Welcome to Ethical Culture!

Ann Clarke
Interim Principal,
Ethical Culture

Here on the corner of 63rd and Central Park West, we occupy an historic and beautiful seven-floor building, which is home to 500 children from prekindergarten through fifth grade. The belief of our founder, Felix Adler, in learning by doing, in “deed rather than creed” still actively informs the mission and curriculum of the Ethical Culture School.

Adler’s influence on American education has been far-reaching. Good independent schools have many characteristics in common with the progressive education that Adler envisioned. Those qualities include active rather than passive or rote learning; a focus on the characteristics of the individual learner in addition to the quality of the academic content; use of children's higher order thinking skills to make sense of facts and ideas in literature, science, art, or mathematics; formulating one's own questions and explaining one's thinking rather than simply answering a teacher's question; development of intrinsic motivation for learning and for service learning; as well as education in ethics and social justice. All of these fundamentals have been an integral part of ECF for over 130 years.

At Ethical Culture, we ensure that our students read and write clearly, are proficient in math, science, and the arts while they also develop characteristics of successful students such as an openness to new ideas, a thirst for understanding beyond specific knowledge, an ability to problem solve, and a creative and imaginative spirit. Education in ethics and social justice is part of every child's education here. We also teach our students to be active and enthusiastic researchers,  which has an appropriately different definition in pre-k than it does in fifth grade.

From morning meeting to our after school program, from woodworking and art to library, our supportive faculty at Ethical Culture serve as facilitators, encouraging students to use a wide variety of activities and materials to enhance their learning in an atmosphere of intellectual challenge.

We welcome your virtual visit and look forward to seeing you in person.


Ann Clarke
Interim Principal, Ethical Culture