The Brooklyn Latin School, New York City’s youngest specialized high school, turns 20 this month — and its alumni association is marking the milestone with an evening gathering on Thursday, May 21, at Juliette Restaurant (135 N. Fifth St., Williamsburg) from 6 to 9 p.m.
Founded in fall 2006 with 63 students drawn from all five boroughs, Brooklyn Latin was built on an unusual premise for a public school: International Baccalaureate classes for all students at no cost, an emphasis on public speaking through Socratic seminars and declamations, and Latin language courses. According to the Alumni Association’s press release, 100 percent of students now graduate in four years and 94 percent enroll in college or career programs after graduation.
The celebration, organized by The Brooklyn Latin School Alumni Association, will bring together alumni from the classes of 2010 through 2025, current and former faculty and staff, and families. Superintendent of Brooklyn North High Schools Dr. Rushell White and Headmaster Ms. Katrina Billy-Wilkinson are expected to appear, alongside alumni leaders. Guests will hear remarks from alumni and staff, with the evening also serving as a fundraiser for future alumni programming. Those interested can RSVP by May 17 at [email protected].
“TBLS was an unprecedented and dangerous experiment,” said Aminata Hughes, class of 2012 and co-president of the Alumni Association. “What if we take the brightest public school students from across New York City and educate them using similar methods to Phillips Exeter and Phillips Academy Andover? What the founders did flew completely in the face of conventional practices in urban education at the time. We must celebrate that audacity.”
Hughes, who now serves as Outreach Manager at the Paideia Institute, returns to Brooklyn Latin each year on Founder’s Day to deliver the Rome Prize — a scholarship to a summer study abroad program in Rome that has been awarded to a Brooklyn Latin junior annually since 2013. She will begin a Master’s in Liberal Studies at the City University of New York Graduate Center this fall.
For Josh Frank, class of 2012 and a founding member of the Alumni Association, the anniversary is personal. “I still remember the spirit of what Brooklyn Latin tried to do,” Frank said. “What I still remember, even all these years later, is just how much the community cared about everyone’s success, how much time they put into programs.”
After graduating, Frank received a four-year full-tuition Posse Foundation scholarship to Trinity College and later earned his law degree from the University of California, Berkeley. He credits Brooklyn Latin with introducing him to the Posse Scholarship and encourages fellow alumni to give back. “Brooklyn Latin reaching the 20th anniversary is a testament to how hard the educators tried, the students putting in the work to make it successful,” Frank said. “It’s a sign to me that it’s really going to be here for the long run.”
The school opened its doors in fall 2006 under then-Headmaster Jason Griffiths, who had assembled a staff with backgrounds spanning education, the private sector, and public service. More information about the Alumni Association is available at the association’s Linktree page. The event is at Juliette Restaurant, 135 N. Fifth St., Williamsburg.
Featured image: Bushwick Daily
