What if BUGS students could lead the world?

With so many challenges to our achieving social, racial, and climate justice, BUGS is more committed than ever to providing an innovative learning community where students can develop the skills they will need to build a fairer and greener future, where all living systems can thrive.

From the first day of school, as students pass our gardens and enter hallways featuring posters about sustainability and signs about being a zero-waste school, they know that learning at BUGS will be meaningful, challenging, and fun. They are part of a diverse and inclusive school community that wants them to dream big, aim high, take risks, and care about their community.

The BUGS Approach

• We are guided by our school's Key Design Elements which are laid out in our Charter and can be found here.

• We encourage students to think about how kindness, compassion and our C.A.R.E.S. values build a strong community, where we have responsibility for one another and the systems that support us.

• Our strong relationships, co-teaching model, and small, supportive learning environment ensure no child falls through the cracks at this critical stage of adolescent development.

• Our sustainability education approach serves as the motivating and integrating force that improves students’ understanding of Next Generation core subject standards, fosters higher-order critical thinking, prepares them for high school, and connects our young adolescents to their learning and their community. 

• Through hands-on learning, real world problem solving, enrichment classes, clubs, activism, and community service, our students understand the power of their voice and how they can use their understanding, advocacy, and creativity to build a sustainable future.

Students graduate from BUGS with the collaboration, critical thinking, analytic, and technology skills, as well as sustainability competencies that will help them succeed in high school and be prepared for the 21st-century workplace. 

Teaching and Learning at BUGS

Whether students are using statistics to understand water usage, or presenting their community action research projects, they are challenged to ask questions and do the deep thinking that leads to subject mastery. Educators choose to teach at BUGS because of the innovative learning going on in and outside classrooms, the emphasis on teamwork and collaboration across and between grades, and the opportunity to be part of a community that cherishes a growth mindset. 

• The BUGS academic scope and sequence follows that of New York City and is aligned with the Next Generation core subject standards and is informed by the Education for Sustainability (EfS) Standards and Next Generation Science Standards. Our science sequence culminates in the New York State Regents exams in Biology and students have the option to study for Algebra 1 Regents. 
  

  BUGS has implemented a standards-based grading approach in all content areas. Click on the link for more information on “What You Need to Know About Standards-Based Grading.”

  • View our Curriculum Night Overview and Welcome Presentation

  • View 6th grade curriculum overview

  • View 7th grade curriculum overview

  • View 8th grade curriculum overview

• Our school design includes longer class periods and longer school year than traditional public schools because of our educating for sustainability design as well as opportunities for enrichment programs, field trips, community action projects, and project-based learning.

• BUGS uses a 1:1 chromebook system that allows for technology to be embedded in coursework in a meaningful way with students gaining fluency in analytics, presentations, video production, and coding. 

Growing at BUGS

Middle school can be a challenging time for adolescents as they explore their own sense of self and develop their identities. Within our small school, we strive to create a learning community where all students are treated with dignity and respect and encouraged to take risks and learn from mistakes. 

Our whole-child approach includes small group advisory (click here for an overview) and Quiet Time twice a day (click here to see a special segment from NY 1 about the program). BUGS is also a “no cell phone” school.

Adults at BUGS model empathy and cooperation, while demonstrating how our C.A.R.E.S. values and sustainability competencies build an inclusive community that celebrates diversity and values sustainability. Our two, full-time school counselors, learning specialists, Director of Inclusion, and Office of Student Affairs collaborate with teams across the school to design programs and activities that encourage social-emotional learning for our students and families.

Family-School Partnership

The success of our students as lifelong learners and sustainability game-changers depends on a strong and enduring partnership among staff, families, students, and the community. Families are welcome to join us for open classrooms, student-led conferences, Semester Celebrations, family workshops, and Town Halls with school leaders. The BUGS PTA is a great way for families to join the community and provide the school team with opportunities to grow the family-school partnership.