The Browning School

Did someone say weekend?

For the first throwback of the new year, we're taking it back to 1971. Can anyone spot a notable future college guidance counselor in the shot? The senior class pictured are now celebrating the 50th anniversary of their graduation this year, if you can believe it! Alumni, stay tuned for future communications about this year's Reunion and how we will be celebrating whether we're in-person or online.

Despite yesterday's events, we are still a nation which can and should have confidence in the rule of law and the peaceful transfer of power. Browning has a part to play in maintaining that confidence, now and in the future, by cultivating young men of intellect and integrity who bring both courage and compassion to their citizenship. As ever, we will also hold space in school and online for our boys to engage with these events in age-appropriate ways, under the guidance and care of their teachers, advisors, and counselors. As ever, we are here to support our boys emotionally and intellectually as they process the significance of this disturbing time.

Presenting our Middle School boys' Still Lives! Our boys have been indoors more than usual, and as such, perhaps have begun to appreciate the little things that one might ordinarily take for granted. In this spirit, art teacher Ms. Bancroft tasked her students with drawing from observation carefully and mindfully. Swipe through to see some of our boys' work.

Meet The Panther Mentors! Samora Legros '03 is one of our Black alumni who is helping us to build a better Browning. I feel that I am giving the best version of myself back to the School and helping to make our community better. We have created an opportunity and platform for successful, Black alumni to make introductions, reconnect, and network with the community.

Good news keeps on coming! Sixth grader Leonardo recently volunteered in a neighborhood beautification effort, helping to transform an unusable area into a garden where students at Cristo Rey High School in East Harlem can hold classes, study and eat. Along with his older brother and 8 other boys from his scout troop, Leonardo laid tarp as well as carried and poured 50 lb. bags of garden pebbles. He reported to be quite sore the next day, but felt fulfilled for helping bring joy and utility to a community of 400 students and teachers. Great work, boys!

Happy New Year and welcome back to school, Panthers! We've missed you. Let's continue to keep each other safe behind our masks for a more hopeful tomorrow.

2020What a long, strange trip it's been! Before we ring in the new year, we take one last look back at Browning's momentous milestones in a year of in-person and online experiences. Swipe through to view and let us know what moments stood out for you this year.

Did someone say winter break? Stay safe and enjoy this well deserved time off with your family and loved ones, Panthers, and we'll see you in the new year.

It's a winter wonderland in New York City! Browning members like senior David P. '21 (in all his dress code glory) and Dean of Student Life Mr. Permutt both found some time in between online classes to enjoy the packed snow.

Browning’s "Holiday Harmony" is now available to stream online! Our boys have been working on their performances for months with dedication and unflinching spirit. We're grateful for the guidance and care of program directors Lucy Warner and Hannah Hickok as well as the boys' teachers. Visit browning.edu/news/holiday-program-2020 to watch our Holiday Program.

With our annual holiday program fast approaching, Throwback Thursday spotlights a winter pageant at the School in the 1920s.

Dr. Botti on 2020 and Looking Ahead! In his latest blog, our Head of School reflects on the strength of the connections our community has maintained despite the challenges this year has brought. Read Dr. Botti's latest "Margin Notes" at browning.edu/head-of-school/2020-looking-ahead.

The fourth graders are closing out the final week of science for 2020 with a bang, or more perhaps appropriate, an explosion, as they show off their volcano model projects!

The Grytte student publication has scored again with their fifth consecutive gold medalist rating from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association! This award recognizes their print and online work published in the 2019-20 school year! The staff had already been named a 'First Place with Special Merit' recipient from the American Scholastic Press Association earlier this fall. Well done to our Middle and Upper School journalists.

Browning’s staff and students who attended the NAIS People of Color Conference (PoCC) and Student Diversity Leadership Conference (SDLC) have been gathering to reflect on highlights, experiences, and calls to action. We are excited to see the strategies for social justice that they will bring back to Browning.

Meet The Panther Mentors! Nate Garcia ’06, who aided in the development of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine, is one of our Black alumni who is helping us to build a better Browning. The impact of seeing and interacting with someone successful that looks like you, and shares your life experiences cannot be overstated. Ultimately, my hope is that I can provide one more avenue of support in the hard times and one more cheering voice in the stands when things are going well.

We're thrilled to announce that our debate team took second place overall in their biggest competition yet, which spanned across two days! Our boys performed very well against a total of 564 competitors in all three divisions (novice, intermediate, and advanced), which allowed us to rise to the top rankings, as a school. Congratulations to all our Browning debaters!

It's the last week of BrowningConnect 2.0 classes for 2020! Winter break is nearly here, Panthers.

For Show and Tell today, leave it to one of our first graders to bring in his Lego replica of the Titanic!

Browning celebrates Computer Science Education Week! The annual call to action is meant to inspire K-12 students to learn coding. Our CSE specialist Ms. Benasuli has been teaching our Lower Schoolers programming through a variety of apps that include CodeMonkey, Ozobots, Code.org, and Scratch, as well as partnering with our faculty to encourage our boys to combine an Hour of Code with unplugged activities in other disciplines.

Getting a bit chilly out there! Throwback Thursday spotlights Lower School boys bundled up on the playdeck in 1949.

Math teacher Judit Resika is now a Fellow of the Academy for Teachers! She recently earned the accolade after completing a master class led by renowned Princeton University educator, Manjul Bhargava. Master classes are a rare opportunity for public and private school teachers to learn from a leading expert and from each other. Teachers who are honored show passion for their subjects, creativity in their classrooms, and devotion to their students. Congratulations, Ms. Resika!

Despite our world's current challenges, masks can't hide our smiles. Enjoy some seasonal merriment from Browning this holiday season!

Meet The Panther Mentors! Graig Springer ’98, who joined the Board of Trustees in October, is one of our Black alumni who is helping us to build a better Browning. I hope to build a bridge between current students and alumni, which will foster a greater sense of community and brotherhood. Students of color can be disadvantaged academically, financially, mentally. I see this group as a group of individuals who are going to help to bridge that gap.

A reminder that the Health and Wellness Team is here for you! Our team’s primary goal is to support the physical and mental health of all students within our community. The school nurses, counselors and our consulting psychologist continue to offer their services of health care guidance, short-term solution based counseling, social-emotional education and programming while Browning is remote. Amy Anselmo, Director of Wellness Maureen Linehan, School Nurse... Elisa Kristensen, School Nurse Jessi Soles, US Counselor Karthik Gunnia, K-12 Consulting Psychologist Please get in touch with any of them with questions you may haveit is important to remain connected and keep us up to date on your sons. See more

Here's to another week of online learning with BrowningConnect 2.0! We are proud of all our students for continuing to navigate so much newness this term while being kind community members! Continue to share photos of how you're working from home to [email protected].

And now for more good news! Last Friday's Interschool Coffeehouse Fundraiser, which our senior Christian K. '21 organized, was a smashing success and raised $3,000 for the Ronald McDonald House. Congratulations to Christian, who carried this event every step of the way as well as to all our talented performers for sharing their craft with the greater community.

While we are apart, the Grytte staff spoke with the newest members of the faculty and staff to help the community get to know them better. Learn what their favorite hobbies and first impressions of Browning were in this student interview at grytte.browning.edu/articles/meet-the-2020-faculty-members.

Introducing The Panther Mentors! In response to the country’s ongoing racial reckoning, Browning convened Black alumni to hear about their experiences throughout the decades. These focus groups helped spawn The Panther Mentors, whose members have assisted in admissions and advancement activities, and will soon begin meeting with our Upper School students of color. Parents and Alumni: You can also register at tinyurl.com/panther-mentors to attend a panel discussion on Dec...ember 16 at 6 p.m. to learn more about their journey. In the weeks to come we'll be highlighting these mentors from across the 50 years of the Black experience at Browning.

As the holiday season kicks off, Throwback Thursday spotlights Martin Janto's art class getting into the festive spirit in 1960.

Dr. Botti on Resilience in a Pandemic! In his latest blog, our Head of School discusses how Browning nurtures the dispositions boys need during these trying times. Read Dr. Botti's latest "Margin Notes" at browning.edu/head-of-school/resilience.

Browning Inspires! Senior Christian K. '21 is spearheading an Interschool Coffeehouse Fundraiser this Friday, Dec. 4, at 6 p.m. to benefit the Ronald McDonald House. The event will feature performances by amazing soloists, renowned ensembles, comedians, and a host of other talented artists from independent schools all over the city. Looking to perform or access the Zoom Link for the show? Look no further and visit tinyurl.com/interschool-rmh. ... We are so proud of Christian for his selfless work and leadership to support this wonderful cause.

A sneak peek of a big announcement coming this way soon... stay tuned!

Attention Alumni! Join Alumni Council President Stuart Orenstein '00 and Head of School Dr. John Botti for a special Zoom event on Wednesday, December 9, at 6 p.m., to discuss the state of the School and how Browning has pivoted during COVID-19. All alumni are invited to hear more about what the future holds for the School. Visit the tinyurl.com/alumni-drbotti to register for this special event.

Not only can science be educational but it can also be delicious! The fifth graders have been constructing edible 3D models of atoms as part of their unit on the Periodic Table of Elements. Each boy used gummy bears and other sugary goodness to display their calculations for the number of protons and neutrons in the nucleus of the atom as well as the number of electrons circling the nucleus.

Keep reporting your COVID-19 testing on the Magnus app! While we are teaching and learning online, and even while our schools are on Winter Break, we are still required to provide data on COVID-19 testing to the New York State Department of Health. In order to do our part and keep the public health reporting as accurate as possible, please complete your son’s Magnus COVID-19 assessment on any day your son takes a test. If he takes a test on the weekend, you would report it the following Monday. If your child has not taken a COVID-19 test, there is no need to complete the assessment unless he is coming into the building over the next few weeks for childcare.

This week members of Browning's Upper School and faculty are attending the NAIS People of Color Conference/Student Diversity Leadership Conference alongside thousands of educators and students from across the country! While the conference is online this year, the community spirit and networking energy remains, and we are excited to see the skills and strategies for social justice that our community members will bring back to Browning.

Welcome back, Panthers! We hope you're feeling energized for BrowningConnect 2.0 as we hold classes online for the next few weeks. While we are apart, continue to remember: We are strong, resilient, and caring and we are doing today what will best service our community for tomorrow. Share your photos with us of how you're working remotely to [email protected] like second grader Teyton here!

Alumnus and stand-up comic Sam Morril '05 is still finding the laughter in these times! With a Comedy Central special this year which has already garnered over 4.6 million views, Sam sat down with the Grytte student newspaper to discuss his career and his new special that just dropped on YouTube. Catch up with Sam at grytte.browning.edu//catching-up-with-comedian-sam-morril-.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yoursenjoy this throwback photo from 2004 of the Panther Turkey and Browning's fifth headmaster, Stephen Clement, headed into the break.

Happy Thanksgiving! In this video address, Dr. Botti expresses his gratitude for the continual support and the remarkable accomplishments our community has achieved while navigating these uncertain times.

Our Guys/Families Read Nights continue online this year as our amazing librarians, Ms. Louis and Ms. Mbaye, hosted great discussions and laughs with Grades 5 & 6, who discussed "Before the Ever After" by Jacqueline Woodson and Grades 3 & 4 who discussed "Going Rogue (At Hebrew School)" by Casey Breton.

Browning is committed to serving the broader communityparticularly through its relationship with The Fleischer Foundation run by alumnus Stephen Fleischer '10. This foundation supports the Mukuru slum in Nairobi, Kenya in a variety of ways including creating and sponsoring a basketball team! Browning has donated uniforms to the team, which with the recent COVID-19 downturn in Kenya, the team has been permitted to resume play (and won their first two games of the season)! Swipe to see the full team in Browning swag.

Mr. Pelz ’71 on Following Directions! In his latest college guidance blog, Sanford Pelz ’71 offers sage advice on mistakes frequently made during the admissions process and why it’s always best to follow the label directions. Read his "After Words" at browning.edu/after-words/follow-the-label-directions.

We may be apart today and tomorrow for Parent-Teacher online conferences, but let's continue to exhibit best safety practices when we're outside and wear our masks!

We're thrilled to announce that our debate team took second place overall in yesterday's competition! Our boys garnered individual and team awards that landed us in the top three with 251 competitors. Congratulations to all our Browning debaters!

Browning's Gender and Sexuality Alliance (GSA) held an open meeting this morning to observe Trans Remembrance Day TDOR. The day is meant to raise visibility for transgender people and a day to honor the memories of trans people whose lives were lost in acts of anti-trans violence. The GSA discussed holding both time for somber reflection and quiet vigil as well as time for acknowledgement and commitment to the present. We hope that our community members will join us in our pledge to uplift and support our LGBTQ+ community, thereby deepening our school's core values of dignity and purpose.

The Holiday Show must go on! Our Lower School boys and faculty have been working with dedication and unflinching spirit as they filmed their performances for our upcoming Holiday Program, which will be available to stream online on December 18. Swipe through for a sneak peek until then!

Extra! Extra! Throwback Thursday spotlights the Lower School Good News Gazette with Laura Muhlfeld in 1989! Alumni: speaking of good news, have you read the Summer/Fall Class Notes in our latest newsletter? Find out what your Browning brothers have been up to these last few months at browning.edu/photos/fallsummer-2020-class-notes.

Our beloved Dean of Faculty, Mike Ingrisani, will be retiring at the end of June after 51 years at Browning! In his more than half-century of service and leadership, he has been seminal in shaping the intellectual standards and professional culture of our school, and has been a mentor to hundreds of students and colleagues alike. As a teacher, Mike helped generations of Browning boys regard literature as something not simply to be read, but to be savored, tinkered with, an...d built upon. He has also offered administrative direction and collegial support over the course of six decades as a reservoir of institutional wisdom. In due course, we will take time to properly celebrate Mike’s countless contributions to our community; for now, please join us in thanking him for his unparalleled influence on this institution, and in wishing him well on his final year of work with Browning boys. See more

How lucky are we to have alumnus Terrel Phelps ’11 at Browning once again?! As a member of the PE department, Terrel has been helping our boys keep fit while we await a normal athletics season.

Browning is spotlighted in Bloomberg News! Visit tinyurl.com/bloomberg-kindergarten to read how we, along with other independent schools, are using video assessments in the Kindergarten admissions process.

Grade Four Computer Science & Engineering class is in full swing as the boys finalize their ferris wheels with the help of Dazzlinks! These inventive cardboard building kits are empowering our boys to be creative as they learn all about lever, fulcrums, and simple machines!

And now for more good news! We reported in August that alumnus Nate Garcia ’06 was on the forefront of the Pfizer team working to develop a COVID-19 vaccine. Now the race to stop it has entered an exciting new phase as Pfizer Inc. is the first to receive emergency-use approval of its vaccine, which boasts a 90% effectiveness rate! While we await what tomorrow brings, refresh your memory of how Nate is taking his shot at browning.edu/photos/nate-garcia.

Browning Inspires! Join Conversations with Common Sense for Permission to Feel this Wednesday at 8 p.m. In this session, Dr. Marc Brackett, director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence and lead developer of the evidence-based approach to teaching kids how to put their feelings into words, will share his strategies for supporting your child during these uncertain times. At Browning we utilize Brackett’s mood meter and research to help our boys prioritize thei...r well-being during advisories and check-ins. Register for free at tinyurl.com/commonsense-moodmeter.

Browning Celebrates America Recycles Day! To highlight the initiative, our Green Team has installed a special recycling station in the lobby. Through all of next week you can bring in electronics, batteries, used markers, empty glue containers, snack packs, and fabricitems that can be recycled by TerraCycle instead of thrown in the trash. The Team would also like to remind you that our blue bins in the building can be used in general to recycle clean paper, glass, and plastic products!

In his 25th year of holding court in the classroom, prowling the sidelines of the soccer pitch, and dominating the student-faculty dodgeball game, Dr. Gerry Protheroe has decided to retire on June 30, 2021! A gifted teacher and expert in his field, Dr. Protheroe has helped to shape the intellectual lives of countless young men over the years. Whether helping boys prepare for a Model UN conference or simply the next essay in one of his history classes, he has pushed the boys t...o ask better questions, to marshall the correct evidence, and to express themselves with clarity and precision. The boys, of course, have responded with enthusiasm, counting his class among their favorites each year. We are excited to finish the rest of the school year with Dr. Protheroe, and we will deeply miss his care for his students and his passion for learning.

Raise your hand if you remember when our playdeck used to look like this!

The Kindergarten and Grade 4 Buddies program continues to be a success in these timesour older boys act as role models for our younger boys, while the young boys model that positive behavior!

Browning Inspires! In the aftermath of the U.S. presidential election, our Grytte student newspaper editors had the extraordinary privilege of moderating a conversation with the President of TIME, Keith Grossman. Mr. Grossman oversees business, technology and operational responsibility for the brand. During the hour on Zoom, our students tackled the historic moment from this week with him, including how COVID-19 affected TIME's operations, the impact of social media on news coverage, as well as strategies to remain bipartisan while reporting the news.

On this Veterans Day we salute all who have served around the world. We thank, and appreciate, each and every one of you, including our own fourth grade teacher Gary Norcross, a veteran of the United States Air Force.

This is it! Today marks the final day of the Book Fair, and we couldn’t be more proud of our community’s tremendous response to this first-of-its-kind online event. Together, we’ve not only filled our bookshelves and holiday gift bags with a wealth of engaging reads, but we’ve also raised funds to support the invaluable work of our library. If you haven’t yet had an opportunity to purchase a book (or 10!) or to make a donation to the Browning Library Fund, now is your last an...d final chance to do so. We’re also incredibly grateful to the Browning community members who have shared their favorite books with us over the past few weeks. Be sure to check them out on our Instagram page. Visit browning.edu/bookfair to do your last-minute book fair shopping, and be sure to enter the code BROWNING at checkout so that 25% of the proceeds from your purchase will go directly to our library. While you’re there, you can also purchase a bookplate in a student’s name to honor someone special and/or make a donation to the Browning Library Fund. Thank you for your generous support!

In the lab, the Advanced Biology students are extracting ant DNA for the 'Ants of the US Citizen' science project they are participating in through Cold Spring Harbor's DNA Learning Center (DNALC)! The samples will be sent off to the DNALC for sequencing and students will be able to view the result on their digital database. The sequences produced will be compiled and published by the DNALC and be used to determine the range and species of ants present.

It’s the penultimate day of the Book Fair! Visit browning.edu/bookfair to peruse a bevy of book recommendations curated especially for Lower School boys, as well as a complete selection of books for kids and adults of all ages. From picture books to chapter book series to memoirs to cookbooks and more, you’re sure to find a multitude of books for everyone on your holiday gift list. Be sure to enter the code BROWNING at checkout so that 25% of the proceeds from your purchase will go directly to the School and benefit the Browning library.

We hope you've been taking advantage of this unseasonably warm weather like the second graders did at the Central Park Zoo!

Dr. Botti on what a female Vice President can mean for boys! Our Head of School reflects on Kamala Harris’ groundbreaking achievement and how that can help our boys explore more fully who they want to be in the world. Read Dr. Botti's latest "Margin Notes" at browning.edu/head-of-school/kamala-harris.