Walden School (New York City)
Walden School was a private day school in Manhattan, New York City that operated from 1914 until 1988, when it merged with the New Lincoln School; the merged school closed in 1991. Walden was known as an innovator in progressive education.[1][2] The Walden School was founded in 1914 by Margaret Naumburg, an educator who later became an art therapist.[1][3] Claire Raphael Reis, a musician, was also involved.[4]
Naumburg, who had been exposed to the theories of John Dewey at Columbia University, embraced “individual transformation” as an education principle, encouraging creative expression and self-motivated learning.[5][6] Throughout its history, the Walden School emphasized the visual and performing arts. Competition between students was minimized; students did not receive grades and no exams were required for admission. Students called teachers by their first names.[1]
The old Walden building is now occupied by the Trevor Day School
Notable faculty
Notable alumni
- Tina Aumont, actress
- Chaz Bono, son of former musical talent "Sonny and Cher"
- Matthew Broderick, actor[1]
- Michael Diamond, Beastie Boy
- Jane Dudley, modern dancer[7]
- Carol Gilligan, educational psychologist[1]
- Andrew Goodman, civil rights activist[8]
- Alexandra Guarnaschelli, Celebrity chef, Iron Chef and Chopped judge, cooking show host
- Glenn Ligon, conceptual artist
- Kenneth Lonergan, playwright, screenwriter, and director
- Mike Nichols, television, theatre, and film director[1]
- Susan Rosenberg, radical leftist who is accused of driving the getaway car in the 1981 Brinks robbery
- Jane Stern, food writer
- Edgar Tafel, architect and preservation advocate, apprentice and assistant to Frank Lloyd Wright
- Barbara Tuchman, historian [1]
- Emanuel Vardi, musician
References
- Notes
- ^ a b c d e f g Douglas Martin, Walden School, At 73, Files for Bankruptcy, The New York Times, June 23, 1987
- ^ Wolfgang Saxon, Planned Merger to Cut Costs For Two Private Day Schools, The New York Times, May 10, 1988
- ^ Margaret Naumburg, Walden School Founder, Dies, The New York Times, March 6, 1983
- ^ http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/RR/fre51.html
- ^ Daniel Schugurensky (2002), History of Education: Selected Moments of the 20th Century: 1914 - Margaret Naumburg promotes art therapy at Walden School, The Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto. Accessed September 24, 2010.
- ^ Susan F. Semel and Alan R. Sadovnik, The Contemporary Small-School Movement: Lessons from the History of Progressive Education, Teachers College Record
- ^ Anna Kisselgoff, Jane Dudley, Modern Dancer And Teacher, Is Dead at 89, The New York Times. September 22, 2001
- ^ http://www.core-online.org/History/goodman.htm
- Further reading
- Margaret Naumburg (1928), The Child and the World: Dialogues in Modern Education. New York: Harcourt Brace.
External links