Big Apple Academy is a coeducational independent school for students in pre-kindergarten through 8th grade. The academy occupies two modern facilities located in the Gravesend area of

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

History

The Big Apple Academy takes its roots in the affiliated Bambi Academy, a

Day Care Center Child care, otherwise known as day care, is the care and supervision of a child or multiple children at a time, whose ages range from two weeks of age to 18 years. Although most parents spend a significant amount of time caring for their child(r ...

founded by and oriented mostly towards Russian-speaking families. Due to the success of the program, the faculty decided to expand the institution's goals. In 1992 the first

kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th ce ...

class was opened, and the school matured into a large educational center – the Big Apple Academy. The school created its own curricula, developed new teaching methods, and purchased equipment.Opening of the Big Apple Academy High School Article in the RussianNY (in Russian

/ref> Today, the Big Apple Academy includes curricula for

through 8th Grade, 8th grade.

Departments

The Big Apple Academy comprises the following departments: *Mathematics Department *Social Studies and Science Department *English Language Department *Russian Language Department *Computer Science Department *Physical Education Department *Art Department *

Admission

Admission decisions are based on an applicant's school records, entrance exams (English, Math), and a personal interview.

Curriculum

The curriculum is based on the standards of learning for K-12 NY schools by the

New York State Department of Education The New York State Education Department (NYSED) is the department of the New York state government responsible for the supervision for all public schools in New York and all standardized testing, as well as the production and administration ...

, as well as those provided by various national pedagogical organizations. Starting in kindergarten, children have 40-minute lessons with subject teachers in English, Math, Computer Science, Science, Social Studies, Art, Music, Russian Language and P.E., which includes swimming and standard athletic exercises. In older grades the workload increases, and more advanced subjects are added. The students are taught Algebra, Geometry, Graphic Design, Computer Science, History and Geography as parts of Social Studies, and Physics, Chemistry, and Biology as parts of Science.

Terms

The school year consists of four terms: * September through November * December through January * February through March * April through June

Language

Instruction at Big Apple Academy is conducted in the English language. However, Russian language classes are also taught as a foreign language class. The class includes Comprehension, Writing, and Language Development. In K-grades bilingual (Russian-English) instruction is allowed for students who have recently entered the country and do not yet possess conversational skills. At parents’ request, additional Russian language lessons may be added to the existing scheduled ones. There are also

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

and French clubs for students in the upper elementary (3rd grade to 5th grade).

Sports and academic clubs

Students of the Big Apple Academy can choose one or more clubs and after-school activities: Sports clubs: *

Swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

Tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

Tae Kwon Do ''Taekwondo'', ''Tae Kwon Do'' or ''Taekwon-Do'' (; ko, 태권도/跆拳道 ) is a Korean martial arts, Korean form of martial arts involving punching and kicking techniques, with emphasis on head-height kicks, spinning jump kicks, and fast k ...

Academic clubs: *

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

(3rd to 5th grades) * French (3rd to 5th grades) * Math *

Science Science is a systematic endeavor that Scientific method, builds and organizes knowledge in the form of Testability, testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earli ...

(3rd grade) Art clubs: * Dance *

Art Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas. There is no generally agreed definition of wha ...

(only for students gifted in art)

Transportation

Children are transported by school buses to and from the school. The

boroughs A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle A ...

of school bus coverage are

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

and Staten Island.

References

External links

Big Apple Academy
Official Website
Big Apple Academy
Official Facebook Page
NYC Private School Focus on The Big Apple Academy
Article in the NYC Private Schools Blog {{authority control Private elementary schools in Brooklyn Private middle schools in Brooklyn Private high schools in Brooklyn Preparatory schools in New York City