The Stony Brook School


The Stony Brook School is a 7–12 private, Christian, co-educational, college-preparatory boarding and day school in Stony Brook, New York, United States. It was established in 1922 by John Fleming Carson and fellow members of the Stony Brook Assembly. Its founding headmaster was Frank E. Gaebelein.

History

In 1906, a group of Presbyterian ministers and laymen began an enterprise to form an annual series of summer Bible conferences in the tri-state area of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. These conferences were to be in the tradition of other Bible conferences already established at Chautauqua, New York, Winona Lake, Indiana, and Northfield, Massachusetts.
The group was led by the Rev. John Fleming Carson, pastor of the former Central Presbyterian Church in Brooklyn and later Moderator of the Presbyterian General Assembly. After having visited the hamlet of Stony Brook in 1907, Carson and his associates settled on a location directly across from the train station. The first summer conference of the Stony Brook Assembly began on July 3, 1909 and was a success. The Stony Brook Assembly was formally incorporated by the state of New York in 1914.
Carson's vision also included the establishment of a boys' school which could use the Assembly grounds outside of the summer months. As early as 1916, formal plans were being considered for opening the school, but financial constraints and World War I postponed the opening of the school until the fall of 1922. On September 13, The Stony Brook School was inaugurated with 27 boys and 9 faculty. Founding headmaster Frank E. Gaebelein called the new school an "experiment" in Christian education and set the mission for the school as being a rigorous college preparatory school thoroughly rooted in the Christian tradition. Education was not merely an emphasis on strong academics for the education of the mind, but more importantly was an emphasis on building character for the education of the heart - a distinction he linked with an adherence to the gospel. In his report to the Board in November 1937, Gaebelein reaffirmed the purpose of the school stating, “It was never the aim of Dr. Carson and the other founders, however, simply to inaugurate one more college preparatory school. Stony Brook’s prime reason for existence has been to bring its into vital contact with the Christian faith.”
The academic reputation of the school grew in prominence. In May 1923, it was granted a charter by the Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York. In 1928, the school was accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools.
In 1930, SBS was granted a charter by the Cum Laude Society, placing it among the first sixty schools granted this distinction since 1906.
In 1931, the Director of Admissions at Princeton University indicated that the admissions committee was so impressed with the caliber of Bible study at Stony Brook that it would award one Carnegie Unit of preparation for college.
In the fall of 1971, a group of thirty day-student girls entered the school, beginning the school's move toward co-education. The following year, female boarding commenced.
In honor of the school's fiftieth anniversary in 1972, long-time faculty member and writer D. Bruce Lockerbie penned a history of the school entitled, The Way They Should Go.

Headmasters

Academic rigor combined with an integration of the Christian faith are central to the school's academic tradition. Some of the hallmarks of the core curriculum include freshman Critical Reading and Reasoning, the freshman and sophomore Humanities curriculum, junior Bible-English, and the senior Bible capstone course Faith and Culture in the 21st Century. The graduation requirements mirror a traditional liberal arts education composed of 4 years of English and History, 3 years of one Foreign Language, Science, and Mathematics, and 1 quarter credit in the visual arts.
The school offers twenty-one Advanced Placement courses as well as numerous full-year elective courses in such subjects as the Engineering, Innovation, and Design, History of Philosophy, Ethics and Politics, Advanced Digital Imaging, and 20th Century Fiction and Creative Writing. Students also have opportunities to take mini-courses interspersed throughout the year in a wide range of electives as well as conduct various internships and research opportunities off-campus at nearby institutions such as Stony Brook University, Brookhaven National Laboratory, and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
Teaching students to write well is one of the hallmarks of the school's curriculum. In the Upper School, students are instructed across disciplines in the art of the analytical and personal essay, with special emphasis placed on the organization and craft of a well-written argument.

Advanced Placement Courses

Note: AP Latin alternates biennially with College Level Latin.

Athletics

Stony Brook was one of the original members of the Ivy Preparatory School League, composed of prep schools around the New York City and Long Island area. In 1974, the school joined Section XI of the New York State Public High School Athletic Association. In at least two out of the three seasons, students must participate in an athletics team or an approved alternative extracurricular activity. Approved activities include interscholastic Chess, Robotics, and the Theater Arts Society, all of which are offered in winter.
Interscholastic Sports
Fall
Winter
Spring
The mascot of the school is the Bear. During the 1970s and most of the 1980s the mascot was the Shrike.

Campus facilities

The school owns twenty-four faculty homes, which line the perimeter of the campus. These homes include:

Alumni