration of a language base.

T H E C U R R I C U LU M I N C LU D E S Language Arts Mathematics Social Studies Science Work and Play Respect and Responsibility Library Art Crafts Music Physical Education Service Learning Mandarin Technology Composition Carpentry Health & Wellness: OWL (Our Whole Lives) In Middle School, each girl is encouraged to develop a sense of her strengths as she learns new material and masters new intellectual, social, emotional and physical skills. Recognizing not only the individual needs of each student but also the fact that those needs change from year to year, the program includes a progression of growing responsibility and independence.

T H E C U R R I C U LU M I N C LU D E S English Mathematics History Science French Mandarin Spanish Reading and Writing Skills Drama Music Studio Art Library Technology Physical Education Latin Writing Workshop Public Speaking Health & Wellness: OWL (Our Whole Lives)

Upper School

Classes IX–XII

The Upper School represents the final stage in a program that develops a student’s confidence in herself and in her growing skills in many disciplines. Its rich and vigorous academic, athletic and artistic curriculum is centered in a strong community that supports students in their self-discovery and produces resourceful young women who are prepared to find their places at college and in the world outside of Brearley.

English Baldwin, Bishop, Chaucer, Chekhov, Donne, Faulkner, Fitzgerald, Gogol, Hawthorne, Hurston, James, Lahiri, Larkin, Lowell, Melville, Morrison, Pushkin, Rushdie, Shakespeare, Thoreau, Tolstoy, Turgenev, Twain, Wharton, Woolf

Mathematics Geometry, Algebra II, Calculus, Advanced Calculus, Linear Algebra, Interschool Math, Interschool Game Theory

History 20th-Century World History, U.S. History, The Atlantic World, China and Japan, Modern European History, History of Warfare, History of World Art, Modern Latin America, Law, Economics and Public Policy,

Science Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Environmental Sustainability, Computer Science and Programming, Columbia Science Honors Program, Science Research Seminar, Advanced Biology, Advanced Chemistry, Advanced Physics Modern Languages French, Mandarin, Spanish

Classics Latin, Greek

Studio Art Drawing, Mixed Media on Paper, Oil Painting

Music Vocal Technique and Literature, Chamber Music / Orchestra, Instrumental Techniques, Music Performance

Drama Craft, Production, Playwriting

Health & Wellness OWL (Our Whole Lives)

Physical Education Junior Seminar Senior Seminar

Special Upper School programs • Columbia Science Honors Program • Brearley Science Research Seminar • Interschool advanced math courses • Health & Wellness: OWL (Our Whole Lives) • Semester programs at the Mountain School program of Milton Academy and the Maine

Coast program of the Chewonki Foundation • School Year Abroad in France, Spain,

Italy or China • Summer study with Brearley faculty in

India or China • Independent Senior Spring Project • Civil Rights trip to Alabama