September 2011

Welcome to Earth School's website!

The Earth School is a public, progressive elementary school located on the Lower Eastside of Manhattan. We are proud of our diverse community of families and staff. Our close knit school is comprised of about 340 children, their families and about 50 staff members. Our school was developed 18 years ago through the grassroots efforts of parents and teachers who deeply desired an alternative public education for their children.

We have created a school in which each child is at the center. We strive to know our children through their unique interests and strengths. Knowing them well allows us to design and implement curriculum that is rich, rigorous and purposeful. Our dedicated, diligent teachers work well beyond their union contracts. From early morning until evening you can find Earth School teachers meeting to develop curriculum and preparing materials for hands-on projects. As you may have noticed, our website is currently under construction, but you can check out our Earth Studies curriculum which is briefly described here.

Advocating for our progressive ideals has helped Earth School achieve our bold mission. One example of this is our policy that ensures parent access to the building and to their children's classrooms each day. The close collaboration among families and staff supports the growth and development of each child.

Our committed Parent Association raises upwards of $90,000 each year to help our small public school grapple with the budget cuts we endure each year. Thanks to our parents we have music, dance and overnight environmental trips each year.

Decisions at The Earth School are made democratically. Meetings in a variety of forums take place to allow everyone's voice to be heard. We have several committees in which teachers and parents work to further the Earth School's vision, such as the Cafeteria and Nutrition Committee and our Green Team. Last year we harvested our own herbs and vegetables which were brought into our cafeteria to help prepare nutritious lunches.

Some of what makes our school special are:

• Teachers write descriptive narrative reports in lieu of traditional report cards


• Family-teacher conferences happen three times a year and they last for 20-30 minutes


• COW (Community Open Work) is a weekly period in which all children choose materials and projects to work on. We encourage parents to lead COW clubs.


• Town Meetings take place weekly in which children sing songs, share work and special talents with the community. All parents are welcome!


• Annual Fall Fair happens the Saturday before Halloween - this is one of our best community building/fundraising efforts of the year, made possible by parents and staff efforts.

The Earth School welcomes prospective families and teachers to tour our school. We host many visitors from other schools, universities and the local neighborhood. Volunteers, interns and student teachers should also feel free to contact us about placement in our classrooms.

I wish everyone a successful year of growing and learning,

Best,
Alison Hazut