P.S. 6, The

Lillie Devereaux Blake Lillie Devereux Blake (pen name, Tiger Lily; August 12, 1833 – December 30, 1913) was an Americans, American Women's suffrage in the United States, woman suffragist, reformer, and writer, born in Raleigh, North Carolina, and educated in New Haven ...

School, is a public elementary school located on the

Upper East Side The Upper East Side, sometimes abbreviated UES, is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 96th Street to the north, the East River to the east, 59th Street to the south, and Central Park/Fifth Avenue to the wes ...

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. Founded in 1894, P.S. 6 is regarded as the top elementary school in New York City.

Overview

P.S. 6 has about 800 students in grades K-5. Average class sizes are 23-28. The school is popular with families on the Upper East Side who often choose to send their children there rather than to private school. The school's former Principal,

Carmen Fariña Carmen Fariña (née Guillén; born April 5, 1943) is a former New York City Schools Chancellor and head of the New York City Department of Education. Announced by Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio on December 30, 2013, she was the first New York City ...

, claimed that the acceptance rate for out of district students was 1/7, lower than that of many top-tier Universities.

History

P.S. 6 was founded in 1894 and named after the feminist author and reformer

. The school was originally located several blocks to the north on

85th Street 85th Street is a westbound-running street, running from East End Avenue to Riverside Drive in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. At Fifth Avenue, the street feeds into the 86th Street transverse, which runs east–west through Central P ...

. The current red brick building on

Madison Avenue Madison Avenue is a north-south avenue in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, United States, that carries northbound one-way traffic. It runs from Madison Square (at 23rd Street) to meet the southbound Harlem River Drive at 142nd Stre ...

between 81st and 82nd Streets was constructed in 1953. The school's first principal Katherine Blake, the daughter of the school's namesake, served in that capacity for 34 years and demanded that the pacifist hymn ''

I Didn't Raise My Boy to Be a Soldier "I Didn't Raise My Boy to Be a Soldier" is an American anti-war song that was influential within the pacifist movement that existed in the United States before it entered World War I. It is one of the first anti-war songs.Pelger, Martin, "Sol ...

'' be sung at every assembly.

Academics

P.S. 6 is a

Teacher's College Teachers College, Columbia University (TC), is the graduate school of education, health, and psychology of Columbia University, a private research university in New York City. Founded in 1887, it has served as one of the official faculties ...

"Mentor School." It offers a particularly strong writing program based on the principles of Lucy Calkins. Students are expected to write plays, poetry, essays and short fiction by the time they graduate. The school also places a special emphasis on Art education. Its location, two blocks from the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

, allows the students particularly good access to view the works of famous artists. P.S. 6 was also the recipient of a grant from the

Annenberg Foundation The Annenberg Foundation is a family foundation that provides funding and support to non-profit organizations in the United States and around the world. Some of the Foundation's core initiatives are the Annenberg/Corporation for Public Broadcast ...

to help fund art projects in the school.

Special events

Peter Yarrow has played a special benefit concert in the school's auditorium for many years to raise money for the school.

In popular culture

The school is featured in the 1979 film ''

Kramer vs. Kramer ''Kramer vs. Kramer'' is a 1979 American legal drama film written and directed by Robert Benton, based on Avery Corman's 1977 novel of the same name. The film stars Dustin Hoffman, Meryl Streep, Jane Alexander, and Justin Henry. It tells the stor ...

'', which won five

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

Notable alumni

* Richard Avedon, Photographer *

Phoebe Cates Phoebe Belle Cates Kline (born July 16, 1963) is an American former actress, known primarily for her roles in films such as ''Fast Times at Ridgemont High'' (1982), ''Gremlins'' (1984) and ''Drop Dead Fred'' (1991). Early life Cates was born ...

, Actress *

Chevy Chase Cornelius Crane "Chevy" Chase (; born October 8, 1943) is an American comedian, actor and writer. He became a key cast member in the first season of ''Saturday Night Live'', where his recurring ''Weekend Update'' segment became a staple of the ...

, Actor * Peter Cincotti, Jazz Singer/Songwriter *

Miguel Condé Miguel Condé (born 1939) is a Mexican figurative painter, draughtsman, and print maker. According to ''Radio France'', he is "one of the most important contemporary masters in the field of engraving." Condé's works are in important museum ...

, Artist *

Damon Dash Damon Anthony Dash (born May 3, 1971) is an American entrepreneur and record executive. Dash is best known as co-founder of Roc-A-Fella along with Jay-Z and Kareem Burke. Early life Born in New York City, Dash swept the floors of a local barbe ...

, Hip Hop Mogul * Jose Feliciano, Guitarist * William Hurt, Actor * Robert Iler, Actor *

Jonathan Katz Jonathan Paul Katz (born December 1, 1946) is an American actor and comedian best known for his starring role in the animated sitcom ''Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist'' as Dr. Katz. He also is known for voicing Erik Robbins in the UPN/Adult Swi ...

, Actor/Comedian *

Lenny Kravitz Leonard Albert Kravitz (born May 26, 1964) is an American singer-songwriter. His style incorporates elements of rock, blues, soul, R&B, funk, jazz, reggae, hard rock, psychedelic, pop and folk. Kravitz won the Grammy Award for Best Male Roc ...

, Musician *

Michael Kurland Michael Joseph Kurland (born March 1, 1938) is an American author, best known for his works of science fiction and detective fiction. Kurland lives in San Luis Obispo, California. Writing career Kurland's early career was devoted to works of sc ...

, Author * Lorna Luft, Actress, Singer, Daughter of

Judy Garland Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10, 1922June 22, 1969) was an American actress and singer. While critically acclaimed for many different roles throughout her career, she is widely known for playing the part of Dorothy Gale in '' The ...

* Erin Moriarty, Actress *

Tony Roberts (actor) David Anthony "Tony" Roberts (born October 22, 1939) is an American actor. He is known for his roles in six Woody Allen movies—most notably ''Annie Hall''—often playing Allen's best friend. Early life Roberts was born in Manhattan, New York ...

, Actor *

J.D. Salinger Jerome David Salinger (; January 1, 1919 January 27, 2010) was an American author best known for his 1951 novel ''The Catcher in the Rye''. Salinger got his start in 1940, before serving in World War II, by publishing several short stories in ''S ...

, Author of ''

The Catcher in the Rye ''The Catcher in the Rye'' is an American novel by J. D. Salinger that was partially published in serial form from 1945–46 before being novelized in 1951. Originally intended for adults, it is often read by adolescents for its themes of angst ...

'' * Andrew Schulz, Comedian *

Tschabalala Self Tschabalala Self (born 1990) is an American artist best known for her depictions of Black female figures using paint, fabric, and discarded pieces of her previous works. Though she uses mixed media, all of her works are on canvas and employ a "pa ...

, Artist *

Herbert Solow (journalist) Herbert Solow (20 November 1903 – 26 November 1964) was an American journalist and co-editor of the ''Menorah Journal'' who was first a Communist fellow-traveler in the 1920s, a Trotskyist in the 1930s, and then abandoned leftist politics to wo ...

, Writer, Editor of ''

Fortune Fortune may refer to: General * Fortuna or Fortune, the Roman goddess of luck * Luck * Wealth * Fortune, a prediction made in fortune-telling * Fortune, in a fortune cookie Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''The Fortune'' (1931 film) ...

'' magazine * Mark Sourian Film Producer *

Andrew Stein Andrew Stein (born Andrew J. Finkelstein; March 4, 1945) is an American Democratic Party (United States), Democratic politician who served on the New York City Council and was its last president, and as Manhattan Borough President. Early life St ...

, Former President NYC Council, Former Manhattan Borough President *

Robert F. Wagner Jr. Robert Ferdinand Wagner II (April 20, 1910 – February 12, 1991) was an American politician who served three terms as the mayor of New York City from 1954 through 1965. When running for his third term, he broke with the Tammany Hall leadership ...

, Mayor of New York and Ambassador to Spain *

David L. Wolper David Lloyd Wolper (January 11, 1928 – August 10, 2010) was an American television and film producer, responsible for shows such as ''Roots'', ''The Thorn Birds'', and ''North and South'', and the theatrically-released films ''L.A. Confident ...

, Producer * Peter Yarrow, Singer

References

External links

Official P.S. 6 Website
{{Coord, 40, 46, 39.33, N, 73, 57, 37.85, W, region:US, display=title Public elementary schools in Manhattan Educational institutions established in 1894 1894 establishments in New York (state)