Horizons at Brooklyn Friends School
Brooklyn, New York (visit website)

Now in its second year of operation, Horizons at Brooklyn Friends School (BFS) is in in full swing with 29 children in the first and second grade.  The program, located in downtown Brooklyn, serves children from Public Schools 307, 287, and 46 who live in the Farragut, Ingersoll, and Whitman public housing neighborhoods.

We work very closely with the principals of the public schools, who sit on the Horizons Board, with the public schools' parent coordinators and with the students'  teachers. This ensures a smooth recruitment and screening process and seamless coordination in using the same pedalogical language in monitoring progress and providing consistent intervention. This collaborative relationship is evident on all levels including: 1, the assessment skills sheet we created that was used by public school teachers to identify the skill needs of each child that they would like Horizons teachers to focus on during the summer and 2:  a similar form that the Horizons teachers will be using this summer to complete and give back to the public school teachers and the parents with work done and progress made.

Program Schedule

Mornings are devoted to meeting time, recreation on the school's rooftop playground, work in reading groups and math games. Children are divided into reading groups based on pre, mid, and post assessments using DIBELS through Wireless Generation. As a result of a recent grant received through Horizons National, our new reading specialist is able to work closely with children who are in need of intervention.

This year’s program enrichment components include the following, most of which are provided in-kind by neighborhood organizations or volunteers:
    Swim instruction three afternoons a week at the nearby Long Island University pool
    Dance class two afternoons with a professional dancer from the Mark Morris Dance Group 
    Ceramics Instruction one afternoon a week
    Computer class two afternoons a week

In addition, children go on weekly field trips. This year’s trips include the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, the Brooklyn Audubon Center (fishing contest), Staten Island Children’s Museum, and the Brooklyn Children’s Museum. More than 15 volunteers will have worked in the Horizons program this summer, many of whom are returning volunteers. Volunteers are parents from Brooklyn Friends School (BFS), students and former BFS students, and neighborhood youth from local schools. In essence, children at Horizons are given an eight-year comprehensive intensive private school education, as well as enrichment opportunities, which aim to boost their love of learning and prevent them from sliding academically during the summer months. Together with the families and their public school teachers, our teachers and volunteers, and the neighborhood organizations that give of their facilities and program, we can make a difference.



Brooklyn Friends School
375 Pearl Street

Brooklyn, New York  11201

Co-Executive Directors: Taunya Black and Rachel Webber

(718) 852-1029 x255

tblack@brooklynfriends.org

rwebber@brooklynfriends.org