Notes Field - Ethical Culture Fieldston School

Photo of George Burns by Diane Silverman; photo of The Gates by Anita Haber
Field Notes
What’s going on at the Ethical Culture Fieldston School
A p r i l 2 0 0 5
In the Spotlight
Academic Skills and Progressive Education
by George Burns, Principal, Fieldston Lower
At my previous school, which also had a strong
progressive philosophy, parents were often anxious
about whether their children would develop
the skills they needed to make it to high school.
Since the school only went up to eighth grade, it was
understandable that parents might have this concern,
as their children would once again have to go through
an arduous application process simply to get into
ninth grade.
It was a relief for me to come to ECF and be able to let parents
know that when their children graduate from Lower, they move up to
the Fieldston. I also suggested to parents who needed more traditional
proof that we are successful at educating our students to look at the list
of colleges our graduates attended. Despite this assurance, however, it
has not been uncommon to sense some uneasiness from parents about
the skills their children are developing.
Why is this so? Sometimes the concern comes from schools of the
past, from some of the “experiments” in progressivism that led to disorganized
and unstructured classrooms where empowering children as
learners translated into an unfocused and unguided curriculum. Most
of those schools closed long ago. Other times the concern comes from
our strong emphasis on the whole child — the athletic, musical, artistic,
creative, emotional, social, and ethical child that exists along with the
academic child. All of these other aspects of being a child at FL can
sometimes seem to overshadow the reading, writing, and arithmetic
child. Still another reason for the concern has to do with the fact that
children at FL are very happy in school, and their school day doesn’t
always look like the school day that parents remember less fondly from
their own childhoods.
The development of academic skills is at the core of our mission as a
school, of course, as it certainly must be for every school. Our goal, however,
is to develop children’s skills in a very different way. When we say,
as Felix Adler did, that we want children to learn by using their hands,
we aren’t just talking about woodworking. We are talking about social
and mathematical understanding just as much as we are talking about
creative work. Piaget and Dewey wrote extensively about how children
learn first through concrete experiences and are then able to develop
more abstract concepts, and this is an essential part of how we teach. We
want our students to have more than just information; we want them to
have ideas — their own ideas. Our work is aimed at helping children
develop into serious thinkers and not just kids with good rote memories.
To make sure parents feel confident in our pedagogy, we must make
sure we take the time and make the effort to communicate continuously and
effectively (after all, hundreds of books have been written about the ideas
that I reduced to a single paragraph above). I think it is our responsibility
and obligation to answer every question parents have and to explain every-
(continued on page 10)
Leafingthrough...
can you
guess...
which room at EC was used to take this picture of
The Gates? (Stumped? For the answer to this month’s
photo, please see page 10.)
Hold That Date
APRIL HIGHLIGHTS
Mon. 4/4 ECF Classes Resume
Thu. 4/7 ECF Fieldston Learning Center Meeting with
Dr. Stanley Turecki, 7:00pm
Fri. 4/8 FL Family Fun Hip Hop Night, 6:30pm
Thu. 4/14 F Faculty Meeting, 8:00am; Classes Begin,
9:30am
Thu. 4/21 F Middle School Musical, Damn Yankees,
4:00pm (also 4/22 at 7:30pm)
Thu. 4/28 FL P&T Executive Committee Meeting, 7:30pm
Sat. 4/30 EC P&T Carnival, 10:00am
MAY HIGHLIGHTS
Mon. 5/2 F Form V College Symposium, 8:00am
Fri. 5/6 ECF Founder’s Day, Noon Dismissal
Fri. 5/20 F Seniors’ Last Day
Wed. 5/25 F Sports Dinner, 6:30pm
Mon. 5/30 ECF Memorial Day, School Closed
E t h i c a l C u l t u r e • F i e l d s t o n • F i e l d s t o n L o w e r
ECF at
The Gates
Page 4
For a complete listing of ECF
events, please see April
Datebook enclosed.
1

Family Matters
The Fieldston Schedule
Of all the issues that have claimed my attention and
that of the upper school faculty this year, none has
engaged us in as many ways as “the schedule.”
Depending on whom you talk to at Fieldston, “the schedule”
is shorthand for a variety of things.
Student Course Load
To some of us, “the schedule” means student course load, a
topic the upper school faculty has discussed in various
forums throughout the current year. A growing number of
faculty members have become concerned that Fieldston students
are taking too many courses. They believe that this
too heavy course load contributes to the stress that many
students feel. This is of concern to many parents as well.
The faculty disagrees, however, on whether and how to
resolve what appears to be conflicts inherent in the mission
of the school that has led to this situation. In keeping with
its vision of progressive education, Fieldston offers a wide
variety of courses. The depth and breadth of its elective programs
in ethics, the arts, and languages are what distinguishes
Fieldston from other independent schools. Most
students who take “too many courses” do so out of a sincere
interest in those subjects. Given the pressures students and
parents feel regarding college admissions, restricting the
number of courses that Fieldston students take would lead
them to cutting back on their enrollment in ethics, the arts,
and languages that students and families value in the
school.
In addition to concerns about stress, some students taking
a lot of courses inevitably sacrifice the depth and time
for reflection that their courses deserve in favor of just
grinding out the work to meet the multiple demands of
those courses.
If you talk to the sixth formers about the issue of student
course load, you will hear the same variety of opinions
that you hear from the faculty. At the top of the list of what
they value about their Fieldston experience is the opportunity
to study two languages, to take an arts major, to take
CSAB and other major courses in ethics, all on top of the
“normal” academic program. But sixth formers also agree
that course load has contributed to the stress they feel, and
many regret that they have not always been able to study in
depth and reflect on the material in their Fieldston courses.
The Causes and Meaning of Schedule
Conflicts
To the form deans and the faculty advisors, “the schedule”
is shorthand for the scheduling conflicts that many students
face. These conflicts can sometimes mean that a student
cannot get the courses he or she wants, or can attend
only three out of four scheduled class meetings in cer-
2
tain courses. Ironically, many of the students who run
by John Love, Principal, Fieldston Upper
into schedule conflicts are not taking an unusual number of
courses. Parents may not be as aware of this aspect of the
schedule as they are of other aspects. If, however, you have
ever reviewed your child’s schedule, seen a lot of free periods,
but learned from the dean that this or that course your
child wanted to take couldn’t fit into his or her schedule,
you have experienced this problem first-hand.
These schedule conflicts have more than one cause, and
they do not lend themselves to easy solutions. The root
cause lies in the uneven distribution of classes in certain
departments throughout the daily schedule. The shortage
of classrooms, which will be relieved when the new middle
school building opens, is a major source of this distribution
problem. Additionally, as the range and depth of offerings
in the arts, language, and ethics have grown, more and
more classes with special scheduling needs have crowded
into the A and B scheduling bands, the two bands that offer
double periods. Over the spring and summer we intend to
study the way that course sections are distributed throughout
the daily schedule, and see if we can do anything about
that distribution to reduce the number of schedule conflicts
that students encounter.
Good News: Earlier Mailing of Fall Class
Schedules
Everyone regrets that for many years faculty and students
have not received their class schedules for the coming academic
year until just before the first day of classes. This
spring we hope to manage the course signup and scheduling
processes so that we can send faculty and students their
2005-2006 schedules in July. Faculty and students are
always eager to see their schedules for the coming year, and
the school year will get off to a much smoother start if we
aren’t running around adjusting students’ schedules in
September. 6
Field Notes
Ethical Culture Fieldston School
Editor: Anita Haber
Editorial Advisors: Bill Bertsche, George Burns, John Love, Ann Vershbow
Editorial Board: Beth Beckmann, Jessica Stedman Guff, Charles Melcher ’83,
Art Director: Joan Adelson
Executive Editor: Ginger Curwen
Assistant Head of School for Enrollment Management & Marketing: Ellen Bell
© Copyright 2005 by the Ethical Culture Fieldston School
FieldNotes is published 10 times a year and invites contributions from
faculty, staff, parents, students, and other members of the community. Email
fieldnotes@ecfs.org, with your ideas or by mail to FieldNotes, ECF Office of Home
and School, 33 Central Park West, New York, NY 10023. For additional information,
call (212) 712-6266. Visit www.ecfs.org and click on “parents” to view the
online version of FieldNotes.
E t h i c a l L e a r n i n g • A c a d e m i c E x c e l l e n c e • P r o g r e s s i v e E d u c a t i o n

Class Life
Inside the Classroom at
Ethical Culture, Fieldston,
and Fieldston Lower
Who Am I?
Fieldston Spanish II Students Place
Personalities on Display
by Alicé Montera, Monica Miranda, and
Maura Furfey, Spanish Teachers, Fieldston
This year’s Form II Spanish students recently placed their “personalities”
on display in the library for all to see! Each student covered
both the inside and the outside of a shoebox with a collage
reflecting their personalities. The outside of the shoebox represented the
objective “exterior” of their personality and included Spanish sentences
describing facts and information about their lives — where they live, who
is in their family, what their home is like, and information about their
neighborhood. Each sentence was illustrated by an original piece of art
or photos. Their “interior” or the more subjective aspect of who they are
was represented on the inside of the shoebox. Here they talked about
what they like, their feelings, and their hobbies. No limits were placed on
student’s creativity when it came to illustrating these different aspects
of their personality, and in the library display one saw a wide range of
visual images such as photos, maps, theater tickets, and even dancing
slippers! There was only one catch....students did not reveal who they
were on the outside of the boxes. Instead, the Fieldston community was
invited to try and identify them by how they described themselves. In
this way the entire school was involved in the project, and it gave us a
chance to see how well we really know each other. 6
Making Maple Syrup
FL Third Graders Learn the Process
Hotel Rwanda, A Study in African Colonialism
by Harry Sunshine, Dorothy Brady, and Christine Greene,
Third Grade Teachers, Fieldston Lower
First you get the buckets ready,
Clean the pans and gather firewood,
Late in the winter,
It’s maple syrup time.
Well, except for the firewood which was replaced by little coil electric
hot plates, the third graders at Fieldston Lower were doing
just what Pete Seeger’s lyrics say during the weeks between
President’s Day and the spring break. Like the Haudenosaunee whom we
have been learning about and who taught the world about the gift of the
maple, we tapped trees, hauled sap, and cooked it down to syrup. It takes
about 40 parts sap to make one part syrup. In the process the windows of the
classroom were in a constant state of fog and perspiration. We, in turn, were
enervated by the soft sweet vapors as we proceeded with our mathematizing,
poeticizing, social studyizing, and the rest.
You need warm and sunny days,
But still a cold and freezing nighttime,
For just a few weeks,
Maple syrup time.* 6
*verse from Maple Syrup Time by Pete Seeger, sung by third graders in music class this time of year
by Barry Sirmon and Tikia Hamilton, History Teachers, Fieldston
The Fieldston history department has made a determined effort to change the Form III curriculum from a history of western Europe to a
more inclusive world history. As part of this change, the course takes a close look at the colonial period in Africa and other regions of
the world. This is not a traditional unit on imperialism, but rather a unit on the resistance of Africans to invasion.
At lunch a few weeks ago, my colleague, history teacher Tikia Hamilton, suggested we show the movie Hotel Rwanda and use it in our curriculum.
Hamilton and I felt that Hotel Rwanda would provide a unique opportunity to explore the social and political responses of the
Rwandan Kingdom to the imposition of German and Belgian administrators.
In my class, the students were first instructed to watch the movie. I gave little guidance about what to look for, as I wanted them to feel
the full visual and emotional impact. The movie was both riveting for the students and emotionally unsettling. More importantly, it gave them
a real incentive to know how such atrocities could happen in the modern world they live in.
Following the movie I used academic articles and the Internet to try and piece together a chronological account of events that changed
Rwandan society from a single ethnic group with an aristocratic elite, to a “racially” divided society in which the hatred of one “race” for the
other led to genocide. Students started by learning how the aristocrats and commoners of the Rwandan Kingdom had different traditions as
cattle herders, the Tutsi, and the agriculturalists, the Hutu. They also learned how the society had been both stable and peaceful, based on a
complex set of mutually dependent relationships between the Tutsi and the common Hutu.
Students then used the Internet to find articles and do additional research. They were instructed to find events that could lead to resentment
or hatred between classes in Rwandan society. The objective was to try and identify colonial policies and practices that turned the Tutsi
aristocracy into an economically privileged and racially “superior” elite under German and Belgium rule. The students then wrote a paper that
described the events, both large and small, that led to the genocide. The final activity was a debate/discussion on the causes.
In Tikia Hamilton’s class, one of the major challenges that students had to confront was the intersection of race and class, especially as each
related to colonialism and imperialism. For this reason, Hamilton believed that an exploration of the Rwandan genocidal conflict would aid her
students in tackling such complex issues. She placed the onus on the students to view the film on their own. Allowing them to receive extra credit
for their work, she requested that they complete a film analysis, which would uncover the historical foundations of a conflict that is only
briefly alluded to in the course textbook. She used this film as a way of understanding imperialism, while also bridging some of the con- 3
cepts the students explored earlier when they looked at the Haitian and Latin American revolutions. 6
E t h i c a l C u l t u r e • F i e l d s t o n • F i e l d s t o n L o w e r
Maple syrup photo by Harry Sunshine

ECF at
The Gates
The Gates in Central Park prompted a flurry of activity
in and out of the classrooms at Ethical Culture in
February. From afterschool projects to artwork to
thoughtful essays on The Gates, this public work of art
moved everyone to think in different ways.
Gates Talk
Deputy Mayor Patty Harris Visits EC
The message of The Gates
was stick to your dreams,
follow your passion, don’t
give up. So said ECF graduate
Patty Harris ’73 when she
spoke to the EC fifth grade in
February about The Gates. She
should know — she is a deputy
mayor for New York City
Mayor Michael Bloomberg and one of her many responsibilities
is to coordinate public arts projects in the city. Deputy
Mayor Harris was accompanied and interviewed by ECF parent
Doug Bernstein ’76, who also works in the mayor’s office.
After telling the fifth graders of her fond memories of the
arts, ethics, and music programs when she attended EC,
Deputy Mayor Harris gave numerous facts about The Gates —
they required 5,000 tons of steel, 350,000 feet of tubing, and
116,000 miles of thread. The color orange (saffron) was chosen
because of the way it reflected the light and changed color.
She also told the students that all materials used to create The
Gates would be recycled. One of the great things about The
Gates, Deputy Mayor Harris said, was that “everyone was truly
enjoying the park and the city and sharing art in a place that
many people see or walk through every day.” 6
A Central Park for Reptiles
by Betty Russell, Science Teacher, Ethical Culture
In the afterschool class I teach, I made a
comment one day about the turtles not
being able to experience The Gates. “Why
don’t we make some Gates for the turtles to
walk through?” I asked the children.
“No,” a child responded. “It’s not just
The Gates, it’s the whole experience!”
“Yeah,” another child echoed. “We have to make the park, too!”
And so began this epic project. For many weeks, the kindergarten
and first grade students in Open Science Lab designed
and built The Gates and the park. Children negotiated placement
and contributions. They took opportunities to share and teach
others in areas where they are expert. They explored materials
and made requests for what they will need for the next session.
They learned how to make things stand up. Enjoyable areas for
the beetles, snails, fish, and turtles were considered. Our park
has grass, a reservoir, streams, tunnels, boulders and rocks,
water and gas pipes, trash cans, a ranger station, roads, walls
around the perimeter, and, of course, The Gates! Much like the
real Central Park, it is a work forever in progress. After we
finished it, we took all of the classroom animals out of
4 their tanks, and let them enjoy our creation. 6
Art?
by Emily Kling, Ben Koepp, and Tess Bernard-
Feigenbaum, Fifth Grade, EC
Christo is a very extraordinary man. He does very extraordinary art. He
does not do portraits or oil painting. He does things like wrapping
islands in pink fabric. And making a forest of umbrellas. His latest piece
of work is called The Gates. There are 7,500 of them, they are all 16 feet high
and they each cost $20,000. Now in our opinion, we think that it is a huge
waste of money and time.
On the one hand, we thought that Christo’s gates were beautiful. They
were calm and enjoyable. They brought a lot of people to the city and many people
in the city have gone out to see them. On the other hand, they are very temporary,
15 days. For the 7,500 gates, it costs $20,000. And, while these gates are
here, not all of the tsunami damage has been fixed. Couldn’t that money go to
the tsunami relief?
The other day I was walking and I heard somebody saying, “Wow,
look at these gates. They are really something, aren’t they.” 6
This is a reprint of an article that appeared in The 5FG Labyrinth, A Gaze
Through the Maze, February MMV, published by Gloria Fischer’s EC fifth graders.
First Grade Math-Gate
Above: Barbara Lancaster’s first grade
class watched closely as a worker assembled
one of 15,000 steel bases used for
The Gates.
Top left: Gloria Fischer’s fifth grade
class sat in the park and sketched
The Gates.
Bottom left: Danielle Neufeld’s fifth
grade class and Julianne Dow’s first
grade class have “buddies” time together
each week. One sunny day in
February they walked into Central
Park together to enjoy the art, draw
pictures of The Gates, and write
poems about it. Here are buddies first
grader Charlotte Haiken and fifth
grader Madeline Sacks.
Much of the excitement over The Gates had to do with numbers.
There were 7,500 gates; 5,290 tons of steel were used to construct
15,000 bases; 1,067,330 square feet of rip-stop nylon fabric
was used. And the list goes on. In Barbara Lancaster’s EC first
grade class, the students thought about the number of gates through
several different math problems:
• If Christo put three Gates up in one hour, how many Gates could he
put up while we are in school? (8:30 to 3:30)
•The Gates will be up for 16 days. If Christo left The Gates up for one
more week, how many days would The Gates be up?
•If in one day Christo put 10 Gates on one path, and eight Gates on
another path, and six Gates on the next path, how many Gates would he
put up that day? 6
E t h i c a l L e a r n i n g • A c a d e m i c E x c e l l e n c e • P r o g r e s s i v e E d u c a t i o n
EC photo by Colleen Garnevieus;Central Park for Reptiles photo by Betty Russill; photo of Gloria Fischer’s class by Eric Botnick; photo of Barbara Lancaster’s class by Carolyn Reisman; photo of “buddies” by Stan Schnier

Student Central
Featuring writing, artwork, and poetry by students
Advising Parents
Two Fieldston Seniors Write Book on Parent/Teen Communication
Tracy Bernstein ’79,
executive editor at
NAL/Penguin
Publishing Group, never
expected she would be sitting
down in a meeting
with us, two nervous
Fieldston juniors ready to
pitch a parenting book.
But at 2:00pm on
September 15, 2003, our
dream became her reality.
The previous winter, we had seen an
announcement in FieldNotes that a psychiatrist
was coming to speak to Fieldston parents
about parent/teen communication. This
got us thinking about who in reality is capable
of providing adequate advice to struggling
parents. We realized that only teens
understand the teen thought process. A parent
or psychiatrist can take an educated
guess about what a teen is thinking or feeling,
but it is still a guess. We, on the other
hand, understand what teens really hear
when their parents speak.
Excited about our idea, we shared it
with our enthusiastic art teacher, Nancy
Fried, who immediately took charge: Nancy
got us in touch with her sister, Alice Martell,
a Fieldston parent and literary agent.
Intrigued by the idea, Alice took a chance
and agreed to represent us. She gave us two
tasks for the rest of sophomore year: Write
a detailed, powerful proposal and a sample
by Lara Fox and Hilary Frankel, Form VI, Fieldston
chapter, which is now chapter one in
Breaking the Code: Two Teens Reveal the
Secrets to Better Parent-Child
Communication. By the summer of 2003,
after rewrites and editing, our sample chapter
and proposal were ready to be sent to all
the major publishing houses.
After just two weeks of junior year, we
had meetings scheduled with editors
around the city who wanted to see if we
were the real deal. With Alice’s support, we
headed into our first meeting with Tracy
Bernstein, who asked us right away where
we went to school. After talking about
Fieldston and hearing that Tracy had Mr.
Werner for English, we started to relax a
little. Of course, our butterflies returned
when two more editors came into the conference
room and they all began to grill us
on the content of the proposal and our
intentions for the book. All the meetings
after NAL/Penguin were just as challenging
and exciting, but NAL/Penguin felt like the
right fit for Breaking the Code.
For the rest of junior year we worked
every Saturday to meet our June 6, 2004
deadline — a week before finals and the
SAT IIs. The book is now finished and was
in bookstores last month. Each chapter of
Breaking the Code deals with an area where
things can go really wrong when you talk to
your teen, like personal privacy, or school,
or money. We show parents scenes (from
our lives and our friends’ lives) that
demonstrate how things can go wrong, and
then we follow up with scenes showing parents
the best approach for fixing them (or
avoiding the mess in the first place).
The past two years have been quite a
ride: exciting, nerve-racking, challenging,
and gratifying. We never thought this book
idea would turn into reality, much less a
Fieldston affair.
Here are a few tips you will find in our
book:
• Teens think they know everything there
is to know. In fact, your teen probably rolls
his eyes every time you open your mouth
because he thinks a lecture is coming. So,
if you want your teen to listen when you
are giving advice, your best bet is to start
off with, “I know you know this already,
but as a parent I have to say this in order
to make me feel better...” Since you are
acknowledging that we’re not little kids
anymore, we will be more willing to hear
you out — even if it’s just to humor you.
• When your teen is upset, don’t try and
cheer her up by saying, “Look on the
bright side...” This makes your teen feel as
though what she’s feeling is insignificant
and petty. If a parent says, “Be thankful,
because there are children starving all
over the world, and you have it pretty
good,” a teen hears, “Stop being such a
cry-baby. What you are feeling doesn’t
continued on page 10
Fieldston Lower Third Graders
Create Native American Pottery
Fieldston Lower third graders study all aspects of
Native American life throughout the year. In art
class, they study different expressions of Native
American art, especially pottery. After studying the
forms and patterns of traditional pottery such as that of
the Acoma Pueblo in New Mexico, students tried to create
their own pieces. Their small clay pinch pots were
carefully shaped, and then dried and fired in the kiln.
The students painted designs and patterns using slip
glazes. The pots were fired a second time to make the
designs permanent. The students enjoyed creating their
little treasure pots. 6
— Corinne Farkouh, Art Teacher, Fieldston Lower 5
E t h i c a l C u l t u r e • F i e l d s t o n • F i e l d s t o n L o w e r
Photo by Corinne Farkouh

P&T Corner
Family Hip Hop Night:
A New Fieldston Lower Tradition
For many years the Fieldston Lower Multicultural
Forum hosted an international potluck in the
spring. Unfortunately we did not hold this event
last year, and many parents were disappointed. We
have decided, therefore, to throw an even bigger bash,
one that would capture the shared community contribution
that is embodied in the potluck tradition and would also be of
interest to our children. Most importantly, we wanted something
our kids would beg us to attend!
Family Hip Hop Night will take place April 8 at 6:30pm in the
Fieldston dining room. Because hip hop has strong historical ties to the
Bronx, originating in this very borough, and like jazz before it, has
become universally appealing to our children, we felt that a hip hop night
would be a great way to bring everyone together. All kinds of self-expression
will be encouraged: Families will bring in cultural dishes representative
of the varied traditions in our community, and a DJ will spin music
we can all groove to. As a special treat, Maria Maldonado’s Fieldston
Lower family project, We Are, will make its much-awaited debut.
This event promises to be THE EVENT you and your kids will clamor
for next year. And it’s absolutely FREE! So come out and join us
Friday, April 8, at 6:30 pm in the Fieldston dining room!
Please call Robin Hart (914)689-5321, Evey Adelsohn-Mason (914)
524-9009, or Carol Terrilli (718) 543-8543, if you would like to contribute
a dish or you have any questions. All ECF families are welcome.6
Dr. Lydia Soifer to Speak at Fieldston
Lower’s Learning Styles Meeting
Tuesday, April 12, 7:00pm
Fieldston Student Faculty Center
T he Fieldston Lower School’s Learning Styles
Committee has engaged Dr. Lydia Soifer to
speak on the topic of understanding how children
learn to read. The entire ECF community is
invited to attend. Dr. Soifer is a specialist in the
area of oral language and its relationship to literacy
for beginning readers through sixth graders.
The Fieldston Lower P&T is also sponsoring Dr.
Soifer’s work with Fieldston Lower faculty. She is
beginning a six-week course with teachers on language and
learning. The course establishes basic components of language and
learning, gives teachers strategies for their language work in the classroom,
and highlights ways to identify students who may have a language
or learning problem.
Dr. Soifer is a language pathologist, and has more than 30 years
experience in clinical practice and teaching. She is assistant clinical professor
of pediatrics and faculty member in the Early Intervention
Training Institute at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine.
The Learning Styles Committee works with administration, parents,
and teachers to promote awareness and gain a better understanding of
students who have different learning styles. If you would like to “opt-in”
to our email network, please contact the co-chairs, Laura Walz,
lwalz@nyc.rr.com, or Cathy Garcia-Bou garbou33@aol.com. 6
6
Don’t Miss Auction Donation
Deadline — April 15
The deadline for your donations to the ECF online auction
will be here before you know it. April 15 is the day, and it
is only two weeks away. While we have already received
some wonderful donations (see below), we are hoping that every
member of the community will contribute or solicit at least one
item. For the last online auction two years ago, we had over 400
items, from homemade goodies to overseas vacation packages.
Our goal is to offer as many items, if not more, in this auction. If
you need a donation form, you may download a copy from the
ECF web site, www.ecfs.org, or you may contact Anita Haber by
calling (212) 712-6266 or emailing ahaber@ecfs.org.
Among the items we have received are the following:
• a private tour of Chelsea art galleries by an art insider
• dinners at fabulous restaurants
• a collection of fine Bordeaux wines
• recording time at a sound studio
• a vegetarian Indian cooking class
• a portrait photography session
• sports birthday party in the EC gym
• brunch for four at Eli’s Vinegar Factory
• one-year membership to West Riverhouse Health & Racquet Club
• tickets to see Good Morning America
• Yankees, Mets, and Knicks tickets
All donations are tax-deductible. All proceeds will benefit
the ECF Annual Fund to help close the gap between tuition and
the cost of educating our children as well as support the
school’s financial aid program. If you would like to help with the
online auction or have any questions, please contact Sally Fischer at
sally@sallyfischerpr.com.
Save the dates: The online auction will go live May 18-24. 6
Connecting with Boys — Whether
or Not They Talk to You
Tuesday, April 12, 7:00pm
Ethical Culture 6th floor gym
Come hear Dr. Lawrence Cohen speak on how
we can better nurture the emotional and
interpersonal side of boys’ development.
We so often see boys who are stoic, tough, and withdrawn
into a world of video games. How do we find the
human underneath who has the full range of emotions
from sadness to fear to joy? How do we help them interact without
taunting and teasing and aggression? This talk will help parents
understand the emotional life of boys, reveal effective ways of connecting
with them other than “deep meaningful conversations,” and
most of all, help parents stay close with their sons as they grow up.
Dr. Cohen is a Boston-based psychologist and school consultant.
He is the author of Playful Parenting and the co-author,
with Michael Thompson and Catherine O’Neill Grace of Best
Friends, Worst Enemies: Friendship, Popularity and Social
Cruelty in the Lives of Boys and Girls, and Mom, They’re Teasing
Me: Helping Children Solve Social Problems. While the focus
will be on boys, all parents are welcome.
Sponsored by the Ethical Culture Gender Studies Group. 6
E t h i c a l L e a r n i n g • A c a d e m i c E x c e l l e n c e • P r o g r e s s i v e E d u c a t i o n

Spreading Our Wings
ECF Sports, Performances, Clubs, and More
Merrily We Roll Along
This year’s upper shchool muical, Merrily We Roll Along,
by Stephen Sondheim, was a hit. Directed by performing arts
teacher Clare Mottola, the cast was bright, exciting,
and hit all the right notes.
Central Park West Bound
EC Fifth Graders Perform The Trojan Musical
Before the holiday recess in December, EC
fifth grade teacher Danielle Neufeld gave
her students ideas of what they might do
over the two-week break. She suggested that
they write in their journals, read new books,
go outside and sketch, or take photographs.
Never did she imagine that one of her students,
Dan Rubins, would spend his vacation
time writing and composing a musical adaptation
of The Iliad, which he showed Neufeld
once school resumed. The script of The Trojan
Musical was over 30 pages long. Dan had also
composed the lyrics and music for 14 songs.
Neufeld and her class decided to give it a try.
The result: Two fantastic performances of The
Trojan Musical in early March.
We asked Dan Rubins and his classmates
about how they accomplished this
amazing feat. Here is what they told us:
Why did you decide to do a musical play
based on The Iliad?
Dan Rubins: We read a book which
was an adaptation of The Iliad, and it was
very
\
inspiring.
When did you write it? How long did it
take you? Did you ever do anything like this
before? Have you ever taken any classes in
musical composition, playwriting, etc?
Rubins: I wrote the first draft in three
days during the winter vacation. I previously
attempted to write scripts, songs, etc., but
none of them were very long or at all professional.
I have never taken any classes,
except for my dad’s tips. My dad has written
several off-Broadway musicals.
Who helped with the musical arrangements,
costumes, and the scenery?
Class 5N: Blake Rowe and Woody
Regan helped us tremendously. Blake was
given the lead sheets provided
by Dan and his father. Blake
then recorded it on a CD for us
to practice with. Dan’s father
Josh made a tape for each student
to practice over the
February break. Blake and
Woody later accompanied us
on the piano for each performance.
For the scenery, we sketched
the ideas and then painted them
on boxes, donated by Jayne
Balick (class parent). Hettie
Jordan-Villanova helped us make
our props and Danielle gave us
the fabric to make our costumes
with, and then our parents
helped us put them together. Michelle Sands
taped both performances. Lastly, we want to
give a huge thank you to the producer, director
and our fabulous teacher, Danielle Neufeld,
who we couldn’t put the show on, without.
How did you feel about the production
when it was all over?
Class 5N: For the amount of time we
had to practice, the final product could
not have been better. It was a lot of
7
hard work, but we had a blast.6
E t h i c a l C u l t u r e • F i e l d s t o n • F i e l d s t o n L o w e r
Merrily We Roll Along photos by Diane Silverman; The Trojan Musical photo by Roseann Kimmel

Photos by Diane Silverman
The ECF Difference
Snapshots
Profiles of ECF Administrative, Teaching, and Support Staff
8
Linda Weiner
School Psychologist, FL
16th year
During her sabbatical last year, Linda worked at the William Alanson White
Institute in addition to her ongoing private practice, but now it’s back to
Fieldston Lower three and a half days a week. She regularly consults with parents,
teachers, and administrators about children’s development and how to best
provide support when indicated. She loves to read old classics, and enjoys movies
and good walks. The mother of three (two daughters and a son), Linda is also the
grandmother of a two-year-old girl. 6
Mark Greenwald
Third Grade Teacher, EC
15th year
Mark loves to travel to less familiar places — last year it was
Malta and Dubrovnik and Southern Italy. Before coming to
EC, Mark taught third and fourth grades in various private
schools. In addition to enjoying movies and the theater, Mark
is very interested in holistic health and the integration of
nutrition, mind, body, and spirit. This year, in his spare time,
he has been enrolled in a nutrition training program. 6
John Baglio
Science Teacher, Fieldston Middle
3rd year
Thanks to John and his colleagues, middle school students know how to make
mousetrap-powered cars (see FieldNotes, March 2005) — all in the name of science.
A teacher at Eastside Middle School for four years before coming to
Fieldston, John was an instructor in Outward Bound wilderness schools in
Minnesota, Montana, and Florida, and at Outward Bound NYC; he received his
master’s in science education at NYU. On weekends, he likes to hike and cross
country ski with his wife, Sarah, and their two-and-a-half-year-old son,
Alexander. 6
“Teachers open
the door. You enter
by yourself.”
— Chinese Proverb
Quote of the Month
E t h i c a l L e a r n i n g • A c a d e m i c E x c e l l e n c e • P r o g r e s s i v e E d u c a t i o n

An Appreciative Eye on the ECF Community
Cornerstones
Special Events and Projects That Reflect Our Values
Drink Coffee Responsibly
Fieldston Fair Trade Initiative Spreads the Word
On any given morning at
Fieldston, hundreds of kids
can be seen going in and out
of the dining hall. Some buy food,
others something to drink, and some
simply spend their time doing homework
and hanging out with friends.
Among the beverages readily available
to students in this fast-paced,
demanding New York school is coffee. Some
travel-mug toting students and faculty members
depend on coffee to get them through their days.
The student members of the Fieldston
club, the Fieldston Fair Trade Initiative (FFTI),
focus on where that coffee comes from. Who
are the people we depend on for coffee and
other goods, and what responsibilities do we
have to these people when we’re sipping our
trusty morning brew? The FFTI has worked
for over two and a half years now to spread the
word about Fair Trade to the Fieldston community
and to other high schools in the area.
Fair Trade is an alternative to today’s free
trade system. Due to the overwhelming rise of
Campus Plan Update
• By mid-March, excavation of the sites of the
new swimming pool and the new
fieldhouse/gymnasium were about 85 percent
complete, and the work has gone well, according
to Terry deGuzman, the school’s chief
operating officer, and Sandy Polsak, our
owner’s representative.
• Our safety committee and community
advisory groups have met during the month,
to get updates on the campus plan and the next phase of construction.
A similar meeting was also held for Fieldston Lower parents.
• Over spring break, eight parking spaces will be designated as Fieldston
parking on the Fieldston land off the DOT parking lot near the gate to
Fieldston Lower. Because the layout of that parking lot will be changing,
we encourage parents and caregivers to plan to allow extra time for pickups
and drop-offs starting April 4.
• Over spring break, a safety zone will be installed around the footprint
of the new middle school. This eight-foot high fence — a mix of
new plywood and existing fencing recapped with netting — will enable
low-quality coffee production
over the past few years, and the
subsequent plummet in coffee
prices, international farmers
who depend solely on the coffee
trade for their livelihood are suffering
financially. Out of the $3.00
we spend on one cup of coffee, less
than a penny is paid to the coffee farmers
themselves. Fair trade attempts to remedy this
problem by cutting out the middleman in the
process of exporting and trading coffee (and
other goods such as tea, cocoa, and fruit), and
makes sure that farmers get a fair price for
what they produce.
The FFTI became involved in the fair trade
movement in 2002 when Jenessa Calvo-
Friedman ‘04, one of the leaders of the initiative,
attended the Oxfam Fair Trade Conference
in Seattle. She returned to Fieldston with new
knowledge of fair trade, how to introduce fair
trade products to our dining service, and how to
get others involved. Since then, Fieldston has
become the first high school to serve solely fair
our builders to prepare the site for excavation in mid-June, while
ensuring safety and minimal disturbance to students and faculty. The
placement of this safety zone will not interfere with Fieldston Lower
play spaces.
• Starting in June, once school is out, excavation of the middle school
site will begin. No programs will be held on campus during the summer
until construction is completed.
Tennis Update
by Chris Scott, Form VI, Fieldston
trade coffee at all three campuses. Last spring,
the FFTI held an assembly about fair trade and
organic farming, and hosted a “Fair Trade
Week” in the dining hall, during which we sold
and gave away a different fair trade item every
day such as coffee, tea, and cocoa.
The goals of the FFTI this year are all
about reaching out. We are determined to get
parents, faculty members, and other adults
affiliated with the Ethical Culture Fieldston
community more aware of and involved with
the Fair Trade movement, whether it is by buying
fair trade coffee for their homes or offices,
spreading the word about fair trade to their
friends, or urging their local grocer or coffee
shop to offer fair trade items. For this reason,
the FFTI will be holding a fair trade event at
Fieldston on Wednesday, May 18. We invite
you to join us for an evening of discussion and
activities. Please keep an eye out for the
upcoming schedule for the event! Together, we
can make Fair Trade more of a reality in our
city, and strive towards becoming a community
of socially responsible consumers. 6
For the upcoming tennis season, Fieldston has secured the use of
three courts at nearby Seton Park for our varsity and junior varsity
teams to use for practice and competition. We are now in the process of
finalizing our customary permits with Van Cortlandt Park for use of additional
courts there. Toward the end of April, still more courts will also be
available at Columbia University’s Baker Field (575 West 218th Street).
Seton Park is located at West 232nd and Independence Avenue. The Van
Cortlandt Park courts are located at West 242nd and Broadway. All
courts are in excellent shape and will accommodate all of our needs for
practice and play for the spring and the fall. Bus transportation will be
provided to and from both Seton Park and Columbia’s Baker Field. As
usual, students will go on foot to Van Cortlandt Park. 6
E t h i c a l C u l t u r e • F i e l d s t o n • F i e l d s t o n L o w e r
9

Bulletin Board
Opportunities Offered
and Wanted Within
the ECF Community
V
Opportunities Offered
We welcome announcements from
the ECF community. If you would
like to place an item for our next
issue, please submit it to
fieldnotes@ecfs.org by April 5. (Note:
Neither FieldNotes nor ECF can review or
be responsible for their content.)
Any Story Ideas for FieldNotes?
We're eager to hear your thoughts and ideas for
future issues. Email us at fieldnotes@ecfs.org and
share your ideas or photos.
A Redo for www.ecfs.org
In a few months, the school’s website will have a fresh look and a host of new features. Don’t
miss your chance to share your thoughts and ideas about how this website can work better
for you! Please participate in our online survey at this web address: http://www.ecfs.org/survey.asp.
All responses are anonymous and will be kept confidential.
Babysitter Available for Summer
EC family is going away for the summer and their wonderful caregiver is looking for work
July-August or parts thereof. If interested, call Nancy (212) 229-6552.
Summer Rental Available
Childproof, family-friendly East Hampton home. A new two-story cedar shingled post-modern
home on one acre. Located 10 minutes from East Hampton village. Four plus bedrooms
with two master suites. Three-and-a half baths. Screened-in porch. Large deck with outdoor
shower. Heated pool (childproof fencing available). Cable TV and two telephone lines.
Available from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Will consider a monthly rental.
If interested, call Ethical parent Nancy Richards (212) 749-1019 or email festecat@aol.com.
Vacation Home in Maine for Rent
A 1761 Cape on 40 acres with an amazing view is for rent. Home has three bedrooms, 2.5 baths,
and a big country kitchen. For more information, please visit www.vrbo.com/45053 or contact
Fieldston science teacher Kinne Stires at (718) 601-0350 or email him at ses66@columbia.edu.
Crocheted, Cotton, Sassy String Bikini
Sandra Daley, an EC mom, makes a high heel steppin’ teeny tiny sweetheart of a bikini.
Complete with triangular cups & traditional ties. Serious sunbathing only! S/M or M/L.
Name your color! $75. Call Sandra at (212) 289-2529
Landscape Painting and Life Drawing Summer Workshops
Join Fieldston art teacher, Deborah Kriger, in Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley, (two hours from
NYC ) for a one-week art workshop. Painting instruction will be given “en plein air,” weather
permitting, or in a painting studio if it is raining. This area near Hawk Mountain is particularly
beautiful with orchards, rivers, and large ponds. Life drawing will be offered for two hours
in the evenings. Time can be scheduled in for fun, swimming, hiking, or bicycle riding, or
going to nearby Dorney Amusement Park. Come as a group (family or friends) or individually,
ages 14 through adult, all levels. If there are parents in the group, younger students are welcome.
Dates are flexible. Please contact Debbie (718) 624-2473 or email debbie@artguides.com.
Summer ’05 Baseball Camp
Kids of Summer begins another season. Located in Riverside Park 9:30-3:30. Teaches all aspects
of the game including hitting, fielding, throwing, pitching, and base running to kids ages 7-12.
Great for any level of athlete. Fun, supportive environment taught by experienced instructors
including former Fieldston varsity baseball player and member of Macalester College varsity baseball
team, Jake Seltzer ’03. Mike Handell played varsity baseball at Bronx Science, and is captain
of Syracuse baseball. Call (917)-415-9644 or email Handym7777@aol.com. Brochures available.
Nanny/Mother’s Helper Wanted
Fieldston Lower teacher on maternity leave is looking for an experienced nanny to help at
home with newborn twins. Hours are flexible — could be part or full-time. Light housekeeping
and basic infant care. Must be comfortable around dogs. Position begins in late April.
Call Sandra at (718) 601-2216 if interested.
Furniture for Sale
A staff member of the Office of Institutional Advancement and Alumni is selling a coffee
table — dark cherry finish, 5’x 1.5’, medium condition. Also for sale: country style kitchen
table with three chairs and a bench. Medium oak color. Chairs and bench have cloth. If interested,
please call in the evenings (646) 533-8802. Must pick up in Brooklyn.
Accolades and Accomplishments
Fieldston Teachers and Parents Participate in Conference
Fieldston Learning Center chair Wendy Cohan, French teacher Cecile Droz, Fieldston parent
Barbara Schorr, and former Fieldston parents Karen Heller and Lou Montresor were
asked to participate at the first parent conference sponsored by the Orton Dyslexia Society
in March, Supporting Students With Learning Disabilities in New York’s Independent Schools.
Topics discussed at the conference were strategies for empowering students and forming a
parent support group.
Fieldston English Teacher Selected as Editor
The editors of The Literary Review liked Michael Morse’s poems enough to ask him to edit
the poetry for their summer 2005 issue. The Literary Review is published out of Fairleigh
Dickinson University. One of Michael’s poems from the Fall 2004 issue has been nominated
for a Pushcart Prize (an anthology printing the best work published by small presses).
Ethical Culture Music Teacher Is Composer
Ethical Culture music teacher Blake Rowe composed the score for the documentary Five
Feelings About Food by Cornelia and Mikael Soderstein, which features the work of Mimi
Oka and Doug Fitch. The artists create environments, exhibitions, and photographs that
raise basic questions about our relationship with food. The documentary follows their artistic
process over the course of several days as they do their work. The film was featured at a
recent screening at A Taste for Art Gallery in Soho.
In the Spotlight continued from page 1 Student Central continued from page 5
thing we do. Over the past five years we have held evening events where
our parents have been able to hear a great deal about how skills are
developed, from our extraordinary social studies and science programs
which have been described in detail, to our very strong writing program
and our excellent math program, developed with Rosemarie Buzzeo’s
careful guidance, which is described every year by teachers at Math
Nights. (Next year we will have to give reading its own night!) But you
don’t have to wait until we have a curriculum presentation to have your
questions answered. Rosemarie and I are always willing to meet you
and address whatever concerns you may have. 6
10
Promise
to join us
Answer to Can You Guess...on page 1
Ceremonial Hall on the fourth floor of EC is the location
from which The Gates photo was shot.
E t h i c a l L e a r n i n g • A c a d e m i c E x c e l l e n c e • P r o g r e s s i v e E d u c a t i o n
V
In Memoriam
Rhythms teacher Joan Morgan, who taught at Fieldston Lower for 35 years, died in early
March. She retired last June. There will be a memorial sometime in the spring.
Donations in Joan Morgan’s memory may be made to The Institute of Urban Family
Health which provides grants to medical students and residents interested in family practice
and in the value of family medicine as a system and philosophy of care and healing.
Checks should be made out to: The Institute for Urban Family Health and earmarked for
the John Falencki Memorial Fund. Please mail to: Nick Morgan, 33 West 12th Street,
New York, NY 10011.
even compare to what people with real problems are going
through.”
• You need to pick and choose your battles. If you yell at your teen
every time you’re frustrated (he’s hogging the phone, his room is
messy, etc.), then yelling becomes the norm and he is no longer
able to determine when you mean business; all of a sudden you’ve
blurred the lines between what warrants yelling and what is really
insignificant in the long run. So before you yell at or lecture us,
ask yourself: In the grand scheme of things, is this really worth
fighting over? 6
for an evening of great art, wonderful friends,
and a celebration of the past, present, and future of
Ethical Culture Fieldston School
Wednesday, May 4, 2005, 7-10 pm
Museum of Modern Art, 11 West 53rd Street, NYC