A Tale of Two Schools
Browning and Saint Ann’s schools conduct student exchange
Editor’s Note: Earlier this year, the Browning Grytte and the Saint Ann’s Ram conducted a newspaper exchange. Alexander B. ’21 toured Saint Ann’s for a day to observe the academic experience and community at the school, while Saint Ann’s student Noah R. ’20 did the same at Browning. Both students wrote articles about their experiences which are published below.
Saint Ann’s Ram reporter Noah R. ’20 and Grytte reporter Alexander B. ’21 compare their school experiences in the Browning library, Jan. 21, 2020. The two student reporters each spent a day touring the other’s school for their respective papers. (Asher Dorlester)
On a brisk Thursday morning, I took the 5 train to Borough Hall to visit the Saint Ann’s School as part of a newspaper exchange. Saint Ann’s is a co-ed school in Brooklyn with no formal dress code and is many times larger than Browning. On the surface, the two schools seem to be very different already.
“When I describe my school to friends who go to other schools, I get weird looks,” Toby P. ’21 said.
Saint Ann’s takes an unorthodox approach to education, and purposefully so. While I hope to explore some of the school’s unique traits, it is first worth mentioning that I saw the same passion for education and welcoming community at Saint Ann’s that exists within Browning, even though the schools take very different paths to reach that end. Neither school’s academic model is better than the other, but they are in many ways radically different, and there are always lessons to be learned from looking at peer institutions.
At Saint Ann’s, students are given a great amount of freedom and autonomy in their academic work.
“There’s very little structure created for you by the administration,” Cuatro V. ’22 said.
This philosophy of freedom allows students to forge their own path through the school. “You can take advantage of that freedom and take a broad range of classes,” Henry C. ’22 said.
That freedom starts with the course catalog. The school offers dozens of core courses for its students to choose from, and the selection system works more like a college than a typical high school. Students must take a number of courses in basic subject areas across high school, but they have a diverse range of options in each subject area to fulfill and supplement those requirements.
These courses are often highly specific and in depth; a few examples of the courses I attended include the History of Modern East Asia, Literature of the Middle East, a Latin course which solely focused on texts about the decline of Ancient Rome, and Sex: A Historical and Biomedical Exploration of Human Reproduction (it should also be noted that students still have to take basic courses such as algebra and American history).
This flexibility and level of depth has an impact on the way students learn.
“I take the classes that I want to take, and they exist in the course catalog. It’s less requirements and more doing what I love,” Viraj K. ’20 said, “You learn because you want to learn, and it works.”
In contrast, Browning often takes a more standardized approach to its curriculum. Core courses such as math, science, English, and history are usually uniform for each grade, with the exception of languages and some accelerated courses. Art, music, and technology electives supplement this curriculum, and in recent years, new courses such as modern political thought and Greek tragedy have been added. The different models for the core curriculum reflect a difference in educational philosophy between the schools.
The variety of courses at Saint Ann’s is paired with what is perhaps the school’s most well-known policy: a lack of letter grades. Students are instead assessed through in-depth comments written by their teachers, which is meant to prioritize learning and meaningful relationships over competition for a grade.
Because of this grading structure, most classes are “group-oriented, discussion based, and collaborative,” Toby P. ’21 said.
“We are very certain to not put things in place that will exclude an extraordinary occurrence from happening,” Saint Ann’s Head of High School Chloe Smith said, “There are so many variations and that’s why we write things down instead of reducing them to a grade, which is not to say that grades are bad, it's to say that for what we’re trying to do it would be bad.”
Browning, like most high schools in the United States, uses grades to assess its students, and as a college preparatory school, grades make sense in Browning’s context.
Saint Ann’s students work on their paintings in one of the school’s many art studios. (Saint Ann’s)
Throughout my visit, I noticed one theme that connected almost every aspect of Saint Ann’s life. From the painting studios and theater facilities to the math and science classrooms and even in the students themselves, the school emphasizes the arts in all forms. Saint Ann’s underscores the arts as a crucial part of their core curriculum, and this is perhaps the greatest pedagogical difference between the schools.
“The arts program is the guiding philosophy behind the school,” Ms. Smith said, “We are an interdisciplinary school by design, and the arts are critical here.”
This philosophy is reflected in all of the school’s courses, and many examine their subject matter from both an artistic and analytical perspective. For example, I observed a course called The Science of Math and Music where I participated in an experiment that tested the ability of the human ear to locate the origin of sounds of various frequencies, a scientific analysis that may yield observations useful for music.
Saint Ann’s requires courses in the arts for students in every grade and offers electives in music, theatre, dance, visual arts, and more. Browning does offer electives in visual arts and music throughout high school, but these offerings are not as varied as the arts program at Saint Ann’s. Due to Browning’s smaller size and population, the creative arts often take the form of extracurriculars, and the school often collaborates with other members of the Interschool community to put on plays and musical performances.
In addition to the curriculum, the culture at Saint Ann’s is also unique for a high school. The school’s atmosphere is extremely casual and the school is very trusting of its students, who are in general given the freedom to act and study as they see fit. Schedules are loose, deadlines are less strict, and the classroom environment is relaxed. This system is accompanied by trust that students will manage their privileges responsibly.
Perhaps the best example of this unique culture is the fact that students address teachers by their first names. This adds an element of freedom and informality to the classroom, with the caveat that students are still expected to be respectful of their instructors.
“Our default is to trust,” Ms. Smith said, “If you’re starting from a place of freedom and you have kids that are intellectually curious, teachers are going to be free to teach what they want because everybody’s going there with them.”
Browning students on the robotics team test their robot. (Rossa Cole)
Coming from Browning, which takes a formal approach to education, the loose structure of Saint Ann’s was surprising. When I heard students talk about the freedoms they were given, I sought to understand how such a loose system could function.
“Having a bunch of self-motivated learners allows us to give students freedom, Ms. Smith said. “If you have a group of people that are inherently interested in learning, you’re not going to need a lot of structure to ensure that learning is happening.”
This sentiment was echoed by several students to whom I posed the same question.
“Because there's so much academic and intellectual freedom, there is this attitude that you learn and engage with the material for the love of learning,” Toby P. ‘21 said.
Because the school is able to foster enthusiasm and motivation, it can trust that students will respect their teachers, their privileges, and their education.
Despite the differences, I noticed many similarities between the schools. The friendships and feeling of community that I experienced at Saint Ann’s reminded me intrinsically of Browning. Students bantered with friends and debated teachers, and the community felt close-knit. I also saw the same passion for learning in the Saint Ann’s students and teachers that exists within Browning.
Additionally, although many of the differences in method may seem radical to a Browning student, both institutions have similar goals. As explained in Saint Ann’s mission statement, the school seeks to “cultivate a joy of learning,” which is akin to Browning’s goal of instilling a lifelong love of learning. In many ways, the schools are more similar than they are different.
I have been at Browning since Kindergarten, and so have many other Browning students. An all-boys college preparatory school is all I have ever experienced, and to step out of that environment and into a profoundly different one for a day was enlightening. As my peers and I prepare for college, which for the majority of us will mean a larger, more independent, and co-educational learning experience, it is important for us to understand what academic systems outside of Browning look like.
