The Brearley School Reviews

96 reviews

Brearley is great! Honestly there isn’t another school that does it better than the Brearley. They have everything you could want and more.

The community is extremely supportive and nurturing with teachers who truly want to see you succeed. I am continually astounded by the dedication and care almost all teachers put into their courses and the community over all. The academics are extremely rigorous and quite challenging but it pushes you to be the best version of yourself. I hope to maintain the friendships I have made throughout my whole life as my classmates and friends are truly wonderful people. Even beyond the unique facilities Brearley has to offer, I will always love 610 as it has felt like my second home for so many years. As a student of color, I feel supported and included by the school’s DEI measures and in my affinity group, especially after adjustments made in the past few years :).
I have made so many wonderful memories during my time at the school through its numerous traditions and activities that I truly feel like I belong. I am so lucky to be a part of this community of truthful beavers toiling away!

I came to Brearley in 9th grade, and while I was in middle school, I never thought that I would want to go to an all-girls school for high school. But after a really hard decision, I chose to come to Brearley because it just felt different. Brearley has an amazing atmosphere of inclusiveness, support, and joy that I was even able to sense in my virtual visit when I was applying. In the end, it was not the stellar academic program or the impressive college matriculation list, not the great sports teams or the beautiful facilities or the endless options for extracurriculars and leadership that most attracted me to Brearley. Every other independent school has all those things, but what only Brearley has is a kind, inclusive community that visitors can be welcomed into even through a screen. I hope that when you visit Brearley in-person, you will experience Brearley's strong community of girls who are passionate about learning, just as I did on my visit.

Review The Brearley School

My experience at Brearley has been truly amazing. Brearley has instilled a strong sense of confidence for me. Brearley has such a warm, welcoming, and supportive environment. The teachers are invested in your learning journey and my fellow classmates always look out for me. It truly is a pleasure to walk through the doors each day!

Brearley has been an overall amazing experience! The academics are excellent and there are so many opportunities to pursue interests outside the classroom. There are countless fun traditions, many involved around the spirited athletics teams! The community is so supportive and stretches beyond the student body to alums, parents, etc.

Brearley is truly an amazing place! This tight knit community is nothing but kind and welcoming, and I have built the most incredible relationships with my peers and teachers. I am so so grateful for this education!!

As a Junior, I can say Brearley has opened my eyes to so many things that no other school could have given me. I no longer brand myself as one type of student, and think of myself as someone who can do anything with the support of the school. The independence and responsibility the school gives its students allows them to flourish as individuals and prepare them for their life up ahead.

As a senior I can say without a doubt that my experience at Brearley has been truly transformative. The academics are absolutely wonderful, and the teachers are so kind and always willing to set up a "float" to meet with you to help study for a test, answer questions about an essay, or just to clear up confusion. I am a three season athlete, and I wouldn't trade the community I have found through Brearley athletics for anything. Our soccer team recently won the AAIS championship and placed second in NYSAIS, and our squash team is currently undefeated- that is to say I have found Brearley athletics both sufficiently competitive and also fun!

Although Brearley has certainly been through its ups & downs (DEIA/Critical Race Theory controversies), my experience at Brearley has been amazing & I'm so grateful for it. Although the academic environment is intense, it is easy & commonplace to meet one on one with teachers (floats), & get all the help you need. People are also so willing to work together on homework & studying, even if you're not necessarily friends outside of class. It is the rare student who wants to gatekeep her knowledge & notes. Given the small class sizes, the community is very tight-knit. As a senior, I can confidently say that I could name almost every student in the entire Upper School. My main complaint is the lack of time for clubs. There has been an uptick in identity-based "affinity" groups, which is fine, but as the leader of one of Brearley's biggest clubs (Model UN), it can be difficult to prepare students for conferences & teach them the necessary knowledge with much less time than our peer schools.

great school environment - one that challenged and supports me. classes are very rigorous and educational, especially humanities. students are awesome and always willing to lend a hand. the float system is incredible and allows for great communication. brearley students are well equipped to navigate and succeed in the world outside of brearley

Amazing school! The students are great and the faculty is even better. Proud to represent!! Wooop wooop

Brearley is the best all girls private school in all of the US. Brearley equips girls with a strong love of learning and advanced intellect. Way better than chapin!

Wow! Brearley is one of a kind! So proud to have gone to such an amazing school! If anything, I think jock culture is taking over!

Brearley is my heart and my home. I truly do not think there is a more special place in this world. One brearley.

This year is my first at Brearley, and the people have been nothing but welcoming. The classroom atmosphere is extremely anti-stressful, with the teachers being the most supportive and intelligent I've ever met. The students are equally, if not more, warm-hearted than the staff that work there. Not to mention that the students there possess an uncanny fervor for their education and an incredible amount of effort into all aspects of school, whether academically, socially, or athletically. Brearley Athletics are awesome as well -- there is a wide range of sports available for students, and the genuine enthusiast and for sports that Brearley girls embody despite their competitive nature makes it an enjoyable experience. The folks at Brearley have truly made the past weeks the most fun, amazing, and successful academic weeks I have ever experienced.

I am receiving a truly fantastic education at Brearley, and for that I am grateful! The school provides students with valuable resources and opportunities to expand and customize their learning experience. The culture of competition can be overwhelming, but I think the stressful atmosphere is perpetuated by the students, rather than the administration. The adults I’ve interacted with at Brearley have generally been supportive and understanding, while some of the kids can be cutthroat and aggressively driven.

The community at Brearley is a strong and tight-knit one. Being a part of the community on B-Deck (the technical theater/drama department) was an especially formative part of my Brearley experience and taught me almost as much as what I learned in my classes. I always felt cared for and looked out for by my peers and teachers, and felt lucky to be working with and learning from the people around me. The teachers at Brearley are top notch and really take time to make sure that their students are not only understanding the material but also thinking about it in different ways. The workload definitely prepared me for college, but the culture of stress was overwhelming and often detrimental to many students' mental health. It was a fulfilling environment but students were often just barely making it from assignment to assignment and getting little sleep.

Review The Brearley School

The community is very close and supportive. Although I've only been in the school for a short while, I feel that the teaching here is more personal and understanding with the smaller sized classes.

The humanities classes are excellent, the students are dedicated and the extracurricular opportunities are very good. The best part of Brearley is its English classes, the teachers are phenomenal and the level of close reading is excellent. The two main areas in which Brearley could improve are STEM classes and sports. Brearley's stem is very mid-level compared to other schools on par with Brearley in the humanities, and it fails to challenge students who excel in math and science. Brearley's sports similarly fail to challenge particularly talented athletes and meet only 4 times a week.

Amazing!! I love it. Super welcoming and everyone is nice, staff and faculty are lovely and intelligent.

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