Packer was first established as the Brooklyn Female Academy at its present location on Joralemon Street in 1845, just 12 years after the incorporation of the City of Brooklyn, and 53 years before it would consolidate with greater NYC and become a borough. Its mission was to provide a rigorous, college-level education to the young women of a rapidly growing city. The story of Packer is more than the story of a single school. It is one of social and economic transformation in Brooklyn and the country at large, the development of urban growth and institution-building, of the evolving status of American women, and of the changing beliefs about the nature of education and its role in American society.

Though its name seems to suggest otherwise, Saint Ann's is a non-sectarian school known for its unconventional educational style. How it came to be named after a Saint comes from its equally eclectic history. The founding headmaster, Stanley Bosworth, defined many of the school's most standout features: rejecting formal letter or number grades, curricular rigor and richness on subjects outside of the traditional academic offerings, and the familiar community style. Although St. Ann's began its life in 1965 affiliated with an Episcopal church, the school formally disaffiliated from the Church on May 1, 1982. The final transaction in the separation of the School from the Church took place on March 4, 1985. Once home to the famed Crescent Club, the 129 Pierrepont Street building was purchased in 1966 and is today home to the middle school and high school. It's a one-room schoolhouse expanding over thirteen floors with distinctive Classical murals in its lobby.

Brooklyn high schools are home to many famous alumni, and Fort Hamilton High School in Bay Ridge is no exception. Our Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen graduated as Valedictorian (no surprise there) in 1963. A public high school also known as HS 490, it matriculates students from Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights, and Sunset Park. A stately, colonnaded brick building built in the classical style and topped with cupola, it has stood overlooking the Narrows and Lower New York Bay since 1940.

Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, it was well-known across Brooklyn that schools in largely Black and Puerto Rican areas were inferior to those in white neighborhoods. Brooklyn CORE researched the difference in reading and math scores and compared the number and quality of textbooks in schools in white neighborhoods and schools in majority non-white neighborhoods. The results showed a huge difference; years of useless negotiations inspired CORE to consider school boycotts, picketing, and sit-ins at the Board of Education. At the center of CORE's education initiatives was the Bibuld family. In 1962, the Bibuld children were assigned to PS 282, a school that their parents thought was below standard. They believed that PS 200, located in a mostly white neighborhood, was a more promising option for their children, but the Board of Education denied their application. With support from CORE, Mr. and Mrs. Bibuld took their children to PS 200, despite the fact that the children had been refused admission. The Bibuld children were not allowed to officially enroll, but the principal of PS 200 did allow them to stay as guests. The Bibuld family and Brooklyn CORE called this action a school "sit-in." To support the Bibuld children, Brooklyn CORE also organized protests and sit-ins at the Board of Education. Nearly 300 CORE members participated in these activities.

Brooklyn Technical High School is an elite NYC high school that specializes in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. At the time of its construction in 1931, The Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported that it was the largest and most costly secondary school in America. It is one of three original specialized high schools operated by the Department of Education, along with Stuyvesant High School and the Bronx High School of Science. Brooklyn Tech is considered one of the country's most prestigious and selective high schools, and currently requires passing the Specialized High Schools Admissions Test, a standardized test many claim to be biased against students who do not have the means to access expensive tutoring and test preparation. Alumni include Olympic medalists, Nobel laureates, scholars, diplomats, literary and media figures, and other luminaries.