York Preparatory School - NYC

During the month of October, York students dutifully and generously donated money to benefit children in developing countries. The coins accumulated in homeroom collection boxes will help provide disadvantaged youngsters with school supplies, mosquito nets, and immunizations.

NY private school York Prep fared well in every sport this fall, as its boys’ and girls’ teams in volleyball and soccer all finished in the top three of either the Independent School Athletic League (I.S.A.L.) or the Girls Independent School Athletic League (G.I.S.A.L.).

Leading the way was Girls’ Varsity Volleyball, culminating three championship seasons in a row with its first undefeated season. Coach Chris Durnford attributes his players’ perfect 12-0 season to York’s annual volleyball pre-season camp—an intense week with six-hour days of conditioning, fundamental skills, and basic strategies. The camp welcomes middle and upper schoolers alike. Coach Durnford headed the camp this year, assisted by Varsity veterans who mentored newer players, thus adding a level of approachability–“kids working with kids,” said Durnford.

Boys Varsity Soccer almost claimed a championship as well. Coach Doug Hill’s team jelled in mid-season and surged to tie for first place in I.S.A.L. regular play. Closing the season with six straight victories, it lost by one goal in the championship game to Le Lycée Français de New York. Two York players, including the goalie, made the All-League selection.

As with the Girls’ Varsity team, York’s pre-season training camp proved beneficial for Middle School Volleyball. The group won seven straight before dropping games to the Dalton School and the United Nations International School. Reaching the semi-finals, the team placed third in the league with a 7-3 record.

Middle School Co-ed Soccer rebounded from a slow start to finish strong by winning the last five games. They transformed themselves into a fine team and supported each other on and off the field, achieving a third-place finish in the league.

The girls and boys in Varsity Cross-Country may have made the greatest strides of all. Most were first-time competitors, but several had an outstanding season. Four of the six runners on this co-ed team qualified for and competed in the New York State Association of Independent Schools Cross-Country Championship, featuring the top cross country runners in the state. These athletes will provide a strong foundation for York to compete in 2009.

The hidden ingredient in York’s accomplishments was the enthusiastic support of students and parents at both home and away games. “We pride ourselves in school spirit,” said Headmaster Ronald Stewart.

The past, present, and future of York Prep School came together during a decade-spanning 40 ^th anniversary reunion on Saturday afternoon, September 27, 2008. More than 300 alumni and teachers joined school founders Ronald and Jayme Stewart in the gymnasium, chatted animatedly with long-lost peers while savoring gourmet hors d’oeuvres, and unconsciously tapped their feet to tunes from the ’70s to the present.

Over 20% of total graduates shared in the festivities, with high representation from the classes of 1981 and 1990. All of the former students seized the opportunity to catch up with long-lost friends and classmates. Squeals of surprise and laughter resounded through the crowd as alumni recognized faces and summoned memories. “I was overwhelmed by the whole experience, seeing people I haven’t seen in 25 years!” said Katherine Lucas ’83.

Former students, unfamiliar with the West 68 ^th Street building, were also encouraged to wander around the six floors, where large screens projected slides of candids from years past. Undoubtedly, anyone who graduated prior to 1997 could not help but comment favorably on current spaciousness of the classrooms, hallways, and stairways as compared to the “cozy” quality of the townhouses on East 85 ^th Street where York Prep had resided for 28 years.

Teachers and administrators enjoyed the opportunity to hear they had made a difference and to see that their students turned out well. “It was exciting to see so many people I hadn’t seen in so many years,” said Dr. Robert Reese, a 38-year veteran instructor. “Some faces were instantly recognizable.”

Looking back fondly on the celebration a few days later, Lucas offered her profound appreciation to Stewart and the school. “I can’t express the gratitude and sentiment I have for you, York Prep, and all the teachers who were instrumental in helping me become the person I am.”

NEW YORK, Nov 03, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ — For many children around the world, ghouls and goblins are a lot less frightening than the daily need for food and clothing. This Halloween, York Prep School helped ameliorate this real-life horror by participating in Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF, a fundraising campaign that assists children in developing countries who can’t afford necessities like clothing, school supplies, immunizations, and nutritional supplements. The UNICEF campaign is just one example of how year-round charity fundraising efforts create greater social consciousness among the students at York, an esteemed NY private school.

At York Prep, civic engagement is woven into the fabric of its students’ educational experience. York Prep’s community service requirement for graduation is 25 hours per year of high school attendance. Many students amass much more than the requisite 100 hours by the time they become seniors.

During November, York Prep will be participating in Common Cents’ Penny Harvest. For several years, York students have been filling up sacks with small change, with homerooms competing for a pizza party reward. The harvested coins become grant funds for community organizations chosen by the students.

Also this month, York Prep honors Veterans Day by monetarily supporting the Yellow Ribbon Foundation’s initiatives on behalf of in-need veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces. Students will carry out a Thanksgiving food drive and a coat donation project for the Yorkville Common Pantry, New York City’s largest community-based food pantry.

Throughout 2008, students at this private school in New York have participated in charitable projects such as AIDS Walk New York and the Revlon Run/Walk, which provides backing for the fight against women’s cancers. To raise money for AIDS relief via AVSI/Meeting Point in Kampala, Uganda, York Prep students recently paid $2.00 to “dress down” and bought AIDS Awareness wristbands and handmade necklaces made by Ugandan women. After the school matched the amount collected from the sale, the total came to more than $2,000.

About York Prep School:

York Preparatory School is a private, co-educational day school committed to helping students achieve success while upholding academic excellence. York Prep is notable among New York City private schools for its excellent college admissions record. One hundred percent of graduating classes are accepted into colleges, and more than 85% of students are admitted into their top two choices.

SOURCE York Prep School

 http://www.yorkprep.org

Copyright (C) 2008 PR Newswire. All rights reserved

I had already written my “thoughts” for this month when, on September 15, the New York Post ran a column by Andrea Peyser attacking Christina Schlesinger, a history teacher at York. So I have changed my piece to discuss this because, although the incident itself has begun to fade into history, I think it is still worth reviewing.

Christina Schlesinger has taught for over 20 years, graduated from Harvard “cum laude,” and received a Masters degree from Rutgers (though her qualifications are hardly the point). She teaches early world history to our ninth graders and does an outstanding job. During the first week of her class on world cultures and the Crusades, she taught how Muslims believe that the Koran is written by God. In future classes, when discussing Christianity, she will teach that Christian crusaders believed that the Bible was written by God. Nothing particularly controversial about that.

So she was somewhat surprised when, several days later, she received an angry e-mail from the uncle of a student who accused her of teaching that the Koran was written by God. Big difference! Christina called the student to explain and made sure that her class understood that she was referring to Muslim beliefs only. The e-mail even accused her of anti-semitism, which is ironic to say the least, considering that her father was the great Harvard historian Arthur Schlesinger. Still, Christina is too much of a professional to be phased by this sort of misunderstanding.

She then received a call from Ms. Peyser, and Christina once again explained that she was enumerating the beliefs of Muslims. I got a similar call, and Ms. Peyser got a similar answer. So we were disappointed when we saw an article in The Post in which she described the school as “Jihad Prep.” This would suggest that all Muslims are Jihadists (raw prejudice), and that Christina is preaching Jihad.

Even more troubling was a quote from the article. It starts with Christina’s reply and then adds the editorial comment of Ms. Peyser:

“I’m teaching that we should all get along,” Schlesinger said. “History is about trying to understand and live in the world.” I thought history was about learning facts. Silly me.

Here is where I think Ms. Peyser really misses the point when she states that history is ONLY about learning facts. Perhaps Ms. Peyser’s history teacher did not teach her the most valuable lesson of all - namely that history is about mankind’s past, including people’s motivations and the concepts they believed, not just dry facts. If we do not understand why people did what they did, then the facts cannot be put into context. Christina understands that; Ms. Peyser…maybe not.

As one who teaches philosophy to a number of classes at York, including the eighth grade scholars’ class, I only teach concepts, and stress there are no automatic right or wrong answers to many questions. If American education is only teaching facts to 9th graders in history, we are surely in trouble.

Further, as a school that aims for diversity in faculty and student body, it is appropriate to our mission to teach respect and knowledge about different world cultures.

But the bigger issue is this: Our goal is to partner with you in the education of your child. You entrust your children to us. And you are entitled (indeed welcome) to debate our curriculum, hopefully, not in the press. We really try and make ourselves as available as possible to you. If you have a question about anything at school, talk to us. Let us have a dialogue. There is no secret curriculum here. That is why we have a curriculum day. I always enjoy discussions with parents and, hopefully, the feeling is mutual. 

Christina thinks this is all quite interesting. She told me that her father would have been greatly amused by the incident and might have asked Ms. Peyser to enroll in his daughter’s class.

On a final note, I am grateful to the many parents who wrote promptly in strong support of Ms. Schlesinger. Not one said a word against her. I am almost grateful to Ms. Peyser (I said “almost”; let us not go too far) for giving me the opportunity to praise one of our faculty. In sum, let us encourage our students to create their own successful history and steer clear of such “journalistic history.”

Good heavens. It’s November! What happened to September and October? For that matter, what happened to the summer?

Is it just me, or are things flying by faster these days? Before you blink, it is Halloween, and then Thanksgiving, which really is the start of Christmas, which brings in the New Year, and the President’s weekend and Easter and then the summer. Maybe my job is to blame for my current mental state: we are now interviewing applicants for admission to York Prep in NY in September of 2009. I feel like Dorothy caught up in a Kansas whirlwind.

I have to slow down. At the 40th reunion, which was a few weeks ago but, of course, seems like yesterday, a well meaning graduate said that he hoped he would see me after 40 more “wonderful years.” I didn’t have the heart to tell him that I would be 104. Obviously his sense of time was even worse than mine.

Epictetus, my favorite Stoic philosopher, said, “Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”

It is a great (even beautiful) maxim, but I don’t know anyone who can live by it. I worry about time passing quickly. I certainly can’t change that.

What makes it worse is that I am working with children at our Manhattan private school for whom a year is a long time. It is a big deal to go from eighth to ninth grade. They find this significant. To go from age 63 to 64… peanuts!

I blame technology. I have no idea of what I am talking about, but everyone blames technology so I don’t see why I shouldn’t get in on the act. Speed of communication, speed of travel, speed of information. I think we are trying to keep up with computers that seem to get faster by the week. We will never catch up. I bought a computer last year, and already it is semi-obsolete. You can now buy one with more power that works more quickly and is half the price. I can’t keep up with that. I am slower physically and mentally, my hearing and eyesight must be getting worse, and if I had a price tag on me, I suspect I would be getting cheaper by the week.

Will someone please slow the merry-go-round? I don’t want to get off, but I would like to enjoy the view.

Ronald P. Stewart, Headmaster
York Prep School
rstewart@yorkprep.org