Fall 2027 Admissions Guide: Frequently Asked Questions During Admissions Season
At the start of August, we opened applications for the 2027-28 school year. Similar to many private schools, our admissions process is selective. We seek applicants who have an interest in a thoughtfully designed curriculum, a desire to make a contribution, and an ambition to join a collaborative, supportive, and joyful community of peers and expert teachers. We are excited to meet the many wonderful families considering a BASIS Independent Brooklyn experience for their family!
During each admissions season, we field a wide range of questions about our curriculum and various programs, student life, electives, extracurriculars, and so much more. We have observed topics that are commonly brought up and want to provide you with answers to frequently asked questions raised each year.
What is the difference between your two Brooklyn campuses?
BASIS Independent Brooklyn opened in the fall of 2014. We are one school with two campuses. The Lower School in Downtown Brooklyn educates approximately 165 students in PreK–Grade 2, while the Upper School in Red Hook supports about 510 students in Grades 3–12.
What is the teacher model at your school?
Our students in grades 1–4 benefit from our unique Co-Teaching Model. These students have one Subject Expert Teacher (SET) for each discipline. SETs either hold advanced degrees or are experts in their discipline. SETs use their subject-area passion to inspire students while purposefully challenging them to instill deep understanding, mastery, and confidence over time.
Learning Expert Teachers (LETs) work with SETs to co-teach in all grades 1–4 classrooms. LETs accompany their students all day, from class to class, and are masters of the learning process and social-emotional growth in children. They are instrumental in ensuring that students are appropriately supported and challenged through differentiated learning. In grade 4, the LET shifts their focus to promoting student agency through independence, autonomy, and teaching them how to use their resources. This shift prepares students for grade 5 and beyond, where students have just one teacher, their SET, for each subject.
Students in PreK-1, PreK-2, and Kindergarten are part of our Early Learning Program. These students also benefit from a two-teacher model for instruction throughout their day. Early Learning Teachers lead our PreK and Kindergarten classrooms and are responsible for delivering most of the content to students by bringing their own pedagogical expertise to the classroom, with the consistent support of an Early Learning Teaching Fellow. In contrast to the Primary, Middle, and High School programs, the Early Learning Program largely operates as a self-contained unit. Students remain in their vibrant classroom for most of the day, rotating classes only for their daily special (Art, Music, Drama, Engineering, Mandarin, or PE/Movement) in addition to engaging in multiple recess periods per day.
What are your elective offerings?
In the Early Learning and Primary programs, students will take Art, Music, Drama, Engineering, and PE/Movement. In the Middle and High School programs, students can continue to take those courses or elect to take Band/Orchestra, Computer Science, Choir, Creative Writing, Introduction to Philosophy, Digital Photography, Introduction to Film Production, Sustainable Fashion, Topics in Economics, or many Advanced Placement (AP) courses.
What are your athletic offerings?
We have 29 teams across ten sports. Offerings for our Middle and High School students include competitive basketball, baseball, cheer & dance, cross country, flag football, golf, soccer, tennis, track, and volleyball. For our Primary School students, we offer clinics for each competitive team we offer.
Through our extracurricular club programming, we offer additional athletics, including ballet, jiu-jitsu, and pickleball.
What are your club offerings?
We offer more than 75 clubs at our Lower School and Upper School campuses! At our Lower School, we have wonderful offerings from Comic Book Club to Gardening Club, then sports like soccer and jiu-jItsu to musical instruction and dance club. Our Upper School students can participate in competition teams including: chess, debate, DECA, math, Quiz Bowl, and robotics. We offer affinity spaces such as our Black Student Union, East Asian Student Society, Jewish Affinity Group, Latino Affinity Group, and LGBTQIA+ Affinity Group. In High School, our students are able to create and join student-led clubs which range from Book Club to Golf Club and Digital Photography Club to Investing Club. They can also participate in school-wide projects such as The Grizzly, our digital school newspaper, and Yearbook. From arts programming such as Clayworld, Knitting, and the Spring Musical to STEM offerings like 3D printing, Coding, and Aeronautics Design and Engineering, we have it all!
Do you offer early or late care for students?
At both campuses, we offer supervised early and late care. Early care, called Early Bird, is offered beginning at 7:00 a.m. at both campuses. We offer two types of late care. The first is a free service called Late Bird, which runs until around 4:00 p.m. at the Upper School, and sibling care at the Lower School for students to wait for older siblings to finish with classes. The second is a paid service called Cub Care (PreK-Grade 2)/Bear Care (Grades 3-8), and these begin following dismissal. Cub Care/Bear Care is more structured and involves a range of activities from science to sports to arts. After-school programs for High School students take place in the form of athletics and clubs.
Why do you teach your students Mandarin?
The BASIS Curriculum was intentionally designed in our Early Learning and Primary programs to include the tonal language Mandarin, since younger children are easily attuned to tonal differences. Mandarin is a global language, and researchers found that learning the language develops new pathways in the brain and uses both the left and right temporal lobes simultaneously. Studies also show that Mandarin helps students grow their mathematical abilities due to the emphasis on ordering, grouping, and distinguishing between similarities and differences in character writing and intonation. While Mandarin is required in PreK-Grade 4, Latin is required in grades 5 and 6. Beginning in grade 7, students will select a world language from French, Latin, Mandarin, and Spanish, which they will continue throughout High School.
Do your campuses have any outdoor spaces?
Our Lower School has direct access to a beautiful, big park and playground right across our street, in addition to a large indoor play space we call the Bear’s Den, since our mascot is the bear.
Our Upper School has three outdoor spaces. This includes one fully covered space, one partially covered space, and an uncovered playground. The Upper School campus is also located directly across the street from Red Hook Ball Fields, which include eight large fields for baseball, soccer, and football that are utilized for athletics and physical education classes as well as school events.
Do you offer financial aid?
At this time, financial aid is not available. We offer families three types of tuition payment plans: one payment, two payments, or ten monthly payments. We award scholarships based on merit to a highly selective group of students entering Kindergarten, Grade 6, and Grade 9.
What is parent involvement like at your school?
Parents have many opportunities to get involved! First, through School Committees, including Class Communicators (at least one per class), the Community Outreach Committee, and the Teacher and Staff Appreciation Committee. We also have a wonderful group called our Parent Ambassadors. These leaders work closely with our Admissions Team on events and connecting with new families through our Bear Buddies and Cub Connections program.
One of our favorite programs is the Future-Ready Mentor Program, where our parent community helps to share experiences with our oldest high school students through Interesting Careers events to mentorship. The focus is on opening doors and opportunities for students while raising awareness of how fields and industries are changing with AI.
Our school offers events for parents to get to know administration and spend time with other parents, including:
Monthly Coffee with Admin Meetings
Cultural Sharing Opportunities, particularly our annual, beloved World Fest
Parenting Workshops, including network-wide sessions as well as local events featuring our regular “Counselor’s Corner” lunch sessions via Zoom with Ms. Molly House
Art and Athletic Events
Fall and Spring Parent/Guardian Mixers
Fall Carnival, Sports Banquet, Grade Level Celebrations
Classroom Volunteering, including chaperoning for field trips and reading to students in our Lower School
What community opportunities will my student have if they join your program?
We have very active National Junior Honor Society and National Honor Society chapters at our school leading regular service initiatives. Moreover, our student leadership society, Leadership Club, has prioritized building both a culture of service and sustainability at the school. The students lead annual drives and regularly promote ways to volunteer with inspiring Red Hook and Downtown Brooklyn non-profit organizations throughout the school year. Our High School students participate in an Annual Day of Service before Thanksgiving Break.
Our school community has worked to develop partnerships with impactful non-profits making a difference in the community. One great example is the Red Hook Art Project (RHAP), which provides tutoring and mentoring for underserved children and youth. The organization offers free classes and tutoring in visual art, music, and homework help. Our students have volunteered for the homework help program and are teaching guitar classes.
How can I visit your school?
This admissions season, we are hosting a variety of events including Information Sessions, Campus Tours, Open Houses, and Shadow Days. Please click here to register for an upcoming event!
Please feel free to reach out to our Admissions Team by calling (718) 643-6302 or emailing brooklyn-admissions@basisindependent.com.