A Middle School with Boys In Mind
A boy's middle school years are crucial because the speed and intensity of adolescent brain growth is second only to the early childhood years. While experiencing learning with increased depth and relevance, boys are also developing more meaningful friendships and are able to have more agency over their lives. The 5th - 8th grade years require an education that is tailored to boys' changing bodies and brains by offering them a challenging yet supportive program both inside and outside the classroom. Leadership opportunities abound, and our boys visualize the young men they can become as they look up to our Upper School students. The Browning School offers an environment where your boy can be himself, and he will thrive in a community that recognizes that relationships are the center of educational success.
Who do you want your boy to be?
Middle school is a time of exploration and development of new passions. At Browning, in addition to strong academics, we have many opportunities for boys to create a well-rounded extracurricular experience.
Does your boy want to:
Serve on the student government?
Play on a winning sports team?
Try his hand at Shakespeare?
At Browning, your boy can do all that and more!
Schedule a time to talk to someone about joining our community.
Boys the World Needs
Problem Solvers
Our boys are provided with hands-on learning, engagement with ideas, and a space where it's okay to fail for real-world problem solving, critical thinking, and making sensible, responsible decisions.
Empathizers
Our character education program teaches our boys how to be actively empathetic and compassionate in how they connect with others.
Creators
The Grytte journalist informs the community and gives voice to different perspectives while developing media literacy skills.
Blogs & Resources
Relationships are Key to a Boy’s Development
Boys are best able to meet challenges when they are confident that they are known and loved.
The Joy of Learning
Helping boys become healthy men who live lives of purpose.
Why Browning Was the Right Choice for Our Family
By Antonio G. del Rosario, A Middle School parent
As parents of teenagers, it’s useful to look back and assess our choices of schools and activities we made for our children during their formative years. From the time our two boys were able to walk, they were involved in fun classes like yoga, gymnastics, piano, soccer, swimming, scouting, dancing and singing—my wife and I researched every activity. Our children, for the most part, are happy and well-adjusted adolescents, thriving academically and socially - a feat not easily achieved in New York City.
We have always been deliberate in raising our two boys with the philosophy of having a minimum amount of regret. However, we do have one: it would have been better for our boys to have gone to a private school instead of a public school from the very beginning.
Don’t get me wrong, we are pleased with our children's public school K-5 education during their critical, formative years. I knew my children’s K-5 schools inside and out. I was a class parent, a treasurer, a classroom reader, an event coordinator, and even an afterschool Shakespeare teacher!
But having seen both sides of the fence, the benefits of private education are unmistakable, and they include:
Smaller classes. My younger son, Leonardo, in particular would have benefitted from starting in a private school sooner. He didn’t flourish as much in the larger classes, getting lost in a classroom of 35 students. However, now that Leonardo has been at an all-boys school for almost three years, The Browning School, his classes are no bigger than 15 students in his cohort and his entire grade is only 35 students! Leonardo prides himself now for being able to name every boy in his entire grade and finds comfort in belonging to a smaller herd within which he can easily navigate.
Better rapport between students and teachers. Although a top student while in public school, Leonardo is much more focused now, with his teachers having more time than their public school counterparts to be able to create a rapport with him. He often visits his teachers during their office hours and communicates with them often. Subsequently, Leonardo has made the High Honor Roll List at Browning these past two consecutive years. He is more readily able to learn from his social interactions because Browning is the epitome of an institution dedicated to relational learning.
A customized learning approach. Another benefit for Leonardo going to a private school is the customized approach he receives from his teachers. His teachers are free to teach in any way they see fit since they are not shackled with the standardized curriculum set by the city’s Department of Education. Because of this, Leonardo now tackles a much more rigorous curriculum and responds to a pedagogy that is nurturing and protective of a boy’s authentic emotional life.
More diversity than you might think. Many parents think that independent schools have a homogenous population; this simply isn’t true. In fact, both my sons’ private schools are more diverse in race, religion, and income than their previous public schools. Private schools understand the benefits of a diverse population for their students. I am ecstatic to know that both our boys at their current private schools are exposed to the diversity and excellence that truly reflects the richness of our city.