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 List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. 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, 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 Thor ...

, and Harriet Merrill Johnson; 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 we ...

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 ''pro ...

, and was influenced by the thinking of

Edward Thorndike Edward Lee Thorndike (August 31, 1874 – August 9, 1949) was an American psychologist who spent nearly his entire career at Teachers College, Columbia University. His work on comparative psychology and the learning process led to the theory o ...

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 Manhatt ...

. 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 school ...

for children from fifteen to thirty-six months old; Harriet Johnson was the director. The school fed in to the Play School 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 ''Schoolhouse Rock!'' is an American interstitial programming series of animated musical educational short films (and later, videos) that aired during the Saturday morning children's programming block on the U.S. television network ABC. The them ...

, the first series of Schoolhouse Rocks! In 1958, the college received a $1,000,000 grant from the

Department of Health, Education and Welfare The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is a cabinet-level executive branch department of the U.S. federal government created to protect the health of all Americans and providing essential human services. Its motto is ...

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 The Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools (Middle States Association or MSA) was a voluntary, peer-based, non-profit association that performed peer evaluation and regional educational accreditation, accreditation of public and priva ...

. Bank Street School for Children is accredited by the

New York State Association of Independent Schools The New York State Association of Independent Schools (NYSAIS) is an association of 201 independent schools and organizations, ranging from nurseries to high schools, in New York (state), New York State. Founded in 1947, NYSAIS is the second la ...

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 Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

coed Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to t ...

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 school ...

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 Eighth grade (or grade eight in some regions) is the eighth post-kindergarten year of formal education in the US. The eighth grade is the ninth school year, the second, third, fourth, or final year of middle school, or the second and/or final ye ...

, 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

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 A child (plural, : children) is a human being between the stages of childbirth, birth and puberty, or between the Development of the human body, developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers ...

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 to ...

Julianne Moore Julie Anne Smith (born December 3, 1960), known professionally as Julianne Moore, is an American actress. Prolific in film since the early 1990s, she is particularly known for her portrayals of emotionally troubled women in independent films, a ...

, and author

Jeff Kinney Jeffrey Patrick Kinney (born February 19, 1971) is an American author and cartoonist, best known for the children's book series ''Diary of a Wimpy Kid''. He also created the child-oriented website ''Poptropica''. Early life Jeff Kinney was born ...

Alumni

Graduate school

* Bill Ayers,

domestic terrorist Domestic terrorism or homegrown terrorism is a form of terrorism in which victims "within a country are targeted by a perpetrator with the same citizenship" as the victims.Gary M. Jackson, ''Predicting Malicious Behavior: Tools and Techniques ...

and educator *

Lee Bennett Hopkins Lee Bennett Hopkins (April 13, 1938 – August 8, 2019) was an American educator, poet, author, and anthologist. He was the author or editor of over 100 books for children, as well as a number of books and articles for adults. Early life and edu ...

, educator, poet, author, and anthologist * Claudine K. Brown, 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 Margaret Wise Brown (May 23, 1910 – November 13, 1952) was an American writer of children's books, including ''Goodnight Moon'' and ''The Runaway Bunny'', both illustrated by Clement Hurd. She has been called "the laureate of the nursery" for ...

, 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, psychotherapist, educator, and poet *

Rosina Fernhoff Rosina Fernhoff (born April 13, 1931) is an American actress known for her work in the theatre. She often performs plays that deal with Jewish themes. Personal life Fernhoff was born in New York City, the daughter of Austrian-Jewish immigrant pa ...

Obie Award The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards originally given by ''The Village Voice'' newspaper to theatre artists and groups in New York City. In September 2014, the awards were jointly presented and administered with the A ...

-winning theater actress * Robie Harris, award-winning children's book author * Trudie Lamb-Richmond, Schaghticoke Tribal Nation member and educator *

Anne Mitchell Anne Walsh Mitchell (born May 26, 1950) is an American educator. She is a consultant in the early childhood education field and President of Early Childhood Policy Research in Climax, New York, and is the immediate past president of the Board of ...

, early childhood education consultant and co-founder of the Alliance on Early Childhood Finance *

Shael Polakow-Suransky Shael Polakow-Suransky (born January 10, 1972) is the president of the Bank Street College of Education.Hernandez, Javier (January 20, 2014)"Schools Deputy to Run Bank Street College" ''The New York Times''. Retrieved February 12, 2014. Previously ...

, 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 Dorothy Stoneman (born c. 1942) is the founder and former CEO of YouthBuild USA, Inc. and former chairman of the YouthBuild Coalition, with over 1,000 member organizations in 45 states, Washington, D.C. and the Virgin Islands. She has been widely ...

, founder and president of

YouthBuild USA YouthBuild is a non-profit organization which on a voluntary basis provides education, counseling and job skills to unemployed young American adults (between ages 16 and 24), generally high school dropouts. There are 273 YouthBuild programs in ...

* Ellen Tarry, the first African-American picture book author *

Edith Thacher Hurd Edith Thacher Hurd (September 14, 1910 – January 25, 1997) was an American writer of children's books. She published 70 books in her lifetime,Saxon, Wolfgang''The New York Times'' (July 25, 1997). fifty of them illustrated by her husband, Cleme ...

, children's book writer with more than 70 books to her credit as well as a few collaborations with

Lucy Wainwright Roche Lucy Wainwright Roche (born December 16, 1981) is an American singer-songwriter. Preceded by two EPs, ''8 Songs'' and ''8 More'', Roche released her debut album, ''Lucy'' in October 2010. In 2013, she starred as Jeri in the ''Stuff You Should Kno ...

, singer-songwriter *

Sara Wilford Sara Delano Roosevelt Whitney di Bonaventura Wilford (March 13, 1932 – October 22, 2021) was a psychologist who taught at Sarah Lawrence College from 1982 to 2014. Early life Sara Delano Roosevelt was a daughter of Betsey Cushing Roosevelt ...

, philanthropist and granddaughter of

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

Valerie Wilson Wesley Valerie Wilson Wesley (born November 22, 1947) is an American author of Mystery fiction, mysteries, adult-theme novels, and children's books, and a former executive editor of ''Essence (magazine), Essence'' magazine. She is the author of the Tamar ...

, author and former executive editor of ''Essence'' Magazine *

Diane Wolkstein Diane Wolkstein (November 11, 1942 – January 31, 2013) was a folklorist and author of children's books. She was New York City's official storyteller from 1967 to 1971. Biography As New York's official storyteller beginning in 1967, Wolkstein visi ...

, folklorist and a former New York City official storyteller *

Adam Gidwitz Adam Gidwitz (born February 14, 1982) is the author of the best selling children's books ''A Tale Dark and Grimm'' (2010), ''In a Glass Grimmly'' (2012), and ''The Grimm Conclusion'' (2013), all published by Dutton Books for Young Readers, an im ...

, author

School for Children

Liz Garbus Elizabeth Freya Garbus (born April 11, 1970) is an American documentary film director and producer. Notable documentaries Garbus has made are ''The Farm: Angola, USA,'' ''Ghosts of Abu Ghraib,'' ''Bobby Fischer Against the World,'' ''Love, Marily ...

, filmmaker * Ben Lerer, CEO Thrillist Media Group *

Angelica Page Angelica Sue Page (née Torn; February 17, 1964) is an American actress, director, producer and screenwriter. She is the only daughter of actors Rip Torn and Geraldine Page. Credited as Angelica Torn in her early career, she legally and professio ...

, actress and filmmaker *

Ally Sheedy Alexandra Elizabeth Sheedy (born June 13, 1962) is an American actress. Following her film debut in 1983's '' Bad Boys'', she became known as one of the Brat Pack group of actors and starred in ''WarGames'' (1983), ''The Breakfast Club'' (1985) ...

, actress *

Shuwanza Goff Shuwanza Goff is an American political advisor serving as the deputy director of the White House Office of Legislative Affairs. In January 2019, she was named Director of Floor Operations, floor director for legislative operations for Party leade ...

, 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