The New Lincoln School
Encyclopedia
The New Lincoln School was a private experimental coeducational school in New York City enrolling students from kindergarten through grade 12.
In 1956, the school acquired the former Boardman School on East 82nd Street and moved its Lower School (through second grade) to that campus, under the coordination of Terry Spitalny.
In 1973, the school moved to 210 East 77th Street. The school merged with the Walden School in Fall 1988 to become the New Walden Lincoln School, which ultimately closed in Summer 1991.
Today, the West 110th Street site is home to the Lincoln Correctional Facility, a minimum-security work-release center. The East 77th Street campus has been occupied by the Birch Wathen School since 1989.
Instruction was highly individualized, with individual exploration and small work groups greatly encouraged. Seating plans were generally informal, and most teachers were called by their first names, though they could choose more formal modes of address. Foreign language instruction, French and Spanish, began in the fifth grade. English grammar was not taught.
The arts were stressed across a variety of media. All students, regardless of gender, took Wood Shop and Home Economics.
While grade levels were conventional, the Middle School combined fifth and sixth grades and seventh and eighth into two or three groups each. Grades were labeled alphabetically, so that Group A corresponded to first grade, Group B to second ... Groups K, L, M to seventh and eighth.
History
Its predecessor was founded as Lincoln School in 1917 by the Rockefeller-funded General Education Board as "a pioneer experimental school for newer educational methods," under the aegis of Columbia University's Teachers College. In 1941 Teachers College merged Lincoln School with Horace Mann School, which it operated as a demonstration school. When Teachers College closed down the combined school in 1946, parents of Lincoln School enrollees established the New Lincoln School in 1948 to carry on the tradition of progressive, experimental education, concentrating on the individual child, offering an interdisciplinary core program as well as electives in elementary grades, and emphasizing the arts.In 1956, the school acquired the former Boardman School on East 82nd Street and moved its Lower School (through second grade) to that campus, under the coordination of Terry Spitalny.
In 1973, the school moved to 210 East 77th Street. The school merged with the Walden School in Fall 1988 to become the New Walden Lincoln School, which ultimately closed in Summer 1991.
Campus
The New Lincoln School building had previously been the 110th Street Community Center. An eight-story building that had been recently renovated and had a swimming pool in the basement, it was further renovated to meet the new school's needs of a cafeteria, classrooms, laboratories, and a library.Today, the West 110th Street site is home to the Lincoln Correctional Facility, a minimum-security work-release center. The East 77th Street campus has been occupied by the Birch Wathen School since 1989.
Curriculum
The curriculum revolved around "Core," a theme around which social science and English instruction was structured. Field trips and class plays were integrated with Core. Core topics included the Dutch in New York, China, India, Japan, and American History. Some Core programs were linked to a grade, while others varied from year to year. Science and Math were taught more conventionally, though Math classes were smaller, broken down within groups by level.Instruction was highly individualized, with individual exploration and small work groups greatly encouraged. Seating plans were generally informal, and most teachers were called by their first names, though they could choose more formal modes of address. Foreign language instruction, French and Spanish, began in the fifth grade. English grammar was not taught.
The arts were stressed across a variety of media. All students, regardless of gender, took Wood Shop and Home Economics.
While grade levels were conventional, the Middle School combined fifth and sixth grades and seventh and eighth into two or three groups each. Grades were labeled alphabetically, so that Group A corresponded to first grade, Group B to second ... Groups K, L, M to seventh and eighth.
Notable alumni
- Robin BartlettRobin BartlettRobin Bartlett is an American actress who grew up in Switzerland.She was formerly married to the actor Alan Rosenberg....
, actress - Shari BelafonteShari BelafonteShari Belafonte is an American actress, model, writer and singer. The daughter of singer Harry Belafonte, she is known for her role as Julie Gilette on the 1980s television series Hotel and as a spokesperson for the diet supplement Slim-Fast during the 1990s.-Personal life:Shari Lynn Belafonte was...
, actress - Minnijean BrownMinnijean Brown-TrickeyMinnijean Brown-Trickey was one of a group of African American teenagers known as the "Little Rock Nine." On September 25, 1957, under the gaze of 1,200 armed soldiers and a worldwide audience, Minnijean Brown-Trickey faced down an angry mob and helped to desegregate Central High.She was suspended...
of the Little Rock NineLittle Rock NineThe Little Rock Nine was a group of African-American students who were enrolled in Little Rock Central High School in 1957. The ensuing Little Rock Crisis, in which the students were initially prevented from entering the racially segregated school by Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus, and then... - Alan S. Chartock
- Shirley ClarkeShirley ClarkeShirley Clarke was an American independent filmmaker.-Early life:Born Shirley Brimberg in New York City, Shirley Clarke was the daughter of a Polish-immigrant father who made his fortune in manufacturing. Her mother was the daughter of a multimillionaire Jewish manufacturer and inventor. Her...
, filmmaker - Suzanne De PasseSuzanne de PasseSuzanne de Passe is an American television, music and film producer. As well as the Co-Chairman of de Passe Jones Entertainment Group-Career:Suzanne began her career at Motown as Creative Assistant to company founder, Berry Gordy...
, film and television producer - Brandon DeWilde, actor
- Diane EskenaziDiane EskenaziDiane Paloma Eskenazi is an American film producer and the founder of Golden Films production company in 1992. She is also the founder of different non-profit charity organizations such as Peace Builders, Inc., most of which were mainly, though not exclusively, dedicated to the welfare of children...
, director/producer, songwriter, philanthropist - Tisa FarrowTisa FarrowTheresa Magdalena 'Tisa' Farrow is an American actress and nurse.-Early life:Farrow, one of seven children, was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of Irish-born actress Maureen O'Sullivan and Australian-born film director John Farrow. She was raised Roman Catholic...
, actress - Thelma GoldenThelma GoldenThelma Golden is the Director and Chief Curator of The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York City, USA. Golden joined the Museum as Deputy Director for Exhibitions and Programs in 2000 before succeeding Dr Lowery Stokes Sims, the Museum’s former Director and President, in 2005.-Early life and...
, curator - Steve KnightSteve Knight (musician)Steve Knight is an American musician best known as the keyboardist for Mountain, a rock band of the early 1970s.Knight was born in New York to artist parents. From 1938–1950, his family lived in Woodstock, New York. In 1950, his father became a professor at Columbia University and moved the...
, musician - Robert M. MorgenthauRobert M. MorgenthauRobert Morris Morgenthau is an American lawyer. From 1975 until his retirement in 2009, he was the District Attorney for New York County, the borough of Manhattan.-Early life:...
, lawyer - Josh MostelJosh MostelJoshua "Josh" Mostel is an American actor who is best known for his roles in Jesus Christ Superstar and two Adam Sandler films .-Life and career:...
, actor (Mostel is seen wearing a New Lincoln T-shirt in the opening scenes of the movie Jesus Christ SuperstarJesus Christ Superstar (film)Jesus Christ Superstar is a 1973 American film adaptation of the Andrew Lloyd Webber/Tim Rice rock opera of the same name. Directed by Norman Jewison, the film centers on the conflict between Judas and Jesus during the last weeks before the crucifixion of Jesus...
). - Deborah HollandDeborah HollandDeborah Holland was the lead singer and songwriter of Animal Logic featuring Stanley Clarke and Stewart Copeland. Beginning her musical studies at age 14, Holland attended the Berklee College of Music and Rutgers University, from which she received her B.A...
, singer-songwriter and film composer - Jill NelsonJill NelsonJill Nelson is a prominent African American journalist and novelist. She has written several books, including the autobiographical Volunteer Slavery: My Authentic Negro Experience, which won an American Book Award, and is currently Professor of Journalism at the City College of New York.Jill...
, writer - Stanley Nelson Jr.Stanley Nelson Jr.Stanley Earl Nelson Jr. is an American director and producer of documentary films known for examining the history and experiences of African Americans....
, filmmaker - Adrian PiperAdrian PiperAdrian Margaret Smith Piper is a first-generation conceptual artist and analytic philosopher who was born in New York City and lived for many years on Cape Cod, Massachusetts before emigrating from the United States...
, artist - Mason ReeseMason ReeseMason Reese is a former child actor who appeared in numerous television commercials in the 1970s, particularly for Underwood Deviled Ham, Post Raisin Bran, and Dunkin' Donuts' Dunkin' Munchkins-brand "donut holes"...
, actor - Vicki Sue RobinsonVicki Sue RobinsonVicki Sue Robinson was an American theatre and film actress and singer, closely associated with the disco era of late 1970s pop music; she is most famous for her 1976 hit, "Turn the Beat Around."-Early life and career:...
singer - Brooke ShieldsBrooke ShieldsBrooke Christa Shields is an American actress and model. Some of her better-known movies include Pretty Baby and The Blue Lagoon, as well as TV shows such as Suddenly Susan, That '70s Show and Lipstick Jungle....
, model, actress - Michele WallaceMichele WallaceMichele Faith Wallace is a feminist author and daughter of artist Faith Ringgold. She became famous in 1979 when, at age 27, she published Black Macho and The Myth of The Superwoman, a book in which she criticized black nationalism and sexism...
, feminist author
Former directors
- Dr. John J. Brooks (1948–1959)
- E. Francis Bowditch (1959–1960)
- Dr. Gerhardt E. Rast (1960-)
- John J. Formanek (1964–1968)
- Dr. Harold C. Haizlip (1968–1971)
- Collin Reed (1973-)
- Edgar S. Bley
- Verne Oliver (-1987)
- George Cohan (1987–1988)