PHILOSOPHY & HISTORY
Director Gus Trowbridge with the 5-6s class, ca. 1967
In 1966, founders Gus and Marty Trowbridge set out to create an independent school where equality, social justice, a diverse community, and the inspiration of Martin Luther King, Jr. would form the basis for children’s education. Four decades later, at a school with no racial majority, that dream has become a vibrant reality for almost 200 students every year.
Today, Manhattan Country School is recognized as a model of both progressive education and socioeconomic, racial, and ethnic diversity. Our graduates leave not only with a first class academic education and preparation for some of the nation’s top high schools and colleges but with a deep understanding of our multicultural world. The farm program engages students with the natural processes that support life and provides an unparalleled experience of community.
Vision
Manhattan Country School envisions its students as future leaders whose shared experiences in learning and activism inspire them to champion excellence and justice, compassion and peace, and the rights of all people to racial, economic, environmental, and educational equity.
Mission
Manhattan Country School combines the best practices of progressive education and multicultural teaching to foster academic achievement and creativity. In a school community with no racial majority, socio-economic diversity achieved through sliding scale tuition, and the unique curricular asset of a working farm in the Catskills, MCS educates children to value inquiry, social responsibility, and diversity of thought.