Berkeley Carroll

Learning

Build, test, defend

In spring 2026, second graders in the Food Truck Project designed their own carts and trucks, built models and revised them over several rounds, while writing Spanish menus for food, drinks and desserts. Spanish lessons also became collaborative storytelling: pupils supplied the characters and their orders.

The project ended when an ice cream cart visited campus and the children ordered in Spanish. Lower School STEAM teaches the BC Design Process: Think, Plan, Do, Review.

Eighth graders tackled New York City's transport problems in a 2026 bridge project. After a trimester of work, each had drawings, a physical model and a Google Earth rendering.

Architects, engineers and urban planners then asked them to explain where their bridges belonged and whom they would help. Designing the bridge was one task; making the case for it was another.

Upper School classes use discussion-based seminars. Its advanced curriculum isn't defined by Advanced Placement, and electives run through Grades 10–12.

Science Research and Design begins with reading scientific papers in Grade 10. The following year, students try to verify a published study before beginning an investigation of their own.

Seniors complete the work and analyze their results. Research takes place in school labs; ask how students join the sequence.

Support

Learning support

Psychologists, learning specialists and interventionists work with teachers. Interventionists give short-term, skill-based help with foundational academics, while learning specialists use small groups and targeted strategies.

When a child may need an evaluation or outside services, the team provides referrals and talks with those providers.

Financial aid can also help with evaluations, required testing, and recommended counseling and tutoring. Confirm what your package covers.

Community

Responding to bias

In a July 2020 letter, the head of school wrote that conversations with Black students and alumni had covered racism they experienced at Berkeley Carroll.

The school promised yearly anti-racist training for faculty and staff, more staffing in the Office of Equity and Inclusion, and an online form for reporting biased behavior that a trusted adult could file for a student.

Today the school lists an Office of Equity and Inclusion and affinity spaces advised by educators who share the identity involved. A 2020 letter shows intentions, not current practice, so ask how reports are handled now.

Applying

Entry and deadlines

Use Ravenna for the full checklist for your child's grade. Kindergarten applicants must be 5 by September 1, 2027.

BC 3s gives priority to siblings and children of alumni and faculty; other families receive invitations only if space remains.

Lower School families need a parent at an Open House unless they attended within the past year. The application fee is waived with an aid application, and automatically for applicants from partner programs such as Prep for Prep and TEAK.

Costs

Paying

The nonrefundable enrollment deposit is 15% of net tuition. Books, domestic field trips and athletic equipment are included in tuition; after-school courses cost extra.

Aid is need-based, runs from PreK 4 through Grade 12 and is decided separately from admission. Every parent, including a non-custodial one, files through Clarity.

Funds are limited, and renewal each year is not guaranteed.

Daily life

Getting home

Bus eligibility is measured from Carroll Street for Lower School and Lincoln Place for older students; check the grade-specific distances. Pickups are shared stops, usually within five to eight blocks of home.

Living beyond the minimum distance does not guarantee a place on a route.

The currently listed annual bus registration fee is $900 and nonrefundable. Routes arrive in late August.

The school estimates an hour to 90 minutes from Manhattan or Queens; it does not serve Staten Island, the Bronx or New Jersey.

A Lower School child enrolled in an after-school enrichment course can use the playgroup until 6:00 p.m. at no additional charge. Courses carry their own fees and meet weekly for 8–13 weeks.

Berkeley Carroll on longer-term support, buses and bias reports

These questions cover what continues after short-term help, how your child would get to Park Slope, and how the school handles concerns now.