Briarcliff Manor Union Free School District

The Briarcliff Manor Union Free School District is the public school district of Briarcliff Manor, New York. The district is an independent public entity, and is governed by the district Board of Education, whose members are elected in non-partisan elections for staggered, three-year terms. The board selects a superintendent, who is the district's chief administrative official. The district's offices are located in Todd Elementary School.

Briarcliff Manor Union Free School District
Digital image of a school district seal
Location
45 Ingham Road, Briarcliff Manor, New York, 10510
Coordinates41.1480°N 73.8174°W / 41.1480; -73.8174
District information
TypePublic
GradesK–12
SuperintendentJames M. Kaishian
Asst. superintendent(s)Edgar MacIntosh, Linda Peters
SchoolsTodd Elementary School
Briarcliff Middle School
Briarcliff High School
Budget$50,335868 (2016-17)[1]
NCES District ID3605340[2]
Students and staff
Students1,535 (2011–2012)[2]
Teachers139.95 (on full-time equivalent basis, 2011–2012)[2]
Staff247 (2011–2012)[2]
Student–teacher ratio11.48 (2011–2012)[2]
Other information
Websitewww.briarcliffschools.org

The district has three schools: Todd Elementary School, Briarcliff Middle School and Briarcliff High School. It has about 1,535 students, and spends an average of $24,858 per pupil and has a student–teacher ratio of 11:1 (the national averages are $12,435 and 15.3:1 respectively). The district is a part of the Putnam-Northern Westchester Board of Cooperative Educational Services. The Briarcliff Manor UFSD won first place for the small district category of the 2008 Digital School Districts Survey and currently provided 1 to 1 devices to all students in grades 4 through 12.

History

In 1865, a one-room schoolhouse was built on land donated by John Whitson on the south side of Pleasantville Road, between the Pocantico River and the New York & Putnam Railroad (now NY Route 9A/100).[3] The building (Whitson's School, District No. 6) became the first schoolhouse in the area. George A. Todd, Jr. was the first teacher and superintendent of the school.[4][5] In 1867, the school was moved to the White School, named thus due to its exterior paint.[6]: 31 

Early schools
A small school building
Opening of a three-story school building
A Spanish Renaissance-style school building
Whitson's School, District No. 6; Briarcliff Public School at its 1898 opening; Briarcliff Grade School ca. 1930
2014 field replacement
A track and field with another field in the background under construction
A construction site replacing a former softball field
The middle and high school campus' football field and track were replaced in 2014; the baseball and softball fields are under construction.

Its replacement building, Briarcliff Public School, was built in 1898 on the site of the White School. The building failed to meet requirements set by New York's commissioner of education, and thus in 1910, it became the Briarcliff Community Center, a social organization established by the village.[nb 1] Around the same time, in 1908, $50,000 ($1.63 million in 2022[7]) was voted for Briarcliff Manor to buy a plot by Law Memorial Park, and the school moved again, to the Spanish Renaissance-style Grade School building, which was built there the following year.[8]: 50  Students would attend that school from kindergarten to ninth grade and have the option to then attend the nearby Ossining High School. In 1918, the Briarcliff school began educating students through high school; in 1928, a dedicated wing for high school students was built onto the Grade School building. The enlarged school accepted students from Croton, Hawthorne, North White Plains, Valhalla, and as far as Granite Springs.[6]: 68 

In 1953, Todd Elementary School opened to free space at the Law Park grade school for middle- and high-school students.[6]: 153  The present high school opened in 1971 to ease the large enrollment at the Grade School building.[6]: 154  The district under its current name was officially established in 1974.[8]: 58 

In 1980, Pace University began leasing the middle school building, and the middle school was moved to a portion of the new high school building. The Grade School building was demolished in 1996, and a retirement home was built on its site the following year. In the early 2000s, the current Briarcliff Middle School was constructed adjoining to the high school.[9] The wing was completed in 2003 at a cost of $24 million ($38.2 million in 2022[7]) in the same red-brick-and-glass style as the high school wing.[10] In 2008, the school district won first place for the small district category of that year's Digital School Districts Survey.[11]

Supreme Court loan

In the 1970s, the school district made an indefinite loan of four sculptures to the U.S. Supreme Court. The works, plaster frieze reliefs designed and sculpted by Adolph Weinman in the 1930s, were models for Weinman's final marble panels that were installed in the Supreme Courtroom in 1935. The models are six inches tall and two feet wide, compared with the 7-foot-tall final products.[12]

Weinman's son, Robert Weinman, donated the models to the school district in the late 1950s; Weinman was a resident of Briarcliff, and his children attended school in the district.[13] The Supreme Court curator had contacted Robert Weinman seeking any models; Weinman directed him to the school district. The models were being kept in the basement of the former middle school, and were moved to the lobby of the Supreme Court Building in 1974, where they have been on display since.[12]

The court's curator sought out the district to donate the pieces around 2010, as part of a larger effort for donation or sale of works on loan to the Supreme Court. The school board had the pieces insured and voted to keep the models in the district's ownership, with a renewable annual lease to the court; as the work's tie to Briarcliff is valued in the district. The district is the only school to have a loan agreement with the Supreme Court.[12]

General information
A school district logo and seal
Former logo of the school district
Composition (2015–16)
White: 76%
Asian/Pacific Islander: 13%
Hispanic: 7%
Black: 3%
American Indian/Alaska Native: 0%
Multiracial: 2%
Source: The New York State Report Card, NYSED

The three schools within the district serve about 1,535 students, and the district spends an average of $24,858 per pupil; its student–teacher ratio is 11:1 (the national averages are $12,435 and 15.3:1 respectively).[14] Demand for entrance to the school is high due to its strong performance and ratings.[15]

Location and area

The Briarcliff Manor UFSD covers 6.58 square miles (17.0 km2) of land and most of the village of Briarcliff Manor. The district also serves an unincorporated portion of the town of Mount Pleasant. Parts of Briarcliff Manor not covered by the school district include Scarborough and Chilmark; these areas (about 28 percent of Briarcliff Manor) are part of the Ossining Union Free School District.[15]

Demographics

In the 2015–16 school year, the Briarcliff Manor Union Free School District enrolled approximately 1,469 students; of which 16 (1 percent) were eligible for free lunch and 6 students were eligible for reduced-price lunch. The student body is 52% male and 48% female. One percent of students are economically disadvantaged and nine percent have reported disabilities.[16]

Enrollment in the Briarcliff Manor Union Free School District since 1867
YearEnroll.±% p.a.
186735—    
1905108+3.01%
1912176+7.23%
1926273+3.19%
1939350+1.93%
1976–19771,324+3.66%
YearEnroll.±% p.a.
1987–1988972−2.77%
1988–19891,024+5.35%
1998–19991,401+3.18%
1999–20001,464+4.50%
2000–20011,593+8.81%
2001–20021,651+3.64%
YearEnroll.±% p.a.
2002–20031,728+4.66%
2003–20041,750+1.27%
2004–20051,802+2.97%
2005–20061,836+1.89%
2006–20071,781−3.00%
2007–20081,701−4.49%
YearEnroll.±% p.a.
2008–20091,744+2.53%
2009–20101,687−3.27%
2010–20111,651−2.13%
2011–20121,640−0.67%
2012–20131,573−4.09%
2013–20141,568−0.32%
YearEnroll.±% p.a.
2014–20151,522−2.93%
2015–20161,469−3.48%
Source:

Schools

Todd Elementary School
A one-story brick building
Todd Elementary School

Todd Elementary School serves students from kindergarten through to fifth grade. The current elementary school building opened in 1953 and is named after George A. Todd, Jr.[6]: 31  who was the village's first teacher, first superintendent and taught for over 40 years.[4] When it opened, the school was already too small; two more rooms were added. In 1956, another addition nearly doubled the school's size. In 2000, another expansion of the school began, creating distinct wings for students in kindergarten to second grade and students in third to fifth grade.[24] It became a Blue Ribbon school in 2016.[25]

Briarcliff Middle School
School entranceway
Briarcliff Middle School

Briarcliff Middle School (BMS) serves students in grades 6–8. It is co-located on a suburban campus with Briarcliff High School.[26] The school principal is Susan Howard.[27] The school has 62 faculty members, including 29 teaching staff.[26] As of January 2012, enrollment is 379.[28] It became a Blue Ribbon school in 2005.[29]

Group photograph of boys in football uniforms
BMS eighth grade football team ca. 1938

Student body

The student body consists primarily of incoming students from Todd Elementary School. Fewer than 3 percent qualify for free or reduced lunches; in contrast, 72 percent of the student body qualifies in nearby New York City.[10]

The demographics of the school are 92 percent White (non-Hispanic), 2 percent Black or African American, 4 percent Asian, and 2 percent Hispanic or Latino. Its student–teacher ratio is 11:1.[26]

The school runs the Greenhouse Club, which donated to charities, fixed old laptops, and started a recycling and composting program.[30] The club runs an annual Charity: Water fundraiser, and has held coat drives, collected funds for Hurricane Sandy victims, and organized a holiday boutique to raise money for the American Cancer Society.[31] As well, the students of the club have helped to create and maintain Academia, the school's outdoor education center, greenhouse and garden built around 2008.[32] The club also created a five-part video miniseries on planting and gardening for instructional use at Hawthorne Country Day School.[33]

Briarcliff High School
Two-story brick building façade, entranceway, and round theater
Briarcliff High School
See also: Briarcliff High School

Briarcliff High School (BHS) serves students in grades 9–12. The school is noted for student achievement, testing scores, its science research, world language, and performing arts programs, university in the High School and Advanced Placement courses, and graduation and college attendance rates.[34] The school has a 10:1 student–teacher ratio, and 100 percent of students have proficiency in mathematics and English.[35] In 2014, Newsweek ranked the high school 17th-best in the country.[36]

The student body primarily consists of incoming graduates of Briarcliff Middle School. Additionally, students graduating from Pocantico Hills Central School have the option to attend high schools either at Briarcliff High School, Pleasantville High School, or Sleepy Hollow High School.[37] The majority, 75 percent in 2016, attend Briarcliff High School.[38] Through the district's affiliation with the Board of Cooperative Educational Services, students have the option for vocational education at the Tech Center at Yorktown, a program in Yorktown Heights.[39]

The school was founded in 1928 at the Grade School building adjacent to Law Memorial Park. In 1971, the school moved to its current facility on the east border of the village.[6]: 154 

Transportation
A large yellow school bus
A Briarcliff Bus Co. Thomas Saf-T-Liner C2 school bus

The district offers transportation to students through Briarcliff Bus Company, which holds its vehicles at a private lot of the Scarborough train station.[20] Transportation is available to students who live within 15 miles (24 km) from the school they attend; that students living on Ingham Road do not have school transportation to the nearby Todd Elementary School.[40]

See also

Notes
  1. The organization ceased to exist in 1927; the building burned down in 1928, shortly after scheduled demolition to make way for the Briarcliff-Peekskill Parkway.[6]: 75 

References
  1. "2014 ‐ 15 School Budget" (PDF). Briarcliff Manor Union Free School District. April 22, 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 April 2014. Retrieved 28 April 2014.
  2. "Search for Public School Districts – District Detail for Briarcliff Manor Union Free School District". National Center for Education Statistics. Institute of Education Sciences. Retrieved April 24, 2014.
  3. Frederick. W. Beers (1891). "Portion of Rockland County. Portion of Westchester County." (Hand-colored lithographed map). Atlas of the Hudson River Valley from New York City to Troy. 1:14,400. New York, New York: Watson & Co.
  4. Gelard, Donna (2002). Explore Briarcliff Manor: A driving tour. Contributing Editor Elsie Smith; layout and typography by Lorraine Gelard; map, illustrations, and calligraphy by Allison Krasner. Briarcliff Manor Centennial Committee.
  5. Yasinsac, Robert (2004). Images of America: Briarcliff Lodge. Charleston, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7385-3620-0. LCCN 2004104493. OCLC 57480785. OL 3314243M.
  6. Cheever, Mary (1990). The Changing Landscape: A History of Briarcliff Manor-Scarborough. West Kennebunk, Maine: Phoenix Publishing. ISBN 0-914659-49-9. LCCN 90045613. OCLC 22274920. OL 1884671M.
  7. 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved May 28, 2023.
  8. Midge Bosak, ed. (1977). A Village Between Two Rivers: Briarcliff Manor. Monarch Publishing, Inc.
  9. Briarcliff Manor: The First 100 Years – The Centennial Variety Show. Village of Briarcliff Manor. 2002.
  10. Hu, Winnie (May 12, 2007). "Middle School Manages Distractions of Adolescence". The New York Times. Retrieved July 24, 2014.
  11. "2008 Digital School Districts Survey Top 10". The Center for Digital Education. March 25, 2008. Archived from the original on May 12, 2014. Retrieved May 9, 2014.
  12. Wilson, Colleen (September 18, 2017). "Briarcliff schools, U.S. Supreme Court have rare bond". The Journal News. Gannett Company. Retrieved December 27, 2017.
  13. Barron, Sam (December 25, 2017). "Supreme Court Displays Sculptures Loaned From Briarcliff Schools". Briarcliff Daily Voice. Retrieved December 27, 2017.
  14. "Education in Briarcliff Manor, New York". Sperling's BestPlaces. Retrieved August 29, 2014.
  15. Weinstock, Cheryl (April 2, 2000). "If You're Thinking of Living In/Briarcliff Manor; Small-Town Quality But Near Manhattan". The New York Times. Retrieved February 27, 2014.
  16. "The New York State Report Card, 2015 – 16". New York State Education Department. Retrieved December 23, 2016.
  17. Pattison, Robert (1939). A History of Briarcliff Manor. William Rayburn. OCLC 39333547.
  18. Geer, Ira W. (December 1978). "Increasing Weather Awareness - Hurricanes" (PDF). US Government Printing Office. p. 93. Retrieved May 9, 2014.
  19. "Archive of Briarcliff Manor UFSD Reports". New York State Education Department. Retrieved December 23, 2016.
  20. "Comprehensive Plan - Village of Briarcliff Manor" (PDF). Village of Briarcliff Manor. November 2007. Retrieved February 27, 2014.
  21. "Diversity in the Classroom: Briarcliff Manor Union Free School District". The New York Times. Retrieved May 9, 2014.
  22. Neilsen, David (April 26, 2013). "School Budgets 2013-Briarcliff School District Tax Rate Increase to be Highest in Years". River Journal. Archived from the original on May 12, 2014. Retrieved May 9, 2014.
  23. "Briarcliff Manor UFSD Adopted Budget Book 2014–2015" (PDF). Briarcliff Manor Union Free School District. 2014. p. 19. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 12, 2014. Retrieved May 9, 2014.
  24. Briarcliff Manor Centennial Committee (2002). The Briarcliff Manor Family Album: Celebrating a Century. Cornwall N.Y: Village of Briarcliff Manor.
  25. Reif, Carol (October 3, 2016). "Todd Elementary School Thrilled About National Blue Ribbon Recognition". Briarcliff Daily Voice. Retrieved October 7, 2016.
  26. "2004-2005 No Child Left Behind - Blue Ribbon Schools Program" (PDF). United States Department of Education. March 21, 2005. Retrieved January 2, 2014.
  27. "Middle School - Briarcliff Manor UFSD". Briarcliff Manor School District. Archived from the original on February 8, 2014. Retrieved January 27, 2014.
  28. "Schools Building Enrollments". Briarcliff Manor School District. Archived from the original on February 2, 2014. Retrieved January 27, 2014.
  29. "List of Blue Ribbon Schools" (PDF). Retrieved February 27, 2014.
  30. "Being green in Briarcliff". The Journal News. March 22, 2010. Archived from the original on February 1, 2014. Retrieved January 25, 2014.
  31. "BMS Greenhouse Club Raises Funds for Clean Water". Pleasantville-Briarcliff Manor Patch. June 7, 2013. Retrieved January 25, 2014.
  32. "Briarcliff MS Greenhouse Club Gets Hands-On". Pleasantville-Briarcliff Manor Patch. May 21, 2013. Retrieved January 25, 2014.
  33. "Briarcliff Middle School Students Share Their Green Thumbs with Inner City School". The Journal News. April 21, 2008. Archived from the original on 2014-01-23. Retrieved January 25, 2014.
  34. "Facilitators – Center for Educational Leadership" (PDF). Board of Cooperative Educational Services. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 15, 2013. Retrieved January 22, 2014.
  35. "Briarcliff High School – Overview". U.S. News & World Report. 2014. Retrieved January 27, 2014.
  36. "America's Top Schools 2014". Newsweek. Retrieved September 10, 2014.
  37. Rosenberg, Merri (June 1, 1997). "School Districts Try to Attract Tuition-Paying Students". The New York Times. Retrieved May 22, 2014.
  38. Matthews, Cara; Nackman, Barbara L. (January 13, 2013). "Schools Say Shared Services Bring Best Savings". The Journal News.
  39. Cortissoz, Marie (February 28, 2013). "Walkabout Program Helped Budding 'Cupcake Queen'". Pleasantville-Briarcliff Manor Patch. Retrieved February 27, 2014.
  40. "Briarcliff Manor Approves Referendum of Student Transportation". Briarcliff Manor's Hamlet Hub. HamletHub. August 27, 2014. Retrieved September 6, 2014.
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