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Ethical Culture Fieldston School

Coordinates: 40°53′21″N 73°54′23″W / 40.88917°N 73.90639°W / 40.88917; -73.90639
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Ethical Culture Fieldston School
Address
Map
33 Central Park West

New York City
,
New York
10023

United States
Coordinates40°53′21″N 73°54′23″W / 40.88917°N 73.90639°W / 40.88917; -73.90639
Information
TypePrivate, day, college-preparatory
MottoLatin: Fiat lux ("Let there be light")
Established1878; 147 years ago (1878)
FounderFelix Adler
Head of schoolKyle Wilkie-Glass
Teaching staffApprox. 270
GradesPK–12
GenderCoeducational
Enrollment1,662
Student to teacher ratio6:1
Campus size18 acres (73,000 m2)
Campus typeUrban
Color(s)  Orange
Athletics conferenceIvy Preparatory School League
MascotEagle
AccreditationNational Association of Independent Schools (NAIS)
NewspaperFieldston News and Fieldston Political Journal
YearbookFieldglass
Other publicationsFieldston News The Fieldston LP, Fieldston Lit Mag, Middle School News, Dope Ink Prints, The Hill Chronicle, Inklings, The Fieldston Political Journal
Song
  • "Fieldston Lower School" (Fieldston Lower School)
  • "It's the Feeling Inside" (Ethical Culture)
  • "I'm On My Way" (Middle School)
  • "Iam Canamus" (Upper School)
Websitewww.ecfs.org

The Ethical Culture Fieldston School (ECFS), also known more simply as Fieldston or Ethical Culture, is a private pre-K–twelfth grade coeducational school in New York City with two campuses, in Manhattan and in the Bronx. The school is a member of the Ivy Preparatory School League. The school serves approximately 1,700 students with 480 faculty and staff.[1]

The school consists of four divisions: Ethical Culture (pre-K through fifth grade that is located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan) and located in the Riverdale section of the Bronx are, Fieldston Lower that also serves pre-K through fifth grade, Fieldston Middle that serves sixth–eighth grades, and Fieldston Upper that serves ninth–twelfth grades. Tuition and fees for the school were $60,595 for the 2022–2023 school year and $63,020 for the 2023–2024 school year.[2][3] Fieldston awards more than $15 million in tuition-based financial aid to 22% of the student body.[4][3]

History

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Workingmen's school in Manhattan, 1893
Ethical Culture in Manhattan
Felix Adler, c. 1913

The school opened in 1878 as a free kindergarten, founded by Felix Adler, who was age of 26 at the time. One of the early faculty members at the school was American sociologist Lewis Hine. In 1880, elementary grades were added and the school was named as, the Workingman's School. By 1890, the school's academic reputation encouraged many more wealthy parents to seek it out, so the school was expanded to accommodate the upper-class as well and began charging tuition. In 1895, the name was changed to "The Ethical Culture School". In 1903, the New York Society for Ethical Culture became its sponsor.

Twentith century

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In March 1970, approximately 60 students occupied the administration building in protest to demand that more black and Puerto Rican students be admitted to the school. They also aimed to have a greater number of minority courses, teachers, advisors, employees. The school agreed to some of the student demands.[5][6]

Twenty-first century

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Beginning in 2015, the school began having the children assemble, based on their personal affinity, into weekly "affinity group" mandatory meetings in order to discuss issues of race and bias. The experimental trial program was met with controversy from some Fieldston parents.[7][8]

In February 2019, a video that is believed to have been created years previously was discovered by administrators after it was shared during a dispute among some of the students. Students in the video use derogatory and racist language.[9] The students involved who were still enrolled in the school were punished; however, some students who thought the punitive actions were not adequate, staged a sit-in. Throughout the week students occupied the administration building overnight, receiving widespread support from the student body and many parents.[10] The students presented the administrators with demands that included increased racial bias training, more faculty of color, more students of color recruitment, and a required ethnic studies course. Their demands were agreed to and plans for implimentation were established.[11] These students founded SOCM (Students of Color Matter) and continued as an organization after the end of the occupation of the administration building and it works to implement initiatives based on the original 16 demands.[12]

The school also attracted attention in November 2019 after it hosted a guest speaker who compared the Israeli treatment of Palestinians to the Holocaust, a statement that was denounced as antisemitic.[13] The critics included two Reform Jewish rabbis who spoke at the school in the wake of the controversy and subsequently published a New York Times editorial about the incident.[14]

In January 2020, the school fired a Jewish teacher who tweeted opposition to an invitation extended to two speakers on anti-Semitism because of his allegation that they were "white" and Zionists.[15] Some parents requested the reinstatement of the teacher.[16]

The Israeli-Palestinian war increased tensions on the Fieldston campus as well. That issue led to more controversy and press-coverage of the high school.

Academics

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The core of the Fieldston educational program is the study and practice of ethics that is infused throughout the interdisciplinary curriculum. Whole-child pedagogy is practiced, attempting to nurture the intellectual, physical, emotional, and social growth of every student.[17]

Fieldston terminated its participation in the Advanced Placement Program in 2002 to give its faculty the freedom to offer more innovative, challenging, and thought-provoking material. Students still may take APP exams, but officially, the school no longer sponsors such courses.[18]

Athletics

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Fieldston has 60 junior varsity and varsity athletic teams in the middle and upper schools. Student athletes have won 26 state and 65 league titles since the year 2000. Teams are part of the Ivy Preparatory School League and include:[19]

Their Girls Varsity Volleyball team won the 2023 New York State Independent School (NYSAIS) Championship after having an undefeated season with 21 wins.[20][21]

Student life

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At the two lower schools and in the middle school, students may participate in a variety of before-school and after-school programs that include fencing, cooking, golf, robotics, chess, and many sports.

In the upper and middle schools, there are more than 80 student-led clubs, affinity groups, and service-learning organizations.[22]

Student publications

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The Fieldston News is a student-run newspaper at Fieldston Upper.[23]

Inklings is the literary journal for the entire school, published and edited by students in the upper school. It is available only in print and at the end of each academic year.[24]

Peer schools

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Ethical Culture Fieldston is a part of the Ivy Preparatory School League,[25] as are many elite private schools in New York City. Although sometimes they are rivals, three high schools in the Riverdale section of the Bronx: Fieldston, Riverdale, and Horace Mann are known collectively as "the hill schools" because all three are located on a hilly area above Van Cortlandt Park..[26]

Notable alumni and former students

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See List of Ethical Culture Fieldston School alumni

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Ethical Culture Fieldston School: Admissions General FAQ". ecfs.org. Retrieved December 19, 2023.
  2. ^ "ECFS: Tuition and Financial Aid". ecfs.org. Retrieved March 5, 2021.
  3. ^ a b "Frequently Asked Questions About Our Admissions Process". ECFS. Retrieved November 6, 2019.
  4. ^ "Ethical Culture Fieldston School: Financial Aid". Archived from the original on July 2, 2016. Retrieved July 16, 2016.
  5. ^ Webster, Bayard (March 24, 1970). "60 Students Seize Fieldston School". The New York Times. Retrieved November 6, 2019.
  6. ^ "Fieldston Board Threatens Expulsion of Protesters for Future Disruptions of the School". The New York Times. April 8, 1970.
  7. ^ Miller, Lisa. "Can Racism Be Stopped in the Third Grade?", The Cut, May 19, 2015.
  8. ^ Cooper, Sean (December 18, 2019). "Pride and Prejudice at Fieldston". Tablet Magazine. Retrieved February 21, 2020.
  9. ^ Algar, Selim (February 25, 2019). "Bronx private school students caught using racist, homophobic language on video". New York Post. Retrieved March 18, 2019.
  10. ^ Shapiro, Eliza (March 12, 2019). "After Racist Video Surfaces, Private School Students Protest With Overnight Lock-in". The New York Times.
  11. ^ Algar, Selim (March 14, 2019). "Protest over racist private school video ends in student victory". New York Post. Retrieved March 18, 2019.
  12. ^ Nasheem, Jameelah. "How Students of Color Matter are Protesting Racism at Ethical Culture Fieldston School". Teen Vogue.
  13. ^ Shapiro, Eliza. "Fieldston, Elite Private School, Faces Backlash From Jewish Parents", The New York Times, January 10, 2020.
  14. ^ Hirsch, Ammiel and Joshua Davidson. "The Anti-Israel Craze Hits High School." The New York Times. 16 January 2020.
  15. ^ JTA, Ben Sales: Elite N.Y. Prep School Fires Teacher Who Posted anti-Zionist Tweets In: Haaretz, 11 January 2020.
  16. ^ Taylor, Kate (July 12, 2017). "Accusations and Rancor as Elite School's Leader Departs". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 21, 2020.
  17. ^ "Ethical Culture Fieldston School Core Tenets". New York City. Retrieved January 8, 2024.
  18. ^ Zhao, Yilu (February 1, 2002). "High School Drops Its A.P. Courses, And Colleges Don't Seem to Mind". The New York Times. New York City. Retrieved December 1, 2015.
  19. ^ "Ethical Culture Fieldston School". ecfsathletics.org. Retrieved January 9, 2025.
  20. ^ "Girls Volleyball Bracket 2023".
  21. ^ "Ethical Culture Fieldston School Girls Varsity Volleyball Fall 2023-2024 Schedule".
  22. ^ "After School and Summer Programs". Ethical Culture Fieldston School. Retrieved January 18, 2024.
  23. ^ "The Fieldston News". The Fieldston News. February 19, 2025.
  24. ^ Perrone, Kristen (October 27, 2023). "Fieldston Upper Students Share Academic Work in "Inklings" Journal". ECFS. Retrieved February 22, 2025.
  25. ^ Skelding, Conor (December 11, 2015). "About 15 percent of Fieldston's 2015 grads enrolled at an Ivy". Politico PRO. Retrieved February 21, 2020.
  26. ^ "Riverdale". fieldston-district. Retrieved February 21, 2020.
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