WHAT'S GOING ON NOW:

NEW AND NOTEWORTHY PRIVATE MIDDLE SCHOOL

A New Home For Grades 6 to 8
Green building has benefits for all grades at Ethical Culture Fieldston School

Founded more than 125 years ago, the Ethical Culture Fieldston School is already considered a gem when it comes to private, independent school education in New York City. The school’s community service program is nearly 50 years old, and its ethics program begins as early as the 2nd grade.

Now a separate middle school is expected to raise the bar yet again.

The newly created division, which is on the school’s Riverdale campus, houses grades 6 to 8 in an eco-friendly, green-certified facility that opened in September. Students from the two lower schools—Ethical Culture School, on Central Park West, and Fieldston Lower, also on the Riverdale campus—will be taught there. Previously, children stayed in lower school until the end of 6th grade, at which point they all attended Fieldston for grades 7 to 12.

Luis Ottley, who previously headed up the middle school division of a Seattle private school, started as principal July 1. He said his approach to teaching the sometimes difficult age group focuses on bringing students together and forging bonds.

“I think you’ve got to give kids an outlet, a place to shine,” he said, stressing the importance of creating clubs and other opportunities where like-minded students can connect.
Before Ottley arrived, Beth P. Beckmann, now interim head of school, worked on carving out of the new program.

“We looked at what was best for kids, and we really felt that the age group of grades 6 to 8, developmentally, is the best structure for kids,” Beckmann said. “When you separate kids into a middle school division, you’re able to respond to their developmental needs.”

The new facility not only benefits the middle school grades, but the other parts of the Ethical Culture Fieldston School as well, according to Beckmann. There will be more space, for example, on the Fieldston campus for the elementary and high school segments.

“We call it the elegant solution, because we’re building a brand new building and every division wins,” said Beckmann.

Because the 6th grade was taken out of the lower schools, and the 7th and 8th grades were carved out of the upper school, everyone has more space. Fieldston Lower has doubled the size of its library, and Ethical Culture created a technology center and a multipurpose classroom with Smart Boards. Fieldston underwent a major renovation, giving the upper school a new performing arts center and music spaces, an electronic music studio and two-story dining hall, among other amenities.

The certified green status of the new building is also something the school is excited about—and an approach to construction that Mayor Michael Bloomberg has been pushing the entire city to embrace. Fieldston even has an employee called the Green Dean who has worked with construction representatives since the very first meetings about the new facility.

The new building will include a lighting system that emits less light in areas illuminated by the sun and more light in areas farther away from windows.

Ottley said one of his favorite parts of the new building is the green-roof.

“The way in which it is supposed to conserve energy and store water I think is amazing,” he said. “We can actually bring down our electrical bill, our gas bill, because the temperature of the building is somewhat controlled by the roof and what’s being planted on the roof.”

As with any major organizational change, the principal said, carving out the new school hasn’t been easy. But the attitude of faculty and staff has made it all possible.

“There’s a lot of energy,” Ottley said. “That’s what’s been helpful to all of us.”

—Mark Allwood

with additional reporting by Charlotte Eichna