Embrace the Challenge

With 161 credit courses, many with multiple levels, Brooks School offers students the opportunity to choose academic programs appropriate for their ability, whatever that may be.

Students may enroll in Advanced Placement (AP) courses as early as their second year. As they progress through the curriculum, the choice of courses increases even further. Fifth- and sixth-formers may select from numerous electives. Sixth-formers excelling in a particular field of study can even double up and enroll in two courses in that area to take their studies further. Brooks' curriculum allows highly motivated math students, for example, to study in an accelerated program offering two years of courses beyond AP Calculus.

161

Credit Courses Offered

This wide range gives students a chance to fully delve into subjects they love and to explore new ones too.

15

Advanced Placements

The Advanced Placement classes are offered throughout the curriculum from Music to Mathematics.

95

Percent of Students In AP Courses

The vast majority of Brooks School students take at least one AP course before they graduate.

50

Percent of Students Take 3+ AP Classes

Half of students take at least 3 AP courses during their Brooks career — 38 percent take five or more AP courses.

The range of opportunities we have here are unusually rich and advanced, so we're going to challenge students wherever they're at.

History Teacher Lance Latham

Brooks' 1:6 faculty/student ratio, and smaller classes, means there's also generous interaction between students and teachers, both in-class and via extra help given outside of class during free periods, to help every student reach their potential. The Learning Center offers another resource through which students can take their studies to the next level, as well.

A few recent student success stories ...

  • National recognition for excellent performances on the National Latin Exam and National Spanish Examinations
  • Commendation by the National Merit Scholarship Program
  • Invitations to compete in the competitive American Invitational Mathematics Exam. (Fun fact: Brian Choi '18 and Eddie Choi '19 scored higher than 94 percent of the 350,000 high school students who took the qualifying American Mathematics Contest)

No matter what a student's area of interest, they will be challenged at Brooks to explore it and learn all they can. Take it from Brooks' three-time, top-ranked scholar Coco Sun ’17, who went on to Stanford University. "Brooks provided me with opportunities to take courses of my passion while encouraging me to explore disciplines that I was unfamiliar with," she said. "It's been so rewarding to learn from teachers who constantly challenge us and support us in and outside of the classroom. I feel as though I have been able to develop both a breadth and a depth of knowledge thanks to the academic environment at Brooks."

"Brooks does not have a typical prep-school environment, which is known to be cutthroat . . . In our classrooms, everyone wants each other to be the best possible student they can be." 

Advanced Classes in All Subjects

Click to view the 2023-2024 course catalog, including challenging courses in:

Mathematics ...

from Multivariable Calculus I and II to AP Computer Science, in which students develop the skills to collect, analyze and interpret data.

Science ...

from AP offerings including Physics, Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Science, to Honors Neuroscience and Honors Biotechnology, a fast-paced course introducing concepts and techniques used in laboratories in the fields of microbiology, immunology, genetics, genomics, bioinformatics, and bioethics.

History ...

from AP U.S. History to a suite of world history electives to our Advanced History Capstone Seminar, a collegiate-level history course in which students learn to work with academic journals, practice the methods of a historian, and write their own papers to submit for publication.

English ...

from AP English Literature to Immigrant Voices, in which students study American identity through the lens of immigration, and Fiction Writing, in which students learn to write, refine, and present their original work in a workshop setting that leads to a culminating portfolio.

World Languages ...

from AP Spanish Literature to Latin Reading: Decadence and Greed to Advanced Mandarin Chinese: Society and Social Life, in which students study contemporary China and its rapidly changing socio-cultural landscape.

Arts ...

from AP Music Theory to Advanced Performance Studio, where students learn advanced acting techniques, and Advanced Open Studio, in which students build portfolios of new media work to be shared in venues on- and off-campus.

92 percent of parents rate
the quality of Brooks'
academics as 'very high'

According to a recent survey
conducted by Brooks School