Great Things Are Happening!

Great things are always happening at Bay Ridge Prep.

Here's just some of the latest great things at our school...

 

 

FEBRUARY 2010

STUDENT-ATHLETES NAMED TO PSAA ALL-DIVISION TEAMS: Laura Barclay '13, Anthony DeLuca '13, and Calla Perkins '12, have been named to their respective PSAA All Division teams for this basketball season!  Barkley was named to the PSAA All Division Girls Varsity team, while DeLuca was named to the Junior Varsity Boys team and Perkins was named to the Junior Varisty Girls team.  Check out the news release here, which includes a statement from Athletic Director Tony Campbell. 

LOWER SCHOOL CHESS CHAMPIONS:  Congratulations are in order for a few of our Lower School students who competed in the 44th Annual Greater New York Elementary Chess Championship at the New Yorker Hotel on January 31.  Alec Bulkin '19, Justim Kim '18, Alexander Pellitteri '18, and Erica Pye '17, all worked together to help Bay Ridge Prep win third place in the junior varsity competition.

SMART BOARDS ARRIVE!  We started receiving our shipment of SMART Boards and will begin installing them throughout the 81st Street and 74th Street buildings during the week of February 22.  We anticipate having over 10 "SMART" classrooms set up by the end of March.

CLASS OF 2010 RECEIVES OVER $600K IN SCHOLARSHIPS!  Bay Ridge Prep's seniors have received $600,000 in scholarships to colleges and universities!  Click here for a list of the most recent acceptances and continue to check that link to see the most recent scholarship total!

NYSAIS ACCREDITATION UPDATE:  Bay Ridge Prep has been approved as a fully accredited member of the New York State Association of Independent Schools (NYSAIS).  While this accreditation process was optional, obtaining the accreditation is a confirmation that Bay Ridge Prep has met the high standards of this organization.  Benefits of being accredited by NYSAIS include increased professional development for our faculty and staff, guidance to our administration on the latest educational practices and legislation, opportunities for our students to participate in more academic and extra-curricular activities with more independent schools in New York State, and greater chances to receive educational grants and matching fund contributions from corporations and foundations.  Thanks to all who helped us reach this milestone in the history of our school!

HELP FOR HAITI CONTINUES:  Our school community has responded to the call for help in Haiti. Money raised has been contributed to the Red Cross and to a fund providing assistance to Haitians who would like to provide proper burials to victims of the earthquake. Students continue to raise money for the relief effort. The newly formed Middle School Student Council Committee held a bake sale on February 12 and raised an additional $200 for earthquake relief.

MEDIEVAL CRAFT PROJECTS A SUCCESS!  Just before school let out for our winter recess back in December, tenth grade students completed their Medieval Craft projects.  The project has students build, from scratch, every day items that were used in medieval times.  Celina Greene, '12, completed a beautiful 14th century gown and modeled it for the class as part of her medieval seamstress project.  Check out a picture of her project here.

 

JANUARY 2010

• The Physics of Amusement Parks is now on display in the High School Library. Senior physics students researched, designed and built scale replicas of a variety of rides, including roller coasters, water slides, Ferris wheels and swing rides.

• The spirit of Allen Ginsberg was alive and well recently when some eighth grade language arts classes created a 1960s coffee house complete with students dressed as beatniks who snapped their fingers to readings of both original and quoted poems.

• Twelve students and faculty members make up this year's guitar building club at the High School. They've designed their own guitars based on either traditional designs or customized ideas. Nearly all students have completed cutting their self-drawn guitar bodies from their block of wood and are in various stages of the sanding/shaping/painting process. We expect to have 12 working electric guitars by late spring! Stay tuned (pardon the pun) for updates!

• On Fridays in winter, fifth graders and up participate in clubs. Two new clubs started this year: The Robotics club, which utilizes the LEGO robotics system, has students building robots and learning to program them to do specific tasks. Another club, the Flight Simulator Club, was started and is run by students. This club teaches participants how to fly airplanes on Microsoft flight simulators.

• Despite the cold, first graders toured Third Avenue last week as part of their study of community jobs. At the Mediterranean food shop they saw big bins of fruits and nuts and were each given a sugared almond. At the dry cleaners, they saw a beautiful old sewing machine, as well as some interesting machines for repairing shoes. Because of the kindness of these merchants, they were able to experience firsthand the sense of human connection that is so key in a community. The students responded to the walk by adding to their pictures of Third Avenue and writing about what they saw. These responses are hanging in their classroom, so please take a look when you're able.

• The seventh and eighth grade theater workshop students will be presenting their annual "Melodrama Matinee" series during lunch periods on Wednesday - Friday, January 27-29 in the Lower/Middle School Auditorium. Bring your lunch and enjoy some student-written skits. Their theme this year is "seriously silly."

• Stop by the office at 81st Street to see the huge Turkey Trot 2009 photo collage donated by the Burns Family (Alex, Gr. 3). Thank you to Alex and his family. While you're there, also check out the "Chess Gladiators in Action" photo display featuring shots of Lower School chess players in action.