The ideal of the Ethical Culture Fieldston School is to develop individuals who will be competent to change their environment to greater conformity with moral ideals. Felix Adler, philosopher and humanist is the founder of the school. To realize his vision we embrace the following ideals: ethical learning, academic excellence, and progressive education. Our school achieves academic excellence by challenging students to reach their highest potential in body, mind and spirit through the humanities, sciences, the arts and physical education. The students become active learners and engage in vital discourse in a community of dedicated teachers and an atmosphere of intellectual discipline and creativity. Through a curriculum rooted in the tenets of progressive education, students become independent thinkers as they learn that asking their own questions and seeking their own answers provides the key to the deepest kind of understanding. Cooperative, student-centered, discussion-based learning, and the freedom to make mistakes, are part of our students' everyday lives. We value inclusion and economic and racial diversity, and we honor all of our students for their unique contributions, cultural backgrounds, and beliefs. We consider service to be critical to the development of character, so we incorporate community service into the children's school experience from the earliest grades. ...read more