Nearly 70 years after the Brown v. Board of Education decision, our public schools effectively remain segregated. And by some measures, New York City is the most segregated system in the country. For a group of high schools in Brooklyn, change has seemed impossible. Now they’ve put their hopes in an unlikely venue: sports.

The John Jay Education Campus in Park Slope, Brooklyn building houses four public high schools: three of the schools have a student body that’s majority Black and Latino, the fourth (a selective school) is disproportionately white and Asian. For a decade, the students played on separate teams but shared a gym but played on separate teams – sometimes even competing against each other.  This year, the athletics programs have merged. This is the story of how students and adults are grappling with enduring inequities, and how the merger is playing out on the girls varsity volleyball team. 

What does it mean to be an anti-racist team? 

In this 4-episode series, we’ll hear students, teachers, and parents experiencing the merger in real time; we’ll unpack the legacy of education policies in NYC; and we’ll sit courtside as the John Jay Jaguars compete for the city title.

“Keeping Score” is a co-production of WNYC Studios and The Bell.