Bank Street College of Education is a private school and graduate school in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

. It consists of a graduate-only

teacher training college A normal school or normal college is an institution created to Teacher education, train teachers by educating them in the norms of pedagogy and curriculum. In the 19th century in the United States, instruction in normal schools was at the high s ...

and an independent nursery-through-8th-grade school. In 2020 the graduate school had about 65 full-time teaching staff and approximately 850 students, of which 87% were female.

History

The origins of the school lie in the Bureau of Educational Experiments, which was established in 1916 by

Lucy Sprague Mitchell Lucy Sprague Mitchell (July 2, 1878 – October 15, 1967) was an American educator and children's writer, and the founder of Bank Street College of Education. Early life and education Lucy Sprague was born in Chicago, Illinois, the daughter o ...

, her husband

Wesley Clair Mitchell Wesley Clair Mitchell (August 5, 1874 – October 29, 1948) was an American economist known for his empirical work on business cycles and for guiding the National Bureau of Economic Research in its first decades. Mitchell was referred to as T ...

, and

Harriet Merrill Johnson Harriet Merrill Johnson (1867 - February 21, 1934) was an American educator. Life She was born in 1867 in Bangor, Maine. She graduated from the Massachusetts Homeopathic Hospital and began working as a district nurse at the Henry Street Settlem ...

; Lucy Mitchell's cousin

Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge aka Liz Coolidge (30 October 1864 – 4 November 1953), born Elizabeth Penn Sprague, was an American pianist and patron of music, especially of chamber music. Biography Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge's father was a wea ...

provided financial support. The bureau was intended to foster research into, and development of, experimental and

progressive education Progressive education, or protractivism, is a pedagogical movement that began in the late 19th century and has persisted in various forms to the present. In Europe, progressive education took the form of the New Education Movement. The term ''p ...

, and was influenced by the thinking of Edward Thorndike and

John Dewey John Dewey (; October 20, 1859 – June 1, 1952) was an American philosopher, psychologist, and educational reformer whose ideas have been influential in education and social reform. He was one of the most prominent American scholars in the f ...

, both of whom Mitchell had studied with at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manha ...

. The bureau was run by a council of twelve members, but Mitchell was its most influential figure until the 1950s. The name of the institution derives from its 1930–1971 location at 69 Bank Street in Greenwich Village. In 1919 the bureau started a

nursery school A preschool, also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, or play school or creche, is an educational establishment or learning space offering early childhood education to children before they begin compulsory education at primary schoo ...

for children from fifteen to thirty-six months old; Harriet Johnson was the director. The school fed in to the

Play School Play School or Playschool may refer to: Television * ''Play School'' (British TV series), a BBC production aimed at preschool children * ''Play School'' (Australian TV series), an Australian Broadcasting Corporation production based on the Briti ...

for three- to seven-year-olds run by Caroline Pratt; eight-year-olds were taught in a special class by members of the bureau. Bank Street College of Education served as an academic consultant during development for Multiplication Rock, the first series of Schoolhouse Rocks! In 1958, the college received a $1,000,000 grant from the Department of Health, Education and Welfare for a five-year study on how schools for younger children could improve mental health development. Doug Knecht is the current Dean of Children's Programs and Head of the School for Children.

Academics

Accreditation

Since 1960 the school has been accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools. Bank Street School for Children is accredited by the New York State Association of Independent Schools.

Head Start

It is one of about hundred schools in the Manhattan area which participate in the national

Head Start Program Head Start is a program of the United States Department of Health and Human Services that provides comprehensive early childhood education, health, nutrition, and parent involvement services to low-income children and families. The program's s ...

of the Early Childhood Learning & Knowledge Center of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.

Bank Street School for Children

The Bank Street School for Children is a private coed

preschool A preschool, also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, or play school or creche, is an educational establishment or learning space offering early childhood education to children before they begin compulsory education at primary scho ...

elementary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ed ...

, and

middle school A middle school (also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school) is an educational stage which exists in some countries, providing education between primary school and secondary school ...

within the Bank Street College of Education. The school includes children in nursery through eighth grade, split into three divisions: the lower school, for nursery through first grade; the middle school, for second through fourth grades; and the upper school, for fifth through eighth grades. There are 451 children enrolled as students, approximately 50% of which are students of color. The instructors are often current or past students of Bank Street's graduate school, which shares a campus with the School for Children—including more than half of the teachers who are alumni. The School for Children is accredited by the New York State Association of Independent Schools and is a member of the

National Association of Independent Schools The National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) is a U.S.-based membership organization for private, nonprofit, K-12 schools. Founded in 1962, NAIS represents independent schools and associations in the United States, including day, boar ...

Bank Street Bookstore

The Bank Street Bookstore was an

Upper West Side The Upper West Side (UWS) is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Central Park on the east, the Hudson River on the west, West 59th Street to the south, and West 110th Street to the north. The Upper West ...

community bookstore that sold children's books and educational toys and games. It opened in 1970 in the lobby of Bank Street College, and moved to its second location on 112th Street and Broadway shortly thereafter. Its final location was on Broadway and West 107th Street until its closing in August 2020, due to the Coronavirus pandemic. The bookstore also hosted readings, daily story time, and celebrity events, with past guests including

Stephen Colbert Stephen Tyrone Colbert ( ; born May 13, 1964) is an American comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, and television host. He is best known for hosting the satirical Comedy Central program '' The Colbert Report'' from 2005 t ...

, Julianne Moore, and author Jeff Kinney.

Alumni

Graduate school

Bill Ayers William Charles Ayers (; born December 26, 1944) rose to prominence during the 1960s as a domestic terrorist. During the 1960s, Ayers was a leader of the Weather Underground militant group, described by the FBI as a terrorist group. In 196 ...

, domestic terrorist and educator * Lee Bennett Hopkins, educator, poet, author, and anthologist *

Claudine K. Brown Claudine K. Brown (1949 – March 17, 2016) was an American museum director and educator and nonprofit executive. She was best known for her work at the Smithsonian Institution, where she was Director of Education, responsible for directing its w ...

, director at the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

, museum educator, artist * Margaret Wise Brown, author of classic children's books such as ''

Goodnight Moon ''Goodnight Moon'' is an American children's book written by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Clement Hurd. It was published on September 3, 1947, and is a highly acclaimed bedtime story. This book is the second in Brown and Hurd's "cla ...

'' *

Ruth Cohn Ruth Charlotte Cohn (born 27 August 1912 in Berlin, died 30 January 2010 in Düsseldorf) was a psychotherapist, educator, and poet. She is best known as the creator of a method for learning in groups called theme-centered interaction (TCI). She w ...

, psychotherapist, educator, and poet * Rosina Fernhoff, Obie Award-winning theater actress *

Robie Harris Robie H. Harris is an American author, specializing in books for children. She was born in Buffalo, New York. Harris wrote several children's books about childbirth and human sexuality, including '' It's Perfectly Normal'' and '' It's so Amazin ...

, award-winning children's book author *

Trudie Lamb-Richmond Gertrude Alice Lamb-Richmond (; August 5, 1931 – April 26, 2021) was an American educator and author belonging to the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation. She was involved in Native American educational and political issues. Biography Lamb-Richmond w ...

, Schaghticoke Tribal Nation member and educator * Anne Mitchell, early childhood education consultant and co-founder of the Alliance on Early Childhood Finance * Shael Polakow-Suransky, current president and former Chief Academic Officer of the New York City Education Department *

Miriam Roth Miriam Roth (Hebrew: מרים רות; January 16, 1910 – November 13, 2005) was a preeminent pioneer of Israeli preschool education, author and scholar of children's literature, with a long career as a kindergarten teacher and educator. Many of ...

, Israeli writer and scholar of children's books, kindergarten teacher, and educator * Julie Stevens, actress and acting coach * Dorothy Stoneman, founder and president of YouthBuild USA *

Ellen Tarry Ellen Tarry (September 26, 1906 – September 23, 2008) was an African-American journalist and author who served as a minor figure in the Harlem Renaissance. Her ''Janie Belle'' (1940) was the first African-American picture book, and her other wor ...

, the first African-American picture book author * Edith Thacher Hurd, children's book writer with more than 70 books to her credit as well as a few collaborations with Margaret Wise Brown * Lucy Wainwright Roche, singer-songwriter * Sara Wilford, philanthropist and granddaughter of Franklin D. Roosevelt *

Valerie Wilson Wesley Valerie Wilson Wesley (born November 22, 1947) is an American author of mysteries, adult-theme novels, and children's books, and a former executive editor of '' Essence'' magazine. She is the author of the Tamara Hayle mystery series. Her writing ...

, author and former executive editor of ''Essence'' Magazine * Diane Wolkstein, folklorist and a former New York City official storyteller * Adam Gidwitz, author

School for Children

* Liz Garbus, filmmaker * Ben Lerer, CEO Thrillist Media Group * Angelica Page, actress and filmmaker * Ally Sheedy, actress * Shuwanza Goff, Deputy Director of the Office of Legislative Affairs for President Joe Biden

References

External links

* {{authority control Early childhood education in the United States Schools of education in New York (state) Experimental schools Harlem Morningside Heights, Manhattan Private universities and colleges in New York (state) Universities and colleges in New York City Educational institutions established in 1916 Universities and colleges in Manhattan Progressive colleges Private elementary schools in Manhattan Private middle schools in Manhattan Private high schools in Manhattan 1916 establishments in New York City Schools in Harlem