In 1992, teachers and parents in Manhattan’s East Village founded the Earth School on a dream: to create a peaceful, nurturing place to stimulate learning in all realms of child development–intellectual, social, emotional and physical. Visit the Earth School and see how that dream has flourished. Today it is a thriving community of approximately 300 children in pre-kindergarten through grade 5 and a teaching staff dedicated to the core founding values of hands-on exploration and interaction, an arts-rich curriculum, responsible stewardship of the earth’s resources, harmonious resolution of conflicts, and parent-teacher partnership. Earth School educators believe that children have different styles of learning and flourish when their individual needs and abilities are respected. While hewing to rigorous academic standards in literacy and math, Earth School students are encouraged to explore, experiment, and even sometimes make a mess in the pursuit of their own particular interests as well as the educational goals set for them. Earth School children come from a diverse array of cultural, ethnic and economic backgrounds. Most classrooms combine two grades so that older students can thrive as guides and mentors while younger ones gain confidence in being part of a caring community of learners. This caring community comes together each Tuesday morning at a lively school wide Town Hall meeting. (Parents invited, of course.)
Earth Studies
Our Earth Studies program is at the heart of the curriculum, a model for teaching children to be knowledgeable stewards of our complex planet. All students attend weekly classes in the Earth Studies lab. There they are introduced to the rigors of scientific inquiry and the wonders of the natural world, from the biggest planets to the tiniest organisms. The lab’s outdoor container garden gives city kids a chance to experience dirt and its glories firsthand. Meal worms? Pill bugs? Madagascar hissing cockroaches? We got ‘em! To strengthen the connection between lifelong learning and the natural world, the Earth School maintains an annual tradition of week-long teacher-chaperoned trips to Camp Sloane and Frost Valley in upstate New York for all children in grades 3 to 5. Pre-K/K students assemble their own guides to the trees in Tompkins Square, while first/second graders conduct experiments to test the buoyancy properties of H2O. Third/fourth graders research conservation methods, and fifth graders organize a yearly science fair to showcase their achievements.
Tapping into children’s expressive capabilities also enhances their math, literacy and social skills, so the arts are integrated into virtually all aspects of the Earth School program. And all students spend at least two sessions each week in the Art Studio, drawing and painting, making prints, collages and sculptures, and compiling portfolios of their work. And, in addition to frequent class trips to cultural institutions and events throughout the city, culture comes to the Earth School in the form of a variety of programs in partnership with arts organizations. The younger children learn music through Third Street Music School, culminating in a spring performance on the auditorium stage before the Earth School community. The older grades have classes taught by a professional dancer from Arts Connection, as well as the Harmony program, which introduces flute, drums and keyboards.
Click & Think
Computer technology is fully integrated into the Earth School, from kid-friendly PC carrels in the pre-K/K classrooms to lap tops used in the upper grades. We have a technology teacher on staff and a dedicated resource room, as well as a state-of-the-art technology cart that can be mobilized throughout the school. (Watch where you step, because one of the programmable Roamer robots might be gathering data in the hall!) Our web site has frequently updated information on school news, class projects and calendar events.
Movers & Shakers
Physical activity is a big part of Earth School life. Each class has two weekly sessions in the gym with our physical education teacher. Lunchtime recess is in the large outdoor play yard, recently upgraded with new climbing structures and a basketball court. On rainy days, we use the Blue Space on the lower level for games and noise.
We welcome you to visit us. At the Earth School, there’s a whole lot of progressive learning going on.
