Bank Street College of Education

{{short description|School in Manhattan, New York}} {{Use American English|date=September 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=November 2025}} {{Infobox university | name = Bank Street College of Education | image = Bank_street_college_of_education_seal.png | image_size = 150px | former_name = Bureau of Educational Experiments, The Cooperative School for Student Teachers | established = {{start date and age|1916}} | founder = Lucy Sprague Mitchell | accreditation = Middle States Commission on Higher Education | endowment = $49.1 million (2019)<ref>As of June 30, 2019. {{cite web |url=https://www.nacubo.org/-/media/Nacubo/Documents/EndowmentFiles/2019-Endowment-Market-Values--Final-Feb-10.ashx? |title=U.S. and Canadian 2019 NTSE Participating Institutions Listed by Fiscal Year 2019 Endowment Market Value, and Percentage Change in Market Value from FY18 to FY19 (Revised) |publisher=National Association of College and University Business Officers and TIAA |access-date=September 13, 2020}}</ref> | type = Teaching school, private school, graduate school, research university, elementary school, preschool | president = Shael Polakow-Suransky | head_label = Dean of Children's Programs & Head of School | head = Doug Knecht | faculty = 125 | students = 597 (2023, graduate school)<ref>{{cite web |title=Bank Street College of Education |url=https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/?id=189015 |website=College Navigator |publisher=National Center for Education Statistics |access-date=December 27, 2019 |ref=CollegeNavigator}}</ref><br /> 451 (2025, school for children)<ref name="NYSAIS">{{cite web |title=Bank Street School for Children |url=https://www.nysais.org/page.cfm?p=102&start=1 |publisher=New York State Association of Independent Schools|access-date=June 30, 2025}}</ref> | city = New York City | state = New York | country = United States | campus = Urban | website = {{URL|https://www.bankstreet.edu/}} | logo = Bank_street_college_of_education_logo.png | logo_size = 200 | coor = {{Coord|40|48|20|N|73|57|59|W|format=dms|display=inline,title|type:edu_region:US-NY}} | module = {{OSM Location map | float = centre | width = 250 | coord = {{coord}}  | mark-coord = {{coord}}  | label = Bank Street College of Education | label-pos = bottom  | zoom = 12  }} }}

'''Bank Street College of Education''' is a private school, graduate school, and education research center located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It consists of a graduate-only teacher training college,<ref>[https://www.petersons.com/graduate-schools/bank-street-college-of-education-000_10032297.aspx Bank Street College of Education]. Peterson's LLC. Accessed February 2020.</ref> Bank Street Graduate School of Education, and an independent nursery-through-8th-grade school, the '''Bank Street School for Children'''.

== History == The origins of the school lie in the '''Bureau of Educational Experiments''', which was established in 1916 by Lucy Sprague Mitchell, her husband Wesley Clair Mitchell, and Harriet Merrill Johnson; Lucy Mitchell's cousin Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge provided financial support.<ref name="Antler 2000">{{cite book | url=https://www.anb.org/view/10.1093/anb/9780198606697.001.0001/anb-9780198606697-e-0900513 | isbn=978-0-19-860669-7 | doi=10.1093/anb/9780198606697.article.0900513 | year=2000 | last1=Antler | first1=Joyce | title=Mitchell, Lucy Sprague (1878-1967), educator}}</ref><ref>[https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/BT2310007353/GPS?u=wikipedia&sid=GPS&xid=9653d1a7 Lucy Sprague Mitchell]. In: John Arthur Garraty, Mark C. Carnes (editors) (1988). [https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofamer00garr/page/n9 ''Dictionary of American Biography'', supplement eight: 1966–1970]. New York, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons; London: Collier Macmillan Publishers. {{isbn|9780684186184}}. {{subscription required}}.</ref> The bureau was intended to foster research into, and development of, experimental and progressive education, and was influenced by the thinking of Edward Thorndike and John Dewey, both of whom Mitchell had studied with at Columbia University. The bureau was run by a council of twelve members, but Mitchell was its most influential figure until the 1950s.<ref name="Antler 2000" /> The name of the institution derives from its 1930–1971 location at 69 Bank Street in Greenwich Village.<ref name="Bse">{{cite web |title=History of Bank Street |url=https://www.bankstreet.edu/about-bank-street/history/ |access-date=June 30, 2025 |website=Bank Street School of Education}}</ref>

In 1919 the bureau started a nursery school for children from fifteen to thirty-six months old; Harriet Johnson was the director. The school fed into the Play School for three- to seven-year-olds run by Caroline Pratt; eight-year-olds were taught in a special class by members of the bureau.<ref name="Antler 2000" />

Bank Street College of Education served as an academic consultant during development for Multiplication Rock, the first series of Schoolhouse Rock!<ref>{{Cite book|last=Kamp|first=David|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=za3jDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA182|title=Sunny Days: The Children's Television Revolution That Changed America|date=May 12, 2020|publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=978-1-5011-3780-8|language=en}}</ref>

The College was instrumental in the design of Bank Street Writer, an early microcomputer word processing package originally intended for schoolchildren (albeit with significant popularity among adults as well).

In 1958, the college received a $1,000,000 grant from the Department of Health, Education and Welfare for a five-year study on how schools for younger children could improve mental health development.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1958/10/02/archives/educator-to-direct-kindergarten-group.html?searchResultPosition=10 "Educator to Direct Kindergarten Group"] – ''The New York Times'', October 2, 1958</ref>

==Accreditation== Bank Street College of Education serves as the home for both the School for Children and the Graduate School of Education, as well as a partner to schools and communities to advance studies and research in education through Bank Street Education Center and Bank Street Family Center. Since 1960, the school has been accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools or its successor the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.<ref>{{cite web |title=Bank Street College of Education – Statement of Accreditation Status |url=https://www.msche.org/institution/0266/ |access-date=June 30, 2025 |website=Middle States Commission on Higher Education}}</ref> Bank Street School for Children is accredited by the New York State Association of Independent Schools.<ref name="NYSAIS" />

==Bank Street College of Education== Bank Street College of Education is the education and research arm of Bank Street. It began in 1916 as the Bureau of Educational Experiments (BEE) in and was founded by Lucy Sprague Mitchell in New York City. Spearheading research into understanding how children learn and grow, Bank Street developed the Bank Street approach, known as the developmental-interaction approach,<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Developmental-Interaction Approach – Historical Foundations of Early Childhood Education |url=https://earlychildhoodhistory.weebly.com/the-developmental-interaction-approach.html |access-date=June 30, 2025 |website=earlychildhoodhistory.weebly.com}}</ref> an expression of progressive education.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Cremin |first=Lawrence Arthur |url=http://archive.org/details/transformationof0000crem |title=The transformation of the school : progressivism in American education, 1876–1957 |date=1964 |publisher=New York : Vintage Books, Random House |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-394-70519-4}}</ref> In the 1950s, the school changed its name to Bank Street College of Education.<ref name="Britannica">{{Cite web |title=Bank Street College of Education {{!}} Teacher Training, Education Reform & NYC {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Bank-Street-College-of-Education |access-date=June 30, 2025 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref>

===Bank Street Education Center=== alt=Bank Street Education Center logo|thumb|Bank Street Education Center The Education Center at Bank Street provide various levels of trainings and education to schools and communities across the country with the purpose of making education more equitable.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Reda |first=Rachel |title=Bank Street Education Center |url=https://www.bankstreet.edu/our-work-with-schools-and-communities/bank-street-education-center/ |access-date=June 30, 2025 |website=Bank Street College of Education |language=en-US}}</ref>

===Bank Street School for Children=== alt=Bank Street School for Children logo|thumb|Bank Street School for Children logo

The Bank Street School for Children is a coed private preschool, elementary school, and middle school within the Bank Street College of Education.<ref>{{Cite web|title=A Guide to the Best Manhattan Private Schools: 2019–20|url=https://www.newyorkfamily.com/a-guide-to-manhattans-private-schools-new-york/|access-date=August 9, 2021|website=www.newyorkfamily.com|date=November 6, 2019 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name="rev">{{Cite web|title=Bank Street School For Children Profile (2021) {{!}} New York, NY|url=https://www.privateschoolreview.com/bank-street-school-for-children-profile|access-date=August 9, 2021|website=Private School Review|language=en}}</ref> The school includes children in nursery school through eighth grade.<ref name="rev" /> Student to teacher ratio averages around 6:1 with an average class size of 39. As of 2025, tuition ranges from $37,554 – $68,793 per school year. Bank Street School for Children offers various tuition payment options and financial aid, with about 59% of applicants receiving financial aid in an average amount around $21,618.<ref name="Niche">{{Cite web |title=Bank Street School for Children in Manhattan, NY |url=https://www.niche.com/k12/bank-street-school-for-children-new-york-ny/ |access-date=June 30, 2025 |website=Niche |language=en}}</ref> There are approximately 451 children enrolled as students,<ref name="NYSAISs">{{Cite web |title=New York State Association of Independent Schools (NYSAIS): Bank Street School for Children |url=https://www.nysais.org/school-detail/?id=Bank-Street-School-for-Children-New-York-City-10025 |access-date=August 9, 2021 |website=www.nysais.org}}</ref> approximately 43% of whom are students of color.<ref name="Niche" /> The instructors are often current or past students of Bank Street's graduate school, which shares a campus with the School for Children—including more than half of the teachers who are alumni.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lewis |first=Crystal |title=Grooming Teachers, Bank Street Puts Stress on Basics and a Belief in Kids |url=https://thechiefleader.com/news/news_of_the_week/grooming-teachers-bank-street-puts-stress-on-basics-and-a-belief-in-kids/article_f7d9f1b8-5b5d-11e7-a84b-c3281f3a50aa.html |access-date=August 9, 2021 |website=The Chief |language=en}}</ref>

The School for Children is accredited by the New York State Association of Independent Schools, and is a member of the National Association of Independent Schools.<ref name="NYSAISs" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=NAIS Bookstore |url=https://my.nais.org/s/searchdirectory?id=a2C3m00000EQaO4 |access-date=August 9, 2021 |website=my.nais.org}}</ref>

===Graduate School of Education=== alt=Bank Street Graduate School of Education logo|thumb|Bank Street Graduate School of Education logo

In the 1930s, Bank Street moved to 69 Bank Street and opened as the Cooperative School for Teachers, a joint venture with other schools with a goal to develop teacher education and training. In the 1950s, the school's name changed from the Cooperative School for Teachers to the Bank Street College of Education,<ref name="Britannica" /> after earning accreditation by the Board of Regents of New York State to award Master of Science degrees.<ref name="Bse" />

As of 2024, the graduate school had about 65 full time and 55 part-time faculty and staff and approximately 844 students, of which 87% were female.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Graduate School – Bank Street College of Education – Graduate Programs and Degrees |url=https://petersons.com/ |access-date=June 30, 2025 |website=petersons.com |language=en}}</ref>

===Bank Street Family Center=== Bank Street Family Center provides full-day, year-round childcare, preschool, and pre-k options for children between 6 months to five years old.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bank Street Family Center – Childcare, Playgroups & Special Education Services in NYC |url=https://www.bankstreet.edu/education-for-children/family-center-2/ |access-date=June 30, 2025 |website=Bank Street College of Education |language=en-US}}</ref>

===Head Start=== Bank Street was influential in the establishment of the National Head Start Program.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Reda |first=Rachel |title=About – Bank Street Head Start |url=https://www.bankstreet.edu/education-for-children/head-start/about/ |access-date=June 30, 2025 |website=Bank Street College of Education |language=en-US}}</ref>

==Alumni== ===Graduate school=== * Bill Ayers, militant activist and educator * Lee Bennett Hopkins, educator and writer * Claudine K. Brown, director at the Smithsonian Institution, museum educator, artist * Margaret Wise Brown, writer * Ruth Cohn, psychotherapist, educator, and poet * Rosina Fernhoff, Obie Award-winning theater actress * Adam Gidwitz, author * Robie Harris, children's book author * Trudie Lamb-Richmond, Schaghticoke Tribal Nation member and educator * Anne Mitchell, educator * Shael Polakow-Suransky, current president and former chief academic officer of the New York City Education Department * Miriam Roth, educator * Dorothy Stoneman, founder and president of YouthBuild USA * Ellen Tarry, picture book author * Edith Thacher Hurd, children's book writer * Lucy Wainwright Roche, singer-songwriter * Sara Wilford, philanthropist * Valerie Wilson Wesley, author and editor * Diane Wolkstein, New York City official storyteller

===School for Children=== * Purva Bedi, actress * Liz Garbus, filmmaker<ref>{{Cite news|last=Salamon|first=Julie|date=October 26, 2003|title=FILM; A Filmmaker Who Chooses to Live Behind Bars|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/26/movies/film-a-filmmaker-who-chooses-to-live-behind-bars.html|access-date=August 9, 2021|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> * Shuwanza Goff, deputy director of the Office of Legislative Affairs for President Joe Biden<ref>{{Cite web|first=Adam|last=Parker|title=Shuwanza Goff, with Georgetown roots, to join President-elect Biden's White House staff|url=https://www.postandcourier.com/news/local_state_news/shuwanza-goff-with-georgetown-roots-to-join-president-elect-bidens-white-house-staff/article_992653c4-2f52-11eb-a5ca-570acd913952.html|access-date=August 9, 2021|website=Post and Courier|date=November 25, 2020 |language=en}}</ref> * Zohran Mamdani, politician; mayor of New York City<ref>{{Cite web |last=Saltonstall |first=Gus |date=March 26, 2025 |title=Before Zohran Mamdani Made Waves in NYC's Mayoral Race, He Was A Kid Growing Up On the UWS |url=https://www.westsiderag.com/2025/03/26/before-zohran-mamdani-made-waves-in-nycs-mayoral-race-he-was-a-kid-growing-up-on-the-uws |access-date=April 20, 2025 |website=West Side Rag |language=en-US}}</ref> * Angelica Page, actress and filmmaker<ref>{{Cite web|last=Brown|first=Dennis|title=Angelica Torn, the daughter of Rip Torn and Geraldine Page, forges her own stage path|url=https://www.riverfronttimes.com/stlouis/angelica-torn-the-daughter-of-rip-torn-and-geraldine-page-forges-her-own-stage-path/Content?oid=2491686|access-date=August 9, 2021|website=Riverfront Times|language=en}}</ref> * Ally Sheedy, actress<ref>{{Cite web|title=Ally Sheedy|url=http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000639/bio|access-date=August 9, 2021|website=IMDb}}</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

==Further reading== * Fisher, Patricia, and Anne Perryman. "A brief history: Bank street college of education." (2000) [https://educate.bankstreet.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1001&context=books online]. * Nager, Nancy, and Edna Shapiro. "A progressive approach to the education of teachers: Some principles from Bank Street College of Education." ''Occasional Paper Series'' (2007) #18 [https://educate.bankstreet.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1169&context=occasional-paper-series online]

==External links== * {{official website|http://bankstreet.edu}}

Category:Bank Street College of Education Category:1916 establishments in New York City Category:Early childhood education in the United States Category:Education in Harlem Category:Experimental schools Category:Morningside Heights, Manhattan Category:Private elementary schools in Manhattan Category:Private high schools in Manhattan Category:Private middle schools in Manhattan Category:Private universities and colleges in New York (state) Category:Progressive colleges Category:Schools in Harlem Category:Schools of education in New York (state) Category:Universities and colleges established in 1916 Category:Universities and colleges in Manhattan Category:Universities and colleges in New York City