The Brooklyn New School, PS 146, which was founded in 1987 is a public “choice” school located at 610 Henry Street in Carroll Gardens. It offers Pre-K through fifth Grade (with 4 Kindergarten classes), with a current enrollment of approximately 666 children. The average class size in lower grades is 25 and in higher grades 32 students. They also have an ICT class on every grade. The school shares the building with its sister school, The Brooklyn School for Collaborative Studies, Grades 6-12.
The school does not follow the Common Core standards and opts out of standardized testing overall. The school has developed its own inquiry-based curriculum. It has an experimental learning philosophy that goes along with narrative student reports versus number grades. Each grade has a subject they study throughout the school year and during field trips. Examples:
- Pre-K: The forest with biweekly forest school
- Kindergarten: The water with biweekly shore school
- Second Grade: Geography and bridges of New York City with biweekly field trips
Students also go on camping trips for 3 days in Grades 3, 4 and 5 and learn how to make a fire without matches.
The school has a makers’s space with 3-D printer, arts room, student kitchen, a shared gym as well as a shared library, 2 music rooms and more. The school also features a school garden and a chicken farm. They use the nearby playground for recess. Students go outside at least once a day. There are no gender specific bathrooms, all bathrooms are “student bathrooms”.
Cluster classes like gym, music (vocal and instrumental) and Spanish are taught at least once a week in all grades. Computer is taught in Grades 1 and 2. Technology is available for 5th Graders currently, the school is planning to expand it into 4th Grade in the future. Homework starts in Grade 2.
At the core of the school’s mission is a racial and socio-economic balance as well as a learning experience of children from very different skill levels and very different life experiences. Therefore, Brooklyn New School is piloting a new admissions policy designed to help foster diversity within the school. The DOE will prioritize students eligible for Free and Reduced Price Lunch. The school does not have a school zone. It is a lottery school open to Districts 13, 14, 15 and 16. The school has school buses in place mainly for District 13 and 15.
When you go on a school tour, 5th Graders guide you through the school in small groups and share their personal insight and experience. Open houses will take place on December 7, January 12, January 26, February 15, March 16 from 9 am to 10.30 am as well as February 28 from 6 to 7.30 pm. No need to RSVP but check again on the school’s website for details.
To find out more about un-zoned and Charter schools in our neighborhood, download our Charter and Choice School guide now.
