Ethical Culture Fieldston School

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Ethical Culture Fieldston School logo.svg
Motto Fiat lux (Let there be light)
Established 1878
Type Private Day School
Founder Felix Adler
Head of School Damian J. Fernandez, Ph.D.
Students approx. 1,600
Grades Pre-K through 12
Location New York City, New York, United States
Coordinates 40°53′23″N 73°54′23″W / 40.889674°N 73.90641°W / 40.889674; -73.90641Coordinates: 40°53′23″N 73°54′23″W / 40.889674°N 73.90641°W / 40.889674; -73.90641
Accreditation National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS)
Colors

     PMS 021 orange

     PMS 289 blue
Mascot Eagle
Yearbook Fieldglass
Newspaper Fieldston News
Other publications Season Pass, Eagle Eye, Fieldston (Historical) Review, The Gouda, Ars Magna, The Fieldston LP, Fieldston Lit Mag, Middle School News, Dope Ink Prints
Song "Iam Canamus" (Upper School)
Website http://www.ecfs.org

Ethical Culture Fieldston School (ECF), known as Fieldston, is a private independent school in New York City and a member of the Ivy Preparatory School League. It has about 1600 students and a staff of 400 people (as of 2004), led by Damian J. Fernandez, Ph.D., who was announced as new Head of School in November 2010, and began July 2011.[1]

In the words of its founder, Felix Adler: "The ideal of the school is to develop individuals who will be competent to change their environment to greater conformity with moral ideals."

The school consists of two lower schools (Pre-K to 5th grade): Ethical Culture (known as "Ethical") located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, and Fieldston Lower (known as "Lower"), located on the Fieldston campus in the Bronx, both of which feed into Fieldston Middle (grades 6-8) and an upper school (Forms III to VI, grades 9-12) - Fieldston Upper - also located on the Bronx campus. Ethical Culture is headed by Rob Cousins, Fieldston Lower is headed by George Burns, and Fieldston Upper is headed by Laura Danforth. Fieldston Middle is headed by Kevin Jacobson.[2] Tuition and fees for ECF were $37,825 for the 2011-12 year.[3]

History[edit]

Ethical Culture, 33 Central Park West, New York, NY 10023
Felix Adler, circa 1913

The school opened in 1878 as a free kindergarten, founded by Felix Adler at the age of 24. In 1880, elementary grades were added, and the school was then called the Workingman's School. At that time, the idea that the children of the poor should be educated was innovative. By 1890 the school's academic reputation encouraged many more wealthy parents to seek it out, and the school was expanded to accommodate the upper-class as well, and began charging tuition; in 1895 the name changed to "The Ethical Culture School", and in 1903 the New York Society for Ethical Culture became its sponsor. The economic diversity which was important then continues today: although the school's tuition is over $30,000 per student per year, Fieldston is said to have one of the largest financial aid funds[4] of any independent school in the country. About 1/3 of the students are on full or partial financial aid.

The school moved into its landmark building at 33 Central Park West in 1904. The entire school was located in that building until 1928 when the high school division (Fieldston) moved to its 18 acre (73,000 m²) campus on Fieldston Road, in the exclusive Fieldston section of Riverdale in the Bronx; the Manhattan branch of the Lower School remained there, and in 1932 a second Lower School was opened on the Riverdale campus. In 2007, a new middle school was opened on the same Riverdale campus, for the 6th, 7th, and 8th grades.

Ethical Culture was said to pursue social justice, racial equality, and intellectual freedom.[5] The school and the affiliated Ethical Culture Society were "havens for secular Jews who rejected the mysticism and rituals of Judaism, but accepted many of its ethical teachings. Additionally, because the institutionalized anti-Semitism of the times established rigid quota systems against Jews in private schools, the Ethical Culture School had a disproportionately large number of Jewish students. Ethical was the only one that did not discriminate because of race, color, or creed."[5] This tolerant spirit, and the founding philosophy overall, continues to draw families today although they might now be welcome anywhere. The school ended its formal ties with the Society in the 1990s, although retaining its name and striving to maintain the ethical tradition of its roots.

One of the early faculty members was the famous documentary photographer Lewis Hine.

Fieldston is not the only Ethical Culture School in the NYC area. In 1922, an Ethical Culture School was founded in the Prospect Park section of Brooklyn by Julie Wurtzberger Neuman.[6] However, this school is unrelated to the Ethical Culture Fieldston School.

Philosophy and academics[edit]

The school is a prominent part of the Progressive Movement. Part of the school's curriculum, per the philosophy of its founder, Felix Adler, includes courses in ethics and moral philosophy, along with required community service. Drawing heavily on the educational philosophy of John Dewey, hands-on "learning by doing" is emphasized from pre-kindergarten through the senior year of high school. The school is known for its predominantly liberal student body and its commitment to diversity and a well-funded scholarship program. The "senior gift" given by graduating seniors and their families is frequently designated for financial aid funds.

The academic standards are high and virtually 100% of its graduates go on to college. Students in the upper school have to gather credits in a wide range of academic subjects and there are well-developed arts and performing arts programs, as well as many sports teams. There are many elective courses for the upper grades, providing flexibility for students to set their own curricula. The community service program is a cornerstone of the school, with students volunteering within the school, the surrounding community and the city at large. A hallmark of the school's ethics program has been the interaction by older students as peer advisors for younger ones, with 5th graders working with kindergarteners, and 11th and 12th grade students leading 7th and 8th graders in ethics courses (through a program called Student to Student), for example.

Fieldston is well known for being among the first schools to drop its participation in the Advanced Placement Program in 2002 to give its faculty the freedom to offer more challenging and thought-provoking material, rather than to "teach to the test." Students can take AP exams, but the school no longer officially sponsors such courses. While there was some concern that college admissions could be negatively affected, Fieldston's college office worked closely with admissions officers of schools across the country to explain the change, and assure that their students would be evaluated based on the quality of the courses, even without the AP designation.[7]

The upper school's student newspaper is called the Fieldston News and the yearbook is the Fieldglass. The ECF Reporter and Field Notes provide news of the schools to alumni and parents. There are several student-run literary and art magazines, as well, such as Litmag, Dope Ink Prints, the popular satirical publication The Gouda, the mathematics magazine Ars Magna, the music magazine The Fieldston LP, and the sports magazine "Season Pass".

Expansion[edit]

Fieldston Middle, 3901 Fieldston Road, Bronx, NY 10471

Each year the number of students enrolled in the school system grows. In 2002, talk of expansion began; plans were laid out the following year. A new middle school as well as new gym facilities were planned, and construction began in June 2004 with an estimated date of completion of September 2007.[8] The design of the two new buildings as well as significant renovations to the dining hall and classrooms was done by the New York architecture firm Cooper, Robertson & Partners. Previously, the lower schools started with Pre-K and went up to 6th grade, and the upper school from 7th to 12th grade, with Forms 1 and 2 (7th and 8th grade) somewhat distinct from the high school, but sharing the same space, and with some overlap of faculty and much interaction among students. With the new middle school, located on the Fieldston campus, students in 6th, 7th and 8th grade are in their own building, with their own curriculum and faculty, and less interaction with the high school. This has the positive result of additional classrooms for the lower and upper schools which are overcrowded. However, there has been much controversy among the alumni, parent and student body concerning the issue, as some felt that Fieldston was losing its unique identity with this change, but economic and space pressures prevailed. The community remains divided on whether a separate middle school was pedagogically warranted, with strong feelings on both sides.

Athletics[edit]

Fieldston's athletic program includes 44 teams covering 14 sports. The teams, known as the "Fieldston Eagles", play in the Ivy Prep League against other private schools in the region. (The school's hockey team, however, does not play in the league and schedules its own games.)

Special programs[edit]

  • Fieldston Outdoors - a six-week environmental day camp
  • Weeks of Discovery/Computer Camps - one-week sports, computer, and other activity camps during school breaks
  • BeforeSchool and AfterSchool - at the two Lower schools
  • Fieldston Enrichment Program (FEP) - tutoring program for selected public school students in preparation of public and private high school entrance exams and requirements
  • Young Dancemakers Company - acclaimed summer dance program

Notable alumni and former students[edit]

 This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2010)

Among its many notable alumni and former students are the following:

Because of its prominence as one of New York City's top independent schools, many famous "movers and shakers" in entertainment, politics, news, business and the arts have sent their children to ECS-Fieldston; many families have multi-generational alumni.

Peer schools[edit]

Ethical Culture Fieldston is a part of the Ivy Preparatory School League, with many of the city's elite private schools. The three high schools Fieldston, Riverdale, and Horace Mann together are known as the "Hill schools", as all three are located within a short walking distance of each other in the Riverdale section of the Bronx, on a hilly area above Van Cortlandt Park. The three also share perhaps the greatest amount of inter-school sports rivalry.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ethical Culture Fieldston School
  1. ^ New Head of School, 2011
  2. ^ "Fieldston Middle". ecfs.org. Retrieved 12 November 2011. 
  3. ^ [1]
  4. ^ as of 2004
  5. ^ a b Rosalind Singer (2002-04-25). "The Ethical Culture School". New York Review of Books. Retrieved 2007-07-02. 
  6. ^ Brooklyn Ethical Culture School Alumni site
  7. ^ [2] "High School Drops Its A.P. Courses, And Colleges Don't Seem to Mind", Yilu Zhao, The New York Times, February 2, 2002.
  8. ^ Middle school brochure
  9. ^ Byers, Dylan (June 2, 2011). "Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Jill Abramson". Adweek. Retrieved July 18, 2011. 
  10. ^ "Boss Man". Ebony (magazine). Retrieved July 18, 2011. 
  11. ^ Joseph Amiel short bio
  12. ^ Rubinfien, Leo. "Where Diane Arbus Went." Art in America, volume 93, number 9, pages 65-71, 73, 75, 77, October 2005.
  13. ^ Koshman, Josh (2009-08-17). "Black Ops Mission: APOLLO FOUNDER RE-ENTERS THE LEVERAGE MARKET". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 May 2010. 
  14. ^ "The Kids Can Be Classy Too: Christina Aguilera and Jordan Bratman". Ringsurf. Retrieved 31 July 2011. 
  15. ^ Lieber, Scott (2006-05-01). "The path of Nancy Cantor: In the name of defending her values, she's won acclaim with academia, two chancellor jobs -- and enemies along the way". The Daily Orange. Retrieved 18 June 2011. 
  16. ^ "In a Neutral Corner; Roy Marcus Cohn", The New York Times, April 22, 1960. Accessed August 5, 2008.
  17. ^ a b c "Will Ferrell's Commencement Speech For New York Private School Fieldston". Huffington Post. 2009-06-17. Retrieved 18 July 2011. 
  18. ^ "Andrew Delbanco to Offer University Lecture, 'Melville, Our Contemporary,' April 10". Columbia News. 2003-04-08. Retrieved 24 July 2011. 
  19. ^ "Openings, Performances, Publications, Releases". ECF Reporter. Winter 1999/Spring 2000. Retrieved 24 July 2011. 
  20. ^ Comfort Food
  21. ^ Bruce Weber (2008-08-26). "Lawrence Urdang, Language Expert Who Edited Dictionaries, Dies at 81". The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-03-27. 
  22. ^ Bruce Weber, "Jane Wright, Oncology Pioneer, Dies at 93", New York Times (obituary), March 2, 2013.
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