IB Schools – Brooklyn
Medgar Evers College
The City University of New York
1650 Bedford Ave.
Brooklyn, NY 11225
Medgar Evers College was founded as a result of collaborative efforts by community leaders, elected officials, the Chancellor, and the Board of Trustees of The City University of New York. The College, named for the late civil rights leader, Medgar Wiley Evers (1925-1963), was established in 1969 and named in 1970, with a mandate to meet the educational and social needs of the Central Brooklyn community. The College is committed to the fulfillment of this mandate.
In keeping with the philosophy of The City University and Medgar Evers College, we believe that education has the power to positively transform the lives of individuals and is the right of all individuals in the pursuit of self-actualization. Consequently, the College’s mission is to develop and maintain high quality, professional, career-oriented undergraduate degree programs in the context of liberal education. The College offers programs both at the baccalaureate and at the associate degree levels, giving close attention to the articulation between the two-year and the four-year programs.
The College has a commitment to students who desire self-improvement, a sound education, an opportunity to develop a personal value system, and an opportunity to gain maximum benefits from life experience and from their environment.
The program advisors are Brenda Greene, Elendar Barnes and Thomas Bradshaw.
Founding members:
Maattchaas Holmes
Shade Swaby
Sabine Gregoire
Deborah A. Derby
Dr. Susan S. McKinney Secondary School of the Arts
Paula Holmes, Principal
101 PARK AVENUE, BROOKLYN, NY 11205
Phone: 718-834-6760
MS/HS 265, Dr. Susan S. McKinney Secondary School of the Arts, is undergoing a renaissance. It is now becoming a middle and high school of choice for students interested in the arts. The Secondary School of the Arts has a performing and visual arts program that serves a diverse population through a comprehensive range of academic and supportive curricula. This school offers a nurturing and supportive academic learning environment. Dr. Susan McKinney Secondary School of the Arts is a part of the first cohort recognized in New York City as ‘A Nationally Certified Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) School.’
COURSES AND PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS
Programs: Visual Arts, Vocal and Instrumental Music, Dance, Drama, Marching, Concert and Jazz Bands, Technical Theatre, Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) College Advisory, Junior Statesmen Summer School, McKinney After-school Academic Program (McK ASAP), College Now, Read to Achieve
Language Classes: Spanish
Advanced Placement Courses: English Literature and Composition, Environmental Science, Music Theory, Spanish Literature, Studio Art: Drawing
It’s no accident that the high school students excel in the arts. Principal Paula Holmes plays several musical instruments; the music teacher is a professional who played with Quincy Jones; and the art teacher has a studio in nearby, artsy Dumbo. We heard a beautiful choral rendition of “Lift Every Voice,” known as the black national anthem, and walked in on the talented jazz band playing Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World” on the auditorium stage. McKinney even garnered press attention when some of its successful basketball team members played in the marching band at halftime.
McKinney students have a long day — high school goes from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., with academic courses in the morning and arts instruction and homework assistance later.
The school has fully embraced the workshop method, developed at Columbia University’s Teachers College. Every month teachers give samples of the best writing to the principal, whose office is filled with good read-aloud books, and we saw fine examples of writing throughout the grades.
Teachers and students make connections between contemporary events and what they were studying. A social studies class, for example, might begin with a conversation of the previous night’s Grammy music awards, which lead into a discussion of the Jazz Age music of the 1920s and how music embodies the spirit of an era.
The program advisor is Darrin Person.
Founding Members
Nadia Hall
Kiah Williams
Judah Sessions
K. Mackey
Fredick McNei