''Note: this article is about two distinct but related schools for gifted education in New York City, USA: the Speyer Legacy School (founded 2009, ongoing), and the Speyer School (1935-1941). The present-day school is named after the earlier one, and takes its inspiration from the approach to gifted education that was developed there.''

The Speyer School (1935-1941)

The Speyer School (1935-1941) was started in a building at Columbia's Teachers College and named after financier

James Speyer James Joseph Speyer (July 22, 1861 – October 31, 1941) was an American banker based in the city of New York. Speyer was a well-known figure on Wall Street and the firm of Speyer & Co. was well respected. It closed in 1939. Speyer was actively i ...

. It became well known between 1935-39 when it was used a "laboratory" to study how children perform when separated by educational ability. There were seven classrooms with 175 students, who had an IQ range on the

Stanford Binet Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...

test of between 75-90 and two classrooms with students that tested at the level of 130+ on the same IQ test. The experiment was led by

Leta Stetter Hollingworth Leta Stetter Hollingworth (25 May 1886 – 27 November 1939) was an American psychologist, educator, and feminist. Hollingworth also made contributions in psychology of women; clinical psychology; and educational psychology. She is best known for ...

, an American psychologist who specialized in education and who is credited with writing the first textbook on gifted children. The results of the several studies conducted by Hollingworth dispelled many myths about exceptional children and suggested that many exceptionally gifted children suffer adjustment problems due to two factors: inept treatment by adults and lack of intellectual challenge. Her work also made "emotional education" an important part of the original Speyer School curriculum.

The Speyer Legacy School (2009-present)

The Speyer Legacy School is an independent (i.e. private) K-8 school in Manhattan, specializing in the education of gifted children. It was founded in 2009 and named after the original Speyer School. It is located in the West side of midtown Manhattan, at 925 9th Ave. The school describes itself as the only K-8 independent school for gifted learners in NYC. In the public sector, K-8 schools in NYC specializing in gifted and talented education include the Anderson School and th
Talented and Gifted School for Young Scholars
A different private school, the

Lang School The Lang School is a private, nonprofit, K-12 school for gifted and twice exceptional (2e) students located in New York City's Financial District. It was the first K-12 school to specialize in educating twice-exceptional (2e) students, though it ...

, provides K-7 education for "twice exceptional" children, i.e. gifted children with special needs such as ADHD or autism. In 2022, the school was listed as having an annual revenue of 19 million dollars and as having 317 children enrolled.

Academics

The school has received recognition in the areas of chess and debating. Its practice of teaching debating from Kindergarten onwards was the focus of an article in the

Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

. In chess, a student from the school tied for first place in the 2022 National Middle School (K-8) Chess Championship, and its Kindergarten and 2nd-grade teams won their grade-level sections in the 2021 National K-12 Grade Championships. An 11-year-old student at the school published two books about chess and has been featured in the international press and on Good Morning America. Grandmaster

John Fedorowicz John Peter Fedorowicz (born September 27, 1958) is an American chess player and chess writer from The Bronx, New York. He learned to play chess in 1972, inspired by the Fischer–Spassky World Championship Match coverage on TV and as an enthus ...

is one of the chess coaches at the school.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Speyer School Gifted education Private K–8 schools in Manhattan Private elementary schools in Manhattan Private middle schools in Manhattan Columbia University Defunct schools in New York City