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RISING STAR PRIVATE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Gentlemen In Training
On the Upper East Side, a hidden gem where boys become good citizens

The Browning School may stress the importance of creating “Browning Gentleman,” but parents and faculty find it just as significant that the school “lets boys be boys,” as Toni Marie Fleischer, one Browning parent, put it.

Fleischer was head of the Parents Association from 2004 to 2006 and her son, Stephen, is now in the 10th grade. When she was considering Browning for kindergarten, she said she was surprised to find that it was not stuffy or pretentious like some private schools her family had visited. “They knew there’d be mornings when they couldn’t get the young boys’ attention and would let them take a break outside,” she said of the school’s staff.

“Faculty and constituents are always talking about how best to educate boys,” said Laurie Gruhn, who has been head of the lower school at Browning for 10 years. And with only about 150 children in that division (grades pre-K through 4) and two homerooms per grade, “there are no cracks to fall through.”

Browning takes advantage of its small size in a variety of ways. “While the boys use the same music, art and cafeteria facilities as the older students, they have a dedicated lower school science lab and library facility,” said Martin Haase, the school’s director of communications. “One of the allures of Browning is the mixing of ages at certain times of the day and between classes where older students, encouraged to be positive role models, interact with their younger counterparts.”

Some older boys act as mentors to lower school classes and there are several special events, such as the holiday concert, that are school-wide.

In one unusual program, a chess master teaches the boys during class time from pre-K through 3rd grade. Many students continue to pursue chess through the after-school program, which extends to 12th grade. “We send 20, 30 boys to nationals every year—and place,” said Fleischer, whose son went multiple times and now plays chess just for pleasure.

The Browning community holds many events throughout the year to ensure that parents are integrated, too. Each year starts with a cocktail reception and sit-down dinner for new parents, regardless of the grade their child is entering. Members of the Parents Association also attend, and a group of select upper school students assist with serving the meal.

“If you are a new parent of a 5-year-old and see 15-year-old boys serving, it’s very impressive,” Fleischer said.

In addition to fundraisers and a holiday party, parents can also attend various events for lower school students, such as a book fair, field days and ice-skating at Wollman Rink.

While Browning nurtures boys in its close-knit community, it also strives to make them aware of the world outside the school. There are frequent class trips and even field projects (interviewing neighborhood shopkeepers, for example), as well as diverse service projects.

“The students recently provided support for Ronald McDonald House, and contributed physical education equipment to a school in Nigeria and clothing for homeless shelters in New York City,” Haase said.

The curriculum also puts an emphasis on diversity and combines progressive and traditional elements. “We like it to be fresh,” Gruhn said, “but there are alums who can come back after 20 years and still recognize what’s being taught.”

Throughout it all, everything a lower-school boy does reinforces becoming a “Browning Gentleman.”

“We pride ourselves on his being a good citizen, sensitive to others and respectful of divergent yet informed opinions,” Haase said.

“People call us a hidden gem,” Gruhn said. “I don’t know why. But I’m glad people are starting to recognize we have a lot to offer.”

— Caroline Lewis