Crissy Cáceres, head of Brooklyn Friends School, outlined a cohesive pedagogy that places inquiry, reflection and community at the center of academic life. In a recent discussion about the school’s instructional approach, Cáceres emphasized that the Quaker-rooted values of simplicity, peace and integrity inform both curriculum design and everyday practice.
Under her leadership, Brooklyn Friends prioritizes student-centered learning strategies that promote critical thinking and collaboration. Project-based learning, interdisciplinary units and experiential opportunities are combined with intentional social-emotional programming to cultivate resilience and ethical responsibility. Crissy Cáceres highlighted the importance of creating classroom environments where student voice is privileged and where assessment balances mastery of core skills with demonstration of conceptual understanding.
Equity and inclusion emerged as central themes in Cáceres’s explanation of pedagogy. The school has invested in professional development focused on culturally responsive teaching, restorative practices and anti-bias education to ensure that instruction meets diverse learners’ needs. Faculty mentorship and sustained curricular review are described as mechanisms for maintaining high instructional quality and for supporting teacher retention.
Cáceres also discussed the role of community partnerships and experiential learning in preparing students for an interconnected world. Opportunities for civic engagement, service learning and arts integration are deliberately woven into the program to deepen relevance and application. Technology is used selectively to enhance collaboration and research rather than to supplant hands-on inquiry.
As Brooklyn Friends adapts to contemporary educational challenges, Crissy Cáceres framed the school’s pedagogy as both principled and pragmatic: rooted in longstanding Quaker traditions while responsive to new research on learning. The result, she argues, is an educational model that seeks not only academic excellence but also the formation of reflective, compassionate citizens prepared to navigate a complex society. Visit this page for more information.
Learn more about Crissy Cáceres on https://matchboxvirtual.com/speaker/crissy-caceres/