Brooklyn Institute for Liberal Arts

What is the application process for your school?

Brooklyn Institute for Liberal Arts is an unscreened school. As such, students and families only need to select our school as one of their choices in order to be considered for admission.

What is your discipline policy?

Brooklyn Institute for Liberal Arts is part of the New York Public School System. As such, our students must follow the policies outlined in the Citywide Behavior Expectations Guide.

This guide not only outlines expectations around student behavior, but describes possible interventions, and consequences if students violate school or DOE policies. Parents and students should review the guide each year.

For more about our discipline policies, including our policies on lateness, please follow the link here.

How do you support students in planning for college and career?

We offer a wide range of supports for students applying to colleges, internships, scholarships, and work opportunities:

• Essay Writing and Financial Aid Workshops. We partner with College for Every Student and Foundation for Letters to give students and families access to professional writers and financial advisors.
• Princeton Week. Twice each year, current Princeton students visit our school to mentor seniors and rising juniors on the college application process.
• Free PSAT and SAT Exams, and PSAT and SAT Prep courses. All BILA students have the opportunity to take these exams once at our school, free of charge. We also offer prep courses during the school day and on weekends before the exam.
• College Seminar. Seniors participate in a one-credit seminar lead by our guidance counselors to prepare application materials and evaluate offers from universities.
• Fee Waivers. Additional fee waivers may be available to students who qualify for free or reduced lunch. Our guidance counselors can help you determine if your family is eligible.
• College Trips. All BILA students complete a minimum of four college trips to city and regional colleges. Past trips include Howard University, Lehigh University, CUNY Hunter College, Kingsborough Community College, Long Island University, Brooklyn College, and City Tech, just to name a few.
• Career Fair. All BILA students participate in a yearly career fair where they meet with professionals from around the New York City area. These professionals work in a wide range of careers: we've had visits from activists, pharmacists, actors, artists, lawyers, personal trainers, entrepreneurs, construction workers, cardiologists, police officers, camera technicians, comedians, Navy logisticians, social workers, and professionals from many other fields. Students interview these professionals to gather information about whether a particular career might suit them.

Does your school have a uniform?

At BILA, uniform policies are part of our school culture and are rigorously enforced. Uniform includes:

• Black pants or skirts (BILA sweatpants for gym only)
• Uniform polo (gym shirt for gym only)
• Plain navy cardigan or zip-up sweatshirt
• BILA hoodie

Students may not wear:

• Jeans or non-BILA sweatpants
• Short skirts
• Sweatshirts or hoodies with patterns or writing
• Hats, bandanas, flags, or other headgear

In addition, each grade has an assigned uniform shirt color for polos and gym-wear:

• Freshmen: Gold polo
• Sophomores: Navy blue polo
• Juniors: Royal blue polo
• Seniors: Senior classes vote to select their polo color. In 2020- 21, the senior polo is Black.

Violations of the uniform policy will lead to verbal warning or the confiscation of articles for the day. Students who repeatedly or egregiously violate uniform policy may be sent home to change. Parents may also be notified and asked to meet with administration.

What is your grading policy?

At BILA, all teachers follow the same standardized grading policy outlined below.

We have six marking periods each academic year. Each marking period, students receive an academic grade that reflects their performance across five categories of assignments:

• Classwork = 20%
• Homework = 20%
• Quizzes = 20%
• Projects/Essays = 20%
• Unit Test/Final Exam = 20%

Each of these categories therefore contribute 20% of a student's final grade for the marking period or semester, so students should not expect to pass their classes with strong test scores and quiz grades, but without turning in homework or classwork. In the same way, students who struggle on exams but diligently complete classwork and homework may perform well, provided their work in other categories are strong.

For more about our grading policy, check out our information page here.

What is your cell phone policy?

We know that technology can be a powerful tool for learning, or a powerful distraction. We supply laptops and iPads to support student learning during classes so that students do not need to access their personal devices during school hours.

Student phones are collected at scanning, locked up during the day, and redistributed at dismissal. Students will not be given access to their phones for any reason during the school day.

Parents who need to contact their student during the day should call the main office at (718)-221-1097.

Our family is looking for college scholarships.

Great! Try any of the websites below for access to databases of scholarships open to your student. If you need additional support in identifying good scholarship opportunities for your student, please contact our guidance counselors.