York Preparatory School - NYC

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.”