Cherishing Our History As We Build the Future

For 75 years, Fontbonne Hall Academy has been the sparkling gem of a school on 99th St. and Shore Rd. in Bay Ridge. Her alumnae have gone out into the world as educators, scientists, engineers, physicians and mathematicians, supported by a strong STEM curriculum.
Classroom instruction is accompanied by multimedia enhancements as well as distance learning for Advanced Placement and Honors courses. Rapid curriculum development for the electronic age is being expedited by a research grant for departmental iPads.
Small classes, modern laboratories, Wi-Fi and SMART Boards are only part of the story. Innovative electives and specialized programs, such as anthropology, child development, American Sign Language, accounting, law, anatomy and physiology, marine and forensic sciences join AP statistics and calculus, AP Italian and Spanish, as well as AP biology, English and U.S. history as course offerings.
Fifty percent of the Fontbonne faculty is accredited to teach on the college level either at Fontbonne or in local colleges and universities.
Acceptance into the Manhattan College and ACE Mentor engineering programs and pre-college programs at Barnard, Georgetown, Columbia and other top-ranked schools prepare students for the future, as do internships and service opportunities that range from South Africa to Chile.
Each trimester, more than 51 percent earn honor-roll status. Students are selected annually to participate in the Empire Girls’ State Program sponsored by the American Legion Ladies Auxiliary.
Service is an important part of life at Fontbonne. Each student volunteers at least 15 hours of service annually, while members of the National Honor Society and Service Scholars offer additional hours. This year, Fontbonne families faced special challenges with 17 percent displaced or made homeless following Hurricane Sandy. Rather than curtailing their service commitment, students, through their Lifestream organization (pictured), the Student Activities Council and the National Honor Society, supported Thanksgiving and coat drives and provided toys and gifts to three different groups at Christmas. Every student participated in the assistance efforts. Members of the softball teams and their parents also spent a day at St. Thomas More parish, Breezy Point, participating in the clean-up effort.
The adoption of the Naviance college readiness platform enhances the productivity of the 1:1 guidance program. One hundred percent of our graduates attend college, with 96 percent accepted to their first-choice college.
The Mother Saint John Fontbonne Scholars program recognizes incoming students who have already demonstrated exceptional educational promise.
Fontbonne sports continue their winning ways with four out of 10 Bonnies on competitive teams. Video and print yearbooks, the school newspaper and many extra- and co-curricular clubs enrich the Fontbonne experience.
Fontbonne Hall appeared on the list of The Observer’s “Rankings of New York’s Top 160 Schools, 2012.”
As Fontbonne Hall Academy proudly looks back on its 75 years, the school recalls the vision of French writer, Marcel Proust, who reminds us, “The real voyage of discovery and change does not consist in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.” Our new eyes at Fontbonne will see creative implementations of the Common Core Standards in the disciplines, coupled with 1:1 technology use and expanded multimedia applications.
As we continue to recognize that excellence is a dynamic response to a healthy, creative, spiritually centered environment, this vision of Fontbonne will prosper for years to come.