Packer Collegiate Institute
Encyclopedia
| The Packer Collegiate Institute | |
| Established | 1845 |
| School type | Private |
| Headmaster | Dr. Bruce Dennis |
| Assistant Headmaster | Mr. William Knauer |
| Head of Admissions | Ms. Sheila Bogan |
| Chairman, Board of Trustees | Mr. Adrian "Buzz" Doherty |
| Location | 170 Joralemon Street Brooklyn, New York, USA 11201 |
| Enrollment | Total: 998 Students |
| Faculty | Fulltime : 131 Part-time: 15 |
| Mascot | The Pelican Pelican A pelican, derived from the Greek word πελεκυς pelekys is a large water bird with a large throat pouch, belonging to the bird family Pelecanidae.... |
| Homepage | The Packer Collegiate Institute |
Packer Collegiate Institute is an independent
Independent school
An independent school is a school that is independent in its finances and governance; it is not dependent upon national or local government for financing its operations, nor reliant on taxpayer contributions, and is instead funded by a combination of tuition charges, gifts, and in some cases the...
college preparatory
University-preparatory school
A university-preparatory school or college-preparatory school is a secondary school, usually private, designed to prepare students for a college or university education...
school for students from prekindergarten through grade 12. Formerly the Brooklyn Female Academy, Packer has been located at 170 Joralemon Street in the historic district of Brooklyn Heights
Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn
Brooklyn Heights is a culturally diverse neighborhood within the New York City borough of Brooklyn. Originally referred to as 'Brooklyn Village', it has been a prominent area of Brooklyn since 1834. As of 2000, Brooklyn Heights sustained a population of 22,594 people. The neighborhood is part of...
since its founding in 1845.
History
A small group of interested landowners and merchants living on Brooklyn Heights formed a committee "of all the citizens interested in the cause of Female Education." After several meetings, a board of trustees was selected, funds were raised and the new school, named The Brooklyn Female Academy was built on Joralemon Street. It was a financial and educational success, its enrollment increasing steadily as the years went on. On January 1, 1853 the building caught fire and burned to the ground.A few days later, Harriet Putnam Packer (1820-1892), the widow of William S. Packer, offered the sum of $65,000 to rebuild The Brooklyn Female Academy if the new institution was named in honor of her deceased husband. At this time, Ms. Packer made the largest gift ever for the higher education of women. The new building, designed by the noted architect of Brooklyn churches, Minard LaFever
Minard Lafever
Minard Lafever was an influential American architect of churches and houses in the United States in the early nineteenth century.-Life and career:...
, opened in November, 1854.
Until the late 20th century Packer was primarily a girls school, with boys attending only kindergarten through fourth grade while girls and young women enrolled through high school as well as a two-year college. The chapel is notable for having stained-glass Tiffany windows.
Packer can be seen as a set for the CW television series Gossip Girl
Gossip Girl
Gossip Girl is an American young adult novel series written by Cecily von Ziegesar and published by Little, Brown and Company, a subsidiary of the Hachette Group. The series revolves around the lives and romances of the privileged teenagers at the Constance Billard School for Girls, an elite...
in multiple episodes throughout the first three seasons, as both interior and exterior locations.
Technology
Many technological resources found at Packer facilitate collaboration, innovation, expression, understanding and exploration. In the hands of creative and thoughtful faculty and students, technology strengthens our vibrant and reflective learning community. Packer's laptop program is of note as the institution claims itself to be a "laptop school where technology is woven seamlessly into the curriculum at all levels." The guidelines of the program state that every student must have a laptop from fifth grade through graduation in twelfth grade. Met with much skepticism at first, Time Magazine reports the thinking behind the laptop program in detail below:
"The wireless Packer would be very different from the old Packer. All assignments, handouts, work sheets, what-have-you would be distributed electronically. (Thus rendering the copy machine, possibly the only device on earth less reliable than the computer, obsolete.) Students would take notes on their laptops in class, then take their laptops home and do their homework on them. To turn in an assignment, they would simply drag and drop it into the appropriate folder, where the teacher could wirelessly retrieve it. Voila: the paperless classroom."
Arts
Packer has visual arts, photography, media arts, dance, drama, orchestra, brass choir, chamber music, wind ensemble, chorus and a Middle and Upper School jazz band. Among Packer's facilities lies the Janet Clinton Performing Arts Center, which features instrumental and choral music classrooms, a dance studio and the Pratt Theater. This state-of-the-art performance space supports theatrical productions throughout the year.Notable alumnae
- Lucy BurnsLucy BurnsLucy Burns was an American suffragist and women's rights advocate. She was a passionate activist in the United States and in the United Kingdom. Burns was a close friend of Alice Paul, and together they ultimately formed the National Woman's Party.-Early life and education:Lucy Burns was born in...
- suffragist - Elisabeth Woodbridge Morris (1898) - Author, English professor (Vassar CollegeVassar CollegeVassar College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college in the town of Poughkeepsie, New York, in the United States. The Vassar campus comprises over and more than 100 buildings, including four National Historic Landmarks, ranging in style from Collegiate Gothic to International,...
) - Elizabeth GaffneyElizabeth GaffneyElizabeth Gaffney is an American novelist. She graduated from Vassar College and holds an MFA in fiction from Brooklyn College. She is also the editor at large of the quarterly magazine A Public Space and was a staff editor of The Paris Review for sixteen years, under George Plimpton. She has...
- Author, MetropolisMetropolisA metropolis is a very large city or urban area which is a significant economic, political and cultural center for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections and communications... - Mary White OvingtonMary White OvingtonMary White Ovington was a suffragette, socialist, Unitarian, journalist, and co-founder of the NAACP.-Biography:...
(1890) - Civil rights leader, author, and co-founder and Executive Secretary of the NAACP - Virginia HeinleinVirginia HeinleinVirginia "Ginny" Heinlein , born Virginia Doris Gerstenfeld, was the third wife of Robert A. Heinlein, a prominent and successful author once known as one of the "Big Three" of science fiction .Born to George and Jeanne Gerstenfeld, Virginia was raised in Brooklyn and had one brother, Leon...
(1935) - Wife of and Co-Author with Robert A. HeinleinRobert A. HeinleinRobert Anson Heinlein was an American science fiction writer. Often called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was one of the most influential and controversial authors of the genre. He set a standard for science and engineering plausibility and helped to raise the genre's standards of... - Lois LowryLois LowryLois Lowry is an American author of children's literature. She began her career as a photographer and a freelance journalist during the early 1970s...
(1956) - Author, Number the StarsNumber the StarsNumber the Stars is a work of historical fiction about the Holocaust of the Second World War by award-winning author Lois Lowry. The story centers around ten-year-old Annemarie Johansen, who lived in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1943 and was caught up in the events surrounding the rescue of the Danish...
and The GiverThe GiverThe Giver is a 1993 soft science fiction novel by Lois Lowry. It is set in a society which is at first presented as a utopian society and gradually appears more and more dystopian. The novel follows a boy named Jonas through the twelfth year of his life... - Shelby White (1957) - Author, art collector, benefactor of the Metropolitan Museum of ArtMetropolitan Museum of ArtThe Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
(with late husband Leon LevyLeon LevyLeon Levy was, according to Forbes magazine, a "Wall Street investment genius and prolific philanthropist," who helped create both mutual funds and hedge funds. He co-founded the mutual fund manager Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. in 1959. There he started dozens of mutual funds that, at his death, had...
) - Mary WoronovMary WoronovMary Woronov is an American actress and writer. She is primarily known for her roles in independent and cult films. Woronov has appeared in over 80 movies, as well as numerous appearances in mainstream television series, such as Charlie's Angels and Knight Rider.-Early life:Woronov was born in the...
(1962) - a member of Andy WarholAndy WarholAndrew Warhola , known as Andy Warhol, was an American painter, printmaker, and filmmaker who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art...
's The FactoryThe FactoryThe Factory was Andy Warhol's original New York City studio from 1962 to 1968, although his later studios were known as The Factory as well. The Factory was located on the fifth floor at 231 East 47th Street, in Midtown Manhattan. The rent was "only about one hundred dollars a year"...
. - Barbara Severy Wellington Winthrop (1965) -Chef, entrepreneur, and poet
- Rosanna ScottoRosanna ScottoRosanna Scotto is an American news anchor. She currently anchors WNYW's Good Day New York with Greg Kelly. Previously, Scotto anchored at 5 and 10 P.M. with Ernie Anastos and Fox 5 Live at 11 A.M. Scotto has been the lead female news anchor since 1990...
(1976) - Television news anchor, FOX 5 News, New York City - Malcolm D. LeeMalcolm D. LeeMalcolm D. Lee is an American actor, film director, and screenwriter. He has directed such films as Undercover Brother, The Best Man, Roll Bounce, Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins, and Soul Men. He also directed an episode of the sitcom Everybody Hates Chris...
(1988) - Director, Roll BounceRoll BounceRoll Bounce is a 2005 American comedy-drama film written by Norman Vance Jr. and directed by Malcolm D. Lee. The film stars hip hop artist Bow Wow as the leader of a roller skating crew in 1970s Chicago. The film also stars Nick Cannon, Meagan Good, Brandon T...
, Everybody Hates ChrisEverybody Hates ChrisEverybody Hates Chris is an African American television period sitcom inspired by the teenage experiences of comedian Chris Rock , while growing up in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York . The show is set from 1982 to 1987; however, Rock himself was a teenager during years...
, and Undercover BrotherUndercover BrotherUndercover Brother is a 2002 American comedy film starring Eddie Griffin and directed by Malcolm D. Lee. The screenplay is by Michael McCullers and co-executive producer John Ridley, who created the original internet animation characters. It spoofs blaxploitation films of the 1970s as well as a... - Ethan HawkeEthan HawkeEthan Green Hawke is an American actor, writer and director. He made his feature film debut in 1985 with the science fiction movie Explorers, before making a supporting appearance in the 1989 drama Dead Poets Society which is considered his breakthrough role...
(1983) - Actor, Reality BitesReality BitesReality Bites is a 1994 American romantic comedy-drama film written by Helen Childress and featuring the directorial debut of Ben Stiller. It stars Winona Ryder, Ethan Hawke and Stiller, with major supporting roles played by Janeane Garofalo and Steve Zahn. The film was shot on location in Austin...
and Dead Poets SocietyDead Poets SocietyDead Poets Society is a 1989 American drama film directed by Peter Weir and starring Robin Williams. Set at the conservative and aristocratic Welton Academy in Vermont in 1959, it tells the story of an English teacher who inspires his students through his teaching of poetry.The script was written...
; author of Ash WednesdayAsh WednesdayAsh Wednesday, in the calendar of Western Christianity, is the first day of Lent and occurs 46 days before Easter. It is a moveable fast, falling on a different date each year because it is dependent on the date of Easter...
; musician; producer; and Oscar-nominated screenwriter - Deborah Ann WollDeborah Ann WollDeborah Ann Woll is an American actress best known for her role as Jessica Hamby on HBO's True Blood.- Early life :...
(2003) - Actress True BloodTrue BloodTrue Blood is an American television series created and produced by Alan Ball. It is based on The Southern Vampire Mysteries series of novels by Charlaine Harris, detailing the co-existence of vampires and humans in Bon Temps, a fictional, small town in the state of Louisiana...