An Education that Engages the World
Nightingale graduates exit the blue doors as global citizens. Thoughtfully selected global competencies guide our program, ensuring that a Nightingale education prepares students to respectfully express their own perspectives, engage with different viewpoints, examine systems with a critical eye, adapt to our changing world, and take thoughtful action both locally and globally — confident in their ability to change the world for the better.
Lower School
Developing a Sense of Self and Place through Intercultural Connections
Lower Schoolers begin their global citizenship journey close to home, learning about their own and their classmates’ backgrounds and heritage.
A community highlight is Cultural Night, an interactive journey “around the world” through the Schoolhouse where students and parents alike share their cultural heritage with interactive learning. Spanish language learning in addition to units on human rights, civil rights, and social justice come to life through curricular field trips and local collective action, supporting identified needs in the New York community. Students finish Class IV with pride in their own identity, appreciation for others’, and an emerging understanding of the world’s most pressing challenges.
Middle School
Adapting to a Changing World by Examining Systems and Institutions
Middle Schoolers travel further afield and dig into the systems—ancient and modern—that shape our world.
Some students run for the student-run Community Engagement Board, which designs opportunities to take action on local examples of global challenges. Class trips grow each year: an overnight community-building trip in Class VI, a study of early America in Philadelphia in Class VII, and an immersive look at the untold stories of women civil rights leaders in Alabama in Class VIII, with an optional, application-based Environmental Science Field Studies program in Eleuthera, Bahamas for Classes VII and VIII.
Upper School
Envisioning and Creating a More Equitable World
Upper School opens with the Class IX trip to London, integrating STEM, history, and the arts—often the spark for deeper global learning.
Students in Classes X and XI may apply for a semester or year away, domestically or abroad, and every language student has the chance to travel to a country where their language of study is spoken. Through home stays and community-based programs, students immerse themselves in language and culture. With support from the Community Engagement Board, each student selects a local organization they will support throughout each school year. Many students will pursue further specialized programs including a two-year Global Scholars pathway and student leaders dialogue facilitation training. Graduates leave understanding how individual and systemic choices affect communities around the world—compassionate citizens ready to advance equity for the betterment of all.
