Poly Prep

Learning

From blocks to research

In Poly's Kindergarten Math Workshop, a child signs up for a thirty-minute block and stays with one task. Number blocks give numbers a shape to handle: split them, combine them, estimate with them.

A teacher visits groups of four to six with questions to guide the work, and the math specialist can join in.

By Grade 2 the pattern becomes a loop. After each chapter the teacher reads the class's work, then regroups children the next day for extra help, a harder problem or enrichment.

Bar models help children see past a story problem to the numbers underneath, and the school describes fluency practice without timed tests.

In May 2026, Grade 5 scientists walked the Dyker Heights campus in partner groups, logging moss, insects, fungi and birds against a field guide. A decaying log became a case study in who feeds on what.

Grade 8 Mandarin students spent 2025–26 working with peers at a Shanghai school. For one project, mixed teams chose their own topics and built them across a twelve-hour time difference, using video calls and voice messages.

Their teacher writes that managing the clocks became part of the lesson.

In Upper School, Advanced Placement is no longer the route: Poly has offered no AP courses since 2022–23, and its advanced courses do not culminate in AP exams. In Grades 11 and 12, students choose their advanced courses with advisors and teachers.

Science Research adds a load of its own: a multi-year strand starting in Grade 10 or 11, with mentored independent projects, presentations and a science fair, on top of core science.

Support

Support

In the Lower School, specialists work individually or in small groups on reading, writing, math and executive functioning, along with in-class collaboration and accommodations. A teacher's observation, screening data or an evaluation can start a referral, and parents can raise concerns directly.

With evaluations in hand, the team works from their recommendations alongside families and outside providers.

In Middle School, each child has a dean from the start who tracks progress and is the family's main contact across academic, social and behavioral questions.

Safeguarding

Safeguarding

Poly’s 2014 apology acknowledged failing to report abuse allegations to authorities.

In separate 2024 and 2025 cases against Poly Prep, New York’s Appellate Division upheld lower-court decisions not to dismiss historical abuse and negligence claims against the school. Those rulings let the claims continue; they are not findings of liability or trial verdicts.

We haven't verified how either case later resolved.

Applying

How admission works

Nursery takes about 30 newcomers. Pre-K and Kindergarten offer 5–10 places each; other Lower School grades depend on departures.

Grades 2–4 require ISEE Primary scores.

The Lower School age line is September 1, 2027: three for Nursery, four for Pre-K, five for Kindergarten. Ask about September 1 birthdays: the checklist says “before,” the FAQ “by.”

Grade 5 takes 15–18 new students and Grade 6 takes 35–38. Both interview in small after-school groups with a short writing task, while parents meet an admissions officer.

SSAT or ISEE scores count, and the school superscores. Grades 7 and 8 depend on openings; interviews are by invitation.

Middle School has no strict age cutoffs, and families choose which grade to apply for.

Grade 9 takes 35–40 new students and interviews one-on-one during the school day, with at least one parent and a 30-minute writing sample. SSAT or ISEE scores count here too.

Grades 10–12 open only as families leave, by invitation.

Supporting materials, including test scores and teacher forms, are due January 8, 2027; ask teachers after November 1.

Decisions arrive February 4 for Kindergarten, February 10 for Grades 1–8, February 19 for Grades 9–12 and February 25 for Nursery and Pre-K.

Application fee waivers are available for financial hardship, previous-year applicants and specified placement programs.

Cost

Cost and aid

Displayed 2026–27 totals include fees and a charge for tuition-refund insurance; the page doesn't say whether that plan is optional. Kindergarten is $67,386, Grade 6 $70,151 and Grade 9 $70,476.

Families can pay in full, in two parts or in ten monthly installments.

Tuition also covers lunch, bus service, grade-wide trips, athletic uniforms and a daily snack through Kindergarten.

Aid is need-based, with no merit awards. Apply through Clarity by December 15, 2026; awards come with the February admission decisions.

Funds are limited, so qualifying doesn't guarantee an award, and the school can't add grants once the money is committed. Families reapply every year.

If a child's parents live apart, both are expected to contribute and both complete the forms, unless one is solely responsible and files a waiver. A family that enrolls without aid is expected not to seek it for three years; an unforeseen, significant hardship may bring emergency help for one year, not guaranteed.

Daily life

Rides and afternoons

About 85% of students ride the school's buses, on more than 35 routes to Dyker Heights, eight to Park Slope and over 230 stops across all five boroughs. Adult monitors ride with younger children, and routes are redrawn each year around where enrolled families live.

Lower School offers paid drop-in care from 3:30 to 6:00 with no pre-registration; its page says Nursery children leave by 5:00 in the fall. Confirm current terms: the FAQ still carries a 2024 date.

Middle School students may stay after the bell only for a registered activity, a music lesson, a rehearsal or a practice, and they leave by 6:00 pickup or on the 6:00 bus. Most activities begin at 4:00.

There is no general option to stay on campus without a plan.

Poly Prep on support, buses, after-care and concerns

These questions cover learning support, the bus route to Dyker Heights, after-care costs and how a concern about an adult is reported.