Central Park East was founded in 1974 by Deborah Meier, a visionary teacher whose work has had a profound effect on education in New York City and the nation. Her belief that schools should be small, humane, democratic places where children learn how to learn and how to think for themselves helped spark a revival of progressive education in the city and the nation. Now, when just about every elementary school classroom in the city has a rug and almost no one uses graded readers, it's hard to imagine how revolutionary Central Park East and its two sister schools, Central Park East II and River East, were when they first openedand how much influence they've had on education in the past two decades.

"I am the parent of a 4th grader and I actually think the students are generally very engaged. CPE's use of project-based work, driven by the students own interests and passions actually... read more

"CPE 1 is a great school for K-2 or maybe 3rd after that you should transfer your child to a new school, I say that because the curriculum and teaching procedures is not the best for a 4th &... read more

My son has been at CPE 1 for about a month now. He transferred there after 4 years in a G&T class. The most important thing I can say about CPE is that he is truly happy there. He was not... read more