Who We Are

The Ethical Culture Fieldston School offers a world-class progressive education in Pre-K–12th Grade at two historic campuses in Manhattan and the Bronx. The core of our educational program is the study and practice of ethics, which prepares and compels us to take care of our world, ourselves, and each other.

At ECFS, we don’t teach students what to think, what to question, or what to explore — but how to think, how to question, and how to explore. Our tenets of progressive education focus on the whole child, ensuring that education is responsive, relevant, experiential, and playful, among other traits. Click here to read more about the core tenets that guide every aspect of our curriculum.

With an enduring commitment to excellence, equity, and inclusion, we inspire a diverse and joyful community of passionate learners, critical thinkers, and ethical individuals who aim to make the world more humane and just.

ECFS at a Glance

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Our Story

The Ethical Culture Fieldston School was founded by the humanitarian leader Felix Adler in 1878 to ensure that all children would have access to a quality education. Then known as the Workingman’s School, it emphasized moral education, psychological development, and integration of the creative and manual arts with academics — key components of what we now know as progressive education.

In 1895, the Workingman’s School became the Ethical Culture School and its management passed to the governing board of the Ethical Culture Society. In 1899, the School established a secondary school.

In 1904, the Ethical Culture School constructed a new building at 33 Central Park West, which currently houses the Ethical Culture division, one of our two lower schools. By the mid-1920s, the School had outgrown its quarters and sought to expand its vision for both primary and secondary education. In 1928, the School opened a beautiful wooded campus in the Bronx. A second lower school, Fieldston Lower, followed on the Bronx campus in 1932.

In 1995, the New York Society for Ethical Culture voted to set up the School as its own legal entity with a self-governing board of trustees.

In 2007, we opened Fieldston Middle, also on the Bronx campus.

Our Chief Executive Officer, Kyle Wilkie-Glass, began his tenure as CEO in the winter of 2024. Click here to read a welcome note from our leadership.

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Our Mission

Felix Adler’s educational vision is as important today as it was when the Ethical Culture Fieldston School was founded in 1878. To continue to realize that vision, we embrace the following ideals:

Ethical learning
The exploration of what it means to be an ethical and responsible member of society forms the core of our curriculum and our school community. We value inclusion as well as economic and racial diversity. We honor all of our students for their unique contributions, cultural backgrounds, and beliefs. As we consider service to be critical to the development of character, we incorporate community service into our students’ school experiences from the earliest grades.

Academic excellence
Our School achieves academic excellence by challenging students to reach their highest potential in body, mind, and spirit through the humanities, the sciences, the arts, and physical education. Students become active learners and engage in vital discourse in an atmosphere of intellectual discipline and creativity fostered by a community of dedicated teachers.

Progressive education
Through a curriculum rooted in our tenets of progressive education, students become independent thinkers as they learn that asking their own questions and seeking their own answers are key to the deepest kind of understanding. Cooperative, student-centered, discussion-based learning and the freedom to make mistakes are part of our students’ everyday lives.

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Our Leadership

ECFS is a community in partnership — we aspire to transparency and collaboration in all that we do. The Executive Leadership Council and the Administrative Council are groups that lead the conversation about our priorities and help guide the steps we take as a school.

Executive Leadership Council

Administrative Council

• Kyle Wilkie-Glass, Chief Executive Officer
• Jon Alschuler, Principal, Fieldston Middle
• Keith Alves, Director of Finance/Controller
• Dave Argenzio, Director of Campus Safety
• Stacey Bobo, Principal, Fieldston Upper
• Kavita Bordia, Director of Development
• Jetty Castro, Director of Human Resources
• Victoria Daley, Director of Enrollment Management and Financial Aid
• Les Jonson, Director of Technology
• Erik Landgren, Principal of Ethical Culture
• Robert Lundgren, Director of Facilities
• Holly Manges Jones, Chief Human Resources Officer and General Counsel
• Shannon Matlovsky, Interim Executive Director of Belonging and Social Impact
• Joe McCauley, Principal, Fieldston Lower
• Mica McGriggs, Executive Director of Student Support and Wellness
• Gus Ornstein ’94, Director of Athletics
• Teddy O’Rourke, Executive Director of Operations
• Francesca Pisa, Executive Director of Teaching and Learning
• Keiko Reid, Chief Financial Officer
• Renée Reid-Nicholson, Director of Communications
• Rose Turshen, Interim Chief Advancement Officer
• Akosua Yeboah, Director of College Counseling

Board of Trustees

Our Trustees play a shared role in leading the School, focusing on governance while the Head of School oversees management. Their primary responsibilities are to set policy, monitor the functions of the School, and collaborate with the Head of School to steward the financial health of the School, ensuring that the necessary resources are in place to further our mission and achieve strategic priorities.

Among the Trustees are alumni, parents, faculty, leaders of the New York Society for Ethical Culture, and Honorary Trustees who act in the undivided interest of the School to carry out our mission with integrity, diversity, equity, and inclusion, both today and into the future.

Trustees

• Fahim Ahmed
• Dana Baxter ’88
• Ethan Binder
• Margot Bridger
• Anand Desai
• Akin Dorsett ’88
• Sharan Gill
• Andrew Holm ’01
• Atif Khawaja, Chair
• Rob Lewin
• Vivian Lin
• Seth Meisel
• Jo Natauri
• Kathleen O’Connell
• Palma Repole
• Carline Samson
• Dana Sirota
• Min Young Song
• Lance Taubin ’06
• Krishna Veeraraghavan
• Rielly Vlassis
• Josh Vlasto ’00
• Stephanie Wagner
• Grace Wang
• Kyle Wilkie-Glass, CEO, Ex-Officio
• Liz Singer, President, Society Board, Ex-Officio

Honorary Trustees

• Laura Jacobs Blankfein ’71
• Susan Sarnoff Bram ’81
• Charles Debrovner
• Nina P. Freedman ’73
• James A. Gara ’72
• Ken Glassman
• G. Angela Flemister Henry ’75
• Anne Klaeysen
• Meghan Mackay
• Sara E. Nathan ’71
• Robert A. Pruzan ’81
• Nori Rost, Society Leader
• Paul Schnell ’72
• Tracy Chutorian Semler ’82
• Kimberly Smith Spacek ’91
• S. Donald Sussman
• Judith Dreitzer Wallach ’49