Education that Stretches Around the World

Nightingale students leave the blue doors as citizens of the world, thanks to an academic program that emphasizes global education. Whether it is a year in Europe, a semester in Australia, or a week at a conference in India, a Nightingale education extends beyond the blue doors. Nightingale has a partnership with Round Square, a consortium of 200 schools in 50 countries that offers students the chance to attend international conferences with students from member schools, as well as to participate in exchanges with students around the globe. Through immersive experiences and classroom interaction, students are empowered to express different perspectives and discuss complex issues constructively with fellow students. A Nightingale education ensures that our graduates are ready to take on the challenge of global citizenship and comfortable in their ability to change the world.

Lower School

An Appreciation for Differences

In the Lower School, students in Kindergarten, Class I, and Class II begin their journey of developing a greater understanding of and appreciation for differences.

Students study human rights, civil rights, and social justice. Language study begins in Kindergarten with Spanish, and girls rotate Spanish with French and Mandarin in Class IV. Lower School trips and community engagement around New York City lend a greater appreciation of the blend of cultures in our city. Students organize food drives and volunteer as lunch servers at a nearby community meal program, which encourages them to be active and productive participants in creating a better world for themselves and their respective communities.

Middle School

An Expanding Cultural Education, Rooted in Classics

The scope of learning for a Middle School student expands even further afield to include experiences with people and environments near and far, ancient and modern.

Community engagement centers around engaging with those who learn differently, including working with children with autism and adults with Alzheimer’s. An ongoing study of civil rights culminates in a Class VIII trip to Alabama, Tennessee, and Georgia. While they continue studying a modern language, Middle School students each learn Latin beginning in Class VI. Latin skills help with comprehension of modern languages and draw connections between ancient cultures and the modern world. As part of the Middle School Field Studies program, students may travel to Costa Rica, Iceland, or the Grand Canyon to study the science of ecosystems and geology first hand.

Upper School

Establishing Community, Locally, and Globally

Each year Class IX students travel to London as a class, bringing their academic work to life with oral presentations in museums, and experiencing the thrill of the house of Tudor first hand. This trip is built around experiential learning and serves as the foundation of their studies for the fall, as well as an inspiration for further global studies during their four years in the Upper School. Students in Class X and Class XI are encouraged to apply to spend a semester or year in another country or another part of the United States; popular programs are in Switzerland, Maine, Washington, D.C., South Africa, and Australia. Every student at Nightingale who studies a modern language will have the opportunity to travel to a country where that language is spoken and to experience life there. Within the blue doors, Class IX participates in a semester-long seminar focusing on social justice and community engagement. In Classes X-XII, each student chooses an organization where she must volunteer at least four times a year.

Partnership

Adding Depth to a Broad Global Education

A partnership with Round Square connects Nightingale to more than 200 schools in 50 countries across six continents. Middle and Upper school students can travel internationally to participate in conferences where they can meet and network with other students. The focus of Round Square participation lies in the acronym IDEALS: Internationalism, Democracy, Environmental Sustainability, Adventure, Leadership, and Service. Recently, Nightingale students organized a Zoom conference with other students to discuss their experiences during the global COVID-19 pandemic, and how quarantine had affected their lives. Another student from the Global Planning Committee organized an online forum to discuss the history of global immigration with three renowned experts in the field in front of hundreds of students and teachers from Round Square schools. While participating in a pilot project of collaborating with students from Round Square’s Craighouse School in Santiago, Chile, students shared coming of age experiences from the US, from Bat Mitzvahs to a first driver's license, to the traditions surrounding puberty among girls from the Lakota tribe at Nightingale’s sister school, the Pine Ridge Girls School in South Dakota. Learning about the lives of others, whether through study abroad or a virtual exchange, prepares our students to lead with empathy and courage.