Brooklyn private independent school

Research & Advanced Study

Berkeley Carroll encourages students to develop their intellectual interests through research and advanced study in humanities, world languages and academic travel programs, science, math and computer science. Learn about some of the opportunities we offer:

Humanities

  • American Studies and the senior electives in English and history all offer advanced-level coursework in the humanities with rigorous reading lists, research components, and writing assignments.
  • The Senior Scholars program is a highly selective and demanding program for students who are interested in pursuing scholarly work in the humanities. Students develop their research skills and capacity for philosophical inquiry as they design and pursue a year-long independent project that culminates in a formal written paper and an accompanying public oral presentation. Recent topics include the adverse effects of aid to West Africa, the politics of oppression as viewed through the War on Drugs, American housewives and the space race, and the otherizing and commodification of black female sexuality.
  • Berkeley Carroll's award-winning student magazine of literature and art, Reflections, offers students a prestigious outlet for their creative work.

World Language and Academic Travel Programs

Our academic travel programs provide opportunities to deepen students’ understanding of language, culture, and history. Each is linked with its own dedicated Spring Intensive and requires academic work alongside the travel. We treat these opportunities as academic programs rather than sightseeing tours. Current travel programs include:

  • Language immersion-based opportunities at El Centro de Lenguas y Educacíon Intercultural in Granada, Spain, and Le Centre Méditerranéen d’Études Françaises in Cap d’Ail, France.
  • Community development and global issues-based programs in India and Tanzania. Some priority is given to students who have pursued related coursework in English and history electives, such as Modern India and The History of Decolonization.
  • The program in Italy is primarily for Latin students since the focus of the program is entirely on classical Rome.

Science

Students wishing to push themselves in the sciences have many opportunities to do so through both advanced coursework and individual study. Some examples:

  • We offer advanced Level II courses in Biology, Chemistry and Physics. Since students may double up in science, it is possible to take more than one of these.
  • Our three-year Science Research and Design program provides 10th -12th grade students with opportunities to explore and understand the nature of science as a dynamic, changing field rather than a static body of knowledge. This highly selective program culminates in an original research project, either in-house or with an external mentor, and a scientific article that is published in Proceedings of the Berkeley Carroll Independent Research Conference, the program’s peer-reviewed journal. Each student in the program also presents at the school’s Science Research Conference held in the spring.
  • Taking full advantage of the Beta Lab, we offer a rigorous course in Engineering, a hands-on class that emphasizes application of scientific principles to real world problems.

Math and Computer Science

  • Berkeley Carroll’s math curriculum supports students through Multivariable Calculus and beyond.
  • From geometry through calculus, our math classes have on-level and advanced options, and students’ placement is evaluated each year.

  • Students in Computer Science develop programming skills through individual projects scaled to push their own knowledge bases. Those seeking advanced coursework in Computer Science have two options. One is Narrative Game Design, which focuses on combining the many disciplines of game design in order to create engaging, creative experiences for users. The other is Linux Operating System Design & Development, in which each student builds a custom operating system from the Kernel level, include a networking stack, file system management and graphical user environments (GUI) utilizing GNOME and KDE.