Learning By Doing - BASIS Independent Brooklyn

Our content-rich curriculum is complemented by many opportunities for students to see ideas in action—both in and out of the classroom. We delight in giving students the opportunity to deepen their understanding of course material and how it relates to the world around them, to tap into their five senses and explore problems from new angles.

Opportunities to learn through doing are present across all grades and subjects, especially through our primary Connections course and Senior Projects, but we take special care to allow students to learn through doing outside the four walls of their classroom. As a private school in New York City, our students are offered limitless opportunities to see coursework through a different lens.

Field TripsProject WeekCommunity ServiceInternational Travel

Field Trips

Students will take 2–3 field trips throughout the year. Our field trips are designed to make the curriculum come to life: first graders visit the Brooklyn Museum’s Egyptian section after learning about pyramids in engineering and studying about Ancient Egypt in humanities; third graders explore Greece and Rome in the Museum of Natural History after spending months on Greek myths and the ancient civilizations; fifth graders visit the Cloisters after learning about the middle ages in history class.

At BASIS Independent Brooklyn, New York City becomes our playground. We are uniquely situated in one of the most culturally rich and intellectually-stimulating cities in the world, allowing our teachers access to numerous amazing resources. Recent field trips include:

The Brooklyn Botanical Gardens
Brooklyn Children’s Museum
Brooklyn Museum
The Bronx Zoo
The Cloisters
El Museo del Barrio
Liberty Science Center
Lincoln Center
MOMATH
The MET
Museum of the City of New York
Museum of Jewish Heritage
The Museum of Natural History and Hayden Planetarium
National Museum of the American Indian
Rooftop gardens and the community garden right next to our campus!
The Intrepid
Tenement Museum

Read all about our second graders' exciting trip to the Museum of Natural History

Project Week

The last week of school means project week at BASIS Independent Brooklyn! Project week is an opportunity for students in all grades to work with their peers on multidisciplinary projects and to engage in a fun, new activity or trip with various grade levels. Students will spend around 4–5 days grouped with Term Project Teachers. These projects challenge our students to be cooperative learners and to function as a team.

Here are some of the incredible projects we’ve seen:

Law & Order
Ecology of Music
Biohacker Bootcamp
Ice Cream and Books: A Peek into the World of Small Business
Comic Book Studio
Rock Climbing
Silly, Serious, and Story Poems
Outdoor Week
Urban Anglers: Fishing
Smarty Plants
The Art of Henna
Slime City
Mission: Animal Rescue
Outdoor Art
Stage Makeup Studio
Red Hook Explorers
World Cup Soccer
Pinemere Sleep Away Camp Experience

Explore Ice Cream and Bookshops around Red Hook

Community Service

Helping our students understand community and the importance of joining, creating, respecting, and growing a community is an ongoing high priority for us. We want to ensure that our students not only feel the comfort and sense of belonging that comes with their own community, but recognize the ways to give and give back to society at large. Our parent community is also heavily involved in outreach locally and beyond.

To provide community service, we have a Leadership Club and partnerships with the Red Hook Art Project. The Red Hook Art Project works with professionals to provide tutoring and mentoring for gifted, under-served children and youth. The organization offers free classes and tutoring in visual art, music, and Homework Help.

We are excited to be involving our students in the Homework Help—they will get the opportunity to spend time helping younger students with their homework as well as playing games to help them unwind and socialize.

Read About Our Involvement Here

International Travel

Exploring other countries and cultures firsthand is an amazing opportunity for our students, which is why BASIS Independent Brooklyn has hosts middle and high school international trips every year. Past trips have included:

Barcelona & Madrid

Students studied Gaudi’s architecture, ventured through the legendary Prado, and enjoyed culturally rich traditions like flamenco lessons.

China

Students explored the modern capital Beijing to the former capital Xi’an, home to the Terracotta Warriors and other monuments to ancient Chinese customs. In the south, Yangshuo’s natural formations are as exotic as the culture.

Iceland: Glaciers & Geysers

Starting in Reykjavik, the tour traveled the Golden Circle and saw the Gullfoss waterfall and the Geysir geothermal area, where students learned about geyser cooking.

France

From the stained glass of Notre Dame to the Louvre, students toured through the heart of Paris to Provence and along the Riviera.

Travel to Iceland with BASIS Independent Brooklyn