Ethical Culture Fieldston School

Ethical Culture Fieldston School , known as just Fieldston, is a private, highly selective independent school in New York City. The school is a member of the Ivy Preparatory School League. The school serves approximately 1700 students and 325 faculty and staff. Jessica L. Bagby has been the Head of School since June 2016. The school consists of four divisions: Ethical Culture, Fieldston Lower, Fieldston Middle, and Fieldston Upper. Kyle Wilkie-Glass is the Chief Operating Officer, Jodi Scheurenbrand is the Chief Financial Officer. Ethical Culture, located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, and Fieldston Lower, located on the Fieldston campus in the Riverdale section of the Bronx, serve Pre-K through 5th Grade. The two lower schools feed into Fieldston Middle and Fieldston Upper —also located on the Fieldston campus in Riverdale. Ethical Culture is headed by Rob Cousins, Fieldston Lower is headed by Noni Thomas Lopez, Fieldston Middle is headed by Chia-Chee Chiu, and Fieldston Upper is headed by Robert J. Cairo . Tuition and fees for ECFS were $48,645 for the 2017-18 school year.HistoryThe school opened in 1878 as a free kindergarten, founded by Felix Adler at the age of 24. In 1880, elementary grades were added, and the school was then called the Workingman's School. At that time, the idea that the children of the poor should be educated was innovative. By 1890 the school's academic reputation encouraged many more wealthy parents to seek it out, and the school was expanded to accommodate the upper-class as well, and began charging tuition; in 1895 the name changed to "The Ethical Culture School", and in 1903 the New York Society for Ethical Culture became its sponsor. The economic diversity which was important then is threatened by an annual tuition that exceeded $43,000 in 2016. To help continue the school's original mission, Fieldston awards over $13 million in financial aid to 22% of the student body.