September 6, 2024

Dear Families,

Yesterday was our fiftieth first day of school.  That is, yesterday was the first day of school, and 2024-2025 is the fiftieth year of Central Park East I.

In September 1974, a small group of teachers started a school that would have a very big impact.  Central Park East became New York City’s first progressive public school.  Before that, only families who could afford private school could choose progressive-style learning. But CPE was free.  At a time when the city severely neglected neighborhoods like ours, a public school in East Harlem began teaching children and treating families as respectfully as expensive private schools.

By the 1980s, educators, authors, and filmmakers began telling the story of this first-of-its kind public school.  I was a student teacher far away in California when I first read about CPE.  Today, there are at least a dozen progressive public schools in New York City that were modeled after Central Park East. 

This year, we’re not alone in celebrating our history.  Our Fall Festival is always a kind of homecoming.  For our fiftieth anniversary, former staff and students from every decade are traveling – some more than a thousand miles – to see their old school. 

Please mark your calendar for Saturday, October 19.  Your whole family should come to Fall Festival to have fun and connect with the community. 

And before that, at 1:45 on Friday, October 18, we are having a special All-School Sing.  CPE’s very first music teacher, Barry Soloway, will lead us.  Former students and staff are all invited back to sing the songs that have been part of their lives for so many years.  I will share more information soon.

While I am looking forward to October’s celebration, I want to celebrate yesterday’s first day.  This year’s start felt especially organized and joyful.  About twenty minutes before dismissal, I watched Abraham as he was writing about his first day in first grade.  He drew a picture of himself with three teachers.  “That’s me, that’s Selena, that’s Hansel, and that’s Ray,” he told me.  Then he read aloud what he wrote beneath the picture: “I had an amazing day and I’m so happy.”

Amazing days and feeling happy is exactly what we hope children experience at school.  Across CPE’s fiftieth year, I hope your child has many amazing days, and lots of happiness.