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27-515: Manhattan Country School's origins are rooted in the social, ideological, and educational principles of the 1960s. Founders Gus and Marty Trowbridge were encouraged by judicial decisions in favor of equal opportunity and inspired by the leadership of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The curriculum at MCS is very rigorous, demanding, and sufficiently challenging for students. Until the 6-7s (1st grade), students are not given any homework. Once students reach

54-433: A child. Each year, families receive a Family Financial Worksheet which is used to calculate their contracted fee based on household income with an adjustment for assets. Currently the highest rate for tuition is 12 percent of this adjusted figure. Families whose calculated rate yield an among higher than the cost per child are asked to pledge an amount equal to the difference between the two amounts. Manhattan Country School

81-475: A dramatic game or performance, story-reading, or an outdoor group game. Bedtime is 8:30 for younger children, later for older groups. Disregarding Farm rules such as safety, fire, bedtime and behavior guidelines can lead to suspension from a farm trip. The Upper School is made up of the 5th to 8th grades. These grades must complete requirements to graduate from the school, and with helpful staff, all students graduate (unless expelled). The completed requirements from

108-444: A play, which is presented at the annual Martin Luther King Jr. assembly. In the 7th and 8th grade, History, Science and English are taught with a mixed group of 7th and 8th graders in the classroom. An alternating two-year program is put together for these three subjects. For example, an entering 8th grader would be learning about the topics that the last year's graduates learned about when they were in 7th grade). The English Department

135-590: A sliding scale tuition based on family income. Families of sufficient means are asked to voluntarily contribute a comparable percentage of their incomes to the percentage asked of other families. The concepts behind the plan were originally developed by Frank Roosevelt and Hugh Southern in the context of intense debates during early years of MCS. That process is described in Frank Roosevelt and Thomas Vitullo-Martin, Tuition Reform for Private Schools: The Manhattan Country School Plan . That scale is, in part, based on

162-891: Is for parochial schools. An ISEE Test and SSAT guidance course is also offered to eighth graders, taught by an instructor from a testing organization from outside of the school. MCS faculty realize that applying to high schools is a toilsome experience, so students are always welcome to share their feelings with high school counselors in the Third Floor Office. MCS graduates have enrolled in Packer Collegiate Institute , Ethical Culture Fieldston School , PPAS , Saint Ann's School (Brooklyn) , Friends Seminary , Bronx High School of Science , Trinity School (New York City) , Fordham Preparatory School , Eleanor Roosevelt High School (New York City) , LaGuardia High School , and many others. Some graduates have decided to branch out of

189-588: Is particularly strong at MCS. Students read a wide variety of novels, and with 7th and 8th graders, a Shakespeare play is incorporated in the year's curriculum annually. Novels and plays that students have read as part of the curriculum include The Catcher in the Rye , To Kill a Mockingbird , and Romeo and Juliet . The Manhattan Country School Farm is a small working farm in the northern Catskill Mountains, located 150 miles from New York City in Roxbury, New York. Students tend

216-423: The "cost per child" which is the total budget divided by the number of students (with some adjustment for grade level). "Full tuition" is equal to the cost per child. The principle behind this is that families of means should not be subsidized by annual giving or the endowment; this is in contrast to many other schools which have a "gap" that represents the difference between tuition and the actual cost of educating

243-477: The 6-7s, homework is given to them weekly on Wednesday. The amount of homework starts to slowly increase while students are in the Lower School. In the 8-9s and 9-10s (3rd and 4th grades), students are assigned to read a certain amount of books every year, and record their weekly reading process in a reading log. From Pre-K until the 8th grade, there is a theme or central focus in the year's curriculum. For example,

270-440: The 7th grade are brought over to the 8th grade when they move up. The requirements are as the following: Manhattan Country School has a distinctive sliding scale tuition system that was originally known as "Tuition Reform" and is now called the "Family Financial Commitment Plan." The system was designed to eliminate the distinction between "scholarship" and "full tuition" students by encouraging all families to pay for school using

297-451: The 8-9s, the focus is on Native Americans, and eventually branches out to European Explorers. Students must put on plays inspired by the explorer that they have been assigned to study. In the 9-10s, the primary focus is Migration to the Americas, and students take class trips to Washington Heights and even Ellis Island. The themes and focuses in the classroom become more complex as students enter

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324-518: The Upper School. In the 5th grade, students study Sumerian life, environmental issues, and also Egypt. Toward the end of the year, an Egyptian market (which 5th graders put together), is held in the school Library. All classes can come and visit. In the sixth grade, students learn about the Civil Rights Movement, by delving into autobiographies, watching documentaries, and even putting together

351-536: The city. Boarding schools that MCS graduates have enrolled in are Groton School , The Lawrenceville School , Westtown School , Williston Northampton School , The Hotchkiss School , Phillips Academy , Northfield Mount Hermon School , and George School . Frank Roosevelt and Thomas Vitullo-Martin, Tuition Reform for Private Schools: The Manhattan Country School Plan 40°47′16″N 73°57′17″W  /  40.78780°N 73.95486°W  / 40.78780; -73.95486 Hugh Southern Hugh Southern

378-458: The entire house. These jobs are rotated and every child has two or three tasks to do each day. Morning and afternoon classes include meal planning and cooking, churning butter, baking bread, and preserving garden produce; seasonal farm work such as planting and harvesting, assisting with sheep shearing, and collecting sap to boil into maple syrup; outdoor maintenance work such as fence repair, caring for nature trails, splitting fire wood, and keeping

405-519: The full "cost per child." This is among the highest percentages of students receiving financial aid at any independent school. Enrollment typically consists of 190 students evenly divided between girls and boys. MCS has a high school counseling program in which school faculty orchestrate a weekly high school placement class for eighth graders. During this class, which begins in the first weeks of school and ends near winter break, Deans or Associate Deans of Admission come to MCS and provide information about

432-473: The gardens, care for the animals (chickens, cows, pigs and sheep), learn to weave, explore fields, mountains and streams, and study traditional and contemporary life in the Catskills. Farm trips emphasize human dependence on natural processes and community members' reliance on each other. Working together to make the farm relatively self-sufficient, students learn to use farm products for food, fuel, and clothing. At

459-700: The largest service organizations for the performing arts in the country. Theater Development Fund now operates four TKTS booths in NYC. Following his time with the Theatre Development Fund, Southern worked for the National Endowment for the Arts , the independent federal agency that funds, promotes, and strengthens the creative capacity communities across the country. He spent several years as deputy chairman before being named acting chairman in 1989. That year, one of

486-707: The national front, Southern became managing associate for the San Francisco Opera leading its Western Opera Theater touring company. He was acting director of the New York State Council on the Arts and a director of both the New Dramatists, and the Film Forum. From 1978 to 1985 he was a trustee for the American Actor's Fund. Memberships include trustee for Manhattan Country School , New York City, where he

513-476: The photos in an exhibition of the work of Andres Serrano , which was supported by a $ 15,000 NEA grant, drew the ire of the religious right. Southern's leadership during the controversy helped him land a position as general manager of The Metropolitan Opera in 1989 after a ten-month search by the Met. Southern's tenure was brief, and he resigned from the Met after nine months, stating that he had not found fulfillment in

540-545: The position. Following this, Southern became a director for the Virginia Festival of American Film in Charlottesville, Virginia, until he retired. In 1954, Southern married Jane Rosemary Llewellyn, with whom he had two children, Hilary and William, with the marriage ending in divorce. In 1988, he married Kathy Ayers Dwyer and they had one child, Jaime, and he remained married until his death. Southern died on July 15 in

567-525: The same time they examine the economies of nature, in the wild and on the farm, and determine the best measures for environmental conservation. Sharing these activities, attending daily classes, and performing household and barn chores, the students come to function as a mutually reliant community. The daily schedule begins at 7:00 a.m. Morning and evening barn chores include egg collecting, feeding animals and cleaning their pens. Household chores involve setting tables and cleaning up after meals, and cleaning

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594-465: The schools that they represent. Schools that have visited MCS include: The Dwight-Englewood School , The Northfield Mount Hermon School , Suffield Academy and The Calhoun school . Only independent day and boarding schools are scheduled for appointments at the school. In addition, eighth graders are equipped with a public school directory book, listing the all public schools in New York City. The same

621-727: The theater community, working as treasurer for the Westport Country Playhouse in Connecticut. From 1959–1962 he was administrative manager of the Theatre Guild-American Theatre Society. From 1962–1965, he served as assistant director of the Repertory Theatre , Lincoln Center , and from 1965 to 1967 as its general manager. During this period, Southern also advised the producers of Expo 67 in Montreal . On

648-433: The wood bins stocked; textiles processes such as carding, spinning, dyeing and weaving the wool from our sheep; nature field trips in the woods and fields and along the streams on the farm; hikes to scenic promontories in the Catskills and visits to other farms or places of historical interest. A daily quiet hour is used for independent study, reading or journal writing. After-dinner activities might be an evening nature walk,

675-823: Was a performing arts manager, known for his work as the executive director of Theater Development Fund , acting chairman and deputy chairman of programs for the National Endowment for the Arts , Washington, D.C., and as the general manager of the Metropolitan Opera in New York City . Hugh Southern was born March 20, 1932, to Norman and Phyllis Margaret (Hiller) in Newcastle-on-Tyne , England. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in English language and Literature in 1956 from King's College, Cambridge , England. After moving to New York from London in 1955, he became active in

702-480: Was founded with the goal of being a model racially integrated school. Today it remains well known for the diversity of its student body. There is no racial majority. According to the MCS website [1] 45% of the student body is white, 28% is African American, 19% is Hispanic/Latino and 8% is Asian American. About 22% of students define themselves as multiracial or biracial. Approximately 70 percent of MCS students pay less than

729-640: Was its chairman, 1971–1974. From 1968 to 1982, Southern was the executive director of Theatre Development Fund , the nonprofit organization for the performing arts that works to make theatre affordable and accessible. During that time, Southern was responsible for creating the first TKTS booth to sell discount tickets for Broadway productions. The inaugural booth, a trailer donated by New York City's Parks Department, opened in June 1973 in Duffy Square. During Southern's tenure, Theatre Development Fund grew to be one of

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