Poly Prep


Poly Prep Country Day School is an independent, co-educational day school with two campuses in Brooklyn, New York, United States. The Middle School and Upper School are located in the Dyker Heights section of Brooklyn, while the Lower School is located in Brooklyn's Park Slope neighborhood. Initially founded as part of the Brooklyn Collegiate and Polytechnic Institute, Poly Prep now offers classes from nursery school through 12th grade.

History

Poly Prep was established years ago in 1854 as the Brooklyn Collegiate and Polytechnic Institute in Downtown Brooklyn. It was one of the first private boys' schools in the city of Brooklyn. The initial aim of the school was to offer an academic program similar to that of boarding schools of the time while striving to maintain a strong community feel among students and faculty alike.
After 45 years, the future of the Brooklyn Collegiate and Polytechnic Institute was re-evaluated in 1889, when the preparatory school and the collegiate division were finally separated. In 1891, the construction of a new building next door to the school's original building provided a home for the college, which became known as the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn. Both divisions still exist, although the collegiate division, after many changes of name, was eventually acquired by New York University in 2008 and, as of 2014, is now known as the New York University Tandon School of Engineering.
After its initial separation from the collegiate division, the Polytechnic Preparatory Institute remained an all-boys collegiate preparatory program at 99 Livingston Street and, by the mid-1890s, had already become one of the largest prep schools in the country, with over 600 students.

Going co-educational

During the tenure of headmaster William M. Williams, the school began the transition to co-education in 1977 when it first admitted girls, graduating its first co-ed class in 1979.

Major primary school expansion

In the 2006–2007 school year, a modern expansion was added onto the Park Slope building. In April 2009, Poly Prep's Lower School won the Lucy B. Moses Award from the New York Landmarks Conservancy as an outstanding example of historic preservation and renovation.

Child abuse claims

The school was the subject of a federal lawsuit filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York in Brooklyn in 2009 centering on the sexual assault of students by Philip Foglietta, the head football coach from 1966 to 1991.
The allegations surfaced during Foglietta's first year at the school, during the tenure of Headmaster J. Folwell Scull, who was the head of Poly Prep from 1949 to 1970. They persisted during the tenure of William M. Williams, who was the headmaster from 1970 to 2000. Despite ongoing accusations of rape and molestation, no action was taken for 25 years, until Foglietta's contract was not renewed in 1991. However, even then, the school announced that Foglietta had decided to retire and made no mention of the abuse.
Alumni continued to press the matter, and eventually Williams's successor, David Harman, wrote to alumni in 2002 that the school had "recently received credible allegations" of abuse—36 years after the first report of molestation.
Two years later 12 victims filed suit in state court, but the suit was dismissed due to New York State's statute of limitations. However, U.S. District Court Judge Frederic Block subsequently ruled that portions of the suit could proceed in federal court. The suit was settled for $10 million in December 2012. On February 21, 2014, the school issued what the Wall Street Journal called "a sweeping apology" for the abuse and the school's failure over the decades to respond appropriately when victims revealed their abuse. Headmaster Harman and the chairman of the board of trustees, Scott Smith, subsequently resigned. A permanent memorial to the victims of the abuse was placed in a prominent location of the campus.

Institution

Divisions

Poly Prep consists of three divisions, beginning with the Lower School located at 50 Prospect Park West in Brooklyn. Lower School education commences with the nursery school program, which consists of early childhood learning up until the pre-kindergarten level, and continues on through fourth grade. The middle school program begins at grade 5, at which point Poly students enroll at Poly Prep's Middle and Upper School campus located at 9216 Seventh Avenue in Brooklyn, where they continue their education through 8th grade and then into high school.

Athletics

Interscholastic Leagues

Poly Prep is part of the Ivy Preparatory School League, a division of the greater New York State Association of Independent Schools, which comprises all the private schools in the state. The school has a number of award-winning programs, most notably football, basketball, and baseball. Hockey was introduced in 2010.

Athletic teams

Fall teamsWinter teamsSpring teams
Boys' soccerGirls' basketballSoftball
Girls' soccerBoys' basketballBaseball
Cross countryGirls' swimmingGirls' lacrosse
Girls' tennisBoys' swimmingBoys' lacrosse
Girls' volleyballBoys' squashGolf
FootballGirls' squashUltimate frisbee
WrestlingOutdoor track and field
HockeyBoys' tennis
Indoor track and fieldCrew

Headmasters of the Country Day School

In the years since the opening of the Dyker Heights campus in 1917, Poly has had six headmasters : Joseph Dana Allen, J. Folwell Scull, William M. Williams, David Harman, Audrius Barzdukas, John Rankin - interim, and Noni Thomas López

Notable alumni and attendees

Notable faculty

  • William Cary Duncan, American playwright who taught English and public speaking at Poly Prep from 1897 through 1917.