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The Little Red School House and Elisabeth Irwin High School, also referred to as LREI, is a school in
Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
,
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 was founded by
Elisabeth Irwin Elisabeth Antoinette Irwin (29 August 1880, Brooklyn, New York–16 October 1942, Manhattan, age 62) was the founder of the Little Red School House. She was an educator, psychologist, reformer, and declared lesbian, living with her life partner K ...
in 1921 as the Little Red School House and is one of the city's first progressive schools. Created as a joint public-private educational experiment, the school tested principles of
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 ...
that had been advocated since the turn of the 20th century by John Dewey. The founders postulated that the lessons of progressive education could be applied successfully in the crowded, ethnically diverse public schools of the nation's largest city.


History

The school was founded in 1921 as a joint private-public educational experiment by reformer Elisabeth Irwin, and was well known as a testing ground for new concepts in education. In 1932, after the onset of the
Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
caused the Public Education Association to withdraw the funding that had allowed the school to exist within the New York City public school system, William O'Shea, the superintendent of schools – who had previously tried to close down the program because of its progressive ideas – announced that the school would be eliminated because of a budgetary crisis. Parents raised sufficient funds to pay for salaries, but O'Shea refused to accept the money, and the school was forced to turn to private funding. It moved to a building on
Bleecker Street Bleecker Street is an east–west street in the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is most famous today as a Greenwich Village nightclub district. The street connects a neighborhood today popular for music venues and comedy, but which ...
provided at no cost by the First Presbyterian Church and began a new life as an independent school.O'Han, Nicholas
"The Little School That Could"
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, boa ...
website (Summer, 2009)
The Little Red School House consists of a lower school, a middle school, and a high school. In the 1940s the Little Red School House's high-school students decided they wanted their school to be named after its founder, Elisabeth Irwin, making the full title of the institution The Little Red School House and Elisabeth Irwin High School.


Buildings

The Little Red School House and Elisabeth Irwin High School occupy two separate buildings, with a third space housing athletic facilities. The middle-and-lower-school building is located at 272 Avenue of the Americas (Sixth Avenue) at
Bleecker Street Bleecker Street is an east–west street in the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is most famous today as a Greenwich Village nightclub district. The street connects a neighborhood today popular for music venues and comedy, but which ...
, while Elisabeth Irwin High School is at 40 Charlton Street between Sixth Avenue and Varick Street. In June 2008, LREI announced the acquisition of additional space with the purchase of 42 Charlton Street, directly next door. The new townhouse was to be renovated and connected to the existing building. A separate building, the Thompson Street Gym, houses facilities for physical education and athletics. In November 2018, the school announced that it had purchased 15 Van Dam Street, directly behind the Charlton Street campus. The building contains the Soho Playhouse, and formerly housed the Huron Club, a social club frequented by members of the Democratic Party.


College placement

In 2017, graduates attended
New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...
,
Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original cam ...
, California Institute of the Arts,
Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist Jam ...
,
Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...
, and many more. In 2015, graduates from Elisabeth Irwin High School attended Bennington College, Bard College,
Skidmore College Skidmore College is a private liberal arts college in Saratoga Springs, New York. Approximately 2,650 students are enrolled at Skidmore pursuing a Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science degree in one of more than 60 areas of study. Histo ...
,
Ithaca College Ithaca College is a private college in Ithaca, New York. It was founded by William Egbert in 1892 as a conservatory of music and is set against the backdrop of the city of Ithaca (which is separate from the town), Cayuga Lake, waterfalls, and ...
,
Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...
, Pitzer College,
Sarah Lawrence College Sarah Lawrence College is a private liberal arts college in Yonkers, New York. The college models its approach to education after the Oxford/Cambridge system of one-on-one student-faculty tutorials. Sarah Lawrence scholarship, particularly ...
the
University of Delaware The University of Delaware (colloquially UD or Delaware) is a public land-grant research university located in Newark, Delaware. UD is the largest university in Delaware. It offers three associate's programs, 148 bachelor's programs, 121 ma ...
and
Vassar College Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States, closely foll ...
, along with 38 other colleges and universities. In 2013, graduates attended Bard College,
Kenyon College Kenyon College is a private liberal arts college in Gambier, Ohio. It was founded in 1824 by Philander Chase. Kenyon College is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. Kenyon has 1,708 undergraduates enrolled. Its 1,000-acre campus is s ...
, Bennington College,
Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...
,
Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...
, Sarah Lawrence College and the University of Colorado at Boulder, along with 22 other institutions, and in 2012, Bennington College, Hampshire College, Kenyon College, Skidmore College, and Wesleyan University, as well as 28 other schools.


Extracurricular activities


Sports

LREI's sports teams include soccer (boys, girls and MS co-ed), volleyball (HS girls, MS co-ed), cross-country track (co-ed), basketball (Varsity, boys and girls and JV boys), spring track (co-ed), tennis (co-ed), softball (girls), baseball (boys), golf (co-ed), swimming (co-ed). The school and team colors are red and white.


Directors and leaders

;Directors *
Elisabeth Irwin Elisabeth Antoinette Irwin (29 August 1880, Brooklyn, New York–16 October 1942, Manhattan, age 62) was the founder of the Little Red School House. She was an educator, psychologist, reformer, and declared lesbian, living with her life partner K ...
(1921–1942) * Randolph B. Smith (1943–1966) * F. Coit Johnson II (1966-1975) * Andrew McLaren (1988–2004) * Philip Kassen (2004–present) ;Current staff *Director: Philip Kassen * Director of Learning & Innovation: Mark Silberberg *High School Principal: Allison Isabell and Margaret Paul *Middle School Principal: Ana Fox Chaney *Lower School Principal: Faith Hunter


Notable alumni

*
Elliott Abrams Elliott Abrams (born January 24, 1948) is an American politician and lawyer, who has served in foreign policy positions for presidents Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush, and Donald Trump. Abrams is considered to be a neoconservative. He is curren ...
, diplomat, lawyer, political scientist *
Peter Berg Peter Berg (born March 11, 1964) is an American director, producer, writer, and actor. His directorial film works include the black comedy ''Very Bad Things'' (1998), the action comedy ''The Rundown'' (2003), the sports drama '' Friday Night Lig ...
, actor, film director, producer, writer * Kathy Boudin, radical, public health expert * Emory Cohen, actor * Angela Davis, political activist * Dominic DiGesu, musician *
Robert De Niro Robert Anthony De Niro Jr. ( , ; born August 17, 1943) is an American actor. Known for his collaborations with Martin Scorsese, he is considered to be one of the best actors of his generation. De Niro is the recipient of various accolades ...
, actor *
Eric R. Dinallo Eric R. Dinallo is a partner and chair of the insurance regulatory practice at Debevoise & Plimpton LLP and a member of the firm's Financial Institutions and White Collar & Regulatory Defense Groups. Formerly Executive Vice President, Chief Leg ...
, Superintendent of Insurance, New York State * Eric Eisner, lawyer and philanthropist, former president of
The Geffen Company The Geffen Film Company (also known as The Geffen Company, The Geffen Film Company, Inc., and later Geffen Pictures) was an American film distributor and production company founded by David Geffen, the founder of Geffen Records, and future co-fou ...
* Gus Green, musician * Nicolas "Nico" Heller, documentary film director, social media personality * Foster Hudson, musician * Elle King, singer *
Peter Knobler Peter Knobler (born 1946) is an American writer living in New York City. He has collaborated on fifteen books, ten of them best sellers and was the editor-in-chief of ''Crawdaddy'' magazine from 1972 to 1979.Michael Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name "Michael" * Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian and ...
and
Robert Meeropol Robert Meeropol (born May 14, 1947 as Robert Rosenberg) is the younger son of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg. Meeropol was born in New York City. His father Julius was an electrical engineer and a member of the Communist Party. His mother Ethel (né ...
, sons of
Ethel and Julius Rosenberg Julius Rosenberg (May 12, 1918 – June 19, 1953) and Ethel Rosenberg (; September 28, 1915 – June 19, 1953) were American citizens who were convicted of spying on behalf of the Soviet Union. The couple were convicted of providing top-secret i ...
* Victor Navasky, professor, Columbia School of Journalism; editor, publisher emeritus, ''
The Nation ''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper t ...
'' * Zac Posen, fashion designer *
Ronald Radosh Ronald Radosh ( ; born 1937) is an American writer, professor, historian, and former Marxist. As he described in his memoirs, Radosh was, like his parents, a member of the Communist Party of the United States of America until the Khrushchev Thaw ...
Radosh, Ronald. ''Commies; A Journey through the Old Left, the New Left, and the Leftover Left'', Encounter Books, 2001. Chapter 2, "The Little Red Schoolhouse," pages 25-48. * Doug Rauch, musician * Harris Rosen, philanthropist and entrepreneur, president and chief operating officer, Rosen Hotels & Resorts * Toshi Seeger, filmmaker and environmental activist * Dan Shor, actor * Mary Travers, singer, member of folk group Peter, Paul and Mary * Benjamin Drake Wright, psychometrician * Edward Irving Wortis, author * Daniel Menaker, editor and father of Chapo Trap House host, Will Menaker


Affiliations

The Little Red School House's companion school from 1944 to 1971 was the
Downtown Community School The Downtown Community School was an American experimental, cooperative, racially integrated school located at 235 East 11th Street in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, New York. The school was founded in 1944 and waa closed in 1971.
(DCS) on the Lower East Side, whose alumni include the writers Peter Manso, Ann Lauterbach,
Peter Knobler Peter Knobler (born 1946) is an American writer living in New York City. He has collaborated on fifteen books, ten of them best sellers and was the editor-in-chief of ''Crawdaddy'' magazine from 1972 to 1979.Richard Kostelanetz. Its director from 1951 to 1970 was educator and folklorist Norman Studer. Affiliated organizations *
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, boa ...
* New York State Association of Independent Schools *
New York Interschool The New York Interschool Association Inc., is a consortium of eight independent schools in Manhattan that serves students, teachers, and administration. Overview The Interschool is designed primarily for the coming together of the eight Manhatta ...


See also

*
The New York Foundation The New York Foundation is a charitable foundation which gives grants to non-profit organizations supporting community organizing and advocacy in New York City. History 1909–1919 The New York Foundation was established in 1909 when Lou ...
* Education in New York City *
Elisabeth Irwin Elisabeth Antoinette Irwin (29 August 1880, Brooklyn, New York–16 October 1942, Manhattan, age 62) was the founder of the Little Red School House. She was an educator, psychologist, reformer, and declared lesbian, living with her life partner K ...


References


External links


Official websiteNew York State Association of Independent Schools
{{authority control Educational institutions established in 1921 Private K-12 schools in Manhattan 1921 establishments in New York City *