The Browning School

The Browning School was founded as a college preparatory school for boys in 1888 by John A. Browning. A traditional curriculum helps support boys intellectually, physically, and emotionally from Kindergarten through high school. Located in the heart of New York City, The Browning School makes use of the city’s vast resources.

The Browning School is a member of Interschool, a consortium of eight private NYC schools: Brearley, Browning, Chapin, Collegiate, Dalton, Nightingale-Bamford, Spence, and Trinity. Interschool offers opportunities for academic sharing, extracurricular participation in the arts, and social activities for boys and girls. Also, Browning often undertakes special programs with schools such as Hewitt, Marymount, and Sacred Heart.

The athletic program includes intramural offerings in addition to interscholastic competition in soccer, cross-country, basketball, tennis, track, and baseball. Encore, an after-school program is held for students in Kindergarten through Grade Six. Student clubs and activities include Amnesty International, Chess Club, Newspaper, Yearbook, Student Council, Community Service, Computer Club, Drama Club, Model UN, Mock Trial, Investment Club, Multicultural Club, Music Club, two foreign language publications (En Avant and La Pantera), and the Literary Magazine.

Browning operates on a semester system. Written reports are sent home to parents four times a year, at the mid-point and at the end of each semester. Letter grades are given to students starting in Grade 5. The final grades for each trimester are averaged to determine a final year grade, which becomes part of the student’s permanent record. Effort and conduct ratings are also noted along with the reports.

Founded in 1888 as a college preparatory school for boys, the Browning School continues its commitment to the goals of John A. Browning: the pursuit of academic excellence and a lifelong love of learning, the belief in the dignity of the individual, and the development of personal integrity and responsibility to the broader community. The Browning boy develops amid these values. The Browning alumnus is a good citizen, sensitive to the needs of others, and respectful of divergent yet informed opinions. He is, in the best sense of the word, a gentleman.

The Browning School strives to create a diverse community in which all members are safe, respected and valued. We believe that in actively promoting a diverse learning environment, we are fostering intellectual, social and emotional growth for all. Recognizing and pursuing diversity, however, are not enough; we seek to transcend mere tolerance of differences and aspire to a celebration of the varied appearances, abilities, perspectives and values that characterize our community.

Browning faculty and staff actively participate in professional development and engage in regular discussions surrounding topics of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI). Faculty attend the NAIS People of Color Conference, NYSAIS diversity conferences, and The Dalton Diversity Conference to continue to engage in these pertinent conversations and stay abreast of best practices in diversity work. There are four faculty/staff EDI coordinators who help develop, implement and support EDI initiatives as well as facilitate faculty discussions and student groups. Students are exposed to EDI as part of their curriculum as well as relevant assemblies, dedicated school events and student organizations.

The Browning School offers a community where boys discover and develop their best selves. It is an institution both rich in tradition and eager for growth, as boys are invited to consider the liberal arts through dynamic instruction, self-directed exploration and creative activity. As a college preparatory school, we present an academic program that challenges, supports and inspires its students. The learning experience at Browning vests boys with the skills and dispositions not only to succeed at their next level of education but also to pursue individual talents, interests and questions over the arc of their lives.

Browning is also an intimate place, one animated by an ethos of student engagement and connection. In our community, boys are called upon to express their full dimensionality; indeed, Browning’s robust arts, athletics and service programs depend upon the enthusiastic participation and leadership of its boys. Similarly, our boys learn to form friendships and attachments which endure over a lifetime and which become the context for developing the virtues of kindness, honesty and respect necessary to live well.

From Kindergarten through high school, our boys are guided, encouraged and challenged by talented, dedicated faculty. These women and men teach with wisdom and passion and articulate a school culture which expresses a deep understanding of boys’ intellectual and social development. Browning teachers are enthusiastically committed to knowing and developing the whole boy, and in their care our boys learn to appreciate ideas, cultivate meaningful relationships, and build lives of moral purpose.