Our Approach

Bank Street School for Children is where progressive education begins.

As Bank Street educators, the heart of our work is rooted in the knowledge that children learn best when they are actively engaged with ideas, materials, and people. This guides our teachers to create rich learning environments optimal for every child’s development. Our students learn how to reason and how to discover solutions for themselves. By the time they leave Bank Street, they are equipped to meet any academic or social challenge. Here is a closer look how Bank Street empowers students to learn and thrive:

Learning by Doing
At Bank Street, children are immersed in learning experiences relevant to their lives and tailored to their developmental moment. Collaborative, lively, messy—a Bank Street classroom is a place where children’s innate curiosity is nurtured and guided by masterful educators who teach children how to think, not what to think. Here, children build the social, emotional, and cognitive skills essential for success in school and in life.

Engaging with Masterful Teachers
Bank Street–trained teachers are highly valued and sought by schools across the country. The School for Children is their model for excellence in children’s education and many choose to teach here. In fact, 65 percent of School for Children teachers have graduate degrees from Bank Street Graduate School of Education, a national leader in preparing teachers who are at the vanguard of progressive education.

Connecting with the World
At Bank Street, the world is our classroom. We encourage students to discover the world around them by entering into it and engaging with it. Our educators look for teachable moments within each child’s reach and assist as they develop new understandings and ideas.

Celebrating Social Justice and Diversity
Bank Street is passionately committed to building a diverse community of learners that reflects our city and world. We strive to acknowledge, support, and educate a community of children and adults to be sensitive to and respectful of diversity and put our philosophy into action through a social justice- and equity-driven curriculum across all subject areas.

Outstanding Resources for Learning
Bank Street’s facilities reflect our values of educating the whole child—including a science lab and a woodworking studio, a teaching kitchen, two music studios, an art studio, and a multipurpose/dance studio. Our play-based curriculum is supported by an outdoor rooftop playground, an outdoor play deck, and a regulation-size gym. Our library is recognized as an unparalleled resource for children’s literature, with 70,000 children’s books and 50,000 books to support our Graduate School of Education.

How to Apply