Like all NYC Outward Bound schools, we implement the nationally recognized EL Education model rooted in Outward Bound. This model features rigorous learning experiences in and out of the classroom and is built upon a high-achievement culture and mutual support. Our school uses hands-on learning that has real-world applications. At our school, leadership, active citizenship, and character development go hand-in-hand with academic rigor and challenge. By valuing community and character alongside rigorous academics, we foster a school culture that instills in students the desire to take ownership of their own learning and care for their community. Students understand what they have learned and why.
Twice a year, regular classes are suspended for a full week and students have the opportunity to explore a topic of their choice in-depth with visits from experts and fieldwork in the city and around the country. In the past, intensives have included topics such as the Marine Ecosystems, The Hero’s Journey: Dramatic Writing and Analysis!, Food Photography, Great Civilizations, College: The Black and Brown Experience, Arthur Miller Play Study, and Stories of Resistance.
Crews are teams of 12-16 students led by an adult Crew Advisor, often a teacher. Crews focus on building essential character and academic skills through a combination of team building, student-centered academic support, conflict resolution, and adventure.
Crews meet multiple times per week, and a Crew will stay intact for several years.
Twice a year students present their strengths, growth areas, and goals to an audience of their peers, teachers, and families. These Student-Led Conferences take the place of traditional parent-teacher conferences and keep students accountable for their own academic performance and allow students to take the lead in their own learning. They can speak to their own strengths, struggles, goals, and processes of learning, and they are prepared for college success.
We have partnered with Brooklyn College and Kingsborough Community College to offer College Now Courses. Students take courses at our school or at the college campus. Our course offerings include Modern Humanities: Art and Ideas, Introduction to Business, Behavioral and Social Science: The Individual and His/Her World, and Introduction to College/Career and Life Planning.
Through the AP for All initiative, we have recently introduced:
AP Literature: A Call to Action: Understanding Your Rights using authors including but not limited to Adiche, Hawthorne, and Whitehead.
AP Seminar/Statistics using a Neuroscience and Statistics lens as the foundational source of evidence to analyze key topics.
AP Human Geography to explore how humans have understood, used, and changed the surface of the earth.
Performance Based Assessment Tasks (PBATs) replace traditional Regents Exams. Assessments include:
Analytic Essays on Literature
Social Studies Research Papers
An original Science Experiment & Paper
Problem Solving & Writing on Mathematics
Graduation-level PBATs are evaluated by external assessors using Consortium rubrics for both writing and oral presentations.
A series of interim assessments, roundtables, oral argumentation based on content and evidence, analytic as well as creative and first-person writing, teacher- and student-initiated assignments, independent and assigned reading, and hands-on projects all prepare students for their graduation-level performance-based assessment tasks, known as PBATs.
Beyond Student-Led Conferences, students present their work and learning to a variety of audiences. During Roundtables, pairs of students present and reflect on their work and growth to two evaluators. At the end of 10th grade, students collect evidence and share reflections to prove their readiness for the upper grades in a Passages presentation to a panel of 11th and 12th grade students and teachers.
Our partnerships include New York City Outward Bound Schools, the New York Performance Standards Consortium, AP for All, College Access for All, Brooklyn College Now, Kingsborough College Now, Counseling in Schools, Opening Act, and Community Schools.
Our online capabilities have grown by leaps and bounds since the start of this pandemic. We have leaned into our roots in Project Based, Interdisciplinary Learning by sharpening our curriculum, our socio-emotional support for young people, and our use of technology to engage students in active, live instruction even if they have decided to learn from home.
All of our students and teachers are provided with the technology needed to continue to pursue challenging and empowering curricula, despite the limitations brought to us by the pandemic. We remain committed to offering our full range of advanced coursework, performance assessments, and content that is meaningful and relevant to our young people today.
At the Kurt Hahn School, we seek young people who are independent thinkers, experimenters, debaters, and problem solvers. We ask open-ended questions and look to young people to find new and creative ideas to solve persistent dilemmas in pursuit of a more beautiful world. If you are looking to go beyond prep and test and want to explore topics in depth in order to form your own opinions about the world you are experiencing and creating, we are the right school for you.
The Kurt Hahn School is an Education Opportunity School. If you select our school, there is a good likelihood that you will be matched to our school, depending on the number of applicants we receive. Please reach out to our enrollment team at enrollment@kurthahnschool.org if you have questions about Ed Opt or if you want to learn more about our educational philosophy and approach to learning.
Prefer to call? Feel free to call us at 718-629-1204!
Looking to be in contact with the Kurt Hahn School during the summer? You can reach us at 646-574-8509, Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. You can also email Principal Jean-Marie at jjeanmarie@kurthahnschool.org and Assistant Principal Andre Lyle at alyle@kurthahnschool.org.
A reminder that there is no school on Monday, May 29th! There will also be no tutoring on Saturday, 5/27.
Important Dates:
May 29th: Memorial Day: No School
June 2nd: Schoolwide Community Day organized by Chang's Crew
June 5th: Senior Prom
June 8th: Chancellor's Day (No School for Students)
June 9th: Awards Ceremony
June 13th: Last Day of Classes
June 14th: ELA Regents
June 14th-June 22nd: PBAT Week
June 19th: Juneteenth (No School)
June 23rd: Graduation (9 am)
June 27th: Senior BBQ/Last Day of School
Please note the dates for tutoring:
June 3rd
June 10th
June 17th
Important Dates:
Important Dates:
First, don't forget to check out our latest episode of KH News!
Kurt Hahn will be sending Ms. Rodney's 12th grade Crew to the citywide NYCOB Crew Olympics!
KHELS Decision Day is Friday, May 19th, 2023.
During the Summer, College Now classes at any CUNY campus are open to students: College Now Summer Classes Information.
Important Dates:
Last week some of our students went on a camping trip with Mr. Seltzer. Looks like they had a refreshing time upstate!
Here are some important dates for students to remember:
April 27th-28th: Mid-Semester PBAT Presentations
May 10th: Meyer Levin School Visit (7th graders to visit KH)
May 12th: NYCOB Crew Olympics (Rodney's Crew to Represent!!)
May 19th: Decision Day!!
May 29th: Memorial Day: No School
Please also note the dates for tutoring:
April 29th
May 6th
May 13th
May 20th
June 3rd
June 10th
June 17th
Please take advantage of the opportunities for tutoring as we approach the end of the year!
The application for SYEP is available HERE.
The Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP) is the nation’s largest youth employment program, connecting NYC youth between the ages of 14 and 24 with career exploration opportunities and paid work experience each summer.
Participants have the opportunity to explore their interests and career pathways, develop workplace skills and engage in learning experiences that help in developing their social, civic and leadership skills.
By participating in structured project and work-based opportunities, NYC youth are better prepared for careers of the future.
The code for students at Kurt Hahn Expeditionary Learning School is CR-91169.
Our Winter Break is from December 26th to January 2nd!
We wish you a happy winter recess and look forward to seeing all of our students in the New Year.
All students should return to school on January 3rd.
Student-led conferences will be held during the evening of the 17th and the afternoon of the 18th. Please reach out to your child's Crew teacher to schedule.
